Introduction
The current population of a country is a product of the past trends in the population of the county under investigation. Consequently, this population will determine how the future population of the country will be. This has been demonstrated by a comparison of the population pyramids of the United Kingdom, Indonesia and Ethiopia.
A part from the past population trends in a country, other factors determining the current population of a country include the economic level of the country, influence from other countries and the effects of globalization.
This paper will discuss the effects of the current population in the United Kingdom, Indonesia and Ethiopia. This will be achieved by comparing the population current population pyramids of these countries. From the population pyramid, the paper will give an insight on the future expectations of the population in the countries under investigation.
Comparison of the three pyramids
The current United Kingdom population pyramid indicates a fare distribution of people across the ages. The number of people in each age group in the United Kingdom is almost the same. From the pyramid, it is clear that this population is made up of more middle aged people than young people.
It is, therefore, possible to conclude that the United Kingdom has an old population. This can be attributed to the effects of civilization and modernization which brought about the issues of family planning. The pyramid indicates that most of the people in the unite kingdom are in their fertile age, yet the number of children is less compared to older people.
With this population trend, the population risks a drastic decline in future. The small percentage of young people as indicated by the pyramid will not be able to maintain the population after the current people in their fertile age bracket will be aged (Ehrlich, 2001).
From this population pyramid, it is clear that life expectancy n the United Kingdom is high. This can be attributed to the good health care of the people living in the United Kingdom.
Unlike in the United Kingdom, there are more young people in Ethiopia as indicated by the pyramid. A close analysis of the Ethiopian population clearly indicates that majority of the people in the country are young people.
The pyramid presents Ethiopia as having a young population. This can be attributed to the fact that Ethiopia is a third world country. In its efforts to develop, the Ethiopian government has been able to provide adequate medical services to its people.
The people of Ethiopia have started applying modern farming techniques and this has in turn resulted into more food being produced to feed the population (Connelly, 2010). The presence of few old people in Ethiopia indicates that life expectancy in the country is low. Many scholars attribute this to the many tropical diseases in Africa.
With adequate medical services, the motility rates in Ethiopia has reduced significantly and this has been reflected by the population having many young people. In addition, the introduction of science and technology in food production has ensured adequate food in Ethiopia.
Consequently, the availability of food in Ethiopia has raised the fertility of the people, thus high birth rates as indicated by the pyramid. Going by this population trend, one can conclude that the population of Ethiopia has a very high potential of growing in future.
Many people in Ethiopia are below the fertility age as indicated by the pyramid. This means that by the time these young people reach their fertility age, the population is bound to grow tremendously (Weeks, 2011).
In Indonesia, the population pyramid indicates a gradually increasing population. From the pyramid, the difference between the young people and the middle aged people is not big. This indicates a stable population.
This stability can be attributed to the fact that Indonesia is a developing country that is affected by the effects of modernization and development. For instance, the people of Indonesia have started to embrace scientific methods of birth control.
Indonesians are also affected by polices adapted by other nations to check its population. The effect of this to this is that the population of Indonesia will grow gradually despite having a large number of young people (Pearce, 2011).
A close analysis of the population pyramid of Indonesia indicates a higher life expectancy as compared to that of Ethiopia. This shows that there is a better lifestyle in Indonesia than in Ethiopia.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the above is a discussion of the current population of three countries. From the discussion, it is clear that all of them have a unique population trend depending on the past population and other factors that have been indentified as influencing the population trend.
Consequently, the future of the population in these three countries will depend on the current population. For instance, mature population as is the case with the United Kingdom means a population decline in future while a young population as is the case with Ethiopia will result into population increase. The population of Indonesia may not indicate any significant change in future.
References
Connelly, M. (2010). Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population: London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Ehrlich, P. R. & Ehrlich, A. H. (2001). The Population Explosion. New York: Touchstone Books.
Pearce, F. (2011). The Coming population Crash: and Our Planet’s Surprising Future: London: Beacon press.
Weeks, J..R. (2011). Population: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues: New York: Wadsworth Publishing.