Important Terms and Concepts - Population
Category : 9th Class
IMPORTANT TERMS AND CONCEPTS
- Census. The official counting of the population, etc., taken after every 10 years.
- Demography. Scientific study of population characteristics.
- Average density of population. Number of persons per square km.
- Quality of people. It means their economic efficiency, the level of their scientific and technological development, cultural values and socio-political organisations.
- Birth rate. Number of births in a year per thousand of population.
- Death rate. Number of deaths in a year per thousand of population.
- Growth rate. Birth rate minus death rate. It is expressed in percentage. It is the per cent increase in population of a country annually:
Birth rate : 42 per 1000 = 4.2%
Death rate : 18 per 1000 = 1.8%
Growth rate : Birth rate - Death rate = 2.40%
- Age composition. The distribution of population into 3 age groups.
0-14 years - Children
15-59 years - Productive population
60 and above - Senior citizens
- Dependent ratio. It is the ratio between the economically working population and dependent population. It is calculated by dividing dependent population by the working population and multiplying it by 100. According to 1991 census, about 44% of our population is dependent on 56% working population.
- Sex ratio. It is number of females per thousand males. According to 1991 census it was 927 females per thousand males and according to 2001 census, it is 933 females per thousand males.
- Infant mortality rate. It is the percentage of children dying before completing one year of age per thousand births.
- Life expectancy. An average length of life that a new born is expected to live.
- Literacy rate. It is the number of literate persons per thousand population.
- Occupational structure. It is the distribution of workforce among different occupations.
- Productive population. They are engaged in some meaningful occupation to earn their livelihood.
- Optimum population. The word optimum means most favourable. The optimum population refers to the size of the population which produces maximum amount of goods and services with the help of its resources.
- Migration. It refers to the movement of people across regions, territories or countries.
- Emmigration. Moving out of your country.
- Immigration. Moving into another country.
- Adolescents. It is a period in which a person is no longer a child and not yet an adult. Such persons are grouped in the age group of 10 to 19 years.
- Urban agglomerations. Around each million plus cities, cluster of urban settlements have developed which are linked with the economy of the million plus cities. They are known as urban agglomerations.
