📊 The layout
Age groups run up the middle from 0-4 years at the bottom to 85 and over at the top. Males are shown on the left and females on the right. The length of each bar shows how many people are in that group.
Changing Rural Environments » Population Pyramids for Rural Areas
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: 5.2 Rural environments (skill 3: use and interpret population pyramids)
- How to read a population pyramid
- What an ageing rural population looks like in a developed country
- What a youthful rural population looks like in a developing country
- How migration of young adults changes the shape
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Unlock This CourseHow to read a population pyramid
Geographers use a population pyramid to show who lives in an area. It is a type of bar chart turned on its side. In this lesson we use pyramids to show how rural areas are changing.
Key terms:
- Population pyramid: a chart showing the number or percentage of people in each age group, split into males and females.
- Age group: a band of ages shown as one bar, such as 20-24 years.
- Youthful population: a population with a large share of children and young people.
- Ageing population: a population with a large share of older people.
Here is how the chart is set out:
🔎 The shape
A wide base means many children. A narrow top means few older people. A narrow base means few children. A wide top means many older people. A bar that is shorter than the ones next to it is a gap that needs explaining.
How to describe a pyramid
Work from the bottom to the top. First say how wide the base is. Then say what happens in the middle age groups. Finally say how wide the top is. Quote age groups and use words such as larger, smaller, more and fewer.
Ageing rural populations in developed countries
Many rural areas in developed countries, such as parts of the UK, have an ageing population. A pyramid for one of these areas usually has a narrow base and a wide top. It does not look like a pyramid at all. It looks more like a barrel or a pillar.
Here is an invented example of a pyramid for a village in a remote upland area of a developed country:
- The base (0-14 years): narrow, with small bars. Few children live in the village.
- The young adults (20-34 years): the bars are clearly shorter than the age groups above and below them. There is a gap.
- The middle ages (40-59 years): wide bars.
- The top (65 years and over): wide bars, with more females than males in the oldest groups.
Now interpret it. Young adults leave to find jobs, to study or to find housing they can afford. This links to the lesson Rural Change in a Developed Country, where farm jobs fall and the area becomes more isolated. Because few young adults stay, fewer babies are born, so the base is narrow. Many older people stay, and some retired people move in, so the top is wide. More females than males in the oldest groups happens because women usually live longer.
What an ageing pyramid means for the village
With fewer children, a village school may close. A large older population may need more health care and transport, but a small population can make services expensive to run. This can feed the decline described in the lesson Counter-urbanisation and the Negative Multiplier.
Youthful and missing-young-adult shapes in developing countries
Rural areas in developing countries often look very different. A typical pyramid has a wide base that narrows quickly towards a narrow top. This shows a youthful population. It has many children, because families are often large, and few older people, because life expectancy is lower.
Migration can change this shape. Remember from the lesson Hazards and Rural-Urban Migration that many people move from villages to cities, and most of them are young adults looking for work. Here is another invented example, a village in a developing or emerging country with a lot of out-migration:
- The base (0-14 years): very wide. There are many children.
- The young adults (20-34 years): the bars are much shorter, and the male bars are shorter than the female bars. Many young men have left for the city.
- The top (60 years and over): small bars.
This dent in the middle shows missing young adults. The children are still there because those who left often leave their children with grandparents or other relatives. The village has fewer people of working age to farm the land, and more children and older people for each person who works.
🏢 Developed country village
Narrow base, gap at 20-34, wide top. The cause is young adults leaving and older people staying or moving in. The result is an ageing population.
🌾 Developing country village
Wide base, gap at 20-34 (often mostly men), narrow top. The cause is large families and young adults moving to cities. The result is a youthful population with missing workers.
Common mistakes
Common mistakes
- Writing "the population is going down" from one pyramid. One pyramid shows one moment in time. It does not show change unless you compare two.
- Only saying "it is wide at the top". Give the age groups and say what it means.
- Forgetting to explain the gap at 20-34. Always link it to migration.
- Mixing up the two shapes. A wide base means a youthful population, not an ageing one.
Exam-style question
A pyramid for a rural village in a developed country has a narrow base, a clear gap at ages 20-34 and wide bars at ages 65 and over.
(a) Describe the shape of the pyramid. [2 marks]
(b) Explain why the village has few young adults. [2 marks]
(c) Suggest two ways the shape could be different for a village in a developing country with high out-migration. [2 marks]
Model answer
(a) The base is narrow, so there are few children (1). There is a gap at ages 20-34 and the top is wide, so there are many older people (1).
(b) Young adults leave to find jobs or to study, because there are few jobs in the village (1). Housing may also cost too much for them (1).
(c) The base would be much wider because families are larger (1). The top would be narrower because fewer people live to old age (1).
Exam tip
When a question says "describe", use the data: quote the age groups. When it says "explain", give a reason for each feature you spot.