North Korea's School-Age Population

Unit 2: Population and Health

10/28/16

Link to article can be found here

Synopsis:

          Recently, there has been a study done about North Korea’s population. What has been found is that the school age population is set to drastically drop by 2040. The projections show that the kids enrolled in kindergarten all the way up to high school will drop to low numbers. This could be because of the way the country is governed. It could be predicted that they are leaving the country by these numbers because they are trying to find a better life. The difference in population from its counterpart, South Korea, is vast. These changes in population will affect the countries dependency ratio and will have much less people of the working age when the time comes. These rates may seem harmless but they have a lot of unforeseen consequences.

Analysis:

          The new study done by South Korean shows the projected decline of school age children in North Korea which is very alarming for the country. In the next 24 years, until 2040, the school age population will drop from the current 4.14 million to 4.05 million. This is a 90,000 drop which is huge. It will unbalance everything in the country. It will affect the sex ratio because when people start leaving these rates are no longer precise. It is easier for males to leave so it could leave the country with a larger female to male ratio. The study also says that it is possible that this decline may even take place before 2040. As if now though, the study predicts that from 2016 to 2040 the elementary school population of the current 2 million is expected to drop to 1.95 million. The middle school population is also predicted to go from 1.07 to 1.04 million. Lastly, the high school population of 1.14 is thought to drop to 1.06 in 2040. These numbers are smaller than North Korea’s Counterpart, South Korea. In South Korea the school age population is 5.9 million and North Korea currently has 4.14 million. The lowering of that number even further will impact everything in the country. These numbers could be as a result of parents sending their children out of the country to get a better education or a better life. Since, the parents aren’t the ones leaving as we can see from the rates, we can assume that the children may be being sent by themselves. This will affect the dependency ratio because when the school age generation grows up they won’t be enough to supply for the dependents. Their numbers will be too little to support the elderly and the youth. Currently, looking at a population pyramid for North Korea in 2016 I can see that the youth are a little low but still normal compared to the working class. When these numbers drop even lower is when they are going to have a problem. This South Korean study recommends that North Korea create teacher training courses and others that would expand educator understanding of students who might want to leave. The study also suggests a division of responsibility between Seoul’s unification and education ministries so that not all the decisions are up to one group. Overall, these projections are very alarming and something should be done so that the country could fix the problem. 

Study: China’s Population Problems

Unit 2: Population

10/21/16

Original article can be found here

Synopsis:

          Recently, China’s one child policy has been changed to two children in order to increase and even out the population growth. However, there is a new study that shows it will only bring on a very small increase. The study recommended that China should increase their retirement age as well because there will be an expected labor shortage and there won’t be enough people to fill these jobs. In addition, the one child rule has caused problems with the sex ratio of boys to girls. Female fetuses were shown to be selectively aborted in preference of male offspring. This is projected to lead to China having 30 million more men than women by the end of the decade. Even with the two child rule it is not enough to fix the problems that have been created nor is it enough to prevent further ones.

Analysis:

          China has recently been having some problems with its population. At first when they were fearing too much population growth they created the one child rule. Families with this rule were limited to having only one child. Although this rule is credited with preventing 400 million extra births, some experts argue that the total fertility rate (TFR) would have fallen naturally as China’s education levels grew and their economy developed. Putting this limit had a lot of unforeseen consequences when China could have just let it happen naturally. This policy also caused an uneven balance between men and women in the population. The sex ratio shows that there are a lot more males than females. Boys seem to be preferred because they are able to work and provide for the family so there was a significantly larger amount of abortions with female fetuses. This policy also compelled a lot of women to have forced abortions or give up their second child for adoption which caused emotional scarring for everyone involved and overall caused a decrease in the happiness of the population. These problems still persist and in order to solve the population issue just the two child policy will not be enough. With it the population is projected to stay relatively the same at 1.45 billion in 2029. Additionally, I looked at the population pyramid for China and along with the male side being bigger, I noticed that the dependents will become the workers and they will not be enough to provide for the elderly. The dependency ratio will be way off. In addition, another reason why the two-child policy might not work is because most people have gotten used to only having one child and won’t want to change their ways so there is no guarantee that the population will grow. Instead, what is recommended is that the retirement age gets raised from the low age of 50-55 for women and 60 for men. China is going to need more people to fill jobs so people need to work longer. Overall, China is having a lot problems with their population and just adding the two-child policy is not going to fix them. 

What is the Real Size of Africa?

Unit 1: Basic Concepts

10/7/16

Mercator Projection

Original Article can be accessed here

Synopsis:

          The typical world map ingrained in everyone’s head is in actuality not geographically correct. This may be surprising to many people because this is the map projection that we see everywhere as kids and that is still being used today. This is called the Mercator and it doesn’t just have the normal distortion that you get when putting the world on a flat map, it has Africa shown much smaller than it actually is. This hasn’t happened to the other continents as much as it was done to Africa. The Mercator map made by Geert de Kremer (Mercator) was created in 1569 which was a long time ago when there was more European superiority. Other countries such as Canada, Russia, and the US or greatly enlarged while the continent of Africa is left being much smaller. The repercussions of having a map like this be used in the US are still felt today. There are many results of it that end up hurting Africa in the long run.

Analysis:

          The portrayal of Africa as smaller in size than it really is has a lot of effects. Firstly, it is a fact that bigger continents look more powerful and intimidating than smaller ones. The nations shown as being bigger look more imposing and stronger than the smaller ones. Therefore, when Africa is shown as being small it is then perceived as being insignificant. It is known that there is no perfect map because the earth is a sphere and not flat, however this much distortion to Africa is not necessary. The explanation is that when Mercator was making the map his mind was on navigation and elegance and didn’t put much importance on the fact that he was making Africa smaller. He also made a mistake and then stretched out the northern and southern edges of the globe to fix it and make it look presentable. Africa will continue to be unfairly treated if the use of the Mercator is continued. About a month ago, the International Cartographic Association President (ICA) has resurfaced the debate about this map and have admitted that it is a major misrepresentation of the earth. Many people have mentioned other map projections such as the Winkle Triple and the Gall-Peters that could be used in place of the Mercator. People are starting to be more conscious and aware of the problem but up until now nothing has been done yet. This CNN article has brought the issue into the limelight which could lead to the maps discontinuation. It is known that how a country or continent is perceived has a direct effect on whether it strives or fails. Economic aspects as well as social ones are all affected. Cartography is a very sensitive topic and overall, the leading map we use shouldn’t be so unfair to some parts of the world and so generous to others. Hopefully since there is talk about it, it will change in the near future.