_____ is the process in which a country's population becomes smaller because its birth rate and immigration are too low to replace those who die and emigrate.

• A. Population growth
• B. Population shrinkage
• C. Population explosion
• D. Demographic transition

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is population decline: when births plus new arrivals (immigration) are not enough to replace those who die or leave, the total number of people in the country gets smaller over time. That situation is called population shrinkage. It describes a trend toward fewer people rather than more, which can happen in aging societies or places with little in-migration.

The other terms don’t fit as well. Population growth means the number of people is increasing, while a population explosion refers to very rapid, often short-term, rapid growth. Demographic transition is a theoretical framework about how birth and death rates change as a society develops, not the actual process of a shrinking population.