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It took all of human history to reach a global population
of 1 billion people in 1804, but only a few more than 150 years to reach
3 billion in 1960. A population increase of 5-6 billion took only 12 years.
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The world population is currently about 6.2 billion, making
us the most numerous vertebrate species on the planet.
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Most European countries now have birth rates below replacement
rates. Italy
Russia, Austria, Germany, Greece, and Spain are experiencing negative rates
of natural population increase.
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Rich countries are or were colonial powers, while the poor,
rapidly growing countries were colonies, while the poor, rapidly growing
countries were colonies.
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There is a net gain of 2.5 humans per second, 9,000 per
hour, 214,000 per day, or about 77million per year in the world population.
Industrialized countries make up 20% of the world population but use 80%
of the world’s resources.
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The Latin American and the Caribbean region have the highest
gross national income (GNI) per capita of all developing country regions,
despite the decline in 2001.
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South Asia has the lowest GNI per capita ($450) and some
of the highest levels of child malnutrition in the world, with 53 % of children
below the standards for weight by age. It has the highest rate of youth
illiteracy-24 % for males and 41% for females--and, at 34 percent, the lowest
rate of access to sanitation facilities.