Geo mag

Geo Magazine

Geo Magazine

Special Edition on Population Trends and Policies CreatedPopulation

by T2 GeographyEdition students at UNIS

Aging Population in Finland

By: Ada Sauer

F

Finland has a low population compared to its size, and most of the population is filled with adults and old people. In fact, In 2030 Finland is predicted to have 26% of its population to be over 65 years old.

This stat seems to be able to bring a lot of attention to Finland, but is all the attention going to be negative?

Right now in Finland there are more adults than children. That sounds like a negative situation for the country. In about 20 years when the 51-56 year olds will be 71-75 years, and the little amount of children they had aren’t going to be able to take care of them because the amount of middle aged population is going to be too low! The development of jobs and the outside world is getting broader and more exciting for the students in Finland every year, and now youngsters want to go aboard and explore the world. The biggest shock is most probably the question for the students; how many children would you like to have?

Most will answer 1, 2 or none. Living in Finland is expensive, and the taxes are very high. Well, the high taxation takes a lot, but also gives. For example It gives you free education, free healthcare (for u.

18 year olds) free dentist care (for u.18 year olds) and college support money. So even though you get all this for the taxes you pay, it seems like it is more hip to have less children. That is a disaster.

Predicted population of Finland in 2070

But there is a solution for everything, and most often it is money. The Finnish government saw this high aging population as a big problem (as it is) and they came up with a very surprising solution. They began paying the parents money if they’ d have children! Money is never bad. Did it work? Certainly.

Also the rising population is because of the foreign immigrants. They arrive to Finland hoping for a better life, or they followed their job, or just for a fresh new start! They take up job spaces and start building up their life in Finland, as Finnish citizens.

So Finland has some issues with the large population of elders, but they are desperately trying their best to increase the child birth rate. Not only the overflow of children is an big issue in the world, so is the overflow of old people.

An old couple enjoying the spring day in Finland

Stats Capital: Helsinki Population: 5.439 (2013) Language: Finnish

Having a family is a very important aspect in everyone's life, it is where we belong to and without it no person is complete. It plays a compelling role in children’s development of their personality and traits. We all want to pass on our roots into the next generation. However some countries are limited from such rights due to overpopulation.

China has been of the most powerful nations for many years however they are facing a major problem caused by overpopulation resulting in poverty, human suffering, species loss and limited resources.

In order to avoid all these risks, P e o p l e ’ s R e p u b l i c o f C h i n a established one of the most dramatic population-­‐control campaigns in 1979, the “One child policy”. It was aimed to control the fertility rates of the country restricting families to producing only one child per woman (with only some exceptions to have approval for a second child in rural areas for those who have difficulties).

Some may argue that it is a beneficial way in dropping the population growth while others criticize it as a violation of human rights resulting in i n c r e a s e o f a b o r t i o n a n d abandonment of baby girls.

“One child better than two” A Chinese family

This policy was expected to last for 30 years, but it is still in place today despite all the social and political consequences it has caused. Its main goal is to limit. couples to one child in order to achieve fewer and healthier births.

But does China still face the same issue today? The answer is yes, China remains one of the most populous countries in the world with a total population of 1.357 billion.

D u r i n g t h e 1 9 7 0 ’ s C h i n a accommodated around ¼ of world’s population meaning -­‐ one out of every four people live in China. The majority were poor, quality of life was bad, families produced more children in hope that one of them survives till adulthood to take care of them because the infant mortality rates were significantly high.

Surprisingly, the fertility rates have decreased from 5.5 babies born per woman to 1.66 in the period of time between 1970’s and 2012.

S i n c e t h e p o l i c y w a s fi r s t implemented, it has already prevented more than 400 million births, slowing down the population by which is an impressive accomplishment. However forced abortion and sterilization rates have rapidly increased. The Chinese Health Ministry states that there were 336 million abortions and 196 million sterilisations recorded in their data since the implementation of this policy. 13 million abortions each year with average of 35.000 every day. This also causes gender imbalance because 500.000 teenage girls and women commit suicide. This is a huge number and it is growing every time.

