1 Today, about 6 billion people live on our earth. Each year, the world s population grows by about 80 million. If it continues to grow at such a rate the world s population will reach 9 billion by the year 2035. from the Beginnings to the Present Human beings have been living on earth for over a million years, but for a long time there were not very many of them. The world s population was never higher than 10 million. People died quickly because they didn t have enough food to eat. Early inhabitants were mostly hunters and fishers. Some of them gathered berries from wild plants. After people started growing crops and raising animals they had more food and lived longer. When Jesus Christ was born about 2,000 years ago about 300 million people inhabited the earth. During the next 1500 years the population of the world grew very slowly. Many people died of illnesses and plagues. The Black Death, which sailors brought to Europe from Asia, killed about a third of the European population in the Middle Ages. The Industrial Revolution, which began in the middle of the 18th century, started a period of rapid population growth, especially in Europe. Farmers were able to grow more and more food because they had machines to work with. New kinds of medicine helped to fight off many diseases that had killed millions of people in the centuries before. Humans 6 5 4 3 2 1 population in billions 0 A.D 0 500 1000 1500 1750 2000 A.D. = the year when Jesus Christ was born berry = small soft fruit billion = one thousand million continue = go on crop =a plant that farmers grow and use as food especially =above all fight off =to keep away gather = collect growth =if something gets bigger or larger human beings = people illness = disease inhabit =to live in a place inhabitants = same as population period = age, time plague = a disease that spreads very fast and kills many people population = the number of people living in a place present =now, at this time rapid = fast rate = speed raise animals = to look after them and then sell them as food reach = get to
2 also lived longer because they had cleaner drinking water. Birth rates started to go up because families had many children. More babies than ever before survived the first few years of childhood. The one billion mark was reached in the early 1800s. In the next one hundred years the population doubled to 2 billion, and in 1960 there were 3 billion people living on earth. The second half of the 20th century brought along some change : In Europe, North America, Japan and Australia the birth rate dropped because families wanted to have fewer children. Population growth in these areas slowed down. The 10 most populous countries in the world (2005) China 1,300,000,000 India 1,100,000,000 United States 295,000,000 Indonesia 241,000,000 Brazil 186,000,000 Pakistan 162,000,000 Bangladesh 144,000,000 In the developing countries of Asia and Africa birth rates stayed high and better medical help in these regions lowered the death rates. That is why these countries are growing very rapidly. Russia Nigeria 143,000,000 128,000,000 Japan 127,000,000 In the last 30 years the world s population has doubled. The fastest growing region, Africa, has a growth rate of 2.8 %, the slowest growing region, Europe, about 0.3 %. On average, the world s population is growing at a rate of 1.5 % per year. Europe 12 % Asia 61 % North America 5 % Continents' share of world population Africa 13 % South America 8.5 % Australia 0.5 % average= usually, normally billion = one thousand million birth rate = shows how many babies are born for every 1,000 people in a year childhood = the time when you are a child developing countries = poor countries of the Third World double = to become twice as big or twice as much drop = go down fewer =less, a smaller amount growth =if something gets bigger or larger lower =drop fall mark =number population = the number of people living in a place populous =many people live in an area rapid = fast rate = speed slow down = to become slower survive =to live on
3 Population Density Population density tells us how many people live on one square kilometre of land. The world s population is not spread evenly over the continents. Asia and Europe are the most densely populated continents. Many other areas of the world, like deserts, polar regions or high mountains are very sparsely,or not at all populated. About 90 %of the earth s people live on only 10 % of the land. Most of them live north of the equator because two thirds of the earth s landmasses are there. Many people also live near coastal regions. In China, for example, 80 % of the country s inhabitants live in the eastern part of the country near the coast. In South America, most people live in the big cities, which all lie in coastal areas. There are many reasons why people live in certain places. Areas with moderate temperatures and enough rainfall are densely populated, because people find good farming conditions there. Raw materials also attract groups of people. North-western Germany and parts of England are densely populated because coal is mined there. Economic reasons also play an important role in choosing where to live. People go to places where they can find jobs and where the economy is strong. The world's densely populated areas attract = to make interested certain =special coastal regions = places where land meets the sea conditions =situation dense =crowded, with many people in one place density =the number of people that live in a certain place economic =about the economy economy =the buying and selling of things evenly =divided equally inhabitants = same as "population landmass = large areas of land mine = to get coal or other things from the ground moderate = not too hot and not too cold populated =people living in a place population = the number of people living in a place raw material = things that exist in nature and can be used by people ; like coal, oil or wood sparsely = opposite of densely spread =distribute square kilometre =one kilometre in four directions
