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PSEB SS Geography practice questions

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Question 1Fundamentals of Human Geography

In population geography, which term describes the number of live births per 1,000 people in a population in a given year?

  1. Crude death rate
  2. Crude birth rate Correct answer.
  3. Natural increase rate
  4. Total fertility rate

Explanation

The crude birth rate (CBR) expresses live births in a year per 1,000 mid-year population, making it a simple ratio of births to total population. It is called 'crude' because it ignores age and sex structure. Total fertility rate instead estimates births per woman over her lifetime.

Question 2Fundamentals of Human Geography

A country's population grows from 50 million to 55 million in ten years. Approximately what is the annual rate of natural increase if net migration is negligible?

  1. 5 percent
  2. 0.5 percent
  3. 1 percent Correct answer.
  4. 10 percent

Explanation

A rise from 50 to 55 million is a 10 percent increase over ten years, which averages roughly 1 percent per year. Dividing the total growth by the number of years gives the annual rate. Net migration is excluded, so this approximates natural increase.

Question 3Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which stage of the demographic transition model is characterised by high birth rates and rapidly falling death rates, producing the fastest population growth?

  1. Stage 1
  2. Stage 3
  3. Stage 2 Correct answer.
  4. Stage 4

Explanation

In Stage 2, better food supply and health care cut death rates sharply while birth rates remain high, so natural increase peaks. Stage 1 has both rates high and roughly balanced. Stage 3 shows falling birth rates, and Stage 4 has low, stable rates.

Question 4Fundamentals of Human Geography

The dependency ratio is calculated by comparing which groups?

  1. Immigrants against native-born residents
  2. Urban residents against rural residents
  3. Economically dependent youth and elderly against the working-age population Correct answer.
  4. Males against females in the total population

Explanation

The dependency ratio relates the non-working population, usually those under 15 and over 64, to the working-age population aged 15 to 64. It indicates how many dependents each working person supports. Sex ratios and urban-rural splits measure different things.

Question 5Fundamentals of Human Geography

A country shows a broad-based population pyramid with a wide base tapering quickly toward the top. Which interpretation is most consistent with this shape?

  1. An ageing population with low birth rates
  2. High birth rates with high mortality across age groups Correct answer.
  3. A population dominated by elderly dependents
  4. A population with balanced births and deaths at all ages

Explanation

A wide base means many young children, indicating high fertility, while the sharp taper signals high death rates at younger ages. This pattern is typical of early-stage developing economies. Ageing populations produce narrow bases and wider tops instead.

Question 6Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which push factor most directly explains rural-to-urban migration in many developing countries?

  1. Mechanisation of agriculture reducing farm labour demand Correct answer.
  2. Availability of better schools in cities
  3. Access to improved urban health care
  4. Higher urban wage opportunities

Explanation

Push factors drive people away from their origin, and farm mechanisation reduces the labour needed in rural areas, displacing workers. Better schools, higher wages, and urban health care are pull factors that attract migrants to cities. Distinguishing push from pull is central to migration geography.

Question 7Fundamentals of Human Geography

What does the term 'refugee' mean under international usage?

  1. A person who crosses a border fearing persecution and is granted protection Correct answer.
  2. A person who travels abroad temporarily for tourism
  3. A person who moves within their own country for work
  4. A person who migrates voluntarily to seek higher wages

Explanation

A refugee is someone outside their country of nationality who cannot return because of a well-founded fear of persecution, and who is entitled to international protection. Economic migrants move voluntarily for work, and internal migrants stay within one country. Tourism is a temporary, non-migratory movement.

Question 8Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which statement best describes the difference between a nation and a state?

  1. A nation is a political-territorial unit, while a state is a cultural community
  2. A nation always corresponds exactly to one state's borders
  3. A nation is a cultural community sharing identity, while a state is a political-territorial unit Correct answer.
  4. A state refers only to a group sharing a common language

Explanation

A nation is a group bound by shared culture, history, or identity, whereas a state is a sovereign political entity with defined territory and government. A nation-state exists only where the two largely coincide. Many states contain several nations.

Question 9Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following is a primary economic activity?

  1. Providing banking services
  2. Manufacturing textiles in a factory
  3. Designing software for a firm
  4. Extracting fish from the sea Correct answer.

