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chapters | General concepts index 1 | The treatment and processing of population statistics index 2 | Distribution and classification of the population index 3 | Mortality and morbidity index 4 | Nuptiality index 5 | Fertility index 6 | Population growth and replacement index 7 | Migration index 8 | Economic and social aspects of demography index 9
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310

In, census practice a distinction is made between the resident population1 or de jure population1 of a given area, which consists of the people who habitually live in that area, and the actual population2, de facto population2, enumerated population2 or present-in-area population2, which is made up of the persons in the area on census clay. In the resident population, temporary absentees4 are included with those permanent residents3who are present in the area on census day; the present-in-area population consists of residents together with visitors5 or transients5. The two methods of enumeration will give different results even for the country as a whole. The place where a person lives is called the place of residence6. For administrative reasons, certain persons who live together in large communities are often separately enumerated, for example inmates of boarding schools, military personnel in barracks, prisoners, etc. These people form the institutional population7. Special rules are used to enumerate vagrants8 or persons of no fixed abode8.

  • 6. The term domicile is a technical legal term, which in the United States of America is called the legal residence and denotes the place where a person is legally deemed to reside. This place may differ from his actual residence.
  • 7. In the United States of America the term population in quasi-households is used and the term institutional population is reserved for persons living in correctional institutions, hospitals for mental disease and tuberculosis, homes for the aged, handicapped and dependent or neglected persons.

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In many countries a rural area1 is defined as an administrative district in which the population is below a certain level (often taken as 2,000). Other areas are called urban areas2. The rural population3 is the population living in rural areas, the urban population4 that living in urban areas. Rules for allocating the population of particular areas to the urban and rural sector respectively differ in different countries.

  • 3. rural adj. — ruralization n., growth in the proportion of persons living in rural areas.
    "rural population" should not be confused with "agricultural population" (359-2).
  • 4. urban adj. — urbanization n., growth in the proportion of persons living in urban areas.

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The density of population1 or population density1 is an index showing the relationship between a population and the area in which it lives. The simplest density index2 is obtained by dividing the total population by the area of the territory and is generally expressed as the number of persons per acre, square kilometre or square mile. The scatter of the population3 depends on the type of settlement4 or habitat4. Some writers have computed the population centre5 of a given area by the methods used to find the centre of gravity in applied mathematics; each individual in the population is given an equal weight.

  • 1. density n. — dense adj.

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Where the intensity of settlement of different populations is to be compared and other factors besides surface area are taken into account, comparative density indices1 are sometimes computed. There are various such indices, among which we may mention the density of population per unit of cultivable area2 and the density of the agricultural population per unit of cultivable area3. Occasionally these indices are based on the cultivated area4 rather than the cultivable area5. The density may also be expressed as a relation between population and total economic resources; the maximum potential density6 or population carrying capacity6, showing the relationship between resources and the maximum population that can be supported with these resources, may be considered. The concept of optimum density7, i. e., the density which will give the maximum real income per head with given resources, is used in population theory.

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back to Introduction | preface | Index
chapters | General concepts index 1 | The treatment and processing of population statistics index 2 | Distribution and classification of the population index 3 | Mortality and morbidity index 4 | Nuptiality index 5 | Fertility index 6 | Population growth and replacement index 7 | Migration index 8 | Economic and social aspects of demography index 9
section | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 80 | 81 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93