tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63478339389156001832024-02-20T18:26:41.720-08:00world populationanilrajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07706288838580174087noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6347833938915600183.post-26742932900526620302008-08-01T02:12:00.000-07:002008-08-01T02:33:22.527-07:00WORLD POPULATION<h1 class="firstHeading">World population</h1><!-- start content --> <div class="thumb tright"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 402px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:World_population.svg" class="image" title="Map of countries by population—China and India, the only two countries to have a population greater than 1 billion, together possess more than a third of the world's population. (See List of countries by population.)"><img style="width: 630px; height: 221px;" alt="Map of countries by population—China and India, the only two countries to have a population greater than 1 billion, together possess more than a third of the world's population. (See List of countries by population.)" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4e/World_population.svg/400px-World_population.svg.png" class="thumbimage" border="0" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:World_population.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"><br /></a></div><br /></div> </div> </div> <div class="thumb tright"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 182px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:WorldPopulation.png" class="image" title="Population by continent as a percentage of world population (1750–2005)"><img alt="Population by continent as a percentage of world population (1750–2005)" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/WorldPopulation.png/180px-WorldPopulation.png" class="thumbimage" width="180" border="0" height="131" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:WorldPopulation.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png" alt="" width="15" height="11" /></a></div> Population by continent as a percentage of world population (1750–2005)</div> </div> </div> <p>The <b>world population</b> is the total number of living <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human" title="Human">humans</a> on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth" title="Earth">Earth</a> at a given time. As of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July" title="July">July</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008" title="2008">2008</a>, the world's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population" title="Population">population</a> is estimated to be just over <b>6.684 billion</b>. In line with population projections, this figure continues to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth" title="Population growth">grow</a> at rates that were unprecedented before the 20th century, although the rate of increase has almost halved since its peak of 2.2 percent per year, which was reached in 1963. The world's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population" title="Population">population</a>, on its current growth trajectory, is expected to reach nearly 9 billion by the year 2042.<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-1" title="">[2]</a></sup></p> <table id="toc" class="toc" summary="Contents"> <tbody><tr> <td><br /></td> </tr> </tbody></table> <script type="text/javascript"> //<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]> </script> <p><a name="Population_figures" id="Population_figures"></a></p> <h2><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Population figures</span></h2> <p>Censuses taken between 300–400 CE<sup class="noprint Inline-Template"><span title="The material in the vicinity of this tag may not be factual or accurate from March 2008" style="white-space: nowrap;">[<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Disputed_statement" title="Wikipedia:Disputed statement">dubious</a> <span class="metadata">– <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:World_population#Dubious" title="Talk:World population">discuss</a></span></i>]</span></sup> showed over 50 million people living in the combined eastern and western Roman empire.<sup class="noprint Template-Fact"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources since February 2008" style="white-space: nowrap;">[<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a></i>]</span></sup>(citation Dr. Kenneth W. Harl, tulane.edu)</p> <p>Below is a table with historical and predicted population figures shown in <b>millions</b>.<sup id="cite_ref-unpp_2-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-unpp-2" title="">[3]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-3" title="">[4]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-4" title="">[5]</a></sup> The availability of historical population figures varies by region. (Note: These projections here are not kept up to date.) Please see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population_estimates" title="World population estimates">World population estimates</a> for more figures.</p> <table id="sortable_table_id_0" class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 97%; text-align: right;"> <caption>World historical and predicted populations (in millions)<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-5" title="">[6]</a></sup></caption> <tbody><tr> <th>Region <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>1750 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>1800 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>1850 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>1900 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>1950 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>1999 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>2050 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>2150 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> </tr> <tr> <th>World</th> <td>791</td> <td>978</td> <td>1,262</td> <td>1,650</td> <td>2,521</td> <td>5,978</td> <td>8,909</td> <td>9,746</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Africa</th> <td>106</td> <td>107</td> <td>111</td> <td>133</td> <td>221</td> <td>767</td> <td>1,766</td> <td>2,308</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Asia</th> <td>502</td> <td>635</td> <td>809</td> <td>947</td> <td>1,402</td> <td>3,634</td> <td>5,268</td> <td>5,561</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Europe</th> <td>163</td> <td>203</td> <td>276</td> <td>408</td> <td>547</td> <td>729</td> <td>628</td> <td>517</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Latin America and the Caribbean *</th> <td>16</td> <td>24</td> <td>38</td> <td>74</td> <td>167</td> <td>511</td> <td>809</td> <td>912</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Northern America *</th> <td>2</td> <td>7</td> <td>26</td> <td>82</td> <td>172</td> <td>307</td> <td>392</td> <td>398</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Oceania</th> <td>2</td> <td>2</td> <td>2</td> <td>6</td> <td>13</td> <td>30</td> <td>46</td> <td>51</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table