The Western Brachycephals or The Broad-Headed

The Western Brachycephals or The Broad-Headed
Types These groups consist of the three main types:
(i) Alpinoids represented by Gujarati Banias, Kathis of
Kathiawar and Kayasthas of Bengal.
(ii) Dinaric represented 'by populations of Bengal,
Orissa and/Coorg (Karnataka).
(iii) Armenoids represented by Parsis, Bengali Vaidyas
and Kayasthas.
Members of this racial stock came to India along three
main routes, passing through­
(a) Baluchistan, Sind, Kathiawar, Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
(b)The Ganga valley and the delta.
(c) Chitral, Gilgit, parts of Kashmir and Nepal.


The Nordics They were the last to migrate into India.
The Aryan speaking Nordics were long-headed and fair complexioned, with well developed noses and strongly built bodies. They entered India some time dudng the second millennium Be.
The main concentration of these people is in the north­western part of the country. They were a predominant type in the North-Western Frontier Province of Pakistan, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. They are mostly represented among the upper castes of northern India, particularly in Punjab.

The Mongoloids & The Mediterraneans

The Mongoloids The Mongoloid racial stock is mainly concentrated in the Himalayan borderland, partic­ularly in Laddakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and other parts of north-eastern India. Their original homeland was China from where they were pushed southward into the Malaya peninsula and Indonesia and infiltrated into India through the passes in the northern or eastern mountains.

The Mongoloid racial stock in India is divided into two types-the Palaeo-Mongoloids and the Tibeto-Mongoloids. The Palaeo-Mongoloids are further differentiated into broad­headed and long-headed sub-types. They live mostly along the fringes of the Himalayas, being especially numerous among the tribal population of Assam and the Myanmar border. The Tibeto-Mongoloids, supposed to have come from Tibet, mostly live in Bhutan and Sikkim, as well as in the north-western Himalayan and Trans-Himalayan regions.

The Mediterraneans This racial stock in India has been drawn from south-west Asia. It is from this region that during the third and the second millennium BC the Mediterranean race gradually spread over the surrounding areas. Those who entered India belonged to different, though related, types of the Mediterranean stock. They fall into three distinct groups: Palaeo-Mediterranean, Mediter­ranean and the so-called Oriental type. They are all long­headed, and they came to India with a fairly high level of civilisation. They are also believed to be the bearers of the earliest form of Hinduism into India.
The first and the most ancient of these Mediterranean races entering India have been termed as the Palaeo­Mediterraneans. They were medium-statured, dark-skinned, slightly built and long-headed people. It seems probable that these people introduced early agriculture in north­western India. They were, however, dislodged from their original homelands by subsequent streams of migration and pushed into central and southern India. The Palaeo­Mediterranean stock, together with other sub-types, today forms the bulk of the population of southern India and a considerable portion of the population of northern India. This ethnic stock is represented by the Tamil and Telugu Brahmins and the Nairs of southern India.

The Mediterraneans, the mainstream of this racial stock, entered India a little later. They were the builders of the Indus Valley Civilisation along with the Proto­Australoids, and introduced the first metal or bronze cultures in India roughly between 2,500 and 1,500 Be. They were, however, pushed out of their homeland in the Indus Valley by fresh incursions from the north-west and were driven to the Ganga plain and perhaps even further south beyond the Vindhyas. Today, they constitute the bulk of the population of the lower castes throughout northern India, and are also represented by the Namboodiri brahmins and brahmins of Allahabad and Bengal.
The so-called Oriental sub-type came much later. They have a much restricted distribution than the other two sub­types. They are represented by Punjabi 'khatris' and Rajasthani 'banias' among others. Physically they are sim­ilar to the Mediterraneans, but are characterised by a long and convex nose.

RACIAL GROUPS OF INDIA

RACIAL GROUPS OF INDIA

Following Dr B.s. Guha's racial classification of the Indian population, six major types and nine sub­types can be identified.