4 Population pyramids Population pyramids tell us how many people there are in a certain age group as well as the number of men and women in these groups. There are three different types of pyramids: 1. Countries with a fast growing population These pyramids show a strong base and a very narrow top. Birth rates are high and there many children and young people. People also die earlier than in Europe or North America. 2. Countries with zero growth The number of births reached its peak during the baby boom of the 1950s and 60s. Since then the birth rate has been constant. 3. Counties with declining population Many European countries, including Germany and Austria have such a population structure. Families are having fewer children and the death rate is sometimes higher than the birth rate. The baby boomers of the past century are getting older and older, which leads to many pensioners. These countries can only grow if they have enough immigrants who come to live and work there. Such pyramids also can tell governments which problems they will be facing in the future. Countries, in which more than half of the population is under 18, will need more and more schools and later on enough jobs to give all citizens work. Countries with a declining population have a high number of older people. They don t have enough young workers to pay the pension for these people when they retire. Such countries need more hospitals and old people s homes to care for their elderly citizens. Almost all pyramids show that, although more boys are born than girls, there are more older women than men. This is, partly, because women live longer than men 3 to 5 years on average. although =while average =normally, usually baby boomer = person born between the end of World War II and the middle of the 1960s base = the lowest part of the pyramid birth =the time at which a baby is born birth rate = shows how many babies are born for every 1,000 people in a year care = to look after someone century = a hundred years certain =special citizen = a person who lives in a country and has rights there death rate = shows the number of deaths for every 1,000 people in a year declining = going down elderly = old face =here: have fewer =less, a smaller number government =the people who rule a country immigrant = a person who goes to another country to live and work there including =also. together with narrow =not wide, thin old people s homes =buildings where old people stay; nurses and others take care of them and feed them partly=somewhat, in part peak = highest point pension = the money that you get from the government if you are too old to work pensioner = someone who does not work anymore because he is too old. He gets money from the state. population = the number of people living in a place reach = get to retire = to stop working because you are too old top = the highest part of the pyramid zero growth = if something does not grow any more
5 Countries with a fast growing population : Example : Kenya Countries without growth : Example : United States Countries with a declining population : Example : Germany declining =going down female =relating to a woman growth =how something grows or gets bigger male =relating to a man
6 Countries with high birth rates births per 1,000 people (yearly) Niger 51 Mali 49 Uganda 47 Afghanistan 47 Chad 46 Countries with low birth rates births per 1,000 people (yearly) Hong Kong 7.2 Germany 8.3 Ukraine 8.6 Austria 8.8 Italy 8.9 Countries with high death rates deaths per 1,000 people (yearly) Botswana 29 Angola 24 Liberia 23 Zimbabwe 21 South Africa 21 Countries with low death rates deaths per 1,000 people (yearly) Singapore 4 Iceland 6 China 6 Australia 7 Canada 7 Countries with high infant mortality deaths per 1,000 births (yearly) Angola 187 Afghanistan 163 Liberia 161 Niger 119 Somalia 116 birth rate = shows how many babies are born for every 1,000 people in a year death rate = shows the number of deaths for every 1,000 people in a year infant mortality =the number of babies that die before they are one year old, based on one thousand births
7 China In 1979 the Chinese government started its one child policy because the population of the country was growing too fast. A married couple was only allowed to have one child. If families followed this government plan they would get free education, health care and money for their only child. However, families that had two or more children were punished. They had to pay for everything themselves and got no help from the government. They even had to pay more tax. Population in China in millions 1950 550 1960 682 1970 825 To help control population growth, China allowed women to have free abortions and gave them birth control pills for free. The government s plan also caused many problems for China. Parents often wanted to have a boy instead of a girl in order to carry on the family name. As a result female babies were often left on the streets by 1980 1990 2000 2010 981 1130 1265 1374 their mothers and some were even killed. 90 % of unborn babies that are aborted are female. In the last 25 years China s population growth has slowed down. Without the onechild policy there would probably be about 300 million more people living in China today. The law worked mostly in cities, where the government had more control over the people. In the countryside where a lot of poor farmers and minorities lived, the laws were not so strict. People were not punished for having two or more children. abortion = an operation that kills an unborn baby birth control pill = a pill that you take so that you cannot get a baby carry on =keep cause =lead to, to be the reason for female =relating to a woman follow = to do what the government says government =the people who rule a country growth =how something grows or gets bigger health care =the system that looks after the health of all people in a country however =but law =the rules that a country has minority = a small group of people in a country policy = the government s way of doing something married couple = husband and wife population = the number of people living in a place punish =to make someone suffer because they have done something wrong or illegal strict =exact; something that you must do or follow tax = the money that you have to pay to the government
