Population, Migration and Settlement
Population, Migration and Settlement
This domain tests population change, demographic structure, migration flows and settlement patterns. Questions often require calculation, interpretation of pyramids and evaluation of migration or settlement change.
Core rules
- Birth rate and death rate are per 1,000 per year. Natural increase equals births minus deaths as a rate; migration can add or subtract.
- The demographic transition model shows changing birth and death rates with development, but it is not universal.
- Population pyramids show age-sex structure; dependency ratio equals young plus old divided by working-age, multiplied by 100.
- Migration involves push and pull factors, Lee's model, voluntary and forced flows, and internal, international, economic, social and environmental drivers.
- Settlement site is the local physical location; situation is the relationship to the surrounding area. Functions, hierarchy and central place theory explain patterns.
Worked example
A country has 30 births and 8 deaths per 1,000, and net migration of minus 2 per 1,000. Natural increase is 22 per 1,000; total growth is 20 per 1,000. If the population is 50 million, that is a net increase of 1.0 million. Reasoning: apply rates first, then adjust for migration; do not call natural increase the total change.
Traps
Do not confuse rate per 1,000 with percentage. Do not assume the demographic transition model fits every country. Do not treat all migration as voluntary. Do not confuse site and situation. Do not read a pyramid's shape as the current birth rate alone.