1. The Negritos
2. The Proto-Australoids
3. The Mongoloids
(i) Palaeo-Mongoloids
(a) long-headed type
(b) broad-headed type
(ii) Tibeto-Mongoloids
4. The Mediterraneans
(i) Palaeo-Mediterraneans
(ii) Mediterraneans
(iii) Orientals
5. The Western broad-headed people or
Brachycephals
(i) Alpinoids
(ii) Dinarics
(iii) Armenoids
6. The Nordics

These racial divisions are identified on the basis of the superficial physical and biological differences among human beings, such as the colour of skin, stature and build of the body, the form of the head and the face, the formation of nose, lips and the forehead and the colour and form of eyes and hair. These physical differences between racial stocks are not in any way indicators of mental and physical potentialities and owe their origin to variations in environ­mental factors in which early evolution took place.
The main physical characteristics of different ethnic groups are briefly discussed below:

1. The Negritos They are probably the earliest arrivals into India, but later incursions of a more numerous group of the Proto-Australoids completely wiped out the evidence of their presence in any region of India today. Some tribal groups such as Kadars, Poligars, Irulas and some of the tribes from Rajmahal hills and Andamans reveal some affinity with the Negrito stock.

The members of this ethnic stock are characterif~'-> by short stature, dark skin colour, bulbous forehead, broav. flat nose, slightly everted and thick lips and frizzly hair.

2. The Proto-Australoids They are the second oldest racial group in India and probably came soon after' the Negritos. They, along with the Mediterraneans, are be­lieved to be the builders of the Indus Valley Civilisation as their skeletons have been discoverfld' from the burial grounds both at Mohenjodaro and Harappa. This racial stock in India is represented by tribal groups such as Oraons, Mundas, Santhals, Chenchus, Kurumbas, Bhils and Kols.
The members of this racial stock physically differ from the Negritos mainly in the absence of woolly hair.

CULTURAL COMPOSITION: HUMAN DIVERSITY

CULTURAL COMPOSITION: HUMAN DIVERSITY
Human diversity comes out through racial, cultural, linguistic and religious differences. India especially enjoys a great diversity in social and cultural features.

RACE Races are distinguished on the basis of inherited physical characteristics. However, it is rather difficult to draw a clear line between thi! '.races. Many consider skin colour to be a major differentiating factor but this is erroneous. There is a wide. difference in colour within each major racial group; the same skin colour is also found in more than one group. FatiaHeatures and hair-type are now taken to be the best guides tp race. Hair differ in colour and can be straight, wavy or crinkly. The shapes of the eyes, the nose and the overall shape of the head are also significant factors. A number of other invisible charaGter­istics, ,such as blood group, are also considered to define the three major racial groups-the Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid. The Australoid is a minor group; its members \ combine the facial.characteristics of the Negroid group with wavy hair.

Caucasoids include the European, the Semitic (Arabs and Jews) and the Indo-Aryan peoples. Skin colour varies from very fair, as in the north European peoples, to brown in India and south-west Asia. The hair is straight or wavy (or sometimes frizzy) and may be blonde, brown or black. The nose is generally long and narrow. Sub-groups include the Nordics, the Alpine people and the Mediterraneans.

Negroids chiefly inhabit Africa, south of the Sahara. They include many sub-groups such as the Nilotic and Hamitic peoples of eastern Africa, the Bantus of central and southern Africa and the various groups of West Africa. Other minor groups in this category are the Bushmen, the Pygmies and the Negrito peoples of India and South-East Asia, as well as the Melanesians of the South-West Pacific. These peoples have broad, rather flat noses and crinkly or frizzy hair. Their heads are longer than they are broad, and their skin colour ranges from black to brown or yellowish. Their stature too varies: if the Pygmies of central Africa are the shortest people in the world, the Negroes of Sudan and central Africa are among the tallest people of the world.

Mongoloids are inhabitants of northern, eastern and south-eastern Asia. They were the original inhabitants of the Americas. Their eye has a characteristic fold of
skin on the upper lid, and the hair is lank and straight. But there are many minor differences between sub-groups. Short stature cannot be con­sidered a common factor. The name comes from the Mongols of Central Asia. The group also in­cludes the Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, Thais, Viet­namese, Kampucheans and Malays, besides the Eskimos and similar people of northern Siberia such as the Yakuts and Samoyeds, the Red Indians of North Africa and the Amerindians of South America.
Racial characteristics probably developed under the influence of climatic factors, and it is absurd to attribute intellectual qualities on the basis of race.

