Concept of Population

Human population is a group of people occupying a certain geographical unit. OR it is the total number of people at a given place in a specific period of time.

Population Size

1. Refers to the total number of people living in a country.
2. It is obtained through a census.

Population Structure

1. Refers to the composition of a given population in terms of age and sex at a particular time.
2. Information is obtained through census, vital registration, or sample surveys.

Population Distribution

Refers to the way in which people are spread out across the Earth's surface.

Population Composition

Refers to the geographical makeup of persons in a given locality, which includes:

• Sex
• Age
• Marital status
• Education
• Occupation
• Income level
• Religion
• Ethnic group
• Race

Sex Ratio

Refers to the number of males per 1000 females in a given population.

Dependency Ratio

1. Refers to the part of the population that is not involved in productive activities.
2. Categories of Dependency Ratio:
   • Youth dependency ratio: Includes those who are under 15 years.
   • Old age dependency ratio: Includes those who are above 65 years.

1. It is unevenly distributed over the surface such that some areas have low density, others have medium density, and some areas have high-density population.
2. Population is dynamic in the sense that it is migratory as people move from one place either to another permanent or temporarily depending on the prevailing conditions.
3. Population has age-sex structure. This refers to the composition or proportion of population in terms of sex, age, occupation etc.
4. Population is characterized by variation in the level of development and technology.
5. Population usually faces problems like diseases such as HIV/AIDS, environmental calamities like famine, floods, earthquakes and environmental pollution.

1. It can encourage intensification of agricultural activities because of the reduction in the size of arable land.
2. The Government for Planning Public Services e.g. Schools, Hospitals, Markets, etc. uses the information obtained during the National Census.
3. Enable to know the age and sex in a country e.g. in Tanzania the number of females is higher than of male.
4. Enables the government to combat mortality rate which may lead to loss of manpower if not well managed.
5. Migration can lead to the expansion of market for the local goods in the destination regions.
6. Enables to know the number of labor skilled and unskilled.
7. It can stimulate the diffusion of technology into the destination from other areas the people who migrate possess different skills of different environmental orientations.
8. It can stimulate the growth of towns (urbanization) and the associated advantages.