Age cohort
A group of people with a similar age.
Agricultural density
The ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of land suitable for agriculture.
Agricultural revolution
The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and on longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering.
Anti-natalist
Concerned with limiting population growth.
Pro-natalist
Concerned with promoting population growth.
Arithmetic density (population density)
The total number of people divided by the total land area.
Census
A complete enumeration of a population.
Contraception
Deliberate prevention of conception or impregnation.
Crude death rate (CDR)
The total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.
Crude birth rate (CBR)
The total number of live births in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.
Demographic transition
The process of change in a society's population from a condition of high crude birth and death rates and low rate of natural increase to a condition of low crude birth and death rates, low rate of natural increase, and a higher total population.
Demography
The scientific study of population characteristics.
Dependency ratio
The number of people under the age of 15 and over age 64, compares to the number of people active in the labor force.
Doubling time
The amount of years needed to double a population, assuming a constant rate of natural increase.
Ecumene
The portion of Earth's surface occupied by permanent human settlement.
Non-ecumene
The uninhabited or uninhabitable area of the world.
Epidemiologic transition
Distinctive causes of death in each stage of the demographic transition.
Epidemiology
Branch of medical science concerned with the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases that affect large numbers of people.
Industrial Revolution
A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods.
Infant mortality rate (IMR)
The total number of deaths in a year among infants under one year old for every 1,000 live births in a society.
Life expectancy
The average number of years an individual can be expected to live, given current social, economic, and medical conditions. Life expectancy at birth is the average number of years a newborn infant can expect to live.
Medical revolution
Medical technology invented in Europe and North America that is diffused to the poorer countries of Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Improved medical practices have eliminated many of the traditional causes of death in poorer countries and enabled more pe
Natural increase rate (NIR/RNI)
The percentage growth of a population in a year, computed as the crude birth rate minus the crude death rate.
Overpopulation
The number of a people in an area exceeds the capacity of the environment to support life at a decent standard of living.
Pandemic
Disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high proportion of the population.
Physiological density
The number of people per unit of area of arable land, which is land suitable for agriculture.
Population agglomeration (clustering)
A cluster of people living in the same area.
Population pyramid
A bar graph representing the distribution of population by age and sex.
Replacement fertility
The total fertility rate at which women would have only enough children to replace themselves and their partner.
Sex ratio
The number of males per 100 females in the population.
Total fertility rate (TFR)
The average number of children a women will have throughout her childbearing years.
Zero population growth (ZPG)
A decline of the total fertility rate to the point where the natural increase rate equals zero.