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Essay on Population | Population Essay for Students and Children in English

February 14, 2024 by Prasanna

Essay on Population: Population is the most prominent problem of this century. The population of any country or region is the total number of people living in that country or region. The question of the population persists in almost all the nations of the world. The most populated countries as of now are China, India, and the USA. The problem of population irrespective of any country arises because of resources. In most states, due to scarcity of resources, individuals face a lot of difficulties. There have been various population control measures implemented by countries at different times.

Population control methods that have been devised and implemented included educating people on population and effective ways of birth control. Here we have added two essays on the topic which are for the benefit of students in case of their exams.  Population growth has become a pressing issue in the world, as well as our country today.

You can read more  Essay Writing  about articles, events, people, sports, technology many more.

Long and Short Essays on Population for Students and Kids in English

Here we have written one long Essay on Population of 500 words, one short essay on Population of 100-150 words, and ten important lines covering the whole topic of Essay on Population. Long essay on population is best suited for people in classes 7, 8,9,10 for their exams and assignments. Short essay on population is best suited for students studying in classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, for their examinations and assignments.

Long Essay on Population 500 Words in English

The population is an important issue these days. This is because almost all countries face problems related to the population. Such problems include difficulty in implementing decisions, providing social security to everyone, and ensuring employment. These are only a handful of topics. The most crucial aspect of the population is population pressure. Population pressure is the pressure exerted by the population in a country. This means that the economy and society have to bear the burden of the population.

An increase in population makes it difficult for a state to provide everyone with the bare minimum necessities. The problem of population pressure is, however, different in countries across the world. In the wealthy countries of the world, population pressure is manageable because of the wealth that it has. In developing nations, a significant increase in the population over time makes it difficult for the country to establish itself. This is because the majority of the increased population consists of people who are poor and have no education or social security. To take care of their interests, the country fails to grow individually.

The population of the country influenced by two factors-migration and education. As far as migration is concerned, people often migrate from one country to another for various reasons. Students often migrate to other countries for education. Young people often migrate to advanced countries through their work.  Such individuals usually tend to settle down in such countries for the rest of their lives. Their main reason for settling is social security and income opportunities. There are also other facilities which people of first world countries get by their economy.

The migrated population often does not wish to leave such facilities.  This leads to population pressure. In countries like India, the population increases every year due to the lack of primary education. The idea of nuclear families has not yet reached most of the people living in villages. In little places, people are not aware of the problems of having excess kids. Such people, however, have their logic behind their exercise. Due to abject poverty, they often think that having many kids would solve their economic problems. This thought on their part stems from the fact that their children would grow up and feed them for the rest of their lives. But often they fail to recognize that this leads to a burden on the whole of the country. Often developing nations undertake programs for educating the masses about the problems of overpopulation and its consequences.

Short Essay on Population 150 Words in English

The population is the total number of people living in a country. India has the second-highest population across the entire world. The population is often a problem for both developing and developed nations. This is because of its increase over the years. Apart from a few nations, the people of almost all countries go on increasing every year. This causes an enormous population pressure on their society and economy. Poverty and the subsequent lack of education among the masses are often a reason for the increase in population. Another reason for the rise in population is the migration of people from different countries due to employment opportunities, education, and marriage. The population can be controlled in various ways. This includes sterilization, awareness campaigns, and birth control measures.

10 Lines on Population Essay 150 Words in English

• Population is the number of people living in a country.
• India and China have the second-highest and highest population, respectively.
• The population is an essential issue in policymaking.
• The large population makes it difficult to implement policies.
• Population pressure is a problem for most countries.
• Population pressure exerts a burden on the economy.
• Lack of education and poverty is the reason for an increase in population.
• Population of a country also increases due to migration.
• The population can be controlled through various programs.
• Awareness campaigns and birth control measures are an effective way to control the population.

FAQ’s on Essay on Population

Question 1. What are the effects of population pressure?

Answer: Population pressure creates a burden on the economy and society, thereby decreasing the availability of resources in a country.

Question 2. What are the varying reasons for migration in a developed country?

Answer: Migration to a developed country happens mainly because of better opportunities in terms of income, employment education, although the situation is changing these days.

Question 3. What are the ways of controlling the population of a country?

Answer: Population can be controlled by population control programs that include birth control programs and effective means of awareness among the masses.

Question 4. What are birth control measures adopted by developing countries?

Answer: The birth control measure that is adopted by various countries includes medical procedures and sterilization campaigns.

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• National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Who and What Is a “Population”? Historical Debates, Current Controversies, and Implications for Understanding “Population Health” and Rectifying Health Inequities
• Pressbooks - Introduction to Human Geography - Population
• National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Plum pomaces as a potential source of dietary fibre: composition and antioxidant properties
• Nature - Scitable - Introduction to Population Demographics
• University of West Florida Pressbooks - Introduction to Environmental Sciences and Sustainability - Population
• NSCC Libraries Pressbooks - Demography and Population
• Biology LibreTexts - Population Demography
• population - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• population - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

population , in human biology , the whole number of inhabitants occupying an area (such as a country or the world) and continually being modified by increases (births and immigrations ) and losses ( deaths and emigrations). As with any biological population, the size of a human population is limited by the supply of food, the effect of diseases , and other environmental factors. Human populations are further affected by social customs governing reproduction and by the technological developments, especially in medicine and public health , that have reduced mortality and extended the life span.

Few aspects of human societies are as fundamental as the size, composition , and rate of change of their populations. Such factors affect economic prosperity, health , education, family structure, crime patterns, language, culture—indeed, virtually every aspect of human society is touched upon by population trends.

The study of human populations is called demography —a discipline with intellectual origins stretching back to the 18th century, when it was first recognized that human mortality could be examined as a phenomenon with statistical regularities. Especially influential was English economist and demographer Thomas Malthus , who is best known for his theory that population growth will always tend to outrun the food supply and that betterment of humankind is impossible without stern limits on reproduction. This thinking is commonly referred to as Malthusianism .

(Read Thomas Malthus’s 1824 Britannica essay on population.)

Demography casts a multidisciplinary net, drawing insights from economics , sociology , statistics , medicine, biology , anthropology , and history. Its chronological sweep is lengthy: limited demographic evidence for many centuries into the past, and reliable data for several hundred years are available for many regions. The present understanding of demography makes it possible to project (with caution) population changes several decades into the future.

The basic components of population change

At its most basic level, the components of population change are few indeed. A closed population (that is, one in which immigration and emigration do not occur) can change according to the following simple equation: the population (closed) at the end of an interval equals the population at the beginning of the interval, plus births during the interval, minus deaths during the interval. In other words, only addition by births and reduction by deaths can change a closed population.

Populations of nations, regions, continents, islands, or cities, however, are rarely closed in the same way. If the assumption of a closed population is relaxed, in- and out-migration can increase and decrease population size in the same way as do births and deaths; thus, the population (open) at the end of an interval equals the population at the beginning of the interval, plus births during the interval, minus deaths, plus in-migrants, minus out-migrants. Hence the study of demographic change requires knowledge of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration . These, in turn, affect not only population size and growth rates but also the composition of the population in terms of such attributes as sex , age, ethnic or racial composition, and geographic distribution.

Demographers distinguish between fecundity, the underlying biological potential for reproduction, and fertility, the actual level of achieved reproduction. (Confusingly, these English terms have opposite meanings from their parallel terms in French, where fertilité is the potential and fécondité is the realized; similarly ambiguous usages also prevail in the biological sciences, thereby increasing the chance of misunderstanding.) The difference between biological potential and realized fertility is determined by several intervening factors, including the following: (1) most women do not begin reproducing immediately upon the onset of puberty, which itself does not occur at a fixed age; (2) some women with the potential to reproduce never do so; (3) some women become widowed and do not remarry; (4) various elements of social behaviour restrain fertility; and (5) many human couples choose consciously to restrict their fertility by means of sexual abstinence , contraception, abortion, or sterilization.

The magnitude of the gap between potential and realized fertility can be illustrated by comparing the highest known fertilities with those of typical European and North American women in the late 20th century. A well-studied high-fertility group is the Hutterites of North America , a religious sect that views fertility regulation as sinful and high fertility as a blessing. Hutterite women who married between 1921 and 1930 are known to have averaged 10 children per woman. Meanwhile, women in much of Europe and North America averaged about two children per woman during the 1970s and 1980s—a number 80 percent less than that achieved by the Hutterites. Even the highly fertile populations of developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America produce children at rates far below that of the Hutterites.

The general message from such evidence is clear enough: in much of the world, human fertility is considerably lower than the biological potential. It is strongly constrained by cultural regulations, especially those concerning marriage and sexuality, and by conscious efforts on the part of married couples to limit their childbearing.

Dependable evidence on historical fertility patterns in Europe is available back to the 18th century, and estimates have been made for several earlier centuries. Such data for non-European societies and for earlier human populations are much more fragmentary. The European data indicate that even in the absence of widespread deliberate regulation there were significant variations in fertility among different societies. These differences were heavily affected by socially determined behaviours such as those concerning marriage patterns. Beginning in France and Hungary in the 18th century, a dramatic decline in fertility took shape in the more developed societies of Europe and North America, and in the ensuing two centuries fertility declines of fully 50 percent took place in nearly all of these countries. Since the 1960s fertility has been intentionally diminished in many developing countries, and remarkably rapid reductions have occurred in the most populous, the People’s Republic of China .

There is no dispute as to the fact and magnitudes of such declines, but theoretical explanation of the phenomena has proved elusive . (See below Population theories .)

373 Population Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best population topic ideas & essay examples, 👍 good essay topics on population, 📌 simple & easy population essay titles, ✅ interesting topics to write about population, 🔍 good research topics about population, 💡 most interesting population topics to write about, ❓ research questions about population.

