1. Answer the following questions.
(i) Why are people considered a resource?
(ii) What are the causes for the uneven distribution of population in the world?
(iii) The world population has grown very rapidly. Why?
(iv) Discuss the role of any two factors influencing population change
(v) What is meant by population composition?
(vi) What are population pyramids? How do they help in understanding about the population of a country?
(i) Human beings, when imparted with proper knowledge, skills or technological know-how, can make the best use of natural resources by transforming physical material into a valuable resource. Therefore, people themselves are considered to be an important resource.
(ii) Certain social, geographical, cultural and economic factors affect the distribution of population in the world. Climatic conditions, flatness of land, soil fertility, fresh water availability and mineral resources are the geographical determinants. Housing, educational and health facilities, proximity to places of religious and cultural importance, presence of viable employment opportunities are the socio-economic determinants. The uneven distribution of these factors translates into the uneven distribution of population.
(iii) The death rate has gone down significantly in recent years as a result of abundant supply of food and improvement in medical facilities throughout the world. And even though the death rate has diminished significantly, birth rate has remained very high. As a result, world population has grown rapidly.
(iv) The rate of birth and death are the two most significant factors influencing population change. The birth rate is the number of live births per 1000 people. The death rate, on the other hand, is the number of deaths per 1000 people. When the former is greater than the latter, the population increases. On the flip side, when the death rate is higher than the birth rate, the population decreases. Finally, when the two rates are equal, the population remains at a constant.
(v) Population composition is the structure of the population of a particular region. It assists in finding out the number of males and females in the population, their age groups, education and technological know-how, occupations, health conditions, level of income, etc.
(vi) The population pyramid is a graphical illustration that is constructed for the purpose of studying the population composition of countries. It provides information about the number of males and females in the population and their precise age groups. The age group details help in determining the number of dependents and the economically active citizens present in the population.