The population of Spain and Europe

A crowded planet

Our planet is crowded. A hundred years ago, the world's population was less than two billion. Today, the world's population is over seven billion. It is growing by 200,000 people every day.

The continent with the biggest population is Asia, followed by Africa and Europe. Antarctica is the continent with the smallest population. The most populated country is China, followed by India. Iceland, Andorra, Monaco and Vatican City are among the least populated countries in the world. London is the most populated city in the European Union, with a population of about eight million.

An increasing population can cause many problems. One big problem of overpopulation is that we don't have enough natural resources. Scientists are looking for solutions.

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Read and understand

Is the world's population growing fast? Explain.

Which are the three most populated continents in the world?

Which are the two most populated countries in the world?

Which are some of the least populated countries in the world?

Why can overpopulation be a problem?

SPEAKING. Talk to your partner about the population of your city or town. How has it changed over time? Has it increased or decreased?

What do you remember?

Population

Population is the number of people who live in a particular area. Population can be classified by age or gender.

What age group are you in? Are you male or female?

Population can increase or decrease depending on the number of births and deaths that happen in that place.

If lots of people are born and few people die, does the population increase or decrease? Explain.

Today, the total population of Spain is about 47 million people. This is the total number of people registered in the census.

Birth rate and death rate

The population of an area can change depending on:

Birth rate. This is the number of babies born in a place in one year.
Spain currently has a low birth rate. On average, 10 babies are born for every 1,000 inhabitants.
Death rate. This is the number of people who die in a place in one year.
Spain currently has a low death rate. Only 9 people die for every 1,000 inhabitants.
Natural growth. This is the difference between the number of people who are born in an area in one year and the number of people who die.

Evolution of the population in Spain.

The population of Spain

Migration

Migration refers to people who move from one country to another. Migration influences the population of a place.

Emigrants are people who leave their country to live in another country.
Immigrants are people who come to live in a new country.
Net migration. This is the difference between the number of immigrants and the number of emigrants.

Some of the reasons people migrate to another place or country are:

to find employment.
to improve their education.
to find better living conditions.
war and natural disasters in their country.

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Number of immigrants to Spain by country.

Migration

Life expectancy

Life expectancy is the number of years that a person is expected to live.

Life expectancy in Spain has increased. This is because of advances in medicine and improvements in living and working conditions.

In Spain, there are more elderly people than young people. This is because the birth rate is low and people are living for longer. This is called an ageing population.

Population and employment

The active population includes all adults who are able to work. These people are employed and working, or unemployed and looking for work.
The inactive population includes different groups. There are people who are not of legal working age, people who have retired, students, and people who do not want to work. It also includes those who are homemakers, or disabled people who cannot work.

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The population of Spain

Use these facts to calculate natural growth in Spain in 2012.

Births: 455,000

Deaths: 403,000

Use these facts to calculate net migration in Spain in 2012.

Emigrants: 455,000

Immigrants: 305,000

Look at the graph and answer the questions.

Which two countries have the most immigrants in Spain?

Why do you think this is?

Look at the diagrams and answer the questions.

Changes in Spanish life expectancy. Active and inactive populations of Spain.

How has life expectancy changed in Spain?

Is life expectancy higher for men or women?

What percentage of the Spanish population is inactive?

Look at the pie chart and answer the questions.

Which age group is the smallest?

Using the pie chart, explain why the Spanish population is an ageing population.

Which age group is part of the active population?

Population density

Population density tells us the number of inhabitants per square kilometre.

If lots of people live in a small area, then the area is densely populated.

If the same number of people live in a large area, then the area is sparsely populated.

The population density of Spain is low: 93 inhabitants per square kilometre (93 inhabitants/km²).

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Population density of Thailand, Yemen and Spain.

Map of Spain's population density by province.

Densely populated areas of Spain

Some autonomous communities have a higher population density than average. For example, the Community of Madrid has a population density of 800 inhabitants/km². The Canary Islands have a population density of 300 inhabitants/km².

The map shows an uneven population distribution.

The population is denser along the coastline and on the islands.
In each province, the population is denser in the cities. Today, 80 out of 100 Spaniards live in cities.

The biggest cities in Spain are Madrid and Barcelona. Madrid has a population of 3 million, and Barcelona has a population of 1.5 million.

Population density by areas

The inland areas of Spain have the lowest population densities. Most of the provinces of Castile and León, Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura and Aragón are sparsely populated. They have a population density of less than 30 inhabitants/km².

The most densely populated inland provinces are Zaragoza, Valladolid, Rioja, Navarre and Madrid.