• The Cause and Effect of the Growing Population The paper examines the causes and effects of population growth in human beings. On the other hand, building manufacturing industries change the ecosystem of a given place, in addition to air and water pollution.
• The Aging Population Impacts on labour Impacts on healthcare Impacts on government spending The increase in the proportion of the people who are old leads to a decrease of the number of people who are within the working […]
• Food Security and Growing Population Thus, nations have to address the problem of feeding the increasing global population amid the challenges of the production of adequate food.
• Effects of Abiotic and Biotic Factors on a Deer’s Population The biotic factors affecting the deer’s population include human conservation measures, building a highway, the influx of cougars, diseases, and deforestation, while the abiotic factors are temperature, water, rocks, soils, acidity, and humidity.
• Human Population and the Environment The fertility rate of a given species will depend on the life history characteristics of the species such as the number of reproductive periods in the lifetime of the species and the number of offspring […]
• The Middle-Class Population in Colombia Reviewing the size of the middle-class in Colombia is essential because the data can be used to estimate the financial and business prospects in the country.
• Population and Sustainability In the UN 1994 strategy, the role of women in developing nations was to be changed. If the current rate of population growth in developing nations continues uninterrupted, the food produced will not be enough […]
• Factors Governing Population Distribution in Canada The area covered by Canada is the largest country in the world after Russia and has the largest coastline. The Shield and the Rocky Mountains in the North have discouraged settlement in the area because […]
• Health Science and Its Importance for Population In conclusion, it should be said that the field of work of a specialist in Health Science is extremely diverse and requires constant updating of knowledge.
• Relationship Between Population and the Environment The results revealed after the statistical analysis was performed that there is a negative relationship between the population increase and the emissions of carbon dioxide in the case of developed countries while on the other […]
• Population Movements in 1850-1970 This paper will therefore trace the population movements in the world and some of the factors that contributed to the evolution of the world’s population.
• Population Density in General It helps in monitoring and evaluation of population and social trends within society. Population growth will manifest in various cultural and social aspects that determine existence and propagation of population trends.
• Population Growth and Its Impacts on the Environment High population growth is destructive to the society and the environment. In the US and Germany, the rate of population growth is estimated to be 0.
• Population Focused Interventions in Sentinel Town The majority of the people mainly abuse the two substances in the rural community. The people in Sentinel town are experiencing a high rate of obesity in the community.
• Population Dynamics and Increase Reasons However, if the death rate is minimal, meaning that the life expectancy of a particular population is high then, the population will increase. The first way of slowing population growth is by controlling the rate […]
• The Market Group of the Baby Boomer Population Such marketers have been producing a wide range of products in order to fulfill the demands of this generation. The above services and products, therefore, seek to fulfill the needs of this population.
• High Population Growth This paper investigates the causes of high population growth, determines the consequences of high population growth, suggests policy approaches that can be used to contain high population growth and examines the effectiveness of policies employed […]
• Population Growth Impacts on the Environment Today, the fact that the population is growing steadily is the reason of the environment to change drastically. Water pollution is a direct consequence of the rapid growth of the population on the Earth.
• Relationship Between Population and Economic Growth Consequently, Solow argues that the rate of population growth will be equal to the rate of economic growth in steady states.
• The Decline in Shark Population in Trinidad and Tobago To understand the causes of the declining shark population in the selected country, this investigation relied on the use of a qualitative research design guided by the interpretivism model.
• Decline in the Honeybee Population and Farmers in the United States The analysis of farming in the country shows that the added revenue to crop production because of the pollinators’ activity is about $18 billion. Statistics evidence the topicality of the problem and the necessity to […]
• Mental Health and Wellness in Aging Population This research proposal will examine the aspects of wellness with regards to the dimensions of mental health and among the aged.
• Sustainable Future and World Population Trends Sustainability development is a form of development that emphasizes responsible use to ensure that the same resources can benefit the coming generations.
• Research Sampling, Target Population, and Surveys The characteristic feature of the nonprobability sampling is that this type of research sampling does not include a random collection of data, in contrast to the probability sampling.
• European Colonization Impacts on the Native American Population An examination of various historical accounts from the 15th to 19th century show that the Native American population was adversely affected by the arrival of European settlers due to various conflicts that arose and the […]
• Effects of the Columbia River Dams on Salmon Population The construction of the Bonneville and the Grand Coulee were initiated in late in the 1930s and this was followed by a marked increase in the number of dams and their storage volumes in Oregon, […]
• Adolescent Population’s Characteristics and Health It is important to note that the teenager or adolescent population includes individuals between the ages of 10 to 19. The adolescent population is unique and complex, which is its social determinants of health are […]
• Health Issues of the Population When the unknown problem first appears, it is their responsibility to make it known to the public, and learn about its possible consequences. Educating the population on health-related issues is also essential to avoid legal, […]
• The Population Pyramid in Mexico The indicator of life expectancy is highest in the developed country followed by developing country and least in the underdeveloped country.
• The COVID-19 Impact on Public Health and Population It is yet to summarize all of the effects of the disease in the pandemic aftermath; however, it is already possible to collect some of the subtotals regarding the impacts on public health.
• Purnell Model for Chinese Migrant Population The choice of the Chinese sub-group is explained by the presence of Chinese culture in many countries of the world due to the increased immigration rate leading to the demand in transcultural nursing.
• Population Growth in Qatar The increment is attributed to an increase in the state’s population and an increased number of people using the infertility clinics’ services.
• Human Population Growth and Limiting Factors Predation is also another major factor since the carrying capacity changes with a change in the number of predators and thus the growth of the population is affected according to Campbell and Reece.
• Thomas Malthus Population Growth Theory Mass starvation, as seen in the light of Mathus’s theory, poses to be a real danger for people the world over.
• Population Growth Control From a perspective of political economy, control of the population is a matter that is in the sphere of women, and thus they deserve to have right to their sexuality and reproduction.
• Exponential Population Growth: It Is a Small World, After All Since religious controversies often stand in the way of adopting birth-controlling strategies, which results in a number of people living beyond the poverty line, a reasonable compromise between the state policy on birth control and […]
• The Negative Effects of the Rapid Increase in Human Population in the World To begin with, increase in human population has negatively affected natural resources in various parts of the world. The rapid increase in human population has led to increased industrial production in nearly all countries.
• Sexuality in the Elderly Population The cartoon chosen for the project depicts the physiological, psychological, and social components of sexual development in older adults, demonstrating that they are stigmatized due to their bodily changes and the absence of personal and […]
• Comparing the Population Growth of India and the United States In essence, the paper seeks to find out the effects of population growth in relation to human health through the comparison of population growth between the two countries.
• Population Pyramids: UK, Indonesia, and Ethiopia The current population of a country is a product of the past trends in the population of the county under investigation.
• The Rapid Population Growth Causes and Effect A significant note to be taken concerning overpopulation is that it does not just refer to the density of the population, but it is a comparison of the density as a ratio of resources.
• The Aging Population’s Retirement Security There is a continuous increase in the aging population number, without any retirement security hence a need for a collective effort to ensure stability and dignity for the elderly population in the future.
• Global Issues: Addressing an Aging Population An important issue that is currently facing the world community is aging due to the increasing number of older people. Migration leaves the countries in which people are moving with a significant number of older […]
• The Impact of Criminal Organizations on the Population in the South of Italy In addition, aspects of the history of the emergence of the mafia and the factors that led it to the current state of affairs are touched upon.
• Breast Cancer and Its Population Burden The other objectives that are central to this paper are highlighted below: To determine which group is at a high risk of breast cancer To elucidate the impact of breast cancer on elderly women and […]
• Population Ecology: Jumping Ships for Survival The purpose of the present work was to examine population patterns for a dummy population and data on the deaths of 80 individuals.
• Positive Psychology Intervention for Ageing Population This study aims to promote the integration of negative emotions in Positive Psychology Intervention to achieve a holistic approach. The study will also highlight the importance of exploring negative emotions in positive psychology to promote […]
• Discrimination Against the Elderly Population in the Medical Field The first week I was preoccupied, being my first time interacting with the older patients and also the fact that it was my first week and I was just getting used to the environment.
• Psychoeducation Group for Trauma in the Native American Population To summarize, in terms of the population’s fundamental demographics, it can be stated that Native Americans constitute a disadvantaged group due to the ongoing issues with their social, political, and health.
• Preventing Obesity Among the Hispanic Population The first factor within the dimension of relationships and expectations is associated with the perception of health-related values, beliefs, and attitudes that create a basis for an individual to engage in healthy behaviors.
• Urinary Tract Infection in Geriatric Population UTI is a prevalent condition that influences the social, emotional, physical, and economic well-being of the older population in the United States, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Population’s Impact on Migration In addition, Feng et al.claim that the concept of one-child households is a strategy for lowering the birth rate. In “Let the People Go: The Problem with Strict Migration Limits,” Michael and Justin explain that […]
• Homeless as At-Risk Population Based on the statistics from the National Alliance to End Homelessness, about 580466 people were “experiencing homelessness on our streets and in shelters in America” as of 2020.
• Exposure Therapy for Adult Population However, one of the most relevant and important treatments for social anxiety for adult people is exposure therapy. To conclude, social anxiety disorder is an important issue that interrupts the daily lives of various individuals […]
• The US Annual GDP and Population Growth: Statistical Analysis This coefficient, or R2 for short, determines the degree of reliability of the constructed model for the variance of the data; in other words, the closer the value of R2 is to 1, the better […]
• Opioid Crisis and the Veteran Population The first alternative is to reduce the frequency of opioid prescriptions by providing relevant education and training for Hawaii clinicians to encourage them to utilize alternative treatment methods for veterans in need of pain management.
• The Prevention of Diabetes and Its Consequences on the Population At the same time, these findings can also be included in educational programs for people living with diabetes to warn them of the risks of fractures and prevent them.
• Pollination: Decline in the European Honeybee Population First, the study will aspire to establish the definite and expected rate of decline in the European honeybee population over the years.
• Nursing Care for Elderly Population As experts in the field, it is crucial to be aware of potential ethical dilemmas when working with the aging population.
• Prediabetes in the African-American Population The author’s work with DSMES proves that an evidence-based self-intervention may be applied via lowering blood sugar as high blood sugar is a characteristic of diabetes.
• Why Is Home Dialysis More Beneficial for the Adult Population? The purpose of the study is correctly focused on such phenomena as a comparison, description, and characterization of the fundamental components of home dialysis and its impact, influence, and effect on a patient.
• Population Diversity of the Middle East Cultural differences in the Middle East are primarily reflected by the languages and, more specifically, the existence of their numerous dialects in the area.
• Population Health Outcomes and Healthcare Service Delivery In terms of population health outcomes, changes in indicators like general and infant mortality and life expectancy “show that the health status in the U.S.population is improving over time, although racial and ethnic disparities persist”.
• African-Americans as US Vulnerable Population They are designated vulnerable since they cannot protect themselves from others and lack the proper platform to air their grievances and problems. African-Americans cannot advocate for themselves since they lack proper government representation and a […]
• Population Health Promotion Benefits As a result, the community health nurse must supervise the community members in order to manage and control their health medical condition.
• Helping Black Population With Hypertension in New York State As evidence of the successful implementation of the program, the results demonstrated the reduction of the blood pressure after half of the year of treatment.
• Depression Among the Medicare Population in Maryland The statistics about the prevalence and comorbidity rates of depression are provided from the Medicare Chronic Conditions Dashboard and are portrayed in the table included in the paper.
• Depression as Public Health Population-Based Issue In regard to particular races and ethnicities, CDC provided the following breakdown of female breast cancer cases and deaths: White women: 128 new cases and 20 deaths per 100.
• The Black Population of New York State Analysis Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the black population of New York state affected by hypertension and analyze the reasons behind it and the interventions to improve the health outcomes.
• The Effects of Gold Mining in the Amazons on the Environment and the Population Excessive gold mining in the Amazon has led to the depletion of essential soil nutrients, especially nitrogen. As a result, ASGM in the Amazon has led to the destruction of the Amazon forest.
• The Older Population’s Disparities and Oppression The relationships between the younger and the older populations introduce a problem of abuse and disparities between the two. To conclude, it is clear that the problem of oppression and abuse of the elderly population […]
• Healthcare Administrators’ Role in Population Health The work of these specialists is as important as ever, yet they must change their practice because of growing disparity of healthcare access, while simultaneously requiring evaluating the potential influence and spending on new healthcare […]
• Population Health and How It Relates to Healthcare Any state seeks to optimize the delivery of health services and improve the well-being of its population. The aspect of economic development of the territory influences the morbidity of all people, first of all, children, […]
• The Effect of Increased Median Age of Population on the Consumer Behavior Secondly, having no or fewer children allows people to spend more money on their own needs and increase the quality of childcare. Firstly, higher median age leads to more opportunities for people and increased diversity […]
• Health Issues of Vulnerable Population in Bolivia Bolivia presents one of the countries where lack of access to water causes various health issues, especially for the vulnerable population of women and children.
• Teen Pregnancy as a Population Health Problem The population affected by this health issue is adolescents between the ages of 15 to 19 or even girls at the age of 10.
• Population Control With Abandonment of Specific Children Children with deformities were also considered a threat to the economy, and they would drain the family if the child were sick from the deformation.
• Person-Centered-Care for Vulnerable Population Even though this group has been provided with benefits, the inequalities still matter because they affect the public health outcomes and the quality of medicine in general. In conclusion, the economically-disadvantaged group is still exposed […]
• Early Teen Pregnancy as Population Health Problem First of all, the importance of the health of adolescents and children is due to their role as a reserve of society in all spheres of life of the state.
• Problems of Indigenous Population of America and Canada The author notes trade as one of the areas of development of local communities, which influenced the way of life of the Indians.
• Obesity in Adolescent Hispanic Population According to Kemp, “the percent of Black and Hispanic teens with obesity increased significantly over the past decade, but the prevalence of obesity remained unchanged for non-Hispanic White adolescents and young children, according to data […]
• One-Day Resort in Vietnam: Entry Strategy, Target Population, and Product Description The number of international tourists arriving in the country in 2019 was one of the highest in the Asia Pacific region, and the country’s tourism receipts are set to increase every year until 2020.
• Alcohol-Induced Chronic Pancreatitis: Population Affected, Side Effects, and Treatment The recurrence of acute pancreatitis is linked to the development of chronic pancreatitis, and it is more prevalent in alcoholics who use alcohol often.
• Reduction of Obesity in the Adolescent Hispanic Population According to Kemp, “the percent of Black and Hispanic teens with obesity increased significantly over the past decade, but the prevalence of obesity remained unchanged for non-Hispanic White adolescents and for young children, according to […]
• The Black Population’s Disproportionate Mortality Rates From COVID-19 Due to general inequities in the public health system of the United States, such as a lack of health insurance caused by low income and unemployment, limited access to health care services, and the underrepresentation […]
• Major Depressive Disorder: Individual and Population Perspectives The primary focus of tins research is to illustrate specific environmental influences related to major depressive disorder by implementing the Public Health Exposome Model and, therefore, enhance a better understanding of factors that influence and […]
• Vaccination of Indigenous Population in Queensland The CDC evaluation model is used in the obtaining of the program policies in healthcare and sickness arresting. The engagement of stakeholders is the first step where the Australian Government Department of Health and the […]
• Infertility: Causes, Population Affected, and Treatment Infertility is one of the most common problems these days, and it means that a person does not have a chance to get pregnant for several health issues. The percentage of females suffering from infertility […]
• Chronic Renal Failure Disease: Causes, the Population Affected, and Prognosis In addition, the authors describe the impact of disease on clinical outcomes and the role of middle molecules as significant factors in the onset of pathology. The end stage of kidney damage is the stage […]
• The Issue of Overpopulation and Human Population Growth Control The consequences of overpopulation include the depletion of natural resources and climate change which have hindered the conservation of natural resources such as water and animals.
• The Salmonella Outbreak: Population, Causes, and Disparities In particular, behavioral determinants identify that the greatest chance of infection is present in groups that consume raw eggs and pay insufficient attention to washing them.
• Becoming an Ally of the Queer (LGBT) Population From my point of view, this state of affairs is not appropriate and should be addressed, meaning that I could act as an ally for social justice. This information reveals that allying with the LGBT […]
• Substance Use Disorder in Latino Population This leads to a common belief in the inefficiency of said treatment. The clinic offers a variety of addiction treatment services, and can help with rehabilitation from substance abuse.
• Drug Laws Influnce on Different Population Groups Despite all the dangers of drugs, the fight against them should not worsen the living conditions for the population and aggravate injustice. The fight against drugs also unfairly affects women, especially women of color.
• The Influence of Water Quality on the Population of Salmonid Fish It is expected that populations of wild salmonid fish may decline rapidly due to water pollution instead of farmed species because the effects of water pollution are deleterious.
• Sample Versus Population in Statistics Consequently, sampling can be defined as a method used to select a required sample from the whole population. Furthermore, probability-based methods can be divided into simple random sampling, systematic sampling, stratified sampling, and cluster sampling.
• Aging Population and Its Effect on the US Healthcare However, on the flip side, growth in the number of older adults in relation to the young population would also signify a reduction in the labor force and, consequently, a decline in national income.
• Strategies to Detect Early Hypertension in African American Population of Darby Township Community The 2010 Census data for the community demonstrates that the African-American population of Darby constitutes almost 40% of its total population, and it is the group that is targeted by the current study.
• The COVID-19 Effects on the Sex Worker Population Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions increased discrimination, stigma, economic burden, and repressive policies and excluded sex workers from the global pandemic response.
• Population Health Disparities and Healthcare Access Through the case study scenario established, this paper aims to discuss the variables affecting healthcare access, approaches to reduce healthcare disparities, and interventions to enhance access to healthcare among the global population.
• Population Health and Impact of ZIP Codes The life expectancy of people and the health of the population have geographic differences, which is the reason for the ZIP codes paradigm.
• Vulnerable Population: Community Engagement of African Americans Key characteristics of African Americans include higher levels of poverty, greater risk for poor health status, limited access to health services, and higher rates of morbidity, mortality, and infant death rate. Certain health practices exacerbate […]
• Career Development Program for 30-Year-Old Population At the age of thirty, it might be a challenging task for the individual to decide to change one’s career and face particular risks and concerns regarding a new occupation.
• The New Jim Crow System Related to the Black Population As a matter of fact, Jim Crow, or the Jim Crow system, may be defined as a particular racial caste system that existed in the United States between the 1870s and the middle of the […]
• Growing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Among the Nursing Population The nursing population tends to increase in diversity, prioritizing the need to encourage inclusion and equity. Recruiting nurses should include clarifying the terms of inclusion to engage them in the established environment.
• “Population-Centered Health Care in the Community” by Stanhope There is a multitude of moral and ethical issues to be found in the inadequate provision of health care on community, city, and state levels to the incredibly underserved homeless population within the United States.
• Boreal Woodland Caribou: Reduction in Population The fact that Woodland Caribou is a prey to many predators; this is a threat to its survival given the widespread predation that exists in the forest.
• The Persistent High Rates of Heroin Use Among the Puerto Rican Population in the US’ Article In this article, a quantitative approach would have complemented the qualitative method used in identifying high rates of heroin use among Puerto Ricans.
• Managing the Effective Population Size of the New Zealand Snapper Secondly, the method of statistical analysis was used to compare the DNA test results conducted for the two sets of materials and identify the changes in the genetic characteristics of the populations of the species […]
• Physiologically-Structured Population Models and Their Ordinary Differential Equations Reduction The paper seeks to solve the problem of understanding the conditions under which the individual processes against survival, growth, and fission do the developed equations lead to an honest representation of a cell-based model that […]
• Mathematical Biology: Explaining Population Extinction Species in settings with soft carrying capacities such as those with non-negative value K create a restricted expectation of a variation, given a full past history, is non-positive when the species surpasses the carrying volume.
• Vulnerable Population: HIV-AIDS The latest statistics identify HIV/AIDS as a major medical problem affecting the health sector. The disease currently affects over one million citizens.
• Improving Overall Health of Vulnerable Population Thus, the practicum, which is a holistic in approach to public health, will ensure that Hope House Mission and homeless persons have enhanced capacity to address healthcare needs they experience.
• Population-Focused Assessment and Intervention Furthermore, the assessment revealed that around 70% of women in the shelter do not know much about the health of their children and lack adequate parenting skills.
• Education Plan For an At-Risk Population First of all, the representatives of this population group are more prone to obesity which is one of the major causes of diabetes.
• Polypharmacy Effects on the Geriatric Population The planners have also outlined the stakeholders of the program and their roles in developing the program. The activities of the program are organized in a very clear and logical manner.
• The Population of Frail Elderly The sociological issues that the frail elderly faces are many and they include stress and depression fear of death and even change of behavior and personality disorders.
• Heart Disease: Population Affected- Brooklyn Brooklyn leads in morbidity of heart diseases in comparison to the rest of New York and the United States in general.
• Aging Population Study by Christensen Kaare et al. The descriptive approach in the Aging Population: The Challenges Ahead, the article written by Christensen Kaare et al, systematically and accurately elaborates on life expectancy trends in developed nations.
• The Effects of the Tuskegee Study on the Black Population The study at the center of the present discussion is called “The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis: A Case Study in Peripheral Trauma with Implications for Health Professionals”, and concerns some of the lasting implications […]
• UTI Prevention and Management in Geriatric Population UTI is widely spread among people of elderly age, both female and male, and they appear to be vulnerable to this disease due to a range of factors.
• The Notion of Nutrition in the Context of the Elderly Population in the Slum Dwellings of India The study discussed in the present paper will concern the notion of nutrition in the context of the elderly population in the slum dwellings of India.
• Global Black Population’s Health Needs Analysis Nevertheless, there are many helpful health services designed to help the Black community to address such health issues: Black Emotional and Mental Health: focus on healing, wellness, and liberation of Black people.
• Influenza Preparedness Among Public Housing Residents and Low-income Population This is a presentation about influenza preparedness and response among public housing residents and low-income populations.
• Vulnerable Population: Homelessness In such a way, they will be more prepared to come up with quality personalized approaches to health care for this vulnerable population’s representatives.
• Population Pyramid: The Case of the Republic of Moldova The population pyramid of the country during the year 2000 is as follows ): As it is possible to see, the number of people of child-bearing age and pre-child-rearing age are the majority, promising a […]
• Population Health Problem Assessment Although the percentage is declining in the last ten years, smoking is still a health issue and a significant concern to the citizens of the country.
• Effects of Population Increase on Forest Resources Thus there is a need to control the world population. This is a guide on how one is to conduct the research, collect data and analyze the data.
• World Population Could Peak Decades Ahead of the UN Forecast According to researchers from the United States, in the second half of the 21st century, the number of people on Earth will begin to decline.
• Global Population Growth and Increased Demand for Food He concluded that there are only two sides in the dialogue regarding the issue the followers of optimistic Norman Borlaug, who could be called Wizards, and the fans of more pessimistic William Vogt, the could […]
• Healthcare Agenda for the Geriatric Population Therefore, policies relating to reliable, effective, and efficient health care of the elderly in their physical environment should be formulated. Therefore, governments should formulate and fully implement policies relating to the environment of the geriatric […]
• Senegal’s Population and Migration Profile As per current projections, the population of Senegal is projected to increase for the remainder of the century. Roughly 42% of the population of Senegal lives in the rural area.
• Suicide Prevention Facts on the Adolescent Population Adolescent suicide and the increasing level of child suicide are painful topics that pose a number of problems and questions for parents and society: What prompts adolescents to take this step? Is it possible to […]
• Heart Disease Among Hispanic and Latino Population Hispanics and Latinos have the highest propensity for heart related diseases in the society. They are at a very high risk of developing diabetes, obesity, and hypertension.
• Policy and Advocacy for Improving Health Population She states that it is always possible to volunteer to participate in policy-making activities and prepare a report on the necessary changes to present to decision-makers.
• Members of the American Population Remain Loyalists Furthermore, the fact that the opponents of Loyalists resorted to brutality and use of violence as the means of getting their point across did not help in convincing the supporters of the Crown that the […]
• Population Growth in Bangladesh and Egypt According to the official statement of the Bangladeshi authorities, the population growth rates have been reduced significantly after the introduction of the pro-choice opportunities and the promotion of family planning as the foundation for childbirth-related […]
• One Can Protect the Entire U.S. Population Without Having to Vaccinate Everyone The vaccinated population will act as a shield of the other section of the population that is not vaccinated. Diseases can cause damage to a population, if measures are not taken, to ensure that the […]
• The Role of Program Development in Maintaining a Healthy Population On this light, the health departments put efforts to understand the state of health in a given population. In this case, 93 percent of the population comprised the males.
• Benefits of Exercises in the Aging Population Balance issues and falls are very frequent in the elderly, and they significantly contribute to the increased rates of institutionalization. This makes Tai Chi an important intervention in enhancing balance and reducing the risk of […]
• Hypothesis Testing of a Single Population 7 is assumed to be the mean of the population and the average sample sales of the selected sales representatives should be equal or close to the population mean.
• Intercultural Communication and Healthcare Delivery: Cranford Population The racial composition of the Cranford population shows that it comprises of different races, which implies that cultural communication is essential in the delivery of healthcare services.
• Moving Upstream to Improve Population Health Down the Road Due to the influence of the environment on the wellbeing of people, the need for devising policies for a sustainable future helps in supporting the vitality and productivity of society.
• Understanding of the Homeless Population The state of focus is Georgia and the County of Fulton. 2 percent of homeless individuals had severe cases of mental illnesses Nearly 34.
• Asthma Among the Japanese Population In a report by Nakazawa in which the author sought to determine the trend of asthma mortality among the Japanese population, emotional stress and fatigue emerged as the leading factors for the causation of asthma.
• Non-Citizen Population Estimates by Age Group and Gender Most of the female population was in the 20-24, 25-29 and 30-34 age brackets. Meanwhile, the majority of the male population was found in the 25-29, 30-34 and 35-39 age brackets.
• Education Role in Prompting Effective Population-Wide Health Behaviour Change Despite the efforts exerted by governments, health activists, and other health organizations so as to provide vast education on health matters, limited health behaviour changes have been attained.
• Suicide Among Aboriginal Population The prevention officer’s main role is the wrong approach since it is generic in nature and not tied to the problems of the Aboriginal population.
• Florida Prisons: Location, Population and Current Issue This paper will identify the types and locations of Florida’s prisons with a description of the recent inmate population and an analysis of the issues that currently affect the prison system.
• Arthritis: Treatment and Impact on Population Arthritis is an inflammation of joints that results in pain in the affected joints and eventually, the pain spreads to the rest of the body parts.
• Homeless Persons as Vulnerable Population in the US The nature of homelessness and its link to the resources available, the status of health and related risks can be of great significant to nurses.
• Myth: The Aging Population Is to Blame for Uncontrollable The issue of aging of the population is very critical, especially because it becomes worrisome when the health expenses increase and policymakers left with a dilemma on what to focus on in addressing the situation.
• HIV/AIDS Pandemic Facing the Female Global Population The questions that arise are; what factors are contributing to the prevalence, who are the most affected and what are the actions taken to mitigate the HIV/AIDS epidemic?
• Gay Couples as Vulnerable Population and Self-Awareness The idea of same-sex marriages has developed in America to a legal platform. Cultural beliefs that undermine the role of same-sex parenting have an impact on the efficacy of gay couples as parents.
• Caring for the Community: Identification of a Population to Study This laboratory report aims at discussing the peculiarities of the diagnosed disease management and the ways of how sepsis can be developed in the patient’s organism using the results of X-rays and blood tests.
• Bill Proposal: The Vulnerable Population Although the health care law adds benefits to assist in making the Medicare prescription drug coverage more affordable upon reaching the Medicare Part D coverage gap, vulnerable populations have often fallen into what is commonly […]
• Heart Disease Among Hispanic & Latino Population One of the causes of the rise in the case of heart diseases in Westminster is the literacy rate of the Hispanic/Latinos in the county.
• The Spread of Ebola: Vulnerable Population of Liberia Aileen Mar a Marty has been dispatched to Liberia by the World Health Organization to help in combating the rapid spread of Ebola in some West African countries and in particular Liberia. The onset of […]
• Population Health Driver Diagram: Innovations and Their Use in Nursing The significance and effects of the PHDD was proven in 2012, when the reconsideration of the usage of antibiotics was on the agenda of both healthcare services and the services for public health provision.
• Sample Size (n) and Population Size (N)
• Diverse Population Needs in Prevention of Adult Falls
• High Morbidity Rates Among the Elderly Population Are Attributed to Falls
• Examination of a Global Population Issue of Russia
• Alcoholism Among the Adult Population in Wisconsin
• Target Population Selection: Regulating Patient Safety
• Effects of Changes in Population Demographics
• Population Health Issue: Review
• Epidemiological Measures and Determinants of Population Health
• Population Health and Determinants
• Common Myths About Elderly Population
• Estimating Single Population Parameters
• Elderly Population: Are They Vulnerable?
• Aging Population in the Western United States
• Population Processes and Their Impact
• Human Papillomavirus and Gardasil for Teenage Population
• Population Increase and Birth Control
• Health Insurance in the USA: A Basic Necessity for the Population
• Race-Based Medicine: Diseases in Different Groups of the Population
• The Impacts of Underinsured Population
• Impact of Uninsured Population Project
• Substance Abuse and America’s Prison Population
• Population Health Initiative: Healthcare and Ambulatory Care
• Nursing – Vulnerable Population
• Bayou Region of Louisiana: Underserved Population Problems
• Reducing Salt Consumption Among the Population
• Insurance Barriers in Mental Health Population
• “The Prevalence of Paraphilic Interests and Behaviors in the General Population” by Joyal and Carpentier
• “Impact of Whole-Body MRI in a General Population Study” by Schmidt
• Breast Cancer: At-Risk Population, Barriers, and Improvement
• Polygamy and Baptism: Indian Population
• Vulnerable Population: Elderly With Dementia
• Indigenous and Torres Strait Population and Diabetes
• Immunization of the Wildlife Population Against Rabies
• Disparities in Healthcare Population Related to the Geriatric Population
• Poverty: Causes and Effects on the Population and Country
• Achieving the Dream Program for Student Population
• The Jewish People: Culture and Population
• Transnational Population of Tamils in Sri Lanka
• ‘The Tide of Population’ by Ehrlich and ‘Too Many Mouths to Feed’ by Lappe
• Background Information on Population Census in the USA
• Impact of Uninsured in Rural Population
• ”American Holocaust” by David E. Stannard and the Destruction of the Indigenous Population
• Urban Population and Environment
• India’s Population Care and Composition
• Population Grows And Environment
• Human Population Ecology: Human Interaction With the Environment
• Population Growth and World Hunger Links
• Individuals and Families in a Diverse Society: Ageing Population
• Aging Population of the World as a Healthcare Issue
• Care Coordination for Aging Population in the Clinical Setting
• Genes, Lifestyle, and Environment in Health of Population
• Dementia in Elderly Population
• Primary Prevention for the Aging Population
• Chinese Population’s Lifestyle and Diseases
• How Vaccine Refusal Influences the Health of the U.S. Population
• Climate Change Effects on Population Health
• Understanding of Viral Marketing Effectiveness and Population Marketing
• Aging Population Impact on the Labor Market
• Human Population Growth and Carrying Capacity
• Election Campaign Promises and Population Benefits
• Native American Population and Federal Policies
• “Population & Environment” in Mazur’s Feminist Approach
• Perception of Diabetes in the Hispanic Population
• Health Challenges: Low-Income Filipino Population
• Baby Boomer Population Impact on Health Care
• The UAE Population: Xenical and Weight Loss
• Vulnerable Population in Biopsychosocial Assessment
• Hypothesis Testing for Single Population
• Health Service for Australian Indigenous Population
• Health Care for Disabled Population in the US
• Positive Psychology to Understand the Elderly Population
• Population Health Promotion in Spartanburg
• Australian Population Growth and Forecast for 2020
• Population Health and Education in the USA
• Climate Changes and Human Population Distribution
• China and India Population: Causes, Impact and Management
• Wolf Population’s Restoration in Adirondack Park
• Community Health and Population-Focused Nursing
• Aging Population Issues in American Prison System
• Berlin as a Home for Culturally Diverse Population
• Obesity in the US Population
• Population Growth Control and Malthus’ View on It
• Film Theory: Impact on Modern Population
• Population Literacy Skills in Arab Countries
• Literacy of Population in Arab Countries
• Medicine: HIV/AIDS as the Key Threat for the Kenyan Population
• Canadian Healthcare Spending on Aging Population
• Global Population Increasing and Control
• Population Growth and the Associated Concerns
• Healthcare Issues of Elderly Population
• Elderly Population Loneliness Problem
• The Homeless Population Reducing
• Poor Children as a Vulnerable Population
• Vulnerable Population in Laurel
• The Implication of Population Demographics on Businesses
• Global Population Trends
• Human Population Growing Major Issues
• Impact of Aging Population on the US Economy
• Role of Civilian Population in World War I
• Government Issues: The Population Rate Reduction
• Muslims Increase and the Spread of Islam
• Effects of Population Density and Noise
• Population Increase Problem
• Minority Population at Risk: Homelessness
• The Human Population, Demographic Transition: Phase IV
• Descriptive Method Design – Sample Population
• Effects of Ageing Population as Driving Force
• Latino Population: Heterogeneity, Migration, Acculturation and Health
• Healthcare in Saudi Arabia and the High Population Growth Rate
• Problems of Population Growth in China
• Public Health in Culturally Diverse Population
• Social Perspectives in Population Health
• Population Ageing in Canada
• Relationship Between Japanese Population in the US and Illegal Immigrants
• Supporting of Marijuana Legalization Among the Adult Population
• Social Media Amongst the Student Population
• Review of Journal: China’s Floating Population
• Aging Population in Singapore
• Macroeconomic Policy About Population Growth
• Effects of Man on Wild Salmon Population
• Valid and Invalid Application of BDI in a Population
• The Effects of Population Density and Noise
• Definition of Alcohol Misuse (Alcohol Abuse and Addiction) in Youth Population Age 18-29
• United States Population Growth
• Socio-Economic Benefits of Immigrant Population in the US and Canada
• The Civil Rights Movement: Oppressing the Black Population
• Problems in Elderly Population in Modern World
• The Planning Action to Bring Water to the Town Population
• Discrimination of Certain Categories of the Population
• Population Growth and the Distribution of Human Populations to Effects on the Environment
• Human Population and Global Resources
• The East African Market: Population Demographics and Economic Segments
• Examination of a Global Population Issue
• The Hispanic Population in the United States
• Population Health Assessment: The African Americans in Brooklyn
• Population Demographics: Hungary
• Ageing Population Will Affect Countries in the Future
• Reasons Why the Black Women Population Did Not Consider Themselves a Part of the Ongoing Feminist Movements
• Jonathan Kozol: America’s Poor Population in “Amazing Grace”
• Environmental Controversy: Population Growth and Soil Fertility
• Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease Among Older Population
• Effects of Population Density
• Fluoride and Mercury – The Dumbing Down of Our Population
• The Problem of Population Aging in the US
• The St. Croix Chippewa Ojibwa Indians and the Somali Population
• The Worrying Population Statistics
• History of the English Population During the 19th Century
• Causes of Technological and Economic Growth in Ester Boserup & Lewis Mumford Views
• Global Population Issues and Population in the UAE
• How Many Types of Population Are There?
• What Is the Full Population of Earth?
• How Does Population Impact Economic Development?
• How Does Population Affect the Economy?
• How Does Population Growth Affect the Quality of Life?
• What Are the Types of Population?
• Is the Human Population Decreasing?
• What Is Population Based On?
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• What Will Happen if Increase in Population?
• Why Do We Sample the Population?
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• How Do You Control a Population?
• How Can the Population Growth Be Reduce?
• What Factors Decrease Population?
• What Is the Difference Between the Sample and Population?
• What Are the Main Problems of Population?
• Why Is Population Growth Important?
• How Does Population Affect the Environment?
• How Does Population Growth Affect Natural Resources?
• Does Population Affect Climate?
• Social Science Titles
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• Marriage Essay Ideas
• Kindergarten Essay Topics
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• Immigration Titles
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• Chicago (N-B)

