World Population Day is Observed on 11 July every year, the objective of this event is to raise awareness of the global population issue. As per a United Nations report, India is going to surpass China in the headcount by 2024. India is already facing a plethora of problems and population is arguably the main cause for most of them.
The day was first marked in 1990 and at that time the global population stood at a little over five billion. Today, world’s population is 7.6-billion strong.
China and India with a population of 1.43 billion and 1.33 billion, respectively, account for nearly one-third of human population on earth. After China and India, the third most populated country is the United States of America whose total population is far less — 324 million. Nigeria is the seventh most populated country of the world but it is expected to overtake the US by the same time India overtakes China’s.
Studies reveal that by the year 2050, nine countries — India, US, Nigeria, Congo, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Indonesia — will contribute to 50 percent of the world’s total population.
By 2100 the population is expected to rise from 7.6 billion to 11.2 billion if steps are not taken to curtail the growth rate. Even as the fertility rate has slowed since the 1960s, 83-million people are still add to the world population every year.
With Africa topping the fertility rate at 4.6 births per woman, it is anticipated that over half of the world population growth will take place in the continent. Europe has the least fertility rate at 1.6 births per woman, approximately 4 times less than Africa.