A couple of things.....

....related to population and development.

Firstly some good interactive maps courtesy of the Office for National Statistics which allow you to examine aspects of the population structure across the UK. We are familiar with the idea that population structure varies between LEDCs and MEDCs but the variations within a MEDC like the UK are less often examined. It is, for example, interesting to see where the population is significantly aged or juvenile and to ask why. The map below is just one of many maps which you can create and then follow changes from the present until 2031 (click on the map to link to the site)

Secondly the United Nations Development Programme has just published its annual report which comprises many findings relating to population and development. This year's report particularly focuses on migration and is accompanied by a short video...

A ranking of the world's countries by HDI (Human Development Index) has also just been published today. The place to be, it would seem, is Norway and as for where you wouldn't want to live, click here to link to the report! And while you are on that page, it would also be worthwhile to follow the hyperlink to 'Getting and using Data'.

Grey pride!

There was an interesting article on the Asia-Pacific page of the BBC News website yesterday It seems that over a quarter of Japanese women are now over the age of 65. This, and the fact that almost 20% of men are also over 65, adds up to a looming demographic crisis for the country. Link to the article and try to list what the socio-economic implications of this might be? What options do the Japanese government have for reversing this trend. They can hardly adopt policies to increase the death rate so how can they reduce the percentage of elderly people in the total population?

Nanny society has become Granny society

Here's a good statistic to support anything you may be saying about the UK's ageing population...

Children are outnumbered by the over-60s in Britain for the first time ever, official figures show.
In the latest sign of the UK's ageing population, the Office of National Statistics revealed that at the end of last year 13,262,256 people were 60 or over.

That was up from 12,928,071 the previous year, while the number of under-18s fell from 13,119,654 to 13,111,023 over the same time period.

You wouldn't have to remember exact figures, of course, but knowing that the old now outnumber the young in the UK would be an interesting fact to quote.