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Geography Notes

Essay on world population: top 10 essays | human geography.

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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘World Population’ for class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘World Population’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on World Population

Essay Contents:

• Essay on the Views of Malthus on World Overpopulation

Essay # 1. Introduction to World Population:

Human and economic geography are concerned with Man and his use of natural resources. The way in which land, sea, minerals, forests, and water supplies are used varies very much around the world, chiefly because of the wide variation of human numbers, human types and the stage of development of different human groups.

The rapid growth of population is perhaps the most obvious factor affecting present and future na­tional and regional development, but it is by no means the only population problem in the world today. Un­even distribution of population and conflicts stem­ming from racial, cultural, religious, social or political diversity are problems in almost every country in the world.

In 1977 the total world population was estimated at 4,105 million and by the end of the twentieth cen­tury it will have reached about 7,000 million. It is seen that world population is increasing ever more rapidly. This is because it increases in geo­metrical fashion (i.e. 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, . . .), rather than arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, . . .).

Moreover the rate of growth in the last two centuries has been accelerated by the great advances in medicine, hygiene, and nutrition made all over the world. Death rates and particularly infant mortality rates have been drastically reduced so that more children grow up and themselves have families.

But enormous as the world population is, mere numbers do not present a problem if all the people in an area can be adequately fed, clothed, housed, edu­cated and employed. But this cannot always be done and this is why population growth creates problems.

Some of the main difficulties arise because people are not distributed evenly over the earth and because the age and sex structure of populations varies widely from country to country. Only in terms of these factors can we discuss whether a country is under- or over- populated.

Essay # 2. Distribution of World’s Population:

In terms of continents and countries the world’s popu­lation is very ill-balanced. More than half of the world’s people live in Asia (excluding the U.S.S.R.) which accounts for only one-fifth of the world’s land area, while North, Central and South America together, occupying more than a quarter of the land surface, have only one-seventh of the population.

The African continent also accounts for a quarter of the land sur­face but has just over one-tenth of the world popula­tion. On the other hand Europe, whose area is only one twenty-fifth of the total, has about one-ninth of the world’s people.

The distribution within the continents is also un­even. In Asia, China alone, with ab  out 900 million people, accounts for half the Asian and a quarter of the world population. The Indian subcontinent has a further 710 million people. In Europe too, the popu­lation is unevenly distributed. Far more people live in northern and western European countries than in southern and Eastern Europe.

The U.S.S.R. is the largest country in the world and has 259 million peo­ple but only a quarter of them live in the Asian sec­tion. In Africa and the Americas people are for the most part spread very thinly across the land, leaving large sections such as northern Canada, south-western U.S.A., the Sahara Desert, and the Amazon forests practically uninhabited.

The distribution of population depends to a large extent on the quality of the land itself, which is very uneven. Where the land is well suited to agriculture or there are natural resources for industrial development the population will naturally be larger than in areas where climatic conditions are hostile or where re­sources are few.

Thus population density, that is the number of people living in a unit area, varies widely. In Singapore there are nearly 4,000 people to the square kilometre (ppsk)or 10,300 people to the square mile (ppsm); in Belgium there are 320 (840); in Brazil only 13 (34) and in Mongolia less than 1 ppsk or 2 ppsm, though even within these countries the population is far from evenly spread.

A map of world population densities shows that while the great majority of the land surface is sparsely or moderately populated (between 0 and 50 ppsk or between 0 and 125 ppsm) some limited areas are very densely populated.

These areas are Western Europe, the Indian subcontinent, the plains and river valleys of China, and north-eastern U.S.A. Smaller concen­trations of people are found in the Nile Valley of Egypt, the island of Java in Indonesia and the south­ern part of Japan.

The factors which lead to high population densities are often complex, but those which restrict popu­lation are clear-cut. They are usually climatic factors and, despite modern advances in technology, most ’empty’ areas are never likely to be much more densely peopled than they are today.

Essay # 3. Features of Population Patterns in the World:

The broad features of world population distribution are clearly related to climatic, soil, and other physical factors. This is because such factors regulate the type and amount of crops which can be grown, determining both negative and positive areas for economic develop­ment.

But physical factors are not the only ones which affect population distribution. In most parts of the world the basic pattern of population due to physical factors has detailed variations imposed upon it as a result of social, ethnic, cultural or historical factors.

Some of the most important of such factors are the concentration of racial or linguistic groups in limited areas; the dominance of particular religions in certain areas which may in turn affect birth rates or economic development; the way of life of particular population groups which may mean for instance that a large area of land is required to support a relatively small num­ber of people; the history of settlement, which for instance has led to the dominance of the eastern sea­board in North America; and the history of coloniza­tion, which has led to the development of some tropi­cal areas, especially those nearest the coast.

Moreover modern developments such as rural resettlement, the introduction of new farming techniques, industrialization, the drift to the towns, and changes in the standard of living, are all leading to changes in the population patterns of many countries.

It is not possible in this book to cover the popula­tion pattern of the whole world in detail, but by deal­ing with some countries as examples the comparative roles of basic physical features, economic and social factors can be better understood.

(i) People’s Republic of China:

China has the largest population of any country in the world but its average population density is only about 75 ppsk (200 ppsm). Compared with countries such as the Netherlands (average density 410 ppsk: 1,601 ppsm) or Japan (310 ppsk: 800 ppsm), China does not appear particularly densely peopled.

However, average densities can be misleading where there is a very uneven spread of population, for about three- quarters of China’s population is concentrated in only 15 per cent of the land area. The most densely settled region is in the east, while the western half of the coun­try is still under-populated. Moderately populated dis­tricts are found on the fringes of the densely settled regions.

The physical background to this pattern is fairly clear: the eastern plains and river valleys, including the North China Plain, the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) basin, the Sichuan (Szechwan) basin and the Xi Jiang (Si Kiang) basin, offer ideal conditions for agriculture, with adequate monsoon rainfall, good soils, flat land and water for irrigation from the large rivers.

As a re­sult rural population densities are sometimes as large as 1,000 ppsk (2,500 ppsm). During the long history of settlement in eastern China only the inherent rich­ness of the land has enabled the population to expand to such proportions. The long tradition of dense set­tlement has led to the development of many towns and cities which must originally have served as markets and administrative centres, but have now become in­dustrial centres.

The existence of sixteen or more cities with over a million inhabitants helps to raise population densities in the eastern region; but in terms of the total population urbanization is not very im­portant, for only about one-sixth of the population lives in towns.

In the surrounding uplands and foothills the poorer agricultural opportunities, poorer accessibility and dif­ficulties of irrigating the steep slopes have led to more moderate population densities. Moderate densities are also found in the more favoured areas of the generally negative western provinces.

In the interior provinces of Xinjiang (Sinkiang), Gansu (Kansu), Qinghai (Tsinghai), Tibet and Inner Mongolia, where densities are generally less than 1 ppsk (3 ppsm), physical factors such as a cold continental climate, aridity, high alti­tude and inaccessibility have militated against intensive agriculture. The best form of land use is some form of herding.

This extensive type of agriculture is practiced by the Tibetans, Uighurs, Kazaks, Mongols and Kirghiz who inhabit the area but does not support large num­bers of people. The region is, however, capable of greater development than has hitherto taken place.

The contrasts between China proper and the in­terior are not all due to physical factors however. The sparse population of the interior is partly the result of the traditional way of life of the herders, for in recent years the growing of crops and the exploitation of mineral resources has led to an increase in population density.

In the more densely peopled regions, too, so­cial factors have helped to create overpopulation. Peo­ple could have moved westwards into the empty areas and relieved pressure on the lowlands, but partly be­cause the people of China proper are of true Chinese or Han race while the outer territories are peopled by other ethnic groups, and partly because the unfamiliar conditions would have meant the evolution of new forms of agriculture, this has not taken place on a large scale.

Recently, however, planned colonization of the interior has been encouraged by the communist gov­ernment. Pressure on land in China proper would also have been less, had industrial development taken place earlier, causing many people to migrate to the towns. To some extent this occurred in the 1950s and early 1960s when emphasis was placed on industrial devel­opment.

Despite government attempts to reduce the ‘drift to the towns’ this inevitable movement from the overcrowded countryside continues. The present popu­lation distribution pattern of China is the result of a combination of physical, social, historical and eco­nomic factors.

Present changes are due to the breaking down of traditional attitudes and the rational planning of economic development but it remains to be seen whether this will significantly alter the long-established pattern.

(ii) Canada:

Canada also has marked dis­parities in its population distribution pattern. Over 90 per cent of its 23 million people live in a narrow belt not more than 320 km (200 miles) wide, immediately north of the U.S. border, leaving the vast Northlands practically uninhabited.

Even within the settled belt there are marked differences in population densities for the western coast, the Prairies and the Maritime Provinces are only moderately peopled while the St. Lawrence lowlands are more densely peopled.

The small total population of the country means, however, that nowhere are there the extremely high densities found in China. The main basis of this pattern is the physical background. The cold climate, permafrost, short growing season, rocky terrain and poor soils of the Northlands means that except in certain favoured areas, agriculture is not possible.

The Northlands do have some physical advantages, such as rich mineral resources, coniferous forests and swift-flowing rivers for the generation of H.E.P., but none of these need a large or permanently settled population for their ex­ploitation.

The only permanent inhabitants of the re­gion are Eskimos and certain Indian tribes, who have adapted their way of life to the harsh conditions and have traditionally, depended on hunting and fishing, neither of which supports a dense population.

The Northlands are not the only negative area as far as settlement is concerned; the Rocky Mountain ranges are also sparsely peopled. The climate in the moun­tains is severe, the slopes are steep and rocky and ac­cessibility is limited by the terrain. Only limited coastal areas and valleys are suitable for settlement and these support only a moderate population.

The Prairies have a moderately dense population because the main activity is agriculture. Extensive, highly mechanized farming does not offer employment opportunities to more than a moderate number of people.

The most densely settled parts of the Prairie provinces are those where mineral resources (oil and phosphates) offer some possibilities of industrial de­velopment, or where more intensive agriculture is pos­sible as in the Red River Valley.

The cool, foggy, damp climate of the Maritime Provinces, the hilly terrain and the limited agricultural lands are only suited to a moderate population den­sity, but the better conditions of the St. Lawrence lowlands lead to a denser settlement. The possibilities of more intensive agricultural development, good water communications, and land of moderate relief are the main physical advantages of the region.

Physical factors are not all-important, however, in determining Canada’s population distribution. Re­moteness from central services, and fear of loneliness play some part in keeping the Northlands empty. Similarly the distance of the Prairies from contacts with the rest of the world, limits the willingness of people to live there as well as hampering industrial growth for lack of markets. The eastern seaboard was the first area settled by European immigrants.

As the longest-settled part of the country it has the best social and cultural amenities. Its nearness to Europe allows traditional links with Britain and France to be main­tained as well as promoting trade and industry. Anoth­er reason for the concentration of settlement in the south-east of the country is the proximity of the U.S.A.’s industrial belt.

This has encouraged invest­ment and therefore industrial development and has led to a greater density of population, especially in and around the industrial centres of Toronto, Kingston, Montreal and Quebec. The Maritimes have not had the same advantage for they adjoin the northern New England states which themselves suffer from inaccessi­bility. Social factors also play an important role.

The population of Canada is descended mainly from immi­grants; about half from British and a third from French stock. Descendants of immigrants of other nationali­ties are far fewer in number. While the English-speaking Canadians are found throughout the country, the French are concentrated in Quebec and eastern On­tario.

This is mainly because they feel most at home in a French environment, where French is spoken, French language papers and French food are available. Because of this concentration, and the fact that most of the French Canadians are Catholics, the birth rate is high and this leads to a denser population. For these various reasons, therefore, the provinces of Quebec and Ontario have about two-thirds of the Canadian population.

(iii) Peninsular Malaysia:

It is not only large countries with a wide range of physical and climatic regions which have a marked disparity in population distribution. Peninsular Malaysia has far greater den­sities of population on its western coastlands than in other parts of the country. This is partly due to the far greater possibilities for agriculture on the west where the lowlands are broader than on the east.