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What is population density?

Population density in Spain

Look at the diagram and answer the questions.

Look at the key. What does the orange figure represent?

How many orange figures are there in each country?

Why are the orange figures closer together in Thailand than in Spain and Yemen?

Use the statistics given for each country to calculate its population density.

Which country has the highest population density?

Compare the three countries.

Look at the map and answer the questions.

Name the two provinces with the lowest population density.

Name the two provinces with the highest population density.

What is the population density of your province?

ICT. Search the Internet and find the population density of your province. List the main towns and cities in order, starting with the most densely populated.

Characteristics of the population

Europe is a highly populated continent with more than 700 million inhabitants.
Europe has an ageing population because of:

Low birth rate. Only about 10 babies are born for every 1,000 inhabitants.
High life expectancy. Average life expectancy is 78 years.

For these reasons, the population of Europe is only increasing slowly. In some countries, the number of births is lower than the number of deaths, so the population is declining.

Countries in Europe with the biggest populations.

Immigration in Europe

Europe is made up of 49 independent countries. Thousands of immigrants come to Europe, mainly from Africa and Asia. Immigration has the following effects:

Increase in population. Immigrants are usually young and often have children.
Increase in the active population. Immigrants arrive in Europe looking for work, so the active population increases.
Multiculturalism. Europe is a continent with great cultural diversity. Immigrants bring different languages, traditions and religions.

Countries in Europe with the biggest populations.

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Map of the population density in Europe.

Population distribution in Europe

Most of the population of Europe is urban: seven out of ten Europeans live in cities. The average population density in Europe is about 70 inhabitants/km².

The population of Europe is unevenly distributed. There are areas with very high population density and areas with very low population density.

Areas with high population density. Countries like Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom have high population density.
Areas with low population density. The countries with the lowest population density are Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia. These countries have very cold climates so it is harder for people to live there.

The population of Europe

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The population of Europe

Look at the map and answer the questions.

Which countries have areas with a population of more than 500 inhabitants per km²?

Which countries have areas with between 101 and 500 inhabitants per km²?

Which countries have areas of low population density? Why?

Explain why the population of Europe is slowly increasing.

WRITING. Answer these questions.

What is the population of Europe?

Which European countries are the most densely populated?

Which European countries are the least densely populated?

What are some of the effects of immigration?

Interpret a population pyramid

Learn how to do it.

Test yourself.

Do you know how to interpret a population pyramid?

Show that you can do it

Interpret a population pyramid

Show that you can do it.

Compare the population pyramids of Spain and Turkey.

Look at the shape of the pyramids. How are they different?

Which of the pyramids has the widest base? And the narrowest peak?
What do you think this means?

Which country is a ‘young country’? Explain.

1. Revision

Activities

What do you know about population?

Migration in Spain

Population density in Spain and Europe

Final activities

Complete the formulas.

= births - deaths Population density = number of

/

area km²

What happens to the population when…

the birth rate is higher than the death rate?

the number of immigrants is lower than the number of emigrants?

Calculate the population density of the following provinces.

province	population	area	population density
Burgos	376,000	14,000 km²
Badajoz	700,000	22,000 km²
Navarre	640,000	10,400 km²
Las Palmas	1,100,000	4,000 km²
Vizcaya	1,160,000	2,200 km²

Look at the graph. Explain how emigration and immigration have changed in Spain.

2. Test yourself

Summary

3. Play

Concepts related to population

Show your skills

USE AN ATLAS. Find a political map of Europe which shows the population of cities. Find the four European cities with the largest populations

Imagine you are talking to someone from another country who has come to live in your country. Ask questions like: Where are you from? When did you arrive? Why did you move here?

ICT. Search the Internet for information about the population of your area. Include population distribution, natural growth, etc.

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Getting started

A crowded planet

Read and understand

Population

1. The population of Spain

Birth rate and death rate

The population of Spain

Migration

Migration

Life expectancy

Population and employment

The population of Spain

2. Population density in Spain

Population density

Densely populated areas of Spain

Population density by areas

What is population density?

Population density in Spain

3. The population of Europe

Characteristics of the population

Immigration in Europe

Population distribution in Europe

The population of Europe

The population of Europe

Know how to

Interpret a population pyramid

Do you know how to interpret a population pyramid?

Show that you can do it

Interpret a population pyramid

Show what you know

1. Revision

What do you know about population?

Migration in Spain

Population density in Spain and Europe

Final activities

2. Test yourself

Summary

3. Play

Concepts related to population

Show your skills