Population Geography

The world's population is set to reach 8 billion people in the next few years. This is a huge figure and indicative of positive improvements in medicine and food distribution. People are living longer and healthier lives. That's a good thing! It also means greater governmental and societal coordination is required to keep up with population growth. Let's explore population geography as a study of this phenomenon and what kind of tools are at our disposal. Keep reading to find out more about the scope, importance, and more.

Introduction to Population Geography

The world's population has exploded over the last few centuries. This is attributed to major changes in healthcare, food, and lifestyle which provide opportunities for people to live longer and healthier lives. On a global scale, this leads to exponential population growth, the change in population size dependent on births and deaths. However, not every country experiences population growth—some populations are actually shrinking! So, how can some populations grow, others shrink, and yet we still have an expanding global population?

Population geography can help explain this phenomenon! Population geography is the study of human populations. This includes their distributions across the world, their density in certain areas, and their movements (migration). In other words, population geography provides explanations and methods for understanding where people are, why they may be there, why they're moving, and where they might go.

Scope of Population Geography

Population geography seeks to explain the patterns within the human population. The scope of study spans everything from the natural influences on changes to birth and death rates to the effects of migration patterns on population increases and decreases. By studying population changes at different scales—local, national, and global—population distribution is more easily understood. There are different graphs that explain population information. Population pyramids can visually illustrate a population's age and sex structure at a given time. They can also provide information on birth rates, death rates, and life expectancy, which is useful for predicting reproductive or aging rates.

Population changes are usually influenced by economic, cultural, political, or environmental circumstances. These influences can be explained by push and pull factors. Push factors motivate people to move away from a country due to political, economic, cultural, or environmental failures. A lack of skilled jobs, religious persecution, or a natural hazard such as a tsunami are all push factors. Pull factors motivate people to move to a country. Higher incomes, better education, or greater safety are examples of pull factors.

Importance of Population Geography

But why does population geography matter? With so many people (and more every day!), planning for enough resources (such as food, jobs, and infrastructure) is an essential component of government work. The importance of population geography depends on governments and associated entities informing themselves about the social composition of their societies to meet current needs and project future needs. The government has the power to oversee and implement different programs depending on the population's needs. They can promote economic growth through business-friendly practices, invest in educational facilities for children and young people, or expand social security benefits for elderly residents. All of these decisions largely depend on current and projected population demographics.

Population Geography and Demography

The study of population geography and demography began out of concern for the world's growing population. Before the 1800s, the world's population remained well below a billion. However, the Industrial Revolution, a period of major economic development in Great Britain and North America (1700s-1800s), led to greater production of goods and services, elevating the standard of living for people (i.e., lower death rates and longer life expectancy).

By the 1800s, the world population reached a billion people. Thomas Malthus, a controversial English economist, presented a theory on population growth that changed much of the study on population geography. The Malthusian theory states that the population grows geometrically (exponentially), while agricultural supply only grows arithmetically (linearly), hence the world's population will run out of food if population limits aren't set. This theory was put to the test during the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-1849 when a potato blight that destroyed potato crops throughout Europe hit Ireland. Mass starvation, the spread of disease, and a major social crisis were underway. In response, the English government justified its lack of intervention with Malthusian's theory that the Irish population should be controlled. As a result, around a million people died from the famine, while around 2 million migrated away, creating a major political contention between Ireland and the UK.

Fig. 2 - Population Change in Ireland 1841-1951

As improvements in medicine, technology, and agricultural production occurred, so too did the growth in the human population. Around 1960, the world hit 3 billion people, with further major increases every decade. In 2022, we're currently at almost 8 billion people in the world. Concerns over resource allocation (ex. food, housing) are top priorities for governments. Some countries have used policies targeting the control of local populations as a way of dealing with these concerns. Likewise, countries with a shrinking population must also address issues of a shrinking economy for the dependents (young and old people), which rely on a working population to fund schooling or retirement.

Population Policies

Historically, population policies (pronatalist and anti-natalist policies) serve as government regulations to address overpopulation or underpopulation. Overpopulation can be concerning for governments as it could put a strain on existing resources such as food and housing and can lead to social unrest. Anti-natalist policies are government policies that serve to discourage people from having children. Underpopulation, on the other hand, is concerning as most economic progress is dependent on a healthy working population. If people have fewer children, there will be a smaller working population in the future, creating concern over funding for schools or social security programs. Pronatalist policies are government policies that serve to encourage people to have children.

Fig. 3 - Ceramic painting promoting China's one-child policy in Xinhui, China

Relationship of Population Geography with Other Disciplines

The relationship between population geography and other disciplines is critical to understanding population geography. Population geography is largely tied to major economic, cultural, political, and environmental problems going on in the world. For instance, major economic recessions can lead to the collapse of some economies over others. Economies that are strongest tend to have greater migration patterns due to greater job opportunities (pull factor). Cultural or political persecution can drive people to migrate away from their countries (push factor). Environmental catastrophes can also push people out of their homes due to destruction or insecurity (push factor). It is therefore essential to study population geography in the context of major events that occur in the world.