This graph shows the decrease in fertility rate from 1950 till 2010.

There were various ways of encouraging families to having only 1 child. There were special propaganda posters made with various slogans such as “one is a good few, two is just enough, and three is over”. Families with 1 child were promised to have better quality of life including financial and material support (paid pregnancies, access to medical service, education and increase of salary) offered by the government. But couples with 2 children or more were excluded from these opportunities, in addition they were forced to pay a certain fee for an extra child.

After all these changes, China began to face shortage in workforce areas and rapid increase in the aging population due to the low replacement level and single child policy.

The Chinese government decided to ease the policy allowing 2 children for couples if a spouse was the only child and for couples whose first baby is a girl.

The statistics predict that the Chinese population will peak in year of 2030 and then slowly decrease back to 1.3 billion. Many might be wondering for how long will this policy stay in place, experts say “for at least one more decade”.

Chinese propaganda poster

The author: Ainura K. Chinese propaganda poster

France’s Lack of Frenchness: A view on Immigration in France Andrea Egerton 3/11/2014

“Don’t worry, they’re just asylum seekers” A caricature depicting France’s views on immigration

An unsurprising “problem” the French have considering their history, immigrants now make up 30% of the French population.

This number was largely influenced

by France’s past colonial exploits, as well as its affinity for recruiting foreign workers. This has caused a large impact on society overall, with more and more people saying that the presence of immigrants has caused the loss of France’s identity, prompting more restrictive immigrant policies. The country had an influx of approximately 180,000 people as of 2012, former president Nicolas Sarkozy said he would cut this number in half if he would be re-elected (but lost the election to François Hollande).

France is also in 3rd place in the World for highest amount of asylum seekers, and 2nd in the European Union, beaten in both graphs by Germany.

To understand the source of all these immigrants we must look at the History of France. We can recount that from as early as the 18th and 19th century France had begun to recruit labour workers to fill the shortage caused by the falling birth rates at the time. It had agreements with Italy, Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia and after the Second World War recruited more, as well as having former colony residents arrive due to the liberation wars and decolonisation.

In the early 1970s France stopped all its recruitment programs due to the economic crisis, however none of the immigrants returned and instead of having a decrease there was yet another increase as the families of the people already present came to join them therefore making family reunification an important channel for immigration.

In the 1990s France pursued the goal of having a zero immigration policy, causing regulations to tighten.

This perception of immigration as a problem was then turned into an enrichment of the French society, as people saw sports teams for example, the majority of which were made up of players with immigrant backgrounds. A museum was opened in 2007 depicting the history of immigration, with the aim to bring its positive aspects to light and make migration the norm. Â

Protesters against Sarkozy’s threat to throw out French Immigrants -Deutshe Welle

A French Muslim woman representing both of her cultures -Frum Forum

People demonstrating the right of foreigners to vote in 2011 -From Open Knowledge

Nowadays, despite the restrictive regulations, there is still a large amount of immigrants, the largest amount coming from Northern Africa from countries such as Algeria and Morocco.

A new policy referred to as “selective immigration” was put in place, as France made it easier for highly qualified people deemed an enrichment to society to stay in the country. In the words of Nicolas Sarkozy, he wanted to bring in “the best” and “not those who are not wanted anywhere else”.

The law has also made it harder for people to simply become French citizens through convenient marriages.

Urbanization in Mongolia: The Country in Transition Borte Batbold November 3, 2014

Nomad gers inching closer urban centers in the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar. Source: http:// chasingtheghost.net/

Being the least densely populated country in the world, Mongolia has never found space to be a problem, but over the past few years the country has seen a drastic shift in the distribution of its population.

