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I'm just curious at the appearance of 「口」 that makes this word mean
"population". Why should it be 「口」 as opposed to any other body part or
anything else? Is there a definitive reason or story associated with this
word? If 「口」 is used as a counter then why couldn't 「個」 replace it? If I'm not
mistaken doesn't 「個」 refer to individuals more so than 「口」?
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2012-06-28T00:06:00.120
5980
2012-06-28T00:20:57.840
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question
words kanji counters
Why is 「人口」 used to denote population?
In old Chinese--where Japan borrowed the term--口 was a counter for people.
More specifically, it referred to the number of people needing food. English
has this construction too: the number of "mouths" (=people) to feed.

As for 個, it generally refers to individual non-animate items.
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2012-06-28T00:20:57.840
5981
2012-06-28T00:20:57.840
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answer