Exam-useful questions from this chapter, grouped by marks, each with a full model answer. Try writing the answer yourself first, then check it against this one.
1 1-Mark Questions
Q. What is meant by density of population?
Answer: Density of population is the ratio between the number of people and the size of land, usually measured in persons per square kilometre.
Q. What is the formula for Natural Growth of Population?
Answer: Natural Growth of Population = Births minus Deaths.
Q. What is the formula for Actual Growth of Population?
Answer: Actual Growth of Population = Births minus Deaths + In-Migration minus Out-Migration.
Q. Who is called an immigrant?
Answer: Migrants who move into a new place are called Immigrants.
Q. Who is called an emigrant?
Answer: Migrants who move out of a place are called Emigrants.
Q. What is Crude Birth Rate (CBR)?
Answer: CBR is the number of live births in a year per thousand of population, calculated as CBR = (B/P) × 1000, where B is live births during the year and P is the estimated mid-year population.
Q. What is Crude Death Rate (CDR)?
Answer: CDR is the number of deaths in a particular year per thousand of population in a particular region, calculated as CDR = (D/P) × 1000, where D is the number of deaths and P is the estimated mid-year population.
Q. What is meant by Positive Growth of Population?
Answer: Positive Growth of Population happens when the birth rate is more than the death rate between two points of time, or when people from other countries migrate permanently to a region.
Q. What is meant by Negative Growth of Population?
Answer: Negative Growth of Population occurs when the population decreases between two points of time. This happens when the birth rate falls below the death rate, or when people migrate to other countries.
Q. In which year did Thomas Malthus present his theory of population?
Answer: Thomas Malthus presented his theory in 1798.
2 2-Mark Questions
Q. Differentiate between Place of Origin and Place of Destination.
Answer: The Place of Origin is the place people move from, and it shows a decrease in population. The Place of Destination is the place people move to, and its population increases.
Q. Explain any two geographical factors that influence the distribution of population.
Answer: (i) Availability of water: water is the most important factor for life, so river valleys, where fresh water is easily available, are among the most densely populated areas of the world. (ii) Landforms: people prefer flat plains and gentle slopes, which favour agriculture, roads and industry. The Ganga plains are among the most densely populated areas, while the Himalayan mountain zones are scarcely populated.
Q. What do you understand by the term ‘population distribution’? Give one supporting fact from the chapter.
Answer: Population distribution refers to the way people are spaced over the earth’s surface. As a supporting fact, the chapter states that about 90 per cent of the world’s population lives in about 10 per cent of its land area.
Q. Explain the density of population with its formula and a worked example from the chapter.
Answer: Density of population is the ratio between the number of people and the size of land, usually measured in persons per square kilometre: Density = Population / Area. In the chapter’s own example, Region X has an area of 100 sq km and a population of 1,50,000 persons, giving a density of 1,50,000/100 = 1,500 persons per sq km.
Q. What are push factors of migration? Name any three.
Answer: Push factors are factors that make the place of origin seem less attractive to migrants. Any three: unemployment, poor living conditions, political turmoil (the chapter also lists unpleasant climate, natural disasters, epidemics and socio-economic backwardness).
Q. What are pull factors of migration? Name any three.
Answer: Pull factors are factors that make the place of destination seem more attractive than the place of origin. Any three: better job opportunities, better living conditions, peace and stability (the chapter also lists security of life and property, and pleasant climate).
Q. Distinguish between Natural Growth and Actual Growth of population.
Answer: Natural Growth of Population is the increase due to the difference between births and deaths alone: Natural Growth = Births minus Deaths. Actual Growth of Population also accounts for migration: Actual Growth = Births minus Deaths + In-Migration minus Out-Migration.
Q. What does the chapter’s own ‘Did you know’ box tell us about population growth over the past 500 years and the 20th century?
Answer: It states that human population increased more than ten times during the past 500 years, and that in the twentieth century itself the population increased four times.
3 4-Mark Questions
Q. Explain the economic factors that influence the distribution of population, with examples from the chapter.
Answer: The chapter names three economic factors. (i) Minerals: areas with mineral deposits attract industries and generate employment, drawing skilled and semi-skilled workers. The Katanga-Zambia copper belt in Africa is the chapter’s own example. (ii) Urbanisation: cities offer better employment, education, medical facilities and transport, leading to rural-to-urban migration; mega cities continue to attract large numbers of migrants every year. (iii) Industrialisation: industrial belts provide jobs not only for factory workers but also transport operators, shopkeepers, bank employees, doctors and teachers. The Kobe-Osaka region of Japan is thickly populated for this reason.
Q. Discuss the geographical factors that influence the distribution of population in the world.
Answer: The chapter names four geographical factors. (i) Availability of water: river valleys are among the most densely populated areas because water is essential for drinking, bathing, cooking, cattle, crops, industry and navigation. (ii) Landforms: flat plains and gentle slopes are preferred for agriculture, roads and industry. The Ganga plains are densely populated while the Himalayan mountain zones are scarcely populated. (iii) Climate: extreme hot or cold deserts are uncomfortable, while Mediterranean regions with a pleasant climate have been inhabited from early periods in history. (iv) Soils: fertile loamy soils support intensive agriculture and therefore more people.
Q. Explain the concept of population growth/change, and illustrate it using the chapter’s own example of India’s population.
Answer: Population growth or population change refers to the change in the number of inhabitants of a territory during a specific period of time. This change may be positive or negative, and can be expressed in absolute numbers or as a percentage; it is an important indicator of a region’s economic development, social upliftment and historical and cultural background. The chapter’s own example: deducting India’s 2001 population (102.70 crore) from its 2011 population (121.02 crore) gives a growth of population of 18.15 crore in actual numbers.