From provincial towns and lonely settlements, traditional Mongolian herders are increasingly making their way to the country’s capital, Ulaanbaatar. A city that was designated to contain a maximum population of 400,000 is now home to 1.3 million people, nearly half of the entire Mongolian population.

change to a mid-high range in the near future. The root of its expansion lies within its mining industries, whose share in GDP has increased from 14 to 25% because of Mongolia’s abundance of natural resources. Mongolia’s main export commodities are copper, gold and coal. For instance, Mongolia is now one of the major coal exporters to China. Right in line with it, urbanization in Mongolia has also rapidly increased, and now over 60% of the population resides in cities and other urban centers.

Mongolia’s economy has had a rapid expansion over the last few years. Mongolia is now classified as a mid-low income country per capita income and is expected to

In Mongolia, where the median age is just 27, city life presents itself to be an appealing option offering vast variety of work opportunities in place of the set path of rural life.

Out of a relatively small population o f 2 . 8 m i l l i o n , ove r 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 Mongolians study and work abroad in more developed Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, and China. On their return they bring back exciting news of urban life.

Infor mation spreads, and so everyone starts to dream of living in modern facilities, and being able watch television and have Internet access.

Pursuing the traditional nomadic lifestyle that Mongolia is best known for is becoming increasingly difficult due to economic and climatic challenges. During winters their livestock freeze to death and or have no access to food, and during summers they suffer from drought.

Herders who are unable to maintain enough livestock are then forced to drop out of the pastoral system. So, the number of herders is steadily decreasing and they move to the cities for continued livelihood.

At the same time Mongolia is the second top-performing economy in 2014, only after South Sudan, but across the country around 36% live below the national poverty line, and in the capital Ulaanbaatar it is more than double this figure. Poverty in Mongolia is mainly caused by harsh natural conditions, geographical isolation, difficulty to access financial resources, and unemployment. in the capital Ulaanbaatar it is more than double this figure. Poverty in Mongolia is mainly caused by harsh natural conditions, geographical isolation, difficulty to access financial

Mongolian workers on their way to the mines.

Source: http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/

resources, and unemployment.

Poverty in Mongolia is mainly caused by harsh natural conditions, geographical isolation, difficulty to access financial resources, and unemployment. The consequences are often disadvantageous, as despite the country’s high literacy rate, these herders have none of the necessary skills needed to succeed in more urban settings, which already struggle to accommodate to the rapidly increasing number of people aiming to find work there.

U r b a n i z a t i o n i s t h e d i re c t i o n Mongolia is heading. The challenge the country faces is whether it will be able provide oppor tunities and health living conditions for the immense number of people converting to urban life.

Herald, November 3rd 2014 Caio Sardinha

Please Wait: Developing Development Inequality in Brazil Brazil, the land of soccer, caipirinhas, and the Girl from Ipanema. But it’s not all fun and games. Brazil is a developing country, rich in all kinds of resources, with a fast-growing economy, and a GDP rising more than 5% per year. While all the numbers fit nicely on a national scale, taking a closer look reveals one big problem: unequal distribution of resources.

Brazil’s health system is run by the government, and is called the SUS Sistema Unico de Saude (Unified Health System). It provides free, quality healthcare to anyone, even foreigners, who are in need of medical attention. It also includes regular checkups and scheduled treatments for any Brazilian citizen.

Protesters in Brazil in 2013

The big problem is that many regions of the country do not have access to appropriate facilities, even poorer areas of richer cities. Due to political corruption, much of the health budget due for poorer areas is diverted, and they remain lacking equipment, professionals, and resources. Currently, the most serious health issues in Brazil are childhood mortality, at 2.51% (3.77% in the poorer northern regions), maternal mortality, at 73 out of 100,000 births (in 2002), and death by nontransmissible diseases, at 151.7 out of 100,000 total deaths.

The other significant problem is education.

Brazil has a public education system which includes preschool, primary, secondary, and tertiary education. Primary education is obligatory for all children aged 6-14, is available also for adults and others who did not attend for any reason, and is free for everyone to attend in public schools.

Secondary education, equivalent to high school, is also free in government facilities, but not obligatory. Tertiary education is free in public universities, as well as being provided by private institutions. After World War II, Brazil began a policy to expand tertiary education, neglecting primary and secondary. Currently, there are problems with primary and secondary schools in Northern and Midwestern Brazil, where Public Hospital in Brazil

poorer communities often have makeshift facilities with few to no resources.

