Demography Vocabulary: A Comprehensive Guide
Demography Vocabulary
Key Terms and Concepts
B
Baby Boom
A period of strong population growth due to a dramatic rise in the birth rate. For example, Spain experienced a baby boom in the 1960s.
Birth Rate
The number of births per thousand women of childbearing age (15-49 years) over a specific period, usually one year, in a given territory. Also known as the fertility rate.
Crude Birth Rate
Calculated by dividing the number of births in a year by the estimated average population for that year, multiplied by one thousand. The average population is typically estimated as of early July of that year.
C
Census
The official count of a country’s population at a given time, collecting demographic, economic, and social data. In Spain, a census is held every 10 years.
Civil Registration
A continuous record of significant demographic events (births, deaths, and marriages), typically recorded immediately after they occur.
Concentrated Habitat
A type of living space distribution where houses are adjacent, forming compact structures.
Current Immigration
Intense population movement within a geographic space with a constant retention time. Migration can be classified by its causes, duration, origin and destination points, and whether it is free or forced. From the origin’s perspective, it’s called emigration; from the destination’s, it’s immigration.
D
Demographic Transition
The shift from a demographic system with high birth and death rates, resulting in slow growth, to a modern system with slow growth due to reduced birth and mortality rates. A transitional phase of high growth, caused by a decrease in mortality before birth, occurs between these periods.
Demographics
The science of describing, analyzing, and studying population composition based on various characteristics (age, sex, marital status, education) and phenomena influencing this composition.
Dispersed Habitat
A living space distribution where houses are scattered individually or in small groups, lacking a recognizable shape.
E
Emigration
The movement of people out of a particular territory. It can be internal (within the same country) or external (to another country).
I
Immigration
The movement of people into a certain territory from outside. It can be internal (from within the same country) or external (from another country).
Infant Mortality Rate
The ratio of deaths under one year of age to the total number of births in a year, multiplied by one thousand.
Inactive Population
People aged 16 and older without paid work, including retirees, pensioners, students, homemakers, and those with disabilities.
L
Life Expectancy
The average number of years a person can expect to live, either at birth or a certain age.
M
Malthusianism
A theory stating that population growth tends to outpace food supply. Increased food production stimulates population growth, while a population exceeding food production leads to slower growth due to famine, disease, and war.
Migration
The (semi-)permanent relocation of an individual or group from one country to another, often for economic, social, or political reasons. It encompasses both emigration and immigration.
Municipal Population Register
A source collecting demographic data on residents and neighbors of a municipality, including demographic, economic, and social characteristics. Conducted every five years in Spain (years ending in 1 and 6) since 1981.
N
Natural Growth Rate or Population Growth
An index reflecting the change in population size over time due to the balance between births and deaths. Measured using crude death and birth rates.
Net Migration
The difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants in a specific location over a given period. It can be calculated indirectly by subtracting the vegetative growth from the difference between the initial and final populations.
O
Overpopulation
Excessive population in an area relative to its resources or other economic or social factors.
P
Population
A group of people living in a specific area.
Population Density
The relationship between the number of people and the space they occupy. Gross population density is the number of people per square kilometer (or other unit area).
Population (Labor Force)
Individuals aged 16 until retirement age who are available for producing goods and services. Includes both employed and unemployed individuals seeking work.
Population (de Derecho)
A group of people legally registered in a municipality.
Population (de Facto)
A group of people present in a municipality at a given time.
R
Rural Exodus
The movement of workers (farmers, artisans, merchants) from rural areas to cities due to rural crises and urban industrial development. The term “exodus” emphasizes the massive and concentrated nature of this displacement.
Rural Population
People living in rural areas, engaged or not in agricultural activities. Statistically defined in Spain as those living in towns with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants and semi-urban areas with 2,000 to 10,000 inhabitants.
S
Swings
Regular journeys between a person’s residence and workplace, typically daily or weekly. A common migration pattern, often from the periphery to central urban areas (centripetal), but can also occur in the opposite direction (centrifugal).
U
Unemployment
The situation of a person willing and able to work but unable to find employment due to lack of demand.
Unemployment Rate
: Index calculated as a percentage expressing the number of people of working age (between 16 and 65) in a given period of time or are unemployed.
Unemployment or unemployment situation of that person, willing to work and being equipped for it, can not for lack of demand.
Real growth: natural growth + (immigration – emigration).
Demographic transition: demographic transition from the previous system, characterized by high rates of birth and death, which led to slow growth, a new modern demographic balance with slow growth, but now due to birth rates and mortality reduced. Between these periods there would be a transitional phase of high growth, due to a decrease in mortality prior to birth.