World Population Transformation

World population has changed over time from the era of the hunter-gatherer with a low resource, low impact, low population of 5 - 10 million through the Agricultural and Neolithic revolutions which increased the natural resource base and food security. In the mid-1600s population growth became more rapid with increased life expectancy due to commerce, food production and nutrition. During the time of the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century world population had reached 750 million with advances in medicine and sanitation enhancing survival rates.

These advances also increased carrying capacity which is defined as: the number of people supportable within a given area by the technology at their disposal or the maximum number of organisms in one species that can be supported in a particular environmental setting.

World population was transformed in the 20th century as technological and social changes brought steep declines in birth rates and death rates around the world. The century began with 1.6 billion people and ended with 6.1 billion, mainly because of unprecedented growth after 1960. John Wilmouth of 'The Guardian' states that " we're not adding to the population through births, we're mostly adding to the population because people are living longer". This can be seen with some of parents' generation living into their 90s whereas many of the generation before didn't survive past 60s and early 70s.

Population momentum can explain continued growth after fertility rates reduce. I found this website useful to explain the concept as it explains how a country's population continues to grow once replacement fertility is reached.

Replacement fertility level is defined as the number of children needed to exactly replace their children's generation, so accounting for premature death, this is 2.1.

Population Geography

Population Geography

No. 1: World Population

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