id="sortable_table_id_1" class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 97%; text-align: right;"> <caption>World historical and predicted populations by percentage distribution</caption> <tbody><tr> <th>Region <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>1750 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>1800 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>1850 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>1900 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>1950 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>1999 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>2050 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> <th>2150 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#" class="sortheader" onclick="ts_resortTable(this);return false;"><span class="sortarrow"><img src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/sort_none.gif" alt="↓" /></span></a></th> </tr> <tr> <th>World</th> <td>100</td> <td>100</td> <td>100</td> <td>100</td> <td>100</td> <td>100</td> <td>100</td> <td>100</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Africa</th> <td>13.4</td> <td>10.9</td> <td>8.8</td> <td>8.1</td> <td>8.8</td> <td>12.8</td> <td>19.8</td> <td>23.7</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Asia</th> <td>63.5</td> <td>64.9</td> <td>64.1</td> <td>57.4</td> <td>55.6</td> <td>60.8</td> <td>59.1</td> <td>57.1</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Europe</th> <td>20.6</td> <td>20.8</td> <td>21.9</td> <td>24.7</td> <td>21.7</td> <td>12.2</td> <td>7.0</td> <td>5.3</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Latin America and the Caribbean *</th> <td>2.0</td> <td>2.5</td> <td>3.0</td> <td>4.5</td> <td>6.6</td> <td>8.5</td> <td>9.1</td> <td>9.4</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Northern America *</th> <td>0.3</td> <td>0.7</td> <td>2.1</td> <td>5.0</td> <td>6.8</td> <td>5.1</td> <td>4.4</td> <td>4.1</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Oceania</th> <td>0.3</td> <td>0.2</td> <td>0.2</td> <td>0.4</td> <td>0.5</td> <td>0.5</td> <td>0.5</td> <td>0.5</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table class="wikitable" style="font-size: 97%; text-align: right;"> <caption>Estimated world population at various dates (in thousands)</caption> <tbody><tr> <th>Year</th> <th width="70">World</th> <th width="70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa" title="Africa">Africa</a></th> <th width="70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia" title="Asia">Asia</a></th> <th width="70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a></th> <th width="70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America" title="Latin America">Latin America</a> *</th> <th width="70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_America" title="Northern America">Northern America</a>*</th> <th width="70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceania" title="Oceania">Oceania</a></th> <th>Notes</th> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right;"> <th style="text-align: right;">70,000 BCE</th> <td>2</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-6" title="">[7]</a></sup></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right;"> <th style="text-align: right;">10,000 BCE</th> <td>1,000</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right;"> <th style="text-align: right;">9000 BCE</th> <td>3,000</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right;"> <th style="text-align: right;">8000 BCE</th> <td>5,000</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><sup id="cite_ref-HistoricalEstimates_7-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-HistoricalEstimates-7" title="">[8]</a></sup></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right;"> <th style="text-align: right;">7000 BCE</th> <td>7,000</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right;"> <th style="text-align: right;">6000 BCE</th> <td>10,000</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right;"> <th style="text-align: right;">5000 BCE</th> <td>15,000</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right;"> <th style="text-align: right;">4000 BCE</th> <td>20,000</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right;"> <th style="text-align: right;">3000 BCE</th> <td>25,000</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right;"> <th style="text-align: right;">2000 BCE</th> <td>35,000</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right;"> <th style="text-align: right;">1000 BCE</th> <td>50,000</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><sup id="cite_ref-HistoricalEstimates_7-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-HistoricalEstimates-7" title="">[8]</a></sup></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right;"> <th style="text-align: right;">500 BCE</th> <td>100,000</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><sup id="cite_ref-HistoricalEstimates_7-2" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-HistoricalEstimates-7" title="">[8]</a></sup></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right;"> <th style="text-align: right;">1</th> <td>200,000</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-8" title="">[9]</a></sup></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1000</th> <td>310,000</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1750</th> <td>791,000</td> <td>106,000</td> <td>502,000</td> <td>163,000</td> <td>16,000</td> <td>2,000</td> <td>2,000</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1800</th> <td>978,000</td> <td>107,000</td> <td>635,000</td> <td>203,000</td> <td>24,000</td> <td>7,000</td> <td>2,000</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1850</th> <td>1,262,000</td> <td>111,000</td> <td>809,000</td> <td>276,000</td> <td>38,000</td> <td>26,000</td> <td>2,000</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1900</th> <td>1,650,000</td> <td>133,000</td> <td>947,000</td> <td>408,000</td> <td>74,000</td> <td>82,000</td> <td>6,000</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1950</th> <td>2,518,629</td> <td>221,214</td> <td>1,398,488</td> <td>547,403</td> <td>167,097</td> <td>171,616</td> <td>12,812</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1955</th> <td>2,755,823</td> <td>246,746</td> <td>1,541,947</td> <td>575,184</td> <td>190,797</td> <td>186,884</td> <td>14,265</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1960</th> <td>2,981,659</td> <td>277,398</td> <td>1,674,336</td> <td>601,401</td> <td>209,303</td> <td>204,152</td> <td>15,888</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1965</th> <td>3,334,874</td> <td>313,744</td> <td>1,899,424</td> <td>634,026</td> <td>250,452</td> <td>219,570</td> <td>17,657</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1970</th> <td>3,692,492</td> <td>357,283</td> <td>2,143,118</td> <td>655,855</td> <td>284