The Global Village : State of the Village
The world is a big place - really big. In fact, it's so big that it becomes hard to make sense of some of the figures and statistics that go with it. For most of us, numbers like 18,000,000 or 180,000,000 have little real meaning. We know they are large, but we can't imagine them as quantities the way we can with 6 apples, 2 tins etc.
This makes an understanding of world population statistics very difficult for most of us. An excellent way to overcome the problem is to use smaller values that we can mentally visualise.
In 1990, Donella H. Meadows published the original 'State of the Village Report'. It took the current world statistics and reproduced them as they would appear in a village of just 100 people. The village of 100 people reflects all the variations of the real world, but in values we can understand. So, with updates based on data for 2005, if the world was a village of 100 people, it would look like this...
| 60 | Asians |
| 14 | Africans |
| 12 | Europeans |
| 8 | Central and South America, Mexico and Caribbean |
| 5 | Canada and USA |
| 1 | New Zealand and Australia |
| 14 | Mandarin |
| 8 | Hindi / Urdu |
| 8 | English |
| 7 | Spanish |
| 4 | Russian |
| 4 | Arabic |
This is less than half the village. The rest of the villagers
would speak over 200 other languages between them |
|
| 33 | Christians |
| 22 | Moslems |
| 15 | Hindus |
| 14 | Non-religious, Agnostics and Atheists |
| 6 | Buddhists |
| 10 | All other religions |
| 51 / 49 | 51 would be male, 49 would be female |
| 67 | would be adults, half of whom cannot read or write. |
| 16 | would be children who have been immunized against the preventable infectious diseases such as measles and polio. |
| 1 | would have HIV but probably not yet have developed a full-blown case of AIDS. |
| 82 | would be non-white; 18 white |
| 2 | would be new born babies |
| 1 | would be near death |
| 11 | adult women will have, at some time, been beaten, abused, or forced to have sex against their will. |
| 2 | would have tried, or be using cannabis |
| 1 | would have a college education |
| 80 would live in housing you'd not consider to be fit for habitation |
| 39 would lack access to improved sanitation |
| 18 people are overweight |
| 50 wouldn't have enough to eat and would be suffering from malnutrition and 1 would be dying of starvation |
| 33 don't have access to safe water |
| 24 would not have access to electricity |
| Of the 76 people who do have access to electricity, most only use it to provide light at night. |
| There would be 42 radios, 24 televisions,14 telephones and 7 computers |
| 7 people would own a car or van of some sort |
| 7 people would have access to the Internet |
| 5 people would own 32% of the entire wealth of the village (and they all came from the USA) |
| 33 people would be trying to survive on just 3% of the entire wealth of the village |
| 83% of the fertilizer would be used on just 40% of the crop land - the land owned by the richest 27 people. The remaining 60% of the land would produce 28% of the grain and have to feed 73 of the people |
| 1 person would have control of enough nuclear weapons to vaporise the village may times over |
The following thoughts are well worth knowing, and make good assembly / class discussion starters ...
If you woke up
this morning healthy ... remember that you are much better off than the million
who will not survive this week.
If you have never
experienced the danger of battle, the fear and loneliness of imprisonment,
the agony of torture,
or the pain of starvation ... you are better off than 500 million people
in the world.
If you have food
in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep
...
you are more comfortable than 75% of the people in this world.
If you have money
in the bank, in your wallet, spare change in a drawer, a pocket or somewhere
...
you are among the top 8% of the world's most wealthy people.
If you can read
this, remember that there are over two billion people in the world who cannot
read at all.
If you have your
own PC at home, you own something that costs more than an average person earns
in an entire year in Somalia or Sierra Leone.
If you are 15
and you live in the UK, you can expect to live to about 77 if you are a boy,
or 81 if you are a girl. In the USA you'd expect to live to 75(b) and 80(g),
but if you are born in Botswana, you are already half way through your expected
time on earth! On average you wouldn't live to see your 31st birthday in Botswana.
If you were lucky enough to be born in Andorra though, you will probably live
to be 83.
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