Currently, there are problems with primary and secondary schools in Northern and Midwestern Brazil, where poorer communities often have makeshift facilities with few to no resources.

These are problems throughout the country, and the word needs to be put out about what’s happening in Brazil.

Public School in one of the Poorer Areas

November 3rd, 2014

Finland’s Aging Population: Old People and Population Pyramids

by Dillon Cha Finland is a country in Northern Europe and is the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. It has a total population of about 5.5 million people; most of the people live in the southern regions. This can be recorded on a population pyramid, which shows the different age groups of a population in a graphical format. We can get a lot of information just from one simple graph, such as the type of pyramid the population corresponds to, the smallest and largest age cohorts, the different types of brackets, the fertility rates (high or low), the youth populations, the aging populations, and the old people. There are types of pyramids such as the classic pyramid shape and the inverted pyramid shape. There are three types of brackets in a population pyramid: old brackets, bearing brackets, and baby brackets. The old brackets are basically over 50. The bearing brackets are the most important part of society: it has the people that reproduce and contribute the most to society. The baby brackets are the young members of society.

Once looking at the population pyramid for Finland, it is fascinating to find the different age groups in the population. According to the pyramid, in 2010, the smallest age cohort was 95-99. The largest age cohort, on the other hand, was 60-64. That means that the majority of the population in Finland is aged 60-64. Finland has a low fertility rate.

It also has an inverted pyramid shape. The population was 5,367,000. The population has increased a lot over the years.

This is the population pyramid of Finland for Males and Females in 2010. Finland has a low fertility rate and an inverted pyramid shape.

The largest age cohort was 60-64. The population was 5,367,000.

This shows the Finland’s Fertility Rates from 1962-2012. The fertility rate has decreased over the years; in 2012, it was 1.80 births per woman.

However, the aging population is one of the more important kinds of information you can get from the graph. There are many factors that cause the population to increase or decrease.

We may have a good sense of what causes the population to increase or decrease by looking at the fertility rate. The fertility rate has decreased over the years; in 2012, it was 1.80 births per woman. There are also other factors such as diseases like Finnish Heritage Diseases. Finnish Heritage Diseases are genetic diseases that are more common in people with Finnish ancestors. There are 40 rare diseases that are considered part of this group. In Finland, one out of five people carry a gene defect related to one of these diseases.

This graph shows the percentages of Finland’s Population over the years. The percentages started off high with 17% in 1610 and as the years went by, the percentage of the population steadily decreased.

You can see many things if you analyze a population pyramid such as age cohorts, the type of pyramid, the brackets, and the fertility rates. A population pyramid is necessary in order to know how factors have an impact on the population of a country like Finland. Things that impact the population of Finland include the fertility rates and diseases. How is your country’s population impacted?

The beautiful country of Finland

Health and Human Rights in Sierra Leone

Monday, November 3rd, 2012 Written by Jasmine Taula

Sierra Leone is known as one of the poorest countries in the world. With its lack of basic necessities like nutrition and health care to widespread poverty throughout the country. In 2007, about 75 percent of Sierra Leone’s entire population was living under the poverty line and more than half them live on less than a dollar a day. With a population of 6.1 million, 8.0 percent of the populations in Sierra Leone are children that are being born, from ages 0-­‐4. From 2012, 182 children were dying per 1,000 born with an income of $1,073. Sierra Leone possesses high rates in overpopulation due to many issues throughout the c o u n t r y , f r o m l a c k o f w o m e n empowerment and health-­‐care to deficiency in a proper secondary education.