,856</td> <td>231,937</td> <td>19,443</td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1975</th> <td>4,068,109</td> <td>408,160</td> <td>2,397,512</td> <td>675,542</td> <td>321,906</td> <td>243,425</td> <td>21,564</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1980</th> <td>4,434,682</td> <td>469,618</td> <td>2,632,335</td> <td>692,431</td> <td>361,401</td> <td>256,068</td> <td>22,828</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1985</th> <td>4,830,979</td> <td>541,814</td> <td>2,887,552</td> <td>706,009</td> <td>401,469</td> <td>269,456</td> <td>24,678</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1990</th> <td>5,263,593</td> <td>622,443</td> <td>3,167,807</td> <td>721,582</td> <td>441,525</td> <td>283,549</td> <td>26,687</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">1995</th> <td>5,674,380</td> <td>707,462</td> <td>3,430,052</td> <td>727,405</td> <td>481,099</td> <td>299,438</td> <td>28,924</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">2000</th> <td>6,070,581</td> <td>795,671</td> <td>3,679,737</td> <td>727,986</td> <td>520,229</td> <td>315,915</td> <td>31,043</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">2005</th> <td>6,453,628</td> <td>887,964</td> <td>3,917,508</td> <td>724,722</td> <td>558,281</td> <td>332,156</td> <td>32,998**</td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <th>Year</th> <th width="70">World</th> <th width="70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa" title="Africa">Africa</a></th> <th width="70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia" title="Asia">Asia</a></th> <th width="70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a></th> <th width="70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America" title="Latin America">Latin America</a> *</th> <th width="70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_America" title="Northern America">Northern America</a>*</th> <th width="70"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceania" title="Oceania">Oceania</a></th> <th>Notes</th> </tr> </tbody></table> <p>* <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_America" title="Northern America">Northern America</a> indicates the northern countries and territories of North America: Canada, the United States, Greenland, Bermuda, and St. Pierre and Miquelon. This should not be confused with the term "North America" which typically includes Mexico. The United Nations data includes Mexico as part of Latin America.</i></p> <p><i>.</i></p> <p><a name="Rate_of_increase" id="Rate_of_increase"></a></p> <h2><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Rate of increase</span></h2> <dl><dd> <div class="noprint relarticle mainarticle"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth" title="Population growth"><br /></a></i></div> </dd></dl> <div class="thumb tright"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 302px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:World_population_%28UN%29.svg" class="image" title="Population evolution in different continents. The vertical axis is logarithmic and is millions of people."><img alt="Population evolution in different continents. The vertical axis is logarithmic and is millions of people." src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/World_population_%28UN%29.svg/300px-World_population_%28UN%29.svg.png" class="thumbimage" width="300" border="0" height="266" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:World_population_%28UN%29.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"><br /></a></div> Population evolution in different <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent" title="Continent">continents</a>. The vertical axis is logarithmic and is millions of people.</div> </div> </div> <p>Different regions have different rates of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth" title="Population growth">population growth</a>. According to the above table, the growth in population of the different regions from 2000 to 2005 was:</p> <dl><dd>237.771 million in Asia</dd><dd>92.293 million in Africa</dd><dd>38.052 million in Latin America</dd><dd>16.241 million in Northern America</dd><dd>1.955 million in Oceania</dd><dd>-3.264 million in Europe</dd><dd>383.047 million in the whole world</dd></dl> <p>In the unusual case of the 20th century, the world saw the biggest increase in its population in human history due to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_medicine#Modern_medicine" title="History of medicine">medical advances</a> and massive increase in agricultural productivity made by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution" title="Green Revolution">Green Revolution</a>.</p> <p>In 2000, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">United Nations</a> estimated that the world's population was then growing at the rate of 1.14% (or about 75 million people) per year,<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-9" title="">[10]</a></sup> down from a peak of 86 million per year in 1987. In the last few centuries, the number of people living on Earth has increased many times over. By the year 2000, there were 10 times as many people on Earth as there were 300 years ago. According to data from the CIA's 2005–2006 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook" title="The World Factbook">World Factbooks</a>, the world human population increased by 203,800 every day.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-10" title="">[11]</a></sup> The 2007 CIA factbook increased this to 211,090 people every day.</p> <p>Globally, the population <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth" title="Population growth">growth rate</a> has been steadily declining from its peak of 2.19% in 1963, but growth remains high in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East" title="Middle East">Middle East</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africa" title="Sub-Saharan Africa">Sub-Saharan Africa</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-11" title="">[12]</a></sup></p> <p>In some countries there is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative" title="Negative">negative</a> population growth (i.e. net decrease in population over time), especially in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Europe" title="Central Europe">Central</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Europe" title="Eastern Europe">Eastern Europe</a> (mainly due to low <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertility_rate" class="mw-redirect" title="Fertility rate">fertility rates</a>) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Africa" title="Southern Africa">Southern Africa</a> (due to the high number of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV" title="HIV">HIV</a>-related deaths). Within the next decade, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a> and some countries in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Europe" title="Western Europe">Western Europe</a> are also expected to encounter negative population growth due to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-replacement_fertility" title="Sub-replacement fertility">sub-replacement fertility</a> rates.