Country which is overpopulated: Nigeria

It is located on the coast of the southern part of

Africa and has a population of 225 million people
with an area of 900 000 km2 and is the world’s six
most overpopulated country.
It occupies only 3% of Africa but is home to 15% of
its people with 60% living in poverty.
Lack of birth control law put in by the government
& high infant mortality rate.
In addition, marrying too many wives, illiteracy
among couples, early marriages, religious beliefs are
responsible for the explosion of population.
Birth rate > Death rate due to improvement in
health care and low infant mortality rates.
House shortages, high crime rates, shortages of food
and water, water pollution, traffics congestion and
lack of education and health care.
Nigeria announced new birth-control measures
and government will expand access to family
planning.
 Country with a decline of population: Russia
It is in Eurasia in the northern hemisphere with a population
of 146 million people with an area of 17 million km2.
Despite some recent increase in the birth rate, its population is
falling unusually fast and may drop to 130m by mid-century
due to extremely high induced abortion rates & unusually high
mortality rates.
In 1991 the population was at its highest, but it has decreased
mainly because of, death rate > birth rate due to elevated levels
of HIV/AIDS, heart diseases, tuberculosis, and alcohol-related
deaths.
Russian women who are highly educated do not want to large
numbers of children and focus on their career instead, so
fertility rate is only 1.5 births per women.
Immigration rate in Russia is low, and many emigrants are
moving away from Russia, particularly to Western Europe to
look for a better lifestyle.
Also, some women might have more children if they could get
more money, therefore ‘Maternity capital’ program was
launched in Russia to tackle this problem provided US$9200 to
mothers who gave birth to second child, however, parents were
not perceived that is eased their burden of bringing up
children.
Public health campaigns, campaigns towards prevention and
reduction of abortion rate, mortality reduction initiatives, are
implemented by Russian government for the period up to 2025.
High rate of natural population growth: Niger
It’s a landlocked country located in the western part of Africa
with a population of 27 million & a growth rate of 1.4% being
one of the poorest countries in the world.
It has one of the highest fertility rates and is expected to reach
56 million people by 2025 with the world’s fastest growing
population.
Its literacy rate is 31%, so there are almost 7 births per women
due to lack of education about family planning as well as high
prevalence of early marriages.
90% of the population is involved in agriculture, 6% in mining
and 4% in services resulting in 63% of people with poverty.
During the last 50 years death rates have been falling due to
improved supplies of clean water so there are less water-borne
diseases, better education about health & hygiene, babies are
inoculated against diseases & treated when ill, more clinics &
hospitals, proper diets consumed.
However, Nigeria is facing adverse climate change, low annual
rainfall, a high level of malnutrition, extremely low levels of
education and gender inequalities.
The government’s action of plan is to increase the family
planning from 5% to 20% and raising the marriage age to 18
and since 2002 contraceptives have been provided for free in
Niger.
An international migration: India to Qatar
There’s a 2000 km distance from India to Qatar and over
700 000 Indian National residing in Qatar, Hindus make up
about 15% from the million population of Qatar.
The Indians are engaged in a wide spectrum of professionals
including medicine, engineering, education, and finance
among others.
Qataris are tolerant & amicable people, making the country
a safe place with low crime rates and a friendly place to
live even for Indians.
India is a known source for human trafficking,
overpopulation, extensive poverty, environmental
degradation (i.e., dangerous level of air pollution),
widespread corruption, unemployment, high crime rates,
discrimination, lack of healthcare & sanitation, religious
tensions.
Majority of the people migrate to Qatar due it’s political
stability, increasing prices of oil providing job opportunities
as Qatar has world’s 3rd largest oil & natural gas reserves,
better health care facilities & lifestyle.
However, businesses give migrant workers low wages leading
to poor health, housing or education of Indians in Qatar
and a decline in the workforce of India.
This migration provides increased economic opportunities
while resulting in social, political and cultural consequences.
 A sparsely populated country: Namibia
It is in southwest Africa with a population of 2.1
million & a population density of 3.1 people per
square km2.
Approximately 31% of Namibia is covered in desert
with very little fresh water so it’s difficult for the
land to support large numbers of people.
It experiences a hot, dry & extreme climate because
of the Namib Desert.
This has caused unemployment due to the limited
size domestic market and declining productivity in
agriculture.
