Global Population
According to the United Nations, in 2011 the global population reached 7 billion people. Global population is said to be higher at this point in time than any other time in human history. Estimates are that global population will increase to 11.2 billion people by the year 2100. It is also estimated that, when combining all the people who have ever lived, there have been around 100 billion people.
The top five most populous countries in the world right now are the following:
- China (1.3 billion)
- India (1.1 billion)
- The United States (304 million)
- Indonesia (228 million)
- Brazil (192 billion)
These numbers indicate that six of the world's seven continents are heavily populated. Antarctica, obviously, is uninhabitable for other than non-permanent scientific research, while Asia accounts for about 60 percent of the global population. Four of the six most densely populated nations are in Asia-Singapore, Bangladesh, Taiwan, and South Korea-with Bahrain occupying the number two spot and Mauritius coming in a number five.
Interestingly, global population is not split evenly between men and women. Most demographic surveys indicate that there are 1.01 males for every 1 female on the planet. There are significant gender imbalances in China and India, skewing results in this manner. In attempting to project future global population and sex ratio, there are a number of variables, such as global birth rates, which may change significantly.