The Sierra Leone Civil War that occurred from 1991-­‐2002, completely devastated and washed out the country. The Civil War damaged and created severe economic issues and destroyed physical infrastructure which cleared out the country. Due to this issue that took place, after the Civil War ended 67 percent of all school-­‐age children were out of school. A lot of the citizens in Sierra Leone are youth who are either unemployed or underemployed, which can create a very big threat to try and sustain stability and peace throughout the country

In Sierra Leone, women don’t have as many opportunities to create a healthy and normal lifestyle for them and their families. Wives are considered the ‘property’ of their husband, for example if a wife’s husband had passed away, the women could be kicked off the land which can leave them in a very vulnerable situation with no job or money.

Women empowerment is considered a very important issue especially in Sierra Leone where women don’t have as many options compared to other countries. Additionally, sexual violence against schoolgirls is another key issue in working towards promoting awareness of women empowerment.

Teachers at school take advantage of female students sexually, which usually result in them getting pregnant and having to drop out of school early to take care of their child. When teachers took advantage of the schoolgirls, it was considered a way of trying to get them to ‘pass’ exams or having to get out of paying school fees. In result, there has been a large dropout rate of girls going to school due to unsafe environments and harassment.

Sierra Leone is creating progress in trying to promote and raise awareness of women empowerment in particular, violence, discrimination and abuse towards women and girls. In 2007, the government of Sierra Leone authorized the Devolution of Estates Act, the Registration of Customary Marriage and Divorce Act, the Domestic Violence Act, and the Child’s Right’s Act. All of these different acts stated, have been created to work and promote towards trying to decrease violence and abuse towards women. By promoting women empowerment and trying to create a safer environment for girls to have an education, it can create an impact and work towards decreasing population rates without using a hard population control policy on the people.

In 2000, Sierra Leone had a maternal mortality ratio of 1,800 per 100,000 births, which was considered one of the highest in the world. Pregnant women or girls are often unable to have access to life-­‐saving treatment (including pregnancy), because they are unable to afford it. One in eight women in Sierra Leone are at risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth. Thousands of women have been dying from bleeding to death after childbirth. Most of them usually pass away in their homes or on their way to the hospital. By 2050, populations in ranges 0-­‐4 are predicted to have decreased from 8.0 percent to 5.2 p e r c e n t . A l t h o u g h t h i s d o e s s h o w improvement, the government in Sierra Leone and other organizations are trying to find ways to speed up the process and create better health conditions for women who are pregnant. In 2010, during Sierra Leone’s Independence Day, the government enacted a free-­‐care policy for pregnant women and children/mothers who are in need of lactating.

The government of Sierra Leone have created and showed support towards building better health services and treatment for women and girls.

In order to support the prevention of high population rates, better health conditions and access to a secondary education can help Sierra Leone sustain a healthy amount of people instead of using harsh conditions and theories to make a quicker effect on decreasing the population. If organizations and the government of Sierra Leone continue to follow those specific goals they have set, they can be able to create a safer and stronger system of keeping their population under control. With these certain goals, Sierra Leone can have a chance at feeling safer and being able to provide basic materials to live a better and healthier lifestyle.

Poverty strikes Sierra Leone due to devastating Civil War

INFANT MORTALITY IN TURKMENISTAN CREATED BY MAKSAT NIYAZBERDIYEV To date Turkmenistan is amongst the

The Infant mortality rates steadily went

higher side of infant mortality rates.

down in the year 1977 from 105 infants

Why could this be?

dying per 1000 infants all the way to 41 dying per 1000 women. This number

In 1977 the Infant Mortality in

although decreased is not very encouraging.

Turkmenistan was at its all time peak.

In fact Turkmenistan is renowned as one

The fertility rate was very high at 5.2

of the higher countries in this negative

children per women and the infants

category. It is ranked at 60 in the world

born were barely even surviving. In fact up to 10.5% of all infants born were dying before they reached their first birthday. This was largely to do with the lacking health care system and of course the higher fertility rates. The year 1977 was amidst the drastic decrease in fertility rates, which started in 1964. The fertility rate went from 6.7 children per women all the way to 2.4 children per women all in just 48 years.

This huge decrease in fertility also played a factor in the infant mortality rates.

next to some other developing countries such as Bangladesh, Kenya and Nepal.

