Population Pyramids

Today we took a look at population pyramids. We use population pyramids to analyze growth (or decline) of fertility, mortality and migration in cities or countries/regions. In population pyramids, males are always on the left while females are always on the right. They usually have five year increments. In the population pyramids, the age ranges are as follows; 0-19 is the youth or children, 20-64 is the economically active. They have jobs, pay taxes and invest in things everyday. The final range is 65+. These are the retired people who don't have jobs anymore and need more care than other age ranges and therefore use a lot of money extracted from the citizens and the government. There are three basic shapes of population pyramids, the 'Christmas Tree' the 'Box' and the 'Cup'. The 'Christmas Tree' is representing developing countries. They have a high birth rate, their growth rate is slow, and finally they have a short life expectancy. The next type is the 'Box'. The 'Box' is representing a developed nation with slow growth. These countries have low infant mortality, and a long life expectancy. The final type of population pyramid is the 'Cup'. The 'Cup' is to represent developed nations with with negative growth. These countries have a low birth rate and shrinking population. They also have a high life expectancy.