International School for Economics and Business Administration
Reitaku University
1. Theme of the Chapter
Given title of the chapter is World Population. Since the title of the book is Food and Population, it is expected that a point of discussion will be focused on such problems as the relations between world population and food supply in the past and how much population is expected to grow in the future, and also if there is room for its growth. Therefore, in this chapter discussion will be made on the world population trends from past, present, and future as well as on important problems the world is facing today and the carrying capacity of the earth. Finally, from the demographic point of view, the world population's future as to where we as mankind are heading for will be discussed.
2. Trends of World Population
According to the World Population Prospects (1994 edition) of United Nations Population Division, the world population as of July, 1996 was 5,804.2 million. It was approximately 1930 when the world population reached 2 billion (see Table 1). It is not certain exactly how many years passed since mankind originated, but it is said that it was about 150 thousand years ago when homo sapiens, present mankind, appeared on the earth. Therefore, this means it took 150 thousand years for the world population to reach first 2 billion. However, in 1975, it marked 4 billion and means it took only 45 years to add next 2 billion since 1930. And then, according to previously mentioned United Nations' projections, it is projected that it will take only 24 years, which will be in 1999, to add another 2 billion, to hit the 6 billion mark. Anyway, it seems certain that the world population will pass the 6 million mark around the year 2000. Moreover, according to the U.N. World Population Prospects, it is projected to become 9.8 billion in 2050 (see Table 1).
According to Durand's (John D. Durand) projections, the average annual
