What if the world were a village..?

9 people would speak English, 25 would have TVs, 20 would earn less than 65p a day and 17 would not be able to read…

The population of the world is enormous, and the figures are often hard to understand… so a popular children’s book investigates what the world would be like if we imagined it as a village of just 100 people.

22 out of the 100 villagers speak a Chinese dialect, while 9 speak English.

Around 1000 BCE, only 1 person lived in the village.

Of the 100 people in the global village:
61 are from Asia
13 are from Africa
12 are from Europe
8 are from South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean
5 are from Canada and the US
1 is from Oceania (Australia, New Zealand and Pacific islands)

One fifth of the villagers are 9 years of age or under, more than half are under 30. Just 1 is aged over 79.

In the village of 100, 40 people do not have access to adequate public or household sewage disposal and 18 do not have access to a safe source of water.

Of the 100 people in the global village:
32 are Christians
20 are Muslims
15 are non-religious
13 are Hindus
11 practise shamanism, animism and other folk religions
6 are Buddhists
2 belong to other global religions
1 is Jewish

By the year 2100, there will be 250 people in the village. Experts think that is the maximum number the village can sustain…

Find out what else is going on in the village in If the World Were a Village, written by David J Smith and illustrated by Shelagh Armstrong.

Date: 24 October 2007