DEPENDENCY RATIO

DEPENDENCY RATIO The dependency ratio is computed by dividing the number of children plus old people by the number of adults and m' ltiplying it by hundred. It is mainly governed by the age structure of the population. The Oxford Dictionary of Geography defines dependency ratio as the ratio between the number of people in a population between the ages of 15 and 64 and the dependent population: children (0-14) and elderly people (65 and over). Dependency ratio quantifies the ratio be­tween the economically active population and the depen­dent population. The age-limits for dependency ratio are arbitrary in different countries of the world. Generally developing countries are characterised by higher depen­dency ratios owing to higher population growth and;~ck of employment opportunities, mainly.

As per the 2001 census, the total number of persons' in age group 0-14 and 60+ were about 443 million. Such a huge population is dependent on 586 million people of
India. The national average of dependency ratio is 755 persons. Taking the overall scenario into consideration, the North Indian states reveal a very high dependency ratio compared to the states of South India. The lower Ganga plains of Uttar Pradesh and adjoining Bihar have extremely high dependency ratios. The lowest range of dependency ratio is found in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

WORK PARTICIPATION RATE

WORK PARTICIPATION RATE

Work participation rate (WPR) or percentage of workers to total population for all religion is 39.3 per cent in the 2001 Census. The group of 'Other Religions and Persuasions' have recorded the higher WPR of 48.4 per cent followed by the Buddhist at 40.6 per cent. Hindus 40.4 per cent and Christians at 39.7 per cent. The lowest WPR of 31.3 per cent at the national level are seen for the Muslim population, preceded by Jains at 32.9 per cent and Sikhs at 37.7 per cent. The proportion of urban population, female work participation rates and proportion of workers in nonagricultural activity directly influences low WPRs among other factors.

LITERACY in 2001

LITERACY The significant facts emerging from a study of the 2001 census data are as follows.

. For the first time since independence, there is a decline in the absolute number of illiterates during a decad~ (1991-2001). This is a major shift in improving the status of literacy in the country.
. The major contribution to the decrease in the number of illiterates came from Andhra Pradesh, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. These six states together account for three­fourths of the percentage decrease in the total number of illiterates in the country while they share half the cow1try's. population.
. In eight States and Union Territories, the number of illiterates grew in the decade.
. In case of male illiterates, there was a decline in the absolute numbers from 1991 to 2001. Kerala, which ranks first in male literacy, has also added to the number of male illiterates.
. In case of female illiterates too there was a decline
in absolute numbers.
. The crude literacy rates starting from 1901 show a
consistent increase for both males and females.
. The increase in literacy rates observed during 1991­2001 in respect of all persons, males and females, has been the highest recorded in comparison to earlier decades since 1951, except in case of males during 1951-1961.
. The gap in male-female literacy rates was reduced in 1991, and was furilier reduced in 2001. (These declines are bound to be slow initially due to the large legacy in the numbers of adult illiterate women.)
. Among States and Union Territories, Kerala, with a literacy rate of 90.92 per cent holds first rank in the country. Following closely are Mizoram and Lakshadweep. Bihar with a literacy rate of 47.0 ranks last in the country.
. Kerala occupies the top position in both male and female literacy rates. Bihar has recorded the lowest literacy rates for both males and females.

Religion-wise as compared to the literacy rate for India of 64 per cent, the literacy rate among the Jains is the highest at 94.1 per cent followed by Christians 80.3 per cent and Buddhists 72.7 per cent. Hindus and Sikhs have returned a marginally higher literacy rate than the national average. The lowest literacy has been recorded for 'Other Religions and Persuasions' at 47.0 per cent. Muslims are the other religious community returning lower than the national average literacy rate at 59.1 per cent.

The Hindus have returned an average national literacy rate of 65.1 per cent. There are seven states/union terri­tories, which have returned a literacy rate of over 80 per cent among the Hindus. Lakshadweep stands out with the highest Hindu literacy at 96.4 per cent.

Both males and females among the Jain population have very high literacy rate of 97.4 per cent and 90.1 per cent respectively at the national level followed by Chris­tians at 84.4 per cent for males and 76.2 per cent for females. Thus ilie gender gap in male female literacy for these two religions is less than ten percentage points. Female literacy rates among those recorded as 'Other Religion and Persuasion' are very low at 33 per cent. Incidentally, the gap between the male and female literacy at the- national level is also maximum in this religious community. It may be seen that among the six major religions at the nation~l level the maximum gap between the male and female literacy is in Hindus 23 percentage points followed by uddhists 21.4 percentage points and Muslims 17.5 percentage points. It is interesting to note here that Muslims have the lowest level of overall literacy rate while both Hindus and Buddhists have much higher overall literacy rate.

