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Humanities revision –

Chapter 8

8.1

Where is everybody?

· Population density: The number

of people within a given area, usually per square kilometre.

· Population distribution: The spread

of people across the globe.

Global

population distribution:

·

The world’s population is distributed unevenly across the globe. Although

there is an average of 45 persons per square kilometre the population

density varies

considerably.

·

Regions of highest

density are clustered in Europe, East

and South-East Asia and in the eastern half of the United States of

America.

·

For example:

Germany has 233 persons per square kilometre and Japan has 336 persons per

square kilometre.

·

Most regions of high density are dominated by large cities. The majority

of the world’s population lives in urban

environments. Within the largest cities, population density may be

considerably higher than the country average. Dhaka, the capital city of

Bangladesh, is considered to be the most densely populated place in the world,

with an estimated 44 000 persons per square kilometre.

Why

does population distribution vary so much?

· Physical factors play a large part in

determining global population distribution.

Characteristics of the natural environment that favour human settlement include

the availability of freshwater

resources, fertile soil, moderate climate

and sea ports. Inhospitable features

such as mountains, jungles and deserts

tend to deter high population densities.

· Human factors also influence population

distribution. Urban places around the world are attracting an increasing number

and percentage of people due to the availability

of employment, particularly in the manufacturing and service sectors. Not

all regions of high density are urban places. Rural environments such as in parts of central Europe and South-East Asia may contain large numbers of

people per square kilometre.

· Government policies

may also affect population distribution. Examples include migration of people from one country to another, such as from

Mexico to the United States of America; encouraging settlement in a particular

location and establishing service centres based around resource development, as

in the Pilbara in Western Australia.

8.2 Who lives longer?

Life expectancy: The number

of years a person can expect to live, usually when they are born, based on the

average living conditions within a country.

Life

expectancy:

·

How long we can expect to live when we are born is referred to as our life expectancy and

is calculated according to the conditions

in a particular country in that year. A child born in Japan in 2009 can

expect to live 83 years, while one born in the African country of Sierra Leone

can expect to live only 49 years.

· Life expectancy around the world started to increase in the mid-1700s

due to improvements in farming techniques, working conditions, nutrition,

medicine and hygiene. There is a clear interconnection between wealth and life

expectancy: wealthier people in all

countries can expect to live longer than poorer people. In general, women

outlive men.

· A higher income enables people to have better access to education, food,

clean water and health care. One region where life expectancy is decreasing

rather than increasing is sub-Saharan Africa, where many countries have been

affected by HIV and AIDS.

Child

mortality:

· Life expectancy

is closely interconnected to child mortality: countries with high death rates for children under five years of age

have low life expectancy.

· Young children

are particularly vulnerable to

infectious diseases due to their lower levels of immunity. Major causes of

death include pneumonia, diarrhoea,

measles and malnutrition.

· In wealthier

households, child deaths are lower as these children are likely to have better nutrition and more likely to be

immunised, and parents are more likely to be educated and aware of how to

prevent disease.

· Under the

United Nations’ MDGs action, child

mortality has been reduced considerably. The number of deaths of children

under the age of five declined from 12.4 million in 1990 to 8.1 million in

2009. Greatest success has been in northern

Africa and eastern Asia, with respective declines in under-five mortality

of 68 per cent and 58 per cent.

· The highest

levels of under-five mortality continue to be found in sub-Saharan Africa, where one in eight

children die before the age of five, 18 times the average in developed regions.

However, substantial improvements are being made in this region, with four of

these countries reducing child deaths by more than 50 per cent between 1990 and

2009. For example, increased measles

vaccination coverage has been a relatively simple but effective way of reducing

child deaths.

· Life expectancy

and child mortality allow us to measure and compare human wellbeing in

different places.

8.3 How do hatches and dispatches vary?

Every minute

there are an estimated 252 births and 107 deaths worldwide. The difference

between these two figures gives us a growth rate of 1.096 per cent.

Births and

Deaths:

· The rate of

births and deaths varied significantly between regions.

For example: In some

African countries the fertility rate is above 5 kids for every women but Europe

is 1.6.

· Australia has

a very low birth rate of under 15 births per 100. Low deaths of 5-10 per 1000

people.

· Whether a population increases or

decreases is largely dependent on variations in births and deaths producing a natural increase.

