Ralationship between Fertility in Medium-sized Cities and the Surrounding Region

Abstract

Regional differential of fertility among cities appears to be affected by the fertility level of the region in which they are, as well as by their size and function. Using the data of “Average issues per ever-married Japanese woman 15 years old and over” reported in Japanese Population Census in 1960, we can divide whole Japan into three regions with differential fertility level (fig.). The author chose 97 cities having 50, 000-200, 000 population in their “Densely Inhabited District” as medium sized cities to culculate the average births per woman in the age category 20-49 by the region (table). This table reveals that there is a strong and consistent correlation between the fertility level of cities and the surrounding region.