A BREIF History of HUMAN Population

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A BREIF History of HUMAN Population
Hunter Gatherers Agricultural revolution Industria
l revolution
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Hunting and Gathering

• Size of human population was probably only a few
  million individuals (entire world)
• Population maintained itself primarily through
  hunting and gathering
• They had to follow their sources of food (nomadic
  lifestyle)
• To maintain an adequate food supply each family
  required a large enough area to ensure it could
  survive
• In hunting and gathering cultures, women usually
  do most of the gathering while men specialize in
  hunting (earliest signs of division of labour)
• Hunting and gathering groups seldom consisted of
  more than 250 people
• Due to their nomadic lifestyles hunter/gatherer
  societies tend to have fewer children
• Population density would have probably been 5-7
  people per 100km²

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First Agricultural Revolution(8000-3000 BCE)

• The Agricultural Revolution
• - is the term used to describe the transition
  from nomadic hunting and gathering societies to
  settled agrarian societies
• - Primarily it involves the domestication of
  animals and plant species.
• - People initially learned d how to tend to
  cattle and farm the land

- The Process was slow occurring over several
thousand years - The people had no idea they
were part of anything like a revolution. By
about 5000BC, food production gains enabled the
planet to support about 50 million people.
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Effects of the Revolution

• First in SW Asia? - Mesopotamia, between the
  Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (modern Iraq).
• The amount of food increased so much that people
  began to settle permanently in certain areas
• Mobility of children was no longer a
  consideration and since children can now
  contribute to food production at an early age,
  fertility rates in farming communities began to
  increase
• The first city states begin to emerge primarily
  in river deltas

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Urban Revolution(0 1300 CE)

• Worlds population gradually increased to around
  300 million
• Food and animal surplus encouraged trade and
  Trade centers were situated in urban areas which
  furthered population movement to cities
• Disease, Famine, and war continue to control
  population
• By 1300 the worlds population is around 400
  million

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Dark Ages(1300-1700 CE)

• During this period, human population was
  subjected to massive declines caused by the
  effects of plagues

At its peak the BLACK DEATH may have killed 25
of Europes entire population in just over 50
years
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In winter the disease seemed to disappear, but
only because fleas--which were now helping to
carry it from person to person--are dormant then.
Each spring, the plague attacked again, killing
new victims. After five years 25 million people
were dead--one-third of Europe's people.

• Estimated population of Europe from 1000 to 1352.
  
• 1000 - 38 million
• 1100 - 48 million
• 1200 - 59 million
• 1300 - 70 million
• 1347 - 75 million
• 1352 - 50 million

Population did grow but was kept in check through
plagues
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Industrial Revolution(1700 CE-present )

• Characterized by the application of machines to
  farming, e.g., steam powered tractor, threshing
  machines, grist mills, pumps.

• Improved living conditions led to a drop in the
  death rate which coincided with a rise in the
  birth rate