Population, Demography, and Social Inequality Concepts
Lesson 4: Population and Demography
What is Demography?
Demography is the branch of sociology that studies human populations by analyzing statistical information. The word “demography” comes from two ancient Greek words: demos (the people) and graphy (writing about something). Thus, it means writing about the people.
Demography studies the size, structure, and distribution of populations, and how they change over time due to births, deaths, migration, and aging. It began in the 19th century with the
Read MoreKey Economic and Environmental Concepts
Aquaculture
Aquaculture is the set of activities, techniques, and knowledge of the culture of aquatic plants and animals. Farming systems are diverse, freshwater or seawater, and range from growing directly in the environment to fully controlled facilities. The most common crops include planktonic organisms (microalgae, Artemia), macroalgae, mollusks, and crustaceans.
Balance of Payments
The balance of payments is an accounting document that systematically records business operations, services, and
Read MoreCatholic Monarchs: Unification of Spain & Reign
Dynastic Union of Castile and Aragon
The marriage of Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon gave birth to the Hispanic monarchy. This union formed a pluralistic state composed of several areas, including Castile. Laws, currency, and border institutions remained distinct. However, the greater territorial, population, and economic weight of Castile led to a growing Castilianization of the monarchy itself.
Territorial Expansion Under the Catholic Monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs agreed on the need to
Read MoreAnalyzing Spanish Trade: Internal and External Markets
Spanish Trade
Trade is the activity that offers surplus goods and services to consumers. It may be within or outside a country’s borders.
Domestic Trade
Domestic trade is characterized by the following features:
- Its location depends on a transportation system between producers, traders, and consumers, and a huge consumer market with adequate purchasing power. This favors urban areas and communities with a good transport network, high population density, and higher per capita income (Madrid, Catalonia,
Understanding Economic Sectors: Resources to Consumption
Primary Sector Activities
Crop Agriculture: Economic activity that obtains cereals, fruits, and vegetables from the land for consumption or as raw material for industry.
Livestock Farming: Economic activity that obtains different products (meat, milk, wool, eggs) from farm animals (cows, sheep, etc.).
Forestry: The science of planting and caring for forests and the management of growing timber.
Fishing: The technique, occupation, or diversion of catching fish.
Cooperative: A business that is owned by
Demographic Transition & Agricultural Evolution
The Four Phases of Demographic Transition
The demographic transition model describes population change over time. It is based on historical population trends of two demographic characteristics – birth rate and death rate – to suggest that a country’s total population growth rate cycles through stages as that country develops economically.
Phase 1: Pre-industrial Society
High birth and mortality rates characterize the pre-industrial phase. Each woman had approximately five children, but infant mortality
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