There’s subsistence agriculture on which half the
population is dependent and only 3% is doing
mining in the Namib Desert for uranium or
diamond.
Rainfall is sparse and erratic & there’re prolonged
periods of drought.
However, rural-urban migration and natural
increase in urban areas may be expected to have an
impact on the rate of economic growth.
 A rapidly growing urban in a developing
country & migration to it: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rio is a city in the southern coast of Brazil with
population of about 14 million.
One of the largest migrants are the Portuguese people
due to poor economic conditions, lack of opportunities,
low wages, political uncertainty and corruption.
In rural areas, the housing is even worst with lack of
schools, shops, etc. & also there’s high infant mortality
rate due to lack of clean water, electricity, sewage &
medical care.
People migrate to Rio because of better jobs
opportunities, higher wages, better education, healthcare
& improved living conditions.
However, due to the rapid urbanization there are
transport problems, social problem (crime), increased
demand for services, towns are built on unstable land.
Within the Favelas, the government has assisted people
in improving their homes.
The government has also moved a lot of people out of
shanty towns into low coast basic housing estates with
plumbing electricity & transport links.
 An urban area: Atlanta, USA
It is the capital city of Georgia State with a population of over
6 million and is the fastest growing metropolitan city in the
USA.
Recent population growth has been caused by newcomers from
cities around the Great Lakes & the north-east where
unemployment is high & cost of living is expensive.
This growth has resulted in many problems like traffic
congestion (as millions drive to & from work each day), poor air
& water quality, lack of affordable housing, urban sprawl, loss
of ecosystems, loss of agricultural land.
The south of Atlanta has narrow and tricky construction zones
as well as so many out -of- towners and commercial trucks, also
road obstacles force 2 or more lanes to merge into one.
Atlanta’s traffic congestion is the 10th worst in the US and has
the 4th poorest air quality in the Southwest due to particle
pollution and ozone.
Planners are now trying to improve the economy and the
environment by investing in public transport which combines
light rail with new pedestrian & bike links.
Brownfield sites are being regenerated in the city rather than
building on greenfield sites [ for example: a steel mill site is
being turned into office space, 500 high-rise homes, town
houses & single-family homes].
 A farm or agricultural system: Australia
Sheep farming is done in Australia for production
of meat and woolvery large farms in marginal
areas.
Found in low rainfall, high temperatures and poor-
quality grazing areas of 25 hectares grazing land
per animal.
Very low inputs of capitals required, land use is of
relatively small value, so it’s cheap to buy.
Labour – very few people are required to look after
large numbers of sheep and gathering them
together for shearing.
Output – 620 000 tonnes of meat and 575 000
tonnes of wool is produced in a typical year.
Out of this, 68% of wool and 39% of meat is
exported to provide income of approximately $3.4
billion.
Challenges faced – periodic droughts, shortage of
sheep shearers, destruction of natural habitats and
soil erosion.
 An urban area: Atlanta, USA
It is the capital city of Georgia State with a population of over
6 million and is the fastest growing metropolitan city in the
USA.
Recent population growth has been caused by newcomers to
cities around the Great Lakes & the north-east where
unemployment is high & the cost of living is expensive.
This growth has resulted in many problems like traffic
congestion (as millions drive to & from work each day), poor air
& water quality, lack of affordable housing, urban sprawl, loss
of ecosystems, loss of agricultural land.
The south of Atlanta has narrow and tricky construction zone
as wells as so many out -of- towners and commercial trucks,
also road obstacles force 2 or more lanes to merge into one.
Atlanta’s traffic congestion is the 10th worst in the US and has
the 4th poorest air quality in the Southeast due to particle
pollution and ozone.
Planners are now trying to improve the economy and the
environment by investing in public transport which combines
light rail with new pedestrian & bike links.
Brownfield sites are being regenerated in the city rather than
building on greenfield sites (for ex: a steel mill site is being
turned into office space, 5000 high-rise homes, town houses &
single-family homes).
 Settlement & Service provision in an area:
Sardina
Sardina is an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea with
a population of about 1.7 million people.
Until recently, the economy was on agriculture & industrial
Centre & has one of the largest fish markets in Italy with
vast array of fish, for sale to both public and trade.
Cagliari – the capital city is the main commercial &
industrial centre & has one of the largest fish markets in
Italy with a vast
array of fish, for sale to both public and trade.
