ZIMSEC O Level Geography Notes: Introduction to population growth, change and structure

  • There is a strong inter-relationship between birth rate, death rate, population growth, change and structure.
  • Birth rate is the number of live births per 1 000 of the population in one year.
  • \text{Crude Birth Rate}=\dfrac{Number\quad of \quad Live \quad Births \quad in \quad Year}{Total\quad Population \quad in \quad a \quad Country} \text{x} \dfrac{1000}{1}
  • The birth rate is affected by the fertility rate
  • Fertility rate is the number of children born to a woman of the child bearing age (15-49) expressed as a percentage
  • Fertility=\dfrac{\text{Number of Births}}{\text{Number of Women( 15-49 )}} \text{x}\dfrac{100}{1}
  • Crude death rate (CDR) is the number of deaths per 1 000 people per year.
  • \dfrac{\text{Number of Deaths in the Year}}{\text{Total Population in a Country}} \text{x} \dfrac{1000}{1}
  • Life expectancy is the average period which a person in a particular environment is expected to live.
  • The accuracy of the above rates can be improved if average population size is used instead
  • \text{Average Population} =\dfrac{Population_E + Population_A}{2}
  • Where:
  • Population_A is the Population at the beginning of the year and
  • Population_E is the Population at the end of the year

To access more topics go to the O Level Geography Notes page