Overpopulation in Asia

The first chapter discusses the geography of the D.I. Jogjakarta, its administrative division, and its history in as far as they bear upon existing local conditions.
Chapter two deals with the demographic data of the D.I. Jogjakarta.
In the following order are discussed: numberical strength; race; division of the various racial groups over rural and urban parts in this region; the very high population density; the ratio of ages, in which the large group of children is a striking feature; the drift to the city of Jogjakarta, especially after 1930; emigration existing on a larger scale than immigration; marriages; age at time of marriage; polygamy; and occupations. The most recent and only detailed census ever taken in this area was in 1930. its detailed data are compared with those available for 1955-1958.
chapter three is an attempt to arrive at the most probable ratio of ages among the population. Starting out from the 40%-test described by Wertheim and from the 19th- and 20th-century data about the population and special attention is given to the year-groups 0-15. An infant-mortality of 15% is assumed.
Chapter four discusses the birth-rate, which is estimated at 40% on a basis of data from the official registration and computations.
Chapter five is on the crude death-rate estimated at 22%, which leads on to an estimate of the probable natural population accrescence at 18%.
Chapter six is a description of the extent of infant- and child-mortality in this area. From the registration data, and by questioning mothers, an estimate of an infant-mortality of 150-170% is arrived at. Estimates of the mortality among toddlers and schoolchildren are 43% and 7.3% respectively. A high child-mortality is also noticed in other parts of Indonesia.
Chapter seven gives a qualitative analysis of child-mortality. Thirteen hundred deaths in two children’s clinics in Jogjakarta in the period July 1, 1954 – July 1, 1958 show on analysis that malnutrition was the most important cause of the deaths of these children. Enteritis appeared to be the next important cause.
Chapters eight and nine mention the clinical and epidemiological data of the diseases that prove to be the outstanding killers of infants and toddlers respectively.
In the case of the infants prematuritas and tetanus appeared to be the most significant in the first month of life, after this month enteritis causes most deaths.
Malnutrition and enteritis killed most toddlers, while malnutrition as a cause of death diminished rapidly at school age, when infectious diseases were relatively more important.
Chapter ten describes malnutrition as it is seen in the area of the D.I. Jogjakarta: the clinical picture, the food factor in the pathogenesis, psychological as well as sociological circumstances which further malnutrition. There is a discussion of the concurrence often observed of malnutrition and xerophthalmia in the same patient.
Chapter eleven draws attention to the problem of a rapidly increasing population, while there is at the same time a regular deterioration of agricultural soil, as in the southern mountains, which results in an annual famine in the moths October-February. Its victims fall particularly in the age-groups of elderly people. The discrepancy between population and means of subsistence is already greater here than in the rice-growing areas of the D.I. Jogjakarta.
Chapter twelve relates the rapid growth of the population of the D.I. Jogjakarta and of Java between 1815 and 1960. the Javanese population multiplied eleven times during this period. There is a close relation between the fertility of the soil and the density of the population.
Chapter thirteen points out the high agricultural density but every decreasing harvests. There is a discussion of the agricultural reorganization plan as devised by Tergast. In 1955 only half the calories and proteins necessary to supply the existing needs could be found in the region itself.
Chapter fourteen considers possibilities of transmigration to other islands of Indonesia. There is little reason to expect them to help solve the population problem.
Chapter fifteen outlines industrial development in Java, and mentions the circumstances by which this is seriously hampered.
The sixteenth and last chapter points out the necessity of a down-going birth-rate, and considers the obstacles preventing the formation of small families.