title: World population. Past, present and future trends.
abstract: The history of, and prospect for, world population growth is presented in this study. The study is based mainly on data compiled and published in the last years by the population Division, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the International Labour Organisation of the United Nations and the World Bank. The population of the world grew from about 300 million at the beginning of the Christian era to half billion in 1650 to one billion in 1800, to two billion in 1927, to three billion in 1960, to four billion in 1974, and to five billion in 1987. According to the medium variant of the United Nations projections the population of the world will reach six billion in 1988, seven billion in 2010, eight in 2023, nine in 2050, and ten around 2100. This number demonstrate the acceleration growth rate of world population which is explained be the theory of demographic transition. In 1985 developing countries had 3663 million persons or about three-fourths of the total population of the world. According to medium variant of projection the less-developed areas would increase their population to 4845 person by the end of the century or by four-fifths of the total. In contrast the developed countries would increase from 1174 million persons in 1985 to only 1277 million in 2000. Examining estimates of total and per capita income we must be impressed with the wide difference between the wealthiest and the poorest countries. The developed countries having the highest average incomes have undergone industrialization and modernization of the economy; the developing countries with lowest incomes are those with a predominance of agriculture in most cases. Statistical data shows that the disparity between the prosperity of the industrial countries and the poverty of the preindustrial countries was increasing in the last two decades.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tarcă
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001723:Birth Rate; D003906:Developing Countries; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D011156:Population Density; D011158:Population Growth; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014798:Vital Statistics