Cambridge O Level Pakistan Studies: Population and Employment — Revision Notes

These notes condense Section 8 Population and employment of Cambridge O Level Pakistan Studies 2059 Paper 2. The section is data-heavy: practise reading pyramids and rate graphs, learn a few dated census figures, and prepare balanced judgements on population policy, migration schemes and education. Full explanations are in the Population and Employment study guide.

Syllabus checklist (2059, 2026)

• ☐ 8(a) Read Pakistan’s population pyramids (age and sex) and how they change
• ☐ 8(a) Effects of present and projected structures on the economy and development
• ☐ 8(a) Interpret birth, death and natural-increase data; identify trends
• ☐ 8(a) Social, educational, economic and political causes of growth; problems; solutions
• ☐ 8(b) Push and pull: rural–urban, seasonal, emigration, immigration and refugees
• ☐ 8(b) Effects: shanty developments, tent cities, rural depopulation; measures and adverse outcomes
• ☐ 8(c) Distribution versus density; variations between and within provinces and the Northern Area; factors
• ☐ 8(d) Primary, secondary, tertiary occupations and changing proportions
• ☐ 8(d) Rural and urban unemployment and underemployment; skilled and manual labour
• ☐ 8(d) Effect on GNP and GDP; literacy, education and training for males and females

Key terms

Term	Definition
Birth rate	Live births per 1,000 people per year
Death rate	Deaths per 1,000 people per year
Natural increase	Birth rate minus death rate
Population pyramid	Bar chart of population by age group and sex
Dependency ratio	Dependants (under 15 and over 65) compared with people aged 15–64
Push factor	Something that drives people away from a place
Pull factor	Something that attracts people to a place
Katchi abadi	Unplanned shanty settlement in a Pakistani city
Tent city	Temporary camp for refugees or disaster victims
Distribution	The pattern of where people live
Density	People per square kilometre
Underemployment	Working less, or less productively, than one could

Figures to quote (approximate, dated)

Fact	Figure	Source and year
Population	241.5 million	2023 census
Growth 2017–2023	about 2.55% a year	2023 census
Fertility	about 3.6 children per woman	Demographic and Health Survey 2017–18
Literacy (10+)	about 61%	2023 census
Workforce	agriculture ~37%, industry ~25%, services ~37%	Labour Force Survey 2020–21
Emigrant workers	more than 800,000 registered	2023
Lowest density	Balochistan, about 43 per km²	2023 census

Reading a pyramid: four-step method

1. Base: wide means high birth rate; narrowing means births are falling.
2. Middle: a bulge shows a large working-age or youth group.
3. Top: narrow means low life expectancy; widening means people are living longer.
4. Sides: compare male and female bars for imbalances.

Then link each feature to an effect: wide base → schools and child health; youth bulge → jobs; widening top → pensions and care.

Reading a birth- and death-rate graph (worked example)

Fig. (illustrative): birth rate 45 per 1,000 falling to 27; death rate 23 falling to 7.

Trend: both rates fell. The death rate fell by 16 points to 7 per 1,000, a drop of about 70%, while the birth rate fell by 18 points to 27 per 1,000, a drop of only 40%, so births stayed high. Natural increase: 45 − 23 = 22 per 1,000 at the start and 27 − 7 = 20 per 1,000 at the end, so growth stayed high for decades. Reason: medical advances cut deaths quickly, while social attitudes to family size change slowly.

Migration grid

Type	Main push	Main pull	Effect
Rural–urban	Landlessness, floods, low wages	Jobs, schools, hospitals	Katchi abadis, congestion; rural ageing
Seasonal	Slack season, snow, Thar drought	Harvest and picking work	Temporary camps; extra income
Emigration	Unemployment, low pay	Gulf and European wages	Remittances; loss of skilled workers
Refugees	War in neighbouring countries	Safety, kin	Camps and tent cities; pressure on services

Measures: self-help housing (e.g. incremental plots in Khuda ki Basti, Hyderabad), community sanitation, regularising katchi abadis, standpipes and clean water. Adverse outcomes: upgrading can pull in more migrants; some schemes leave overcrowded, poor housing far from jobs.

Density: between and within

• Between: Punjab most populous and dense; Balochistan largest by area and least dense; Islamabad Capital Territory most dense.
• Within: dense in Lahore–Gujranwala–Faisalabad, Karachi, the Peshawar valley, Quetta; sparse in Cholistan, Thal, Thar, Kirthar, Chitral, and Gilgit-Baltistan’s high ground.
• Factors: physical (relief, water, soil, climate); economic (jobs, irrigation, ports); social (services, kinship); political (capital city, investment, security).

Exam traps

• Writing “density” when the question asks for “distribution”. Distribution is about pattern; density is a number per km².
• Forgetting the Northern Area. The syllabus names it in both distribution and density.
• Treating unemployment and underemployment as the same. The underemployed have some work.
• Calling all migration “bad”. Remittances and urban jobs bring real benefits.
• Giving a trend with no figures. Quote start and end values with units.
• One-sided solutions. Evaluate cost, time and cultural acceptance.

Self-test

1. Define natural increase.
2. Which province has the lowest population density?
3. Name two push factors for rural–urban migration.
4. What is a tent city, and when have tent cities appeared in Pakistan?
5. Give one reason skilled labour is scarce in Pakistan.
6. How do unemployment and underemployment affect GDP?

Answers: 1. Birth rate minus death rate. 2. Balochistan. 3. Any two of landlessness, low wages, few services, floods or drought. 4. A temporary camp for refugees or disaster victims, for example after the 2005 earthquake or the 2010 and 2022 floods, or for Afghan refugees. 5. Low literacy and training, or emigration of qualified people. 6. People produce less than they could, so national output is lower.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to memorise census figures? Learn a few headline figures with their year, such as 241.5 million in 2023, but in data questions always use the figures given in the resource.

Why is female education linked to lower population growth? Educated women tend to marry later, know more about health and family planning, and have more earning options, so they usually have fewer children.

What does “Northern Area” refer to in the syllabus? The mountainous region now administered as Gilgit-Baltistan, where people live mainly on narrow valley floors.

Related resources

• Population and Employment study guide
• Population and Employment practice questions
• Industrial Development revision notes

Source: Cambridge International, Cambridge O Level Pakistan Studies 2059 syllabus for examination in 2026, Paper 2 Section 8 Population and employment; Pakistan Bureau of Statistics census and Labour Force Survey figures as dated above.