Explanation

Primary activities directly harvest or extract resources from the natural environment, such as fishing, farming, and mining. Manufacturing is secondary, while services and software design are tertiary or quaternary activities. The classification rests on how close the work is to raw nature.

Question 10Fundamentals of Human Geography

A settlement located where a river crosses a major transport route is best described as having which type of site advantage?

  1. An isolated resource frontier position
  2. A nodal location at a route intersection Correct answer.
  3. A coastal harbour advantage
  4. A defensive hilltop position

Explanation

A crossing point where transport routes intersect creates a node that concentrates trade and movement, favouring settlement growth. Defensive sites rely on height for protection, and harbour sites rely on sea access. An isolated frontier lacks the connectivity that a node provides.

Question 11Fundamentals of Human Geography

According to central place theory, what determines the size and spacing of settlements?

  1. The range and threshold of goods and services offered Correct answer.
  2. The distance of the settlement from the equator
  3. The ethnic composition of the surrounding population
  4. The average annual rainfall of the region

Explanation

Central place theory holds that settlements function as centres supplying goods to surrounding areas. The range a consumer will travel and the threshold population needed to sustain a service set the size and spacing of centres. Physical and demographic factors may modify patterns but are not the theory's core variables.

Question 12Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which measure of development adjusts national income for inequalities and gender gaps in health and education?

  1. Gross domestic product per capita
  2. The Gini coefficient
  3. The physical quality of life index
  4. The Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index Correct answer.

Explanation

The Inequality-adjusted HDI discounts the Human Development Index for unequal distribution of health, education, and income. GDP per capita ignores distribution entirely, and the Gini coefficient measures inequality alone rather than human development. The physical quality of life index uses literacy, infant mortality, and life expectancy without an inequality adjustment.

Question 13Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following is a characteristic of subsistence agriculture?

  1. Heavy reliance on chemical fertilisers and machinery
  2. Output is largely consumed by the farmer's own household Correct answer.
  3. Specialisation in a single cash crop for sale
  4. Production is aimed mainly at export markets

Explanation

Subsistence farming produces food primarily to feed the farming household, with little surplus for sale. Commercial farming, by contrast, targets markets and often uses machinery, fertilisers, and cash-crop specialisation. The distinction lies in the destination of the output.

Question 14Fundamentals of Human Geography

The Green Revolution in the mid-twentieth century was primarily associated with which change?

  1. Adoption of high-yielding crop varieties with irrigation and fertiliser Correct answer.
  2. A decline in the use of irrigation worldwide
  3. A shift from farming to factory employment
  4. The replacement of grain crops with plantation crops

Explanation

The Green Revolution introduced high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice, combined with irrigation, fertilisers, and pesticides, sharply raising yields in parts of Asia and Latin America. It did not move workers into factories or replace grains with plantation crops. Its dependence on inputs made irrigation more, not less, important.

Question 15Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which factor best explains the location of a bulk-gaining industry such as soft-drink bottling near its market?

  1. The raw materials are highly perishable and must be processed quickly
  2. The finished product weighs more than the inputs, raising transport costs if shipped far Correct answer.
  3. Government policy always requires bottling plants to be urban
  4. The industry requires a large supply of skilled engineers

Explanation

Bulk-gaining industries add weight or volume during production, so transporting the finished good costs more than moving the inputs. This pulls them toward the market to minimise delivery distance. Perishability of inputs suits bulk-reducing or processing industries near the source, not bottling.

Question 16Fundamentals of Human Geography

What does the term 'footloose industry' mean in industrial geography?

  1. An industry whose location is not tied to raw material sources or markets Correct answer.
  2. An industry that moves its factory each year
  3. An industry that must locate beside a coal field
  4. An industry that relies entirely on government subsidies

Explanation

Footloose industries, such as electronics assembly or software, face low transport costs relative to output value, so they are relatively free to choose locations based on labour, amenities, or policy. They are not bound to coalfields or markets. The term does not mean physically relocating annually.

Question 17Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following best describes a primate city?

  1. A city that is disproportionately larger than the second-largest city in its country Correct answer.
  2. A city with the highest population density in the world
  3. A city located exactly on the prime meridian
  4. A city that serves as the capital of two countries

Explanation

A primate city dominates its national urban system, often being more than twice the size of the next-largest city and concentrating political and economic functions. The concept concerns relative size within a country, not international status or geographic coordinates.