Carbonia – was built to provide housing for the workface of
nearby mines which had coal in abundant, but since the
mines closed in 1970s, it had to deal with high
unemployment.
Bosa – small town on the west coast where agriculture &
fishing played an important part in the economy, now its
beach is voted for the most beautiful beach in Italy & town
is growing popularity in tourism.
Olbia – the main connection between Sardina & the Italian
mainland with an airport, passenger port, railway & main
roads.
Sardian is currently paying people to live there to help
repopulate the interior areas of Sardian & combat
population.
 An earthquake – Haiti
Haiti is located between Caribbean Sea & North Atlantic Ocean in
North America (lies on constructive plate boundary) where a
powerful earthquake occurred with a magnitude of 7 at 5 p.m. on
12th January 2010.
Its epicenter was just 16 km from the capital city of Port-au-Prince
& the focus was only 10 km below the surface, so shallow shock waves
caused the ground to shake violently.
The plate boundary moved by divergent, where the North American
plate moved westwards & the Caribbean plate moved eastwards,
these plates constantly slide over each other & move about 0.8
inches each year.
Effects: 2.2 lack people were killed, 2.5 lack houses destroyed, 60%
of Haiti’s already fragile health care system was destroyed, 10% of
the country’s medical staff were killed roads collapsed, all
orphanages destroyed, public telephones not working.
Today it continues to face worsening food security, malnutrition,
water borne diseases & high vulnerability to natural disasters.
Management: mobilizing local workers, volunteers, & aid was sent
immediately by the UN & charities, temporary shelters were
provided to homeless people, 5k shelters constructed, about 700
homes repaired.
Haiti strengthened its local disaster risk management capacity &
made investments to improve the resilience of its road network.
 A volcano: Mount Sinabung, Indonesia
Mount Sinabung to the North of Sumatra in Indonesia was
dormant for over 400 years until it also erupted in Augst 2010 &
has been continuously active sinch 13th September.
It lies on convergent clear boundaries where the Indo-Australian
from west slides beneath the Eurasian plate in the east (subduction
takes place.)
In February 2014, vast quantities of rock, toxic gases, & ash exploded
out of the crater onto nearby villages & farms, at least 16 people
were killed which was caused due to some of the recent megathrust
earthquakes in Sumatra.
The houses, schools, clinics & lands damaged, some residents had to
lose their homes due to heavy damage since it was unfit for
habitation.
This eruption has displaced people, destroyed infrastructure &
livelihood, however, this has also attracted more tourists & resulted
in fertile soil from volcano’s ash for growth of chilli, rice, coffee,
cocoa.
The Sinabung Recovery Support Programme is designed to improve
sustainable livelihoods recovery & community resilience in affected
areas through strengthening post recovery measures.
The Indonesian government are planning to respond to most
urgent needs as district government is insufficient, although they
have the capacity & resources to carry out any emergency relief if
need.
Opportunities by river, the associated hazards &
management: The Elbe River
The Elbe River is one of the major waterways of Europe, it rises
in the Czech Republic flowing through Germany & enters the
North Sea.
It offers opportunities for people such as: river transport&
communication, fresh water supply, fertile soils, river cruises
providing local employment& areas of flat land used for
building houses and industry.
Water available for domestic use (washing, cleaning), factories,
trading goods, irrigation (agriculture), source of food (fish),
HEP.
In the past, extreme rainfall events have repeatedly led to flood
disasters involving great damage to people living close by.
A disaster was defined here as causing death of at least 10
people, or affecting seriously at least 100 people, or requiring
immediate emergency assistance, some parts also received 2
months’ worth of rainfall in 2 days.
Flood plain is protected by dykes & walls, the city now has
higher leveés, stronger walls, stocks of sandbags & protective
metal barriers that've been strengthened, can respond quickly
to floods.
Authorities are considering a 'Room for the river' project
whereby space for flooding is planned in areas where minimum
damage would occur.
 Opportunities by an area of coastline, Hazards
& Management: Mauritius
Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean which is famous for
its beautiful lagoons & beaches surrounded by fringing coral
reefs.
The coastal zones & lagoons are used mainly for tourism, fishing
& leisure activities such as: - driving, sailing, water skiing.
It grew economically in the 1970s because of: a large increase
in sugar exports earnings, a growth in tourism, establishment
of industries (ports) & financial services leading to a growth of
settlement.
