NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Geography Chapter 3 Important Questions

The distribution of the population by sex and age is one of the most important demographic groupings. The study of the age and sex structure occupies an important place in demographic statistics. In the first place, indices of the population’s age and sex structure play an important part in the system of indices of the plan for the development of the economic and cultural life of our socialist society. They are used by planning agencies for assessing the attained level of development of the economy and culture of the nation and of its individual regions, for verifying the course of fulfillment of plans, as well as for current and long-term planning.

Planners study the changes in the composition of the population to plan for education, health care services, and economic development projects. The age of residents, gender, and occupation, level of education, marital status, and living arrangements provide planners with the type of information needed to plan for the residents’ diverse needs.

Population aging refers to changes in the age composition of a population such that there is an increase in the proportion of older persons. Population aging is undoubtedly one of the most transformative social phenomena of our century. Due primarily to the simultaneous decline in mortality and fertility present in most countries around the world, it is currently producing large fractions of populations over 60 years old and a significant world-wide fall in the number of workers supporting these old cohorts.

A United Nations report, World Population Aging: 1950–2050, set forth four important conclusions regarding the trend of population aging. First, population aging is unprecedented in the history of humanity. By 2050, it is predicted the worldwide number of persons aged 60 years and older will be larger than the number of persons aged 15 years and under. Second, population aging is a global phenomenon that affects persons of all ages in all nations. Third, population aging has serious implications for economic, political, social, and other areas of human life. Fourth, population aging is enduring. The trend will continue through the twenty-first century, and it is unlikely any nation will return to younger populations of the past.

In western countries like the USA, Canada and Europe number of males outnumbers females in rural areas whereas the number of females outnumbers the males in urban areas. The numbers of females are more in urban areas because of the availability of vast number of job opportunities for females coming from rural areas. Similarly, there are more number of males in rural areas as agriculture is highly-mechanized and is a male-dominated occupation in rural areas of these countries.