Question 18Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which process describes the outward spread of a city's population and economic activity into surrounding rural areas?

  1. Counter-urbanisation
  2. Gentrification
  3. Urban renewal
  4. Suburbanisation Correct answer.

Explanation

Suburbanisation is the growth of residential and commercial areas on the outskirts of a city, extending urban influence outward. Gentrification involves wealthier residents moving into and upgrading inner-city districts. Counter-urbanisation is movement away from urban areas altogether, often to small towns or rural regions.

Question 19Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following is a renewable resource?

  1. Natural gas
  2. Wind Correct answer.
  3. Petroleum
  4. Coal

Explanation

Renewable resources are replenished naturally on human timescales; wind is continuously generated by atmospheric processes. Coal, petroleum, and natural gas are fossil fuels formed over millions of years and are consumed far faster than they form, making them non-renewable.

Question 20Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which statement best explains why the environmental impact of resource extraction is often greater in developing countries?

  1. Weak regulation and dependence on primary exports can encourage rapid, low-cost extraction Correct answer.
  2. Extraction has no environmental effects anywhere
  3. Developed countries do not consume extracted resources
  4. Developing countries always have larger reserves than developed countries

Explanation

Where regulation is weak and economies depend on exporting raw materials, firms may extract quickly with fewer environmental safeguards. Reserves are not inherently larger in developing countries, and developed countries are major consumers. Extraction has environmental effects everywhere, so the claim of no impact is false.

Question 21Fundamentals of Human Geography

What is the primary purpose of a special economic zone (SEZ)?

  1. To attract investment and export production through special tax and regulatory rules Correct answer.
  2. To preserve traditional farming practices unchanged
  3. To restrict all foreign investment in a country
  4. To protect endangered wildlife within a defined area

Explanation

Special economic zones are designated areas with distinct tax, tariff, and regulatory arrangements intended to attract investment, often for export-oriented manufacturing. They are economic policy tools, not conservation areas. They generally liberalise rather than restrict foreign investment.

Question 22Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which term refers to the increasing interconnection of economies, cultures, and information across national borders?

  1. Isolationism
  2. Protectionism
  3. Autarky
  4. Globalisation Correct answer.

Explanation

Globalisation describes the growing flows of trade, capital, people, and information that link distant places. Isolationism, autarky, and protectionism all involve reducing external connections, which is the opposite of globalisation. The term encompasses economic and cultural dimensions.

Question 23Fundamentals of Human Geography

A country has a population of 20 million, of whom 12 million are aged 15 to 64. Approximately what is the dependency ratio?

  1. About 100 dependents per 100 working-age people
  2. About 67 dependents per 100 working-age people Correct answer.
  3. About 40 dependents per 100 working-age people
  4. About 150 dependents per 100 working-age people

Explanation

The dependent population is 20 minus 12, or 8 million, and the working-age group is 12 million. Dividing 8 by 12 gives about 0.67, or roughly 67 dependents per 100 working-age people. The ratio always uses the working-age population as the base.

Question 24Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following best describes transhumance?

  1. Cultivation of crops on terraced hillsides
  2. The annual migration of workers to harvest crops
  3. Permanent migration of farmers to cities
  4. Seasonal movement of livestock between highland and lowland pastures Correct answer.

Explanation

Transhumance is the regular seasonal movement of herders and their livestock between upland summer pastures and lowland winter pastures. It is a form of pastoralism, not permanent urban migration. Terrace farming and labour migration are separate practices.

Question 25Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following best illustrates the concept of a 'demographic dividend'?

  1. High death rates lower the total population
  2. A decline in birth rates reduces school enrolment
  3. A rapidly ageing population reduces the labour force
  4. A large working-age share of the population boosts output when jobs are available Correct answer.

Explanation

A demographic dividend arises when a country's age structure shifts so that working-age adults form a large share of the population, raising potential output if employment absorbs them. Ageing populations and high death rates reduce the labour force rather than creating a dividend. Lower birth rates alone do not guarantee a dividend.

Question 26Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following best defines the crude birth rate of a population?

