MAPS

Map showing the Caribbean.

The countries highlighted in red on the world map are some examples of
developed countries- Canada, United States, Japan, United Kingdom,
Netherlands and France and some developing- countries Mauritius and
Maldives.

The islands in the map above circled in red are examples of newly
industrialized islands
Singapore, Hong Kong

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
AND POPULATION DENSITY
Population distribution describes the way that
people are spread out across the earths surface
while population density describes the number of
people living in a given area usually a square
kilometer.

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION AND POPULATION

DENSITY IN JAMAICA
Factors affecting population distribution and
density in Jamaica:
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The fertility rate has decreased drastically in the

last few decades and is now about 2.4. The birth
rate has also seen a decrease. The decrease in the
birth and fertility rates has a negative effect on the
rate of population growth. The fertility and birth
rates have decreased due to the fact that more
women now pursue careers and thus delay the
birth of children. Birth control is more readily
available which also leads to a decrease in these
rates. The fall in the birth rate has caused a drop in
the rate of natural increase.
Life expectancy has increased. As a result of
improvements in living conditions and medical care
infant mortality rate has decreased. This will have
a positive effect on the rate of population growth.

The Climate of the Area

If the area is grassland or forested then it has a
low population density because these area are
prone to rainfall. In dry or desert areas there is also
a low population density as the climate is too dry.
Persons tend to want to settle in an environment
that promotes a comfortable and safe lifestyle.
They will tend to settle in and around cities and
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town where there is easy access to basic goods

and service and where they can reside in peace

Mineral Resources
Persons tend to live near areas that they are able
to access employment easily. For example in
mining or bauxite areas eg. Kirkvine Manchester
Jamaica. Where there is employment people will
settle due to the fact that they can make a living
and support themselves and their family. When
there is job opportunities people will move to that
area so that it is convenient for them to get to and
from work.

POPULATION GROWTH
Population growth is an increase in the number of
people that reside in a country, state or city

Factors affecting population growth in

Canada, a developed country:

Canada's population is steadily growing from year

to year. The number of deaths has understandably
increased over time, and it will continue to do so in
the foreseeable future. When the baby-boom
generations reach the ages of high mortality, this
trend is expected to accelerate. Around 2030, this
could lead to a situation where there would be
more deaths than births. If fertility increases to 1.7
children per woman, the point when the deaths
start to outnumber births could be postponed by
fifteen years. If fertility declines, that point could
instead be reached by approximately 2020.

Graph representing the number of births and deaths in Canada from 1926 2056

Canada is a developed country and in most

developed countries or developing countries
women are not traditional as in other countries that
are not developed. At the usual age for a woman to
be pregnant in a non-developed country, in
developed countries the women of that age are
working due their working and busy lifestyle,
childbirth is not an option. In some countries it is
seen as a task to have a child due to the fact that
there are many responsibilities to deal with when
taking care of a child and some women think that it
easier not to have a child.
Compared to other industrialized countries, Canada
has one of the highest life expectancies at birth.
For example, in the United States, life expectancy
(74.8 years for males and 80.1 years for females)
was, in 2003, more than two years lower than that
observed in Canada, for males as for females.

Life expectancy worldwide in 2000 (63.9 years for

males and 68.3 years for females) was well below
that of the population of Canada and other
industrialized countries. In 2000, there was a huge
gap between life expectancy in Canada and in the

world as a whole were 12.7 years for males and

13.6 years for females.

Graph representing life expectancy in Canada as compared with other countries in

the world from 1971-2031

Graph representing the life expectancy in Canada for males from 1971-2031

Factors affecting population growth in

Dominica, a Caribbean country:
Dominica is a small Caribbean island situated in
the Lesser
Antilles. It has an area of 751 square kilometers. In
July of 2011, the population of Dominica was
estimated to be 73,126.

The population growth rate is very low. This is due

to emigration to more prosperous Caribbean
Islands, the United Kingdom, the United States,
and Canada. The estimated mid-year population of
2014 is 72,300. People have emigrated from
Dominica to these other countries and places in the
world in order to have a better standard of life. In
these other countries there are more job
opportunities and it gives them a better chance at
having a good life. People tend to move to areas
where jobs are readily available so that they can
work and make their own life easier.
Since many of the people in Dominica are leaving
to go to other countries, this has affected the
country in a negative manner. The emigration of
the citizens has led to a decline in the number of
child births in the country. The women and men of
the country have left to seek a better life in other
countries thereby reducing the amount of people
on the island. This reduces the amount of people
that are available to work in the island. In decrease
in the labor force is a negative impact on
Dominicas economic and social growth. Due to a
shortage of workers, industries and other
businesses are not able to thrive and rise in the
world rankings. They are left to struggle to become
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something on the business market. If people were

to stay in Dominica and educate themselves, this
would greatly help the economy to thrive and grow.