8 Urban population Up to the Industrial Revolution people all over the world lived mainly in the countryside. In 1800, only 3 % of the world s population lived in cities. In 1900 only 12 cities had more than 1 million people. African and Asian cities like Lagos, Bombay or Calcutta are growing rapidly and this will probably continue during the next years. Today, about half of the world s population lives in urban areas. There are over 400 cities with more than a million people. In developed countries, up to 70 % or more live in larger cities, whereas in poorer countries this rate is below 40 %. During the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century cities grew fast, especially in Europe and North America, because new industries were created there and people found many jobs. Later on cities grew more slowly because they became overcrowded and diseases could spread faster. Today death rates in cites are low because they have better doctors and more hospitals. In industrialized countries the growth of cities has stopped. New York and London grew very quickly during the 1800s and early 1900s, but since then their growth has slowed down. About 40 cities around the world have a population of over 5 million. They are called megacities. 80% of them are in poorer countries. People go to the cities for many reasons. The table shows you what pulls them to the cities and what pushes them away from the countryside. century = a hundred years create = make death rate = shows the number of deaths for every 1,000 people in a year developed = here: industrialized disease = illness especially =above all growth =how something grows or gets bigger health care =the system that looks after the health of all people in a country PULL FACTORS more and better jobs better hospitals and health care better living standards cities are social and financial centres better education schools and universities income = the money you get for your work industries = here : factories living standard = the way people live and how much money they have mainly =mostly megacity = very big city with millions of people overcrowded = a place with too many people probably =likely, you expect something to happen pull =draw towards you push =move away from you PUSH FACTORS too many people in the countryside low income not enough raw materials (water, wood etc..) the quality of farming land is getting worse rapid = fast rate =here: number raw material = things that exist in nature and can be used by people ; like coal, oil or wood reason =explanation, why something happens social =easy to meet people and form relationships slow down = become slower spread =move to other places urban = everything that has to do with cities whereas =but, while
9 Biggest Cities in the World (population in greater city area in millions) Tokyo Japan 34 Mexico City Mexico 23 Seoul South Korea 22 New York USA 21 Sao Paolo Brazil 20 Mumbai India 19 Delhi India 19 Shanghai China 18 Los Angeles USA 18 Jakarta Indonesia 16 Los Angeles New York Delhi Seoul Tokyo Mexico City Mumbai Shanghai Jakarta Sao Paolo
10 Migration Main flows of migration Migration means leaving your home country and living or working somewhere else. Some countries, like the USA, have a population that is made up mainly of immigrants or their descendants who have arrived there in the past 200 years. Today, about 150 million people live outside their native countries. The biggest movements of people are from 1. Central and South America to North America 2. Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union to Western Europe. 3. Africa and Asia to the Middle East and Europe People leave their home countries for many reasons. Sometimes they think they can get better jobs and more money in richer countries. Sometimes they leave their own country for political reasons or because of their religion. During the course of history people have left their homes because of unemployment, wars in their country or because of a famine. Thousands of Irish men and women left the island in the middle of the 19th century because there was a potato crisis and many of them didn t have enough to eat. The Balkan wars in the 1990s left millions of people homeless. They became refugees and went to neighboring countries to the north and west. Some countries depend on immigrants to keep their economy running or because they have low birth rates and need foreigners to work. Today, governments in many countries face illegal immigration. Especially the USA and countries in Western Europe are sending back more and more people to their home countries. birth rate = shows how many babies are born for every 1,000 people in a year course =as something moves or goes on depend on =need descendant = someone who is from a family that lived a long time ago economy =the buying and selling of things in a country especially =above all face = to have a problem famine = when many people don t have enough to eat for a longer time foreigner = a person from another country former = earlier government =the people who rule a country homeless = without a place to live illegal immigration = if you enter another country but you are not allowed to immigrant = a person who goes to another country to live and work there mainly =mostly movement =here: change in place, travel native = the country where you were born population = the number of people living in a place potato = a round white vegetable with a brown skin that grows under the ground reason =cause,explanation refugee = someone who has to leave his own county, mostly because of a war running = going Soviet Union = the largest country in the world it fell apart in 1991 after the end of Communism unemployment = if you cannot get a job
