This book studies the origins and development of population geography as a discipline. It explores the key concepts, tools and statistical and demographic techniques that are widely employed in the analysis of population. The chapters in this book:

• Provide a comprehensive geographical account of population attributes in the world, with a particular focus on India;

• Study the three major components of population change – fertility, mortality and migration – that have remained somewhat neglected in the study of human geography so far;

• Examine the salient social, demographic and economic characteristics of population, along with topics such as size, distribution and growth of population;

• Discuss major population theories, policies and population–development–environment interrelations, thus marking a significant departure from the traditional pattern-oriented approach.

Well supplemented with figures, maps and tables, this key text will be an indispensable read for students, researchers and teachers of human geography, demography, anthropology, sociology, economics and population studies.