THE WORLD POPULATION GROWTH

Birth rate: the number of live births per 1000 people of all ages in one year.

Death rate: the number of deaths per 1000 people in the population in a year.

Natural increase: is the crude birth rate minus the crude death rate of a population.

Infant mortality rate: the death rate during the first year of life.

Life expectancy: the statistically determined average number of years of life remaining after a specified age for a given groupof individuals.

Birth control: Voluntary prevention of conception by a man or a woman through the use of contraceptive techniques.

Dependent population: those who rely on the working population for support e.g. the young and elderly.

Dependency ratio: the ratio between those of working age and those of non-working age.

Family planning: using contraception to control the size of your family.

Population piramids: a graph which shows the age and sex structure of a place.

Age-gender structures: the relative percentages of people of different age groups, usually shown on a population pyramid.

Replacement rate: is the percentage of a worker's pre-retirement income that is paid out by a pension program upon retirement

Fertility rate: the ratio of live births in an area to the population of that area; expressed per 1000 population per year.

Ageing population: in the population structure of many MEDCs there is often a high proportion of elderly people who have survived due to advances in nutrition and medical care. This creates problems since these people don´t work and have to be provided with pensions, medical care, social support, sheltered housing etc. from the taxes paid by a proportionally smaller number of workers. In addition, an increasing number of young people are employed as care workers for the elderly. This removes them from more productive jobs within the economy and harms a country's competitiveness.

Population distribution: the arrangement or spread of people living in a given area.

Population density: number of people per square kilometre.

More economically developed country (MEDC): is a sovereignstate that has a highly developed economy and advanced technologicalinfrastructure relative to other less developed nations.

Less economically developed country (LEDC): is a country that is considered lacking in terms of its economy, infrastructure and industrial base. The population of a lesser-developed country often has a relatively low standard of living, due to low incomes and abundant poverty. 

Overpopulation: where there are too many people and not enough resources to support a satisfactory quality of life.

Under population: having a population lower than is normal or desirable.