Geodemography
How Population Shapes the Relations Between States

Massimo Livi-Bacci (Author), David Broder (Translated by)

9781509567867, Polity Press

Hardback, published 28 November 2025

144 pages
21.8 x 13.7 x 1.5 cm, 0.295 kg

“A brilliant global explanation and description of demographics past, present and future. The world authority, Livi-Bacci, unequivocally demolishes the racist fairy tales of far-right anti-immigration conspiracy theories. Geodemography is astute, witty, careful and kind, full of warnings, good advice – and hope.”
Danny Dorling, University of Oxford

“Drawing from his experience as a world-class demographer, Livi-Bacci has devised a perspective –geodemography – that allows him to tackle the variety of population developments as they impact state policies and international relations. A must-read for students of geopolitics and world history.”
Bruno Ramirez, University of Montreal

The last hundred years have witnessed the ongoing decline of Europe’s population and the explosion of Africa’s, major changes in migratory flows, significant variations in fertility levels across different countries and ethnic groups and the dizzying growth of large metropolises. These changes alter and sometimes disrupt relations between societies, states and regions of the world and influence political choices, with variable and often unpredictable force and speed. Past and current crises, such as the difficulties faced by governments seeking to control immigration and to manage tensions between religious and ethnic communities, now appear as the inevitable consequence of these demographic changes.

Geodemography – the study of how population dynamics influence societies, states and regions and affect the relations between them, over time and throughout the world – can help us to understand these trends. Using a broad repertoire of exemplary cases drawn from recent world history, this book demonstrates that geodemography is an invaluable tool for gaining a deeper appreciation of the changing relations between societies and states and the great challenges we face today.

A note from the author
Foreword


Chapter One
A brief portrait of the world population

Chapter Two
Limits, boundaries, borders

Chapter Three
Ethnicities

Chapter Four
Migration as a weapon

Chapter Five
A case study: Palestine and Israel

Chapter Six
Within the state: capitals and territory

Chapter Seven
Geodemography and religion

Chapter Eight
Environment, climate, water

Conclusion
The world of the future: the known and the unknown

Appendix
World population, 1700-2100

Notes
Index

Subject Areas: Geography [RG]