1. Chapter 2: Population and Health
Unit 2

2. Critical Issues in Population Geography
More people are alive today than at any other time in human history
The world’s population increased at a faster rate during the second half of the twentieth century than ever before.
Virtually all population growth today occurs in less developed countries (LDCs)

3. Where Are the World’s People Distributed?
Population concentrations
Two-thirds of the world’s population are in four regions:
East Asia
South Asia
Europe
Southeast Asia

4. Where Are the World’s People Distributed?
Sparsely populated regions
The ecumene
People generally avoid:
Dry lands
Wet lands
Cold lands
High lands

5. Where Are the World’s People Distributed?
Population density
Arithmetic density
Physiological density
Agricultural density

6. Why Is World Population Increasing?
Natural increase rate
The percentage by which a population grows in a year
Doubling time
The number of years needed to double a population
Fertility:
Total fertility rate (TFR)
Crude birth rate (CBR)
Mortality
Crude death rate (CDR)
Infant mortality rate (IMR)
Life expectancy

7. Why is World Population Increasing?
Demographic transition
Four stages
Stage 1: Low growth
Agricultural revolution
Stage 2: High growth
Industrial Revolution
Stage 3: Moderate growth
Stage 4: Low growth
Zero population growth (ZPG)

8. Why is World Population Increasing?

9. Why Do Some Places Face Health Challenges?
Health and Gender:
Abortion, Infanticide, Disappearances
Sex Ratio
Sex Selection
Maternal Mortality Rate

10. Why Do Some Places Face Health Challenges?
Health and Aging:
Population pyramids
A bar graph showing a place’s age and sex composition
Shape of the pyramid is determined mainly by the CBR
Age distribution
Dependency ratio
Sex distribution
Health Care
Medical Facilities

11. Why Do Some Places Face Health Challenges?

12. Why Do Some Places Face Health Challenges?
Epidemiology
World health threats
The epidemiologic transition
Stage 1: Pestilence and famine
The Black Plague
Pandemics
Stage 2: Receding pandemics
Cholera and Dr. John Snow

13. Why Do Some Places Face Health Challenges?
World health threats
The epidemiologic transition
Stage 3: Degenerative diseases
Most significant: Heart disease and cancer
Stage 4: Delayed degenerative diseases
Medical advances prolong life

14. Why Might Population Increase in the Future?
Malthus on overpopulation
An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798): Population grows geometrically while food supply grows arithmetically
Criticism of Malthus includes the following:
Pessimistic viewpoint
Failure to consider technological innovation

15. Malthus: Theory vs. Reality

16. Why Might Population Increase in the Future?
Neo-Malthusians

17. Why Might Population Increase in the Future?
Population Futures:
Demographic Transition Possible Stage 5: Decline
Negative population growth
CBR extremely low or nearly nonexistent
Increasing CDR
Declining/negative NIR
Why would this happen?

18. Why Might Population Increase in the Future?
Epidemiological Futures:
The epidemiologic transition
A possible stage 5: Reemergence of infectious diseases?
Three reasons why it might be happening:
Evolution
Poverty
Improved travel/connections

19. Why Might Population Increase in the Future?
Family Futures:
Education
Health Care
Contraception