11 Dangers of Overpopulation The world s population is growing by almost 80 million people every year. We will be facing many problems in the future: Environment More and more people need room to live. They are taking away the living areas of animals and plants. Cities have problems making enough drinking water for thousands of people who want to start a new life there every year. Population in rural areas is growing too. People need more food and have to grow more crops on the same land. This means that the quality of the soil is getting worse and worse. More and more trees are being destroyed, especially in tropical regions. More carbon dioxide, which is usually taken up by trees, is now set free into the atmosphere. This leads to global warming. Poverty Population growth is highest in developing countries. Young people have to care for their parents and grandparents, so they have less money to buy the things that they need. They stay poor. Africa is the fastest-growing continent on earth. But its people are getting poorer and poorer. Every third person in Africa doesn t have enough to eat. The average African family has about 5 children. carbon dioxide = the gas that you produce when you breathe out or when you burn something care for = take care of crops =a plant that farmers grow and use or sell as food destroy =to damage completely developing countries = the poor countries of the Third World especially =above all face =have global warming = it is getting warmer in the atmosphere because of more carbon dioxide growth =how something grows or gets bigger lead =to have something as a result population = the number of people living in a place rural = everything that has to do with the countryside set free =escape, move into soil = the top part of the earth on which crops can grow take up =absorb
12 Food and Water The Green Revolution of the 1960s and 70s has given farmers better methods and tools to grow crops and food. But,still, they cannot produce enough to feed the growing population. Food will get expensive for these countries because some of them have to buy it from industrial countries. Many people die of starvation and millions more will die in the future. In addition, about 400 million people all over the world live in places where there is not enough drinking water. Unemployment Many Third World countries have a high number of children or young people. Unemployment will be going up over the next decades, because the govcreate = make crops =a plant that farmers grow and use or sell as food deal = to buy and sell decade = ten years feed = to give food to a person or an animal Green Revolution = the time when farmers started producing more and more food because they had better machines illegal = not allowed, against the law methods = ways, systems population = the number of people living in a place social unrest = when people behave in a violent way starvation = to die because you don t have enough to eat tools =something that you hold in your hand and need to do a special job unemployment = if you cannot get a job
13 Status of Women The situation of women in our world today is very important. There are many differences between richer and poorer countries. In industrialized countries birth rates have fallen since the 1960s. One reason is that more and more women have jobs and go to work. They do not want to stay at home any longer and have fewer babies. In developing countries the situation of women is different. Many of them are at home, do the household chores and care for their children. Helping women in the Third World is very important and can slow down the population explosion. One of the key factors is education. Women who go to school and maybe later on study at a university have higher chances of getting a job. They don t marry so early and start having children at a later age. Such women also know more about birth control and can plan the number of children they want to have. Educated women also know more about health care. Young girls who have sex at an early age risk getting AIDS and passing it on to their babies when they are pregnant. More than half of the 40 million people living with AIDS today are women. In Africa, more than 75 % of all AIDS victims are young women between 15 and 24. Fertility rate children born per woman Niger 7.55 Mali 7.47 Somalia 6.8 Uganda 6.7 Italy 1.2 Spain 1.2 Singapore 1.0 Hong Kong 0.9 AIDS = a disease,in which your body cannot protect itself from infections; you usually die after a certain time birth control = family planning birth rate = shows how many babies are born for every 1,000 people in a year care for = look after developing countries =poor countries of the Third World educated = if you have gone to school fall = here : go down fertility rate = the number of children that a woman has during her life fewer =less, smaller amount health care =the system that looks after the health of all people in a country higher chances = better chances household chores = the things that you have to do in the house key factor = very important thing pass on =give to pregnant = if a woman has a baby growing in her body reason =explanation risk = to do something dangerous victim =here: people who die of AIDS
14 Ageing Developed countries all over the world have the same problem. Their birth rates are falling and people are getting older. Medical and health care is getting better all the time. We call this an ageing society. In industrialized countries life expectancy is getting higher and higher. In most European countries women reach an average of over 80 years and men live up to about 77. Problems for society We need more and more people who care for the elderly. This means building more old people s homes and other care units. The government must spend more money on pensions. This won t work if we don t have enough young people who have jobs and pay taxes. More and more people have to work up to 65 and longer. They take away jobs that young adults need. Life expectancy at birth Singapore 81 Hong Kong 81 Japan 81 Sweden 80 Australia 80 Zambia 37 Angola 38 Swaziland 33 An older labor force means that we are not as flexible and productive as countries that have young workers. adult = a grown up average =usually, normally ageing society = population that is getting older all the time birth rate = shows how many babies are born for every 1,000 people in a year care for = look after care unit = places where people look after you developed countries = the richer countries of the First World elderly =the old people government =the people who rule a country health care =the system that looks after the health of all people in a country labour force =all the people who go to work in a country life expectancy = the number of years that a person will live when he or she is born pension = the money that you get from the government when you are too old to work productive = to produce or make a lot old people s homes = houses and buildings where old people live and where doctors and nurses look after them reach =get to tax = the money that you have to pay to the government