</p> <p>Population growth which exceeds the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrying_capacity" title="Carrying capacity">carrying capacity</a> of an area or environment results in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overpopulation" title="Overpopulation">overpopulation</a>. Conversely, such areas may be considered "underpopulated" if the population is not large enough to maintain an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_system" title="Economic system">economic system</a>; however, many who do not view overpopulation as a serious problem fail to consider the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability" title="Sustainability">sustainability</a> of economic systems, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_degradation" title="Environmental degradation">environmental degradation</a> caused, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_footprint" title="Ecological footprint">ecological footprint</a> of the existing population.</p> <p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nation" class="mw-redirect" title="United Nation">United Nations</a> states that population growth is rapidly declining due to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_transition" title="Demographic transition">demographic transition</a>. The world population is expected to peak at 9200 million in 2075. <a href="http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/longrange2/WorldPop2300final.pdf" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/longrange2/WorldPop2300final.pdf" rel="nofollow">[3]</a></p> <table class="gallery" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr> <td> <div class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px;"> <div class="thumb" style="padding: 43px 0pt; width: 150px;"> <div style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 120px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Population_curve.svg" class="image" title="Population curve.svg"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Population_curve.svg/120px-Population_curve.svg.png" width="120" border="0" height="60" /></a></div> </div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Population (est.) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_millennium_BC" title="10th millennium BC">10,000 BCE</a> – 2000 CE.</p> </div> </div> </td> <td> <div class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px;"> <div class="thumb" style="padding: 33px 0pt; width: 150px;"> <div style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 120px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:World_population_curve_-_log_y_scale.png" class="image" title="World population curve - log y scale.png"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/World_population_curve_-_log_y_scale.png/120px-World_population_curve_-_log_y_scale.png" width="120" border="0" height="80" /></a></div> </div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Population (est.) in log y scale</p> </div> </div> </td> <td> <div class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px;"> <div class="thumb" style="padding: 38px 0pt; width: 150px;"> <div style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 120px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:World_population_history.svg" class="image" title="World population history.svg"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/World_population_history.svg/120px-World_population_history.svg.png" width="120" border="0" height="70" /></a></div> </div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>World population 1950–2000</p> </div> </div> </td> <td> <div class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px;"> <div class="thumb" style="padding: 28px 0pt; width: 150px;"> <div style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 120px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:World_population_increase_history.svg" class="image" title="World population increase history.svg"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/World_population_increase_history.svg/120px-World_population_increase_history.svg.png" width="120" border="0" height="90" /></a></div> </div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Increase rate 1950–2000</p> </div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p><a name="Milestones" id="Milestones"></a></p> <h3><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Milestones</span></h3> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"> <caption><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population_estimates" title="World population estimates">World population estimates</a> milestones .</caption> <tbody><tr> <th>Population (in 1000s of millions)</th> <th>1</th> <th>2</th> <th>3</th> <th>4</th> <th>5</th> <th>6</th> <th>7</th> <th>8</th> <th>9</th> </tr> <tr> <th>Year</th> <td>1804</td> <td>1927</td> <td>1961</td> <td>1974</td> <td>1987</td> <td>1999</td> <td>2011</td> <td>2024</td> <td>2042</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Years elapsed</th> <td><br /></td> <td>123</td> <td>34</td> <td>13</td> <td>13</td> <td>12</td> <td>12</td> <td>13</td> <td>18</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p>These numbers show that the world's population has tripled in 72 years, and doubled in 38 years up to the year 1999. Including some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population_estimates" title="World population estimates">more estimates</a>, the world population has been doubled or will double in the following years (with two different starting points). Note how, during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_millennium" title="2nd millennium">2nd millennium</a>, each doubling has taken roughly half as long as the previous doubling.</p> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"> <tbody><tr> <th><br /></th> <th><br /></th> <th colspan="6">Starting at 250 millions</th> <th><br /></th> <th colspan="5">Starting at 375 millions</th> </tr> <tr> <th>Population<br /><small>(in 1000s of millions)</small></th> <th><br /></th> <th>0.25</th> <th>0.5</th> <th>1</th> <th>2</th> <th>4</th> <th>8</th> <th><br /></th> <th>0.375</th> <th>0.75</th> <th>1.5</th> <th>3</th> <th>6</th> </tr> <tr> <th>Year</th> <td><br /></td> <td>950</td> <td>1600</td> <td>1804</td> <td>1927</td> <td>1974</td> <td>2024</td> <td><br /></td> <td>1420</td> <td>1720</td> <td>1875</td> <td>1961</td> <td>1999</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Years elapsed</th> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td>650</td> <td>204</td> <td>123</td> <td>47</td> <td>50</td> <td><br /></td> <td><br /></td> <td>300</td> <td>155</td> <td>86</td> <td>38</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p><a name="Population_distribution" id="Population_distribution"></a></p> <h2><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Population distribution</span></h2> <div class="thumb tnone"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 562px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Population_density.png" class="image" title="Population density map of the world in 1994, when the world's population was at 5600 million; Observe the high densities in the Indo-Gangetic and North China Plains, the Sichuan Basin, the Nile river delta, Southern Japan, Western Europe, the Indonesian island of Java, Central America (especially El Salvador, the Americas' most densely populated nation), and the United States' BosWash megalopolis."