Deck 2: Global Population Trends

Question 1

At about the time of the American Revolution, the United States had a birth that:

A) was very similar to the birth rate in England at the time.
B) was already lower than any currently developing nation.
C) was higher than birth rates even in Sub-Saharan Africa at that time.
D) was comparable to the highest national birth rates in the world today.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The world's population at the time of the Agricultural Neolithic) Revolution was approximately:

A) 4 million.
B) 40 million.
C) 400 million.
D) 4 billion.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The total number of people who have ever lived is probably about:

A) 10 billion.
B) 30 billion.
C) 60 billion.
D) 90 billion.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The five most populous countries in the world account for about ____ percent of the total world's population.

A) 10
B) 25
C) 50
D) 70

Question 5

Mortality and fertility trends in Canada are currently most like which of the following countries/regions of the world?

A) United States
B) Western Europe
C) Latin America
D) Japan

Question 6

Between the third and fifth centuries AD the world's population declined somewhat, probably due to:

A) the impact of Indonesian volcanic eruptions.
B) higher mortality brought on by the early days of the Little Ice Age.
C) collapse of the Roman Empire and famine and floods in China.
D) the Irish Potato Famine.

Question 7

Current projections suggest that we may reach a population of 9 billion in approximately:

A) 2025
B) 2050
C) 2075
D) 2100

Question 8

European expansion was characterized by east-west migration; since the end of World War II, world migration has been especially:

A) a continuation of the east-west trend.
B) a reversal of the east-west trend.
C) a south-north trend.
D) a north-south trend.

Question 9

Population growth was slow for most of human history because:

A) death rates were very high.
B) abortion rates were very high.
C) people preferred small families.
D) low levels of technology always lead to low rates of growth.

Question 10

Two hundred years ago, the world's population was approximately:

A) 100 million.
B) 200 million.
C) 1 billion.
D) 2 billion.

Question 11

The most distinguishing demographic feature of the North Africa/Western Asia region of the world is its:

A) youth bulge.
B) rapidly aging population.
C) High rate of out-migration.
D) Intransigently high level of infant mortality.

Question 12

Population growth in Mexico was very rapid until recently because of a substantial delay in:

A) its fertility decline
B) its mortality decline.
C) migration out of the country to the U.S.
D) improving agricultural productivity.

Question 13

The region of the world most negatively affected demographically by European expansion was:

A) Latin America.
B) Sub-Saharan Africa.
C) Indian subcontinent.
D) China.

Question 14

If a country is thought to be on the verge of population implosion, it is probably located in:

A) North America.
B) Sub-Saharan Africa.
C) South Asia.
D) Europe.

Question 15

The Persian chess board story illustrates which of the following?

A) The Queen as embodiment of female empowerment
B) The power of doubling
C) The dilemma of using logarithms
D) A useful calculation of carrying capacity

Question 16

Carrying capacity is lower for hunter-gatherers than for agriculturists because:

A) their death rates are higher.
B) they use the land extensively rather than intensively.
C) they have fewer technological skills.
D) birth rates regularly exceeded death rates.

Question 17

The two most populous nations of sub-Saharan Africa are:

A) Nigeria and Congo Kinshasa
B) Ghana and Zimbabwe.
C) Congo Kinshasa) and Ethiopia.
D) Nigeria and Ethiopia.

Question 18

An important demographic consequence of very low fertility in Europe is that:

A) European countries have been actively recruiting immigrants to fill in the younger ages.
B) European countries are aging.
C) the status of women has risen dramatically.
D) taxes have risen sharply in order to pay benefits to the elderly.

Question 19

The total population of the world is currently increasing by about _____ million people per year:

A) 20
B) 40
C) 60
D) 80

Question 20

The most important reason for the massive increase in the human population over the past two hundred years is:

A) the Green Revolution that increased agricultural productivity.
B) the decline in the death rate.
C) the increase in the birth rate.
D) technology that has made it possible to live more places.

Question 21

Bangladesh originally known as East Pakistan) has birth and death rates that are more like those in India than in Pakistan which was originally known as West Pakistan).

Question 22

India's demography is so diverse that some of its southern states actually have fertility levels that are below replacement.

Question 23

The majority of people ever born are alive at this moment.

Question 24

The United Nations projects that the population of the world will double again over the next 40 years.

Question 25

Migration has been the single most important cause of population growth over time in the United States.

Question 26

China's Great Leap Forward in 1958 helped to bring down that country's high death rate.

Question 27

A baby is born somewhere in the world every four seconds.

Question 28

The drop in fertility in China is largely a result of its one-child policy.

Question 29

Fertility is so low in Japan that it seems to have its own "one-child policy."

Question 30

Nearly four in ten humans live in either China or the Indian subcontinent.