The Face of 7 Billion People

The above picture shows the Face of 7 Billion People.  The earth’s seven billion are depicted by 7,000 human figures, each representing a million people. Go to this site to zoom in on this face and you can also find out the main types of Language, Religion, Nationality, Race, Livelihood etc in our world today.

With world population projected now just above 7 billion which was reached this year on Oct. 31, there is renewed interest in our collective impact on the Earth. This is prompting some to wonder: are there too many people in the world?

While there is no consensus on the planet's carrying capacity, we do know that population will continue to grow. According to projections from the U.N. Population Division, world population will likely reach 10 billion before the turn of the century.

Overall, people are living longer, healthier lives, and many couples are choosing to have fewer children. But we are faced with the largest ever group of potential parents. And great disparities exist between countries. While many wealthy and middle-income nations are concerned with low fertility rates and ageing citizens, the world's poorest nations struggle to meet the needs of young and rapidly growing populations.

One particular concern is about the future of adolescents and youth: how can we ensure that younger generations inherit a world worth living in?

The world's 1.8 billion young people aged 10 to 24 constitute more than a quarter of the world's population. Just below 90 percent live in developing countries. As parents of the next generation, their choices will help determine future population trends.

During most of our lifetime, we have seen the world population nearly triple and have experienced the consequences, both positive and negative. Discussing numbers with economists and policy makers and hearing the dreams and needs of adolescents and youth have brought the picture into sharp focus. In the world's poorest nations, about 60 percent of people are under the age of 25.

The challenge is before us .... how to invest in the lives of our young ??