· Where a

fertility level is well above the replacement rate of 2.1 children, population growth

will occur. Conversely, fewer births over a period of time will ultimately

result in a declining population.

· It should be

noted that on a national scale, population change is also affected by

migration.

8.5 How have governments responded to

population and wellbeing issues?

·

The number

of children in a family directly affects

their wellbeing.

·

In

Australia, parents may comment on the cost of raising children. In other

countries, children may make a contribution to family income by completing

simple jobs such as collecting firewood.

·

At a national

scale, the numbers of children also affect the wellbeing of the country as a

whole. Concerns about too few or too many children have resulted in a variety

of government responses.

Kenya - response to a youthful population:

· While Kenya’s fertility rate has fallen substantially

in the last 30 plus years from over seven children to just over four, the

country still has a relatively high rate

of population growth.

· Its population

structure has a high proportion of young people so by 2030 it is estimated that

there will be over 65 million people.

· This increase

will put pressure on Kenya’s resources in terms of providing food, services and

employment. With a predominantly rural population, the amount of arable land

per person is falling.

· Under Kenya’s

Vision 2030, a national framework for development, population management is an

essential component of achieving wellbeing goals for health, poverty reduction, gender equality and environmental

sustainability.

· The United

Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has been working with the Kenyan Government

since the 1970s to help improve

wellbeing in the country.

· Between January

2009 and December 2013 it provided $96.25 million. This financed a range of

services including family planning with

free contraceptives provided, increased availability of maternal and newborn

health services, services to prevent the contraction of HIV and sexually

transmitted infections, advocation for the education of girls and elimination

of gender-based violence.

Japan - response to an ageing population:

· Japan has one

of the highest life expectancies in the world, and this, combined with a very

low fertility rate, has led to an ageing

population, with almost one-third of Japan’s population in the 60 plus age

group.

· Fertility in

Japan has been consistently below replacement level since the 1970s.

· A high standard

of living, increased participation of

women in the workforce, high costs of raising children and lack of supporting

childcare facilities have all contributed to this. Japan’s total population

is expected to decline from its current 127 million to an estimated 111 million

in 2032.

· The workforce

is expected to fall 15 per cent over the next 20 years and halve in the next 50

years. That means that in 2025, three working people will have to support two retirees.

· The Japanese

Government also faces rising pension and

healthcare costs. These economic concerns led to the Japanese Government

implementing a number of measures in 1994 such as subsidised child care and

bonus payments for childbirth via a policy known as the Angel Plan (revised in 1999).

· The policy has

been largely ineffective: although the fertility

rate rose slightly, it has remained well below replacement level.

· The Japanese

Government has historically been reluctant to use immigration to fill labour shortages, and although this may

change slowly, improving female workforce

participation rates, particularly after marriage, may be a more viable

option.

8.6 How does wellbeing vary in India?

How

and why is India’s population changing?

· India’s

population is growing at a rate of 1.5 per cent. Improvements in water supply, a decrease in infectious

diseases and an increase in education levels have resulted in a reduced

death rate since the 1950s, while the birth rate has not declined to the same

extent.

· Infant

mortality remains high as over two-thirds of the population are rural dwellers

who may not have ready access to health and reproductive services.

· Children remain

a vital part of the family’s labour force both on farms and for old age

support, so it is essential for families to have more children to improve the

chance of them surviving to adulthood. Thirty-one per cent of the population is

under 15 years of age, creating huge

momentum for future growth.

Regional

variation in wellbeing and population:

· The number of

children per woman in India has declined substantially from 5 in the 1970s to

2.5 in 2011.

· There is

considerable regional variation. Levels of poverty and literacy reflect a varying distribution of

wellbeing in India.

8.8 The biggest child murderer:

·

One of the causes of high child mortality rate in

sub-Sahara Africa includes Malaria.

·

Malaria is a preventable and curable disease

transmitted by some female mosquito species. It cost Africa $12 billion a year

in health care costs and loss of work due to illness.

Actions taken to prevent:

Non-government organisations are doing what

they can to help reduce malaria by:

· Provision

of insecticide-treated nets to protect people at night, when mosquitoes like to

bite.

· Use of

insecticide sprays both to treat inside houses and in mosquito habitat areas.

·

Improved access to diagnostic testing and

treatment.

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