In the north are the wide padi-lands of Kedah and Perlis, while far­ther south are undulating lowlands which were found ideal for the growing of export crops, especially rub­ber and oil palm. On the East Coast, however, the swampy coastal plain is narrower and gives way more rapidly to mountainous terrain, except in the north in a region around Kota Bharu and Kuala Trengganu where the lowlands are wider and support a high rural population growing rice, rubber and other crops.

The western lowlands proved ideal for colonial plantation development not only from a physical standpoint but also because of their proximity to the Strait of Malacca which has always been a major sea- route. Ports such as Malacca, Port Kelang and George Town provided outlets for the produce of the western coastlands.

Ports on the east coast did not have the advantage of facing such a major seaway. Population was expanded in the west by an influx of immigrant labourers for the plantations. Nowadays the West Coast is still favoured for agricultural development both in plantations and smallholdings because of the existing infrastructure of roads, market towns and ports.

The other important factor has been the exploita­tion of vast reserves of tin which occur largely in the western coastal plains. Here again immigrants came in to work the mines or came as traders to support and serve the mining communities.

Tin and rubber trading led to the establishment of far more market towns in western districts and these in turn have grown into ex­panding industrial and commercial centres. George Town, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur alone house 15 per cent of the Peninsular Malaysian population.

Agriculture and fishing have led to a moderate popu­lation on the East Coast but the centre of the country, which is mountainous, forested and ill-provided with transport routes has few people and is far more diffi­cult and expensive to develop. Government policy is to help open up the land for settlement through settle­ment schemes such as that at Jengka Triangle but this will make little impact on overall population distribution.

(iv) Nigeria:

Nigeria has a very compli­cated pattern of population distribution, with three separate centres of dense population divided by regions of moderate or sparse settlement. This pattern is part­ly governed by physical factors, since the area of least dense population, known as the Middle Belt, coincides with a region of poor soils, low rainfall and inadequate groundwater supplies. The tsetse fly is also a great problem in this region.

The regions of dense popula­tion are those where climate, soils and terrain are more favourable, and where a wide variety of food and cash crops can be grown. In the south-east the main cash crop is oil palm, in the south-west cocoa and some oil palm, and in the north the main crops are cotton and groundnuts.

Areas of moderate population density tend to be found on the more marginal land on the fringes of the densely settled zones and in those parts of the sparsely settled zones which are better served by roads, railways or river transport and are thus more accessible.

Many other factors than those of climate and soil have contributed to the present pattern. Perhaps the most important is that each of the main centres of population is the chief area of settlement of one of the three main ethnic groups in Nigeria. The Ibos are con­centrated in the south-east, the Yorubas in the south­west, and the Muslim Hausa peoples in the north.

These are the three most successful and powerful groups and their numbers have increased more rapidly than those of smaller groups which were more subject to wars, slave raiding and general unrest. As a result of these ethnic differences and the separate development of the three groups, the detailed population distribu­tion differs from one densely settled region to another.

In the north the main centres of population are large, isolated towns such as Kano and Sokoto which have traditionally served as termini on the caravan routes of the Sahara. In the south-west, the towns are more con­centrated, forming an area of dense population includ­ing Ibadan, Oshogbo and Oyo; the rural population is also fairly dense. Lagos, the capital city, has grown rapidly by in-migration and is the centre of another densely settled region.

The south-eastern concentra­tion of population is characterized, however, by few large urban centres but by very high rural densities, reaching about 700 ppsk (1,500 ppsm) in some dis­tricts, and is thus more similar to densely settled rural areas in some Asian countries than to conditions in most parts of Africa. The south-east is also the region where major oil exploitation has taken place with as­sociated industrial development.

The Middle Belt, which represents a negative area for settlement has also been affected by factors other than those of terrain. Though poor, this region is in fact capable of greater economic development than has hitherto taken place. It could support more peo­ple, but its population was greatly reduced in the past by slave raiding by the more powerful tribes of the north and south. Some regions such as the Jos Plateau and the Niger Valley, which have mineral and agricul­tural potential are now being developed and are gain­ing population.

Many of the moderately settled areas on the fringes of densely settled regions could also support far more people. In some cases natural conditions in such areas are highly suitable to agriculture. However, people from the overcrowded regions have not moved into them because of traditional social attitudes and their wish to stay near friends, homes and existing cultural centres.

Recent government policy has encouraged a wider spread of settlement by developing transport, mineral resources, power supplies and agriculture in the regions still capable of supporting a larger popula­tion.

Essay # 4. Population Structure of the World:

Population structure is analysed in terms of age and sex groupings and is represented by population pyra­mids. By studying such diagrams it is possible to gain a clearer idea of the population characteristics of any given country.

In working-class families all the children could contribute to the family income. However, death rates were also very high be­cause epidemic diseases such as bubonic plague, chol­era and typhoid had not been brought under control and tuberculosis was also very common. Moreover low standards of hygiene and nutrition meant that infant mortality rates were also high. It was therefore neces­sary to have a large family so that at least some of the children would live.

During the nineteenth century great advances were made in medicine and the death rate began to fall, but the birth rate remained high so that the population expanded rapidly. During the twentieth century a different pattern has emerged.

The First World War and the Depression of the 1920s impressed upon people the difficulty of feeding, clothing and educating a large family of chil­dren. Children were no longer an economic asset, con­tributing their labour or wages to the family as they had done in the past. At the same time people wished to give their children a better education and better homes than they had had themselves. This led to a de­cline in the birth rate.

This trend was assisted by the fact that, with far better living conditions and health facilities, children had a much better chance of sur­vival. At first this trend was more apparent in the towns than in the country districts and in middle-class rather than in working-class families but it eventually affected the whole population. Birth rates dropped even further during the Second World War and though there was a post war ‘baby boom’ when the number of babies born was very large, the size of families re­mained small.

People live longer on an average and Britain therefore has an ageing population. The proportion of the population living to ages of 65 or more has doubled since the late nineteenth century. Britain’s death rate is slightly higher than that of Aus­tralia or the U.S.A. because of the large proportion of older people in the population.

The nicks in the pyra­mid at age groups 60—64 and 35—49 reflect the very low birth rates of the Depression and war years (1920s and 1939-45) while the bulge in the 10-20 year age groups indicates higher birth rates in the more hopeful economic conditions of the 1960s which has petered out with renewed economic difficulties in the late 1970s.

Britain’s population is now decreasing. People are unwilling to have many children who have to be supported through many years of education, and who thus restrict the money available for material comforts in the home or for leisure pursuits.

Other European countries have a similar population structure though there are minor differences. In West Germany for instance the birth rate is so low that the population is decreasing markedly and may drop from 57 million today to 52 million by the year 2000.

Some countries in Europe and elsewhere attempt to encour­age population growth by giving child allowances or tax relief to lessen the financial burden of larger fami­lies, e.g. in France. But in Spain and Ireland, where the Catholic Church forbids birth-control, birth rates are still high and the population still has a high pro­portion of young people and is growing.

Population structure in most Asian, African and Latin American countries is very different from that of Europe. Death rates have declined markedly in the twentieth century, though they are still a little higher than in Europe or North America because standards of hygiene, nutrition and disease control are lower.

The proportion of old people in the population is very small. The moderate decline in the death rate however has not been matched by a change in the birth rate which remains very high, so that the popu­lation contains many young people. The pyramids for most underdeveloped countries are even more broadly based than that of Britain in the nineteenth century.

In many of these countries it will take a long time to overcome the traditional attitudes and lack of know­ledge of family planning techniques though some countries such as India give great publicity and promi­nence to family planning. Few of the underdeveloped countries show any sign of a voluntary change to small­er families. Only in some of the most rapidly develop­ing countries, such as Singapore have birth rates de­clined rapidly.

Singapore is small and changes in birth rates affect the population quite quickly. Singapore has a policy of encouraging two children per family by imposing financial penalties on families with more than two children. Japan with 114,000,000 people and among the lowest death and infant-mortality rates in the world today has an interesting population history.

Until the early 1950s except for a nick in the male 30—45 age groups, caused by deaths during the Second World War, the pyramid resembled that of any other traditionally agricultural country. However the impact of industrialization, urbanism and a rising standard of living led to a decline in the birth rate and the pyramid is now ‘top-heavy’, though it still does not show the concentration in the middle and older age groups found in European countries.

The case of Japan illustrates the time-lag in changes in population structure, for though industrial develop­ment began in the late nineteenth century, it took fifty years for the effect to be felt in the population structure. Population structure in Japan now follows the European pattern.

Migration can have profound effects on population structure. This relates to Australia but in the 1950s and 1960s the U.S.A., Canada and New Zealand had a similar pattern. Immi­gration into these countries is much more restricted today. Immigrants are usually young people who have their families in their new country, encouraged by the better standards of living they find there.

The immi­grants themselves swell the population in the 30—45 age groups while their children help to increase the proportion of people under 20. When the rate of im­migration slows down the population becomes more stable. The U.S.A., for example, now has a declining birth rate. Immigration of large numbers of people of a different racial group often produces a temporary imbalance both in age and sex structure, because the bulk of immigrants are men, and also in racial com­position.

An age, sex pyramid divided by race for Peninsular Malaysia in 1931 illustrates this. Men out­number women in the middle age groups while a time lag between the bulk of Chinese and the bulk of Indian immigration is also seen.

Indian women came into the country mainly after the men. At this stage immigrants were not settling down to have families so the percen­tage of young Chinese and Indians in the population was smaller than that of Malays.

Migration not only affects the population structure of the receiving countries, but also that of the home countries of emigrants. Thus between 1850 and 1900 Ireland’s population was reduced from 8 to 4 million people by migration, about 90 per cent of which was to the U.S.A. Many young people left and the birth rate was drastically reduced. This migration has now slowed down and the population is beginning to as­sume a more normal pattern.

The sex structure of population is also important. The proportion of men to women affects the rate of population growth through the net reproduction ratio, which measures the rate at which the present genera­tion of women is being replaced by daughters who will in turn have children.

The calculation of this ratio allows forecasts of future population trends to be made. The numbers of men and women are usually fairly even but are sometimes out of balance after such events as wars, when more men than women are killed. The numbers are usually uneven in the higher age groups because women tend to live longer than men.

Essay # 5. Population Problems of Advanced Countries:

Underdeveloped countries do not have a monopoly of population problems, though in general their prob­lems are more widespread and more difficult to solve. It is, however, worthwhile to note the problems of in­dustrial and urbanized societies, some of which are becoming increasingly serious.

1. Ageing Population:

As the birth rate is low the proportion of younger people in the population is relatively small and the low death rate and high life expectancy mean that there is an ever-increasing pro­portion of older people in the population. Many retire from active work in their sixties and then become dependent on the working population. Provision of pensions and other facilities, e.g. extra health services, for elderly people pose financial problems.

2. Small Work Force:

As educational standards improve children remain longer at school and join the work force later. This, combined with the low birth rate, means that the labour force expands only slowly while industrial and other employment opportunities continue to multiply. Despite a high degree of mecha­nization in most industries many countries are short of workers.

In Europe for instance workers migrate from Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia and Turkey which are some­what overpopulated, to Germany and Switzerland where there are insufficient workers. Another problem is that the work force is generally well-educated and skilled and there is a shortage of unskilled workers. Because the majority of workers are skilled and the work force is relatively small wages are high.

3. Rural Depopulation:

Towns provide ameni­ties such as shops, entertainment and better social services, which cannot be matched in country districts, and employment is usually easier to find in urban areas. For this reason there is a steady movement of people from the country to the towns so that in some areas farms are even abandoned.

The fewer people live in the country the less economic it is to provide serv­ices and the greater becomes the disparity between town and country. Where rural depopulation is accom­panied by mechanization and rationalization of farm­ing and thus a rise in income, an improvement may result, but often the country districts suffer a decline in living standards.

4. Urbanization:

As towns expand, the pressure on transport, water supplies, sewage and refuse disposal grows and creates problems. Smoke and chemical ef­fluents from factories produce air and water pollution. Traffic congestion and noise are other problems.

Ten­sions created by urban life lead to a far higher incidence of mental illness than in underdeveloped countries, and pollution, particularly fumes from motor vehicles, also has physical health hazards. Urban sprawl is anoth­er problem; the expanding towns engulf land which would otherwise be suitable for agriculture and thus reduce self-sufficiency in many countries.

Underdeveloped and advanced countries have some problems in common, for most countries are unevenly developed. Most advanced countries have areas where agriculture or industry could be improved or where the population is too large. Similarly the underdeveloped countries all have large towns where the problems are similar to those of urbanized societies everywhere.

It is also important to bear in mind the differences be­tween underdeveloped countries. Some have a much better resource base or a smaller population, and these, such as Argentina, Mexico and Malaysia, are much more likely to be able to overcome their problems than countries with few resources and a large popula­tion with fixed traditional ideas.

Essay # 6 . Moderately Populated Areas of the World:

Around the margins of sparsely-populated areas the density of population gradually increases; only occa­sionally are low and high densities found side by side with no transition zone. The sharpest changes occur between the irrigated and non-irrigated areas in the deserts, the most notable example being the con­trast between the Nile Valley and the surrounding desert.

The moderately peopled regions of the world are usually those where agriculture is the dominant occu­pation. The climate, relief and soil are thus the main factors affecting population density; the more favour­able these conditions are, the more people the land can support. But human and economic factors such as communications and accessibility to markets also af­fect population patterns.

The moderately-peopled parts of the world are of four main types:

(i) Tropical Savannas:

The savanna areas have a very seasonal climate with summer rainfall and a natural vegetation of grass and scattered trees which are adapted to withstand the drought of the winter. Various types of extensive farming are practised. Ranching is important in the sertao of Brazil, in north­ern Australia and in many parts of Africa.

Shifting cultivation provides food crops for the scattered popu­lations in Brazil and Africa though some areas have been developed for the cultivation of cash crops, such as groundnuts, tobacco, sisal or pyrethrum, either on large estates or smallholdings. None of these occupa­tions supports a dense population.

(ii) Temperate Grasslands:

In temperate con­tinental areas there are broad stretches of grassland where the climate is relatively dry and most of the rain falls in summer. Temperatures are high in summer and very low in winter. The growing season is long enough for cereal cultivation but where there is insuf­ficient moisture ranching is the dominant occupation.

The largest grassland areas are in North America (the Prairies), U.S.S.R. (the Steppes), and Argentina (the Pampas), but parts of interior Australia and South Africa have similar conditions. The grasslands coincide with vast plains or with regions of undulating terrain and are thus ideal for large-scale, mechanized cereal cultivation, but neither this nor ranching supports a large population.

Both savannas and temperate grasslands are con­tinental in location and lack of communications and remoteness have helped to keep the population rela­tively small. The best developed areas are those with good lines of transport, e.g. Argentina. Settlement has often followed the building of railways, such as the Trans-Siberian or the Canadian Pacific.

(iii) Tropical Coastlands:

While the interiors of tropical countries are often not well developed, the more accessible tropical regions have been cleared of forest and are devoted to agriculture. Both food crops such as rice and maize and cash crops such as rubber, oil palm, cocoa and sugar-cane are important in the lowlands, while tea and coffee are grown in the high­lands.

Coastal areas are preferred since accessibility to the sea is an advantage to growers of these dominantly export crops. Many areas were cleared only in the nineteenth century and thus populations are not as large as those found in tropical countries with a long agricultural tradition.

(iv) Temperate Coastlands:

Temperate coast- lands have a moderate climate, with an adequate rain- fall and no great extremes of temperature, so that a very wide range of crops can be grown. Livestock also form an important part of the agricultural economy. Farming is well established and although farms are usually small in size, yields per hectare are high.

As a result the land can support fairly large numbers of people, and such areas as central and eastern Europe, central, southern and north-western U.S.A., south­eastern Australia, central Chile and along the Plate estuary in Argentina, therefore have a moderate to dense population.

Both tropical and temperate coastlands are more densely peopled than the continental interiors, partly because the climate is more favourable and partly be­cause communications and markets are better. The larger the population the faster it will grow and the greater will be the market for agricultural and other goods.

This in turn helps to promote improvements in farming practices and the production of larger crops. The more productive the land the more peo­ple it can support. Areas of moderate population grad­ually merge into more densely settled areas where intensive farming and the development of industry allow far more people to get a living from the land.

Essay # 7 . Densely Populated Areas of the World :

Only limited areas of the world have high densities of population and these have all the advantages of good climatic, soil and relief conditions, as well as re­sources of fuel and industrial raw materials. The largest populations also grow most rapidly so that, unless there is rapid out-migration, people tend to concen­trate in relatively restricted areas.

The development of urban areas with many people, markets, shops, en­tertainment and other facilities tend to attract people from the surrounding areas.

Densely populated regions fall into two main categories, those dependent mostly on agriculture and those dependent mostly on indus­try:

(i) Agriculture:

Some of the most densely peo­pled parts of the world rely basically on agriculture. Industry has been developed in these areas and there are many large towns but a large proportion of the population still lives and works on the land. These areas include the Nile Valley of Egypt, the river valleys and plains of mainland China, the Indo-Gangetic plain and western coastal plain of the Indian subcontinent, and the island of Java in Indonesia.

In these areas as many as 1,000-2,000 people may live on a square kilometre (3,000-4,000 per square mile) of land. This is only possible because climate, relief, soil and water supply in the regions are favourable. Egypt has a Medi­terranean type of climate which is suitable for many crops and the Nile waters have been harnessed to irri­gate the fields.

In India, too, the fertile alluvial soils of the plains, the availability of water for irrigation in the dry season, the regular rhythm of the monsoons and high temperatures all the year round, allow several crops to be grown each year.

In China warm summers, monsoon rainfall, irrigation, constant manuring of the soil, and the careful management of the land, all con­tribute to support a huge rural population. Java has a warm climate, heavy rainfall and rich volcanic soils.

These areas were always advantageous for settle­ment. The Nile, Indus and Huang He (Hwang Ho) val­leys were the centres of ancient civilizations and as agriculture developed large settled populations were built up. Numbers have continued to grow ever since but farming techniques have not been modernized at the same rate.

As the capacity of the land to provide food has been outstripped the people have become poorer. Farms are very small—often not more than half a hectare and although a wide variety of cash crops is grown the cultivation of food crops is more important. Rice is the main food crop and is supple­mented by vegetables; poultry are kept, and buffaloes, sheep and goats are important in Egypt, Indonesia and India, and pigs in China.

The pressure on land is continually increasing as more and more people must be fed from the same plot, and such large populations can only live off the land because the people are willing to subsist on a relatively meagre diet of little nutri­tional value. Overcrowding thus leads to poverty and a low standard of living which in turn makes moderni­zation difficult because people cannot afford to buy machinery or fertilizers.

Moreover the farms are often too small to use modern techniques efficiently. Farm­ing could be done much more effectively by fewer people working larger plots of land but there is as yet no alternative source of employment in the towns of these countries. Large-scale industry has only recently been established and may never be able to compensate for population problems which have existed for so long.

(ii) Industry:

The densely populated areas depen­dent on industry and urban development are Western Europe, north-eastern U.S.A., and Japan. These areas are less extensive than densely peopled agricultural areas and are radically different, for most of the peo­ple live in large towns and few in the country.

The food for these large centres of population is not pro­duced locally but drawn from all over the world, so they are much more dependent on industry, trade and commerce. Unlike densely peopled agricultural areas they have a generally high standard of living and rather than getting poorer they are becoming richer as new techniques and ideas create greater employment op­portunities.

