World Population: 6,374,830,793 And Counting

By Sarah Ives
National Geographic Kids News
August 03, 2004
In the time it takes you to count to ten, more than 40 babies are born worldwide.
Think that sounds like a lot? Try counting to 60. About 245 babies are born every 60 seconds.
There are currently more than six billion people in the world, and that number is getting bigger every day. In fact, the world population has grown by more than five billion in the last 250 years. And experts think it could reach nine billion by the year 2050!
If all of these numbers have your head spinning, you are not alone. Many experts are worried that such large population growth could have bad results.
Some people think that a bigger population could hurt the environment and increase the number of poor people, said Noreen Goldman, a population expert at Princeton University in New Jersey. That's partly because more people could create more pollution and use too many natural resources like land and water.
But not everyone thinks that a bigger population will be all bad. "Others see larger populations as the source of new ideas to solve these types of problems," said Patricia Dickerson of the U. S. Census Bureau, a government agency that collects and studies population data.
What will the effect of a larger population really be? Only the future will tell.
Just think, in the time it took you to read this article, hundreds more babies were born.
POPULATION FACTS
• The global population reached 6 billion in 1999. It was only 1.6 billion in 1900. That means most of the world's population growth happened in the last hundred years!
• The number of people who live in cities is growing much faster than the number of people who live in rural areas. In fact, according to Goldman, "in many wealthier countries, the rural population has actually been declining."
• The world's largest city is Tokyo, Japan. More than 26 million people live there. That's about twice as many people as live in all of New England.
• The world's largest country is China, with more than 1.2 billion people. That's about four times as many people as live in the United States!
• The smallest country is Vatican City. Only 860 people live there. Located in Italy, Vatican City is home to the pope.
QUESTIONS