Demography

Demography is the study of human populations, whereby a population can be defined as any collection of individuals. Demographers usually (but not always) study relatively large populations, such as countries or areas within countries. Subfields within demography vary widely in their substantive focus and methodological approach. Regardless of subfield, however, demographers generally focus on describing human populations and the processes affecting how populations change over time, at both global and smaller geographic levels.

Topics of particular interest to demographers include population size (how large populations are), population distribution and density (where populations are located and how populations are distributed over geographic space), and population composition (the relative proportions of individuals within populations with particular characteristics of interest, especially age and sex). This entry provides a general ...