Changing patterns of population distribution in Zimbabwe

This paper critically evaluates the causes and consequences of changes in population distribution in Zimbabwe during the colonial period and since independence in 1980. Five main aspects of population geography are examined. Firstly, by way on background on contemporary patterns of settlement and land use, the history of tenure policies is outlined. Secondly, the distribution of the African population as revealed in the 1982 census is described and major changes between the census years of 1962, 1969 and 1982 are discussed. Thirdly, changing patterns of settlement and land use within the peasant farming areas (Communal Lands) are examined in the context of increasing population pressures. Fourthly, trends in the growth of the main urban centres and the process of urbanisation of the African population are described. Fifthly, post-independence development policies directed at effecting changes in the distribution of population are discussed with particular reference to the land resettlement programme. The present distribution of population is seen as the product of interacting political, economic and environmental factors, knowledge of which is essential in devising appropriate development strategies to achieve a more equable balance of population and resources.     

Irregular migration,informal remittances: evidence from Ethiopian villages

Although Ethiopia has seen a reduction in refugee flows over the past decade, documented and undocumented labour migration has significantly increased. International migration has changed from that born out of conflict to irregular migration mainly driven by economic reasons. The source of migrants has expanded from urban centres to include rural areas, making them an important source of low-skilled labour for the international labour market. Based on a qualitative study, this paper explores the process and pattern of Ethiopian migration to South Africa, an emerging destination in the global South. This migration corridor is increasingly characterised by its irregularity. The paper also reflects how migration patterns shape the pattern of remittance flow, along with the way in which migrants and their networks substitute the function of financial institutions engaged in the remittance industry. It also highlights the features of remittances utilisation in emerging rural migrant community in Southern Ethiopia.     

Economic development and population distribution in Albania

This article analyses the relationship between internal migration patterns and regional economic development in present-day Albania. Using demographic data migration figures were calculated for the period 1965–1971. These figures indicate that there is a Strong tendency for migration from the peripheral areas to the industrial triangle of Durrës-Tirana-Elbasan, and to the fertile farming area of the coastal lowlands which used to be malarial swamps. Present government policy however is directing growth away from the largest centres towards both the smaller centres and rural areas. Recent aims have been to achieve as even a spread of population and economic activity as possible.     

The agonies of displacement: Ethiopian women refugees in Khartoum,Sudan

Conclusion For the overwhelming majority of the Ethiopian refugees in urban Sudan, there seems to be no end to their plight. Their lives are in limbo. When they left their homeland most thought thei exile would be temporary. They sought temporary refuge only until the conditions at home improved and they might return in safety. Unfortunately, the conditions for their repatriation have never developed. Armed conflicts in Ethiopia still continue to rage unabated. the regime in power also continues to abuse fundamental human rights.Many of the refugees also thought they would have peace and security and, perhaps, a decent livelihood in their asylum home. These have not materialized either. The Sudan, faced with numerous problems, including civil war, drought, famine, huge external debt (in excess of $12 billion), open unemployment, and pervasive underemployment, is not even able to cope adequately with the basic needs of its own citizens, let along that of a refugee population of over a million. Worse, refugees are blamed for every problem from bread and water shortages to skyrocketing rents and have become convenient targets for harassment by the frustrated public.Others hoped for resettlement in another country. However, for the vast majority of refugees, resettlement opportunities elsewhere are virtually impossible to attin. The industrial countried are unwilling to grant asylum to large numbers of Third World refugees. These countries content that most Third World refugees are not victims of political persecution but simply migrants in search of better economoc opportunities. The few refugees to whom these countries are willing to grant asylum are those with the best qualifications: the young, the educated, and the highly skilled.As long as the current status quo in Ethiopia remains unaltered, voluntary repatriation is highly unlikelt. On the contrary, one sees more and more evidence in the country of continued uprooting of masses of people from their homes and land. It is sad that, goven the immense contradictions in the country, the possibility of negotiated solutions to the wars and a return to democracy is nowhere in sight. The plight of hundred of thousands of innocent women and men will not be solved anytime in the immediate future of them to return home in safety, peace, and dignity. For most of these refugees the future is uncertain, probably unpleasant, possibly bleak.     

