Geo Study Notes

Population Case studies:

Impact of HIV/AIDS on the poupulation

Botswana

 They have a lower growth rate than the rest of the continent.(round 2.5%)
 Because of the spread of HIV and the illness that it causes.
 Reduced birth rates.
 Killed of women of childbearing age.
 From 45.3 in 1971 to 22.3 in 2011.
 Decreased death rates.
 Less amount of people to die as the population shrinked.
 From 13.7 in 1971 to 10.6 in 2011.
 Deceased infant mortality
 Birth rate was lower so less babies can increase the infant mortality.
 From 97 in 1971 to 11.1 in 2011.
 Decreased the expected life expectancy from 72.4 years to 33.9.
 Due to AIDS destroying the immune system.
 Decreased the workforce due to illness which affects the economy.
 Severe reduction in the wealth of individual families as people are to ill to work but
funeral expenses have to paid as well as medical bills.
 Increased amounts of orphans(nearly about 130 000)

Efforts to cope with the effects

 From 2002 ARVs were given to pregnant women to women with HIV(the virus could
be passed from mother to baby in the womb.
 170 000 people had receive the drug by 2010.
 Routine testing is carried out for the virus
 Awareness campaigns to promote the effectiveness of the ARV.
 Use of contraception is encouraged e.g roadside slogans encouraging safe sex.
 Use of contraception is on the increase.
 Welfare support for HIV orphaned children until 18 years of age.
 Doctors from other countries were hired to help with the treatment effort.

Over-populated country
Bangladesh

Causes

 Rapid population growth on fertile plains where the Muslim population used little
contraception causing high birth rate.
 165 million population
 1200 people per square km

 GDP per person (US$) 3900$ (Too low to provide a decent standard of living .
31.5% of people live below the poverty line.)
 Value of exports (US$) 33$ billion (Garments, tea, seafood, jute and leather)
 Population increase per year (%) 1.6%
 Labour force 73.8 million (45% work in agriculture mainly subsistence. 40% of
the population is under-employed.)
 Main sector of employment Agriculture, Minerals like iron ore are the basis
of the manufacturing industry
 Net migration rate (per 1000) Negative net migration rate at -3.1
 Years of education 8 years
 Literacy rate (%) 61%
 Infant mortality rate (%) 3.3%

Effects of overpopulation on Bangladesh

 Agricultural land on the Brahmaputra is over-cultivated decreasing agricultural

potential of.
 Widespread deforestation at the foot of the Himalayas impacting ecosystems by
destroying animal habitats.
 Dhaka is congested with traffic increasing pollution and decreasing air breath
ability.
 Dhaka is also now congested with housing - often lacking basic amenities.
 People settle in food risk areas and it is a drain t the economy to fix these
structures when they could have been avoided.

Under-populated country
Australia

 Australia could support a larger population

 GDP per person (US$) 48 800$

 Value of exports (US$) $184 billion (iron ore, coal, gold, copper, natural gas, meat,
wheat, and transport equipment)
 Population increase per year (%) 1.05%
 Labour force 12.6 million (75% of Australians employed in service sector)
(5.8% unemployment rate)
 Main sector of employment Service
 Net migration rate (per 1000) 5.6 (highest in the world)
 Years of education 20 years
 Literacy rate (%) 99%
 Infant mortality rate (%) 0.46%

Rapid population growth

Niger

Reasons

 One of the highest birth rate in the world.

 Highest fertility rate in the world. (7 children per woman in)
 Reasons
  Little use of contraception especially in rural areas where family
planning clinics are in short supply.
 More than 80% of the population is Muslim. Procreation is encouraged
in Islam.
 More children = more prestige.
 Some men practise polygamy.
 Farmers need children for labour.
 Men dominate and want 12 children on average.
 Early marriage is common 60% involve children under 16 so wives make
more children throughout their lifetime.
 Young population of childbearing age.

