ECONOMICAL ACTIVITIES & SPANISH POPULATION. Spain has got 46 million people. At the beginning of XX century Spain had 19 million inhabitants, so it was a great increase. It’s the 5th population in Europe, and people are irregularly distributed: Madrid is densely populated, sparsely populated around it, and near the coasts is highly populated again.
BASIC CONCEPTS ABOUT DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION: Population Density: is the number of people per square kilometer. The population density in Spain is about 92 inhabitants per km2. The European population density is about 115 inhabitants/ km2. Rural population: (people who live in towns). In Spain 22% of people live in towns under 10.000 inhabitants. Last century in the sixties the population in little towns was higher, but many people migrated to big cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao…) looking for a job and better conditions, so many villages in the interior lost a lot of people. Urban population: about 78% of people live in cities (bigger than 10.000 inhabitants). This rate has been increasing during last century because there were more jobs in cities, than in little towns. Total population: is the number of people who live in a territory (city, country…). The Population census is a document that tells us the number of people who live in that place. We have to fill it out every 10 years. Every town has a population registry where it registers all the births and deaths from that place.
EVOLUTION OF THE SPANISH POPULATION. Birth rate (natality)is the number of childbirths per 1,000 people per year. Nowadays, in our country the number of child for every woman is about 1.4. It’s very low compared with the one at the beginning of XX century (about 4.7). It indicates that the population doesn’t grow despite the better living conditions, and this is because of the women’s entry into the job market. Death rate: is the number of deaths per 1,000 people per year. It has decreased (mostly child mortality) if we compare it with many years ago. This decrease is a result of the better health and food conditions. Nowadays there are lots of hospitals and labor care. Life expectancy: is the average age that a person lives for. The decrease of the child death rate and the increase of the number of years that people lives for, is the reason that the life expectancy is higher and higher. In Spain, the life expectancy is 78 years for men and 84 years for women. This is for the population’s grown older and older. There are more people over 65 and less of a young population. Population movements: are movements of people from their hometowns to other cities or countries. They are looking for better living conditions (better jobs, education, safety…). Two movements:
- Emigration: When a person goes to another place to find a better job. - Immigration: When a person comes from another place.
Till sixties, in the last century, many people from Spain migrated to other countries (emigrants), but from the seventies there were lots of people who came here looking for jobs (immigrants). Now things are changing because of the financial crisis, and many immigrants are returning back to their countries, and many Spanish young people are migrating to other countries looking for a living. Population Pyramid: is a graphical illustration that shows the distribution of various age groups and sex in a population of a country or city, which forms the shape of a pyramid when the population is growing. In the lower part is the number of children, in the middle part is the number of adults, and the older population is represented at the top. Looking at its shape we can analyze the evolution or births, women and men ages, population longevity, and other information. The current population pyramid in Spain shows a base narrower and narrower because of the decrease of the birth rate, and its very high because our life expectancy is very long. It has got a pear-shape. Old people Adults Children
ECONOMICAL ACTIVITIES IN SPAIN. Children under 16 and students, people older than 65 (retired people) and people with some special problems or needs (disabled people) form what we can call ‘non working population’ (inactive population). People who are between 16 and 65 years old are called ‘working population’ (active population). In Spain there are 22 million people who are in the working population. Here we find two groups: .- Employed: people who have a job. .- Unemployed: people who haven’t got a job. Nowadays with this financial crisis, more than 5 million people are unemployed, that is more than 20% of working population is looking for a job. People who had a job but now they are unemployed, receive an unemployment benefit during a period of time that help them till they find another job. When this help finishes they can receive another compensation (about 480 €) for some months more. Economical activities are for getting natural resources, these resources are manufactured, distributed, sold and consumed. We divide these economical activities into three sectors: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sectors.