><img alt="Population density map of the world in 1994, when the world's population was at 5600 million; Observe the high densities in the Indo-Gangetic and North China Plains, the Sichuan Basin, the Nile river delta, Southern Japan, Western Europe, the Indonesian island of Java, Central America (especially El Salvador, the Americas' most densely populated nation), and the United States' BosWash megalopolis." src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Population_density.png/560px-Population_density.png" class="thumbimage" width="560" border="0" height="280" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Population_density.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"><br /></a></div> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_density" title="Population density">Population density</a> map of the world in 1994, when the world's population was at 5600 million; Observe the high densities in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Gangetic_Plain" title="Indo-Gangetic Plain">Indo-Gangetic</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_China_Plain" title="North China Plain">North China Plains</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan_Basin" class="mw-redirect" title="Sichuan Basin">Sichuan Basin</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_river_delta" class="mw-redirect" title="Nile river delta">Nile river delta</a>, Southern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Europe" title="Western Europe">Western Europe</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia" title="Indonesia">Indonesian</a> island of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java" title="Java">Java</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_America" title="Central America">Central America</a> (especially <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Salvador" title="El Salvador">El Salvador</a>, the Americas' most densely populated nation), and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a>' <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BosWash" title="BosWash">BosWash</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalopolis" title="Megalopolis">megalopolis</a>.</div> </div> </div> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia" title="Asia">Asia</a> accounts for over 60% of the world population with almost 3800 million people. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China" title="People's Republic of China">People's Republic of China</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a> alone comprise 20% and 17% respectively. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa" title="Africa">Africa</a> follows with 840 million people, 12% of the world population. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a>'s 710 million people make up 11% of the world's population. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America" title="North America">North America</a> is home to 514 million (8%), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_America" title="South America">South America</a> to 371 million (5.3%), and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia" title="Australia">Australia</a> 21 million.</p> <p><a name="The_15_most_populous_nations" id="The_15_most_populous_nations"></a></p> <h2> <span class="mw-headline">The 15 most populous nations</span></h2><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Die_15_bev%C3%B6lkerungsreichsten_Staaten.png" class="image" title="The 15 most populous nations"><img alt="The 15 most populous nations" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Die_15_bev%C3%B6lkerungsreichsten_Staaten.png/300px-Die_15_bev%C3%B6lkerungsreichsten_Staaten.png" class="thumbimage" width="300" border="0" height="139" /></a><p>Approximately 4300 million people live in these 15 countries, representing roughly two-thirds of the world's population. If added together, all nations in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union" title="European Union">European Union</a>, with 494 million people – about 7.3% of world's population in 2006 – would be third in the list below.</p> <table class="wikitable" style="font-size: 97%; text-align: right;"> <tbody><tr> <th>Country<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-12" title="">[13]</a></sup></th> <th>Population<br /><small>(millions)</small></th> <th>Percentage<br /><small>(of world)</small></th> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China" title="People's Republic of China">China</a></td> <td>1,321</td> <td>19.84%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a></td> <td>1,132</td> <td>16.96%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a></td> <td>304</td> <td>4.56%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia" title="Indonesia">Indonesia</a></td> <td>232</td> <td>3.47%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil" title="Brazil">Brazil</a></td> <td>187</td> <td>2.80%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a></td> <td>163</td> <td>2.44%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh" title="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</a></td> <td>159</td> <td>2.38%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria" title="Nigeria">Nigeria</a></td> <td>148</td> <td>2.22%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia" title="Russia">Russia</a></td> <td>142</td> <td>2.13%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a></td> <td>128</td> <td>1.92%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico" title="Mexico">Mexico</a></td> <td>107</td> <td>1.60%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines" title="Philippines">Philippines</a></td> <td>89</td> <td>1.33%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a></td> <td>84</td> <td>1.31%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany" title="Germany">Germany</a></td> <td>82</td> <td>1.23%</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt">Egypt</a></td> <td>81</td> <td>1.13%</td> </tr> <tr> <th>Total</th> <th>4,356</th> <th>65.32%</th> </tr> </tbody></table> <div class="thumb tleft"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 502px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:World_population_pie_chart.JPG" class="image" title="Population by region, 2007"><img alt="Population by region, 