Human Geography: Population, Settlement and Economic Change
Human Geography tests population dynamics, settlement patterns and economic change, usually through data interpretation and model application.
Core concepts
- Demographic Transition Model: Stage 1 high birth and death rates; Stage 2 death rate falls and population grows fastest; Stage 3 birth rate falls; Stage 4 low stationary; Stage 5 is debated, with very low fertility and ageing.
- Population pyramid shape reveals dependency ratio: (under 15 + over 64) ÷ working-age 15–64 × 100. A youthful pyramid implies high dependency and pressure on schools and health services.
- Settlement: site factors (water, defence, relief, fuel) explain original location; situation factors (route focus, bridging point, market) explain growth. Burgess (concentric zones) and Hoyt (sectors) are idealisations.
- Economic activity: primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary. Clark–Fisher predicts sector shift with development, but outsourcing and resource booms can distort it.
- Culture: language and religion diffuse by relocation (migration) and expansion (contagious, hierarchical, stimulus).
Worked example
A country has 42% under 15, 54% aged 15–64 and 4% over 64. Dependency ratio = (42 + 4) ÷ 54 × 100 = 85.2 dependants per 100 workers. That is high; expect investment in schools and maternal health, and later a demographic dividend if fertility falls and jobs are created.
Traps
Natural increase excludes migration; population growth rate includes net migration. Do not call a settlement's defensive hill its situation-that is site. Do not assume all low-income countries are in Stage 2; many are in Stage 3.
Key points
- Dependency ratio = (under 15 + over 64) ÷ 15–64 × 100.
- Natural increase excludes migration; growth rate includes it.
- Site explains origin; situation explains growth.
- Clark–Fisher predicts a shift from primary to tertiary activity with development.
- Relocation diffusion follows migration; expansion diffusion spreads through populations.