Pop Quiz

1. What was the world population in 2015? 6. What was the in 2015? a) 900 million b) 2.5 billion c) 7.3 billion d) 8.5 billion e) 13 billion a) 5 million b) 36 million c) 60 million d) 127 million e) 282 million

2. By approximately how many people does 7. True or False. Now that Canada has the world grow each year? reached the fertility rate of 1.6 children per family, all Canadian population a) 10 million b) 24 million c) 45 million growth is due to immigration. d) 84 million e) 160 million

8. Which of the following provinces has the 3. If the world’s population continues at its highest population? current rate of growth, approximately how long will it take to double? a) b) c) d) e) Newfoundland a) 9 years b) 22 years c) 58 years d) 95 years e) 148 years 9. Which of the following countries consumes the most energy per person? 4. True or False. There is a population a) United States b) Ethiopia c) Canada explosion in the world today. c) Germany d) China

5. Which has NOT been a major cause of the population explosion?

a) an increase in birth rates b) modern preventive medicine c) improved sanitation Special thanks to Darlene Monkman for the original development of d) lower infant mortality this quiz! e) longer life expectancy

(A program of Population Connection) © 2016 1. What was the world population in 2015? 6. What was the population of Canada in 2015? c) 7.3 billion d) 36 million Note that world population figures are best estimates de- The Canadian population comprises just under 0.5 percent mographers can make, but are not precise counts. of the world’s population.

2. By approximately how many people does 7. True or False. Now that Canada has the world grow each year? d) 84 million reached the fertility rate of 1.6 children This produces a growth rate of 1.2 percent, a slight de- per family, all Canadian population growth is crease from the 2 percent rate of a decade ago. To calculate due to immigration. False. the world’s growth rate, subtract the death rate (currently An average of 1.6 children per family is below the replace- 8 per 1,000) from the birth rate (currently 20 per 1,000) ment level fertility rate, the rate that would eventually and divide the result by 10. bring about a non-growing population. However, growth will not stop until the birth rate and the death rate are To calculate how many people are added to the world equal. Currently, there are many more births than deaths, population each year, multiply the total world population about 136,000 in 2013. by the growth rate, also called the natural rate of increase. 8. Which of the following provinces has the 3. If the world’s population continues at its highest population? a) Ontario current rate of growth, approximately Ontario is the largest province in Canada, with a popu- how long will it take to double? c) 58 years lation of over 12.8 million people. The second largest The doubling time of any population can be calculated by province, Quebec, has a population of over 7.9 million. The dividing the “magic number” 70 by the annual percent Territory of has the smallest population, of just of growth. The natural rate of increase is the growth rate under 32,000 people. excluding immigration or emigration. For the world, 70 divided by 1.2 equals approximately 58. 9. Which of the following counties consumes the 4. True or False. There is a population most energy per person? c) Canada Canada uses the most energy per person of the countries explosion in the world today. You decide: listed. In fact, one Canadaian uses as much energy as 1.2 It took all of human time on earth (about 3 million years) Americans, 2.4 Germans, 12.5 Chinese, or 417.8 Ethiopi- for the population to reach 1 billion in 1804. It took 123 ans. This is largely due to Canada’s size and climate - it’s years to reach 2 billion. The third billion was added 33 big and cold. A lot of energy is needed for heating and years later in 1960, and the fourth was added 14 years lat- driving (much of which takes place in large fuel-inefficient er in 1974. In 1987, only 13 years later, world population vehicles that can handle snow and ice). reached 5 billion, it reached 6 billion in 1999, and 7 billion in 2011. At our current rate of growth, it takes about 12-13 years to add 1 billion people to our population.

5. Which has NOT been a major cause of the Sources: www.census.gov population explosion? a)increase in birth rate www.cdc.gov A decrease in death rates, rather than an increase in birth www.statcan.gc.ca rates, has been the main cause of rapid population growth. www.eia.doe.gov Improved nutrition, sanitation, and advances in medicine www.worldbank.org and agriculture all contributed to this decline. In Western Europe, death rates dropped during the Industrial Revolu- tion (beginning in the 1700s). Later, North America ex- perienced a decline in death rates when industrialization and urbanization brought better living conditions. In the 20th century, Latin America, Africa and Asia saw dramatic drops in mortality. Since fertility remained at its previous high level for some time after death rates dropped in each of these areas, rapid growth resulted.

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