2007" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/World_population_pie_chart.JPG/500px-World_population_pie_chart.JPG" class="thumbimage" width="500" border="0" height="333" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:World_population_pie_chart.JPG" class="internal" title="Enlarge"><br /></a></div> Population by region, 2007</div> </div> </div> <p><a name="Ethnicity" id="Ethnicity"></a></p> <h2><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Ethnicity</span></h2> <dl><dd> <div class="noprint relarticle mainarticle"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_groups" class="mw-redirect" title="List of ethnic groups"><br /></a></i></div> </dd></dl> <p>The world is made up of hundreds of thousands of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_groups" class="mw-redirect" title="Ethnic groups">ethnic groups</a>, and due to mass <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_migration" title="Human migration">migration</a> across the planet over millennia, it is impossible to tell how many people belonging to a certain ethnic group inhabit the earth. The single largest ethnic group on the planet by far is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Chinese" title="Han Chinese">Han Chinese</a>, which represents 19.73% of the global population. For comparison 6.06% of the planet's population is of full or partial <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_people" title="Spanish people">Spanish ancestry</a>, and on a wider scale 14.2% of earth's population is of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan" class="mw-redirect" title="Sub-Saharan">Sub-Saharan</a> descent (those identifying as 'Black').</p> <p><a name="Demographics_of_youth" id="Demographics_of_youth"></a></p> <h2><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline"> Demographics of youth</span></h2> <p>According to the 2006 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook" title="The World Factbook">CIA World Factbook</a>, around 27% of the world's population is below 15 years of age.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-13" title="">[14]</a></sup></p> <p>Before adding mortality rates, the 1990s saw the greatest number of raw births worldwide, especially in the years after 1995, despite the fact that the birth rate was not as high as in the 1960s. In fact, because of the 160 million-per-year raw births after 1995, the time it took to reach the next 10<sup>9</sup> reached its fastest pace (only 12 years), as world population reached 6000 million people in 1999, when at the beginning of the decade, the reaching was designated for the year 2000, by most demographers. People aged 7 through 17 make up these births, today.</p> <p>1985–1990 marked the period with the fastest yearly population change in world history. Even though the early 1960s had a greater growth rate than in the mid and late 1980s, the population change hovered around 83 million people in the five-year period, with an all-time growth change of nearly 88 million in 1990. The reason is because the world's population was greater in the mid and late 1980s (around 5 billion) than in the early 1960s (around 3 billion), which meant that the growth rate in the 1980s was no factor on the dramatic population change. People aged 17 to 22 make up these births, today.</p> <p><a name="Forecast_of_world_population" id="Forecast_of_world_population"></a></p> <h2><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Forecast of world population</span></h2> <dl><dd> <div class="noprint relarticle mainarticle"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population_estimates" title="World population estimates"><br /></a></i></div></dd></dl> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" align="right"> <caption>U.S. Census Bureau estimates<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-14" title="">[15]</a></sup></caption> <tbody><tr> <th>Year</th> <th abbr="Population">Population<br />(in billions)</th> </tr> <tr> <th>2010</th> <td>6.9</td> </tr> <tr> <th>2020</th> <td>7.7</td> </tr> <tr> <th>2030</th> <td>8.4</td> </tr> <tr> <th>2040</th> <td>9.0</td> </tr> <tr> <th>2050</th> <td>9.5</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p>In the long run, the future <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth" title="Population growth">population growth</a> of the world is difficult to predict. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_territories_by_fertility_rate" title="List of countries and territories by fertility rate">Birth rates</a> are declining slightly on average, but vary greatly between developed countries (where birth rates are often at or below replacement levels), developing countries, and different ethnicities. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_rate" class="mw-redirect" title="Death rate">Death rates</a> can change unexpectedly due to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infectious_disease#Mortality_from_infectious_diseases" title="Infectious disease">disease</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars" title="List of wars">wars</a> and catastrophes, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_medicine#Modern_medicine" title="History of medicine">advances in medicine</a>. The UN itself has issued multiple projections of future world population, based on different assumptions. Over the last 10 years, the UN had consistently revised these projections downward, until the 2006 revision issued March 14, 2007 revised the 2050 mid range estimate upwards by 273 million.</p> <p>Alternately, the United States Census Bureau issued a revised forecast for world population that increased its projection for the year 2050 to above 9.4 billion people (which was the UN's 1996 projection for 2050), up from 9.1 billion people. A new United States Census bureau revision from June 18, 2008 has increased its projections further, to beyond 9.5 billion in 2050.</p> <p>Other projections of population growth predict that the world's population will eventually crest, though it is uncertain exactly when or how. In some scenarios, the population will crest as early as the mid-21st century at under 9 billion, due to gradually decreasing birth rates, (the "low variant" of <sup id="cite_ref-unpp_2-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-unpp-2" title="">[3]</a></sup>), The "high variant" from the same source gives a population between 10 and 11 billion in 2050.</p> <p>In other scenarios, disasters triggered by the growing population's demand for scarce resources will eventually lead to a sudden population crash, or even a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malthusian_catastrophe" title="Malthusian catastrophe">Malthusian catastrophe</a> (also see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overpopulation" title="Overpopulation">overpopulation</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_security" title="Food security">food security</a>).</p> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align: right; font-size: 96%;"> <caption>UN estimates (in thousands).