A stable population requires a growth, or replacement, rate of  There are, on average, 107 boys born for every 100 girls. Therefore, every 100 women need to produce 207 children to sustain a population.

The study of a population's characteristics is known as "demography." "Mortality" refers to the study of death rates or the actual ability of an individual to die. Ecumene is the geographical area in which people have made their permanent home.

The stationary population level (SPL) is the level at which a population cannot grow any more.

The crude birth rate or CBR is the ratio of the number of live births yearly per 1,000 people in a given population.

The crude death rate or CDR is the ratio of the number of deaths yearly per 1,000 people in a given population.

NIR (Natural Increase Rate) = CBR (Crude Birth Rate) - CDR (Crude Death Rate)

Eugenic policies favor one racial group and may lead to the subjugation of other groups with less political or social capital. One example is the Nazi Germany policy favoring people of Aryan descent over other ethnic and cultural groups.

Generally speaking, a significant increase in economic development in a country or region will eventually lead to a significant decrease in population growth. We know that this increase will likely not happen immediately because it takes time for a society to adjust to improved standard of living; for a time, the death rate will fall whilst the birth rate stays the same. Eventually people will realize that more of their children are surviving and that they have a great deal more options in life, and the birth rate will begin to fall as well, leading to a decrease in population growth. It is important to remember that this is a generalization and as a rule is not always applicable.

China’s population grew immensely in the twentieth century from an already high starting point. In the 1970s, Chinese politicians began to worry that the population was growing too fast, and that soon China’s population growth would be out of control and the country would not be able to cope with the demand for resources. The government implemented a “one child” policy that provides incentives for parents who have only one child and punishments for those that have more. This is not uniformly enforced and has led to many social ills, but it has also curtailed China’s massive population growth.

“Neo-Malthusians” generally adhere to Thomas Malthus’ Principle of Population, but have adapted it to suit the modern time period. “Neo-Malthusians” believe that the population of the world is growing too quickly for the scale of agricultural production to keep up. “Neo-Malthusians” advocate for programs and policies designed to control population growth, so they would be most likely to support a program that limits family size to two children.