Age-specific net migration patterns in the municipal formations of Russia

This paper analyses the spatial patterns of internal migration in Russia using data on net migration gain/loss in 2200 municipal formations (MFs) in Russia for the 2012–2013 period. These MFs are grouped into age categories that correspond with different life-course stages. We define 16 classes of MFs with similar migration balance patterns for multiple age groups and characterize the most typical classes. The results of our analysis show that age-specific migration patterns are determined by the spatial characteristics of MFs—in particular, a municipality’s localization in the centreperiphery system and the advantages of the geographic location (e.g., resort area, natural resources). We find that a city’s population size and administrative status are also important migration factors. In addition, we reveal differences in inter-regional and intra-regional migration and define their structural characteristics. An analysis of age-specific net migration contributes to our understanding of internal migration factors and allows us to assess the impact of migration on a municipality’s age structure. In large cities and regional centres, migration results in younger populations, while in peripheral areas, it speeds up population ageing. In most of the MFs that we analysed, the migration of youth and adults ‘moves’ in opposite directions. This factor accelerates the impact of migration on the population age structure in areas of destination and origin and significantly influences a municipality’s current and prospective demographic parameters as well as the population’s patterns of settlement and spatial concentration or de-concentration both nationally and regionally.     

The subsistence crisis and migration in the Sahelian Zone of the Sudan —

Burush is a small village in the N Sahelian Zone of the Sudan, whose population are basically sedentary agriculturists. The recurring drought conditions of the last two decades have significantly influenced the local resource base, so that the subsistence of the majority of the households was highly challenged. Nevertheless, the people are still surviving and resisting. The explanation of this resistence can be sought in the endogenous coping mechanisms adopted by the people. One of these mechanisms is migration, especially the seasonal labour migration of the heads and grown-up members of households, which used, even in good years, to be highly integrated in the strategies of survival of the majority of households. However under the recurring crop failures and the growing competition in the seasonal labour opportunities, this seasonal migration is changing gradually into stays of longer duration in the traditional destinations of seasonal labour. On the other hand, the male members of households are actively involved in migration of long duration, especially into the urban centres. Yet, the constributions of these migrant members to the subsistence of their households are limited, because of the rising costs of living in uurban centres as compared with the incomes. The rehabilitation of Burush lies obviously in the development of long-term strategies which aim at strengthening the endogenous resilience mechanisms.     

Migration from Eastern Gezira into greater Khartoum

This paper is an attempt to investigate the role of rural-urban migration in the population integration process and national identity in Sudan. Although migration is considered as an important mechanism in integration, yet its effect cannot be easily detected if urban life fails to challenge the culture and norms of migrants. In this case study the role of migration is limited by the status of the urban and the purely traditional background of migrants. Population integration is a central issue in the Sudan with its high level of pluralism, ethnic and cultural complexity. It is assumed that migration is an essential factor to challenge such complexity. This paper is part of a research programme financed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) — Identity in Africa — Processes of Development and Change — initiated and sponsored by H. Ruppert and F. N. Ibrahim, University of Bayreuth.     

Changing patterns of the population distribution in Spain

The 1981 census has motivated this study, outlining changes in Spanish population patterns during the decade 1970–1981. For migration patterns the year 1975 may have been a significant turning point. As a consequence of the economic recession in the western world emigration is coming to an end; the interprovincial migration, too, is declining rapidly. In some provinces a remarkable change can be observed in the direction of migration flows. After more than 25 years the industrial regions of Spain are now losing population by migration, whereas rural provinces of the central highlands and of Andalusia exhibit some growth by migration for the first time. This is a result of return migration from abroad as well as from the industrial regions of Spain. For natural change three important dynamics overlap. First, a marked increase in natural growth from North to South is found. This pattern of natural change is strengthened or weakened regionally by age-specific selective migration. Lastly, both dynamics have recently been dominated by an overall decline of the crude birth rate in all of Spain since 1970.     

Natural resource management and anti-desertification policy in the Sahel-Sudan zone: A case study of gum arabic

The philosophy of sustainable development argues that environmental conservation and economic development are complementary objectives in national economic planning. This contrasts with the more traditional view that development leads to inevitable sacrifies in envitronmental quality. This case study investigates a clear example of complementary in the Sahel-Sudan zone through an analysis of the economics of planting Acacia senegal to produce gum hashab (gum arabic). A. senegal has many environmentally benign functions besides producing gum as a cash crop. It is leguminous, stabilises soils, provides fodder and firewood and effevtively provides a buffer against desertification. Nonetheless, the gum arabic belt is suffering increased degradation due to drought, population movement and, in the past, wrong economic incentives to farmers. Economic incentives have recently improved and the paper offers a partial cost-benefit analysis of A. senegal production to show that planting can achieve high economic rates of return.This paper was presented to the International Task Force on Human Investment and Resource Use, UNESCO, Paris, March 1988, under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme.     

