Population

For the statistical meaning, see Population (statistics).

A population is the number of living people that live together in the same place.^[1] A city's population is the number of people living in that city. These people are called inhabitants or residents. The population includes all individuals that live in that certain area. The world population was estimated to have reached 7.5 billion in April 2017. Asia is the most populous continent, with its 4.3 billion inhabitants being 60% of the world population. The most populous country is India with 1.41 billion people.

Distribution of world population in 1994

Population density is the average number of people in a place. Urban areas such as big cities have a high population density. People living there lives close to each other. In areas with a low population density, people usually live far away from each other, such as in rural areas out in the countryside.

Usually population refers to the number of humans in a certain area. The maximum population that can be supported in an area is called the carrying capacity.

Population trends

Global population is going up, but the population growth rate is declining all over the world. Growth in poor countries is faster than in rich ones; some rich countries have a population pyramid that is nearly square. Urbanization is also common, and urban areas usually have lower birth rates. In population growth, births exceed deaths. In the modern world this is due to reduction of infant deaths, control of infectious diseases, and improved agriculture so more people can eat.

The change in population from 2010 to 2015 was:

• World: +420 million
• Africa: +146 million
• Asia: +223 million
• Europe: +3 million
• Latin America and Caribbean: +35 million
• Northern America: +14 million
• Oceania: +2.9 million

Human population control is the practice of altering the rate of growth of a human population. Concerns about overpopulation and its effects on poverty, environmental degradation, and political stability led to efforts to reduce population growth rates.

Related pages

• Population density
• Population growth
• Overpopulation
• Census

References

1. Holt Rinehart & Winston (2001). Earth Science. Austin, Texas: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 0-03-055667-8.

Further reading

• "A Summary of Human Population Dynamics" (PDF). Russel Hopfenberg, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department, Duke University.
• Henderson, Kirsten, and Michel Loreau. "An ecological theory of changing human population dynamics^{[permanent dead link]}." People and Nature 1.1 (2019): 31-43.
• YAN Kun(2011). The tendency equation of the population and its limit value in the United Kingdom (Brief annotation of the connection equation(R)), Xi'an: Xi'an Modern Nonlinear Science Applying Institute.