<sup id="cite_ref-unpp_2-2" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-unpp-2" title="">[3]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-15" title="">[16]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-16" title="">[17]</a></sup></caption> <tbody><tr> <th>Year</th> <th>World</th> <th>Africa</th> <th>Asia</th> <th>Europe</th> <th>Latin America</th> <th>US and Canada</th> <th>Oceania</th> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">2010</th> <td>6,830,283</td> <td>984,225 (14.4%)</td> <td>4,148,948 (60.7%)</td> <td>719,714 (10.5%)</td> <td>594,436 (8.7%)</td> <td>348,139 (5.1%)</td> <td>34,821 (0.5%)</td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">2015</th> <td>7,197,247</td> <td>1,084,540 (15.1%)</td> <td>4,370,522 (60.7%)</td> <td>713,402 (9.9%)</td> <td>628,260 (8.7%)</td> <td>363,953 (5.1%)</td> <td>36,569 (0.5%)</td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">2020</th> <td>7,540,237</td> <td>1,187,584 (15.7%)</td> <td>4,570,131 (60.6%)</td> <td>705,410 (9.4%)</td> <td>659,248 (8.7%)</td> <td>379,589 (5.0%)</td> <td>38,275 (0.5%)</td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">2025</th> <td>7,851,455</td> <td>1,292,085 (16.5%)</td> <td>4,742,232 (60.4%)</td> <td>696,036 (8.9%)</td> <td>686,857 (8.7%)</td> <td>394,312 (5.0%)</td> <td>39,933 (0.5%)</td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">2030</th> <td>8,130,149</td> <td>1,398,004 (17.2%)</td> <td>4,886,647 (60.1%)</td> <td>685,440 (8.4%)</td> <td>711,058 (8.7%)</td> <td>407,532 (5.0%)</td> <td>41,468 (0.5%)</td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">2035</th> <td>8,378,184</td> <td>1,504,179 (18.0%)</td> <td>5,006,700 (59.8%)</td> <td>673,638 (8.0%)</td> <td>731,591 (8.7%)</td> <td>419,273 (5.0%)</td> <td>42,803 (0.5%)</td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">2040</th> <td>8,593,591</td> <td>1,608,329 (18.7%)</td> <td>5,103,021 (59.4%)</td> <td>660,645 (8.0%)</td> <td>747,953 (8.7%)</td> <td>429,706 (5.0%)</td> <td>43,938 (0.5%)</td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">2045</th> <td>8,774,394</td> <td>1,708,407 (19.5%)</td> <td>5,175,311 (59.0%)</td> <td>646,630 (7.4%)</td> <td>759,955 (8.7%)</td> <td>439,163 (5.0%)</td> <td>44,929 (0.5%)</td> </tr> <tr> <th style="text-align: right;">2050</th> <td>8,918,724</td> <td>1,803,298 (20.2%)</td> <td>5,217,202 (58.5%)</td> <td>653,323 (7.3%)</td> <td>767,685 (8.6%)</td> <td>447,931 (5.0%)</td> <td>45,815 (0.5%)</td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p><a name="Predictions_based_on_our_growing_population" id="Predictions_based_on_our_growing_population"></a></p> <h2><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Predictions based on our growing population</span></h2> <p>In 1798 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Malthus" title="Thomas Malthus">Thomas Malthus</a> incorrectly predicted that population growth would outrun food supply by the middle of the 19th century. In 1968 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_R._Ehrlich" title="Paul R. Ehrlich">Paul R. Ehrlich</a> reprised this argument in <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Population_Bomb" title="The Population Bomb">The Population Bomb</a></i>, predicting famine in the 1970s and 1980s. The dire predictions of Ehrlich and other <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-malthusianism" class="mw-redirect" title="Neo-malthusianism">neo-Malthusians</a> were vigorously challenged by a number of economists, notably <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Lincoln_Simon" title="Julian Lincoln Simon">Julian Simon</a>. Ehrlich's book spurred support for agricultural research that led to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_revolution" class="mw-redirect" title="Green revolution">green revolution</a> which led to dramatic improvements in crop yields. Food production has kept pace with population growth, but Malthusians point out the green revolution relies heavily on petroleum-based fertilizers, and that many crops have become so genetically uniform a crop failure would be very widespread. Food prices in the early 21st century are rising sharply on a global scale with serious malnutrition spreading widely in step.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-17" title="">[18]</a></sup></p> <p>On the opposite end of the spectrum there are a number of people who argue that today's low <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertility_rate" class="mw-redirect" title="Fertility rate">fertility rates</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America" title="North America">North America</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia" title="Australia">Australia</a>, combined with mass <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration" title="Immigration">immigration</a>, will have severe negative consequences for these countries.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-18" title="">[19]</a></sup></p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_poverty" title="Child poverty">Child poverty</a> has been linked to people having children before they have the means to care for them.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-19" title="">[20]</a></sup> More recently, some scholars have put forward the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_argument" title="Doomsday argument">Doomsday argument</a> applying <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayesian_probability" title="Bayesian probability">Bayesian probability</a> to world population to argue that the end of humanity will come sooner than we usually think.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-20" title="">[21]</a></sup></p> <p>It should be noted that between 1950 and 1984, as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution" title="Green Revolution">Green Revolution</a> transformed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture" title="Agriculture">agriculture</a> around the globe, world grain production increased by 250%. The energy for the Green Revolution was provided by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuels" class="mw-redirect" title="Fossil fuels">fossil fuels</a> in the form of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizers" class="mw-redirect" title="Fertilizers">fertilizers</a> (natural gas), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticides" class="mw-redirect" title="Pesticides">pesticides</a> (oil), and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrocarbon" title="Hydrocarbon">hydrocarbon</a> fueled <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irrigation" title="Irrigation">irrigation</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-21" title="">[22]</a></sup> The peaking of world hydrocarbon production (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil#Population" title="Peak oil">Peak oil</a>) may test Malthus and Ehrlich critics.