  1. The number of live births per 1,000 people in a population in a given year Correct answer.
  2. The total number of births recorded in a country over a decade
  3. The number of live births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 49 in a given year
  4. The number of live births per 1,000 women of any age in a given year

Explanation

The crude birth rate relates live births to the whole population, usually expressed per 1,000 people per year. Because the denominator includes everyone, not only women of childbearing age, it is called 'crude'. This makes it easy to compute but sensitive to the age and sex structure of the population.

Question 27Fundamentals of Human Geography

A country's population pyramid has a broad base that narrows sharply toward the top. Which interpretation is most consistent with this shape?

  1. Low birth rates combined with very high life expectancy
  2. High birth rates combined with relatively low life expectancy Correct answer.
  3. A population dominated by elderly dependents
  4. A stable population with equal numbers in every age group

Explanation

A wide base shows that each new cohort is large, indicating high fertility. The rapid narrowing toward the top shows that fewer people survive into older age groups, pointing to lower life expectancy. Together these features are typical of many populations in earlier stages of demographic transition.

Question 28Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following is the best example of a pull factor in migration?

  1. A drought that destroys local harvests
  2. Political persecution in the migrant's home country
  3. Available jobs at higher wages in the destination region Correct answer.
  4. Famine in the migrant's home region

Explanation

Pull factors attract migrants toward a destination, and employment at better pay is a classic attraction. Push factors, by contrast, drive people away from their origin. Famine, persecution, and drought all act at the origin and therefore push people out rather than draw them in.

Question 29Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following describes a population in Stage 2 of the demographic transition model?

  1. Birth rates fall below death rates, producing natural decrease
  2. Birth rates remain high while death rates fall rapidly, producing fast growth Correct answer.
  3. Birth rates and death rates are both high and roughly balanced
  4. Birth rates and death rates are both low and roughly balanced

Explanation

In Stage 2, improvements in food supply, sanitation, and medicine lower death rates while fertility remains high. The gap between births and deaths widens, so the population grows rapidly. This pattern is often called the stage of early expanding population.

Question 30Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following is a cultural push factor that can drive migration?

  1. Better schools available abroad
  2. Higher wages in a neighbouring country
  3. A milder climate at the destination
  4. Religious persecution of a minority group Correct answer.

Explanation

Cultural push factors include persecution or discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, or language, which make life at the origin difficult. The other options describe attractions at the destination and are therefore pull factors. Migration theory separates conditions at the origin from attractions at the destination.

Question 31Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following is a characteristic of a dispersed rural settlement pattern?

  1. Farms scattered widely across the countryside, each near its own land Correct answer.
  2. Houses clustered tightly around a village green
  3. A nucleated village centred on a church and market
  4. A single linear row of houses along a road

Explanation

Dispersed settlement occurs where farms or homesteads are spread out, often in areas of plentiful land or pastoral farming. Each dwelling sits close to its own fields or pasture rather than grouping with others. Clustered and linear forms, by contrast, concentrate buildings.

Question 32Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following best describes a nation-state?

  1. A colony governed from a distant capital
  2. An empire ruled by a monarch over several peoples
  3. A state that contains many nations within one set of borders
  4. A state whose borders coincide closely with the territory of a single nation Correct answer.

Explanation

A nation-state exists where the political unit and the cultural nation largely coincide, so citizens share a common identity and territory. Many modern states are multinational rather than true nation-states. The concept is an ideal type rather than a perfect description of every country.

Question 33Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following is an example of an intensive subsistence farming practice?

  1. Plantation production of tea for export
  2. Commercial wheat farming on large mechanised farms
  3. Wet-rice cultivation using large amounts of labour on small plots Correct answer.
  4. Nomadic herding of reindeer across the tundra

Explanation

Intensive subsistence farming uses high inputs of labour on small holdings to feed the farmer's household. Wet-rice cultivation is the classic example, since it demands careful transplanting, watering, and harvesting by hand. The other options involve either extensive land use or commercial export production.

Question 34Fundamentals of Human Geography

A country has a total fertility rate of about 1.4, well below the replacement level of roughly 2.1. What is the most likely long-term consequence if this rate persists?

  1. A sudden rise in the death rate among infants
  2. Rapid natural increase and a youthful population
  3. An ageing population and eventual natural decrease Correct answer.
  4. Immediate collapse of the agricultural workforce

Explanation

Sustained fertility below replacement shrinks each new cohort, so the population ages and eventually declines naturally. The share of elderly dependents rises while the working-age base narrows. This pattern is visible in several European and East Asian countries.

