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Subjects · Leaving Cert Geography

Leaving Cert Geography: Population

How often Population comes up on the Geography papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 6 of the last 10 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2026. most years

OL Asked on 1 of the last 10 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2023.

June 2028 is the first exam on the new Geography course. These come from the 2016–2026 papers, so read them as a guide.

Population, Higher Level(7 marks)

Quick ones on Population.

(a)Number of live births per 1,000 people in a year?
  1. The fertility rate
  2. The birth rate
  3. Natural increase
(b)Shape of population pyramid found in a country with very high birth rates?
  1. Straight sides running from base to top
  2. A narrow base widening to a broad top
  3. A wide base tapering steeply to a narrow top
(c)Birth rate minus death rate?
  1. Natural increase
  2. Population density
  3. Net migration
Show the answers

(a) The birth rate

(b) A wide base tapering steeply to a narrow top

(c) Natural increase

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Population.

Higher Level

Asked on 6 of the last 10 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2026. most years

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2026Q5B
2025Not asked
2024Q6B
2023SQ12, Q6C
2022Q5C
2021Not asked
2019Q5C
2018Not asked
2017Q5B, Q6A
2016Not asked

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Population questions

Population, 2 marks

Total fertility rate needed to keep a population stable without migration?

  1. About 1.0
  2. About 4.5
  3. About 2.1
Show the answer

About 2.1

Replacement level is slightly above 2 because some children die before adulthood and slightly more boys than girls are born.

Population, 2 marks

Why does better education for girls usually lower the birth rate?

  1. It raises infant mortality, so fewer children survive
  2. Women marry later, work more and choose smaller families
  3. Girls leave school earlier and so marry and have children sooner
Show the answer

Women marry later, work more and choose smaller families

Educated women have more choices, better knowledge of family planning and more reason to delay children.

Population, 2 marks

Compared with Ireland's, Nigeria's population pyramid has what?

  1. A much wider base, showing a high birth rate
  2. A much wider top, showing many elderly
  3. Straight sides, showing no deaths
Show the answer

A much wider base, showing a high birth rate

Nigeria's fertility rate is over four children per woman, so each new age group is larger than the one before.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 1 of the last 10 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2023.

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2026Not asked
2025Not asked
2024Not asked
2023SQ11, Q6A
2022Not asked
2021Not asked
2019Not asked
2018Not asked
2017Not asked
2016Not asked

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Population questions

Population, 2 marks

Name of the official count of the population taken by the State?

  1. The electoral register
  2. The opinion poll
  3. The census
Show the answer

The census

The census is taken by the Central Statistics Office and it records age, work, housing and language for every household in the country.

Population, 2 marks

Term for the number of people living in each square kilometre?

  1. Natural increase
  2. Population density
  3. Population distribution
Show the answer

Population density

Density is found by dividing the population by the area, so it shows how crowded a place is rather than where people live.

Population, 2 marks

Term for the difference between the birth rate and the death rate?

  1. Natural increase
  2. Net migration
  3. Population density
Show the answer

Natural increase

If more people are born than die the population grows naturally. Migration is counted separately when working out the total change.

Other Geography topics

All of Leaving Cert Geography