Action-Oriented Activity to Accompany Fouberg/ Human Geography: People, Place, and Culture, Canadian Edition

CHAPTER 4 Population: ACTION-ORIENTED ACTIVITY 1—Doubling Time

Introduction: In this chapter doubling time is defined as the time for a population to double in size. While doubling time may not be as big a concern at a global scale, at a regional and country scale it still is. To illustrate this, determine the doubling times of the population of the countries listed in the table below. Doubling time is calculated by the following equation: divide the growth rate into the number 70. For example, a growth rate of 3.5 percent represents a doubling time of 20 years (70/3.5).

After completing the table below answer the following questions:

Which countries’ or regions’ doubling time that surprised you?

Which regions had the highest doubling times?

What do you think the implications of these rapid doubling times are for the countries in this region?

Country / Population Growth Rate (%) / Doubling Time in Years
World
1.096%
North America
Canada / 0.784%
United States / 0.899%
Caribbean
Cuba / -0.115%
Dominican Republic / 1.305%
Haiti / 0.888%
Jamaica / 0.714%
Latin America
Argentina / 0.997%
Brazil / 1.102%
Columbia / 1.128%
Ecuador / 1.149%
El Salvador / 0.303%
Mexico / 1.086%
Europe
Belgium / 0.061%
Croatia / -0.092%
Czech Republic / -0.134%
Finland / 0.065%
France / 0.497%
Lithuania / -0.278%
Romania / -0.260%
Spain / 0.654%
Africa
Burkina Faso / 3.073%
Burundi / 3.104%
Kenya / 2.444%
Mozambique / 2.442%
Nigeria / 2.553%
Zimbabwe / 4.357%
Middle East
Egypt / 1.992%
Iraq / 2.345%
Israel / 1.541%
Qatar / 4.930%
Saudi Arabia / 1.523%
Yemen / 2.575%
Central and South Asia
Afghanistan / 2.220%
Bangladesh / 1.579%
Bhutan / 1.175%
India / 1.312%
Kyrgyzstan / 0.887%
Mongolia / 1.469%
Nepal / 1.768%
Uzbekistan / 0.940%
East and Southeast Asia
Burma (Myanmar) / 1.070%
China / 0.481%
Indonesia / 1.040%
Japan / -0.077%
North Korea / 0.535%
South Korea / 0.204%
Thailand / 0.543%
Vietnam / 1.054%
Oceania
Australia / 1.126%
Fiji / 0.766%
New Zealand / 0.863%
Papua New Guinea / 1.936%
Tonga / 0.192%
Micronesia / -0.343%