Regional groundwater flow modeling of the Geba basin,northern Ethiopia

Hydrogeology Journal - The Geba basin is one of the most food-insecure areas of the Tigray regional state in northern Ethiopia due to recurrent drought resulting from erratic distribution of...     

Counterurbanisation and the characteristics of persons migrating to West Cornwall

Studies at the macro-scale have indicated that many remote rural areas are for the first time in over a century experiencing population growth while metropolitan areas are losing population. In this paper theories of counterurbanisation directed towards explaining the redistribution of population at a national or regional scale are criticised and a more localised research framework is proposed. Such a framework is constructed for the examination of migration into West Cornwall. Results from a postal questionnaire survey of seven study areas in West Cornwall are used to illustrate differences between three population subgroups, namely, return migrants, non-return migrants and non-migrants. Clear differences emerge not only between the population subgroups but between the study areas as well. In conclusion, it is suggested that this middle-range approach should be adopted more widely in order to gain greater insight into the counterurbanisation process and to increase the prospect of relating macro-processes to local trends and human experience.     

Role of Flood Disturbance in Natural Oyster (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Crassostrea virginica</Emphasis>) Population Maintenance in an Estuary in South Texas,USA

A 2-year period with flood versus drought conditions provided the opportunity to examine the effects of flood disturbance on subtidal eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica biology and population dynamics in a south Texas estuary. Oysters were sampled monthly in 2007 and 2008 to examine the impacts of changing environmental conditions on oyster populations. Oysters were also examined quarterly for the presence of Perkinsus marinus. Filtration rates were calculated as a function of oyster size, temperature, salinity, and total suspended solids. Flood events in 2007 caused temporary reductions in salinity and were associated with reductions in oyster abundance, spat settlement, disease levels (weighted prevalence and percent infection), and filtration rates. Oyster populations had generally recovered within 1 year’s time—the oysters were younger and smaller but were just as abundant as pre-flood levels. The rapid return of oysters to pre-flood abundance levels is attributed in part to the ability of oysters in Gulf coast estuaries to spawn multiple times in a single season and in part to their relatively high growth rates. Although flood disturbance may temporarily reduce or destroy oyster populations, the ability of the Mission–Aransas Estuary to retain freshwater pulses within the system and maintain low salinities that are unfavorable for predators and disease can facilitate oyster population recovery. Episodic flood events appear to play a critical role in promoting long-term oyster population maintenance in the Mission–Aransas Estuary. The response of oysters to changing environmental conditions over the short term provides some insights into the potential long-term effects of changing climate.     

三峡工程库区移民迁建区地质灾害与防治

三峡工程移民总人口达120万人,移民迁建区地质条件复杂,地质环境容量极为有限,人地关系紧张,移民安置难度大。本文将三峡工程移民迁建区地质工作归结为地质条件的复杂性、地质工作的阶段性、地质认识的局限性、地质问题的长期性4个方面,并对三峡库区地质灾害临测预警工程的建设内容和运行方式进行了初步探讨。三峡库区地质灾害预警工程将按照“中央领导,分省负责,县为基础”的方针,在群测群防体系和专业技术体系相结合的基础上,以国家、省市和县区3级地质环境监测站为依托,采用现代化的计算机网络技术和群测群防手段,对库区以滑坡为主的地质灾害进行分批分级监测,三峡库区地质灾害预警工程将分4个阶段实施。最后,就三峡工程移民迁建区地质灾害防治工作提出了建议。     

Regional and urban population size weights in Saudi Arabia, 1962–1974

The aim of this paper 3s to study the development of population weights for regions and urban centres in Saudi Arabia through the period 1962–1974. In order to achieve this aim some non-parametric statistical rules have been used such as rank-size rule and the four-city index. The results show non-balanced distribution of population on both regional and urban scales. The concentration of people in urban centres is more pronounced than the concentration in regions. This is due to internal and external movement of population towards largesized urban centres. The paper recommends that the official authorities should give more consideration to economic and service development in rural and urban areas that are retreating in ranking and decreasing in population.     

