POPULATION GROWTH RATE… THE BASICS

Population growth rates are small numbers, but they have large effects on population. To understand this, complete the following…

Fast Facts… know these!!!!!

Population Growth Rate Highlights

  • Population growth rates are much higher in most low- and middle-income countries than in most high-income countries.
  • Population growth rates have declined in low- and middle-income countries over the past few decades but remain high because birth rates have not fallen as rapidly as death rates.
  • There will be more than 1 billion more people in the world in 2015 than there were in 2000 (as population grows from about 6 billion to 7.1 billion), and six out of seven of these people will live in low- and middle-income countries.
  • Although the population growth rate for developing countries has been decreasing for several decades, the number of people added to the population each year has been increasing because the population base has become larger.
  • Countries that have a large proportion of their population in their childbearing years often experience population momentum. Even if couples have only enough children to replace themselves when they die, the population will continue to grow and will not stabilize until the younger group ages beyond their childbearing years.
  • Birth rates tend to fall when parents have access to family planning, health care, education and jobs.
  • Population growth can make it more difficult to raise standards of living in some countries and can put pressure on the environment.
  • Two of the most successful strategies for reducing fertility rates are providing greater access to primary health care and promoting education for girls and women.

From :

Effects of Population Growth

1. Why have death and birth rates declined world wide?

2. How might increasing urbanization affect environmental conditions in a country?

3. Why might educated women have fewer children?

4. Calculate the annual population growth rate for countries A, B, and C using the data provided and this formula…

PopulationPopulationAnnual

increase in at the startx 100 = population growth

a yearof the yearrate (%)

Population at start of year / Population at end of year / Population increase during year / Annual population growth rate (%)
Country A / 22,000,000 / 22,400,000
Country B / 8,500,000 / 8,800,000
Country C / 400,000,000 / 410,000,000

*** Average annual population growth rates for a period of years provide a better picture than annual or yearly rates.

5. Assume that the world population at the beginning of 2000 was about 6 billion.

If the projected 2000 annual population growth for the world was 1.1%, about how many more people would be added to the world by 2001?______

If the world growth rate was .2%, the same as the projected rate of the United Kingdom, how many more people would be added by 2001? ______

If the world growth rate was 1.7%, the same as the projected rate for Kenya, how many more people would be added by 2001? ______

6. Use the calculations and data in the table below to calculate the birth rates, death rates, and population growth rates for three countries and fill in the missing information.

Number of births/population x 100 = birth rate (%)

(%)

Number of deaths/population x 100 = death rate (%)

(%)

Birth rate – death rate = population growth rate (%)

(%) (%)

Births / Deaths / Population / Birth Rate / Death Rate / Growth Rate
Country A / 662,000 / 297,000 / 33,100,000
Country B / 411,000 / 191,800 / 27,400,000
Country C / 211,200 / 96,800 / 4,400,000

7. If a population growth rate is low, population is growing slowly. If it is high, population is growing rapidly. To understand what “slow” and “rapid” mean, it helps to look at how long it will take different countries growing at different rates to double their population, this is called doubling time. Go to

On the left side click on the Learning Module tab, and then go to Population Growth on left hand side under “social”. At the top in the gold boxes, click DATA. Click on the “All regions table”

Use the projected population data in column 2 of the Social Data table for 1998-2015 to calculate the population doubling time for the following countries…

To find the doubling time of a population at any given annual rate of growth, divide 72 by the annual percentage growth rate. For example if the annual growth rate of country X is 1.1% then 72/1.1, so the DT is about 65 years for country X.

  • Canada = ______
  • Chile = ______
  • Finland = ______
  • India = ______
  • Nigeria= ______
  • Your adopted country… ______= ______

8. Using the information for your adopted country from the web site above and from the World in Balance internet activity table, write a plan for your country. Detail the changes your country needs to make to deal with its growth in population in the number of years calculated for doubling time. Consider such issues as housing, health care, resources, food supplies, transportation, education, employment, and the environment. Do you think your country can handleits projected growth rate? Why or why not?This goes into your project folder!