Question 35Fundamentals of Human Geography

A government wants to reduce a very high population growth rate. Which measure would most directly address the demographic cause of rapid growth?

  1. Building more highways between major cities
  2. Increasing subsidies for large families
  3. Encouraging immigration from neighbouring countries
  4. Expanding family planning services and female education Correct answer.

Explanation

Rapid growth stems from high fertility, so measures that lower fertility address the direct cause. Family planning gives people control over births, and girls' education is strongly linked to later marriage and smaller families. Infrastructure or pro-natalist subsidies do not reduce the birth rate.

Question 36Fundamentals of Human Geography

In the demographic transition model, which change typically causes the death rate to fall first in Stage 2?

  1. A sharp fall in the birth rate
  2. Large-scale emigration to other countries
  3. A rise in the average age at marriage
  4. Improvements in sanitation, medicine, and food supply Correct answer.

Explanation

Death rates fall first because better sanitation, medical care, and food supply reduce mortality across all ages. Fertility usually remains high for some time, which is why the population grows quickly. Birth-rate decline generally follows later, in Stage 3.

Question 37Fundamentals of Human Geography

A city has grown rapidly and its inner districts now suffer from congestion, high rents, and decayed housing. Which process is most likely to follow in a market economy?

  1. Counter-urbanisation as people and firms move to outer areas and smaller towns Correct answer.
  2. Complete replacement of housing by heavy industry
  3. Immediate decline of the entire urban region's population to zero
  4. A return to subsistence farming within the inner city

Explanation

When inner-city problems raise costs and reduce quality of life, households and businesses often relocate outward, a process called counter-urbanisation or decentralisation. Improved transport and cheaper land on the fringe encourage this shift. The result is population loss from the core and growth at the edges.

Question 38Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following best explains why many manufacturing firms locate near raw materials rather than near markets?

  1. The finished product is heavier or bulkier than the raw material
  2. The raw material loses weight during processing, so processing near the source saves transport cost Correct answer.
  3. Government rules forbid factories near cities
  4. Labour costs are always lower near mines and quarries

Explanation

Weight-losing or bulk-reducing industries process materials that become lighter, so transporting the finished good is cheaper than transporting the raw input. Such firms therefore favour locations near the material source. This is the classic material-oriented location principle.

Question 39Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following describes a subsistence economy's main characteristic?

  1. Production is mainly for direct use by the producers themselves Correct answer.
  2. Production is organised by multinational corporations
  3. Production relies on advanced automation and robotics
  4. Production is mainly for sale in distant export markets

Explanation

In a subsistence economy, people produce goods mainly to meet their own needs rather than to sell. Exchange is limited and much output is consumed by the household or community. Commercial, export-oriented, and highly mechanised production belong to market economies.

Question 40Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following is an example of a secondary economic activity?

  1. Smelting iron ore into steel Correct answer.
  2. Selling steel products in a retail shop
  3. Extracting iron ore from a mine
  4. Designing a marketing campaign for a steel firm

Explanation

Secondary activities process raw materials into manufactured goods, and smelting ore into steel is a manufacturing process. Mining is primary because it extracts raw material from nature. Retailing and marketing are tertiary or quaternary services.

Question 41Fundamentals of Human Geography

A country's workforce is shifting from agriculture to manufacturing and services. Which change is most likely to accompany this shift?

  1. A return to barter as the main form of exchange
  2. A rising share of employment in agriculture and a falling share in services
  3. A rising share of employment in services and a falling share in agriculture Correct answer.
  4. A total disappearance of manufacturing employment

Explanation

As economies develop, labour moves out of agriculture into industry and later into services, following differences in productivity and demand. This structural change is a standard feature of economic development. The result is a rising service share and a declining agricultural share.

Question 42Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following best describes a 'cultural hearth' in human geography?

  1. A protected area where traditional farming is preserved
  2. A border zone where two languages meet
  3. A region where a major cultural tradition originated and from which it spread Correct answer.
  4. A city with the largest population in a country

Explanation

A cultural hearth is a source region where important ideas, technologies, or belief systems first developed and then diffused outward. Examples include early river-valley civilisations. The concept links cultural origins to the spread of traits across space.

Question 43Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following best describes the process of relocation diffusion?

