GEOGRAPHY MYP/GCSE/DP
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      • Distribution of tectonic hazards
      • Causes of tsunami
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      • Earthquake case study 1: Haiti
      • Earthquake case study 2: Christchurch
      • Why do earthquakes do more damage in LICs than in HICs?
      • How are volcanic eruptions measured?
      • Tropical storms - distribution
      • Causes of tropical cyclones
      • Tropical cyclones - case study
      • Why live in hazardous areas?
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      • Global patterns of economic development
      • Physical and human factors affecting global population distribution
      • Case study 1: China
      • Case study 2: Niger
      • Demographic transition
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      • Ageing populations
      • Pro-natalist and anti-natalist policies
      • Gender equality policies
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      • The Demographic Dividend
    • Global climate vulnerability and resilience >
      • Atmospheric system
      • The energy balance
      • Changes in the energy balance
      • The enhanced greenhouse effect
      • Climate Change and the Hydrosphere, Atmosphere and Biosphere
      • Impacts of climate change on people and places
      • Disparities in exposure to climate change risk and vulnerability
      • Government-led adaptation and mitigation strategies
      • Civil society and corporate strategies
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      • Progress towards poverty reduction
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      • Global patterns and trends in the availability and consumption of water
      • Global patterns and trends in the availability and consumption of land/food
      • Global patterns and trends in the availability and consumption of energy
      • Water food and energy nexus
      • Recycling and waste
      • Malthus vs Boserup
      • Resource Stewardship strategies
      • Sustainable Development Goals
    • Freshwater - drainage basins >
      • The drainage basin as a system
      • How rivers change from source to mouth
      • River discharge
      • River processes
      • River landforms
      • Factors affecting flood risk
      • Attempts at flood prediction
      • Flood mitigation
      • Flood mitigation case studies
      • Water scarcity
      • Agricultural activities and water quality
      • Pressures on lakes and aquifers
      • Internationally shared water and conflict
      • Water management: participation of local communities
      • Dams as multi-purpose schemes
      • Water management: Integrated Drainage Basin Management (IDBM)
      • Managing wetlands
    • Leisure, Sport and Tourism >
      • Growth and purpose of leisure time
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      • Factors affecting a national sports league
      • Festivals
      • Niche national tourism strategies
      • Role of TNCs
      • Tourism as a national development strategy
      • International sporting events
      • Consequences of unsustainable growth
      • Sustainable tourism
      • Future international tourism
      • Political and cultural influences on sport
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Population structure and population pyramids

The population structure of a country is how it is made up of people of different ages, and of males and females.
  • The most common method to show the structure is by using a population pyramid. This graph is made up by putting two bar graphs (one for male, one for female) side by side.
  • From this you can read off what percentage of a population is of a certain gender and age range.
BBC Bitesize on Population Pyramids

Population pyramids for countries at different levels of development

Use the base sheet and the annotations in the table below to create your own annotated pyramids for HIC and LICs.
HIC and LIC pyramids base sheet for annotation
LICs/LEDCs/Developing Countries
This population pyramid is wide at the base, which means there are a large proportion of young people in the country. It tapers very quickly as you go up into the older age groups, and is narrow at the top. This shows that a very small proportion of people are elderly.This shape of pyramid is typical of an LIC, such as Kenya or Vietnam.
Picture
HICs/MEDCs/Developed Countries
​
This shape is typical of a developed country. It is narrow at the base, wider in the middle, and stays quite wide until the very top, as there is a sizable percentage of older people. Note that there are more old women than men. Italy and Japan have population structures that are of this shape
Picture
Picture

Population pyramids - research your own countries

Click on the image below to open a great website with population pyramids from all of the countries and regions of the world.
Picture
  • Select at least three contrasting countries at different levels of development.
  • Use screen shots and annotations to describe similarities and differences between the countries.
  • Connect to development. Try to explain the differences.
  • How are each of your countries predicted to change?

Create your own population pyramid using Google Sheets

You have used other people's population pyramids; now the challenge is to create some of your own using Google Sheets! This is fairly straightforward but you will have to follow the instructions below VERY CAREFULLY!! You might find the video below useful as well. Watch it first...
First you will need some data. You can find this below but there are also some websites you can use to obtain this information. The best one is probably the US Census Bureau website here.

The data you will use has already been found for you! Click on the image below to open it in  Google Sheets.
Picture
Now use Google Sheets to draw your pyramids...
  1. Make sure that all of the ages are formatted as TEXT (to do this, highlight them and then select from the "Format" menu.
  2. Keep the female numbers as positive (plus) numbers; change the male numbers to negative (minus) numbers. This is just to make the graph work.
  3. Highlight the data including the column headings of Age, Males and Females.
  4. Choose "Insert Chart"
  5. From the Chart Menu change the chart type to a Stacked Bar Chart (see below).
Picture
Now you should have a basic population pyramid. The next steps are to make it perfect. Do all of the steps below.
  1. Change the title of the pyramid. Your title should be "Population Pyramid for .........". Even better if you can add the year.
  2. Label the horizontal axis (Percentage of population).
  3. Label the vertical axis (Age group).
If you want, you can also change the colours and formatting of the pyramid to make it your own. You should end up with something that looks a bit like the ones below!

