why population in an developing country is more than population in developed country?
Answers
The population of a country is based on many factors. In this lesson, we will explore several important factors that differ between developed and developing countries.
Highly Developed & Developing CountriesImagine a big city in the United States and a small village in Ethiopia. What are some differences between these two locations? Some differences might include climate, population size, culture, and diet.
The economies of these two countries are one major characteristic that set them apart. The United States is considered a highly developed country, which is a general category for countries that are highly industrialized and have high per capita income levels. Ethiopia, on the other hand, would be considered a developing country, which is a general category for countries that have limited industrialization and have low per capita income levels.
Although highly developed and developing countries are often compared based on economy, they also vary a great deal in population characteristics. Some of the most commonly analyzed population characteristics include infant mortality rate, total fertility rate, replacement-level fertility, and age structure.
Infant Mortality RateUnfortunately, not all children that are born will survive, and the rate of survival can vary a great deal by the type of country. Infant mortality rate is the term used to describe the percentage of infants that die before the age of one year. Although sad, this statistic is very important because it influences the overall population growth rate, replacement-level fertility, and the age structure of the population.
The infant mortality rate varies a great deal between highly developed and developing countries. On average, developing countries have an infant mortality rate that is 18 times higher than the rate of developed countries. When comparing the ten most developed countries with the ten least developed countries, the infant mortality rate is daunting. The most developed countries have an infant mortality rate of less than 1%, while the least developed countries have an average infant mortality rate of around 10%. These differences in infant mortality rate are shocking, and the high rates are due mainly to limited access to medical care, poor sanitation, and increased prevalence of diseases.
Total Fertility RateOne of the most important population characteristics of a country has to do with births. The total fertility rate is the average number of offspring born to a woman in a population during her reproductive window. Now, you might ask yourself, what is a woman's reproductive window? The reproductive window is the period in a woman's life when she can physically become pregnant, starting with sexual maturity and ending with menopause.
In a world with unlimited resources and no problems, a woman could produce up to 25 offspring during her reproductive window. This would mean that her total fertility rate would be 25 children per lifetime. Although it is physically possible to produce 25 children per lifetime, the total fertility rate is often much lower.
In developing countries, the fertility rate ranges from between three and seven children per woman. On the other hand, the total fertility rate in developed countries is normally between one and three children per woman. In general, these differences in total fertility rates are due to varying levels of access to contraception and cultural practices.
Replacement-Level FertilityAnother important population characteristic that relates to births is replacement-level fertility. Replacement-level fertility is the fertility rate that will result in the replacement of the parents in the population. Again, in an ideal world, the human replacement-level fertility rate would be exactly two. This would mean that each couple would produce two offspring that would replace them in the population. If this occurred, then the human population would stay at a stable rate.
Of course, the world is not ideal and not all offspring that are born will survive to reproductive age and replace their parents. The replacement-level fertility rate is greatly impacted by the infant mortality rate. As we now know, the infant mortality rate is much higher in developing countries. As a result of this, the replacement-level fertility rate is also higher in developing countries than in developed countries.
On average, the replacement-level fertility rate is around 2.1 in developed countries. This value includes two children to replace the two parents and an additional 0.1 for the risk of a child dying before reaching reproductive age. For developing countries, this number is slightly higher, at around 2.6, with an additional 0.6 due to the higher risk of infant mortality
Request
Follow12
Have this question too? Request Answers:
Request From Quora
We will distribute this question to writers, and notify you about new answers.
Ramanan Rv
Ramanan Rv, studied Hindi at India
208 Answers in India
William Chao Chao
William Chao Chao, lives in Taichung, Taiwan
26 Answers in Population
Rahul Gupta
Rahul Gupta, lived in Wroclaw, Poland
19 Answers in India
Geetika MishraPreman TilsonSalman IqbalView More or Search
Can you answer this question?
Answer
5 ANSWERS
Sonal Batra
Sonal Batra, a little bit of everything
Written Apr 23, 2014
Thankyou for the A2A.
It is not a surprising fact that the population of developed countries has been on the way of becoming stable throughout the years whereas in the case of developing countries, it has not been so.
To illustrate the differences, I am focusing on the factors that apparently affect global population levels.
FERTILITY
The current growth of population is driven by fertility. Total fertility rate is a strong function of region. From the figure below, it can be readily seen that the more developed countries ("the North") have lower fertility rates than the less developed countries ("the South"). The fertility rates in the developed world are close to replacement levels (i.e., the population is roughly stable), while the rates in the developing world are much higher.
Global Total Fertility Rates, 1990-1995
Population-Age Pyramids
The figure below shows the population-age pyramid for the developed world and the bottom figure is for the developing world. The figure illustrates the pyramids for the years 1975 (pink) and 2000 (blue).
The population/age structure of the developed world represents that of a stable (or nearly stable) population. Here, the pyramid is more rectangular than for a rapidly growing population (bottom) where there is a much larger number of young people.
The bottom figure (typical for countries like Mexico, Malaysia, India, etc.) is more triangular and shows how a rapidly growing population is dominated by young people. The female side of the diagram is particularly important in understanding future growth. This is because fertility is largely controlled by the number of females in their reproductive years (roughly ages 15 - 40).
In the developing world, not only are there many females capable of reproduction, but there are many more young females who are of potential mothers. Thus, the shape of the population-age pyramid for the developing world indicates that the population will continue to grow aggressively for the near future as the cohort of fertile females gets larger each year, fed from the lower parts of the pyramid.
It takes many tens (perhaps hundreds) of years to steepen the slopes of the population-age pyramid. Such a steepening is essential before populations can become stable. Intensive efforts to control population have been implemented in various countries. In China, aggressive population control via a one-child family policy is bringing remarkable change to age structure and population size.
MORTALITY
Mortality, or the death rate per individual, is another determining factor of population growth. In the developing world, the death rate has dropped, more or less continuously, since the start of the industrial revolution. The following figure shows the slow, hard won, reduction in death rate in various European countries. Personal hygiene and improved methods of sanitation have played a major role and preceded the impact of modern medicine and, in particular, the development of antibiotics capable of reducing death due to infection. The downward trend of the death rate is common to most countries, although there are some countries (for example, Russia) where the death rate remains high and refuses to move appreciably.
The combination of decreasing death rate due to the march of progress in sanitation and medicine, coupled with the decrease in birth rate due to changes in the economies, has led to a profound change in the population growth curve in the developed world. This change is called the Demographic Transition.
Other general factors(however important) are education levels, rich-poor divide and awareness among the people.