Part of The Student Room Group

  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

Population Case Study - Japan

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Sasha Zouev Geography IB, 13/09/05 IB Case Study: Japan (MEDC) Population, Distribution, Density Introduction: Japan is a great example of an MEDC with a particular population pattern and distribution. The country, located on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean lies to the east of Asia and is made up of about 3,000 smaller islands. There are several large main islands including, from top to bottom, Hokkaido, Honshu (the biggest), Shikoku and Kyushu. Japan is also interestingly rated 10th in the world by population count and has an area of about 377,835 km�. The aim of this case study is to examine, section by section, the different factors that affect Brazilian population growth and distribution by looking at areas such as geographical positioning, politics, history, and generate some sort of conclusion Distribution: Japan's population is mostly concentrated alongside the south and west coast (figure 1). Japan's population density is ranked 18th in the world, and has assisted in advertising very expensive land prices. From the years 1980 to 1987, prices of land in the six largest cities nearly doubled. ...read more.

Middle

A great part of Japan is in fact covered in mountains, roughly 73%. Japan is also known for its long coastline that is very densely populated especially in the South. This is an exceptionally convoluted coastline in comparison to the land area. Settlements have emerged all along the coastline and it has historically always been a strong trading route and post. With regards to climate, the Japanese climate is generally rainy and has high humidity. Also Japan is situated on a conjunction of several tectonic plates, making it strange how so many Japanese live with an earthquake risk. Economics/Infrastructure: Japan is often ridiculed because of how few Japanese farmers and farms there are. They tend to rely heavily on imports and other countries. However Japan is nonetheless a rich and powerful nation. Many of the millions of citizens have found jobs in the thriving technology sector. Also with the development of more so called "Science-Cities", Japan is continuously finding jobs for the workers. Population Problem: Japan's main problem with regards to population is the fact that it is facing an increasingly aging population like many other industrialized countries. ...read more.

Conclusion

Nowadays, legal immigration has become restricted to skilled workers and so most of the immigrants are skilled professional people employed by large corporations. However it must also be said that around 200,000 illegal foreigners can be found in Japan, most of whom are Chinese. There remains a slight confusion and concern over the future of immigration policies. Unskilled labor is in need of a boost in Japan, explaining why so many Japanese work abroad. In conclusion, Japan's labor shortage, mixed with the ageing population, could stir up a serious problem for taxpayers, authorities and the government. Also, immigration is not publicly popular as recent increased crime rates are often attributed to foreigners living in Japan. Future Growth?: Japan could be facing a very serious problem if it does not do anything further about its aging population. The price for having too many elderly unemployed pensioners is a hefty one. One projection shows just how many 65 and older citizens there might be in the year 2050 (figure 6). Major cities, like Tokyo, will always remain attractive to the young adult seeking a successful life. However unless the population problem is solved, that dream will never become reality for many. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Japan http://geography.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/jptoc.html www.altavista.com Geography Book, page 71 ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our International Baccalaureate Geography section.

Found what you're looking for?

  • Start learning 29% faster today
  • 150,000+ documents available
  • Just £6.99 a month

or


Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

5 star(s)

An excellent over view of Japan's population and the problems they face in the future. Great use of data and good inclusion of diagrams, though reference needs to be made to these in the text.
5 stars.

Marked by teacher Eleanor Wilson 01/12/2012

Not the one? Search for your essay title...
  • Join over 1.2 million students every month
  • Accelerate your learning by 29%
  • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month

See related essaysSee related essays

Related International Baccalaureate Geography essays

  1. Marked by a teacher

    Aral Sea Case Study

    5 star(s)

    This action brought about devastating effects as the equilibrium between the water loss due to evaporation and water fed into the sea was broken hence resulting in the net loss of water and thus, the shrinking of the sea.

  2. Marked by a teacher

    Tropical Rainforest Case Study

    4 star(s)

    Brazil had has an international debt of $251 billion as of 2001. What is Logging/Deforestation? By definition of dictionary.com logging can be described as "The act of cutting down, trimming, and hauling the timber of (a piece of land)." Deforestation is, simply put, the complete clearance of forested land.

  1. Gentrification Case Study

    Of all the residents, one third are unemployed, and 9 out of those 10 are black. Christians are the dominant religious group with more than 50% of the residents, another 25% are atheist. Although only 6% are of the population are what is known as "colored", the city and the country has seen many problems associated with the ethnicity.

  2. The aim of this geographical report is to find a correlation between the fertility ...

    Due to the two methods, the countries are taken from different part of the world belonging either to developed or developing world. Map 3. Brandt line map to demarcate economically and politically developed and developing countries. 3. METHODS AND DATA SELECTION Before the investigation, some information concerning the methods for collecting data is needed to be explained.

  1. geography IB prep

    � food consumption is decreasing Fishing: 1. What is the evidence that the capacity of the world'ss fishing industry is now far in excess of sustainable resources? � fishing production has risen from 20 to 70 tonnes from 1946 to 1960 � fishing capacity increased in the 20th century as

  2. Geography Field Study - Delineating the CBD Antwerp

    Moreover, he stated that the CBD would be the centre of major shops and offices, and that it is the focus for transport routes. 3 Also he claimed that land values in the area were highest and declined rapidly outwards, also the zone was the center of transportation.4 More recent

  1. The Effect of Changing Distance From Toronto's Central Business District on Parking Prices.

    Therefore, the topic selected was "The Effect of Change in Distance from Toronto's Central Business District on Parking Prices". Picture 1: Downtown Toronto Methodology All parking lots within a distance of 1.5 kilometers North and South on Yonge Street and East and West on Dundas Street will be taken into consideration in the investigation by using line sampling.

  2. Explain what is meant by cultural imperialism.

    Cultural imperialism is said to be influencing local and even regional cultures in many parts of the world due to the pressure of globalization on that particular area. There are five main factors that support cultural imperialism to different extents: Firstly, language has ? as mentioned in the introduction ?

  • Over 160,000 pieces
    of student written work
  • Annotated by
    experienced teachers
  • Ideas and feedback to
    improve your own work