Georgia Council on Economic Education w w w. g c e e. o r g

Perspective on the World Cultural Regions Anglo America Latin America Europe (to the Urals) Asia Middle East & North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Oceania

Anglo America Latin America Europe Asia Middle East Africa Oceania

Anglo America Latin America Europe Asia Middle East Africa Oceania

Anglo America Latin America Europe Asia Middle East Africa Oceania

If the World Were a Village A Book About the Worlds People Written by David J. Smith Illustrated by Shelagh Armstrong Kids Can Press, 2002

Earth is a crowded place. In 2002, there were 6,200,000,000 people on the earth. Numbers this big are hard to understand…but if we imagine the world as a village of 100 people, each person in the village would represent 62,000,000 people. Lets meet these 100 people.

Growth of the Village In 1000 B.C.E., 1 person lived in the village. In 500 B.C.E., 2 people lived in the village. In 1C.E., 3 people lived in the village. In 1000, 5 people lived in the village. In 1500, 8 people lived in the village. In 1650, 10 people lived in the village. In 1800, 17 people lived in the village. In 1900, 32 people lived in the village. In 2002, 100 people lived in the village.

Growth of the Village At the current growth grate of about 1.6% per year, the village will be home to 250 people by Many experts believe that this is the maximum number of people the village can sustain.

Nationalities Of the 100 people in the global village: 61 are from Asia8 are from Latin America 13 are from Africa5 are from Anglo America 12 are from Europe1 is from Oceania

More than ½ of the people in the village come from the 10 most populous countries: 21 are from China 17 are from India 5 are from the United States 4 are from Indonesia 3 are from Brazil 3 are from Pakistan 2 are from Russia 2 are from Bangladesh 2 are from Japan 2 are from Nigeria Nationalities

Ages 10 people are under age 5 10 people are between 5 and 9 19 people are between 10 and people are between 20 and people are between 30 and people are between 40 and 49 9 people are between 50 and 59 6 people are between 60 and 69 3 people are between 70 and 79 1 person is over 79 1/5 of the village is under age 9 1 person dies and 3 babies are born every year Life expectancy is 63 years

Languages More than ½ of the people speak these languages: Chinese dialect – 22 peopleEnglish – 9 people Hindu – 8 peopleSpanish – 7 people Arabic – 4 peopleBengali – 4 people Portuguese – 3 peopleRussian – 3 people

Religions Of the 100 people in the village… –32 are Christians –19 are Muslims –13 are Hindus –12 practice folk religions (shamanism, animism) –6 are Buddhists –2 practice Bahai faith, Confucianism, Shintoism, Sikhism or Jainism –1 is Jewish –15 are non-religious

Air and Water Fresh Air and Drinkable Water are Necessities… 75 have access to safe water in their homes or within a short walk; 25 do not and must spend a large part of each day collecting water 60 have access to adequate sanitation; 40 do not 68 breathe clean air, while 32 breathe air that is unhealthy because of pollution

Food There is plenty of food in the village: 31 sheep and goats 23 cows, bulls, oxen 15 pigs 3 camels 2 horses 189 chickens There is no shortage of food in the village. If all the food were divided equally, everyone would have enough food.

Food However…. 50 people do not have a reliable source of food and are hungry some or all of the time. 20 people are severely undernourished 30 people would have enough to eat