We can see how the population pyramid of Turkmenistan has changed over the years. It was first viewed as a more or less classic pyramid shape with a few curvy exceptions.

Today, however, the pyramid is completely different. We can see quite a decrease in fertility rate and quite a fill up of people in between the 15-19 age cohort and the 55-59 age cohort. These are very encouraging signs but how will things look in the future?

Well we can identify that in 2050 the fertility rate will go down even more and this implies that in addition to a lower fertility rate we will most likely see a decrease in infant mortality as well. Again it is predicted that another fill up in age cohorts will be seen. We are projected to see the 30-34 age cohort to the 75-79 fill up once again.

This ties in perfectly to what Hans Rosling said in one his documentary speeches. He described how their will be a huge fill up in years to come in the older age cohorts and this will lead to the cease of fast population growth by the end of the 21st century.

Education For Females Being

“A Way To Decrease Fertility Rate” In Nigeria

-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐ New York, Thursday, October 30, 2014 -­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐

“ Fer&lity rates tend to be highest in the world’s least developed countries. When mortality rates decline quickly but fer&lity rates fail to follow, countries can find it harder to reduce poverty. Poverty, in turn, increases the likelihood of having many children, trapping families and countries in a vicious cycle. “ -­‐ Brigid Fitzgerald Reading.

Currently, the MDGs have seen some improvements so far. Six out of ten children are now accessing school from the primary educa&on program and enrollments in private schools. Nevertheless, disadvantaged groups s&ll are in need of help and the educa&on level s&ll remains poor.

The fer&lity rate in Nigeria before 2000 was approximately 8+ children per families.

Educa&on was rare back then, even if only males were the privileged ones. The Nigerian lifestyle was based on having males/ boys in school or working in their fathers’ businesses while the

females/girls stayed home, took care of the families or helped at home doing dishes, cooking, etc. No one was taught anything related to medical care. Due to the lack of access to medical care and diseases spreading around, children were dying, which made families want to produce more so they could be able to take care of them later on in the future. It was normal to have more than 9+ children back then.

Now, [2000 – 2014] the number of children born in Nigeria has been reduced to 6 to 7 children per family, which is not so much of a difference compared to the rate before 2000.

Gender equality has been a huge help, because now both young boys and girls are being enrolled into schools and ge^ng the amount of educa&on needed, which is an improvement.

Educa&ng girls and women is important. Most countries, such as the USA and Japan, have learned throughout experiences that it is beeer to have 1-­‐3 children because it is easier to give them the care they need. They have been taught about health care, and different birth control methods. Educa&on would be a huge help because girls won’t be was&ng their &me at home where they would be forced to get married before the age of 16. Instead they would be focused and busy with homework and such. Extending educa&onal opportuni&es to the children can also clearly lower popula&on growth, which in turn brings greater stability, prosperity,

and environmental sustainability. Schooling the children and women would be a final possibility to eradicate poverty and hunger, combat disease and ensure environmental sustainability. Due to that cause, liele by liele, the Nigerians will come to peace realizing the mistake they have been making in the past and change the way they live. Research has been done sta&ng that women who have an educa&on tend to have fewer children and decide to have them later.

Special health workers from different organiza&ons, such as UNICEF, travel in each of their villages to teach them how their future can change if the fer&lity rate decreases. UNICEF can show them ways to reach that goal.

.

By: Manuella Hounton

Soaring Population In A Male Dominated Paradise By: Talal Al-Ansari The place where life in the summer is like living in an oven, Qatar. A country where temperatures reach up to 120 °F and a population that’s barely over two million, one might question how life can flourish here.

Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world, with a $91,379 GDP per capita. There is an about equal number of male and female Qatari citizens, however population pyramids show an an almost triple number of males in the “Bearing Brackets” aged 20-35. There are 308 males to every 100 females. This is due to the high number of immigrant workers coming into Qatar looking for work. A majority of immigrants are male and the immigrant workers outnumber the Qataris themselves, in their own country.

