A population is a group of individuals of a particular species occupying a particular area at a specific time.
A species is a group of similar organisms that can interbreed under natural conditions. The interbreeding organisms of a species produce new organisms, which in turn result in population growth. This is true for all life forms, including human beings.
The human population refers to the total number of people in a specified area, such as a city, a country, a continent, or the world, at a given time.
Demography is the discipline of studying the human population, and a demographer studies the population at an advanced stage.
Demography, as a subject of study, is an interdisciplinary field that involves mathematics and statistics, biology, medicine, sociology, economics, history, geography and anthropology. It is concerned with the size, composition, and distribution of populations along with patterns of changes over time through births, deaths, and migration, as well as the determinants and consequences of such changes.
Population studies are important, particularly for governments, when planning in health education, housing, social security, employment, and preservation of the environment. Demographic studies provide information needed to formulate government population policies, as governments are concerned with modifying demographic trends to achieve economic and social development objectives.
The world’s population grew at an alarming rate from 1650 to 1950. The unprecedented surge in population has caused and is still causing a rise in individual consumption of food and water and exploitation of natural resources like land, water, fossil fuels, minerals, vegetation, etc. The combined effects of population growth, consumption, overuse, wastage, and misuse of resources have strained the earth’s capacity to sustain life. That’s why studying and controlling the human population is very important today.
In India, the census is conducted every ten years. It is a countrywide operation guided by government policies. According to the Data Dissemination Unit, Office of the Registrar General of India (the census records of 2001), the total population of India was 1,027,610,328, comprising 532,156,772 males and 496,453,556 females. The literate population comprises 75.85 per cent males and 54.16 per cent females. Records show that birth rates are declining in India faster than the decrease in death rates.
During the 19th century, great changes in the growth of the world population were observed due to better hygiene and public sanitation, widely available food supplies and improved nutrition. Life expectancy started rising slowly during this century, and the population grew quickly and steadily. Between 1800 and 1900, the population of Europe grew up to more than double of its earlier size. The population of North America increased up to about twelve times. It was aggravated by immigration from Africa and Europe.
The 20th century observed a new stage of population growth in developed countries. In the second half of this century, developed countries maintained low mortality and low fatality rates. For developing countries, in the second half of the 20th century, the population continued to rise for decades. As a result, the population in Africa, Asia and Latin America grew explosively. Currently, the total population of Europe and Asia is 728 million and 3.6 billion, respectively. About 82 million people are added annually in less developed countries compared with about 1.5 million in more developed countries.
Today’s global population is more than just the number of men, women and children on this planet when considering the quality of life. Population changes are linked to economic development, education, environment, the status of women, epidemics and other threats, access to family planning information and services, etc.
