| Term | Definiton |
| Age-sex distribution | A model used in population geography that describes the ages and number of males and females within a given population; also called a population pyramid |
| Baby boom | A cohort of individuals born in the united states between 1946 and 1964, which was just after world war II in a time of relative peace and prosperity. These conditions allowed for a better education and job oppurtunities. |
| Baby bust | period of time during the 1960s and 70s when fertility rates in the us dropped as large numbers of women from the baby boom generation sought higher levels of education and more competitive jobs, causing them to marry later in life. |
| Carrying capacity | the largest number of people that the environment of a particular area can sustainably support. |
| Chain migration | The migration event in which individuals follow the migratory path of proceeding friends or family members to an existing cummunity |
| Cohort | A population group unified by specific common characteristic and subsequently treated as a statistical unit |
| cotton belt | the term by which the american south used to be known, ascotton historicaly dominated the agricultural economy of the region.The same area is now known as the new south or sun belt because people have migrated here from older cities in the industrialnorth |
| Crude birth rate | the number of live births per year per 1000 people |
| crude death rate | the number of deaths per year per 1000 people |
| demographic accounting equation | an equation that summerizes the amount of growth or decline in a population within a country during a particular time period taking into account both natural increase and net migration |
| Demographic transition model | a sequence of demographic changes in which a country moves from high birth and death rates to low birth a death rates through time |
| Demography | the study of human populations, including their temporal and spatial dynamics |
| dependency ratio | the ratio of the number of people who are either too old or too young to provide for them selves to the number of people who must support them through their own labor. this is usually expressed in the form n:100 where n =the number of dependents |
| doubling time | time period required for a population experiencing exponential growthto double in size completely |
| emigration | the process of moving out of a particular country usually the individuals country of oregon |
| exponential growth | growth that occurs when a fixed percentage of new people is added to the population each year. exponential growth is compound because the fixed growth rate applies to an ever increasing population |
| forced migration | the migration event in which individuals are forced to leave a country against their will |
| generation x | A term coined by artist and author douglas coupland to describe people born in the united states between the years of 1965 and 1980. This post baby boom generation will have to support the baby-boom cohort as they head into their retirement years |
| immigration | the process of individuals moving into a new country with the intentions of remaining there |
| infant mortality rate | the percentage of children who die before their first birthday within a particular area or country |
| internal migration | the permanent or semipermanent movement of individuals within a particular country |
| life expectancy | the average age individuals are expected to live, which varies across space, between genders and even between races. |
| thomas malthus | claimed that population grows at at an exponential rate while food production increases arithmeticaly, and thereby that , eventualy, population growth would outpace food production. |
| migration | a long term move of a person from one political jurisdiction to another |
| natural increase rate | the diference between the number of births and number of deaths within a particular country |
| neo malthusian | advocacy of popolation control programs to ensure enough resources for current and future generations |
| overpopulation | a value judgement based on the notion that the resources of a particular area are not great enough to support that areas current population |
| population density | a measurement of the number of persons per unit land area |
| population geography | a division of human geography concerned with spatial variations in distribution, composition, growth, and movements of population |
| population pyramind | a model used in population geography to show the age sex distribution of a particular populatation |
| pull factors | attractions that draw migrants to a certain place |
| push factors | incentives for potential migrants to leave a place |
| refugees | people who leave their home because they are forced out, but not because they are being officially relocated or enslaved |
| rust belt | the northern industrial states of the us in which heavy industry was once the dominant economic activity .in the 1960s, 60s, and 80s, these states lost much of their economic base to economically attractive regions of the us and to countries where labor |
| rust belt cont. | was cheaper, leaving old machinery to rust in the moist northern climate. |
| sun belt | us region, mostly comprised of sotheastern and southwestern states, which has grown most dramatically since ww II |
| Total fertility rate | the average number of children born to a woman during her child bearing years |
| voluntary migration | movement of an individual who conciously and voluntarily decides to locate to a new area- the opposite of forced migration |
| zero population growth | proposal to end population growth through a variety of official and nongovernmental family planning programs |