However problems of traffic, noise, pollu­tion, disposal of waste and provision of water supplies become greater as towns expand, and as the standard of living improves, health, education, recreation and other amenities must be provided at greater and great­er cost. Large urban centres attract ever larger popu­lations by in-migration, for while improved agricultural methods mean that fewer people are needed in the country, employment opportunities are much greater in the cities.

The three areas of high urban population differ from one another for historical reasons. The Industrial Revolution first took place in Britain where industrial­ization coincided with a phase of rural depopulation, caused by changes in land tenure, which provided workers for the factories in the towns.

At this time too, medical advances brought down the death rate and thus the population began to expand rapidly so that a large urban labour force was available through­out the nineteenth century. Mineral resources such as coal and iron were also available and trading relation­ships with other countries were already well-established so that raw materials could be obtained and goods marketed all over the world.

Industrialization spread to Belgium, northern France and later to Ger­many, but in these countries agricultural reform did not take place as early as in England and there is still a relatively large agricultural population.

The industrial district of the U.S.A. is an offshoot of the European region. Immigrants from Europe brought their knowledge and skill in industry to the new country, where the huge resources of coal, oil, iron, copper and many other raw materials allowed industry to develop rapidly. Large industrial towns and cities were already established before the whole country was settled.

Japan was traditionally an agricultural nation with a large rural population similar to that of China, and had little contact with other countries. In the late nineteenth century, however, this isolation was broken down and the advantages of industry were realized. Many circumstances aided the growth of Japanese in­dustry and its already large population was transformed from an agricultural to an urban one.

In this Japan differs from other industrial regions where the growth of population occurred at the same time as the growth of industry. As a result the popu­lation pattern in Japan is different; 13 per cent of the people still depend on agriculture as compared with only 2 per cent in Britain for example.

Essay # 8 . Problems of Overpopulation across the World :

There are underdeveloped countries where the level of technological development inhibits agricultural effi­ciency and the establishment of industry even though the resources exist in the country. Such countries have additional problems if they are overpopulated like China or India. In these countries the modern indus­trial economy has been grafted on to a traditional agricultural one and the two have not yet been proper­ly balanced.

Another group of countries which are underdeveloped are those which lack population, al­though they sometimes have advanced societies and command modern technological methods. These coun­tries, such as Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Zaire, or Asiatic U.S.S.R., have tremendous resources which cannot be fully developed because of lack of population.

Their problems are often accentuated by adverse climatic conditions. Population problems are thus among the basic difficulties of underdeveloped countries but those of overpopulation are of course different from those of under-population.

(i) Rapid Population Growth:

Large popula­tions increase rapidly and in most underdeveloped countries the birth rate is high and family planning is not practiced on a large scale. This means that there is a large proportion of young people in the population who are dependent on the relatively small working section of the population. At the same time the large number of young people puts extra strain on social services, especially education.

(ii) Unemployment:

In many underdeveloped countries industry is not well-established and there are few employment opportunities for unskilled work­ers. Unemployment is therefore high. On the other hand there is often a shortage of skilled workers be­cause there are few facilities for training.

In overpopulated rural areas unemployment or under-employment is also a major problem; people migrate to the towns where it is often even more difficult to find work. Moreover the towns become overcrowded, making living conditions poorer.

(iii) Housing and Health:

The standard of living in overpopulated countries is low and housing condi­tions are often poor and overcrowded. Standards of hygiene and nutrition are also low which leads to health problems such as malnutrition, and the spread of dis­eases. Prevention and cure of disease is hampered by insanitary conditions, by the ignorance of the people, by the lack of financial resources and often by the sheer numbers of people involved.

(iv) Under-Utilization of Agricultural Re­sources:

Traditional methods of agriculture, out­dated or inadequate equipment, lack of financial re­sources for improving farms, the non-use of fertilizer and the non-use or misuse of marginal agricultural land, such as highlands, may all help to keep agricultural production much lower than its potential. Difficulties of rationalizing farming techniques and reforming land tenure to give larger, more economic farms are aggra­vated by lack of capital and by traditional atti­tudes of the farmers who are often slow to accept new ideas.

(v) Slow Growth of Industry:

In most under­developed countries industry is only slowly becoming established. Apart from lack of local capital which makes the actual exploitation of resources or setting- up of factories difficult, the population factors are important. The labour force, though large in number is generally unskilled and has no background of indus­trial employment.

Similarly, although the large popu­lation should provide a good market for the finished goods, the majority of the people are poor and cannot afford to buy the products. To produce goods cheaply for a small market mechanized manufacture is most economical but this employs very few workers and does not help the employment situation.

(vi) Traditional Attitudes:

Traditional or reli­gious attitudes may militate against change or may make conditions worse. Birth-control is forbidden by the Catholic Church, for instance, and caste restric­tions on occupations in India also help to slow down development. Less important is the conservatism of rural people regarding farming methods and the intro­duction of new crops. This kind of attitude can be removed by education in a way that religious beliefs cannot.

Essay # 9 . Problems of Under-Population across the World :

(i) uneven distribution of population :.

Average population densities for under-populated coun­tries are low, and in many areas there are practically no people at all. Small populations increase slowly, even though birth rates are often high. Immigration is an important source of people but it is usually to the towns rather than to the country that new immigrants go.

At the same time the towns with their better con­ditions attract people from the already sparsely settled countryside. Imbalance between town and country is a major problem of under-populated countries.

(ii) Remoteness:

It is difficult to increase settle­ment in sparsely populated areas because people are unwilling to forego the amenities of the town. Where there are few people it is uneconomic to provide elab­orate communications, health, education or other facilities. This in turn increases the unwillingness of people to settle in such areas.

(iii) Under-Utilization of Resources:

Lack of population makes it difficult for a country to de­velop its resources to the full. Minerals will usually be extracted, especially precious metals and petroleum, because the desire for wealth will overcome other con­siderations. Agricultural resources are more difficult to develop because they require more and harder work over a long period of years before they show a good return.

In the nineteenth century when the U.S.A. was settled people were prepared to develop the land be­cause many of them were landless peasants, but immigrants to under-populated countries today generally prefer town life.

(iv) Slow Growth of Industry:

The growth of industry is often slow in under-populated countries because there is a shortage of labour, especially skilled labour, e.g. in the South American and African coun­tries. Where skilled labour has to be brought in this raises the cost of industrial development. Moreover the small population does not always provide an adequate market even where the standard of living is high.

(v) Climatic Problems:

Many under-populated countries have hostile climatic or relief conditions which make settlement difficult or dangerous for im­migrants. Such conditions obstruct development and are likely never to be fully overcome.

Are there any solutions to the problems of under­developed countries? In terms of economics the major need is for an infusion of capital, probably in the form of foreign aid, to finance development. In terms of population the need is for a decline in birth rates in overpopulated countries, but progress towards this end is extremely slow so that the improvement of agricul­ture, establishment of industry and extension of edu­cational, health and other facilities will in the long run be more important in solving overpopulation by mak­ing better use of available resources.

In under-populated countries immigration might be increased but this could only work if immigrants possessed the right skills and were prepared to live in the sparsely populated areas. To open up under-populated areas is both diffi­cult and expensive and thus economic factors are again paramount.

Essay # 10 . Views of Malthus on World Overpopulation:

Thomas Malthus was an English clergyman who, in 1798, published an Essay on the Principle of Popu­lation in which he put forward the view that, ‘the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man’. He thought that a balance could only be maintained if famine, disease or war periodically increased the death rate and reduced population growth.

His pessimistic ideas were accepted by several other nineteenth-century scholars in England and France and many people still hold similar views today. Is this pessimistic view really justified?

In the first place it is important to realize the context of Malthus’ work. He was not considering the world as a whole but only England. Moreover he wrote almost 200 years ago when conditions certainly justified some of his conclusions.

At the end of the eighteenth century the popu­lation of England was only about 10 million, but much of their food supply had to be produced from the limited agricultural land of the country. The Agricultural Revolution of the late eighteenth cen­tury had brought about many improvements, but farming methods and crop yields were still much lower than they are today.

Changes in land tenure, brought about by enclosure of the old common fields and the formation of large farms in the place of small scattered plots, led to rural depopulation. The towns, especially those where the new factory industries had been established, grew very rapidly and were overcrowded, dirty and unhealthy. The people who lived in them were poor, under-fed, overworked and had little resistance to disease.

Thus, had food supplies been reduced or popula­tion expanded too rapidly, these people would have suffered and starvation and epidemics would have reduced the population. This had already hap­pened twice during England’s history; the Black Death of the fourteenth century and the Great Plague of the seventeenth century coincided with periods when harvests were bad and there were food shortages. Hunger reduced resistance to dis­eases and bubonic plague caused the death of many thousands of people.

Malthus was afraid that something similar would happen again. In his time great advances were being made in the treatment and control of diseases such as cholera, typhoid and smallpox which were still rife in England and Europe. This meant that death rates, and particularly infant mortality rates, were falling.

Malthus calculated that population could double every 25 years, but no similar increases in food supplies could be expected. Given the social conditions of the time it was not therefore surpris­ing that his predictions should be pessimistic. He could not have foreseen the tremendous changes which were to take place in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

These changes completely altered the economic and social conditions in Britain and Europe:

1. Great improvements have taken place in agri­cultural production as a result of better farm man­agement, increased use of fertilizers and pesticides, use of better seeds and livestock breeds, application of soil-conservation methods and so on. These im­provements led to considerable increases in the yields of most agricultural products and also allow­ed hitherto unusable land to be brought into profit­able use.

2. During the nineteenth century vast new agri­cultural regions in America, Africa and Australasia were opened up and large-scale plantation agricul­ture was established in tropical countries. Improve­ments in transportation not only allowed migrants to reach new areas and bring them into production, but also meant that their crops could be easily transported to Britain and Europe to supplement local food supplies.

3. The population did not expand anything like as fast as Malthus predicted. The rate of increase declined largely as a result of a decreasing birth rate although death rates continued to fall. Improved standards of living, the costs of maintaining a large family and especially the difficulties of the depres­sion and the two World Wars in the first half of the twentieth century all contributed to the trend to­wards smaller families and a slower rate of popula­tion growth.

Thus, in Europe at least, Malthus’ predictions were proved wrong by events. But many people still apply his ideas to underdeveloped countries, where advances in agriculture are slower and population growth much more rapid. Death rates in many un­derdeveloped countries have been reduced but can still be lowered considerably.

In some ways this gives these countries a breathing space for if current high birth rates were combined with the low death rates of advanced countries, populations would ex­pand so rapidly that it would indeed be impossible to feed them. On this basis, for instance, India’s population could be trebled in less than 50 years.

Death rates are linked with levels of hygiene, nutri­tion and housing and will fall as Living standards improve. Fortunately these improvements are grad­ually taking place. The question remains-when death rates reach their lowest level, will a propor­tional reduction have occurred in birth rates?

There are several reasons to hope that the future of underdeveloped countries is not as bleak as it seems:

1. Rapid and efficient means of transportation have benefited not only Europe but the rest of the world. Thus if there is famine in one area food sup­plies can usually be brought in from elsewhere.

2. On a world scale there is no real food short­age and in many fields, such as livestock and dairy products, output could be greatly expanded in a very short time. But financial considerations pre­vent poor countries from purchasing as much food as they need or could absorb. Thus huge surpluses of wheat, for example, cannot be sold to the coun­tries which need them most.

Other food crops such as coffee, tea and sugar, of which surpluses are often produced, cannot be sold in underdeveloped countries because incomes are low and therefore demand is low. The lack of an effective market is also the chief obstacle to the production and sale of highly nutritious meat and dairy produce.

Thus the problem is not one of food shortage but of economic inequality. This inequality is, how­ever, gradually being reduced by the development of natural resources, agriculture and industries in underdeveloped countries, which in turn earns for­eign exchange and provides them with the financial resources for further development.

Such improve­ments in agriculture and industry should eventually improve incomes and standards of living and allow people in underdeveloped countries to obtain more and better foods.

3. Tremendous advances have been made in agriculture in underdeveloped countries which, with foreign aid and technical advice, are growing more staple crops and are introducing more nutritious crops not previously grown. Research into plant varieties has produced improved hybrids which have greater resistance to disease, greater tolerance to unfavourable climatic conditions and give much higher yields.

The most important achievements have been in producing ‘miracle’ rice strains. IR8 and IR15 grown in the Philippines, turned that country from a rice importer to a rice exporter in the course of a few years. Moreover the nutritional value of rice has been improved in certain recently developed strains.

4. Education in underdeveloped countries is being steadily improved and is gradually reaching a larger and larger proportion of the population. In the long term education has a tremendously impor­tant role to play in the fields of agriculture, techni­cal training to equip people for industrial employ­ment and in spreading the idea of family planning.

All these changes in underdeveloped countries are gradual and the real test of Malthusian views of population and food supplies will depend upon the speed with which these countries can be modernized and the rate at which improvements in living stand­ards affect birth rates.

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Essay , Human Geography , World , Population , Essay on World Population

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Essay on Population Growth

Students are often asked to write an essay on Population Growth in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Population Growth

What is population growth.

Population growth means the increase in the number of people living in a particular area over time. Imagine a classroom getting more students every year; that’s like a small example of population growth.

Causes of Population Growth

More people are born than die, which is the main reason for more population. Also, better medicines and food mean fewer people get sick and die young, allowing more people to live longer.

Effects of More People

When there are too many people, it can be hard to have enough food, water, and homes for everyone. Too many people can also harm the environment.

Managing Population Growth

Countries can manage population by teaching people about family planning and making sure everyone can go to school and work, especially women. This helps families make better choices about having children.

250 Words Essay on Population Growth

Population growth is when the number of people in a place increases over time. Imagine your school getting more students every year; that’s like a small example of population growth. This happens all over the world and can be due to babies being born or people moving to new places.

Why Do Populations Grow?

There are a few reasons why more people are added to the world’s population. One big reason is that we have better medicine and food now, so fewer people get sick and almost everyone has enough to eat. This means people can live longer and more children grow up to be adults. Also, when families have more babies, the population goes up.

When there are more people, it can be both good and bad. It’s good because there are more workers and more ideas for inventions. But it can be tough because we need more houses, schools, and hospitals. Also, if there are too many people, there might not be enough food or clean water for everyone.

Countries try to manage population growth by educating people. They teach about family planning and provide healthcare. This helps families make smart choices about how many children to have. It’s important to balance the number of people with what the environment can support.

In conclusion, population growth is a big topic that affects everyone. It’s about understanding how the number of people changes and making sure we can all live well together on our planet.

500 Words Essay on Population Growth

There are a few reasons why more people are added to the world. First, when families have many children, the population goes up. Second, thanks to better medicine and food, people are living longer than they used to. If more people are born than those who die, the population will grow.

The Good Side of Population Growth

More people can mean more ideas and more help to do big projects. Imagine having a lot of friends to help you build a fort; with many hands, the work gets easier. Countries with growing populations can have more workers, which might help them make more things and have stronger economies.

The Challenges of Population Growth

Schools might get too crowded, and there might not be enough doctors and hospitals for sick people. It can also be hard on our planet because more people use more resources and can create more trash and pollution.

What Are People Doing About It?

Governments and organizations are trying to manage population growth by educating people. They talk about the benefits of smaller families and provide health care so that families can plan the number of children they have. They also try to make sure everyone has a chance to go to school and work, especially girls and women, because when they can learn and earn, they often choose to have fewer children.

Looking Ahead

In the future, we need to find ways to make sure there’s enough for everyone. This means growing more food, making sure water is clean and available, and building houses so everyone has a place to live. We also need to take care of our planet by recycling and using less energy.

To sum it up, population growth is like a garden. If we take good care of it and plan well, it can be a place of beauty and abundance. But if we don’t look after it, it can become crowded and difficult to manage. By working together and making smart choices, we can ensure that our world can support all the people who live in it, now and in the future.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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An Essay on the Principle of Population

By thomas robert malthus.

There are two versions of Thomas Robert Malthus’s Essay on the Principle of Population . The first, published anonymously in 1798, was so successful that Malthus soon elaborated on it under his real name. * The rewrite, culminating in the sixth edition of 1826, was a scholarly expansion and generalization of the first.Following his success with his work on population, Malthus published often from his economics position on the faculty at the East India College at Haileybury. He was not only respected in his time by contemporaneous intellectuals for his clarity of thought and willingness to focus on the evidence at hand, but he was also an engaging writer capable of presenting logical and mathematical concepts succinctly and clearly. In addition to writing principles texts and articles on timely topics such as the corn laws, he wrote in many venues summarizing his initial works on population, including a summary essay in the Encyclopædia Britannica on population.The first and sixth editions are presented on Econlib in full. Minor corrections of punctuation, obvious spelling errors, and some footnote clarifications are the only substantive changes. * Malthus’s “real name” may have been Thomas Robert Malthus, but a descendent, Nigel Malthus, reports that his family says he did not use the name Thomas and was known to friends and colleagues as Bob. See The Malthus Homepage, a site maintained by Nigel Malthus, a descendent.For more information on Malthus’s life and works, see New School Profiles: Thomas Robert Malthus and The International Society of Malthus. Lauren Landsburg

Editor, Library of Economics and Liberty

First Pub. Date

London: John Murray

6th edition

The text of this edition is in the public domain. Picture of Malthus courtesy of The Warren J. Samuels Portrait Collection at Duke University.

Table of Contents

• Chapter III
• Chapter VII
• Chapter VIII
• Chapter XII
• Chapter XIII
• Chapter XIV
• Bk.II,Ch.II
• Bk.II,Ch.III
• Bk.II,Ch.IV
• Bk.II,Ch.VI
• Bk.II,Ch.VII
• Bk.II,Ch.VIII
• Bk.II,Ch.IX
• Bk.II,Ch.XI, On the Fruitfulness of Marriages
• Bk.II,Ch.XII
• Bk.II,Ch.XIII
• Bk.III,Ch.I
• Bk.III,Ch.II
• Bk.III,Ch.III
• Bk.III,Ch.IV
• Bk.III,Ch.V
• Bk.III,Ch.VI
• Bk.III,Ch.VII
• Bk.III,Ch.VIII
• Bk.III,Ch.IX
• Bk.III,Ch.X
• Bk.III,Ch.XI
• Bk.III,Ch.XII
• Bk.III,Ch.XIII
• Bk.III,Ch.XIV
• Bk.IV,Ch.II
• Bk.IV,Ch.III
• Bk.IV,Ch.IV
• Bk.IV,Ch.VI
• Bk.IV,Ch.VII
• Bk.IV,Ch.VIII
• Bk.IV,Ch.IX
• Bk.IV,Ch.XI
• Bk.IV,Ch.XII
• Bk.IV,Ch.XIII
• Bk.IV,Ch.XIV
• Appendix II

Preface to the Second Edition

The Essay on the Principle of Population, which I published in 1798, was suggested, as is expressed in the preface, by a paper in Mr. Godwin’s Inquirer. It was written on the impulse of the occasion, and from the few materials which were then within my reach in a country situation. The only authors from whose writings I had deduced the principle, which formed the main argument of the Essay, were Hume, Wallace, Adam Smith, and Dr. Price; and my object was to apply it, to try the truth of those speculations on the perfectibility of man and society, which at that time excited a considerable portion of the public attention.

