In the future almost all population growth will be in the developing world.

2,000 years ago......at the dawn of the first millennium A.D. the world's population was around 300 million people.

1,000 years later… (AD 1000)...the population had risen by as little as 10 million. And well into the second millennium, it grew less than 0.1 percent each year. The numbers in Europe even fell in the 1300s—struck down by the Black Plague. But beginning in the late 18th century, the Industrial Revolution would raise living standards and spur growth.

800 years later… (1800)...the population had climbed to the landmark level of one billion people. Almost 65 percent of all people lived in Asia, 21 percent in a prospering Europe, and less than 1 percent in North America.

127 years later… (1927)...the two-billionth baby was born. From 1920 to 1950, the population growth rate hovered around 1 percent a year. But beginning in the middle of the century, the advent of antibiotics and other public health advances profoundly altered life expectancy, increasing the number of children who would live to bear their own children.

33 years later… (1960)...advances in medicine, agriculture, and sanitation had spread to many places in the developing world. By 1960, the global population reached three billion, and in the late 1960s the growth rate hit an all-time peak of 2.04 percent a year.

14 years later… (1974)...new reproductive technologies had helped curb the growth rate. But with so many people already on the planet, a population "explosion" was under way, and the epicenters of the explosion lay in the developing world. The four-billionth baby was born in 1974.

13 years later… (1987)...the five-billionth baby was born.

12 years later… (1999)...around October 12, 1999, the six-billionth baby arrived. Today, Europe and Africa each hold about 12 percent of the world's population. Nine percent live in Latin America, 5 percent in North America. And, just as in 1800, Asia is home to the majority of Earth's inhabitants—roughly 61 percent, or more than 3.5 billion people.

Roughly 50 years from now (2050) Over the next half century, our numbers will increase again, likely to a staggering nine billion people. Nearly all of this growth will take place in developing countries, where the demand for food and water already outstrips supplies.

rankcountryarea sq.km. population est est. 1China9,596,9601,330,044,5441,338,612,968 2India3,287,5901,147,995,9041,166,079,217 3USA9,826,630303,824,640307,212,123 4Indonesia1,919,440237,512,352240,271,522 5Brazil8,511,965196,342,592198,739,269 6Pakistan803,940172,800,048176,242,949 7Bangladesh144,000153,546,896156,050,883 8Nigeria923,768146,255,312149,229,090 9Russia17,075,200140,702,096140,041,247 10Japan377,835127,288,416127,078,679 Top 10 countries with the largest populations

This map was rescaled in order to display every country according to its population size

Will India’s population surpass China? The population clock in the Union Health Ministry, Nirman Bhavan, New Delhi, now ticks at the rate of 31 persons per minute. The clock shows that about 44,640 babies are born in India everyday. The birth rate in India (31 per thousand people) is greater than that of China (20 per thousand people). If this trend continues, India will surpass China by 2025.A.D."

Figure 27.5a