  1. A trait spreads from a central node outward in all directions
  2. A trait spreads through a hierarchy of settlements from large to small
  3. A trait spreads as people move and carry it to a new place Correct answer.
  4. A trait spreads rapidly through electronic media across the world

Explanation

Relocation diffusion occurs when migrants carry a cultural trait with them to a new area. The trait moves with people rather than through contact alone. Expansion diffusion, by contrast, spreads a trait while it remains in its origin.

Question 44Fundamentals of Human Geography

A firm manufactures bulky furniture and sells mainly to customers in one metropolitan region. Which location principle best applies?

  1. Locate in a remote area to avoid competition
  2. Locate near the raw material source to reduce input transport costs
  3. Locate near the market because the finished product is bulky and costly to ship Correct answer.
  4. Locate wherever land prices are highest

Explanation

Bulky finished goods are expensive to transport relative to their value, so such firms favour sites close to their customers. This is a market-oriented or weight-gaining location pattern. Being near buyers reduces the cost and difficulty of delivery.

Question 45Fundamentals of Human Geography

Which of the following is the best example of a quaternary economic activity?

  1. Research and development of new software algorithms Correct answer.
  2. Transporting goods by truck between cities
  3. Assembly of cars on a factory line
  4. Growing vegetables for local sale

Explanation

Quaternary activities involve the creation and handling of knowledge and information, such as research, design, and data analysis. They are distinguished from tertiary services by their focus on specialised expertise. Assembly, farming, and trucking belong to other sectors.

Question 46Fundamentals of Human Geography

A country has a very high proportion of its population under 15 and a low proportion over 65. Which policy challenge is most likely to arise?

  1. A shortage of workers to staff schools
  2. Rising pension costs for the elderly
  3. A declining demand for housing
  4. Pressure to provide schools and child health services Correct answer.

Explanation

A youthful age structure raises demand for education, childcare, and child health services. The dependency burden falls on a relatively small working-age population. Pension costs and elderly care are less pressing when the elderly share is low.

Question 47Fundamentals of Human Geography

A government plans to build a new town to relieve pressure on an overcrowded capital. Which location principle would planners most likely apply?

  1. Place the new town in the crowded central business district
  2. Place the new town in an area with no road or rail access
  3. Place the new town on cheap land beyond a green belt with good transport links to the capital Correct answer.
  4. Place the new town on the most expensive land available

Explanation

New towns are typically sited beyond a green belt where land is cheaper and can be developed at scale. Good transport links allow residents to reach jobs and services in the capital. This combination relieves congestion while keeping the new town connected.

Question 48Fundamentals of Human Geography

A country's population is ageing rapidly while its birth rate stays low. Which combination of policies would most directly address the resulting labour shortage?

  1. Encouraging early retirement and reducing female participation
  2. Raising the retirement age and encouraging skilled immigration Correct answer.
  3. Lowering the retirement age and restricting immigration
  4. Cutting spending on health care and education

Explanation

An ageing population shrinks the working-age share, so extending working lives and admitting skilled migrants directly expand the labour supply. Both measures target the shortfall without reversing the demographic trend. They are common responses in countries with low fertility.

Question 49Fundamentals of Human Geography

Two regions have similar populations, but one has a much higher dependency ratio. Which conclusion is best supported?

  1. The region with the higher ratio has more workers per dependent
  2. The region with the higher ratio must have a higher total population
  3. The region with the higher ratio has a larger share of dependents relative to its working-age population Correct answer.
  4. The region with the higher ratio must have a lower death rate

Explanation

The dependency ratio compares dependents, usually those under 15 and over 64, with the working-age population. A higher ratio means more dependents per worker, which raises the burden on those in work. It does not by itself indicate total population size or mortality.

Question 50Fundamentals of Human Geography

A manufacturing region loses its main industry and many workers leave. Which sequence best describes the likely economic and social change?

  1. Rising unemployment, out-migration of young workers, and ageing of the remaining population Correct answer.
  2. Immediate shift of all workers into agriculture
  3. Falling unemployment and a sharp rise in the birth rate
  4. Rising employment, in-migration of young workers, and rapid population growth

Explanation

Deindustrialisation removes jobs, raising unemployment and prompting young people to leave in search of work. Those who remain skew older, which further reduces demand and tax revenue. This downward spiral is a common feature of declining industrial regions.