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Higher Education

Website List


Chapter 1

The Population Reference Bureau issues a series of excellent publications on population issues on a regular basis, including the annual World Population Data Sheet, which can be obtained from this site: http://www.prb.org/.

The World Health Organization in an important source for obtaining statistics on countries’ health conditions, including mortality data by age, sex and cause of death: http://www.who.int/en/

The United Nations publishes on its website a wealth of global demographic and economic data and reports: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/index.shtml

Another important product from the United Nations is the Human Development Report: http://hdr.undp.org/en/.

The World Bank is an excellent source of population and socioeconomic data for countries: http://www.worldbank.org/

The United States Census Bureau is one of the best sources of demographic information for the United States and other countries. Check out their population clock, which gives continuous updates on the population of the world: http://www.census.gov/popclock/.

The RAND Corporation publishes important research on a number of topics, including aging, labour force, and family: http://www.rand.org/standards.html.

An important online resource for information on population is POPLINE, at Johns Hopkins University: http://www.popline.org/


Chapter 2

United Nations’ Population and Vital Statistics Report is an important source of population and vital statistics data on the countries of the world. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/vitstats/default.htm

Statistics Canada’s website provides a wealth of information on Canada’s vital statistics, census, and related data of interest to population scholars: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html.

Population health information on Canadians can be found at the Health Canada website: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/index-eng.php

Located in Paris, France, the Institut National d’Études Démographique (INED) is one of the premiere demographic institutions in the world: http://www.ined.fr/en/homepage_of_ined_website/

Also found on the INED’s website is a list of their current research reports and key publications. Their Population and Societies bulletin is particularly useful: www.ined.fr/en/resources_documentation/publications/pop_soc.

The Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) is a research body of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) engaged in the scientific study of population. The NIDI, through its research, aims to contribute to the description, analysis, explanation, and prediction of demographic trends in the past, the present, and the future. It also studies the determinants and consequences of these trends for society in general and policy in particular. NIDI research is characterized by its interdisciplinary approach and international orientation: www.nidi.nl/.

NIDI’s website also provides links to other demographic institutes throughout the world: http://www.nidi.knaw.nl/Pages/NID/2/516.bGFuZz1OTA.html

The National Center for Health Statistics is the United States’ vital statistics office: http://www.cdc.gov/

The United States Census Bureau is one of the best sources of demographic information for the United States and other countries: http://www.census.gov/index.html#.

An important source of international mortality and population data is the World Health Organization Statistics Annual. This publication contains deaths by cause, age, and sex for a large number of countries. who publishes these tables on a yearly basis: http://www.who.int/en/.

One of the leading population centres for demographic research is the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. Their publication, available online, Demographic Research is an important source for obtaining current work in demography.

Another important demographic centre is the Vienna Institute of Demography. This institute publishes annually the Vienna Yearbook of Population Research as well as other important publications on a periodic basis.


Chapter 3

Human Development Reports have been published by United Nations Development Programme since 1990. These can be found at http://hdr.undp.org/en. At this site one can also obtain full explanations of the sources and methodologies employed in the construction of the Human Development Indices, as well as access to regional and national Human Development Reports.

Additional information on matters related to socioeconomic development can be found at the following UN webpage: http://www.un.org/en/development/index.shtml/desa/index.html.

The United Nations Population Fund (unfpa) provides a wealth of information of relevance to population and socioeconomic issues worldwide: http://www.unfpa.org/public/.

The United Nations Population Division posts the latest information on global population, including updates of its biannual World Population Prospects: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/

Data applied to the UN’s population projections are available at: http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm.

US Census Bureau International Programs Center ( http://www.census.gov/population/international/), contains valuable demographic information on the state of the world. It also offers an international database, where you can find, among other things, age–sex pyramids for every country in the world, as well as the continuous population clocks of the world and of the United States.

Statistics Canada website is a useful resource for obtaining information on Canada’s population: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html.

The Population Reference Bureau (PRB) is one of the leading demographic institutions in the world. http://www.prb.org/.

An excellent resource for those interested in globalization is the Global Transformations website, devised by David Held and Anthony McGrew: http://www.polity.co.uk/global/.

Harvard University’s Center for International Development is an excellent source of information about development and related concerns. The centre’s website also offers research papers and data on issues of geography and development: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/cid

For reports on human rights by Human Rights Watch visit: http://www.hrw.org/

Freedom House is an organization that studies political trends throughout the world. One of its recent reports, available on the web, looks at democratization trends: http://www.freedomhouse.org/


Chapter 4

The online version of The Economist magazine presents many special surveys on varied topics, including social and economic aspects of population aging: http://www.economist.com/printedition/specialreports.

The Central Intelligence Association (cia) of the United States has a website that provides, among other things, useful demographic data by country: https://www.cia.gov/redirects/ciaredirect.html

Check out the “Population Pyramid” simulator at the Institut National d’Études Démographiques (INED) website. This easy-to-use program allows one to see at a glance how a population is distributed by age and sex, and how the population changes under varying fertility and mortality assumptions. You can make your own simulations by adjusting fertility, life expectancy, and sex ratio at birth: www.ined.fr/en/everything_about_population/play_population/population_simulator/ .

The World Bank publishes annual reports on various important topics related to economic and social development. Its 2013 World Report is available at its website: http://www.worldbank.org/

Go to ChartsBin: http://chartsbin.com/view/e1r to access interesting charts on population and other topics. Visitors can form their own charts.