Q. Describe the push and pull factors of migration, giving the chapter’s own examples of each.
Answer: Push factors make the place of origin seem less attractive: the chapter names unemployment, poor living conditions, political turmoil, unpleasant climate, natural disasters, epidemics and socio-economic backwardness. Pull factors make the place of destination seem more attractive: the chapter names better job opportunities and living conditions, peace and stability, security of life and property, and pleasant climate.
Q. What is the Demographic Transition Theory? Explain its purpose.
Answer: Demographic Transition Theory can be used to describe and predict the future population of any area. It tells us that the population of any region changes from high births and high deaths to low births and low deaths as society progresses from being rural, agrarian and illiterate to urban, industrial and literate. These changes occur in stages, together called the demographic cycle.
Q. Explain, with examples, why some regions of the world have such high density of population.
Answer: High density results from geographical, economic and social-cultural factors acting together. Geographically, availability of water, favourable landforms, pleasant climate and fertile soils attract settlement, for example the Ganga plains and the Mediterranean region. Economically, mineral deposits (the Katanga-Zambia copper belt), urbanisation, and industrialisation (the Kobe-Osaka region of Japan) create employment that draws people in. Socially and culturally, places of religious or cultural significance also attract more people.
4 6-Mark Questions
Q. Describe the three stages of the Demographic Transition Theory in detail, with the examples given in the chapter’s own figure.
Answer: Stage I (High Fluctuating): both fertility and mortality are high, so people reproduce more to compensate for deaths from epidemics and variable food supply; population growth is slow, most people are engaged in agriculture where large families are an asset, life expectancy is low, and people are mostly illiterate with low levels of technology. Two hundred years ago all the countries of the world were in this stage; the chapter’s Fig. 2.2 shows Bangladesh and rainforest tribes as present-world examples of this stage.
Stage II (Expanding): fertility remains high at first but declines with time, while mortality declines faster due to improvements in sanitation and health; because of this gap, the net addition to population is high. The chapter’s figure places Peru, Kenya and Sri Lanka here.
Stage III (Low Fluctuating): both fertility and mortality decline considerably, and population becomes stable or grows slowly; society becomes urbanised, literate, technically capable, and deliberately controls family size. The chapter’s figure places Canada, Japan and the USA here. This shows that human beings are extremely flexible and able to adjust their fertility, and in the present day, different countries are at different stages of demographic transition.
Q. Discuss in detail the factors influencing the distribution and density of population in the world.
Answer: The world’s population is very unevenly distributed: about 90 per cent of people live on about 10 per cent of the world’s land area, and the 10 most populous countries hold about 60 per cent of world population, 6 of them in Asia. Three groups of factors explain this.
Geographical factors: availability of water (river valleys densely populated), landforms (the Ganga plains dense, Himalayan zones sparse), climate (Mediterranean regions settled early for their pleasant climate, extreme deserts uncomfortable), and soils (fertile loamy soils support intensive agriculture and more people).
Economic factors: minerals attract industries and workers (the Katanga-Zambia copper belt); urbanisation draws people to cities for better jobs, education and medical facilities, and mega cities keep attracting migrants; industrialisation provides jobs beyond the factory itself, as in the Kobe-Osaka region of Japan.
Social and cultural factors: places of religious or cultural significance attract people, while social and political unrest drives people away; governments sometimes offer incentives to settle sparsely populated areas or move away from overcrowded ones.
Q. Explain the measures suggested for population control, including Thomas Malthus’s theory.
Answer: Family planning is the spacing or preventing of the birth of children; access to family planning services is a significant factor in limiting population growth and improving women’s health. The chapter also names propaganda, free availability of contraceptives, and tax disincentives for large families as measures that help control population.
Thomas Malthus, in his theory of 1798, stated that the number of people would increase faster than the food supply, and that any further increase would result in a population crash caused by famine, disease and war. He held that preventive checks, such as family planning, are better than physical checks, such as famine, disease and war, and argued that for the sustainability of resources, the world will have to control the rapid increase in population.
5 Case Studies
(A) 1 mark Define density of population.
Answer: Density of population is the ratio between the number of people and the size of land, usually measured in persons per square kilometre.
(B) 1 mark Using the same method as the extract, calculate the density of population of a region with an area of 200 sq km and a population of 3,00,000 persons.
Answer: Density = Population / Area = 3,00,000 / 200 = 1,500 persons per sq km.
(C) 2 marks Why are the Himalayan mountain zones scarcely populated despite the Ganga plains being densely populated?
Answer: The chapter explains that people prefer flat plains and gentle slopes because these are favourable for agriculture and for building roads and industries, while mountainous and hilly areas hinder the development of transport networks and initially do not favour agricultural and industrial development, which is why the Ganga plains are densely populated while the Himalayan zones remain scarcely populated.
(A) 1 mark Name any two push factors mentioned in the extract.
Answer: Any two of: unemployment, poor living conditions, political turmoil, unpleasant climate, natural disasters, epidemics, socio-economic backwardness.
(B) 1 mark Name any two pull factors mentioned in the extract.
Answer: Any two of: better job opportunities, better living conditions, peace and stability, security of life and property, pleasant climate.
(C) 2 marks Explain, in your own words, the difference between a push factor and a pull factor.
Answer: A push factor makes a migrant’s existing place (the place of origin) seem less attractive, giving them a reason to leave. A pull factor makes a different place (the place of destination) seem more attractive, giving them a reason to move there. Migration decisions are shaped by both sets of factors acting together.