Submitted to ASIF ALI SHINWARY By: Umar Hayat

Topic: Overpopulation its causes, Impacts and Solution

Outlines:

1. INTRODUCTION
 The condition of having a population so dense as to cause environmental
deterioration, an impaired quality of life, or a population
 A situation in which too many people or animals live in a certain area
 The condition of having a population so dense as to cause environmental
deterioration, an impaired quality of life, or a population cras
 Population becomes a problem when a relationship between its growth and the
growth of outputs fails to emerge.
 Overpopulation is an undesirable condition where the number of existing human
population exceeds the carrying capacity of Earth
 Pakistan has 2.63 percent of the world’s population and ranks 6th in the list of high
population countries in the world
 The number of births per day in Pakistan is 16,228 and number of deaths is 4110
2. BACKGROUND:
3. CAUSES OF OVERPOPULATION:

These are the leading causes:

 Poverty. Poverty is believed to be the leading cause of

overpopulation

 Poor Contraceptive Use.

 Child Labor.

 Reduced Mortality Rates.

 Fertility Treatment.

 Lack of Family Planning

 Immigration.

 Lower Life Expectancy.

 Submitted to ASIF ALI SHINWARY By: Umar Hayat

 Decline in the Death Rate

 Allah the Raaziq

 High fertility;

 The custom of early marriages;

 Gender preference at birth;

 Poverty; illiteracy, especially among women;

 A lack of female empowerment;

 Religious constraints; and

 Local beliefs, customs and traditions.

4. EFFECTS:
 Rise in Unemployment
 Conflicts and Wars
 High Cost of Living
 Degradation of Environment
 Living standards degrade
 Breeds crimes
 Other social evils
 Population ultimately leads to (overexploitation, frustration, and starvation)
5. SOLUTION:
 Better Education:
 Knowledge of Sex Education:
 Making People Aware of Family Planning
 Government should focus on two children legislation
 Age of marriage for both male and female should be revised
 Proper Family planning
 Population control should be part of the syllabus from class one till college and
universities
6. FACTS AND FEGURE:
Submitted to ASIF ALI SHINWARY By: Umar Hayat

INTRODUCTION:

George Morris has defined overpopulation as the state of the population "when there are
more people than can live on the earth in comfort, happiness, and health and still leave the world
a fit place for future generations." Every element of the definition is open to interpretation. Even
the carrying capacity of the land -- the number of people that can be supported in an area --
depends on who is using the land and for what. The same amount of land can support a great
many more vegetarians than meat-eaters. Comfort, health and happiness have different standards
among peoples, and the next generation may find the world more or less "fit," depending on their
level of technology. Population density is not an adequate measure of overpopulation, since
countries with advanced economies, like the Netherlands or Hong Kong, can support an
extremely dense population. Whether a country is overpopulated or not depends on its population
growth rate, standard of living, lifestyle, culture, available technology and resources, economy,
and other factors. Some experts feel that the earth's resources are finite and therefore there are
limits to population and economic growth; others argue that, as long as science and technology
advance, there are no limits to growth

BACKGROUND:

Pakistan is a country which is still weak socially, Political and economically and it has
been facing many challenges from the day of its inception. Overpopulation is one of the most
serious challenges which is as threatening as terrorism. Pakistan has 2.63 percent of the world’s
population and ranks 6th in the list of high population countries in the world. The number of
births per day in Pakistan is 16,228 and number of deaths is 4110. It means that a baby is born
every seven seconds in Pakistan

The total population in Pakistan, according to the latest census, is 210 million, making it the
sixth-most populous country after China, India, the United States, Indonesia and Brazil.
The country ranks a miserable 147th on the Human Development Index, while its population
growth of 1.92 percent is among the highest in the region, which is an alarming situation.
According to experts, if its population continues to grow at the current rate it is likely to double
in the next 37 years, which would make Pakistan the third-most populous country in the world

Population becomes a problem when a relationship between its growth and the growth of outputs
fails to emerge.

Pakistan has 0.6 percent of the world’s land mass, ranking 34th in the world in terms of total
area.
Submitted to ASIF ALI SHINWARY By: Umar Hayat

Rapid expansion in industrial production and urbanization has led to increased levels of
industrial waste, water pollution, solid waste and vehicle emissions that have resulted in serious
health problems in many areas. Public-awareness campaigns and behavioral-change programs,
implemented with the involvement of the media, can be helpful to inform and sensitize people
about the necessity of exercising control over the size of their families.

Due to poor effort by authorities in the field of family planning, Pakistan is bound to face
greater challenges by 2030 when it would be the fourth most populous nation of the world,
experts said on Monday.

“Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world.

Overpopulation is considered as an undesirable condition in which the number of inhabitants

exceeds the carrying capacity of them. The world population is exceeding 7.5 billion people but
the resources limitations and environmental degradation are becoming more apparent and
noticeable. According to the UN’s report, almost 361,000 people are added to the planet daily.
The population of our planet has grown exponentially in the last 200 years with the rate of 1.9
percent per year. ranked fourth by 2030

CAUSES:

The major factors responsible for high population growth in Pakistan include: high
fertility; the low use of contraceptives — the rate is decreasing rather than increasing and
currently stands at 30 percent; a high level of unmet need for family-planning services; declining
mortality; the custom of early marriages; gender preference at birth; poverty; illiteracy,
especially among women; a lack of female empowerment; religious constraints; and local
beliefs, customs and traditions.

