We have provided the Population Composition Notes ahead which is a part of the class 12 geography syllabus.
Population Composition Notes
Population composition – it refers to those characteristics of the population which are measurable and which help us in distinguishing one group of people from another such as – age structure, sex ratio, literacy rate and occupation.
Sex composition-
Sex ratio – the ratio between the number of males and females in the population is called the sex ratio.
Calculation of sex ratio –
In India – female population/male population *1000
In the rest of the world – male population/female population *1000
- In regions where gender discrimination is widespread, the sex ratio troublesome to ladies.
- Thus, the practice of female foeticide, female infanticide and domestic violence on women will be prevalent.
Key points-
- Sex ratio of world is 102 males over 100 females
- Sex ratio in India is 940
- The highest sex ratio in the world is in Latvia
- The lowest sex ratio in the world is in UAE
- Asia has a low sex ratio
- While in Europe there is a high sex ratio
Types of the age-sex pyramid –
- Expanding population –
- Nigeria’s age sex pyramid is a triangular shaped pyramid
- It has a huge population in lower age as birth rate is high
2. Constant population –
- Australia’s age sex pyramid represent a bell shaped pyramid.
- This shows that birth rate as well as death rate are almost equal which leads to constant population.
3. Declining population –
- The age-sex pyramid of japan has a narrow base and tapered top
- It depicts low birth rate and low death rate
- The population growth of developed countries is zero or negative
Age structure –
- Age structure refers to the number of people of various age groups.
- The age group of 15-59 years represent working population.
- Population above 60 years represent ageing population
Age-sex-pyramid –
- The age structure of the human population refers to the number of women and men in different age groups.
- The shape of the population reflects characteristics of populations
- The left side represents the percentage of men while the right side represents the percentage of women of each age group.
Rural-urban composition –
- Rural and urban lifestyles vary from person to person depending on their lifestyle and social conditions.
- Rural areas are often the place where people do the primary activities.
- Urban areas are those where majority of people are engaged in non-primary activities
- The rural and urban differences in sex ratio in wester countries is that male outnumber female in rural areas and female outnumber male in urban areas
- Women in urban areas of the USA, Canada and Europe is the result of the influx of women from rural areas to cities to find employment.
- Farming is highly mechanised in these areas so men tend to live in rural areas
- male dominates the sex ratio in the Asian countries due to their predominance of migration
- In countries like India, female participation in farming activity is high
- Lack of housing, low urban security, discourages women from moving from rural to urban areas in India..
Literacy –
- Literacy rate – in India, literacy refers to the percentage of population above 7 years, who is able to read, write and have ability to do arithmetic calculation with understandings.
Key points –
- The highest literacy rate in India is in Kerala
Occupational structure –
- The working population takes part in occupations like agriculture, forestry, manufacturing, construction, services, communication etc.
Sectors of occupation-
- Primary sector – includes activities such as agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining
- Secondary sector – like manufacturing
- Tertiary sector – include services, trade, transport, communication etc.
- Quaternary sector – includes job related to research, information technology etc.
- The proportion of working population in these sectors is a good indicator of economic development of nation.
- A developed country is able to take workers in the secondary, tertiary and quaternary sector.