PRIMARY SECTOR: Primary sector are activities in order to obtain natural products from nature. These activities are agriculture, cattle farming, fishing, hunting, forest exploitation and mining. We can consume many products directly (fruit…), but we have to manufacture others. All these resources are called raw material. Only a few people work in this sector, because of the mechanization. 1.- Agriculture: was a very important sector because many people worked on it. The main crops are cereals, potatoes, olives, fruit and vegetables. Nowadays there are different types (apart of the traditional ones: dry land and irrigated land), greenhouse land, ecological agriculture, transgenic agriculture… 2.- Cattle farming: is very mechanized. There are farming of sheep, cows, pigs, and poultry.
3.- Fishing: There are two types: .- Coastal fishing: when they fish near the coasts with little ships. .- Deep-sea fishing: They are fishing during some months very far away from home. 4.- Mining: its importance is declining (coal, iron…)
SECONDARY SECTOR: Secondary Sector includes activities are dedicated to transforming natural products into manufactured ones. We can include industry, energy production and construction. There are different kinds of industries: iron and steel industry, energy, chemical industry, food industry, and consumer products (cars, computers…) There are two types of construction industry: private building (to build houses, flats…) and public works (roads, bridges, railways…).
TERTIARY SECTOR: Tertiary sector includes activities dedicated to provide different services like transport, trade, tourism… 1.- Trade: can be inside the country or with other countries. In this case we can speak about importation and exportation. 2.- Transport: has been improving during last years. There are terrestrial transport (railways, and transport by roads), sea transport, and by air. 3.- Tourism: is very important in our country. We receive people mainly from Europe but people from all over the world as well. There are many people working in hotels, restaurants, bars… 4.- Other services: There are also other very necessary services paid by the state like police, fire department, health service, education…
GLOSARY-VOCABULARY: at the beginning: al principio
century: siglo
inhabitants: habitants
increase: incremento
densely: densamente
sparsely populated: poco poblado
to migrate: emigrar
to look for: buscar
square kilometer: km. cuadrado
job: trabajo
rate: índice (estadístico)
living conditions: condiciones de vida
population census: censo de población
population registry: padrón (registro de población)
birth rate: natalidad
death rate: mortalidad
nowadays: en nuestros dias
low: bajo
to grow: crecer
despite: a pesar de
job market: Mercado del trabajo
to decrease: descender
labor care: atención en el parto
life expectancy: esperanza de vida
average: media estadística
movement: movimiento
safety: seguridad
emigration: emigración
immigration: inmigración
the sixties: los años sesenta
financial crisis: crisis económica
to return back: regresar
looking for a living: buscando un medio de vida.
Population pyramid: pirámide de población
graphical illustration: ilustración gráfica
Age groups: grupos de edad
shape: forma
sex groups: grupos por sexos
At the top: en la parte de arriba
to analyze: analizar
longevity: longevidad
To show: enseñar, mostrar
pear-shape: forma de pera
Current population: población actual
Narrower and narrower: cada vez más estrecho
retired people: jubilados
Disabled people: discapacitados
working population: población active
needs: necesidades
Non working population: población no activa Unemployed: desempleados
employed: empleados
unemployment benefit: subsidio de desempleo
Compensation: compensación, ayuda
natural resources: recursos naturales
Manufactured: manufacturados
sold: vendidos
nature: naturaleza
Cattle farming: ganadería
fishing: pesca
hunting: caza
Mining: minería
Forest exploitation: explotación forestal
Raw material: materias primas
mechanization: mecanización main crops: principales cosechas
Dry land: secano
irrigated land: regadío
Ecological agriculture: agricultura ecológica Cows: vacuno (vacas)
greenhouse invernadero
transgenic agriculture: agricultura transgénica
poultry: aves (avicultura)
coastal fisihing: pesca de bajura
Deep-sea fishing: pesca de altura
declining: descendiendo
iron and steel: hierro y acero
Chemical industry: industria química
consumer products: bienes de consumo (coches, tv,…)
Prívate building: construcción privada
public Works: trabajos de obras públicas
To provide: proveer, suministrar
trade: comercio
importation: importación
Exportation: exportación
to improve: mejorar
terrestrial transport: transporte terreste
Sea transport: transporte marítimo
to receive: recibir
all over the world: todo el mundo
Also: también
paid by the state: pagado por el estado
Health service: servicio de sanidad
fire department: bomberos