In the course of the discussion I was naturally led into some examination of the effects of this principle on the existing state of society. It appeared to account for much of that poverty and misery observable among the lower classes of people in every nation, and for those reiterated failures in the efforts of the higher classes to relieve them. The more I considered the subject in this point of view, the more importance it seemed to acquire; and this consideration, joined to the degree of public attention which the Essay excited, determined me to turn my leisure reading towards an historical examination of the effects of the principle of population on the past and present state of society; that, by illustrating the subject more generally, and drawing those inferences from it, in application to the actual state of things, which experience seemed to warrant, I might give it a more practical and permanent interest.

In the course of this inquiry I found that much more had been done than I had been aware of, when I first published the Essay. The poverty and misery arising from a too rapid increase of population had been distinctly seen, and the most violent remedies proposed, so long ago as the times of Plato and Aristotle. And of late years the subject has been treated in such a manner by some of the French Economists; occasionally by Montesquieu, and, among our own writers, by Dr. Franklin, Sir James Stewart, Mr. Arthur Young, and Mr. Townsend, as to create a natural surprise that it had not excited more of the public attention.

Much, however, remained yet to be done. Independently of the comparison between the increase of population and food, which had not perhaps been stated with sufficient force and precision, some of the most curious and interesting parts of the subject had been either wholly omitted or treated very slightly. Though it had been stated distinctly, that population must always be kept down to the level of the means of subsistence; yet few inquiries had been made into the various modes by which this level is effected; and the principle had never been sufficiently pursued to its consequences, nor had those practical inferences drawn from it, which a strict examination of its effects on society appears to suggest.

These therefore are the points which I have treated most in detail in the following Essay. In its present shape it may be considered as a new work, and I should probably have published it as such, omitting the few parts of the former which I have retained, but that I wished it to form a whole of itself, and not to need a continual reference to the other. On this account I trust that no apology is necessary to the purchasers of the first edition.

To those who either understood the subject before, or saw it distinctly on the perusal of the first edition, I am fearful that I shall appear to have treated some parts of it too much in detail, and to have been guilty of unnecessary repetitions. These faults have arisen partly from want of skill, and partly from intention. In drawing similar inferences from the state of society in a number of different countries, I found it very difficult to avoid some repetitions; and in those parts of the inquiry which led to conclusions different from our usual habits of thinking, it appeared to me that, with the slightest hope of producing conviction, it was necessary to present them to the reader’s mind at different times, and on different occasions. I was willing to sacrifice all pretensions to merit of composition, to the chance of making an impression on a larger class of readers.

The main principle advanced is so incontrovertible, that, if I had confined myself merely to general views, I could have intrenched myself in an impregnable fortress; and the work, in this form, would probably have had a much more masterly air. But such general views, though they may advance the cause of abstract truth, rarely tend to promote any practical good; and I thought that I should not do justice to the subject, and bring it fairly under discussion, if I refused to consider any of the consequences which appeared necessarily to flow from it, whatever these consequences might be. By pursuing this plan, however, I am aware that I have opened a door to many objections, and, probably, to much severity of criticism: but I console myself with the refection, that even the errors into which I may have fallen, by affording a handle to argument, and an additional excitement to examination, may be subservient to the important end of bringing a subject so nearly connected with the happiness of society into more general notice.

Throughout the whole of the present work I have so far differed in principle from the former, as to suppose the action of another check to population which does not come under the head either of vice or misery; and, in the latter part I have endeavoured to soften some of the harshest conclusions of the first Essay. In doing this, I hope that I have not violated the principles of just reasoning; nor expressed any opinion respecting the probable improvement of society, in which I am not borne out by the experience of the past. To those who still think that any check to population whatever would be worse than the evils which it would relieve, the conclusions of the former Essay will remain in full force; and if we adopt this opinion we shall be compelled to acknowledge, that the poverty and misery which prevail among the lower classes of society are absolutely irremediable.

I have taken as much pains as I could to avoid any errors in the facts and calculations which have been produced in the course of the work. Should any of them nevertheless turn out to be false, the reader will see that they will not materially affect the general scope of the reasoning.

From the crowd of materials which presented themselves, in illustration of the first branch of the subject, I dare not flatter myself that I have selected the best, or arranged them in the most perspicuous method. To those who take an interest in moral and political questions, I hope that the novelty and importance of the subject will compensate the imperfections of its execution.

Preface to the Fifth Edition

This Essay was first published at a period of extensive warfare, combined, from peculiar circumstances, with a most prosperous foreign commerce.

It came before the public, therefore, at a time when there would be an extraordinary demand for men, and very little disposition to suppose the possibility of any evil arising from the redundancy of population. Its success, under these disadvantages, was greater than could have been reasonably expected; and it may be presumed that it will not lose its interest, after a period of a different description has succeeded, which has in the most marked manner illustrated its principles, and confirmed its conclusions.

On account, therefore, of the nature of the subject, which, it must be allowed is one of permanent interest, as well as of the attention likely to be directed to it in future, I am bound to correct those errors of my work, of which subsequent experience and information may have convinced me, and to make such additions and alterations as appear calculated to improve it, and promote its utility.

It would have been easy to have added many further historical illustrations of the first part of the subject; but as I was unable to supply the want I once alluded to, of accounts of sufficient accuracy to ascertain what part of the natural power of increase each particular check destroys, it appeared to me that the conclusion which I had before drawn from very ample evidence of the only kind that could be obtained, would hardly receive much additional force by the accumulation of more, precisely of the same description.

In the two first books, therefore, the only additions are a new chapter on France, and one on England, chiefly in reference to facts which have occurred since the publication of the last edition.

In the third book I have given an additional chapter on the Poor-Laws; and as it appeared to me that the chapters on the Agricultural and Commercial Systems, and the Effects of increasing Wealth on the Poor, were not either so well arranged, or so immediately applicable to the main subject, as they ought to be; and as I further wished to make some alterations in the chapter on Bounties upon Exportation, and add something on the subject of Restrictions upon Importation, I have recast and rewritten the chapters which stand the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, in the present edition; and given a new title, and added two or three passages, to the 14th and last chapter of the same book.

In the fourth book I have added a new chapter to the one entitled Effects of the Knowledge of the principal Cause of Poverty on Civil Liberty; and another to the chapter on the Different Plans of improving the Poor; and I have made a considerable addition to the Appendix, in reply to some writers on the Principles of Population, whose works have appeared since the last edition.

These are the principal additions and alterations made in the present edition. They consist, in a considerable degree, of the application of the general principles of the Essay to the present state of things.

For the accommodation of the purchasers of the former editions, these additions and alterations will be published in a separate volume.

Book I, Chapter II.

In my review of the different stages of society, I have been accused of not allowing sufficient weight in the prevention of population to moral restraint; but when the confined sense of the term, which I have here explained, is adverted to, I am fearful that I shall not be found to have erred much in this respect. I should be very glad to believe myself mistaken.

It should be observed, that, by an increase in the means of subsistence, is here meant such an increase as will enable the mass of the society to command more food. An increase might certainly take place, which in the actual state of a particular society would not be distributed to the lower classes, and consequently would give no stimulus to population.

Book I, Chapter III.

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Population Growth Essay Writing Guide

Academic writing

Essay paper writing

Working on a population essay or research paper? We understand the struggle. Therefore, we have prepared the list of the greatest topics for you to choose from as well as useful tips that will help you submit an impeccable work.

Population essay topics

• Essay on the principle of population
• Essay on population definition
• Population genetics essay
• 21 st century global population essay
• Population development essay
• Essay on the history of population growth
• Essay on population crisis
• Agricultural revolution and population growth essay
• Short essay on world population becoming smarter
• Aging population opinion essay
• Essay on population explosion
• Essay about population problem in Asia
• Relationship between national wealth and population health essay
• Population and environment essay
• Essay on increasing population
• Cause and effect essay on population growth: What is the reason of current overpopulation issue?
• Importance of population education essay
• Effective means of population control essay
• Population control argumentative essay
• Can we solve overpopulation problems essay
• Effect of population on environment essay
• How to control population essay

Tips for writing an essay on population

• Make an outline. Once you do your research, create a well-detailed plan where you include all the essential points and ideas for each paragraph of your paper. You can use the example from the section below and build on it with the information you have found.  
• Research carefully. Try using Google Scholar to search for articles and books on the topic if you have hard times determining which sources are credible.  
• Don’t fake your references or just copy information. Nowadays, there are various tools for checking works for plagiarism. Therefore, do not put your academic reputation at risk – use real sources and your own words when describing what the author was writing about.
• Mind your language. Of course, an essay is not a scientific article for a reputable journal, but you still need to be very careful with the word choice. Contractions or slang would not be appropriate here.
• Provide specific examples and numbers where applicable. For instance, essay writing on population explosion would require you to indicate where, when, and how many people were born in certain time periods and why it happened.
• Proofread your writing. This will help you to avoid submitting a work full of mistakes, which will inevitably lower your mark.

Essay outline

• Introduction.

Start with a hook phrase, which can be a question, a quote, or just an interesting fact. After that, write a few sentences explaining why your topic is important and necessary to research. The main point of an essay on population should be clearly stated in the last sentence of the paper – a thesis statement. Give a brief overview of the points you are going to discuss but do not go into the details – you will be able to do it in the body of the work.

Depending on the word limit set for the assignment, the body of your paper might be divided into a few sections with distinct headings. Each section or paragraph should start with the introduction of the idea you are going to discuss. Next, you will have to provide some factual information to support it, and explain your own opinion if applicable. In the end, it would be necessary to sum up what you have discussed and transition into the next paragraph.

• Population essay conclusion.

In the final paragraph, restate the thesis and the main ideas that were reviewed in the body of the paper. You cannot introduce any new facts in the conclusion – only synthesize what has already been discussed. Finish your essay by proving that you have accomplished the purpose of writing the paper or leave the reader with some idea to think about further.

Population research paper topics

• Research paper about homelessness population
• Aging population research paper
• Religion and overpopulation
• Human population growth research paper
• Birth control and women’s human rights
• The impact of overpopulation on the wildlife
• India population crisis
• The impact of overpopulation on the environment
• Bangladesh population crisis
• Population, migration, and urbanization
• Global warming and overpopulation: Where is the link?
• The issue of food and water shortage
• Statistics of population changes research paper
• The effects of population growth on the economy

Writing a research paper

• Choose a narrow topic. It is rather hard to write a research paper about population in general, as the topic is really vast. Instead, you may concentrate on some population issues, trends, or other more specific topics, which can be studied thoroughly.
• Be careful with citations. In your research paper, you will need to include and cite a lot of information. Learn how to do it according to the style you stick to and cite all factual data taken from other sources.
• Check a few good population research paper examples. If it is hard for you to visualize how your research paper should look like, find a few sample works. Pay attention to how the text is outlined, what information is cited, how transitions are used, and how the info is presented in general. Try to find research paper examples about population control, overpopulation crisis, shortage of resources, and other related topics to understand what points might work for your own paper.
• Develop a strong thesis statement. It should be short, to-the-point, and consistent. You have to summarize your main claim in one or two sentences in such a way that it will be clear and interesting for your audience.
• Avoid filler phrases. “In conclusion,” “needless to say,” and all the other parenthetic words do not bring any value to your writing. Instead, try to come up with meaningful transitions to move from one paragraph to another one smoothly.

Research paper outline

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Literature review
• Results/Findings

You may also be asked to add an abstract before the intro to give your readers a quick overview of the paper. Depending on the length of the text, it might be necessary to add a table of contents to guide your audience on where to find certain information. If there are some figures that you wanted to include in the paper but they take too much space, you can refer to them in the text but insert them into the appendices section after the reference page.

Research questions about population

Here are some of the research paper questions about population that you may choose to answer in your paper:

• What are the major negative consequences of overpopulation?
• Why some countries are overpopulated while others are underpopulated?
• How fast is the population increasing today compared to in the past?
• What factors influence current population trends?
• What may the population trends be in 50 years?
• Are we on the verge of food and water shortage?
• Is population growth still an issue?
• How many people can Earth support?
• Why should we be concerned about current population growth rates?
• Is religion an obstacle to population stabilization?

Facts for a research paper or essay on population

• In general, more than 107 billion people were born in the history of humanity. Thus, 6.5% of all people born in the history of humankind live on Earth today.
• In 2009, for the first time in history, an urban population was equal to a rural one amounting to 3.4 billion people. It is expected that in the future, an increasing part of the world population will be represented by citizens (that is, the urban population will continue to grow faster than the world population as a whole), which is confirmed by the latest data.
• In 2010, about 60% of the world’s population lived in Asia, 15.5% - in Africa, and 10.4% - in Europe. In 2050, according to the UN forecast, more than half of the world’s population will live in Asia, 25% in Africa, 8.2% in Latin America, 7.4% in Europe, and 4.7% in North America.
• The largest state in terms of population is China. After 2025, India is likely to become a leader. Until 1991, USSR had the third-largest population. After its disintegration, the US took its place. Indonesia and Brazil occupy the fourth and fifth places. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Russia occupy the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth places, respectively.
• As the UN report indicates, by the end of this century, the world’s population will be more than two times higher in comparison with 2011 and will reach 15 billion people.
• The current population of the planet has doubled since the 1960s. This process is caused by the improvement of the quality of medical care and medical products as well as high fertility in the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In addition, a certain role was played by the reduction of infant mortality and the increase in life expectancy on all continents of the planet.
• Some experts question the figure of 15 billion inhabitants by the year 2100 proposed by the UN. They are convinced that the population will not reach such a catastrophic scale if appropriate measures are taken.
• The author of the first essay on population was a popular economist Thomas Robert Malthus. His main work, An Essay on the Principle of Population, played a remarkable role in the development of economic science and demography.
• In the mid-60s of the 20th century, humanity first paid attention to the problem of overpopulation and the depletion of resources. The community of the world’s largest businessmen, politicians, and public figures, united by the idea of ​​ preserving the natural environment on Earth have created a so-called Club of Rome. This initiated a large-scale research to find ways to curb the crisis.

Environmental issues

While writing an essay on the ecological effects of increased population, you may describe the current state of things:

• The situation in the field of renewable resources deteriorates. Scientists warn that very soon, we will experience a water, wood, fish shortage, as well as reduced soil fertility.
• Waste products accumulate and pollute the environment.
• More investment, energy, materials, and labor costs are required to eliminate the negative consequences of using resources, e.g., for sewage treatment, irrigation control, air purification, etc.
• A significant part of the capital, raw materials, energy resources, and labor costs is spent on solving the tasks of the defense industry.
• Investments in human resources decline, and the situation with education and healthcare deteriorates.
• The balance between the use of raw materials, energy resources, and the process of environmental pollution is disturbed.

Problem of population aging

• According to the UN, during 1994-2014, the number of people over 60 years has doubled. In 2014, the number of older adults in the world exceeded the number of children under the age of five.
• Now, in 15 EU countries, above 15% of citizens are at the age of 65 years and higher. The youngest country is Ireland (11.5%), and the oldest one is Sweden (17.5%). However, during the coming decades, the gap will decrease. The elderly group will be joined by generations born during the baby boom period (1946-1964).
• Compared to Western European countries, the United States is a younger state: there are less than 13% of people over 65 years old.
• The causes of population aging are ambiguous. On the one hand, there is a decline in the birth rate, which leads to a smaller number of children and young people, and on the other hand, there is an increase in life expectancy.
• From 1960 to 1990, the number of people of age above 80 years has grown in the EU countries from 5 to 12 million people, that is, by 140%.
• Medical care for the elderly involves additional funding, expanding the network of medical, gerontological institutions, and qualitative restructuring of the health care system.
• The employment of the elderly population and provision of working places for young seniors are required. It is also important to maintain an active life position of the elderly, involve them in public life, and fight against loneliness.

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Anthropology — Population Growth

Essays on Population Growth

Choosing a population growth essay topic.

Population growth is a crucial topic that affects every aspect of our lives, from the environment to the economy. As a student, it's essential to choose a compelling and relevant topic for your essay. In this article, we will discuss the importance of the topic, provide advice on choosing a topic, and offer a detailed list of recommended essay topics.

The Importance of Population Growth

Understanding the dynamics of population growth is essential for addressing various global challenges, such as food security, healthcare, urbanization, and climate change. By studying population growth, students can gain insights into the causes and consequences of demographic changes, as well as the policies and strategies needed to manage and mitigate its impact.

Choosing a Topic

When selecting a population growth essay topic, it's crucial to consider your interests, the relevance of the topic, and its potential for research and analysis. You may want to focus on a specific aspect of population growth, such as its impact on the environment, public health, or social inequality. Additionally, consider the availability of data and resources for your chosen topic, as well as its potential for generating new insights and perspectives.

Recommended Essay Topics

Environmental impact.

• The relationship between population growth and environmental degradation
• The impact of overpopulation on natural resources
• Strategies for sustainable population growth and environmental conservation

Public Health

• The effects of population growth on healthcare systems
• Challenges and opportunities for addressing global health disparities
• The role of family planning in managing population growth and public health

Economic Development

• The relationship between population growth and economic development
• The impact of population aging on labor markets and productivity
• Strategies for promoting sustainable economic growth in the context of population growth

Social Inequality

• The intersection of population growth, migration, and social inequality
• The impact of population growth on urbanization and social infrastructure
• Challenges and opportunities for addressing demographic disparities in access to education and employment

Policies and Interventions

• Evaluating the effectiveness of population policies and interventions
• The ethical and social implications of population control measures
• The role of technology and innovation in addressing population growth challenges

By choosing a topic from the above list, you can delve into the complexities of population growth and gain a deeper understanding of its impact on the world around us. Whether you are interested in environmental sustainability, public health, economic development, social inequality, or policy analysis, there are numerous opportunities for exploration and research in the field of population growth.

As you embark on your essay writing journey, remember to approach your chosen topic with curiosity, critical thinking, and a commitment to contributing to the discourse on population growth. With thoughtful consideration and thorough research, you can create an engaging and informative essay that sheds light on the complexities and challenges of population growth in the 21st century.

Overpopulation, Its Causes and Effects

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Overpopulation: Clear Understanding of The Problem and Human Solutions

The problem of overpopulation: solutions, effects of human population: from population to overpopulation, fossil fuels and their influence on the environment, how the population of the world grows, millennials and the problem of overpopulation in india, metro denver economic review, positive and negative impacts of the modern revolution, overpopulation in africa: the importance of education and economics, global issue of overpopulation: solutions of one-child policy, the causes, effects, and consequences of overpopulation, china population pyramid: case study, human population growth: historical influences and expansion, population growth and greenhouse gas emissions, achieving sustainable development with growing populations, relevant topics.

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An Essay on the Principle of Population

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A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-5

Chapters 6-9

Chapters 10-15

Chapters 16-19

Key Figures

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

An Essay on the Principle of Population by Thomas Malthus was first published anonymously in 1798. Its core argument, that human population will inevitably outgrow its capacity to produce food, widely influenced the field of early 19th century economics and social science. Immediately after its first printing, Malthus’s essay garnered significant attention from his contemporaries, and he soon felt the need to reveal his identity. Although it was highly controversial, An Essay on the Principle of Population nevertheless left its impression on foundational 19th century theorists, such as naturalist Charles Darwin and economists Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx. Modern economists have largely dismissed the Malthusian perspective . Principally, they argue Malthus underappreciated the exponential growth brought about by the advent of the Industrial Revolution; by the discovery of new energy sources, such as coal and electricity; and later by further technological innovations. These modern criticisms are easily defended with historical retrospective.

Malthus’s essay has been revised several times since its publication. This summary focuses on the contents of the first edition. In 1806, Malthus revamped his work into four books to further discuss points of contention in the first edition and address many of the criticisms it received. Three more editions followed (published in 1807, 1817, and 1826 respectively), each modifying or clarifying points made in the second version.