Erosion rates at 5 keys beaches increased in last 10-15 years, 22
sites have experienced flooding, some areas are prone to
landslides especially during cyclones & severe rainfall.
In some places sea walls have collapsed, roads have been eroded
especially after tropical storms & the risk to life for people who
live in coastal settlements is increasing.
Beach sand mining is banned to protect the lagoon & coastal
erosion, and a wide range of strategies have been considered,
including hard & soft engineering (like beach nourishment).
Hard engineering methods like- building permanent rigid
structures, a curved wave return wall & geotextile bags filled
with sand to deflect waves, rock armours, gabions.
 An area of tropical rainforest: Ecuador
It's the second smallest country in South Americo in the east
is the tropical rainforest of the upper Amazon basin, called
Oriente containing one of the richest & most diverse
rainforest ecosystems in the world
It experiences a very hot & wet equatorial climate and is
home to over 25 000 species of plants, 1600 bird species, 300
mammals, 460 species amphibians
It's under threat from logging, tourism, and oil companies.
degradation & deforestation caused by oil spills & clearing
for access roads, exploration, production activities
This can result in loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, major
climate change, disturbances in the water cycle,
desertification, loss of food & natural habitat of animals
leading to extinction.
However, huge oil reserves provide income from drilling oil
allowing a great deal of development in this LEDC
&transport has improved.
But the new roads divide up the rainforest & con cut off
connections between different biotic and abiotic systems.
The rainforest may not seem like the most inviting habitat,
but for the tribes who have always lived there, it has
everything they need for survival.
 An area of hot desert: The Nando desert,
South-West Africa
It is in southern Africa consisting some of the tallest & 6
most spectacular dunes in the world, along with rocky
desert
Economically, the Namib desert is an important location
for mining of tungsten, salt & diamonds, revenue accounts
for 125% of GDP
The Namib-Naukluft National Park extends over a large
part of the desert, is one of the largest game reserves in the
world & includes several well-known attractions providing
employment for guides & in tourist accommodation
The desert makes life difficult for the people around it as
there's a complete lack of rivers or water bodies on the
surface, rainfall is scarce & unpredictable.
It faces many challenges including overgrazing,
groundwater extraction, land degradation, deforestation,
loss of ecosystems due to mining, soil erosion, water scarcity.
70% of the country’s food requirement is imported, there're
limited natural freshwater resources & wildlife poaching.
Namibia's desert is an ideal location for renewable energy
because of its strong wind’s abundant sunlight, so it has
considerable solar & wind energy resources.
An area where economic development is taking place &
causing environment to be at risk: Fracking in
California USA
Fracking is a process for extracting oil & natural gas from the
ground by blasting water & chemicals into underground rocks.
It can boost economic activity by 14.3% creating thousands of
jobs, increases total income by 6%, employment by 5%, salaries
by 11% & can save Americans money.
Fracking is seen as a way that countries such as USA & UK can
free themselves from being dependent on oil & gas from other
countries like Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
However, it involves toxic chemicals such as methanol which are
used with water in the process, once these make their way into
aquifers & drinking water, the environment & human beings will
be at risk of illness and death.
It can also pollute our air as it releases methane, a greenhouse
gas, wildlife will also suffer due to loss of their habitats by
clearing forest & vegetation to create sites (risk of death,
injury).
Solutions include using water-less fracking systems, reducing
methane leaks, reporting any accidents, introducing waste-
water purification, and using recycled water.
Monitoring waste generation and groundwater quality,
ensuring wells are situated beneath a satisfactory cap rock.
 Water supply in a country or area: Lesotho
Lesotho is a landlocked country encircled by South Africa with
o population of 2 million & a density of 68 people per km2, its
main Source of water comes from the ground & surface water.
Water is used for:
 Municipal use of water, for cleaning, cooking, bathing, &
watering the landscape around a home (usage 45%).
Industrial use of water where it's used in different industries
(45%), agriculture use such as in irrigation (8.6%).
Lesotho Highlands Water Project is the largest civil engineering
project in Africa which is ongoing mainly to provide Lesotho
with its own reliable water supply by transferring water into
rivers that flow through areas that need water.
Also, to transfer, for a fee, any water to South Africa which has
a water deficit in areas around Johannesburg, this income
could then be used to improve the quality of life and standard
of living.