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-22" title="">[23]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-23" title="">[24]</a></sup> As of May 2008, increased farming for use in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuel" title="Biofuel">biofuels</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-24" title="">[25]</a></sup> world <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_prices" class="mw-redirect" title="Oil prices">oil prices</a> at over $140 a barrel,<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-25" title="">[26]</a></sup> global <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth" title="Population growth">population growth</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-26" title="">[27]</a></sup> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change" title="Climate change">climate change</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-27" title="">[28]</a></sup> loss of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural" class="mw-redirect" title="Agricultural">agricultural</a> land to residential and industrial development,<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-28" title="">[29]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-29" title="">[30]</a></sup> and growing consumer demand in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" title="China">China</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" title="India">India</a><sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-30" title="">[31]</a></sup> have pushed up the price of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain" class="mw-redirect" title="Grain">grain</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-31" title="">[32]</a></sup> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007%E2%80%932008_world_food_price_crisis" title="2007–2008 world food price crisis">Food riots</a> have recently taken place in many countries across the world.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-32" title="">[33]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-33" title="">[34]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-34" title="">[35]</a></sup></p> <p>The world population has grown by about four billion since the beginning of the Green Revolution and most believe that, without the Revolution, there would be greater <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famine" title="Famine">famine</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malnutrition" title="Malnutrition">malnutrition</a> than the UN presently documents (approximately 850 million people suffering from chronic malnutrition in 2005).<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-35" title="">[36]</a></sup></p> <p><a name="Number_of_humans_who_have_ever_lived" id="Number_of_humans_who_have_ever_lived"></a></p> <h2><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">Number of humans who have ever lived</span></h2> <p>Estimates of the total number of people who have ever lived range approximately from 45 billion to 125 billion<sup class="noprint Template-Fact"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources since April 2008" style="white-space: nowrap;">[<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a></i>]</span></sup>. Many of the more robust estimates fall into the range of 90 to 110 billion humans<sup class="noprint Template-Fact"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources since April 2008" style="white-space: nowrap;">[<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a></i>]</span></sup>. It is difficult to estimate for the following reasons:</p> <ul><li>The set of specific characteristics which define a human being and distinguish early <i>Homo sapiens</i> from earlier or related species continues to be a subject of intense research and debate. It is thus not possible to know when to begin the count, nor which hominids to include.</li></ul> <ul><li>Even if the scientific community reached wide consensus regarding which characteristics distinguished human beings, it would be nearly impossible to pinpoint the time of their first appearance to even the nearest millennium because the fossil record is simply too sparse. Only a few thousand fossils of early humans have been found, most no bigger than a tooth or a knucklebone. These bone fragments are used to extrapolate the population distribution of millions of early human beings spread across the continents.</li></ul> <ul><li>Robust statistical data only exists for the last two or three centuries. Until the late 18th century, few nations, kingdoms, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Empire" class="mw-redirect" title="Global Empire">empires</a> had ever performed an accurate census. In many early attempts, the focus was on counting merely a subset of the people for purposes of taxation or military service<sup class="noprint Template-Fact"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources since April 2008" style="white-space: nowrap;">[<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a></i>]</span></sup>. Even with the advent of agencies such as the United States Bureau of the Census, reliable census methods and technologies continue to evolve. All estimates of population sizes preceding the 18th century are estimates, and thus the margin of error for the total number of humans who have ever lived should be in the billions, or even tens of billions of people.</li></ul> <p>"Guesstimating the number of people ever born... requires selecting population sizes for different points from antiquity to the present and applying assumed birth rates to each period..."<sup id="cite_ref-haub_36-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-haub-36" title="">[37]</a></sup></p> <p>According to one set of calculations based on 2002 data:<sup id="cite_ref-haub_36-1" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-haub-36" title="">[37]</a></sup></p> <ul><li>The number who have ever been born is around 106 000 000 000.</li><li>The world population in mid-2002 was approximately 6 215 000 000</li><li>The percentage of those ever born who were living in 2002 was approximately 5.8%</li></ul> <p><a name="Further_resources" id="Further_resources"></a></p> <h2><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline"> Further resources</span></h2> <ul><li>There is a map that is rescaled in order to display every country according to its population size. It is available at the University of Sheffield 'Worldmapper'<a href="http://www.worldmapper.org/imagemaps/imagemap2.html" class="external autonumber" title="http://www.worldmapper.org/imagemaps/imagemap2.html" rel="nofollow">[4]</a> site.<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-37" title="">[38]</a></sup></li><li>Population patterns and trends can be explored on the GeoHive interactive world atlas.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#cite_note-38" title="">[39]</a></sup></li></ul> <p><a name="References" id="References"></a></p>anilrajhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07706288838580174087noreply@blogger.com0