... accurate representation of Europe's demographic past. Demographers describe the history of population growth in Western Europe in terms of a process of "demographic transition," a model that charts three aspects of population growth. The model describes how the separate factors that create growth (primarily births and deaths) interact and it explains patterns of growth in terms of an ordered sequence of changes in death and birth rates. I also aim to determine the main problems in measuring the chief variables, mortality and fertility, in the model. The demographic transition is a model of population history based on the experiences of Western Europe. For this simple reason it must provide a reliable and accurate depiction of Europe's demographic past. It describes demographic changes related to shifts in economic development brought about by industrialisation and urbanisation. Stage One (UK pre 1760) is characterised by high birth rates, high death rates ...

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