URBANIZATION
Urbanization is the relocation of a population from
rural to urban areas which leads to an expanding
quantity of the population residing in towns and
cities and a reduction of the population residing in
rural areas.
Urbanization may be impelled by local and global
economic and social modifications and is usually a
consequence of modernization and
industrialization.

URBANIZATION IN KINGSTON
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica,
located on the southeastern coast of the island.
It is roughly around 480 km2 and is the largest
primarily English-speaking city south of the United
States.
Kingston has experienced rapid urbanization over
the last couple years.
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In 1991 Kingstons population stood at 103,962

individuals. In 2001 the population stood at
579,137 individuals. This is evidence of the drastic
urbanization that Jamaica has faced over the last
amount of years.

Image showing the city of Kingston.

Image showing Kingston indicated on map by a red square.

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There are many benefits as well as problems of the

urbanization that has engulfed Kingston over the
last couple years.

Benefits of Urbanization in Kingston:

Efficiency
Cities in Jamaica are often more efficient than rural
areas. Less work is required to supply basic
amenities such as fresh water and electricity.
Research and recycling programs are possible only
in cities. In Kingston flats are prevalent. In flats
many people can be accommodated within a small
land area.

Convenience
Access to education, health, social services and
cultural activities is more easily available to people
in Kingston than in other villages in Jamaica. Life in
Kingston is a lot more comfortable, compared to
life in villages. Kingston also has more advanced
communication and transport networks than the
rural areas.
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Concentration of Educational facilities

More schools, colleges and universities are
established in Kingston than in rural areas to train
and develop human resources. A variety of
educational choices are available offering students
a wide choice for their future careers.

Economic Improvement
Rapid urbanization in Kingston enables high-tech
industries to earn valuable foreign exchange and
lots of money for the country.

Problems of Urbanization in Kingston:

Traffic Congestion
With the expanding amount of individuals moving
to Kingston, there is and enlargement in the
amount of traffic in the city which leads to traffic
congestion. The congestion is at its worst peak
hours in the mornings and evenings. In one of the
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contributing factors is that there is the current road

network was not built to facilitate the large amount
of traffic congestion that it now deals with and
there is not enough room for the expansion of the
roads.

Image showing traffic congestion in Kingston.

Poor housing conditions

Because some individuals who move to Kingston
are unqualified or unskilled, they are obligated to
land (vacant lots) illegitimately. Often times houses
made by squatters are built with low-grade
substances and lack basic facilities such as running
water and electricity. These areas may then
eventually deteriorate into slums.

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Image showing a slum in Kingston Jamaica

Pollution
As a result of urbanization there is an increased
amount of pollution in Kingston. There are several
types of pollution that plague Kingston due to the
increased population. Some include noise
pollution; which results from the continuous flow
of traffic, night time entertainment, construction
work etc., air pollution; which includes pollutants
derived from exhaust of motor vehicles, dust from
construction sites fumes from factories etc., water
pollution; which comprises Kingston harbour as
one of the main contributors because of domestic
waste from gullies which empty into here and oil
spills; which may occur in the harbour when oil is
being delivered at petrojam oil refinery.
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Image showing pollution in Kingston Harbour.

Increased levels of unemployment

With the rapid growth of the population, there are
not sufficient jobs for everyone. Also, some
migrants are untrained and cannot find jobs.

Increased levels of crime

Another effect of the urbanization is crime. The
movement of untrained and unemployed
individuals may contribute to high levels of crime.
Many times parents have a lot more children that
they can afford to maintain. In some parts of
Kingston for example at stop lights it is not strange
to see young boys carrying out odd jobs. They are
forced to do these jobs as a result of their poverty
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stricken situations and in many cases they end up

joining gangs and perform criminal activities.

CONTROLLING URBANIZATION IN THE

CARIBBEAN
There are several ways in which Urbanization can
be controlled in the Caribbean.