SEX COMPOSITION In 2001

SEX COMPOSITION In 2001, the sex ratio stood at 933 for the whole of India. The only state to show a higher number of females per 1000 males was Kerala with a sex ratio of 1,058. Among Union territories, Pondicherry had the highest sex ratio of 1,001; it was also the only Union territory to reach a figure above 950. In the Indian context, a sex ratio of 950 and above can be considered as favourable to females. Besides Kerala, other states in this category are Chhattisgarh (989); Tamil Nadu (987); Andhra Pradesh (978); Manipur (978); Meghalaya (972); Orissa (972); Himachal Pradesh (968); Karnataka (965); Uttaranchal (962); and Goa (961).

The sex ratio of 933 for the whole of India is an improvement over the figure for 1991. The sex ratio in India has always been unfavourable to females. It showed a continuous decline from 1901 to 1941 improved marginally in 1951, then dropped steeply to 930 in 1971. The sharpest decline of 11 points is to been seen in the period 1961 to 1971, after which the sex ratio has been fluctuating around this figure in successive censuses.

There were 11 states and Union territories that had a sex ratio greater than unity; among these, all except Kerala have shown a decline. The major responsibility for the overall decline in the sex ratio lies with the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The sex ratio in Punjab, too, is low, but it has shown a long-term upward trend; Rajasthan has always shown a low sex ratio; West Bengal has shown a consistently increasing trend since 1941.

It appears that the law of nature itself establishes an unfav0urable sex ratio at birth: generally 943 to 952 female births take place for every 1000 male births, indicating a deficiency of about 50 females per 1000 males on an average. Even so, the sex composition of the population in India is a matter of concern, being much lower than 950 for it long time.

There is a wide variation among the states and Union territories in the matter of sex ratio. The changes in sex ratio over time, therefore, are dependent on the changes in the ratios of the individual States and Union Territories and their relative share in the population.

Though the number of entities with sex ratio below 916 remains almost the same, the percentage share of this population has declined from about 41 per cent to about 23 per cent. The population share of the group in the range 916-950 is more than 47 per cent, up from about 29 per cent. It thus appears as if it is due to these two groups that the national sex ratio has shown an increase in 2001 over 1991. The number of States and Union Territories below the national level of sex ratio has shown an increase, and the proportion of population in this group has also increased. If, in spite of this increase, the overall sex rati0 of the country has increased, it must be because of the relatively larger increase in the sex ratio of the four highly populated states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

The sex ratio in the age group 0-6 has decreased at a much faster rate than the overall ratio in the country after 1981; the relative share of States and Union Territories. with sex ratio of 951 and above in the 0-6 ag€ group has shown a sharp decline; and the number of States/Union Territories with sex ratio in this group of population below 915 has increased from four in 1991 to nine in 2001 (barring Manipur for which data is not available). Some states have shown a much sharper decline in sex ratio in this group of population than others. There is an uneasy thought whether such sharp declines could possibly be due to an underlying trend of sex-selective abortions in these areas. No definite conclusions can, however, be made in this regard in the absence of more data.

The Christian population has the highest sex ratio of 1009 females per thousand males at the 2001 Census followed by 'Other Religions and Persuasions' (992), Bud­dhists (953) and Jains (940). Sex ratio of Sikh population is 893, which is the lowest among the different religious communities. Sex ratio among Muslim population at na­tionallevel is 936 which is just above the national average of 933 for all religions while a shade lower is the Hindu population sex ratio of 931.

One of the alarming facts that emerged at the 2001 Census is declining child sex ratio in the age group 0-6 in many states and Union territories. At the All-India level the Sikh population has recorded the lowest child sex ratio of 786 at the 2001 Census preceded by Jains at 870. Christians have reported the highest child sex ratio of 964 followed by Muslims at 950 and Buddhists at 942. Hindus have reported a child sex ratio of 925 which is slightly lower than the national average of 927 for the total population. Persons professing 'Other Religions and Per­suasions' have recorded the highest child sex ratio of 976 at the national level. This pattern is also evident in majority of the states and union territories.

