Key Issue #2-Where has the World's Population Increased?

The levels of population change differ around the world. Some areas have decreasing populations caused by low birthrates and high deathrates while others have skyrocketing populations created by more births than deaths.

Natural Increase

Natural Increase is measured through examination of the Crude Birth Rate, Crude Death Rate, and Natural Increase Rate. The CBR is the number of live births per 1000 people. The CDR is the number of deaths for every 1000 people. The NIR measures the relationship between these annual values. Very small changes can have huge effects on the population of a country. Natural Increase Rates affect doubling time which shows how much time is needed to double a population. Almost 100% of the natural increase is in Low Developed Countries. Europe's natural population is declining and many other developed countries are merely sustaining (without taking immigration into effect).

Fertility



Fertility has a major influence over the CBR in a country. The number of babies that are born also has impacts on how a country will develop and how its population will be effected. Total Fertility Rate measures overall births in a society. It is the average number of children a woman in her childbearing years will have.

This graphs shows the development of the TFR in the United States and how it has changed over time

Mortality

Mortality is the opposite of fertility. It studies the amount of deaths that a society has and also focuses on certain aspects of the deaths. Some death rates are more meaningful than others when exploring the increasing population of an area.

• Infant Mortality Rate-Number of deaths of children under one year old compared to total live births. High rates exist in poor countries and is over 100 in some areas of Africa. The IMR reflects the quality of health care options in an area.

• Life Expectancy is the other major way to study mortality. It measures the average lifespan that a person can expect to live at current mortality levels. It follows similar patters as infant mortality, with more developed countries having higher life expectancies and vis versa.