GEOS Unit 1 Revision

• Middelbare school

1.1 Population and Economic Development Patterns

1.1 Population and Economic Development Patterns

Syllabus

Physical and human factors affecting population distribution at the global scale

Global patterns and classification of economic development:

• low-income countries
• middle-income countries and emerging economies
• high-income countries

Population distribution and economic development at the national scale, including voluntary internal migration, core-periphery patterns and megacity growth

Two detailed and contrasting examples of uneven population distribution  

What physical factors affect population distribution at the global scale?

1.1.1. Physical and human factors affecting population distribution at the global scale

Physical Factors:

1. Relief and landforms

2. Weather and climate

3. Soil type and quality 

4. Water supply

5. Vegetation

6. Raw materials/natural resources

7. Natural threats

What human factors affect population distribution at the global scale?

1.1.1. Physical and human factors affecting population distribution at the global scale

Human Factors:

1. Agriculture 

2) Secondary industry

3) Accessibility

4) Political decisions

5) Conflict

1.1.2. Global patterns and classification of economic development:

The World Bank currently divides economies into four income groupings:

Low ($1025 or less)

Lower-middle ($1026 to $4035)

Upper-middle ($4036 to $12475)

High ($12476 or more)

Income is measured using gross national income (GNI) per capita, in U.S. dollars, converted from local currency.

1.1.3. Population distribution and economic development at the national scale, including voluntary internal migration, core-periphery patterns and megacity growth

Required case study:

• contemporary megacity experiencing rapid growth: Mumbai (course book)

A mega city has a population of more than:

1. 1 million
2. 10 million
3. 100 million
4. 1 billion

What is a primate city?

1. A city suitable for monkeys
2. A disproportionately larger city in the urban hierarchy in a country

Required examples of two or more contrasting countries 

Google Classroom: France & Ethiopia

Course book: China & South Africa

1.3 Required Case study: Demographic Dividend and South Korea's Economic Boom

How is South Korea benefiting from a demographic dividend?

• The demographic dividend and the ways in which population could be considered a resource when contemplating possible futures

Define the demographic dividend

Watch: Harnessing the demographic dividend: https://youtu.be/o-L3LrYJQi0

The demographic dividend

• The population structure in a country is the starting point for the demographic dividend:

1. If a population has a very large young workforce, there is great potential to harness this to accelerate economic growth of the country. 

• The demographic dividend may develop only if two other demographic conditions co-exist: 

2. the number of births each year declines >> the young dependent population will grow smaller in relation to the working-age population. 
3. the population has not yet achieved very high life expectancy >> a relatively small old age dependency. 

With more workers and fewer young people and ageing population not fully established a country has a window of opportunity for accelerated economic growth.

The ability of a government to capitalise on this demographic advantage will depend on the effectiveness of its policies on:

• health: child survival, nutrition, reproductive health
• education: literacy and numeracy, gender equality, provide secondary eduction and vocational training to workforce
• economy:  build labour-intensive industries (e.g. manufacturing, services and retail), micro-finance, trade policies to protect domestic industries/ expand export markets, encourage foreign direct investment (FDI)
• good governance: transparency, secure financial and judicial systems, reduce corruption, open to civil participation

Identify ways that population can be seen as resource

Demographic dividend in Sub-Saharan Africa?

• Great potential in sub-Saharan Africa for the Demographic Dividend
• 40% of its population is under the age of 15
• But: the future is full of uncertainty and possibility and will depend on the decisions and governance of its leaders over the next two decades. 

Case study: The Demographic Dividend in South Korea

After the first national family planning campaign in 1962 fertility rate reduced quickly:

• 1960: 6.3 children / woman
• 1985: 2.2 ""
• 2005: 1.2 ""
• Today < 1 child per woman, well below the replacement level. 

cont. Case study: The Demographic Dividend in South Korea

The right economic and social conditions and the policies below, enabled South Korea to experience a demographic dividend:

1. population policies >> slowing population growth and reducing fertility rate >> helped create the bulged young working-age population structure
2. rapid socio-economic reform >> focused on education and gender equality, the creation of labour-intensive manufacturing and services sectors investment

South Korea's Population Policies

South Korea adopted an aggressive population policy:

• Home visits of field workers who provided family planning information and methods, targeting education to young women. 
• The family planning program encouraged family planning and invested in education and contraceptives. 
• This was supported by the creation of 'mothers’ clubs in more than 19,000 villages. 

Once initial fertility improvements were made natural forces appeared to take over. People saw that having fewer children improved family life and so people continued to have fewer children.

Research gate: South Korea demographic change

South Korea's Education policies

Between the 1950s and 1960s, South Korea’s education strategy shifted from  compulsory primary education (accessed by only 54% of children) to:

•  “production-oriented” or vocational education approach: knowledge & skills they needed to achieve economic development
• School participation increased to 97% by 1990
• A better-educated population created a skilled labour market that in turn supported rapid economic development through a skilled labour force

South Korea's Economic policies: modernise & diversify

• shifting from a dependency on farming and fishing towards a more diverse industry of agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, shipping and services
• normalizing relations with Japan >> rapid injections of FDI by both the Japanese government and corporations
• policy for labour intensive employment through a rural construction program providing minimum wages for workers >> it created jobs and built modern infrastructure that helped open the rural economy for further investment. 
• Over time, South Korea also established chemical, iron, and steel industries that contributed to improvements in balance of trade and became an important partner for investment in Vietnam during its own post war development.