NCERT Class 8 Social Science Exploring Society India and Beyond Part 2 Chapter 06 Dynamics of Population PDF Download

Chapter 6: Dynamics of Population

[Figure 6.1: World map showing population distribution by country and region, See in your textbook]

What Is Demography?

Have you ever wondered how many people live in the world? The human population is spread around the world, differing in size, structure, and composition. For instance, there are people from different age groups, such as children, adults, or the elderly; different genders, various levels of education; diverse occupations, and religion and so on. Moreover, many of these characteristics of population change over time due to births, deaths, and movement of people within and across countries. The study of these features of the human population and how they change over time is called demography.

Demography helps to better understand the people living in a region. Governments can utilise such information to plan infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals, roads, and housing, as well as municipal services like water, energy, waste management, etc. For instance, if a place has many young children, more schools are needed; if the proportion of the elderly in a population is higher, more facilities for healthcare are required. Similarly, a higher proportion of young working-age population implies a greater need for gainful employment generation. Businesses also assess their potential customers based on characteristics like age, gender, and income to create products that match people's needs. Hence, determining a country's population size and structure helps to better allocate and manage its resources.

[Figure 6.2: Components of demography showing Size, Pattern and Trend, and Structure and Composition, See in your textbook]

Teacher's Note

Demography is not just about counting people. It looks at why populations change and how they are organised. When you see a news article about population growing or ageing, that is demography in action. Understanding these patterns helps governments and businesses make better decisions.

DON'T MISS OUT

In India, the census is generally conducted every 10 years to assess the total population and its characteristics. It is the official count of people living in a country in a particular period. Information is collected from individuals regarding age, gender, marital status, educational levels, languages spoken, religion, family size, occupation, employment status, income levels, and so on.

Let us see how the population in India and the world has changed over the years.

Population at a Glance

In 2023, India surpassed China to become the world's most populous country (Fig. 6.3). Today, Indians constitute around 17 per cent of the world population.

World population grew from 2.5 billion in 1950 to 8.2 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Improved healthcare enabled individuals to live longer, which largely explains the trajectory shown in Fig. 6.4. However, growth has slowed over time. According to United Nations projections, the population will peak at 10.3 billion by the mid-2080s and then gradually decline as birth rates fall. The growth in population

[Figure 6.3: A bar graph of the world's most populous countries (2024), See in your textbook]

Teacher's Note

Notice that world population growth is expected to slow down and eventually decline. This is different from what many people think \u2014 that the world population will keep growing forever. The graph in Fig. 6.4 (which you will see in the textbook) shows this change clearly. Lower birth rates in many countries are the main reason for this shift.

Key Points

• Demography is the study of human population in terms of age, gender, occupation, religion and other characteristics, and how they change over time.
• Governments use demographic information to plan schools, hospitals, roads, water supplies and other services based on the population's needs.
• India became the world's most populous country in 2023, with Indians making up about 17 per cent of the global population.
• World population is expected to grow to 10.3 billion by the mid-2080s and then begin to decline as birth rates fall.

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