About

• The population growth or population change refers to the change in number of inhabitants of  a territory during a specific period of time.
• This change may be positive as well as negative.
• It can be expressed either in terms of absolute numbers or in terms of percentage.
• Population change in an area is an important indicator of economic development, social upliftment and historical and cultural background of the region.

Natural Growth of Population-

• This is the population increased by difference between births and deaths in a particular region between two points of time.
• Natural Growth = Births – Deaths

Actual Growth of Population-

• This = Births – Deaths + In Migration – Out Migration

Components of Population Change

• There are three components of population change – births, deaths and migration.
• The crude birth rate (CBR) is expressed as number of live births in a year per thousand of population. It is calculated as:
• Crude Death Rate (CDR) is a simple method of measuring mortality of any area.
• CDR is expressed in terms of number of deaths in a particular year per thousand of population in a particular region

Migration

• When people move from one place to another, the place they move from is called the Place of Origin and the place they move to is called the Place of Destination.
• Migration may be interpreted as a spontaneous effort to achieve a better balance between population and resources.
• Migration may be permanent, temporary or seasonal.
• It may take place from rural to rural areas, rural to urban areas, urban to urban areas and urban to rural areas.
• Immigration: Migrants who move into a new place are called Immigrants.
• Emigration: Migrants who move out of a place are called Emigrants.
• People migrate for a better economic and social life. There are two sets of factors that influence migration.
• The Push factors make the place of origin seem less attractive for reasons like unemployment, poor living conditions, political turmoil, unpleasant climate, natural disasters, epidemics and socio-economic backwardness.
• The Pull factors make the place of destination seem more attractive than the place of origin for reasons like better job opportunities and living conditions, peace and stability, security of life and property and pleasant climate

Impact Of Population Change

• A small increase in population is desirable in a growing economy.
• Depletion of resources is the most serious problem.
• Population decline indicates that resources that had supported a population earlier are now insufficient to maintain the population.
• The deadly HIV/AIDS epidemics in Africa and some parts of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Asia have pushed up death rates and reduced average life expectancy.
• This has slowed down population growth

Demographic Transition

• The theory tells us that the population of any region changes from high births and high deaths to low births and low deaths as society progresses from rural agrarian and illiterate to urban industrial and literate society.
• These changes occur in stages which are collectively known as the demographic cycle.

Three-Staged Model Of Demographic Transition Theory-

1. The first stage

• Has high fertility and high mortality because people reproduce more to compensate for the deaths due to epidemics and variable food supply.
• The population growth is slow and most of the people are engaged in agriculture where large families are an asset.
• Life expectancy is low; people are mostly illiterate and have low levels of technology. Two hundred years ago all the countries of the world were in this stage.

2. Second stage

• Fertility remains high in the beginning of but it declines with time. This is‘2 accompanied by reduced mortality rate.
• Improvements in sanitation and health conditions lead to decline in mortality. Because of this gap the net addition to population is high.

3. Last stage

• Both fertility and mortality decline considerably.
• The population is either stable or grows slowly.
• The population becomes urbanised, literate and has high technical know- how and deliberately controls the family size.

Population Control Measures

• Family planning is the spacing or preventing the birth of children.
• Access to family planning services is a significant factor in limiting population growth and improving women‘s health.
• Propaganda, free availability of contraceptives and tax disincentives for large families are some of the measures which can help population control.
• Thomas Malthus in his theory (1793) stated that the number of people would increase faster than the food supply.
• Any further increase would result in a population crash caused by famine, disease and war.
• The preventive checks are better than the physical checks. For the sustainability of our resources.