Although Malthus’s basic stance on the unsustainable growth of population to food production remains the same throughout all versions, the most dramatic change in format and content is found between the first and second editions. The first edition is notable for its long and detailed critique of the works of William Godwin, Marquis de Condorcet, and Richard Price on the perfectibility of humankind. Its lack of “hard data” and its unpracticed opinions on sex and reproduction were heavily criticized by his contemporaries. The 1806 publication, written at a later point in Malthus’s life, attempts to address these issues by focusing less on critiquing the works of other theorists and offering better data on the fluctuation of population growth throughout various European countries and colonies (Malthus, Thomas Robert. An Essay on the Principle of Population: the 1803 edition . Yale University Press. 2018).

An Essay on the Principle of Population begins with a preface and is subsequently separated into eleven chapters. The preface reveals that a conversation with a friend on the future improvement of society was what sparked Malthus’s inspiration for this work. Chapter 1 further credits the works of David Hume, Alfred Russel, Adam Smith, and many others for inspiring his own writing. He postulates that population grows exponentially, whereas food production only increases in a linear fashion. This disparity in power will inevitably lead to overpopulation and an inadequate amount of food for subsistence.

Chapter 2 further details the above premise. Malthus imagines a world of abundance. In such a society of ease and leisure, no one would be anxious about providing for their families, which incentivizes them to marry early, causing birth rates to explode. When there are too many people and too little an increase in food to support them, the lower classes will be plunged into a state of misery. Thus, Malthus concludes that population growth only happens when there is an increase in subsistence, and misery and vice keep the world from overpopulation.

In chapters 3, 4, and 5, Malthus applies his theory to different stages of society. He argues that “savage” and shepherding societies never grow as fast as their “civilized” counterparts because various miseries keep their numbers in check. Among “savage” societies, a lack of food and a general disrespect of personal liberties prevent their numbers from increasing rapidly. Shepherding communities, meanwhile, often wage war over territories and suffer a high mortality rate. Civilized societies grew rapidly after adopting the practice of tilling, but due to exhausting most fertile land, their numbers no longer increase at the same rate as before.

The following two chapters are notable because they are the only ones that contain hard data. Malthus cites philosopher Richard Price for his analysis of population in America and references demographer Johann Peter Süssmilch for his work on Prussia. Malthus uses both these examples to prove that population fluctuates in accordance with the quantity of food produced. Chapters 8 and 9 are dedicated to critiquing mathematician Marquis de Condorcet’s work while chapters 10 to 15 do the same for political philosopher William Godwin. Malthus rejects the idea of mankind as infinitely perfectible and dismisses charity as a method to relieve poverty.

Chapters 16 and 17 propose the increase of food production as the only solution to reduce extreme poverty and misery among the lower class. Malthus maintains that donating funds is but a temporary relief to aid the most unfortunate; only a permanent increase in agricultural yield can grow the lower class’s purchasing power. Nevertheless, the final two chapters remind readers that misery and happiness must coexist. The law of nature, the way of living intended by God and demonstrated by Malthus’s population theory, requires both wealth and poverty to function.

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• Population Explosion Essay

Essay on Population Explosion

After the Republic of China, India is the most populous country in the world. Presently, India is the second-largest populated country in the world that occupies 2.4% of the world’s land area and represents 17.5% of the world’s population. This means that one out of six people on this planet is an Indian.

It is estimated by the United Nations that India with 1.3 billion inhabitants would surpass China’s population of 1.4 billion by 2024 to become the world’s most populous country. Population Explosion is considered as a threat and burden on the Earth.

What is Population Explosion?

Population Explosion refers to the rapid increase in the number of people in an area. It is a situation where the economy of the country cannot cope up with the rapid growth of the population. Furthermore, in simpler words, it is a situation where the economy cannot provide proper facilities to its people.

Evidently, the largest contributing countries to population explosion are the poorer nations and are termed as developing countries. In India, the state of Uttar Pradesh is the most populated state and Lakshadweep is the least populated. Hence we can say that population explosion is inversely related to the development of that area.

Population Explosion has become the mother of evils in our country because too much population is trapping people in a web of poverty and illiteracy that further escalates the problem. Any time of the day, whether it is a metro station, airport, railway platforms, road, highway bus stop, shopping mall, market, or even a social or religious gathering, there is always a swelling crowd of people in India.

Causes of Population Explosion

The major cause of this population explosion is the difference between the birth rate. The birth rate is the number of individuals born in a population in a given amount of time. The human birth rate is the number of individuals born per year per 1000 in the population. For example, if 35 births occur per year per 1000 individuals, the birth rate is 35 ) .

The death rate is the ratio between deaths and individuals in a particular population during a particular period. In simple words, the incidence of deaths in a given population during a defined time (such as one year) is expressed per 1000 individuals ).

Apart from these, some other factors are partially responsible for population explosion, such as:

A decrease in infant mortality rate (Mortality rate refers to the number of deaths of infants below the age of 6 months.), 

The increase in life expectancy (An estimate of the average number of additional years that a person of a given age can expect to live). 

Earlier the life expectancy of people was around 55-60 years. Now the average age of a person has increased to 70-75 years.) but due to better and improved medical facilities, we can now increase the life expectancy of people. 

Earlier, there was a balance between the birth and death rate due to limited medical facilities, people dying in wars, and other calamities. According to the 2011 census, the birth rate has actually come down but then the death rate has also declined due to the medical advancements. 

Illiteracy is another cause of an increase in population. Low literacy rate leads to traditional, superstitious, and ignorant people. For example, Kerala has a very high literacy rate and it constitutes only 2.76% of India’s population as compared to Uttar Pradesh having maximum illiteracy rate and forms 16.49% of the population. Educated people are well aware of birth control methods. 

Family planning, welfare programs, and policies have not fetched the desired result. The increase in population is putting tremendous pressure on the limited infrastructure and negating India’s progress.

The superstitious people mainly from rural places think that having a male child would give them prosperity and so there is a considerable pressure on the parents to produce children till a male child is born. This leads to a population explosion. 

Poverty is another main reason for this. Poor people believe that the more people in the family, the more will be the number of persons to earn bread. Hence it contributes to the increase in population. 

Continuous illegal migration of people from neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh is leading to a rise in the population density in India.

Religion sentiment is another cause of the population explosion. Some orthodox communities believe that any mandate or statutory method of prohibition is sacrilegious. It is difficult for India to exercise a check on the religious grounds for its secularism.

Impact Due to Population Explosion

The growth of the population has a major impact on the living standards of people. That is why, despite our incredible progress in the agricultural and industrial spheres, our capita income has not risen appreciably.

Hence given below are some of the major problems which are just because of the population explosion:

Natural Resources of that particular region: Natural resources are materials from the Earth used to support life and meet people’s needs. Hence if there are many people, then there is a high requirement for Natural Resources.

Unemployment: When a country becomes overpopulated, it gives rise to unemployment as fewer jobs support many people. The rise in unemployment gives rise to crime, such as theft, as people want to feed their families and provide them with basic amenities of life.

High Cost of Living: As the difference between demand and supply continues to expand due to population explosion, it raises the prices of various essential commodities, including food, shelter, and healthcare. It means that people have to pay more to survive and feed their families.

Poverty: Another major issue of population explosion is the increase in poverty as people are unemployed due to a lack of job opportunities and an abundant workforce. 

Illiteracy: Because of unemployment, they cannot provide better education to the coming generation, giving us back population explosion.

Starvation: When resources are scarce, starvation, ill health, and diseases caused by diet deficiency such as rickets become eminent.

Some Major Effects of the High Population are as Follows

The rapidly growing population in India has led to the problem of food scarcity and heavy pressure on land. Even though 60% of its population is engaged in agriculture, yet people do not get even the barely necessary amount of food. 

Generating employment opportunities for such a huge population in India is very difficult. Therefore, illiteracy is growing rapidly every year. 

Development of infrastructural facilities is not able to cope up with the pace of growing population. So facilities like transportation, communication, housing, education, and healthcare are becoming inadequate to provide provision to the people.

The increasing population leads to unequal distribution of income and inequalities among the people widened.

Unmanageable population size may lead to the failure of the government to provide the basic facilities to the people. 

Economic development is slow in a country where the population is growing at a very fast rate. This also leads to low capital formation. 

Ignorance, illiteracy, unhygienic living conditions, and lack of recreation have always been the cause of population problems in India. 

Rapid growth in population is also an indication of the wastage of natural resources.

Preventive Measures

To tackle this problem, the government needs to take corrective measures. The entire development of the country depends on how effectively the population explosion is stemmed. 

The government and various NGOs should raise awareness about family planning and welfare. Hoardings with slogans like “Hum do, humare do” and “Chota Parivar, Sukhi Parivar” should be put up in hospitals and other public places. These slogans mean that a small family is a happy family and two children for two parents. The awareness about the use of contraceptive pills and family planning methods should be generated. 

The health care centres should help the poor people with the free distribution of contraceptives and encourage the control of the number of children. 

The government should come forward to empower women and improve the status of women and girls. People in rural places should be educated and modern amenities should be provided for recreation.

So we can summarise the topic by stating that population explosion is a term used to state the rapid growth of people in a particular area. It is because of lack of education, illiteracy, lack of proper knowledge of sex education, rituals, and superstition in the country’s most populated area. 

Overpopulation results in a lack of development and exploitation of resources, whereas India’s strength in the global world in various fields cannot be ignored. By raising public awareness and enlisting strict population control norms, India will be able to tackle this issue.

It doesn’t mean that will happen very quickly and without any effort. It will take time because India constitutes one of the huge countries of about 138 Crore (2020) people. Proper, effective, and steady steps will lead India to a greater good.

 It helps the country control the population explosion and also helps to provide good results in several other things like the good environment, abundant natural resources, proper employment, proper literacy rate with high growth in development, etc.

All this could be possible if we take some measures and be good citizens of this country. So that is how we can overcome this issue of population explosion.

FAQs on Population Explosion Essay

1) What is Population Explosion?

Population Explosion refers to a rapid increase in people in a particular area. Occurring due to reasons like increased birth in the area, decreased mortality rate, and inflow of residents, population explosion may lead to shortage of resources, negatively affecting the development of the area.

2) How is the birth rate related to population explosion?

Birth rate is directly proportional to population explosion because of people’s lack of knowledge and literacy. Most common in poor families, where more children means more means of income, increased birth rate gradually results in a population explosion.

3) What are the measures to avoid population explosion?

Better education (specially for girl child), creating awareness of family planning, providing proper knowledge of Sex Education, etc. can be some solutions to tackle the issue.

4) What is the difference between death rate and infant mortality rate?

The ratio between deaths and individuals in a particular population during a particular period is the death rate, whereas the infant mortality rate refers to the number of infants below 6 months who died within the same period.

5) What are the major reasons for the population explosion?

The major factors responsible for population explosion are illiteracy, reduced mortality, increased birth rate, and life expectancy.

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An Essay on the Principle of Population

The 1803 edition.

• Thomas Robert Malthus
• Edited by: Shannon C. Stimson
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• Language: English
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Copyright year: 2018
• Main content: 448
• Other: 2 b-w illus.
• Published: February 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9780300231892

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Healthy Aging Month 2024: Shaping the Future of Aging

In celebration of Healthy Aging Month this September, join NIA to shape the future of healthy aging through activities and events designed to highlight recent scientific innovations, global insights on longevity, and steps everyone can take to stay independent as they age. 

Sept. 16: Fireside Chat — International Perspectives on Health, Aging, & and Longevity

On Weds., Sept. 16, join NIA’s Director Dr. Richard J. Hodes and the U.S. Agency on International Development’s Assistant Administrator for Global Health Dr. Atul Gawande for a fireside chat on international perspectives on health, aging, and longevity. The global population is aging, yet life expectancy varies greatly by country. Some have experienced increases in life expectancy, while others, such as the United States, have seen a decline. This event will explore how international perspectives on health and longevity are helping us understand the drivers of healthy aging around the world. The conversation will be moderated by NIH Fogarty International Center Director Dr. Kathleen Neuzil . Registration information is coming soon.

Sept. 23: Expert Q&A — Falls Prevention and Older Adults

Join experts from NIH and the Administration for Community Living for the Falls Prevention and Older Adults: Expert Q&A. This event will be held on Mon., Sept. 23, at 3:30 p.m. ET on NIA’s YouTube channel .

This 30-minute event will cover important information surrounding falls, falls prevention, and bone health in older adults, including:

• Why preventing falls is so important.
• Common causes of falls.
• Insights from NIH research and state and local resources available from ACL

How to Watch : 

Join the event on NIA’s YouTube channel .

You can subscribe to NIA’s channel to receive a notification when the event goes live. You do not need a YouTube account to watch this event. The event will be recorded, and a fully captioned version will be available on this page after the event.

Meet the Experts

This event will feature the following experts: 

• Speaker : Lyndon Joseph , Ph.D., Health Scientist Administrator, National Institute on Aging
• Speaker : Kristy Nicks , Ph.D., Program Director, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
• Host : Kari Benson , Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging, Administration for Community Living

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Key things to know about U.S. election polling in 2024

Confidence in U.S. public opinion polling was shaken by errors in 2016 and 2020. In both years’ general elections, many polls underestimated the strength of Republican candidates, including Donald Trump. These errors laid bare some real limitations of polling.

In the midterms that followed those elections, polling performed better . But many Americans remain skeptical that it can paint an accurate portrait of the public’s political preferences.

Restoring people’s confidence in polling is an important goal, because robust and independent public polling has a critical role to play in a democratic society. It gathers and publishes information about the well-being of the public and about citizens’ views on major issues. And it provides an important counterweight to people in power, or those seeking power, when they make claims about “what the people want.”

The challenges facing polling are undeniable. In addition to the longstanding issues of rising nonresponse and cost, summer 2024 brought extraordinary events that transformed the presidential race . The good news is that people with deep knowledge of polling are working hard to fix the problems exposed in 2016 and 2020, experimenting with more data sources and interview approaches than ever before. Still, polls are more useful to the public if people have realistic expectations about what surveys can do well – and what they cannot.

With that in mind, here are some key points to know about polling heading into this year’s presidential election.

Probability sampling (or “random sampling”). This refers to a polling method in which survey participants are recruited using random sampling from a database or list that includes nearly everyone in the population. The pollster selects the sample. The survey is not open for anyone who wants to sign up.

Online opt-in polling (or “nonprobability sampling”). These polls are recruited using a variety of methods that are sometimes referred to as “convenience sampling.” Respondents come from a variety of online sources such as ads on social media or search engines, websites offering rewards in exchange for survey participation, or self-enrollment. Unlike surveys with probability samples, people can volunteer to participate in opt-in surveys.

Nonresponse and nonresponse bias. Nonresponse is when someone sampled for a survey does not participate. Nonresponse bias occurs when the pattern of nonresponse leads to error in a poll estimate. For example, college graduates are more likely than those without a degree to participate in surveys, leading to the potential that the share of college graduates in the resulting sample will be too high.

Mode of interview. This refers to the format in which respondents are presented with and respond to survey questions. The most common modes are online, live telephone, text message and paper. Some polls use more than one mode.

Weighting. This is a statistical procedure pollsters perform to make their survey align with the broader population on key characteristics like age, race, etc. For example, if a survey has too many college graduates compared with their share in the population, people without a college degree are “weighted up” to match the proper share.

How are election polls being conducted?

Pollsters are making changes in response to the problems in previous elections. As a result, polling is different today than in 2016. Most U.S. polling organizations that conducted and publicly released national surveys in both 2016 and 2022 (61%) used methods in 2022 that differed from what they used in 2016 . And change has continued since 2022.

One change is that the number of active polling organizations has grown significantly, indicating that there are fewer barriers to entry into the polling field. The number of organizations that conduct national election polls more than doubled between 2000 and 2022.

This growth has been driven largely by pollsters using inexpensive opt-in sampling methods. But previous Pew Research Center analyses have demonstrated how surveys that use nonprobability sampling may have errors twice as large , on average, as those that use probability sampling.

The second change is that many of the more prominent polling organizations that use probability sampling – including Pew Research Center – have shifted from conducting polls primarily by telephone to using online methods, or some combination of online, mail and telephone. The result is that polling methodologies are far more diverse now than in the past.

(For more about how public opinion polling works, including a chapter on election polls, read our short online course on public opinion polling basics .)

All good polling relies on statistical adjustment called “weighting,” which makes sure that the survey sample aligns with the broader population on key characteristics. Historically, public opinion researchers have adjusted their data using a core set of demographic variables to correct imbalances between the survey sample and the population.

But there is a growing realization among survey researchers that weighting a poll on just a few variables like age, race and gender is insufficient for getting accurate results. Some groups of people – such as older adults and college graduates – are more likely to take surveys, which can lead to errors that are too sizable for a simple three- or four-variable adjustment to work well. Adjusting on more variables produces more accurate results, according to Center studies in 2016 and 2018 .

A number of pollsters have taken this lesson to heart. For example, recent high-quality polls by Gallup and The New York Times/Siena College adjusted on eight and 12 variables, respectively. Our own polls typically adjust on 12 variables . In a perfect world, it wouldn’t be necessary to have that much intervention by the pollster. But the real world of survey research is not perfect.

Predicting who will vote is critical – and difficult. Preelection polls face one crucial challenge that routine opinion polls do not: determining who of the people surveyed will actually cast a ballot.

Roughly a third of eligible Americans do not vote in presidential elections , despite the enormous attention paid to these contests. Determining who will abstain is difficult because people can’t perfectly predict their future behavior – and because many people feel social pressure to say they’ll vote even if it’s unlikely.

No one knows the profile of voters ahead of Election Day. We can’t know for sure whether young people will turn out in greater numbers than usual, or whether key racial or ethnic groups will do so. This means pollsters are left to make educated guesses about turnout, often using a mix of historical data and current measures of voting enthusiasm. This is very different from routine opinion polls, which mostly do not ask about people’s future intentions.

When major news breaks, a poll’s timing can matter. Public opinion on most issues is remarkably stable, so you don’t necessarily need a recent poll about an issue to get a sense of what people think about it. But dramatic events can and do change public opinion , especially when people are first learning about a new topic. For example, polls this summer saw notable changes in voter attitudes following Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race. Polls taken immediately after a major event may pick up a shift in public opinion, but those shifts are sometimes short-lived. Polls fielded weeks or months later are what allow us to see whether an event has had a long-term impact on the public’s psyche.

How accurate are polls?

The answer to this question depends on what you want polls to do. Polls are used for all kinds of purposes in addition to showing who’s ahead and who’s behind in a campaign. Fair or not, however, the accuracy of election polling is usually judged by how closely the polls matched the outcome of the election.

By this standard, polling in 2016 and 2020 performed poorly. In both years, state polling was characterized by serious errors. National polling did reasonably well in 2016 but faltered in 2020.

In 2020, a post-election review of polling by the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) found that “the 2020 polls featured polling error of an unusual magnitude: It was the highest in 40 years for the national popular vote and the highest in at least 20 years for state-level estimates of the vote in presidential, senatorial, and gubernatorial contests.”

How big were the errors? Polls conducted in the last two weeks before the election suggested that Biden’s margin over Trump was nearly twice as large as it ended up being in the final national vote tally.

Errors of this size make it difficult to be confident about who is leading if the election is closely contested, as many U.S. elections are .