As of 2013 there are 250,000 Qataris living in Qatar with a staggering 1.5 million immigrant workers. Qatar’s current population is 2.169 million. The population was not expected to go past 1.9 million by 2016. Qatar’s population in the 1970’s was merely 0.2 million.

The high population growth is not due to increased fertility rates, but rather an increase in labor force The Fertility rates are 2.4 per Qatari woman, less than half of what it was in 1980, 5.45.

The cause of the rapid population growth was due to the discovery of oil in the 1930’s. This caused the country to begin it’s industrialization. In the past, Qatar’s main profits came from fishing, pearling and agriculture however the discovery of oil quickly boosted the economic and industrial growth. Due to having such a small population, more people were needed to help efficiently complete the modernization of Qatar.

This is what drew the high demand for migrant workers and year after year the number of migrant workers began to increase to the point where the Qatari population was outnumbered.

Nearly 74% of the population lives in Doha and Al Rayyan or 3,136 people per sq km causing the capital to be densely populated. The dense population in the capital is caused by the increased number of migrant workers, this has caused some problems such as strain put on Doha’s infrastructure, a significant increase in rent prices and low pay for migrants. It has also been reported that some employers are not paying their workers on time.

It will still be some time before we see huge improvements due to the high demand for the 2022 world cup, it requires new stadiums to be built, ferries and modes of transportations to stadiums for the tourist. However improvements are consistently being made. Qatar is the first country in the Middle East to host a world cup and this is why the country must strive in order to prepare and deliver an exceptional World Cup experience.

With some of the hottest temperatures in the world, Qatar must also build air conditioned systems which have been proven to work but their supply is minimal putting more stress on the migrant workers to build enough in time for the FIFA 2022 World Cup.

The country, along with others in the Gulf has been criticised for having a large number of migrant workers however slowly but effectively we should expect to see a decline in the number of migrant workers and the

and the return of balance in the male/female ratio in the coming years. Qatar is establishing betters laws and regulations for migrants while at the same time working on reducing the growing migrant population.

As you can see from this population pyramid, the male to female ratio was quite balanced in the past until the increase in migrant labor force.

Immigration In Italy By:Rebecca.C.Celenza Immigration in Italy is a very sensitive and highly political issue. As the country with the most porous borders in Europe, Italy is surrounded by water and has long been the destination of illegal immigration. Immigrants arrive continually from North Africa and through other countries. Their destination is not always Italy itself but is often other European countries. Since January of 2013 there are 4,387,72 foreign nationals residing in Italy. Immigration in Italy only became a phenomenon in the late 1970s and currently 7.4% of the countries population are immigrants. Notably, 79,894 children born in Italy are foreigners which is 15% of the total births in Italy. This is significant given that Italy has a very low birth rate and is one of the countries under the replacement level.

This is contrary to other countries such as France, where families are encouraged by the State to have several children and the replacement level is not a risk. Also, the concept of immigration is different in countries such as France, where immigrants are treated more as French citizens given the previous colonial ties. In Italy, immigrants tend to be illegal and enter through the waters of Sicily and Southern Italy. The cost to the country is enormous and has led to the Minister of the Interior Alfano protesting t o the European Union as to the lack of support from the Union for this widespread problem that not only impacts the country itself but the rest of Europe.

An Italian Problem or a European Issue?

Indeed, in August Minister Alfano asked the European Union to take over the Mare Nostrum, an operation to rescue boat migrants in the Mediterranean.

The Italian government had set up the Mare Nostrum in October 2013 following the tragic shipwrecks where over 600 people died. Currently the operation costs the government about nine million Euros a month a n d h a s b e c o m e unfeasible. Figures released by Ministry of Interior show that between August 2013 and July 2014, some 116,944 migrants arrived in Italy by boat, a clear indication of the scale of the problem in Italy. He did warn that the Italian government would need to make important decisions should the EU fail to take over the operation. Over recent months, Italy’s leaders have urged the EU to take over responsibility for rescuing migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea given the scale and spread of the problem.