2001 CENSUS OF INDIA: DATA ON SOME KEY ASPECTS

2001 CENSUS OF INDIA: DATA ON SOME KEY ASPECTS

According to the 2001 Census, India's population as on March 1, 2001 was 1,02,87,37,436 (this figure includes 'estimated' figutes for three subdivisions of Manipur as census in these places are reported to have been cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons). Excluding the estimated figures, the population of India in 2001 was 1,028,610,328 of which 532,156,772 were males, and 496,453,556 were females. However, the spatial distribution Of population within the country is very uneven. Obvious at the level of states, these contrasts are even more sharp at the level of districts.

Uttar Pradesh has the largest population followed by Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh in the same order. These five states together represent prac­tically half of the country's population. More than one­fourth of our people live in two states of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra alone. Uttar Pradesh has more people than two largest states, Le., Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The three southern states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu together have fewer people than Uttar Pradesh alone. In fact, more people live in Delhi than in many other states or in all the Union territories put together.

The uneven nature of the distribution of population becomes more evident when we try to find out as to what proportion of India's population lives in each state of the Indian Union. This may be described as the 'Index of Concentration'. This index is 16.16% for Uttar Pradesh, 0.19% for Nagaland, 0.23% for Meghalaya and 0.99% for Jammu and Kashmir. The highly crowded state of West Bengal accommodates 7.79% of the country's population, while the shares of the agriculturally developed states of Punjab and Haryana are 2.37% and 2.05% respectively.

A closer examination of the census data shows that the states of the Indian Union have an unequal share not only in population but also in area. In fact, it seems that there is little relationship between area and population. The largest state in India, Rajasthan, accounts for about 11% of the country's total area and has 5.5% of the country's total population. Madhya Pradesh with an area share of about lO'Yo has a population share of 5.7%. However, Uttar Pradesh with 7.6% of total area has a population share of over 16%.

India's share of the world surface area of 135.79 million sq. km is a mere 2.4 per cent; its share of the world population is 16.7 per cent. The United Nations Population Division estimates that India is likely to overtake China in 2050 and become the world's most populous country with a share of 17.2 per cent of the total world population.

The world population is estimated to have grown at an annual rate of 1.4 per cent during 1990-2000. While China registered a growth rate of just one per cent in the decade, India's growth rate of population in the decade 1991-2000 was 1.9 per cent. China's growth rate is almost at par with that of the USA.
Distinct phases can be discerned in the population
growth of India during 1901-2001:
1901 - 1921 stagnant population
1921 - 1951 steady growth
1951 - 1981 rapid and high growth
1981 - 2001 high growth but with signs of slowing down

In absolute terms, of course. the population of India
has shown a huge increase during the decade 1991 - 2001; indeed, the addition in itself is greater than the entire population of Brazil, the fifth most populous country in the world. However, the change in the net addition has shown a steady declining trend over the decades from 1961. It is also a sign of hope that the percentage decadal growth during 1991 -2001 has shown the sharpest decline since independence.

Among the states of India, Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state with a population exceeding that of Pakistan (the sixth most populous country in the world). Indeed, the combined population of Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal is more than that of Brazil. There are 19 states with a population of more than ten million, while there are eight States and Union Territories which are yet to reach the one million mark. The five states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra. Bihar, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh account for almost half of the country's population. Andhra Pradesh has, however, shown a remarkable decline in the decadal growth rate - by about ten percentage points - in 1991­-2001, indicating the possibility of other states also emulat­ing the example.

The states and Union territories that have shown increases in per cent decadal growth, namely, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Nagaland, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, together constitute about 32 per cent of the country's population. Almost two­thirds of India's population lives in States and Union territories, which show a declining, trend in population growth. A few States and Union Territories have shown a reverse trend in respect of the increase in net accretion to the population at the national level in 1991-2001. The most significant drops in net addition are shown by four states - Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. These four states, indeed, may together have been partly responsible for arresting the growth of population in the country. The number of states and Union Territories with percentage decadal growth below the national average has increased substantially from six in 1981-91 to 15 in 1991-2001.
A strong positive relationship seems to exist between the growth rate and the child population in the age group 0-6. As one may safely assume that inter-state migration is least likely to affect this age group. In a population not greatly affected by large changes in age structure, adult migration or child mortality between two points of time, a significant fall in proportion of children in this age group may be taken as a broad indication of fall in fertility during the period. In India the proportion of children in the age group 0-6 decreased from 17.94 per cent in 1991 to 15.9 in 2001. In the-- contiguous four major states of the South­Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and KeraIa - a decline in fertility appears to be well established, spreading in influence to neighbouring Maharashtra and Orissa and West Bengal.

