Human Geography — Population and Migration — High School World Geography practice questions

The demographic transition model (DTM) predicts that as a country industrializes, it will first experience:

1. A rapid decline in death rates while birth rates remain high, causing population surge
2. A rapid decline in birth rates before death rates fall
3. Simultaneous decline of birth and death rates, with stable population
4. Rising death rates and falling birth rates

Answer: A — A rapid decline in death rates while birth rates remain high, causing population surge

Stage 2 = death rate falls (better nutrition/medicine) while birth rate stays high → rapid growth. A reverses the sequence.

Malthus predicted crisis because he argued food supply grows arithmetically while population grows:

1. Arithmetically
2. Only through immigration
3. Randomly
4. Geometrically (exponentially)

Answer: D — Geometrically (exponentially)

Malthus's core claim: exponential population vs linear food. His prediction was blunted by the Green Revolution — a common critique of Malthusian models.

The 'total fertility rate' (TFR) is defined as:

1. The average number of children a woman will bear in her lifetime at current age-specific rates
2. The number of births in a year per 1,000 population
3. The percentage of women who are currently pregnant
4. The birth rate minus the death rate

Answer: A — The average number of children a woman will bear in her lifetime at current age-specific rates

TFR = lifetime children per woman. A is the crude birth rate; D is the rate of natural increase — students commonly conflate all three.

The 'demographic dividend' occurs when:

1. The share of working-age adults is large relative to dependents
2. A country's death rate exceeds its birth rate
3. A country experiences net emigration
4. Two countries merge their populations

Answer: A — The share of working-age adults is large relative to dependents

The dividend is a temporary economic boost when the age structure shifts to a large working-age share. Requires investment in jobs to capture — otherwise wasted.

Ravenstein's Laws of Migration observe that most migrants travel:

1. Only long distances internationally
2. Mainly from cities to rural areas
3. Randomly with no distance pattern
4. Short distances, and long-distance migrants are drawn to major economic centers

Answer: D — Short distances, and long-distance migrants are drawn to major economic centers

The 'distance decay' principle: most migration is short-distance, but long-distance movers head for big cities. D reverses the modern direction.