Effects

 45% live below the poverty line and the economy is the second poorest in the
world.
 Farms become smaller when they are split among children as inheritance. Food
production does not keep pace with population. 38% of children under 5 are
underweight.
 Agricultural land is also overused causing soil exhaustion and erosion.
 Shortage of teachers. School is only for 5 years and literacy rate is only 19% .
 Inadequate health care only 2 doctors per 100 00 people.
 Nearly 90% lack access to proper sanitation and about 50% of rural population
lack safe drinking water.
 Deforestation is a major problem.
 There are not enough jobs for people of working age.

Anti- natalist policies

China’s one child policy

 China’s population growth was about 48 per 1000, which was seen as
unsustainable.
 China introduced the one-child policy.
 Couples who had one child received financial rewards and welfare benefits.

Negative impacts of the policy

 A typical Chinese child will have two parents to look after and four
grandparents to look after in old age. Double for a couple. So more old people’s
homes will be needed which takes money.
 It is estimated that men will outnumber women by 30 million which could lead to
social unrest as men find themselves unable to get married.
 As the population ages people will need financial support in their old age, this
also includes expensive health care.
 Percentage old people aged over 65, compered to of people of working age, is
gonna increase rapidly. There will be more old people than young people meaning
 there will be strain on the young population to support the economy, themselves
and the elderly.
 There won’t be enough workers to keep the economy growing while supporting
the non-working population.
 Retirement age might have to be increased so older people will be part of the
work force.

 A two child policy has been put I place to try ebb the effects of the one-child
policy.

Population control
Kerala

 Kerala has the lowest birth rate in India. (less than half the Indian average in
2008).

Reasons

 It’s focus on health care and education.

 Female literacy rate is 85%. (compared to India’s 57% as a whole)
 Political decisions to invest in women’s education and health, almost all
villages have access to a school and modern health clinic within 2.5km.
 This means females will know how to family plan due to the knowledge from
being educated and there is no need for having many children so that some
survive a infant mortality will be low due to health facilities.
 Kerala relies less on farming and more on service industries, especially
tourism.
 There is no need to have children to provide extra labour to the family.
 Attitudes are more positive towards women. Girls can access top education.
An educated woman knows how to limit family size to have a higher
standard of living.
 Woman in Kerala marry later due to studies, and have their first child later
so they have fewer children on average
 Over 95% of babies are born in hospital.
A country with a declining population
Japan

 Japans population has been declining at a fairly steady rate since 1977.
 The slow population growth between 1996 and 2005 was caused by steadily
increasing death rate as the birth rate remained fairly static.
 The decline since 2005 is cause by the death rate being higher than the birth
rate.

Reasons

 Cost of living is high.People have to consider if they can afford to bring up a

child and may choose not to.
 Proportion of people of child bearing age in the total population is decreasing.
 Meanwhile death rate has been increasing due to increasing ratio of the
population being old. And the elderly people dying.
 COVID-19 contributed to the spike in fatalities especially among the elderly.
 Chronic diseases contribute to the main cause of the of the elderly in japan.
 Balancing between work and life make it difficult to balance family care and
working.
 More women are entering the work force and choosing to have fewer or no
children at all.
 There has been a significant drop in marriages decreasing the birth rate.

Pro-natalist policies for coping with slow growth

Sweden

 Sweden is trying to increase the birth rate so that it will have a larger working
population in the future.
 Swedish government has offered incentives such as:
 Paying a generous benefit for each baby born.
 Giving fathers 13 months paid leave after birth of a child, at 80% of their
salaries
 120 paid days of work a year to take care of sick children.
 Providing all-day childcare or all-day schools, which is a great benefit for
working parents.

Results

 The birth rate hardly altered since 2000.

 The situation changed as a result of large influx of immigrants from Syria and
the Middle East after after 2012. The immigrants have a considerably larger
higher birth rate than Swedish-born inhabitants.

Interntional Migration
Syria to Germany

Reasons

 Push factors
 Refugees seeking safety from war and persecution in Syria, Afghanistan,
Iraq, and northeast Nigeria.
 A lack of jobs and extreme poverty motivated economic migrants to leave
Nigeria and other African countries and Kosovo and Albania and in the
Balkans.
 Refugees from Somalia and Sudan were fleeing from famine caused
desertification.

