Tweet
The U.N. Population Fund says that as of Oct 31 Earth will have 7,000,000,000 inhabitants.
Population of Earth to soon reach 7 billion
Posted Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011
She's a 40-year-old mother of eight, with a ninth child due soon. The family homestead in a Burundi village is too small to provide enough food, and three of the children have quit school for lack of the required fees.
"I regret to have made all those children," says Godelive Ndageramiwe. "If I were to start over, I would only make two or three."
At Ahmed Kasadha's prosperous farm in eastern Uganda, it's a different story.
"My father had 25 children -- I have only 14 so far and expect to produce more in the future," says Kasadha, who has two wives. He considers a large family a sign of success and a guarantee of support in his old age.
By the time Ndageramiwe's ninth child arrives, the world's population will have passed a momentous milestone. As of Oct. 31, according to the U.N. Population Fund, there will be 7 billion people sharing Earth's land and resources.
In Western Europe, Japan and Russia, it will be an ironic milestone amid worries about low birthrates and aging populations. In China and India, the two most populous nations, it's an occasion to reassess policies that have slowed once-rapid growth.
But in Burundi, Uganda and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, the demographic news is mostly sobering as the region staggers under the world's highest birthrates and deepest poverty. The regional population of nearly 900 million could reach 2 billion in 40 years at current rates.
"Most of that growth will be in Africa's cities, and in those cities it will almost all be in slums where living
Posted Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011
She's a 40-year-old mother of eight, with a ninth child due soon. The family homestead in a Burundi village is too small to provide enough food, and three of the children have quit school for lack of the required fees.
"I regret to have made all those children," says Godelive Ndageramiwe. "If I were to start over, I would only make two or three."
At Ahmed Kasadha's prosperous farm in eastern Uganda, it's a different story.
"My father had 25 children -- I have only 14 so far and expect to produce more in the future," says Kasadha, who has two wives. He considers a large family a sign of success and a guarantee of support in his old age.
By the time Ndageramiwe's ninth child arrives, the world's population will have passed a momentous milestone. As of Oct. 31, according to the U.N. Population Fund, there will be 7 billion people sharing Earth's land and resources.
In Western Europe, Japan and Russia, it will be an ironic milestone amid worries about low birthrates and aging populations. In China and India, the two most populous nations, it's an occasion to reassess policies that have slowed once-rapid growth.
But in Burundi, Uganda and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, the demographic news is mostly sobering as the region staggers under the world's highest birthrates and deepest poverty. The regional population of nearly 900 million could reach 2 billion in 40 years at current rates.
"Most of that growth will be in Africa's cities, and in those cities it will almost all be in slums where living
Comment