The Demographic DivideMDCs vs LDCs

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• Public attention has begun to focus on the "demographic divide," the vast gulf in birth and death rates among the world's countries.

• The North-South Divide (or Rich-Poor Divide) is the socio-economic and political division that exists between the wealthy developed countries, known collectively as “the North,” and the poorer developing countries (least developed countries), or “the South.”

• On one side of this divide are mostly poor countries with relatively high birth rates and low life expectancies.

• The North mostly covers the West and the First World, along with much of the Second World. . Generally, definitions of theGlobal North include North America, Western Europe and developed parts of East Asia. The Global South is made up of Africa, Latin America, and developing Asia including the Middle East. 

• What is worrisome about the demographic divide is not the differences among nations' population growth rates, but the disparities associated with these demographic trends—disparities in living standards, personal health, well-being, and future prospects.

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In economic terms, the North—with one quarter of the world population—controls four fifths of the income earned anywhere in the world. 90% of the manufacturing industries are owned by and located in the North.[2] Inversely, the South—with three quarters of the world populations—has access to one fifth of the world income.

95% of the North has enough food and shelter.[1] Similarly, 95% of the North has a functioning education system. In the South, on the other hand, only 5% of the population has enough food and shelter. It “lacks appropriate technology, it has no political stability, the economies are disarticulated, and their foreign exchange earnings depend on primary product exports”.

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Development Gap• The north–south divide has more recently been named the development

continuum gap. • This places greater emphasis on closing the evident gap between rich

(more economically developed) and poor (less economically developed) countries.

• A good measure of on which side of the gap a country is located is the Human Development Index (HDI). The nearer this is to 1.0, the greater is the country's level of development and the further the country is on its development pathway (closer towards being well developed).

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No Global Birth Dearth: The Reality of Different Population Growth Patterns

• As average population growth slowed globally over the last century growth rates have remained high in many countries such as Burkina Faso, Chad, and Iraq, while they have plummeted in others including Italy, South Korea, and Thailand.

• Many other countries are poised at the edge of these extremes—some (such as Germany and Hungary) are on the verge of population decline because of sinking fertility rates, while others (including Cambodia and Nicaragua) could rise into the higher extreme if health conditions improved and death rates fell. Immigration is the wild card: It can hasten or slow these trends.

• Despite media reports about population decline and a global "birth dearth," less than 15 percent of the world's population lives in countries that are projected to lose population between 2005 and 2050. Taken together, these countries account for just under 1 billion people. By 2050, these countries will account for less than 10 percent of global population.

• The media attention and concern arise because the countries slated for decline are among the wealthiest and most influential, including Japan, Germany, Italy, and Russia. Europe is the only continent projected to lose population (70 million) by 2050. 

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Africa Asia Asia excluding china Europe America Oceania

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population in millionspopulation 2014 popuation 2030 population 2050

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TFR in 1970 & 2003 across the continents Series1 TFR 1970 TFR 2013

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LEB(IN YEARS) ACROSS THE CONTINENTS IN 1970 AND 2013

LEB(years)1970 both sex

LEB(years)2013 both sex

LEB(years)2013 Male

LEB(years)2013 Female

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Births and Deaths per 1000 population in the year 2014

BIRHTS DEATH

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Natural Increase of diff parts of 5 continents

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IMR 1970 and 2013 across the continents

Series1

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IMR 2013

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Percent urban across the continents in 2013

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Comparison of married women(15-49) using methods of contraception in 2013 across the continents

Percent of married women(15-49)using all methods of contraception Percent of married women(15-49)using modern methods of contraception

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GNI PPP per capita US $ 2013

Series1 GNI PPP per capita us$ 2013

Case Study of the Demographic Divide: Japan Versus Nigeria

Japan has the world's second-largest economy and enjoys a high per capita income (PPP)—US$30,040 in 2003. Japanese people are highly educated: Most finish secondary school and at least one-third go on to college or

university.

They have the world's longest life expectancy—82 years—TFR around 1.3 which means that the country has one of the most rapidly aging populations in the world. Its TFR was above 4.0 in the 1940s, but fell below 3.0 by 1952 and

below 1.5 by 1995. Life expectancy in Japan rose from about 64 years in the 1950s to an unheard-of 80 years by the late 1990s.

The mean age at first marriage for women in Japan rose from 23.0 in 1950 to 27.8 in 2004. Women there have their first child at age 28.9 on average.

While Nigeria's fertility and mortality rates have also declined since 1950, Nigeria remains a high-fertility, high-mortality country: TFR is aroud 5.9 children on average and LEB around 44 years.

In 2005, Nigeria 's 132 million people made it the most populous country in Africa.

While it is a petroleum-exporting country, Nigeria's per capita income is about US$930,

Some 91 percent of Nigerians live on less than US$2 per day.

Only about one-half of Nigerian women are literate. About 5 percent of Nigerians completed education above high school. Nigerian women marry and have children at young ages—on average before age 20.

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Thank you!!

Sayantani ChatterjeeRoll No 10