How can population growth rate be negative when considering birth and death rates alone?
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
The rate of natural increase is the difference between birth and death rates. It measures the degree to which a population is growing. Since birth and death rates are measured as the number of births (or deaths) occurring per 1,000 population, the difference is divided by 10 to convert this rate into a percentage.
The sections listed below explore eight elements of population dynamics. Charts and graphs supplement each topic with one full-sized chart (in PDF) suitable for class distribution. Along with each topic are a frequently asked question and glossary terms. Teacher’s guides with discussion questions and web resources are also included in each section. For further investigation see also the most recent World Population Data Sheet.
Grade level: middle to high school
Time required: one week
Subjects: social studies, geography, and world history.
Change
Three Patterns of Population Change
Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects, The 2006 Revision.
TEACHERS GUIDE: DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What percentage of the population of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United States, and Germany are 0–4 years old?
Which of the three countries has the greatest proportion of people ages 65 and older?
Reading
How can the age-sex structure of a population help determine the needs of that population?
What does it mean to have a “young” or “old” population?
How can migration affect the shape of a pyramid?
What is “zero population growth”? Which pyramid represents this concept?
Data
The dependency ratio is a measure used to indicate the ratio of people in the “dependent” ages (under 15 and ages 65 and older) per 100 people in the “economically productive” ages (15–64 years of age). The formula for the dependency ratio is:
age dependency ratio
The age dependency ratio for the United States is shown below at 49.
age dependency ratio
This means that there were 49 people in the dependent ages for every 100 persons in the working ages.
Calculate the dependency ratios for Kenya, Germany, Brazil, and Japan. Compare the components of each of them.
Discussion
Discuss the implications of high or low dependency ratios for economic resources and development.