STEVE CHIOTAKIS: According to the United Nations, the population of planet Earth will top 7 billion on Halloween this year. Chances are, that child will be born in India. That country will likely replace China as the world’s most populous nation in the next 15 years.
And India’s population growth is the subject of today’s Globalist Quiz. Joining us now is our quiz master Stephan Richter from the Globalist.com. Good morning Stephan.
STEPHAN RICHTER: Good morning Steve. Ready for today’s Globalist quiz?
CHIOTAKIS: I am ready. Let’s do it.
RICHTER: So my question to you is, India now has 1.2 billion people.
CHIOTAKIS: Yes.
RICHTER: It increased, obviously — the Indian population — over the last decade. Question is: Just by how much did the population of India increase? By the equivalent of the entire population of A) Germany; B) Russia; C) Pakistan or D) The United States?
CHIOTAKIS: I’m going to say — Germany.
BUZZER
RICHTER: That is a good answer, only if I’d asked you by how much the global population in total increases each year which is by an entire Germany — 82 million people.
CHIOTAKIS: Yeah.
RICHTER: India has increased, obviously by more.
CHIOTAKIS: All right. Let’s go with Russia.
BUZZER
RICHTER: No Russia.
CHIOTAKIS: No Russia.
RICHTER: No Russia.
CHIOTAKIS: Well, Pakistan.
DING DING DING DING
RICHTER: Can you imagine what that means in terms of Pakistani psychology, that India increased its population by 181 million over one decade? Where as Pakistan only has 189 million people in total. But here’s the real upshot for our American listeners. Between now and 2035, the population of India is expected to rise by 313 million people.
CHIOTAKIS: About the population of the United States.
RICHTER: Imagine what that does to India, which yes has a nice large geography but a lot of people, and adding 300 million people between now and then. Imagine the pressures on the environment and on the earth all together.
CHIOTAKIS: Stephan Richter from the Globalist. Stephan thanks.
RICHTER: Good to have been with you today.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