 Pull Factors
  Europe is politically stable.
 There is more job opportunities as there is a shortage of workers in
European countries with declining ageing populations.
 Wages and living standards are higher in Europe.
 European countries are generally peaceful, law-abiding and tolerant of
different faiths
 People also want to join family members already in the EU countries.

Impacts of migration

 On the country of origin.

 Most economic and political migrants are young able bodied men, their home
communities lose workers and providers for families left behind. Women
are overburdened and the economy suffers.
 The most educated migrate, education, and other services decline due to
shortages of skilled teachers, doctors and nurses.

 On migrants of travel to their destination countries.

 Many migrants do not survive their ling journey.
 At the coasts they are often robbed and abused.
 People smugglers charge large amounts for passengers on small
unsuitable vessels. (more than 5000 people drowned in 2016 attempting
to cross the seas into Greece, Italy and Spain.
 Some were taken by people traffickers into slavery.
 Those determined to go into Germany faced a long and arduous walk
and some border crossing that had been shut to prevent their passage.
 At their destination , many faced months in overcrowded reception centers
and did not get the jobs, homes, and welcome they had hoped for as a third
of them were low skilled. Nearly half were at risk of unemployment.
 Migrants in general were exploited in low-paid jobs.
 They also have language difficulties and face discrimination.
 Genuine refugees were regarded with suspicion or hostility when it became
apparent that some terrorists had arrived with them, disguised as tourists.

 On receiving countries: negative

 Immediate shelter, food and other necessities had to be provided.
 There was extreme pressure on housing, health services and schools.
(you had children in a class speaking multiple languages).
 Maternity services were severely stretched as the migrants were
mainly of childbearing age (median age was 27)
 Most migrants were Muslims and their destinations countries, Christian,
causing culture clashes. (nearly 6 million Muslims in the German
population).
 Migrants tend to live together and keep to their own ways instead of
integrating into the local community, racial tension can result.
 Willingness of migrants to work for lower wages depressed incomes and
the increased competition for jobs resulted in unemployment.
  A few migrants did not respect the culture and laws of their adopted
country. Especially if their previous area’s treatment of women was not
equal to men.

 On receiving countries: positive

 A supply of needed labour helped the country, especially in the jobs locals
would rather not do.
 Migrants work the pay taxes to the country contributing to the economy.
 They created a larger market for local businesses.
 Their arrival resulted in the provision of services, including a diversity of
food in ethnic restaurants
 Migrants made available a wealth of cultural experiences in art, music,
literature as well as creating a better understanding of different cultures.

Internal migration
Botswana

 Internal permanent rural-to-urban migration.

 Droughts, pests and poor framing skills have resulted in low productivity in
agriculture, the main occupation in rural areas, so people move in search of
a better occupation in urban areas.
 Young people want to get away from, traditional lifestyles.
 Both of these are from bright lights syndrome
 Work is available in the capital city’s administrative offices and
headquarters of numerous international companies that have set up in
Gaborone.
 In addition, employment opportunities occur in financial institutions,
University of Botswana, Debswana (diamond sorting), and shopping
 The desire for better entertainment facilities.

 Recent international immigration.

 Voluntary
 Many of thXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PAUSED DUE TO UNECCESARITY
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Country with a high elderly population

Japan

 Japan’s has an ageing - and getting smaller. It has the oldest population (over
65s make up nearly 28%) (under 15s just 12.8%)
 The average age is almost 47 (highest of any country)
 Japan’s population structure is changing because:
 People are living longer - Average life expectancy is 81 for men, 88 for
women:
 Healthy diet (low in fat and salt)>
  Good quality of life, Japan is one of the richest countries in the world,
(good health care and welfare systems. There are 230 doctors for
every 100 000 people.)
 More people live into old age and are able to sustain themselves with
the welfare systems.
 The birth rate has been declining since 1975. this has been partly due
to rise in average age at which women have their first child. Rose from
about 26 years in 1970 to 30 in 2012. throughout this period couples
getting marrieds has fallen and age at which they are married has risen.
 By 2016 Japan had a population made up of 13% young(aged under 15), 60%
economically active(aged 15 - 64) and 27% elderly (aged 65 and over)
 This means in 2016, every 100 workers in japan had to support the needs of
almost 69 people. The taxes that workers had to pay to the government need to
cover what should be provided by the state for the care of the young and the
elderly.
 More costs are for the elderly (38 per 100 compared with 30 young per 100 of
working age.)

