UNIT 1

THE WORLD POPULATION

Demographic indicators:
- Birth rate: number of births per 1000 inhabitants.
- Death rate: number of deaths per 1000 inhabitants.
- Infant mortality rate: number of deaths of infants under one-year-old.
- Fertility rate: number of children a woman will have in her lifetime.
- Life expectancy: number of years a person is expected to live.

Until the 19th During the 19th During the 20th

Population explotion
Pre-industrial stage

century century Modern demographic regime century

Birth rate high Birth rate high The birth rate
Death rate high The death rate declined
Low life declined Low death rate
expectancy High natural Low rate of
increase natural increase

Migrations:
- Migration: movement of people within the same country or to a foreign country.
 Internal migrations: within different regions in the same country.
- Seasonal
- Rural to urban migrations
 International migrations:
- Continental: movements in the same continent
- Intercontinental: movement between different continents
- Causes:
 Economic and demographic: searching of better economic opportunities.
 Political and religious: escaping of conflicts, persecution, terrorism or human abuses.
 Environmental: floods, droughts, desertification, plagues…
 Social, cultural and psychological: study, seek more dynamic societies of better climates.
- Flows:
 Migration flows: migrants entering or leaving a country or region during a year.
 Main destinations: North America, European Union, South Africa and Australia.
- Consequences:
 For migrants: access to opportunities, adaption to the place, traditions and customs.
 For the country of origin: loss of working-age population, ageing population and
depopulation. A source of income.
 For the country of arriving: increase in the working-age population, rejuvenation of the
population and an increase on the fertility rate.
Differences between developed, emerging and led developed countries:
 Developed countries: low population growth, low birth and death rates and an ageing
population.
 Less developed countries: dynamic population, high birth and infant mortality rate and
ageing population.
 Emerging countries: birth rate has decrease a little bit and life expectancy has augmented.
They are still far from developed countries conditions.