Lecture 1 : Population

Factors affecting distribution and

density :
Physical factors :
1. Climate
- Latitude : More people are
found between 30N/S of the
equator as these are often
moderate climates with rain and
warmer temperatures
- Maritime/Continental : More
people are found at the
interface between coast and
continental areas b/c access to
food, communication etc.
2. Land
- Vegetation : Presence of
swamps, marshes, forests,
deserts discourage human
settlement e.g Amazon forests
- Soils : Areas with fertile soils
are more densely populated e.g
Nile region
3. Relief
- Altitude : Higher altitude =
lower atmospheric pressure and
oxygen content e.g 57% of
population lives below 200m
- Gradient : Steep slopes in
mountainous regions restrict
the availability of land for
agriculture, developments,
industries and economic
activities.
4. Site and Situation
- Naturally hazardous zones :
People avoid living in areas that
are EQ/typhoon-prone
Socio-economic factors :

1. Economic opportunities
- Areas with good communication
facilities and high technological
development tend to have a
higher population density
Political factors :
1. Government induced migration
- Governments may introduce
policies that aim to redistribute
populations from high density to
low density areas e.g
Indonesias transmigration
program
2. Forced migration
- People may be forced to move
due to wars, ethnic cleansing,
civil strife or terrorism etc.
Examples :
1. China had a population density
of 137 people per square km in
2007
2. Developed countries had a
population growth rate of 0.2%
while LDCs had a growth rate of
1.5% in 2008

Lecture 2 : Fertility
Total fertility rate : The average
number of children that would be
born alive to a woman during her
lifetime if she were to pass
through her child-bearing years.
Factors affecting fertility rates :
Biological factors :
1. Years in marriage

Marriages enables more stable

opportunities for sexual
activities. Hence the age where
women enter stable sexual
union determines the fertility.
Niger, 17.6 years old and TFR is
7.6
Singapore, 27.8 and TFR is 1.3

2. Patterns of sexual activity

- Women are sometimes forced to
have sexual activities with men
as in LDCs, women have lower
statuses than men
3. Length of breastfeeding
- Breastfeeding delays the return
of fertility and hence the longer
the breastfeeding, the lower the
TFR.
4. Use of contraception
- 63% of women use
contraceptives
- 75% in Europe, 8% in West
Africa
- Lack of access and choice,
religion and culture, lack of
education
5. In-vitro fertilization
- Test-tube babies, used for
women who marry later. 5m
babies born since 1978
6. Sterilisation
- Used as a form of birth control
as reproductive cells are
blocked
7. Induced abortion
- 21% pregnancies were aborted
in 2014, USA
Socio-economic factors :

1. Economic and social value of

children
- In LDCs, children are seen as a
marketable commodity esp. in
rural societies that rely on
agriculture. (about 18% of
children under 15 are engaged
in economic activity). Males are
also more valued that females.
- In DCs, economic cost of having
children is very high (Korean
household spends 12% of their
income on education of children
and cost of raising a child till
college is US$208k in Japan)

fertility. (Chinas one child policy

and Singapores Three Or More
If You Can Afford It)
2. Religious philosophy
- Some religious views are
against the use of
contraceptives and some are
against abortions.
Examples :
Niger : 7.6 TFR, 12% used
contraceptives
Pakistan : 3.5 TFR, 58% of illiterate
women had four or more births
South Korea : 1.19 TFR
Japan : 1.15 TFR

2. Womens status in education

- Higher female literacy = older
they enter marriage = lower
TFR
- Education brings greater career
aspirations and delays
marriage, and more knowledge
on family planning
- In LDCs, women have to bear
children to prove her worth.
3. Womens participation in
workforce
- In DCs, women may prefer to
focus on their careers first
before planning for marriage.
Thus, the age of marriage
increase and childbearing years
are shortened.
Institutional factors :
1. Government policies
- Governments may formulate
polices that either aid or hinder

Lecture 3 : Mortality
DCs : Generally low mortality levels
LDCs : Declining mortality but still
higher than DCs
Factors affecting mortality
1. Demographic factors :
1. Age
- Elderly and infants have higher
chances of death as their bodies
have lower resistance to
external threats
- In DCs, 2% of deaths from
children below 5, 65% from
elderly above 75

In LDCs, 50% of deaths from

children below 5, 5% from
elderly above 75
2. Sex
- Women tend to have a higher
average life expectancy than
men b/c women are biologically
superior to men body
structure more resistant to
diseases.
- Men are also more likely to be
employed in hazardous
occupations
- In DCs, women have more
education and in LDCs,
maternal mortality occurs
2. Medical technology :
1. Advancement in medical care
- Advanced healthcare is usually
limited to DCs only
- In LDCs, they lack advanced
healthcare due to poor medical
and transport infrastructures.
In Ethiopia, 1 doctor to 35,000
people.
- In DCs, people usually can
afford advanced healthcare and
hence they are concentrated in
DCs. In Singapore, 1 doctor to
520 people.
3. Public health measures
- Refers to all organized
measures to prevent disease,
promote health and prolong life.
1. Sanitation
- refers to maintenance of
hygienic conditions through
provision of facilities and

services for the safe disposal of

human waste.
- inadequate sanitation is a
major cause of disease
worldwide and generally there
is a higher level of sanitation in
DCs.
- In India where about 50% of
the people defecate in the open
2. Vaccination
- It is the key to lowering IMR as
it prevents infants from
contracting childhood diseases
- In LDCs, only 59% of children
in Nigeria have received
vaccination
4. Socio-economic changes :
1. Standard of living
- Socio-economic changes lead
to an improvement in SoL as
living conditions, diets and
healthcare is improved.
- However a high SoL in DCs
could mean that people are
more susceptible to
degenerative diseases.

