Structure and Characteristics - Research Paper Example

Structure and characteristics Population pyramids of China and Germany The world population has crossed the 6.8 billion mark. Due to the discovery of technologically advanced equipments, the death rate has slowed down tremendously. Thus, the growth in the world population has been continuous in the past decades and is still increasing. When we talk about the world population, the first country that comes to mind is China. China is the most populous country of the world. According to geography.about.com , the present population of china is 1.3 billion. The Chinese population constitute one-fifth of the world’s total population.

The Chinese population during 1980s was around 1 billion. The slow growth rate o the population can be attributed to ‘one child policy’. In the next few decades, the population of china is expected to increase. Reasons for this expected increase are a decline in infant mortality rate and also a sudden decrease in death rate due to the improvement in national health. Though the population is expected to rise even more, however, around 2030s, it is anticipated to reach its peak level and then decline gradually.

Another such country that I have taken up is Germany. Germany along with few other European countries have a substantially low growth rate of population. The German population has crossed 82 million long before. Since 1990s, population of Germany has increased considerably. The main reason behind this increase was immigration, i.e. entry of individuals in the country. Infact, it is also assumed that if Germany did not witness immigration, its population would have been shrinking much like that of Czech Republic.

However, in the near future, the total expected population of Germany is expected to decline. According to destatis.de, in the coming decades, the population will decline due to decline in birth rates and increase in birth rates. Life expectancy will increase and birth rate will continue to fall in future. The number of deaths is also expected to increase mainly because the strong cohorts will approach to an old age. Having examined the past, present and future population trends of China and Germany, one point that has grabbed my attention is the one child policy adopted by China.

This attempt to drastically reduce the ever increasing Chinese population is commendable. Statistically, it has been very successful. Even though it was difficult to implement initially, mainly because of strict penalties and forced abortions, now it has gained popularity and the government is successful in enforcing it more flexibly. Also, contraception has become increasingly popular as a measure to control population and increase the space between two births. References Rosenberg, Matt (2010) .

China Population- The Population Growth Of The World’s Largest Country. Retrieved from www.geogrphy.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/chinapopulation.htm http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/EN/Content/Publikationen/SpecializedPublications/Population/GermanyPopulation2050,property=file.pdf