News / National
World population to reach 7 billion today: UN
31 Oct 2011 at 08:34hrs | Views
The world's seven billionth person will be born somewhere on earth on Today, United Nations forecasters say.
The number reflects rapid population growth, especially in developing countries, that will strain the planet's resources in coming years, experts say.
It took until 1804 for world population to reach 1 billion, and until 1927 to double to two billion. Then numbers began to balloon, reaching 3 billion in 1959, and 6 billion in 1998. At current growth rates, there will be 8 billion people by 2025.
"The world has absorbed big gains since 1950," John Bongaarts of the Population Council told the Associated Press. "For the rich, it's totally manageable...It's the poor, everywhere, who will be hurt the most."
The biggest gains are happening in sub-Saharan Africa ' especially in cities ' which has 900 million people now and could have 2 billion in 40 years.
High infant mortality and lack of access to family planning have contributed to high birth rates even as the region deals with the world's worst poverty.
"I never intended to have such a big number," John Baliruno, 45, a Ugandan father of nine, told the AP. "I with my wife had no knowledge of family planning and ended up producing one child after another. Now I cannot properly feed them.
"The environment is being destroyed by the growing population. Trees are being cut down in big numbers and even now we can't get enough firewood to cook food," he said. "In the near future, we will starve."
It's a sharp contrast with industrialised countries in Western Europe, which have seen their populations shrink or post only tiny increases.
China remains the most populous country with 1.34 billion people, but India is set to pass it in the next 20 years, reaching a population of 1.6 billion.
The number reflects rapid population growth, especially in developing countries, that will strain the planet's resources in coming years, experts say.
It took until 1804 for world population to reach 1 billion, and until 1927 to double to two billion. Then numbers began to balloon, reaching 3 billion in 1959, and 6 billion in 1998. At current growth rates, there will be 8 billion people by 2025.
"The world has absorbed big gains since 1950," John Bongaarts of the Population Council told the Associated Press. "For the rich, it's totally manageable...It's the poor, everywhere, who will be hurt the most."
The biggest gains are happening in sub-Saharan Africa ' especially in cities ' which has 900 million people now and could have 2 billion in 40 years.
"I never intended to have such a big number," John Baliruno, 45, a Ugandan father of nine, told the AP. "I with my wife had no knowledge of family planning and ended up producing one child after another. Now I cannot properly feed them.
"The environment is being destroyed by the growing population. Trees are being cut down in big numbers and even now we can't get enough firewood to cook food," he said. "In the near future, we will starve."
It's a sharp contrast with industrialised countries in Western Europe, which have seen their populations shrink or post only tiny increases.
China remains the most populous country with 1.34 billion people, but India is set to pass it in the next 20 years, reaching a population of 1.6 billion.
Source - UN
