Case Study: Gambias Youthful Population. What are the positive and negative impacts?

Case Study: Gambia's Youthful Population Gambia is located in West Africa as shown by the map below. It is a small country of only 11,000km². Why is Gambia's population youthful? As Gambia is an LEDC, they lack the funds to employ a vast amount of doctors to the area. This means that for every doctor, there are 14,536 patients meaning that the inhabitants don't receive much healthcare. This has contributed to a relatively short life expectancy of just 54 years for a man and 57 years for a woman. The lack of healthcare available has also meant that there is an extremely high infant mortality rate of 73 per 1000 people, even though it is lower than it has been in the past. As many children die at an early age, parents tend to have a large number of children to help with daily tasks, to bring a higher income to the family and to look after the parents when they reach ill health. Gambia has a high birth rate of 40 per 1000 people because of this and in 2003, the average fertility rate was 5.13. What are the positive and negative impacts? Due the high birth rate, falling infant mortality rate and improvements in the level of healthcare available, the population has been increasing rapidly. In fact, Gambia's population doubles every 28 years and in 2009, it is estimated to be around 1.7million people. 63.55% of the population is estimated to be aged below 25 years and only

  • Ranking:
  • Word count: 625
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Geography
Access this essay

Managing Road Traffic in Singapore

To manage the traffic flow in Singapore such that it flows smoothly without traffic jams which could result in loss of man-hours which could then result in higher productivity costs, the Singapore government has inplemented measures to manage the traffic flow. Some these are the Area Licensing Scheme (ALS), Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), and the Park and Ride Scheme. The Park-and-Ride Scheme is aimed at controlling the traffic flow in the CBD area. Motorists had to park their vehicles at designated car parks outside the city area. They had the option to take public transport into the city which were mostly located near the car parks. However, the Park and Ride Scheme was not very successful. This can be shown through the 585 parking lots used out of the 7700 created, which clearly shows that most people would enter the CBD area early or just take public transport.This also shows that the Park and Ride Scheme was not very popular amongst the people. Most drivers found it not worthwhile to leave their vehicle parked outside the city and pay for the parking fees. Overall, this meant that there were still traffic congestion within the CBD area thus meaning that the Park and Ride Scheme was not very successful in controlling traffic flow in Singapore. The Area Licensing Scheme (ALS), is also used to control the traffic flow in the CBD. Motorists have to pay for the use of certain

  • Ranking:
  • Word count: 523
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Geography
Access this essay

Dharavi Slum in Mumbai

Dharavi Slum in Mumbai - Slumdog Millionaire The slum in Dharvi gives a general impression of a highly poor quality of life, a place where those who dwell within are unable to succeed past the limited microeconomic system in place within the slum, be this trade of pottery, a key trade1, or that of a more illegal nature - alike that of drug trade and prostitution. Conditions within the slum are of an extremely poor nature, the high population density alone a major issue, with over one million inhabitants living in the cramped five hundred and fifty acre sprawl of built upon land. Living in brick and tin shanty's those who live within the area can expect to be vulnerable to variable and often violent weather, with the structural support of their weak established housing being tested and frequently failing, laying out those within to the elements. This alone leads to many prominent issues, be it that of quickly contracting illness due to weakened immune systems from the wet environment or developing sanitary illness such as the deadly trench foot- caused by consistent ground water and a poor level of hygiene People within the slum are subject to the typical quality of life that one who resides in any slum world over will experience, apart from perhaps one key element to the Dharavi slum that differs from many others; the large number of inner slum jobs. There is a strong

  • Ranking:
  • Word count: 519
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Geography
Access this essay

Why does Green Peace want Antarctica as a World Park?

Christian German 8A Why does Green Peace want Antarctica as a World Park? Antarctica has become a unique place in the modern world, the only continent that remains relatively untouched by human interference and therefore arguably the only pristine wilderness left on Earth. For Greenpeace it seemed imperative to keep it that way. Some ecologists have even argued that Antarctica could provide important information for future generations seeking to reverse the environmental degradation wrought by humanity in the Twentieth Century. Paradoxically, despite winds of up to 450 kilometres per hour and temperatures reaching -50C Antarctica has the most delicate ecosystem of any place on earth. Ever since humankind began to explore the continent, from Amundsen and Scott's famous battle to the South Pole onwards, it had been noted that Antarctic ecosystems take years to recover from damage if they recover at all: a footprint in the moss can linger for decades before it disappears. This proposed World Park can also protect the delicate ecosystem like the Antarctic Treaty but even better let scientists make experiments while not harming the environment to see ways on how to deal with climate change. This shows it would be better for Antarctica to become a World Park because the animals will get a better protection from all those people in there while without it will just encourage

  • Ranking:
  • Word count: 503
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Geography
Access this essay

Does Halstead Need a Bypass

Halstead is a small market town in South East England, North Essex, and within 15 miles west of Colchester. Halstead is next to the River Colne, and is situated in the Colne Valley. Halstead has a population of 10 000 and is also the only settlement of its size in the Essex region without a bypass. Halstead was also a weaving town (where sheep's wool is made into clothe). Halstead is central to several big towns, such as Colchester, Braintree and Haverhill. Everyday traffic from all these towns has to pass through Halstead high street in order to commute, this usually results in Halstead becoming greatly congested on a regular basis, increasing air and noise pollution, and therefore Halstead central could hugely benefit from a bypass. A bypass is a route, which is built to avoid or 'bypass' congestion in a built up town or village, this lets traffic flow without interferences from local traffic, this improves congestion and road safety. There are many reasons for and against the construction of a bypass. Advantages: * Less congestion in town. * Less pollution in town central. * Lorries would no longer have to drive through the town. * Both noise and air pollution would decrease in town. * Local builders would hugely benefit, from work needed. * It will be quicker for people to travelling to work. Disadvantages: * Expensive, local tax payers of Halstead would

  • Ranking:
  • Word count: 491
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Geography
Access this essay

Sea Defence. Which is better: hard or soft engineering?

Which is better: hard or soft engineering? Hard engineering options tend to be expensive, short-term options. They may also have a high impact on the landscape or environment and be unsustainable. Hard engineering is the controlled disruption of natural processes by using man-made structures. An example of hard engineering is a sea wall, these walls are built on the edge of a coastline and made to protect the base of cliffs and also to limit the amount of coastal erosion on a cliff-face were land is being absorbed by the sea. These walls could also prevent coastal flooding. This type of hard engineering is good as it has many aspects and is effective. Disadvantages of creating a sea wall are that it is very expensive to build; the curves in the sea wall reflect the wave's energy back to into the sea, therefore the waves remain powerful. Another disadvantage is that the walls erode after time and the cost of maintenance is high. Another example of hard engineering is groyne, a groyne is a wooden barrier built at a right angle to the beach. Groynes are built to prevent the movement of beach material along the coast by long shore drift. This allows the build-up of a beach; beaches are a natural defence against erosion and also an attraction for tourists. Disadvantages of building a groyne are that it can be seen as unattractive and is also costly to build and maintain. A

  • Ranking:
  • Word count: 489
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Geography
Access this essay