birth rate: the number of births per 1,000 population in a given year. Not to be confused with growth rate.
birth control: practices employed by couples that permit sexual intercourse with reduced likelihood of conception. The term is often used synonymously with such terms as contraception, fertility control, and family planning.
death rate: the number of deaths per 1,000 population in a given year
demography: (Greek, demos [people] + graph [study]) the scientific study of human populations, including their composition, distribution, growth, other demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and the causes and consequences of changes in these factors.
family planning: the effort of couples to regulate the number and spacing of births. Family planning usually connotes the use of birth control to avoid pregnancy, but also includes efforts to induce pregnancy.
fertility rate: the number of live births per 1,000 women ages 15-44 years in a given year.
fertility: the actual reproductive performance of an individual, a group, or a population.
growth rate: the rate at which a population is increasing (or decreasing) in a given year due to natural increase and net migration, expressed as a percentage of the base population.
infant mortality rate: the number of deaths to infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births in a given year
life expectancy: the average number of additional years a person would live if current mortality trends were to continue. Most commonly cited as life expectancy at birth.
migration: the movement of people across a specified boundary for the purpose of establishing a new permanent residence.
natural increase (or decrease): the surplus (or deficit) or births over deaths in a population in a given period.
population density: population per unit of land area; for example, persons per square mile or persons per square kilometer of arable land.
population distribution: the patterns of settlement and dispersal of a population
population increase: the total population increase resulting form the interaction of births, deaths, and migration in a population in a given period of time.
population projection: computation of future changes in population numbers, given assumptions about future trends in the rates of fertility, mortality, and migration.
rate of (natural) increase: the rate at which population is increasing (or decreasing) in a given year due to a surplus (or deficit) of births over deaths, expressed as a percentage. This rate does not include immigration or emigration
replacement-level fertility: the level of fertility at which a cohort of women on the average are having only enough daughters to replace themselves in the population. By definition, replacement level is equal to a net reproduction rate of 1.0. The total fertility rate is also used to indicate replacement-level fertility. In the United States and other industrialized countries, a TFR of 2.1 is considered to be replacement level.
stress: a measure of the level of concern/pain caused by not being able to meet basic human needs; may contribute to concern/pain to some not able to supply wants.
urban: in the United States, "incorporated and unincorporated places of 2,500 or more inhabitants, plus the urbanized zones around the cities of 50,000 or more inhabitants." (Bureau of Census)
urbanization: growth in the proportion of a population living in urban areas.
vital statistics: demographic data on births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages and divorces.
zero population growth: a population in equilibrium, with a growth rate of zero, achieved when births plus immigration equal deaths plus emigration.