It stored water from the highlands of Lesotho & would be piped
into South Africa for the people to use as only 83% of the
population have clean drinkable water.
The project was developed in partnership between the
governments of Lesotho & South Africa with advantages for
both countries, it will divert 40% of orange water through 5
large scale dams in Lesotho.
 An area where tourism is important: Dubai,
UAE
Dubai it one of the 7 emirates that make up the AE,
located on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf on the
Arabian Peninsula with a population of 3.6 million
people.
It has a sub-tropical climate & is a busy urban area
which experiences irregular rainfall, and the average
temperature is 35 °C degrees
It has stunning architecture, fancy hotels, shopping
festivals. majestic skyscrapers, glittering skylines & giant
shopping malls.
New jobs created in the tourism industry by earning $25
billion per year from tourism accounting for 20% of
Dubai's GDP. Hotels & apartments record over 9 million
guests per year.
However, it's the least environmentally country due to its
extensive use of air conditioning & desalinated water by
cheaply available oil.
The lifestyle isn't sustainable as Dubai's low-lying coast
is at risk from flooding as sea levels rise.
The government is creating new laws, and the ruling
family is managing new to improve this.
 Case study on Food Shortage: South
Sudan
It’s a landlocked country in East-Central Africa. The
country split from Sudan in 2011 & has a population
of 14 million and a density of 22 people per km²
40% of the population is short of food, 70,000 died
from hunger and diseases during the civil war,
diseased water causing cholera and typhoid.
Long-term decline of rainfall and bad weather, so
crops failed and prolonged Droughts are the main
reason for the increase in food prices.
Increased use of marginal land leading to soil
degradation.
High population growth (as female literacy rate is
50%) can lead to overgrazing and land erosion.
Limited access to buy food or infrastructure to
distribute it due to the 50-year civil war and high
dependency on farming for income (70%).
UN food program delivers food, red Cross emergency
relief air drops food, FAO project improves watermelon
growth along river Nile and teaches women fish
preservation.
 An industrial zone or Factory: Silicon
Corridor, England
It’s located to the west of London in the UK, along
the M4 motorway & is home too a large no. of
technological companies particularly Berkshire,
Swindon and the Thames Valley.
Being close to M4 means industries have fast
motorway link between the cities of London, Bristol
and Cardiff.
It has the busiest international airport & It’s the
location of several government research
establishments.
A large, skilled labor force nearby for the companies
creating employment.
By being so close together, they can swap both workers
and ideas easily.
It has an attractive working and living environment
with less pollution.
Unfortunately, it creates waste of silicon that doesn’t
have a proper treatment, and the transport system is
a major user of energy, burns most of the world’s
petroleum.
 A transnational corporation and its global
links: Toyota Motor Company
It’s a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturing
company with revenue of $300 billion Founded by Kiichiro
Toyoda, incorporated on august 28, 1937.
It’s one of the largest automotive manufacturers in the world
that produces 10 million vehicles per year.
It has over 300 000 employees worldwide and is the 14th largest
company in the world by revenue & its sales span over countries,
53 manufacturing companies in 28 countries on 6 continents.
It also has research and development centers in USA, UK, Spain,
Belgium, Thailand, China and Australia in addition to its
Japanese facilities.
Positive effects: -
It has created lots of new jobs in different countries & aiming
to reduce the negative environmental impacts of
manufacturing.
It’s becoming sustainable by reducing carbon emissions and
implementing reduce, reuse and recycle strategies.
Negative Effects: -
This causes noise and air pollution leading to various diseases &
accidents occurring, 40% of 1.2 billion people die due to
worldwide accidents.
 Energy supply in a country or an area:
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic Island country of 300 000 people
and is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, one of the
most sparsely populated country.
Its main source for power production is 66% geothermal
and 15% Hydro-electric power.
81% comes from its own sustainable resources and 19%
consist of imported fossil fuels, coal and oil for motor
vehicles and ships.
Here ground water is 200 degrees that exists in deep
reservoirs, so hot isn’t seen at surface, but steam is.
Most of the energy produced is environmentally
friendly, no harmful gases released leading to global
warming, so energy is renewable and sustainable.
• Disadvantages: -
It's location restricted- so energy sources cannot be
exploited, and Iceland is a hotspot for volcanic eruptions
& earthquakes.
Geothermal energy needs to be properly managed to
maintain its sustainability.