Question

Compare and contrast the impact of overpopulation and underpopulation

Answer 1

Answer:

The term ‘overpopulation’ means too great a population for a given region to support. There may be two causes: (i) population growth exceeds the existing resource base; (ii) existing resources have been depleted.

Some authors distinguish absolute overpopulation (where the absolute limit of production has been attained but standards of living remain low) from relative overpopulation (where present production does not support the population but the production can be augmented).

The situation of overpopulation displays the following socio-economic characteristics: high unemployment, low incomes, low standards of living, high population density, malnutrition and famine.