When thinking about the world's problems, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the vastness of the numbers involved - this page is a good shortcut to understanding. It brings the numbers down to size by supposing that the world was a village of 1,000 people. How many of those people have a computer? Just one -and that person would probably not be connected to the internet... (26 November 1996)
If we could shrink the Earth's population to a village of precisely 1000 people.... with all existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look like this:
There would be 570 Asians, 210 Europeans, 140 from the Western Hemisphere (North and South) and 80 Africans.
510 would be female; 490 would be male
700 would be nonwhite; 300 white. 700 would be non-Christian; 300 Christian.
890 would be heterosexual; and 110 would be homosexual.
59% of the entire world's wealth would be in the hands of only 60 people and all 60 would be citizens of the United States.
800 would live in substandard housing.
700 would be unable to read.
500 would suffer from malnutrition.
10 would be near death , 10 would be near birth
Only 10 would have a college education.
1 would own a computer
The following is also something to ponder . . . If you woke up this morning with more health than illness you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation . . . you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death . . .you are more blessed than three billion 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 richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a bowl someplace . . . you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
If your parents are still alive and still married . . you are very rare, even in the United States and Canada.
When one considers our world from such an incredibly compressed perspective, the need for both tolerance and understanding becomes glaringly apparent........
Source: This information was found on the Internet in 1996, then in 2000 it was lost--the URL changed and it was gone. Then in February, 2001 it showed up on a high school student's web page and again in personal email. The author of this page has pieced it together and posted it as you see here. Please feel free to check the credentials of the geography teacher responsible for re-posting this information.
Click To Go To:
 |
 |
|
 |
| Style Manual | Geo. Home |
