Class 12 Geography Short Questions with Answers - Population Composition

Q. 1. Define the term ‘Age Structure’.
OR
Give the meaning of ‘Age Structure’.
Ans. Age structure represents the number of people of different age groups.

Q. 2. What is meant by ‘Age-Sex Pyramid’?
OR
Give the meaning of age-sex structure of population.
Ans. The age-sex pyramid of a population refers to the number of females and males in different age groups.

Q. 3. Give the meaning of ‘Sex Ratio’.
OR
Define the term ‘Sex Ratio.’
Ans. Sex ratio can be defined as the ratio between the number of women and men in the population. In some countries, the sex ratio is calculated as:

Q. 4. What is the importance of the age structure?
OR
What is the significance of age structure?
Ans. Importance of age structure :
(i) It represents the number of different age groups.
(ii) Age structure helps in the planning process and estimates future population.

Q. 5. Why is the sex ratio in some European countries recorded favourable to females? Give one reason.
Ans. Favourable Female Sex Ratio in Europe :
(i) Better socio-economic status of women/outmigration of male population.

Q. 6. “In some countries of the world the sex ratio is unfavourable to women”. Give one reason.
Ans. Unfavourable sex ratio in the world : Lower social status, female foeticide, female infanticide, domestic violence, etc.

Q. 7. Name the country where sex ratio is most unfavourable to women in the world.
OR
Which country has the lowest sex ratio in the world?
Ans. UAE has the lowest sex ratio of 468 females per 1000 males.  

Q. 8. What is the average sex ratio in the world?  
Ans. The average sex ratio in the world is 102 males per 100 females.

Q. 9. Which age group forms the working population?
OR
Which age group of the population is known as the working population of the world?
Ans. The large size of population in the age group of 15 to 59 indicates a large working population.

Q. 10. How is sex ratio calculated in different countries of the world?
OR
How is sex ratio measured ?
Ans. In some countries the sex ratio is calculated as

Or, the number of males per thousand females.In India, the sex ratio is worked out using the formula:

Or,  the number of females per thousand males.

Q. 11. Name the country having the highest sex ratio in the world.
OR
Which country has the highest sex ratio in the world ?
Ans. Latvia (85 males per 100 females).

Q. 12. Give two reasons for unfavourable sex ratio in the world.
Ans. The reasons for unfavourable sex ratio are :
(i) Low socio-economic status of female
(ii) Low literacy
(iii) Female infanticide
(iv) Female foeticide

Q. 13. Which country has declining population pyramid?
Ans. Japan.

Q. 14. Name the countries having the highest and the lowest sex ratio in the world.
Ans. The country with the highest sex ratio is Latvia and the country with the lowest sex ratio is UAE.

Q. 15. Why is the age structure considered an important indicator of population composition? Give reasons.
Ans. Age structure represents the number of people that belong to different age groups. Age structure is taken as an important indicator of population composition.
Since a large size of the population that fall in the age group of 15 to 59 reflect  in the large working population. A greater proportion of population above the age of 60 years represents an ageing population which requires more expenditure on medical facilities. Similarly high proportion of young population would mean that the area has a high birth rate which leads to youthful population.

Q. 16. Why is the sex ratio unfavourable to women in the world? Explain any three reasons.
Ans. (i) In some countries, the sex ratio is uneven as there is a preference attached to having a son. Pressure of having a boy child is more prevalent in countries of East Asia, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa.
(ii) Post-natal discrimination and lack of medical facilities lead to deterioration  of health and nutrition , resulting in high female mortality.
(iii) A number of surveys conducted show that the lack of medical facilities leads to unfavourable sex ratio. This is especially in the case of societies where health care has to be borne by the family.  

Q. 17. What does the proportion of literate population of a country indicate?
Ans. The proportion of literate population of a country is an indicator of its socio-economic development because it shows the standard of living, social status of females, availability of educational facilities and policies of government.

Q. 18. How is literacy an indicator of a country ’s socioeconomic development?
Ans. Proportion of literate population of a country is an indicator of its socio-economic development as it reveals the standard of living, social status of females, availability of educational facilities and policies of government. Level of economic development is both a cause and consequence of literacy.

Q. 19. List the factors influencing the literacy ratio.  
Ans. Factors influencing the literacy ratio are :
(i) Level of economic development
(ii) Urbanisation
(iii) Status of women in the society
(iv) Availability of educational facilities.

Q. 20. Divide the population of the world into two groups on basis of residence. How do they differ from each other ? Explain any two points of difference.
Ans. Population of the world can be divided into rural and urban population. These two types of population always differ from each other. Some of the differences are:
(i) Urban population lives a good lifestyle whereas rural population always struggles for this in most parts of the world.
(ii) Rural population lives with lack of basic amenities like health, education, etc. On the other hand, urban population gets these facilities.
(iii) Inadequate ratio of infrastructure in rural areas also makes it different from urban population.