The density has increased by 21.3 per cent in 2001 as compared to 1991. Large increase in the density of popu­lation puts pressure on the limited resources available and adversely affects the quality of life.
In India there is a large variation across the states and Union territories in terms of density due to the wide differences in climate and availability of resources: Arunachal Pradesh with a density of 13 at one extreme and Delhi with a density of 9,340 at the other. While all the states and Union territories have shown an increase in density, there are wide variations in the rates of increase. West Bengal continues to be the most densely populated state, but the second position has now been taken by Bihar; KeraIa has been pushed into third position. Regionally, the Eastern region emerges as the most densely populated and the North-Eastern, as the least.

RURAL-URBAN COMPOSITION

RURAL-URBAN COMPOSITION


Percentage of rural population is higher in farm-based agricultural countries, while industrially developed regions have higher share of urban population. North America is the most urbanised continent. The world's urban popula­tion is currently growing by over 60 million people a year. A prominent feature of population redistribution, especially in developing countries, is the growth of major cities. Almost half of the world's population lives in cities. It is projected that there would be about eight billion city dwellers in the world by 2030, and 80 per cent of them would be living in developing countries.

LITERACY

LITERACY

Literacy and education are generalty taken as indica­tors of social development. The spread of literacy is also associated with the traits of industrialisation, urbanisation, better communication, increased commerce, and modernaisation. Improved literacy levels help in the growth of awareness and social skills and in the improvement of economic conditions. Information on literacy is obtained from every individual in the census.

There is a wide variation over the world in the literacy rates which denote the percentage of people in the age group 15 years and above who can, with understanding, both read and write a short, simple statement in their everyday life,

SEX COMPOSITION

SEX COMPOSITION

Defined as the number of females per 1000 males in the population, sex ratio is an important social indicator of the equity prevailing between males and females at a given point of time. Factors influencing the sex ratio are, mainly, the differentials in mortality, sex selective migra­tion, sex ratio at birth and, at times, the sex differential in population enumeration.

It is interesting to note that rural-urban differentials in sex ratios in the US and in Western European countries are just the opposite of those in developing countries, such as India. In developing countries, the males outnumber the females in urban areas and the females outnumber the males in rural areas. In the western countries, reverse is the case. There farming in rural areas remains largely a masculine occupa1ion. In the western countries, 'there is an influx of females from rural areas to avail of the vast employment opportunities in urban areas.

AGE STRUCTURE

AGE STRUCTURE
The age structure of a population refers to the number of people in different age groups. A larger size of popu­lation in the age group of 15-59 years indicates the chances of having a larger working population. On the other hand, if the number of children in the population is high, the dependency ratio will be high. Similarly, a growing popu­lation in the age group of 60 plus indicates greater expenditure on the care of the aged.

There are three types of age structures, viz., (i) the West European type in which children constitute less than 30 per cent, and 15 per cent of the population are old; (ii) the North American type where 35-40 per cent of the population are children and ten per cent, old people; and

(iii) the Brazilian type where 45-55 per cent of the popu­lation are children, and old people constitute only four­eight per cent of the total population. The type of age structure has a direct influence on the future of a nation, since both extremes, Le., old age dependency as well as young age dependency prove to be a severe burden on the economy of a country.

DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION

DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION

According to demographers, as a rural agrarian society evolves into a technology-based urban society, there are changes in demographic trends. Demorgraphic transition is conventionally portrayed as having three stages.

(i) Stage I of Type I or Primitive Demographic Regime This stage is characterised by high birth and death rates, e.g., demography of Europe prior to Industrial Revolution, and that of Japan in the mid-nineteenth cen­tury.
(ii) Stage II The second stage begins with the tech­nological revolutions that chracterise the early stages of economic development. This stage may further be divided into the following three categories:
(a) Type II or Expanding or Youthful Demographic regime This type is marked by sharp decline in death rates, high birth rates and rapid population growth.