A study of service centres and the evolving patterns of linkages in the Mahaweli development area

The absence of service centres that are required to facilitate economic and social development is a characteristic feature of the peripheral areas of Sri Lanka. One of the objectives of the Mahaweli Development Project is the setting up of a hierarchy of service centres in the recently developed areas of the Northern Dry Zone. The settlement programme of System H of the Project area was completed in 1984. Within a decade, 8 Townships and 26 Village Centres were established to serve more than 23,000 families.A comprehensive study of the pre-project situation and the changes taking place in the Galnewa region of System H indicated that the new hierarchy of service centres as well as the linkages that promote or result from the interaction among settlements have made a significant contribution to its socio-economic development. Problems that exist today can be solved and the experience gained so far has been valuable in planning the development of the remaining areas of the Project.     

植被状况指数的改进及在西北干旱监测中的应用

干旱是全球分布最广、发生频率最高、持续时间最长、影响范围最大、造成的经济损失最为严重的一种自然灾害，干旱也是所有自然灾害中影响因子最为复杂、人类了解最少、监测最为困难的一种自然灾害，干旱监测是世界性的难题。干旱可以发生在任何气候带上，但干旱、半干旱地区是全球干旱灾害发生最频繁的地区。干旱发生特征和规律因地区的不同会有很大的差异，不同地区对干旱监测方法不同。目前，世界各国干旱监测主要利用基于气象、水文、农业和卫星遥感等观测资料建立的各种干旱指数开展，已经有150多种干旱指数。植被状况指数VCI是应用最为广泛的一种卫星监测干旱的指数，研究和业务应用结果表明，VCI对全球各地的干旱均有较好的反映，已经应用在美国国家大气海洋局（NOAA）日常干旱监测业务中，中国国家卫星气象中心干旱卫星遥感监测服务产品也是以VCI为基础。 我国干旱半干旱地区主要分布在新疆、甘肃、青海、陕西、宁夏以及内蒙古自治区的中西部，这里降水少且不稳定，降水变率大，是中国干旱发生频率最高的地区。干旱严重制约着当地经济发展和人类生活质量的提高，使本身非常脆弱的生态环境趋于恶化。为了了解条件植被指数VCI对西北地区不同气候区干旱的监测能力，以上述6省（区）为研究区，利用1982—2003年22年NDVI数据，计算了研究区域22年来逐月的VCI，对比分析了不同气候区VCI与降水距平的关系。结果表明，VCI在空间和时间上较好地反映了西北大部分气候干旱发生、发展和空间分布，是干旱监测的较好指标，但在干旱和极端干旱地区，VCI经常出现异常偏高现象，不能反映干旱气候区常年干旱的基本特点。通过对西北不同生态系统之间NDVI特点和各生态系统间NDVI年变化及其年际变化规律的研究，设计了VCI改进方案，提出了改进的条件植被指数RVCI。通过对22年来逐月RVCI与VCI的对比，RVCI客观地反映了干旱气候区常年干旱特点，较VCI有显著改进。      

Groundwater resource development in Jamui District,Bihar, India: an overview

Because agriculture is the main source of livelihood for the bulk of the population in Jamui District, the importance of developing irrigation facilities in any programme of economic regeneration can hardly be over emphasized. It is, therefore, imperative that groundwater development be considered as an important step to drought mitigation in the Jamui district. The present study was carried out in such a way that technical and economic viability of any groundwater development plan can be thoroughly scrutinized. In this paper the hydrogeological framework of the district was established based on aquifer disposition, orientation of potential fracture systems and their hydraulic characteristics. Considering the aquifer geometry and yield potential of different structures, a blueprint for a groundwater development plan was prepared. An economic analysis of the development plan also was attempted. The analysis yielded results that made it possible to evaluate parameters such as cost–benefit ratio, incremental benefits and internal rate of return used to assess the economic viability of the groundwater development plan. Electronic Publication     