 The Japanese people will be unable to maintain their high standard of living as
their dependency ratio worsens.

Effects
 Some underused - and therefore uneconomical schools - schools and colleges
had to be closed, so students have to travel further.
 A shortage of recruits for the armed forces has weakened Japan’s ability to
defend itself.
 A shortage of labour, especially of innovative workers, has caused Japan’s high-
tech industries to stagnate. (Companies like Sony have had to increase their
rates of pay to attract foreign workers.) These wages may deter foreign
investment in the future.

Coping with an ageing dependent population

 Robots are increasingly used in homes and care homes. Also in manufacturing
industry
 The government is steadily increasing the retirement age to 65.
 Employers are encouraged by government to allow workers to continue working
after reaching pensionable age. People over 65 made over quarter of the
workforce in 2015.
 The country is now accepting an increasing number of migrants from South
Korea and Philippines. Before it was not keen on migration.

Policies to cope with increasing costs of an ageing society

 The age at which a person can receive a state pension has been increased to 65
from 60.
 The working population has to pay more in taxes.
 In 2000, a long term care insurance scheme became available to ensure that
their medical and care costs will be met later in life.

Needs of increasing numbers of elderly people

 An ageing population is more prone to degenerative diseases like cancer,

dementia, arthritis, and heart disease so increasing access to specialist health
care is needed is required.
 Many elderly people need homes without stairs, or with adaptations for
wheelchairs
 As they age , most people need more care and may have to live in a care home.

 Japan has had to build more care homes ( this is not happening fast enough
to meet demand)

Population density and distribution

Botswana

Distribution
 Most Botswanans live in the east of the country, with very few living in the
north, centre or west. Away from the east the population is concentrated and
small , widely scattered areas.

Density
 Most of Botswana has a very low population density of less than on person per
km square.
 Especially in the Kalahari desert, which makes up a large part of the country.

Physical Factors
 Kalahari is a region of semi - dessert, where annual rainfall is less than 400 mm,
unreliable and evaporating rapidly in hot temperatures.
 There is little surface water and water from boreholes is often saline. The soils
are sandy, easily mobile and contain few plant foods.

Human factors
 Sedentary families live together in nucleated villages with their chief on their
communal land.
 However , the Basarwa people of the Kalahari are nomadic hunters and
gatherers, they have no permanent homes

Economic factors
 The physical difficulties limit farming in the Kalahari to pastoral farming. The
carrying capacity of the land is very low, so it cannot support many animals or
their owners.
 There are very few roads and they are unpaved, so villages are isolated.

Other ares with low population densities

 The Okavango Delta, Chobe District and Makgadigadi Pans in the north alos have
very low population densities of less than one person per km square.
 The Delta is wet and swampy.
 Like the Chobe district it has many wild animals and is infested with tsetse fly,
it transmits sleeping sickness to humans and livestock.
 Areas are set aside for game reserves and National parks.
 The Makgadigadi is an enormous desolate area of salt pans without any drinking
water.

More densely populated areas

 There are a few number of villages on the southern and western edges of the
Okavango Delta, where fertile soils are used for arable farming.
 Maun is a tourist centre with a small airport for visitors who go see wildlife of
the delta.
 Eastern Botswana receives over 400 millimeters of rain a year. It also has
seasonal rives, which flow in the wet summers, so crops can be grown and cattle
raised. There is also access to water from boreholes.
 Areas with a population density of over 20 people per km square are only found
in the east, where the railway line, tarred road and nearness to the South
African border are important factors for stimulating trade and industry .
 Electricity is also produced in the east and most of the towns there are
connected to the transmission line.
 The areas around the capital Gaborone, and around the second largest
settlement, Francis town, are the most densely populated. Employment is
available in shops , offices and industry, such as abattoir at Lobatse.
 Diamond-mining towns, such as Orapa, are islands of denser population within
low-density areas.