Italy’s leaky borders are not only the problem of Italy but the problem of all of Europe as immigrants disperse throughout Europe. Italy has no choice but to wait and see how the EU will react. It is clearly waiting game. Stay tuned !!!

How did South Korea’s popula3on control work Too well?

4/11/14

Modern Landcsape Is Seoul Korea.

Author: Riku Ojansivu @riku.oj

South Korea officially known as the

Republic Of Korea. Is located in the southern part of the Korean peninsula directly under North Korea and China.

The Capital of Korea is Seoul which is located towards the North west part of South Korea and is near the eastern part of the North and South Korean border.

Around half of the 50 million people living in South Korea live in Seoul. Seoul is a very packed and crowded area and is called the second most populated city aker Tokyo, Japan. South Korea is one of the most industrialized countries in the world. South Korea has the fikeenth highest GDP with a GDP per capita of $32,020 and the twelkh highest purchasing power parity at $1.879 trillion. South Korea’s current largest exports in order are Refined petroleum 9.2%, integrated circuits 8.7%), cars 7.6%, passenger and cargo ships (5.2%) and LCDS (4.3%.).

The top 5 export des&na&ons in order are: China 23%, Unites states 11%, Japan 6.9%, Hong Kong 4.8% and Singapore 4.6%. South Korea's no&ced an increase in their economy and d e v e l o p i n g t h e m s e l v e s f r o m a developing country to one of the most prosperous countries in the world and this event has been called the Miracle on the Han River. North Korea has faced many problems including extreme overpopula&on and minimal natural resources. South Korea’s biggest problem of these two was extreme overpopula&on. Till around the 1960’s Korea had a fer&lity rate of around 6.5 compe&ng with countries like Turkey, South Africa and Ghana.

But in 1960 Korea no&ced one of the largest fer&lity drops in the world and by 2010 was one of the lowest recorded fer&lity rates compe&ng with other countries like Macao China, Germany and Japan. And ever since they have been trying to raise their fer&lity rate.

In 1962 South Korea began a campaign to aeempt to reduce women's unwanted births through a program of informa&on, basic maternal and child health services, and the provision of family planning supplies and services. Ever since it’s beginning it’s been huge success in South Korea. In the 1950’s Korea was a primarily agricultural country with a fer&lity rate of around 6. In 1962 when the campaign first began the fer&lity rate in South Korea was a high 4.5 children per woman which had already decreased from the 1950’s fer&lity rate of 6.5. In 1970 they were able to half this to a an incredible 1.74. In 8 years they were able to achieve something that would take other countries several centuries. But this wasn’t all. Korea s&ll pushed this campaign even a few steps further when in 1984 to 2005 it was an outstandingly low 1.08. But this was too low for South Korea.

Replacement level is almost double that at 2.1. So South Korea began another campaign to do the opposite of what they were doing before so that they would be able to catch up to replacement level. So South Korea began another campaign to do the opposite-­‐

Large group of Korean’s protes&ng in the Capital

of what they were doing before so that they would be able to catch up to replacement level. Having a low fer&lity rate isn’t a large problem with 35% of countries have a fer&lity rate of 1.5 or lower but South Korea faced the problem that their weren’t enough young workers to sustain the very large economy Of South Korea.

In 2006 South Korea introduced v i s i o n 2 0 2 0 . T h e c a m p a i g n announced that that they would aeempt to raise the fer&lity rate to 1.6 before the year 2020. An advisory Commieee to south Korea’s president was formed and a law passed to provide legal framework for the pro-­‐na&onalist policy. The name that was given to this campaign was The Saero-­‐Maji “The new beginning”. This was enforced by the providing a more favorable environment for childbearing, tax incen&ves, priority to purchase a new apartment, support for child care, support for educa&on and assistance to infer&le parents.

South Korea to this day s&ll remains at a very low fer&lity rate. In 2013 it was 1.193 children per women. It’s a very common trend in Asia with countries like Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore all facing the problem of being below replacement level. All of this is resul&ng in a very large problem for South Korea which is that it is es&mated that South Koreans will become ex&nct by the year 2750.