Population!

1. Population! Class Opal

2. Aims • To learn the definitions of BR and DR • The be able to list the factors that influence the rates of population change • To be able to discuss each of the factors that influence the rates of population change

3. Key Definitions: • Birth Rate: The number of live births in one year per thousand of the population • Death Rate: The number of deaths in one year per thousand of the population If the BR > DR than we have a Natural Increase If the DR > BR than we have a Natural Decrease http://www.worldometers.info/

4. Factors that influence the rate of Population Change • Food Supplies • Health • Improved Technology • War • Education • The Role of Women in Society

5. 1. Food Supplies • Population of Germany increased rapidly at the beginning of the 19th Century when the ‘Agricultural Revolution’ resulted in improved food supplies • Population of Ireland decreased rapidly by the Great Famine of 1845-1849. Food supplies for the poor collapsed when the potato crop failed and other foodstuffs continued to be exported for profit • In recent times, food production increased steadily in some better-off developing countries such as Brazil. This is partly why Brazil’s population has more than trebled in the past fifty years

6. 2. Health • Over the past century, public health has improved in many parts of the world. This has been due to better food supplies, medicines and especially – clean water supplies. Deaths from easily curable diseases, such as measles, whooping cough and gastroenteritis (diarrhoea and vomiting) have declined as public health has improved. As death rates decline, populations grew.

7. 2. Health • In Ireland and Germany, medical and sanitary conditions began to improve greatly about a century ago. Population increased at that time • Some poor Brazilians do not have access to clean water. As a result, many children die of illnesses such as gastroenteritis. But improved public health and health education have reduced such deaths by more than half since 1970. Brazil’s population has risen as a result.

8. 3. Improved Technology • Some technology and machinery helps people to live longer and so causes population growth. Farm Machinessuch as tractors help to increase food supplies. Electric pumps and water treatment equipment improve water supplies and public health. Medical equipmentand life-saving drugs also help people to live longer. • Improved technology has helped to prolong life and to increase population growth in Ireland and Germany over the past century. Brazil is a country with a huge gap between rich and poor. The benefits of improved technology have therefore prolonged the lives of many but by no means all Brazilians.

9. 4. Education • Better Educational facilities often lead to lower birth rates. People who are literate (can read and write) are more likely to understand and take part in family planning schemes aimed at reducing birth rates. Educated women are more likely t work outside the home rather than have large families • In Germany and Ireland, education is compulsory and of a high standard. Many couples plan small families so that both men and women can have careers outside the home • Many poorer Brazilians, especially poorer women, receive little formal education and seldom have the option of pursuing a career. They tend instead to have large families.

10. 5. War • Wars reduce population. They cause the deaths of soldiers and civilians. They also reduce birth rates by separating husbands from their wives • Germany lost seven million people during the First and Second World Wars. These losses reduced Germany’s population. Thousands of Irish soldiers also died during the World Wars. • The settlement by Brazilians of large tracts of the Amazon Basin has resulted in the deaths of many defenceless forest people Although war was never pursued officially against the forest people, many were murdered by invading armed colonists from other parts of Brazil

11. 6. The Place of Women in Society • When women enjoy equality with men, they are empowered to make more decisions relating to their own lives and lifestyles. In general, as the decision-making power of women increaes, birth rates tend to decrease. • In countries such as Ireland and Germany, improved education and awareness of equality has resulted in general equality between males and females. Women can normally choose to use family planning and to work outside the home. This results in falling birth rates. Forty years ago, Irish mother shad an average of four children each. They now have an average of under two

13. 6. The Place of Women in Society • In Brazil, 13 per cent of women are illiterate and some are still tied to traditional roles of marrying young and having large families. This contributes to Brazil still having a higher birth rate than either Ireland or Germany. But Brazil’s birth rate has fallen rapidly in recent years, as more and more women are choosing to have fewer children.

14. Aims • To learn the definitions of BR and DR • The be able to list the factors that influence the rates of population change • To be able to discuss each of the factors that influence the rates of population change