1. What is demography?

Changes in population provide the background to which the development of society has to adjust. Population changes relate to all the phenomena concerning people: births, deaths, migration, marriages and divorces. These phenomena not only touch individuals in society but also impinge on the structure of society more widely. Demography studies population development, that is, the number of births, deaths and migration and other phenomena influencing population change, such as the marriage and divorce rates of the population. Demography also examines what kinds of effects changes in population have on the economic and social development of society.

This lesson aims to give you a general view of demography as a field of science. You will become familiar with the main branches of demographic research and the research subjects of demography on a general level. After this lesson you will know what "population" means in demography and how "the population of Finland", for instance, is defined. You will learn by which criteria and for which purposes different population groups can be formed in demography.