Culture

Cultural Universals: Traits that all cultures share (however, there are specific differences)

Cultural diffusion: spread of culture

Relocation-diffusion: migration- cultural traits move with people

Contagious Expansion Diffusion: a trait expands because people who did not previously possess
it adopted it

Hierarchical Diffusion: (city to small town) Culture trait is born in a large city then spreads to
other cities then trickles town to suburbs and small towns.

Barrier Effects: things that stop cultural diffusions

Physical Barriers: natural elements that inhibit cultural diffusions. Ex. Mountain ranges, oceans

Social Barriers: Human institutions that inhibit spread of culture. Ex.

Global Population(Basics)
Population Geography: analyzes distribution of people and their characteristics over the face of
the Earth.

Demography: science of statistics that involve birth rates, death rates, life expectancy, and other
factors.

Factors of Population Change:

- Migration

- Trends

- Birth Rate

- Death Rate

- Natural Increase

- Opportunity for “livelihood”

- urban growth

- OFL: Human population densities tend to be higher where OPL is favorable.

- OFL can come in different forms: land, technology, agriculture, etc.

Urban Growth: Growth in cities because cities are viewed as high places for OFL

Birthrate: Annual number of births per 1,000 population

Death Rate: Annual number of deaths per 1,000 population

Natural Increase: Annual rate of population change.

You can calculate natural increase by subtracting the death rate from the birthrate.

- Birthrates are usually greater than death rates (meaning population is constantly increasing) but
plagues, war, or other events can cause the opposite effect.

Population Distribution
- Population is spread unevenly throughout the world

Dispersion: open space between individual farmsteads

Clustering: Families tend to live in a compact village, from which they walk to otherwise
“commute” to their jobs.

Demographic Transition Mode:

There are 4 basic stages:

Stage 1: High Stationary

Stage 2: Early Expanding
Stage 3: Late Expanding
Stage 4: Low Stationary

Use? Demographers use this to predict the outcome of future population growth

Brief summary of each stage:

Stage 1: High Stationary

- BR and DR are high but about equal
- Population growth is stationary b/c BR and DR cancel each other out
Results:
Infant Mortality: Death before child’s first birthday
Avery Life Expectancy: Number of years a new born is expected to live decreases, people die at
a young age.
Stage 2: Early Expanding
- BR is > DR
- Population growth is dramatic
Results:
- A widening gap between birth and death rates b/c of improvements in society

Stage 3: Late Expanding

- BR is > DR
- Population grows at slow rates
Results:
A narrow gap in society b/c of continuous improvements in society

Stage 4: Low Stationary

- Birth rates and death rates are low but about equal
- Population growth is stationary b/c number of BR cancel out DR
Results:
-Narrow gap of BR and DR b/c of economy and improving life.

Population Pyramid

A population pyramid, also known as an age-sex pyramid, is a graphical illustration that shows
the distribution of various age groups in a population (typically that of a country or region of the
world), which normally forms the shape of a pyramid. It typically consists of two back-to-back
bar graphs, with population plotted on the X-axis and age on the Y-axis, one showing the number
of males and one showing females in a particular population in five-year age groups (also called
cohorts). Males are conventionally shown on the left and females on the right, and they may be
measured by raw number or as a percentage of the total population.

A great deal of information about the population broken down by age and sex can be read from a
population pyramid, and this can shed light on the extent of development and other aspects of the
population.
The wide base of the pyramid indicates a large number of children , and the steady upwards
narrowing shows that more people die at each higher age band. The pyramid indicates a
population in which there is a high birth rate, a high death rate and a short life expectancy. This is
the typical pattern for less economically developed countries, due to little access to and incentive
to use birth control, negative environmental factors (for example, lack of clean water) and poor
access to health care.

Note that there tend to be more females than males in the older age groups, due to females'
longer life expectancy.

Types of population pyramid

While all countries population pyramids differ, three types have been identified by the fertility
and mortality rates of a country.

Stationary pyramid - A population pyramid showing an unchanging pattern of fertility and

mortality.

Expansive pyramid - A population pyramid showing a broad base, indicating a high proportion
of children, a rapid rate of population growth, and a low proportion of older people.

Constrictive pyramid - A population pyramid showing lower numbers or percentages of

younger people.