4. Political factors :
1. Genocide
- An act that deliberately and
systematically destroys an
ethnic, religious or national
group

The Holocaust taken by the

Nazis in Germany in WW2 killed
6m Jews.
- The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia
between 1975 to 1979 and
killed ~2m Cambodians.
2. Wars
- During wars, men of military
age are most likely to be killed.
- In Scotland, the higher number
of older females are a result of
the higher rate of male
mortality during WW2.
5. Epidemics and Pandemics
- Epidemics are defined as a
rapid spread of disease in a
specific area or among a certain
population group
- Pandemics are defined as a
worldwide epidemic, occurring
over a wide geographic area
and affecting a large number of
people.
1. Epidemics
- Ebola virus in 2014 rampaged
parts of West Africa like Liberia
and took ~10,000 lives as of
2015. The areas that are the
most affected tend to be the
urban areas where people live
in close proximity, facilitating
the spread of disease quickly.
- SARS in 2003 killed ~900
people worldwide and
globalization had a large effect
on the spread of SARS as it
spread from China to Singapore
and others.
- Bird Flu in 2004 was largely
transmitted by bird droppings
and is considered a bird-toperson transmission.

2. Pandemics
- HIV/AIDS
- It is the 4th leading cause of
death worldwide and ~35m
people in 2013 are living with
HIV/AIDS.
- According to the World Health
Organisation, ~36m people
have died since 1981 and 1.6m
people died in 2012.
- Sub-Saharan Africa is the most
affected as every 1 in 20 people
live with HIV/AIDS and 69% of
the people with AIDS live in this
region
- 3.34m children worldwide are
living with HIV and most of
these children live in SubSaharan Africa.
- Despite the development of
possible drugs for treatment,
people in LDCs are unable to
afford the treatment as they are
long-term and expensive.

Lecture 4 : Migration
Migration is defined as the
movement of people from one
administrative area to another,
whether regionally or internationally,
usually involving a permanent change
of residence for at least one year.

Economic Impact on ORIGIN

POSITIVE
1. A means to reduce
joblessness
- Emigration helps to
alleviate this problem
- Also reduces pressure
on resources such as
food and houses

2. Remittance
- Refers to the money
migrants send back to
family and friends in
their home countries.
- Remittance can help
improve lives for

NEGATIVE
1. Brain Drain
- Lose their best talents
to rich countries
- Some 12% of
Mexicos labour force
is in the US but 30%
of the Mexicans with
PhDs are among
these migrants
- Jamaica in 2000,
there were nearly four
times more Jamaicans
with tertiary in the US
than at home

migrant households
especially if their SoL
is poorer
Official global
remittance credits
were US$600m in
2014

3. Returns with new

skills
- Migrants return with
more, or better skills
than they would have
acquired at home and
may be relevant to
the origin countrys
needs

Economic impact on DESTINATION

POSITIVE
1. Ease manpower
constrains and

NEGATIVE
1. Increased poverty
- Migrants work at low
wages and Americans

facilitate economic
growth
Low-skilled jobs (3Ds)
are being shunned by
locals
80% of new migrants
from Poland in UK are
working people
between 18 to 35 and
thus can ease
manpower constraints

2. Brain Gain
- Talent that were
drained from source
countries now
contribute greatly to a
countrys economy
- Migrants have
contributed ~1% of
UKs economic growth
in 2005 and 2006

Social impacts on ORIGIN

who are desperate for

work are expected to
draw the same
wages, leading to
increase poverty
Many companies are
also replacing
American labour with
cheaper Mexican
labour, increasing
unemployment

POSITIVE

NEGATIVE

1. Social hierarchies
may be changed
- Women would take on
new roles previously
took on by their
husbands, making
decision for the family
now

1. Family bonds
weakened
- When either parent
migrates elsewhere to
seek better
opportunities, social
bonds within families
may be weakened as
families live and grow
further apart
2. Changes in
population
structure
- There might be
gender imbalances as
there might be more
women than men left
in the source country,
thus altering the
population structure

Social impacts on DESTINATION

POSITIVE
1. Improve cultural
aspect of country
- When people migrate,
they bring along
certain cultural and
social aspects from
their own country and
introduce them into
the destination
- Mexican themed food
has become very
popular in America
such as Burritos and
Tacos

NEGATIVE
1. Increased social
tension
- Some locals may feel
like the migrants have
stolen their jobs
- Language barriers
may also be a
difficulty
- Many Mexicans
cannot speak fluent
English and this can
create tension
between Americans
and Mexicans