Answer: Option A
Answer: (a)
The first stage of stable or slow population growth:
The growth of the population was slow due to the high death rate which nullified the high birth rate. In this stage, these economies were primitive and primarily agrarian, with widespread illiteracy, poor sanitation and health care conditions, negligible knowledge of family planning and large family sizes which contributed to factors such as high fertility rate and high death rate.
In the period between the first and the second stages, the death rates start reducing and birth rates remain stable which brings an imbalance in the economy. Measures like diseases control, improving nutrition levels, and sanitation improvement are implemented to reduce death rates, but the measures for controlling birth rates are not implemented, which results in a population explosion. This required a period of transition for adjustment, thus bringing the second stage of transition.
The second stage of population explosions:
In this stage rise in income levels contributed to improvement in health care, education, disease control and so on which in turn contributed to reducing the death rates. This accelerated the growth of the population. The family size reduced and improved trade and economic conditions resulted in more food and better food habits which further helped the population to grow at a much higher rate than in the first stage. The demographic changes brought imbalances in the economy, creating conditions for further transition of society.
The third stage of low birth rates and low death rates:
Modernization and industrialization changed the living pattern in such nations, the rural population shifted to cities and family sizes were reduced to become nuclear families. The standard of living increased which further brought down mortality rates and birth rates. As a result, the growth of the population declined.