World's 7-billionth person to be born on Oct 31
The world population is expected to reach seven billion by Oct 31, according to the U.N. Population Fund.
And most probably, baby No. 7-billion will be born in the Asia-Pacific region, where the population growth rate is the highest in the world.
According to demographics, the world's population did not reach one billion until 1804, and it took 123 years to hit the two billion mark in 1927.
Then making babies became a regular pasttime — three billion people in 1959, four billion in 1974, five billion in 1987 and six billion in 1998.
The population is estimated to reach eight billion by 2025, 10 billion by 2083.
China is still the most populous country with a population of 1.34 billion.
Under the "one-child policy", which has been introduced for three decades, China has prevented 400 million people from being born.
And this has delayed the world's population to hit seven billion by five years, said Prof Zhai Zhenwu - dean of Beijing-based Renmin University's School of Sociology and Population.
The second most populous country, with 1.2 billion people, is India and this nation is expected to overtake China around 2030 when its population soars to an estimated 1.6 billion.
Next is the United States, with 312 million people. Its population has been increasing by almost one percent annually due to immigration.
Source: AP / Xinhua
Published Oct 27, 2011
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