'No large group is known to have maintained complete reproductive isolation for extended periods…
no matter the languages we speak or the colour of our skin, we share ancestors who planted rice on the banks of the Yangtze,
who first domesticated horses on the steppes of the Ukraine, who hunted giant sloths in the forests of North and South America, and
who laboured to build the Great Pyramid of Khufu.'
—Douglas Rohde, Steve Olsen & Joseph Chang, Modelling the recent common ancestry of all living humans,
in Nature (2004)
Population of the world and continental regions,
all ages: 1950-2010
Notes: In 1950, the world's population was 2.5 billion. The population reached 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion
in 1987, and 6 billion in 1999. Projections suggest that it will reach 7 billion in 2012.
In 2005, 3.94 billion people lived in Asia, 920 million in Africa, 730 million in Europe (including all
of Russia), 560 million in Latin America and the Caribbean, 330 million in Northern America (the United States and Canada),
and 30 million in Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia). In a representative sample of
1000 humans, 604 would be Asian, 142 African, 112 European, 86 Latin American or Caribbean,
51 Northern American, and 5 Oceanian.
Europe's population has barely altered since the early 1990s, perhaps peaking at 731 million in 2007.
In 1950, 2.4 times as many people lived in Europe as in Africa, but Africa's population overtook Europe's in 1996.
The population of Latin America and the Caribbean first exceeded that of Northern America in 1953, and it will soon exceed
that of Europe.
Notes: In 1950, the world's population was 2.5 billion. The population reached 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1987, and 6 billion in 1999. Projections suggest that it will reach 7 billion in 2012.
In 2005, 3.94 billion people lived in Asia, 920 million in Africa, 730 million in Europe (including all of Russia), 560 million in Latin America and the Caribbean, 330 million in Northern America (the United States and Canada), and 30 million in Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia). In a representative sample of 1000 humans, 604 would be Asian, 142 African, 112 European, 86 Latin American or Caribbean, 51 Northern American, and 5 Oceanian.
Europe's population has barely altered since the early 1990s, perhaps peaking at 731 million in 2007. In 1950, 2.4 times as many people lived in Europe as in Africa, but Africa's population overtook Europe's in 1996. The population of Latin America and the Caribbean first exceeded that of Northern America in 1953, and it will soon exceed that of Europe.
Source of data: United Nations Population Division, "World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision".