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Our Global Village
If Earth’s population were shrunk into a village of just 100 people—with all the human ratios existing in the world today—what would this tiny, diverse village look like? 60 are from Asia 14 are from Africa 12 are from Europe 8 are from South America, Central America, Mexico & the Caribbean 5 are from Canada and the United States 1 is from Oceania (an area that includes Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific) 20 are under age 9 35 are between 10 and 29 26 are between 30 and 49 15 are between 50 and 69 4 are over 70 On average, 1 person dies and 3 babies are born every year. The people of the village would have trouble communicating: 14 people would speak Mandarin 8 people would speak Hindi/Urdu 8 English 7 Spanish 4 Russian 4 Arabic (This list accounts for less than half the villagers. The others speak, in descending order of frequency, Bengali, Portuguese, Indonesian, German, French, and 200 other languages) Religious affiliations in the village would be: 33 Christians 22 Muslims 15 Hindus 14 Nonreligious, Agnostics, or Atheists 6 Buddhists 10 All other religions The distribution of resources would look something like this: Only 24 people always have enough to eat 40 do not have access to adequate sanitation 32 breathe unhealthy, polluted air 33 do not have nearby access to a source of safe water If all the money in the village were divided equally, each person would have about $6200 per year. In reality, the richest 20 people have over $9000 per year, the poorest 20 each have less the $1 per day. The other 60 have something in between. The average cost of food, shelter and other necessities is $4,000 - 5,000 per year. 24 do not have electricity In 2050, nearly 200 people will live in the village |