Once you are done, copy your pyramids into a Google Doc and describe and explain what they show!
Picture
Picture
  • Home
    • Contact
  • MYP
    • Development >
      • An unequal world?
      • Billionaires investigation
      • Africa: the danger of a single story
      • Patterns of development
      • Trade and development
      • Fair Trade
      • Sustainable Development Goals
    • Tectonic Hazards >
      • What is risk?
      • Alfred Wegener and Continental Drift
      • Plate tectonics
      • Distribution of tectonic hazards
      • Measuring earthquakes
      • Why do people die in earthquakes?
      • School earthquake plan
      • Earthquake assessment
      • Volcanoes - what are they? Why are they important?
      • Volcano "Science Fair"
      • Causes of tsunami
    • Population >
      • Why study population?
      • Population distribution
      • Population growth
      • Population pyramids
      • Demographic transition model
      • Migration
      • Migration examples - case studies
      • Refugees in Indonesia
      • Population revision activities
    • Weather and Climate >
      • Weather vs Climate and why is it important?
      • Climate graphs
      • Why does it rain?
      • What affects temperature and why is Jakarta so hot and wet?
      • What causes wind and how do we measure it?
      • Microclimates
  • IGCSE
    • Course information
    • Physical: Hazardous environments >
      • Distribution of tectonic hazards
      • Causes of tsunami
      • Measuring earthquakes
      • Earthquake case study 1: Haiti
      • Earthquake case study 2: Christchurch
      • Why do earthquakes do more damage in LICs than in HICs?
      • How are volcanic eruptions measured?
      • Tropical storms - distribution
      • Causes of tropical cyclones
      • Tropical cyclones - case study
      • Why live in hazardous areas?
    • River Environments >
      • Hydrological cycle
      • River basins
      • Factors affecting river regimes
      • Fluvial processes: erosion
      • Fluvial processes: weathering and mass movement
      • Fluvial processes: transportation and depositon
      • River features and their formation
      • How rivers change from source to mouth
      • Uses of water
      • Water pollution
      • Water supply
  • IBDP
    • Changing population >
      • Global patterns of economic development
      • Physical and human factors affecting global population distribution
      • Case study 1: China
      • Case study 2: Niger
      • Demographic transition
      • Megacity growth
      • Forced migration and internal displacement
      • Ageing populations
      • Pro-natalist and anti-natalist policies
      • Gender equality policies
      • Trafficking policies
      • The Demographic Dividend
    • Global climate vulnerability and resilience >
      • Atmospheric system
      • The energy balance
      • Changes in the energy balance
      • The enhanced greenhouse effect
      • Climate Change and the Hydrosphere, Atmosphere and Biosphere
      • Impacts of climate change on people and places
      • Disparities in exposure to climate change risk and vulnerability
      • Government-led adaptation and mitigation strategies
      • Civil society and corporate strategies
    • Global resource consumption and security >
      • Progress towards poverty reduction
      • Measuring trends in global consumption
      • Global patterns and trends in the availability and consumption of water
      • Global patterns and trends in the availability and consumption of land/food
      • Global patterns and trends in the availability and consumption of energy
      • Water food and energy nexus
      • Recycling and waste
      • Malthus vs Boserup
      • Resource Stewardship strategies
      • Sustainable Development Goals
    • Freshwater - drainage basins >
      • The drainage basin as a system
      • How rivers change from source to mouth
      • River discharge
      • River processes
      • River landforms
      • Factors affecting flood risk
      • Attempts at flood prediction
      • Flood mitigation
      • Flood mitigation case studies
      • Water scarcity
      • Agricultural activities and water quality
      • Pressures on lakes and aquifers
      • Internationally shared water and conflict
      • Water management: participation of local communities
      • Dams as multi-purpose schemes
      • Water management: Integrated Drainage Basin Management (IDBM)
      • Managing wetlands
    • Leisure, Sport and Tourism >
      • Growth and purpose of leisure time
      • Categories of tourism and sport
      • Economic development and participation
      • Factors affecting personal participation
      • Factors affecting growth of tourism hotspots
      • Spheres of influencee
      • Factors affecting a national sports league
      • Festivals
      • Niche national tourism strategies
      • Role of TNCs
      • Tourism as a national development strategy
      • International sporting events
      • Consequences of unsustainable growth
      • Sustainable tourism
      • Future international tourism
      • Political and cultural influences on sport
    • Extended Essay in Geography >
      • Supervisor meetings
    • Skills/concepts >
      • Infographics
      • 4 Ps
      • Mock examination revision and preparation
  • Geography and ToK
  • Theory of Knowledge
    • Knowledge and Technology
    • Knowledge and Language
    • Knowledge and Politics
    • Knowledge and Religion
    • Knowledge and Indigenous Societies