Class notes
Lecture notes environmental sciences
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- Environmental sciences
- Institution
- University Of Venda (UNIVEN)
Lecture notes of 28 pages for the course environmental sciences at UNIVEN (geographers)
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Faculty of Science, Engineering and AgricultureDepartment of Geography & Environmental Sciences
2024 GEO 1241 GLOSSARYOF TERMS
1. POPULATION
Age-Sex Pyramid (Population Pyramid): a series of horizontal bars that illustrate the
structure of a population. The horizontal bars represent different age categories, which are
placed on either side of a central vertical axis. Males are to the left of the axis, females to
the right.
Ageing Population: In the population structure of many MEDCs there is often a high
proportion of elderly people who have survived due to advances in nutrition and medical
care. This creates problems since these people do not work and must be provided with
pensions, medical care, social support, sheltered housing etc.
Birth Rate: The number of live births per 1000 people per year.
Bulge of Young Male Migrants: on a population pyramid; young males move to urban areas
due to push-pull factors.
Census: a counting of people by the government every ten years to gather data for planning
of schools, hospitals, etc. This is unreliable for several reasons.
Child Dependency ratio: the number of children in relation to the number of working
(economically active) population, usually expressed as a ratio.
Contraception: using birth control to stop pregnancy.
Counter-urbanisation movement of people in MEDCs away from urban areas to live in
smaller towns and villages (see de-urbanisation and urban-rural shift).
Death rate: the number of deaths per 1000 people per year.
Demographic transition: the change from high birth rates and death rates to low birth rates
and death rates.
Demographic Transition Model: diagram which shows the relationship between birth and
death rates and how changes in these affect the total population.
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,Dependency ratio: the ratio between those of working age and those of non-working age.
This is calculated as:
% pop aged 0 -14 + % pop aged 65+
x 100
% of population aged 15-65
Dependent Population: those who rely on the working population for support e.g., the
young and elderly.
Depopulation: the decline or reduction of population in an area.
De-urbanisation: the process in MEDCs by which an increasingly smaller percentage of a
country’s population lives in towns and cities, brought about by urban-rural migration.
(See Counter-Urbanisation and Urban-Rural Shift).
Dispersed Population Distribution: the opposite of a concentrated distribution; the
population may be spread evenly over a fertile farming area, rather than concentrated in an
urban centre. Dispersed population distributions tend to be of low density.
Distribution (of a population): where people are found and where they are not found.
Economic Migrant: person leaving her/his native country to seek better economic
opportunities (jobs) and so settle temporarily in another country.
Emigrant: someone who leaves an area to live elsewhere.
Ethnic Group: the group of people a person belongs to categorised by race, nationality,
language, religion, or culture.
Family Planning: using contraception to control the size of your family.
Gross National Product (GNP) per capita: the total value of goods produced, and services
provided by a country in a year, divided by the total number of people living in that country.
Guest-Worker Migration: people leaving their country to work in another land but not to
settle: the term is associated with unskilled/semi -skilled labour.
Immigrant: someone who moves into an area from elsewhere.
Infant Mortality: the number of babies dying before their first birthday per 1000 live births.
Life Expectancy: the average number of years a person born in a particular country might be
expected to live.
Literacy Rate: the proportion of the total population able to read and write.
Malnutrition: ill-health caused by a diet deficiency, either in amount (quantity) or balance
(quality).
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, Migrant: someone who moves from one place to another to live.
Migration: movement of people.
Natural Increase or Decrease: the difference between the birth rate and the death rate.
Additional effects of migration are not included.
Natural Population Change: the difference in number between those who are born and
those who die in a year. Additional effects of migration are not included.
Net Migration: the difference between the number of emigrants and the number of
immigrants.
New Commonwealth: the more recent members of Britain’s Commonwealth (ex-
Overpopulation: where there are too many people and not enough resources to support a
satisfactory quality of life.
Population Change: Births - Deaths + In-Migration - Out-Migration = Population Change.
Population Density: number of people per square kilometre.
Population Pyramid: a graph which shows the age and sex structure of a place.
Push-Pull Factors: push factors encourage or force people to leave a particular place; pull
factors are the economic and social attractions (real and imagined) offered by the location
to which people move (i.e., the things which attract someone to migrate to a place).
Quality of Life: things (e.g., housing) that affect your standard of living.
Racism: unfair, ridiculing, or threatening behaviour towards someone because oi their racial
group.
Refugees: people forced to move from where they live to another area.
Repatriation: a government policy of returning immigrants to their country of origin.
Rural Depopulation: people leaving the countryside usually to live in towns (i.e., rural-urban
migration).
Rural Population Structure: young males move to urban areas due to push-pull factors. This
creates a characteristic indentation in the 20-35 age group population structure.
Segregation: where immigrant groups such as Turks in Germany become increasingly
isolated in inner city areas, of poor housing (see ghetto).
Sparsely Populated: an area that has few people living in it.
Sterilisation: a method of contraception: in men an operation prevents sperm from being
released, and in women an operation stops the production of eggs.
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