The chief causes of the continuing surge, according to population experts, include religious
taboos, political timidity and public ignorance, especially in rural areas. Only a third of married
Pakistani women use any form of birth control,

Another key factor for over population in Pakistan is ‘Allah the Raaziq’. No doubt Allah is the
‘raaziq’ but you know 25,000 people die every day in the world due to food deficit or hunger

IMPACTS:

One of the major causes of poverty in Pakistan is the alarming rate of increase in the
population. Population trends and dynamics can have an enormous effect on prospects for
poverty reduction and sustainable development. Poverty is influenced by – and influences –
population dynamics, including population growth, age structure and rural-urban distribution. All
of this has a critical impact on a country’s development prospects and prospects for raising living
standards for the poor. Investments in better health, including reproductive health, are essential
Submitted to ASIF ALI SHINWARY By: Umar Hayat

for individual security and for reducing mortality and morbidity, which in turn improve a
country’s productivity and development prospects

Improved reproductive health also helps individuals, particularly young women to break out of
intergenerational cycles of poverty. When women and couples are empowered to plan whether
and when to have children, women are better enabled to complete their education; women’s
autonomy within their households is increased; and their earning power is improved.

The rapid growth in population also has very serious social consequences. It leads to increased
unemployment which breeds crimes and other social evils. The governments in the less
developed countries find it difficult to create required jobs for youth entering the job market as
the share of the employment offered by the government is quite minimal. In Pakistan the share of
the government to the job market is in the vicinity of 7-8% and the rest is in the private domain
which means that the governments have to adopt such policies which lead to the creation of more
and more jobs in the private sector.

This growth in population results in increased poverty and causes higher mortality rates of
mothers and infants than in neighbouring countries. Besides, this also creates hurdles in
educational grounds as is evident from the fact that 25 million children are unable to go to
school,”

POPULATION explosion, though missing from the country’s policy discourse, presents
one of the most serious threats to our national security.

With an extremely low literacy rate and bleak job opportunities, the future prospects of the
young generation are uncertain and dark.

Growing frustration among the youth makes them vulnerable to prejudices and extremism. The
gravity of the situation can be assessed by the fact that 32pc of our young generation is illiterate
and the majority of the others are school dropouts. Enrolment rates are the lowest in South Asia.
Pakistan’s spending on education is around 2pc of the GDP, about half that spent by India. The
poor quality of education hardly equips the youth to face the challenges of the globalised world
they live in, further pushing them towards isolation.

It is the 21st century and the world has become more technological and globalized. The
overpopulation in Pakistan can take it away from advancement and progress in the world. No
doubt that over population ultimately leads to overexploitation, frustration, and starvation.

Population is not about numbers alone as its growth rate impacts on access to basic human needs,
wellbeing and opportunities for all. The Population Council of Pakistan informs that 8 children
are born per minute. Pakistan’s population has grown six times in size since independence with
approximately 61m poor.
Submitted to ASIF ALI SHINWARY By: Umar Hayat

One out of every 3rd child, aged 5-16 (27 percent boys & 40 percent girl) is out of school in
Pakistan. With current population growth rate, it would need 85,000 more primary schools in
next 20 years.

Increasing population is the root cause of Pakistan’s development challenges. Pakistan is ranked
at 115 out of 146 countries measured on 2018 Social Progress Index (SPI), with a score of
49.18/100.

FACTS AND FEGURE:

Pakistan’s population grew by 3.3 times between 1970 and 2015 – a considerably greater
increase than India (2.4times), Bangladesh (2.5 times) or Indonesia (2.2 times) over the same
period. Between 1990 and 2015, the number of children aged 0-15 in Pakistan increased by 43
percent, compared with 14 percent in India, six percent in Bangladesh and eight percent in
Indonesia.

According to a UN Report quoted in the media, 15, 000 children were born in Pakistan on the
eve of 1st day of New Year.  This indicates that we have reached precipice of disaster.
According to 2017 figure Pakistani population growth rate was 2.0 compared to 1.7 in

If I were to focus on a single issue that has directly caused many of Pakistan’s woes, it would be
the sheer number of people now jostling for space and resources. Consider: at Partition seven
decades ago, West Pakistan (and now just Pakistan) had a population of around 32 million. This
number has now shot up to 220m.

According to a report published in this newspaper, Pakistan needs to create around 2m jobs to
absorb the young people who enter the market every year. Currently, 4m youths aged between 15
and 24 years are unemployed; by 2020, this number is expected to rise to 8.6m.

Many jobless youths turn to crime; others to drugs; and some take the jihadist route. The reality
is that our economy simply does not create the number of jobs needed to absorb the millions of
young people applying for them.

The 1951 census showed East Pakistan to have a population of 66m, while the western wing was
home to 42m. Currently, Bangladesh has a population of 163m with a growth rate of 1.04 per
cent, while Pakistan’s numbers have shot up to close to 220m with a growth rate of 2.1pc
Submitted to ASIF ALI SHINWARY By: Umar Hayat

The Population Council of Pakistan has estimated that only 35.4 per cent of women in the
country are currently practicing contraception and that more than 20 per cent of married women
want to practice contraception to space out birth or limit their family size but is unable to do so.
This is mainly because of widespread illiteracy, cultural taboos and inaccessibility to high quality
family planning or birth spacing services.

The biggest development challenge for Pakistan is imbalance between rising population and
available resources. Pakistan is growing at an average annual growth rate of 2.40 percent
counting at 208m.

Solution:

The following are the recommendations for the government to defuse the population bomb;
firstly, the government should focus on two children legislation and those who violate it, they
will have to pay taxes accordingly. Age of marriage for both male and female should be revised.
The female minimum age must be 22 years and male minimum age must be 25 years. Moreover,
lessons or chapters on overpopulation and population control should be part of the syllabus from
class one till college and universities. All those policies through which parents are rewarded
economically and financially based on the number of children they have, need to be stopped.
Provide access to safe and secure contraceptive options for both male and female and also
legalize abortions. Women should be empowered to take the decision about conceiving a child or
not, and lastly, family planning should start from grassroots level and it must be strategic and
visionary.