The urban geolinguistics of Cape Town

In the changing South Africa of the nineties language planning becomes a top priority on the agenda of constitutional reform. It appears however, that some misplaced enthusiasm is generated by language planners regarding the relatively well defined language regions on a national level. It should be kept in mind that approximately two-thirds of the South African population presently resides in high density urban areas. Contrary to the relatively clear-cut regionalization implied by the rural language patterns, a different form of regional demarcation and language planning is necessary in large metropolitan areas where the population concentrations are the result of a multilingual migration process. Cape Town is a suitable experimental ground to focus the methodological and conceptual shift from a national to an urban resolution level in language mapping. The aim of this paper is to address the following issues: The generalconceptual niche of cities in geolinguistics; the spatial identification ofpresent language distribution in Cape Town; the time-space pattern oflanguage change in Cape Town; the socialprofile of language speakers in Cape Town; and the consequences of the findings forlanguage planning in Cape Town and South Africa. Although Cape Town is linguistically probably one of the least diverse cities in South Africa, three language groups (Africaans, English and Xhosa) are clearly apparent within the limited surface area of the urban space. Their respective distribution patterns are relatively segregated within specific neighbourhoods of the city.     

Population pressure and areas of potential rural development in Southern Nigeria

The spatial analysis of agricultural development is the necessary precondition for research in the rural landscape and for rural planning. Basic data emerging from field investigation and a systematic interpretation of aerial photographs have resulted in a series of thematic maps of Southern Nigeria and parts of Western Cameroon. This comprehensive research work has been organized within the framework of the Afrika-Kartenwerk of the German Research Society.In this paper our recently published population map of the scale of 1:1 million and the map of rural settlement patterns form the basis for some rather general estimates of agricultural potential. Exact spatial information of simple but non the less most important regional processes, like migration, are caused by population pressure. Not bare statistical figures but their transformation by cartographic means forms a fundament for area studies and hypothetical prospects for regional planning as well as for regional analysis.By larger scale observations agricultural carrying capacity, evaluation of rural potential, migration dynamics and changes of land-use systems have to be analyzed. This calls for meticulous studies of individual areas. The first of three such case studies stresses the process of intensification of land utilization near the Nsukka-Escarpment. Linear settlement patterns and chains of regular individually owned stripfields can be seen as inprints of a dynamic transformation within the cultural landscape. Reception of new agricultural technology has been a way for emigrant farmers to exploit traditionally sparsely utilized zones with rich soils, which had been less attractive, because they were hard to cultivate with the hoe.The second case deals with the well known migratory and agro-economic links between the overpopulated food crop belt of Northern Yoruba Savannah Country and the cocoabelt in the rain forest about 100 km further south.In Central Iboland rural overpopulation of more than 1000 persons per km² and land shortage theoretically could be diminished by opening up uninhabited areas of the Niger flood-plain and the delta for modern agricultural exploitation. But not only the physical obstacles such as there are poor soils, very high rainfall and seasonal floods within the Niger low lands are hindering rural colonization. Social and political factors, like ethnic traditions and historic barriers still seem to be very perserverant. All this hardly allows strangers to get hold of unused land, to exploit valuable natural resources or to introduce modern agricultural technology. But generally speaking, population pressure as well as higher demand for social services and better incomes result in changes in the traditional land-use systems. The impact of growing urban or industrial economic spheres on agriculture acts as accelerating factor in this development. A paradise-landscape for Africa where optimal utilization of all physical resources under best socio-economic conditions may be practiced and where more than ten times of the present population of Africa could exist, as CAROL puts it in one of his scenarios (1973 and 1975), seems to be quite unrealistic and really never will be desirable.     

A Case Study of the Spatial Distribution of Seismic Hazard (El Salvador)

The republic of El Salvador in Central America is an area of high seismic hazard where at least twelve destructive earthquakes have occurred this century alone. The principal sources of seismic hazard are earthquakes associated with the subduction of the Cocos plate in the Middle America Trench and upper-crustal earthquakes in the chain of Quaternary volcanoes that runs across the country parallel to the subduction trench. Hazard assessments for Central America have suggested almost uniform distribution of hazard throughout El Salvador. Seismic zonations for three successive building codes in El Salvador simply divide the country into two regions, with the higher hazard zone containing the volcanoes and the coastal areas. Historical records suggest that the greatest hazard is posed by the upper-crustal earthquakes concentrated on the volcanic centres which, although of smaller magnitude than the subduction events, are generally of shallow focus and coincide with the main population centres. These earthquakes have repeatedly caused intense damage over small areas in the vicinity of some of the main volcanoes. This study focuses on El Salvador to explore the capability of different approaches to hazard assessment to reflect significant variations of seismic hazard within small geographical areas. In the study, three 'zone-free' methods are employed as well as the Cornell–McGuire approach. The results of the assessments are compared and their implications for seismic zoning for construction and insurance purposes are discussed.