Excerpts from: If the World Were a Village: A Book about the Worlds People

by David J. Smith (2002)

Welcome to the Global Village Earth is a crowded place, and it is getting more crowded all the time. As of January 1, 2002, the worlds population was 6 billion, 200 million. Twenty-three countries have more than fifty million people. Ten countries each have more than one hundred million people. China has nearly one billion, three hundred million. What if we imagined the whole population of the world as a village of just 100 people? In this imaginary village, each person would represent about 62 million people from the real world. We will call it the Global village. Nationalities Of the 100 people in the global village: 61 are from Asia 13 are from Africa 12 are from Europe 8 are from South America, Central America(including Mexico) and the Caribbean. 5 are from Canada and the United States 1 is from Oceania (an area that includes Australia, New Zealand and the islands of the south, west and central Pacific) The ten most populated countries: 21 are from China 17 are from India 5 are from the United States 4 are from Indonesia 3 are from Brazil 3 are from Pakistan 2 are from Russia 2 are from Bangladesh 2 are from Japan 2 are from Nigeria Languages 22 speak a Chinese dialect-of these people, 18 speak the Mandarin dialect 9 speak English 8 speak Hindi 7 speak Spanish 4 speak Arabic 4 speak Bengali 3 speak Portuguese 3 speak Russian
1 Excerpts from: If the World Were a Village: A Book about the Worlds People, David Smith (2002)

Ages 10 are children under age 5 10 are children between 5 and 9 19 are between 10 and 19 16 are between 20 and 29 15 are between 30 and 39 11 are between 40 and 49 9 are between 50 and 59 6 are between 60 and 69 3 are between 70 and 79 1 is over 79 On average, 1 person dies and 3 babies are born every year. A baby born in the village today can expect to live to age 63. Religions 32 are Christians 19 are Muslims 13 are Hindus 12 practice shamanism, animism, and other folk religions 6 are Buddhists 2 belong to other global religions such as the BahaI faith, Confucianism, Shintoism, Sikhism or Jainism 1 is Jewish 15 are non-religious Food The villagers have many animals. They help to produce food or are a source of food. There are: 31 sheep and goats 23 cows, bulls, and oxen 15 pigs 3 camels 2 horses 189 chickens- there are nearly twice as many chickens as people in the global village. There is no shortage of food in the village. If all food were divided equally, everyone would have enough to eat. But the food isnt divided equally. 60 people are always hungry and 26 of these are severely undernourished. 16 other people go to bed hungry at least some of the time. Only 24 people always have enough to eat.

Excerpts from: If the World Were a Village: A Book about the Worlds People, David Smith (2002)

Air and Water 75 have access to a source of safe water either in their homes or within a short distance. The other 25 do not and must spend a large part of each day simply getting safe water. Most of the work of collecting water is done by women and girls. 60 have access to adequate sanitation-they have public or household sewage disposalwhile 40 do not. 68 breathe clean air, while 32 breathe air that is unhealthy because of the pollution. Schooling and Literacy There are 38 school-aged villagers (ages 5-24), but only 31 of them attend school. There is 1 teacher for these students. Not everybody in the global village is encouraged to learn to read, write and think. Of the 88 people old enough to read, 71 can read at least a little, but 17 cannot read at all. More males are taught to read than females. Money and Possessions If all the money in the village were divided equally, each person would have about $6200 per year. But in the global village, money isnt divided equally. The richest 20 people each have more than $9000 a year. The poorest 20 people have less than $1 a day. The 60 other people have something in between. The average cost of food, shelter and other necessities in the village is $4000 to $5000 per year. Many people dont have enough money to meet these basic needs. Electricity 76 have electricity. 24 do not. Of the 76 who have electricity, most use it only for light at night. In the global village, light is the one basic necessity that electricity provides. But some villagers have other luxuries that depend on electricity. In the global village there are: 42 radios 24 televisions 14 telephones 7 computers

Excerpts from: If the World Were a Village: A Book about the Worlds People, David Smith (2002)

The village in the future Today the village of 100 is growing at a rate of slightly less than 2 people a year. The growth rate is about 1.6 percent a year. Heres what would happen if the village continued to grow as fast as it is growing now: In In In In In 2050 2100 2150 2200 2250 there there there there there would would would would would be be be be be nearly nearly nearly nearly nearly 200 people. 400 people. 800 people. 1600 people. 3200 people.

In the past, it took 3000 years for the population to double 5 times. In the future, the population will double 5 times in just 250 years. (Not everyone agrees that the village will grow this fast) A note on sources and how the calculations were made Many resources were used to collect this data. The statistics were surprising. In addition, another surprise was that not all the sources agreed. While there is general agreement from one source to another on most of the statistics used in this document, there is some variation from year to year and source to source. The most notable area of disagreement was in predictions for future population growth, but there were also disagreements about food supply, education and clean air and water. Whenever possible, the most current statistics have been used; if necessary, averages or extrapolations have been made from related information. Among the sources used were the following annual reports and publications: Report WP/91 to WP/98, World Population Profile: 1991 to 1998. (www.census.gov/ipc) State of the World: A Worldwatch Institute Report on Progress toward a Sustainable Society. www.worldwatch.org The Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook. www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook The Information Please Almanac www.infoplease.com The New York Times Almanac. John W. Wright, ed. New York: Penguin Putnam, 1997-2001. The State of the Worlds Children www.unicef.org The Time Almanac . Borgna Brunner, ed. Boston: Information Please LLC, 1999-2001. The United Nations Human Development Report. www.un.org The Universal Almanac The World Almanac and Book of Facts. Robert Famighetti, ed. New Jersey: World Almanac Books. 1996-2001.
4 Excerpts from: If the World Were a Village: A Book about the Worlds People, David Smith (2002)

The World Development Report. World Bank. New York: Oxford University Press, 19922001. www.worlddbank.org World Resources: A Report by the World Resources Institute in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Development Programme. www.wri.org Vital Signs, The Environmental Trends that Are Shaping Our Future. www.worldwatch.org Also used were UN pamphlets and printouts through the UN website www.un.org and the Census Bureau Web Site www.census.gov The following books and atlases also provided data: The Economist Pocket World in Figures. The Economist. London: Profile Books, 1996. The Economist World Atlas. The Economist. London: Profile Books, 1996. Goodes World Atlas. Edward B. Epsendshade, Jr., ed. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1998. (This atlas was very helpful as it has a wonderful section of thematic maps.) The New Book of World Rankings. George Kurian. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1994. The Atlas of World Population History. McEvedy, Colin and Richard Jones. New York: Penguin Books, 1978. The National Geographic Atlas of the World. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1995. The National Geographic Satellite Atlas of the World. Washington, DC National Geographic Society, 1998.

Excerpts from: If the World Were a Village: A Book about the Worlds People, David Smith (2002)