Chapter 5

Institut National d’Etudes Démographiques (INED) provides extensive data on nuptiality for developed and developing countries. http://www.ined.fr/en/pop_figures/developed_countries/developed_countries_database.

Nuptiality data for the OECD countries can be found at the OECD website: http://www.oecd.org/statistics/ .

Nuptiality data for countries can also be obtained from the United Nations’ Demographic Yearbooks, available at: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm. Additionally, information on marriages and unions for countries is available at the UN’s Population Division website: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/theme/marriage-unions/index.shtml .

In Canada, The Vanier Institute of the Family is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the well-being of Canadian families. It conducts research and analysis on a variety of issues concerning families and is an excellent source of information. http://www.vanierinstitute.ca/.


Chapter 6

Fertility and other reproductive health data are available for the countries that have been participating in the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Statistical tables and maps can be produced based on data from over 200 surveys in over 75 countries: www.measuredhs.com.

The United Nations Population Division provides at its website important information on world fertility patterns and contraceptive use. See: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/theme/fertility/index .

Annual births and birth rates for Canada, provinces and territories may be obtained from Statistics Canada’s CANSM database. See: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/hlth85b-eng.htm .

The Vienna Institute of Demography is an important centre for demographic research and analysis in Europe. The Institute publishes studies on a variety of demographic topics, including fertility: www.oeaw.ac.at/vid/index.html.


Chapter 7

The World Health Organization (WHO) is an easy-to-access source for country-specific mortality data: http://apps.who.int/healthinfo/statistics/mortality/whodpms/.

The United Nations’ UNdata website provides a wealth of data on all kinds of topics, including health and mortality statistics for the countries of the world: http://data.un.org/Browse.aspx?d=POP

unaids is, along with the World Health Organization, the authority in charting global and regional trends of the hiv/aids epidemic: http://www.unaids.org/en/.

The World Bank provides an excellent data base for population information, including mortality and health: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator

Two interesting websites that feature current research and issues related to aging and longevity are BlueZones, which is headed by Dan Buettner, an award-winning journalist (www.bluezones.com/) and Boston University School of Medicine’s New England Centenarian Study (http://www.bumc.bu.edu/centenarian/). This website has a living to 100 life expectancy calculator.


Chapter 8

The Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (inrs) is a network of four research centres within the Université du Québec. For research on internal migration visit the site dedicated to “Urbanisation, Culture et Societé”: http://www.inrs.ca/

Alberta Finance provides updated figures on interprovincial migration in Canada for each quarter of each year: http://www.finance.alberta.ca/.

The Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty at the University of Sussex, England, conducts research on migration, including internal migration, in poor countries, with the aim of promoting new policy approaches that will help to maximize the potential benefits of migration for poor people, while minimizing its risks and costs: http://www.migrationdrc.org/index.html.


Chapter 9

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) is a non-partisan, non-profit think tank dedicated to the study of the movement of people worldwide: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/

The Migration Information Source, MPI’s award-winning online resource, presents the most current migration data in user-friendly interactive forms, along with incisive analysis from prominent scholars in the migration and refugee fields. To select specific regions for analysis, go to http://www.migrationinformation.org/Resources/

“Facts and Figures” is an annual statistical publication on immigration to Canada, available from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index-can.asp.

For up-to-date information on refugees, go to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) website: http://www.unhcr.ca/.

The United Nations Population Division publishes periodic updates on world immigration statistics. Check out its latest International Migration Wallchart for 2013: http://www.unhcr.ca/


Chapter 10

The Worldwatch Institute website posts information on a variety of topics, including urbanization and the environment. See, for example, its recent posting, Urbanizing the Developing World: http://vitalsigns.worldwatch.org/trends/population-society

One of the most authoritative sources for information on world urbanization is the United Nations Population Division: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/theme/urbanization/index.shtml .

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, un-habitat, is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the un General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all: http://www.unchs.org/

The Canadian Urban Institute (cui) is a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in urban areas across Canada and internationally. Through its website you can access information about the institute’s upcoming events and its various research publications: http://www.canurb.com/.

The European Academy of the Urban Environment is an excellent resource for information on issues pertaining to sustainable urban development: http://www.eaue.de/.

The World Bank features authoritative research and study reports on aspects of urbanization and development in developing countries: http://www.worldbank.org/.


Chapter 11

The following are useful websites for obtaining information on various aspects and dimensions of global ecological conditions and resources:


Chapter 12

Population Action International (pai) is an independent policy advocacy group working to strengthen worldwide political and financial support for population programs grounded in individual rights: http://populationaction.org/.

The United Nations Social and Economic Affairs Population Division is the authoritative source on population policies across the countries of the world: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/policy/world-population-policies-2011.shtml

Visit the Los Angeles Times website for an outstanding five-part special series on world population growth and family planning, “Beyond 7 Billion”: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/population/la-fg-population-matters1-20120722-html,0,7213271.htmlstory .

An important independent think tank on global population issues is the Center for Global Development. Visit: http://www.cgdev.org//blog/population-problem-additional-factors-equation .

Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. Check out their website for their latest report: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013.

The World Bank has a website dedicated to the monitoring and study of poverty in the world. See: http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offers a global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. See UNDP’s Millennium Development Goals reports at: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home.html