Today, the population of the world is increasing rapidly. There are many types of population composition and their definition can help you to define the ways people can identify themselves in society. Accordingly, the population composition is also drastically changing. In this article, we will discuss the population composition definition, population composition example in detail, and many more to understand their qualities and characteristics.
1. What are the 5 Characteristics of Population?
Before hopping into the population composition definition, you need to learn what a population means. A population refers to the number of people in a specific region. But there are different people with different ages, sexes, job roles, density, etc. These factors are known as the characteristics of the population. Here is a list of 5 characteristics of the population:
- Density or Population size: The density or population size simply refers to the number of people in a region. This number is counted irrespective of age, sex, birth rate, and death rate.
- Population scattering: This refers to the number of people settled by scattering over several places. In simpler terms, there are various people who settle in different places for various reasons. Regular scattering is when people are scattered in an equivalent manner such as in cities. Likewise, random scattering refers to the type of scattering in several small towns or cities, where people tend to live in a small distant area. Another type is the clumped scattering which is usually found in the countryside or in villages where the population is scarce.
- Age structure: This characteristic refers to the number of individuals on the basis of their age. There are several people of different ages. In an age structure, a model, known as the Age Pyramid is used where youths, youths moderate-aged people, and aged people are categorized in a specific place.
- Natality: Natality refers to the birth rate. Hence, this refers to the count of people on the basis of their birth rate.
- Mortality: Mortality means the rate of death. This characteristic refers to the count of the number of people on the basis of the death rate.
2. What are the 4 Main Influences on a Population?
Here are 4 main influences on a population:
- Birth rate: It refers to the number of people born in a population in a given amount of time period. The rate is stated as the number of people who are born per year per 1000 in the population. This can be well understood with the help of a population composition example, as, if 46 births occur per year per 1000 people then the birth rate would be 46.
- Death rate: Also known as mortality rate, it is a count of the number of deaths occurring in a particular population, that is scaled to that size of the population, per unit of time.
- Migration– Migration refers to the movement of people. It includes immigration and emigration. The former is about the count of people coming into a population from somewhere else whereas the latter is referred to as the number of people leaving a population to somewhere else.
- Fertility rate: It is the ratio between the number of live births within a year and the female population in its childbearing age.
3. What is Population Composition Definition?
As you come into the population composition definition, as the name suggests, refers to the composition or size of the population on the basis of some characteristics or factors. Well, what are these factors then? These factors are primarily age and sex. So, the population composition definition refers to the measure of a population on the basis of age and sex over a given amount of time and of a particular region.
However, age and sex aren’t the only factors that influence the classification of population composition. The other factors are mortality, natality, immigration, and emigration, which are discussed earlier. (See What is Target Population Definition?)
4. What is Population Composition and its Components?
After the main influences on a population, let us talk about the components of population composition definition. Statistics that outline the many ethnic groups that make up a population are referred to as their composition. However, it is dependent on a few elements or traits. Examples of demographic or population composition characteristics or components include age, race, ethnicity, education, gender, occupation, income level, and marital status.
5. What is Population Composition Example?
The population composition definition tells you how crowded a place such as a city, a town, a country, a continent, etc is. But it does not depend upon the economic or social development of that country. A population composition example is that if you compare Korea and India, you will find that India is a country that is densely populated. It stands as the second most populous country in the world after China.
However, Korea’s population is much less than India’s. But Korea’s economic or social development is much different and better than India’s, which has nothing to do with the size of the population. The population size is measured only under the factors of age, sex, migration, etc. (See What are Human Features in Geography?)
6. How many Types of Population Composition are there? What are the Three Types of Population Composition?
There are several types of population composition and the idea of this concept defines the ways people can identify themselves in society. However, there are three types of population composition that are taken into consideration.
The three types of population composition are:
- Age: In this category, researchers study the average age group of people in a specific region along with the range of age of a particular region. As discussed earlier, the population count is important as the government needs to be prepared on the basis of its own population size.
This can be understood with an example. The population composition example of this is, in Japan around 27% of the population is of 65 years of age or older, which means that the number of people 65 years and above is 34 million. This amount of people are not able to contribute to the economy of the country and needs several social services. The government needs to be prepared for that. - Sex: It is an important factor, which refers to the measure of the population on the basis of sexes such as males, females, and others.
- Ethnicity: It is also important to check the count of individuals living in a particular state on the basis of their ethnicity. The demographics are quite important as migration is an essential factor of population size.
7. What are the 5 Elements of Population Composition?
Along with the types of population such as Finite, Infinite, Existent, and Hypothetical population, there are five key elements of population which are discussed below:
- Population size: Also known as density, population size simply refers to the total population of an area. This figure is calculated regardless of age, gender, birth rate, or death rate.
- Population dispersion: This is the number of people who settled by dispersing over a variety of locations. In simple and plain language, different individuals settle in diverse locations for varied causes, the measurement of which is termed population dispersion.
- Age structure: This characteristic describes the proportion of people according to their ages. There are many people there, all of different ages. Youths, youths together with moderately old adults, and aged people are classified from a certain spot in an age pyramid using the Age Pyramid concept.
- Natality: The birth rate is referred to as natality. As a result, this refers to the population count based on the birth rate.
- Mortality: Mortality is defined as the death rate. This trait is the measurement of the total population based on the mortality rate.
8. What are the Different Factors that Determine Population Composition?
Now that you know the population composition definition, let us move forward. Climate, landforms, topography, soil, energy and mineral resources, accessibility such as distance from the sea coast, natural harbors, navigable rivers or canals, cultural factors, political boundaries, restrictions on immigration and trade, and government policies are the primary determinants of population distribution.
9. What is the Classification of Population Composition?
Generally, the classification of population composition implemented under the Urban/Rural, sex, and marital status with respect to age exposes the fundamental characteristics of the population and also gives us the de-identified data for the target-based groupings. Check out How to Make a List of Human Qualities Characteristics?
10. What is Importance of Population Composition?
After understanding the population composition definition, let us get down to its importance. For various reasons, each component of demographic makeup is significant. Government studies and forecasts social and economic trends using the statistics provided by demographers to identify the current and future needs for social services. The population composition is important as it gives you the study of the age distribution, sex distribution, literacy rate, health status, employment, and income of a nation which are all revealed by the demographic composition.
11. What is the Difference between Population Composition and Population Structure?
The influences on a population were quite easy to understand so let us move on to the differences. Population distribution or Population structure is the spatial organization of people in accordance with the geographic structure, political division, and administrative division. Population composition is the division of the population based on caste, culture, religion, etc. Population structure depends on population distribution; population distribution depends on population composition.
We may conclude the population composition definition with the fact that population size or composition refers to the measure of the number of individuals in a specific region within a given time period. This measure is dependent upon various components or factors such as age, sex, ethnicity, etc. The main components through which the number of individuals is measured are age, sex, and migration or ethnicity in some cases. There are several other factors such as education, income, class, etc. (Also read 12 Features of Community)
