Overpopulation :: Human Population

During the first 2 one one thousand thousand one thousand thousand or so forms of its history the human nation was a minor element in the world ecosystem, with at most 10 jillion members. In the New Stone Age, less than 10,000 years ago, the round of humans began to ontogenesis to a greater extent rapidly. The rough equilibrium maintained sooner Neolithic times gave way when the human population developed floriculture and animal husbandry and no longer had to spread out in search of game. With the abandonment of a hunting-gathering way of life and the rise of changeless settlements and eventually cities, the human population underwent dramatic growth. By the beginning of the Christian era it had reached 250 million, and by 1650, half a billion. Growth of population during twentieth century was very rapid. In 1994 the total world population was estimated at about 5. 6 billion people. It increased nearly by 4 billions of people during past 100 years. The most significant worl d motion is that death rates are currently falling in sad and rich countries alike, while birthrates remain high in most brusque countries and low in most rich ones. Exceptions are the generally high death rates of Africa and the high birthrates of the rich oil-producing countries. The most populous countries, in descending order, are China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, and Russia. The U.S. population totaled about 260. 8 million in 1994. In the 1990s about 4. 1 million children were born annually in the United States, and more than 2. 1 million persons died yearly. The greater number of births is due in part to a profuseness rate that has increased by nearly 20 percent since the mid-1980s. planetary immigration, both legal and illegal, is another major element in U.S. population growth. Legal immigration has recently amounted to about 1 million per year illegal immigration is thought to be several hundred thousand. In China, the worlds most populous country, t he 1994 population was estimated at nearly 1. 2 billion, more than double the 1953 census population of 584 million in mainland China. Chinas annual increase has been estimated at 1. 1 percent annually. Indias population of more than 911. 6 million people (1994 est.) is increasing faster than that of China, and if present trends continue, it will soon amaze up with or surpass China. Since the disintegration of the USSR, Indonesia and Brazil are immediately the fourth and fifth most populous countries, with 1994 estimated populations of 199.