Ways of controlling Urbanization in the

Caribbean:

Decentralization of industrial activities

In countries with aspiring industrialization
programmes, investors are captivated away from
the city, to areas where more space is available, by
establishing new industrial and commercial zones
with good infrastructure. Those ready-made sites
encourage industry into these zones and the
population tends to follow, to gain from the new
employment. This reduces traffic jams and eases
traffic congestion, decreases demand for parking
space, provides a higher quality of life for
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employees of decentralized industries and their

families, reduces urban pollution, reduces the rate
of migration to the city from rural areas and
reduces demand on housing, public and social
services.

Development of new settlements or towns

suburban development
The expansion of new settlements away from the
city or in outer suburbs reduces urban issues in the
city. It leads to a shift of population away from the
city and the development of urban occupations in
the new areas.

Urban housing improvements

Most governments try to enhance the lives of
shanty town-dwellers, without having to remove
the inhabitants from the areas in which they live.
The sorts of improvements they can achieve this
way are things such as paved roads, improved
water supplies, improvement in medical and
educational services, rebuilding and renovation of
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housing accommodation and many other

improvements.

Rural development
Rural-to-urban migration can be reduced by
government programmes to develop rural areas
which aim to promote a higher standard of
agricultural activity and bring about an
improvement in the provision of services such as
electricity and water supply, good transportation
and proper recreation facilities. It aims to achieve
more equitable distribution between rural and
urban areas.

MIGRATION
Migration is the movement of individuals from one
location to another with the objective of settling

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temporarily or permanently within the same

country or from one country to another.

CONSEQUENCES AND PATTERNS OF

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION IN HAITI
Haiti is a Caribbean country that shares the island
of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic to its
east. It is the poorest country in the Americas.
It is roughly 27,750 km and has a population of
around 9 million.

Haiti is highlighted on the World Map above in red.

Some patterns and consequences of

international migration in Haiti are:
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Employment
As stated before, Haiti is the poorest country in the
Americas. Their wages are extremely low (most of
its population earn less than US$2 a day) and there
is a very high population density in rural areas.
Therefore they seek employment and need to
migrate. Approximately 15 000 immigration visas
for the USA are issued to Haitians yearly. Many of
them may even attempt to accomplish this illegally.
Since 1981, some 100 000 illegal immigrants from
Haiti have arrived undetected in Florida, USA.

The US policy on Haitian immigration.

It is US policy to reduce immigration from Haiti.
They are attempting to do this by offering help to
Haiti through its economic growth programmes
which focus on credit for small businesses and
marketing and aim to help small farmers and
artisans.

Other reasons for international migration

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Poverty and fear of political persecution causes

individuals in Haiti to want to leave. A lot of
Haitians leave crammed into rickety fishing boats,
seeking political and economic stability elsewhere.
In a lot of cases, they do this illegally. 1000 Haitian
migrants have been detained in Jamaica since the
year 2000. They were transferred to a detention
centre, before being deported back to their home
country. Another reason for international migration
is the earthquake that devastated Haiti on the 12th
of January, 2010. It caused a huge loss of life and
massive damage to buildings and infrastructure.
Things in Haiti are still recovering from the
earthquake to this day. Unemployment levels were
high before the earthquake and after the
earthquake, unemployment levels drastically
increased even more. Since then a lot of citizens
have migrated.

Image showing houses in a poor neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti that sat

destroyed after the earthquake.
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Some consequences of international

migration
There are several consequences of international
migration on the country itself and on individuals
living there. Over the years the international
migration in Haiti for the various reasons, has
caused positive consequences. Some of these are
employment opportunities for immigrants who are
able to find employment, earn money, in the form
of wages or salaries, and raise their standard of
living and also many migrants who return to the
Caribbean do so at economically active ages,
having acquired skills and experience abroad so
they have much to contribute to the Caribbean
economy. Some of the negative consequences are
poor housing conditions which arise from
immigrants who leave Haiti, whether permanently
or temporarily, find that there is a huge demand for
housing accommodation in their new home area,
leading to high rents that they cannot afford and in
addition, they are often faced with a higher cost of
living than they experienced in Haiti. Another
negative consequence is loss of skilled workers in
Haiti which results when skilled workers migrate
and more workers must be trained to take up the
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vacancies left. This involves time and money.

Labourers and service workers form a significant
part of the migrant labour force and this leads to
labour shortages in Haiti. There are many other
positive and negative consequences of
international migration.

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