(b) Type III or Late Expanding Demographic Regime This is characterised by declining birth rate and low death rates, and decline In growth rates of population.

(c) Type IV or Low Fluctuating or Mature Demo­graphic Regime Low birth rates, high death rates and declining population are main features of this type.
(iii) Stage III or Type V or Zero Population Growth Regime This stage is marked by low birth and death rates, approximately equal, near zero population growth.

CRUDE BIRTH RATE AND CRUDE DEATH RATE

Crude birth rate (CBR) and crude death rate (CDR) are two of the three main mechanism .responsible for temporal or spatial population changes. The third important mecha­nism is migration. The number of births and deaths per thousand persons in a year is known as CBR and CDR respectively. The difference in the number of births and deaths during a year determines the annual rate of natural increase or decrease. The CBR is highest in Africa, followed by Latin America and Asia. Africa also tops in the CDR, followed by Europe. Asia and Oceania has almost identical CDR. Europe is the only continent with a negative annual growth of population.

SPATIAL PATTERN OF POPULATION CHANGE

Africa's annual populati.on growth is the highest among the major world regions. In Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, the annual rate of population growth during 1975­2003 was 2.7 per cent. South America, Asia, Oceania and North America had average annual increase of over one per cent but less than two per cent. Europe with only 0.2 per cent population growth was at the other extreme.

High Population Density & Low Population Density

High Population Density Areas Fertile plains and highly industrialised and urbanised areas are normally densely populated. Four major areas of high population density with more than 100 persons per sq km are as follows.

(a) East Asia, e.g., China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan (b) South and Southeast Asia
(c) Northwest Europe, e.g., UK, France, Germany,
Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Denmark, Spain, Italy
(d) The eastern coast of North America.

Low Population Density Areas Thinly populated or uninhabited areas of the world include the following:
(a) dry lands, where lack of precipitation and non­feasibility of irrigation are limiting factors;

(b) cold lands at the high latitudes where frigid temperature precludes agriculture;

(c) major mountain ranges and other mow1tainous areas with harsh climate and rugged terrain;

(d) wet tropics with infertile soils due to heavy precipitations and high temperature; and

(e) remote areas and difficult environments.

Population Density

Density Population density refers to a ratio between population and land area in a country.

The factors which influence the density of population are: climate, land suitable for agriculture, existence of mineral resources, industrial potential, possibility of having a transport network. High mountains, rugged terrain, extremes of heat and cold, dense forests or aridity-all discourage settlement.

Physiological or nutritional density is a more refined method of calculating man-land ratio. It is a ratio between total population and total cultivated area or cropland. In subsistence agriculture economies, e.g., the developing countries, physiological density reflects the intensity of agriculture.

On the basis of density, the world population may be divided into two categories: areas of high density of population and areas of low density of population.

The World Population

THE WORLD POPULATION

NUMBER AND DISTRIBUTION The world, at the beginning of twenty-first century, had over six billion people. The population had quadrupled from 1.6 billion just in one century. The UNDP projects the worldpopu­lation to be 7,210.3 million in 2015. The annual population growth during 1975-2003 was estimated to be 2.6 per cent.
Human population is spread unevenly across the continents. A few areas support large concentration of humanity, while vast areas support few people or none at all. Physical, cultural, economic and political factors influ­ence the population distribution.

DISTRIBUTION PATTERN The term population distri­bution refers to the way the people are spaced over the earth's surface. The ten most populous countries of the world-China, India, US, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Rus­sia, Bangladesh, Japan and Nigeria-make up nearly 60 per cent of the world's population. Six of these ten countries are in Asia. No individual country of Europe is among the ten most populous countries of the world.

Asia accounts for only one-fifth of the world land area, but supports more than half the world's population; Europe, with only one-twenty-fifth of world land mass, supports one-ninth of world population; the American land mass occupies one-fourth of the total world land mass but has only a one-seventh share of world population; Africa with its share of a quarter of world's land surface, has only about one-tenth of the world's population.

Within the continents, too, population distribution is uneven: China and India within Asia account for two-thirds of the continent's population, and nearly one-third of that of the world. Far more people live in northern and western parts of Europe than in southern or eastern parts. Large portions of Africa and the Americas are practically unin­habited.