Pollsters are rightly working to improve the accuracy of their polls. But even an error of 4 or 5 percentage points isn’t too concerning if the purpose of the poll is to describe whether the public has favorable or unfavorable opinions about candidates , or to show which issues matter to which voters. And on questions that gauge where people stand on issues, we usually want to know broadly where the public stands. We don’t necessarily need to know the precise share of Americans who say, for example, that climate change is mostly caused by human activity. Even judged by its performance in recent elections, polling can still provide a faithful picture of public sentiment on the important issues of the day.

The 2022 midterms saw generally accurate polling, despite a wave of partisan polls predicting a broad Republican victory. In fact, FiveThirtyEight found that “polls were more accurate in 2022 than in any cycle since at least 1998, with almost no bias toward either party.” Moreover, a handful of contrarian polls that predicted a 2022 “red wave” largely washed out when the votes were tallied. In sum, if we focus on polling in the most recent national election, there’s plenty of reason to be encouraged.

Compared with other elections in the past 20 years, polls have been less accurate when Donald Trump is on the ballot. Preelection surveys suffered from large errors – especially at the state level – in 2016 and 2020, when Trump was standing for election. But they performed reasonably well in the 2018 and 2022 midterms, when he was not.

During the 2016 campaign, observers speculated about the possibility that Trump supporters might be less willing to express their support to a pollster – a phenomenon sometimes described as the “shy Trump effect.” But a committee of polling experts evaluated five different tests of the “shy Trump” theory and turned up little to no evidence for each one . Later, Pew Research Center and, in a separate test, a researcher from Yale also found little to no evidence in support of the claim.

Instead, two other explanations are more likely. One is about the difficulty of estimating who will turn out to vote. Research has found that Trump is popular among people who tend to sit out midterms but turn out for him in presidential election years. Since pollsters often use past turnout to predict who will vote, it can be difficult to anticipate when irregular voters will actually show up.

The other explanation is that Republicans in the Trump era have become a little less likely than Democrats to participate in polls . Pollsters call this “partisan nonresponse bias.” Surprisingly, polls historically have not shown any particular pattern of favoring one side or the other. The errors that favored Democratic candidates in the past eight years may be a result of the growth of political polarization, along with declining trust among conservatives in news organizations and other institutions that conduct polls.

Whatever the cause, the fact that Trump is again the nominee of the Republican Party means that pollsters must be especially careful to make sure all segments of the population are properly represented in surveys.

The real margin of error is often about double the one reported. A typical election poll sample of about 1,000 people has a margin of sampling error that’s about plus or minus 3 percentage points. That number expresses the uncertainty that results from taking a sample of the population rather than interviewing everyone . Random samples are likely to differ a little from the population just by chance, in the same way that the quality of your hand in a card game varies from one deal to the next.

The problem is that sampling error is not the only kind of error that affects a poll. Those other kinds of error, in fact, can be as large or larger than sampling error. Consequently, the reported margin of error can lead people to think that polls are more accurate than they really are.

There are three other, equally important sources of error in polling: noncoverage error , where not all the target population has a chance of being sampled; nonresponse error, where certain groups of people may be less likely to participate; and measurement error, where people may not properly understand the questions or misreport their opinions. Not only does the margin of error fail to account for those other sources of potential error, putting a number only on sampling error implies to the public that other kinds of error do not exist.

Several recent studies show that the average total error in a poll estimate may be closer to twice as large as that implied by a typical margin of sampling error. This hidden error underscores the fact that polls may not be precise enough to call the winner in a close election.

Other important things to remember

Transparency in how a poll was conducted is associated with better accuracy . The polling industry has several platforms and initiatives aimed at promoting transparency in survey methodology. These include AAPOR’s transparency initiative and the Roper Center archive . Polling organizations that participate in these organizations have less error, on average, than those that don’t participate, an analysis by FiveThirtyEight found .

Participation in these transparency efforts does not guarantee that a poll is rigorous, but it is undoubtedly a positive signal. Transparency in polling means disclosing essential information, including the poll’s sponsor, the data collection firm, where and how participants were selected, modes of interview, field dates, sample size, question wording, and weighting procedures.

There is evidence that when the public is told that a candidate is extremely likely to win, some people may be less likely to vote . Following the 2016 election, many people wondered whether the pervasive forecasts that seemed to all but guarantee a Hillary Clinton victory – two modelers put her chances at 99% – led some would-be voters to conclude that the race was effectively over and that their vote would not make a difference. There is scientific research to back up that claim: A team of researchers found experimental evidence that when people have high confidence that one candidate will win, they are less likely to vote. This helps explain why some polling analysts say elections should be covered using traditional polling estimates and margins of error rather than speculative win probabilities (also known as “probabilistic forecasts”).

National polls tell us what the entire public thinks about the presidential candidates, but the outcome of the election is determined state by state in the Electoral College . The 2000 and 2016 presidential elections demonstrated a difficult truth: The candidate with the largest share of support among all voters in the United States sometimes loses the election. In those two elections, the national popular vote winners (Al Gore and Hillary Clinton) lost the election in the Electoral College (to George W. Bush and Donald Trump). In recent years, analysts have shown that Republican candidates do somewhat better in the Electoral College than in the popular vote because every state gets three electoral votes regardless of population – and many less-populated states are rural and more Republican.

For some, this raises the question: What is the use of national polls if they don’t tell us who is likely to win the presidency? In fact, national polls try to gauge the opinions of all Americans, regardless of whether they live in a battleground state like Pennsylvania, a reliably red state like Idaho or a reliably blue state like Rhode Island. In short, national polls tell us what the entire citizenry is thinking. Polls that focus only on the competitive states run the risk of giving too little attention to the needs and views of the vast majority of Americans who live in uncompetitive states – about 80%.

Fortunately, this is not how most pollsters view the world . As the noted political scientist Sidney Verba explained, “Surveys produce just what democracy is supposed to produce – equal representation of all citizens.”

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Scott Keeter is a senior survey advisor at Pew Research Center .

Courtney Kennedy is Vice President of Methods and Innovation at Pew Research Center .

How do people in the U.S. take Pew Research Center surveys, anyway?

How public polling has changed in the 21st century, what 2020’s election poll errors tell us about the accuracy of issue polling, a field guide to polling: election 2020 edition, methods 101: how is polling done around the world, most popular.

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• NEWS EXPLAINER
• 28 August 2024

Mpox is spreading rapidly. Here are the questions researchers are racing to answer

• Sara Reardon

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Monkeypox virus particles (shown in this coloured electron micrograph) can spread through close contact with people and animals. Credit: NIAID/Science Photo Library

When the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public-health emergency over mpox earlier this month , it was because a concerning form of the virus that causes the disease had spread to multiple African countries where it had never been seen before. Since then, two people travelling to Africa — one from Sweden and one from Thailand — have become infected with that type of virus, called clade Ib, and brought it back to their countries.

Monkeypox virus: dangerous strain gains ability to spread through sex, new data suggest

Although researchers have known about the current outbreak since late last year, the need for answers about it is now more pressing than ever. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has spent decades grappling with monkeypox clade I virus — the lineage to which Ib belongs. But in the past, clade I infections usually arose when a person came into contact with wild animals, and outbreaks would fizzle out.

Clade Ib seems to be different, and is spreading largely through contact between humans, including through sex . Around 18,000 suspected cases of mpox, many of them among children, and at least 600 deaths potentially attributable to the disease have been reported this year in the DRC alone.

How does this emergency compare with one declared in 2022, when mpox cases spread around the globe? How is this virus behaving compared with the version that triggered that outbreak, a type called clade II? And will Africa be able to rein this one in? Nature talks to researchers about information they are rushing to gather.

Is clade Ib more deadly than the other virus types?

It’s hard to determine, says Jason Kindrachuk, a virologist at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. He says that the DRC is experiencing two outbreaks simultaneously. The clade I virus, which has been endemic in forested regions of the DRC for decades, circulates in rural regions, where people get it from animals. That clade was renamed Ia after the discovery of clade Ib. Studies in animals suggest that clade I is deadlier than clade II 1 — but Kindrachuk says that it’s hard to speculate on what that means for humans at this point.

Even when not fatal, mpox can trigger fevers, aches and painful fluid-filled skin lesions.

Growing mpox outbreak prompts WHO to declare global health emergency

Although many reports state that 10% of clade I infections in humans are fatal, infectious-disease researcher Laurens Liesenborghs at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, doubts that this figure is accurate. Even the WHO’s latest estimate of a 3.5% fatality rate for people with mpox in the DRC might be high.

There are many reasons that fatality estimates might be unreliable, Liesenborghs says. For one, surveillance data capture only the most severe cases; many people who are less ill might not seek care at hospitals or through physicians, so their infections go unreported.

Another factor that can confound fatality rates is a secondary health condition. For example, people living with HIV — who can represent a large proportion of the population in many African countries — die from mpox at twice the rate of the general population 2 , especially if their HIV is untreated. And the relatively high death rate among children under age 5 could be partly because of malnutrition, which is common among kids in rural parts of the DRC, Liesenborghs says.

Is clade Ib more transmissible than other types?

The clade Ib virus has garnered particular attention because epidemiological data suggest that it transmits more readily between people than previous strains did, including through sexual activity, whereas clade Ia mostly comes from animals. An analysis posted ahead of peer review on the preprint server medRxiv 3 shows that clade Ib’s genome contains genetic mutations that seem to have been induced by the human immune system, suggesting that it has been in humans for some time. Clade Ia genomes have fewer of these mutations.

But Liesenborghs says that the mutations and clades might not be the most important factor in understanding how monkeypox virus spreads. Although distinguishing Ia from Ib is useful in tracking the disease, he says, the severity and transmissibility of the disease could be affected more by the region where the virus is circulating and the people there. Clade Ia, for instance, seems to be more common in sparsely populated rural regions where it is less likely to spread far. Clade Ib is cropping up in densely populated areas and spreading more readily.

Jean Nachega, an infectious-disease physician at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, says that scientists don’t understand many aspects of mpox transmission — they haven’t even determined which animal serves as a reservoir for the virus in the wild, although rodents are able to carry it. “We have to be very humble,” Nachega says.

How effective are vaccines against the clade I virus?

Just as was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic, health experts are looking to vaccines to help curb this mpox outbreak. Although there are no vaccines designed specifically against the monkeypox virus, there are two vaccines proven to ward off a related poxvirus — the one that causes smallpox. Jynneos, made by biotechnology company Bavarian Nordic in Hellerup, Denmark, contains a type of poxvirus that can’t replicate but can trigger an immune response. LC16m8, made by pharmaceutical company KM Biologics in Kumamoto, Japan, contains a live — but weakened — version of a different poxvirus strain.

Hopes dashed for drug aimed at monkeypox virus spreading in Africa

Still, it’s unclear how effective these smallpox vaccines are against mpox generally. Dimie Ogoina, an infectious-disease specialist at Niger Delta University in Wilberforce Island, Nigeria, points out that vaccines have been tested only against clade II virus in European and US populations, because these shots were distributed by wealthy nations during the 2022 global outbreak . And those recipients were primarily young, healthy men who have sex with men, a population that was particularly susceptible during that outbreak. One study in the United States found that one dose of Jynneos was 80% effective at preventing the disease in at-risk people, whereas two doses were 82% effective 4 ; the WHO recommends getting both jabs.

People in Africa infected with either the clade Ia or Ib virus — especially children and those with compromised immune systems — might respond differently. However, one study in the DRC found that the Jynneos vaccine generally raised antibodies against mpox in about 1,000 health-care workers who received it 5 .

But researchers are trying to fill in some data gaps. A team in the DRC is about to launch a clinical trial of Jynneos in people who have come into close contact with the monkeypox virus — but have not shown symptoms — to see whether it can prevent future infection, or improve outcomes if an infection arises.

Will the vaccines help to rein in the latest outbreak?

Mpox vaccines have been largely unavailable in Africa, but several wealthy countries have pledged to donate doses to the DRC and other affected African nations. The United States has offered 50,000 Jynneos doses from its national stockpile, and the European Union has ordered 175,000, with individual member countries pledging extra doses. Bavarian Nordic has also added another 40,000. Japan has offered 3.5 million doses of LC16m8 — for which only one jab is recommended instead of two.

Monkeypox in Africa: the science the world ignored

None of them have arrived yet, though, says Espoir Bwenge Malembaka, an epidemiologist at the Catholic University of Bukavu in the DRC. Low- and middle-income nations cannot receive vaccines until the WHO has deemed the jabs safe and effective. And the WHO has not given its thumbs up yet. It is evaluating data from vaccine manufacturers, delaying donors’ ability to send the vaccines.

Even when the vaccines arrive, Bwenge Malembaka says, “it’s really a drop in the bucket”. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, estimates that 10 million doses are needed to rein in the outbreak.

Bwenge Malembaka says that the uncertainty over vaccine arrival has made it difficult for the government to form a distribution plan. “I don’t know how one can go about this kind of challenge,” he says. Bwenge Malembaka suspects that children are likely to receive doses first, because they are highly vulnerable to clade I, but officials haven’t decided which regions to target. It’s also unclear how the government would prioritize other vulnerable populations such as sex workers, who have been affected by clade Ib. Their profession is criminalized in the DRC, so they might not be able to come forward for treatment.

Researchers lament that public-health organizations didn’t provide vaccines and other resources as soon as the clade I outbreak was identified, especially given lessons learnt from the 2022 global mpox outbreak. “The opportunity was there a couple months ago to cut this transmission chain, but resources weren’t available,” Liesenborghs says. “Now, it will be more challenging to tackle this outbreak, and the population at risk is much broader.”

Nature 633 , 16-17 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02793-9

Americo, J. L., Earl, P. L. & Moss, B. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 120 , e2220415120 (2023).

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Yinka-Ogunleye, A. et al. BMJ Glob. Health 8 , e013126 (2023).

Kinganda-Lusamaki, E. et al. Preprint at medRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.13.24311951 (2024).

Yeganeh, N. et al. Vaccine 42 , 125987 (2024).

Priyamvada, L. et al. Vaccine 40 , 7321–7327 (2022).

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Published by the Food Security Information Network (FSIN) in support of the Global Network against Food Crises (GNAFC), the GRFC 2024 is the reference document for global, regional and country-level acute food insecurity in 2023. The report is the result of a collaborative effort among 16 partners to achieve a consensus-based assessment of acute food insecurity and malnutrition in countries with food crises and aims to inform humanitarian and development action.  

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Young Americans Can’t Keep Funding Boomers and Beyond

By C. Eugene Steuerle and Glenn Kramon

Mr. Steuerle co-founded the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Mr. Kramon is a lecturer at Stanford Business School.

You know the expression “OK, boomer”? Better said as “Boomer OK.” That’s because the social safety net in the United States is increasingly favoring the old over the young. And this affects our political views and the security of future generations.

Younger Americans have valid reason for disgruntlement: Big shifts in income and wealth are significantly favoring their elders. Under almost every president since 1980, 80 percent of the real growth in domestic spending has gone to Social Security and health care, with Medicare the most expensive health program, according to calculations based on federal data . As a share of G.D.P., all other domestic outlays combined have declined.

Our current tax system also largely does not help Americans, most of whom are younger, pay for their higher education. That wasn’t as big a deal in the 1960s or ’70s, when the average college graduate most likely had little or no student debt. Today the average taken out each year is about seven times that in 1971 , in part because state governments have stripped colleges and universities of funding. This is happening at a time when owning a house is increasingly out of reach. The median price has risen from about 3.5 times median annual income in 1984 to 5.8 times in 2022 .

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that today, younger generations are more likely to fall into lower-income classes than their parents or grandparents. Nearly a half-century ago, it was the reverse . And in 1989, the median net worth of Americans ages 35 to 44 was nearly 75 percent of those 65 to 74. By 2022, that ratio had fallen to one-third .

The why is simple. Unlike with most other spending, Congress effectively designed Medicare in 1965 and Social Security in the 1970s in such a way that outlays would increase forever faster than our national income. That’s partly because Medicare costs keep rising along with medical prices and new treatments and because Social Security benefits are designed to increase for each new generation along with inflation and wages. And we’re living longer, which means more years of benefits.

Today tax revenues are so committed to mandatory spending, largely for older Americans, and to interest on the national debt (which has quadrupled as a share of G.D.P. since 1980) that little revenue is left for everything else. So unless we borrow to pay for it, there’s little for education, infrastructure, the environment, affordable housing, reducing poverty or the military.

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https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/08/20/gcse-results-day-2024-number-grading-system/

GCSE results day 2024: Everything you need to know including the number grading system

Thousands of students across the country will soon be finding out their GCSE results and thinking about the next steps in their education.   

Here we explain everything you need to know about the big day, from when results day is, to the current 9-1 grading scale, to what your options are if your results aren’t what you’re expecting.  

When is GCSE results day 2024?  

GCSE results day will be taking place on Thursday the 22 August.     

The results will be made available to schools on Wednesday and available to pick up from your school by 8am on Thursday morning.  

Schools will issue their own instructions on how and when to collect your results.   

When did we change to a number grading scale?  

The shift to the numerical grading system was introduced in England in 2017 firstly in English language, English literature, and maths.  

By 2020 all subjects were shifted to number grades. This means anyone with GCSE results from 2017-2020 will have a combination of both letters and numbers.  

The numerical grading system was to signal more challenging GCSEs and to better differentiate between students’ abilities - particularly at higher grades between the A *-C grades. There only used to be 4 grades between A* and C, now with the numerical grading scale there are 6.  

What do the number grades mean?  

The grades are ranked from 1, the lowest, to 9, the highest.  

The grades don’t exactly translate, but the two grading scales meet at three points as illustrated below.  

The bottom of grade 7 is aligned with the bottom of grade A, while the bottom of grade 4 is aligned to the bottom of grade C.    

Meanwhile, the bottom of grade 1 is aligned to the bottom of grade G.  

What to do if your results weren’t what you were expecting?  

If your results weren’t what you were expecting, firstly don’t panic. You have options.  

First things first, speak to your school or college – they could be flexible on entry requirements if you’ve just missed your grades.   

They’ll also be able to give you the best tailored advice on whether re-sitting while studying for your next qualifications is a possibility.   

If you’re really unhappy with your results you can enter to resit all GCSE subjects in summer 2025. You can also take autumn exams in GCSE English language and maths.  

Speak to your sixth form or college to decide when it’s the best time for you to resit a GCSE exam.  

Look for other courses with different grade requirements     

Entry requirements vary depending on the college and course. Ask your school for advice, and call your college or another one in your area to see if there’s a space on a course you’re interested in.    

Consider an apprenticeship    

Apprenticeships combine a practical training job with study too. They’re open to you if you’re 16 or over, living in England, and not in full time education.  

As an apprentice you’ll be a paid employee, have the opportunity to work alongside experienced staff, gain job-specific skills, and get time set aside for training and study related to your role.   

You can find out more about how to apply here .  

Talk to a National Careers Service (NCS) adviser    

The National Career Service is a free resource that can help you with your career planning. Give them a call to discuss potential routes into higher education, further education, or the workplace.   

Whatever your results, if you want to find out more about all your education and training options, as well as get practical advice about your exam results, visit the  National Careers Service page  and Skills for Careers to explore your study and work choices.   

You may also be interested in:

• Results day 2024: What's next after picking up your A level, T level and VTQ results?
• When is results day 2024? GCSEs, A levels, T Levels and VTQs

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