underpopulation
underpopulation — 名詞
1. a situation in which a country, region, or town has too few people living in it
人口不足
居民太少、影響經濟社會發展
a situation in which a country, region, or town has too few people living in it for its economy or society to work well — for example, when young adults leave a village and the remaining population cannot keep local shops, schools, or clinics open.
Silver Creek has struggled with underpopulation since the copper mine closed in 1998.
自 1998 年銅礦關閉以來，Silver Creek 一直面臨人口不足的問題。
underpopulation + specific cause (mine closure)
Many schools in rural Japan have been forced to close because of severe underpopulation.
日本許多鄉村學校因嚴重的人口不足而被迫關閉。
passive: forced to close because of underpopulation
The Polish government offers tax breaks to families who move to towns affected by underpopulation.
波蘭政府為搬遷到人口不足地區的家庭提供稅務優惠。
Underpopulation in the Scottish Highlands has made it hard to keep local bus routes open.
蘇格蘭高地的人口不足使得維持當地公車路線變得困難。
- depopulation
emphasises the process of people leaving, whereas underpopulation describes the resulting condition; depopulation can be caused by war or disaster, while underpopulation often follows economic shifts
- population decline
neutral demographic term; does not carry the same implication of negative social or economic consequences
- low population density
describes a purely geographic fact (few people per square km) without implying that the number is too low for good functioning
- overpopulation
the opposite condition in which too many people live in an area, straining resources
- overcrowding
more specific to housing or transport space being insufficient for the number of occupants
文法句型
uncountable noun used without article
用法筆記
Uncountable noun. The word almost always describes a problem or challenge, not a neutral or positive state. Common in demographic, economic, and policy discussions. Frequently used with verbs such as face, cause, lead to, tackle, and suffer from.