Hello Aspirants!
Today in this blog we will be talking about World Population Day. We will brief you about the background, significance, theme and other important points related to this day.
Background
World Population Day was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989. It aims to shift the focus on the urgency and significant issues related to population. In 1987, five billion day was supposed to be celebrated on that day when the world’s population reached an estimated five billion people. It supposedly happened on July 11 of that year. Therefore the date, 11 July. The day was first celebrated on 11 july 1990 in more than 90 countries.
Significance of the day
According to the UN estimates, the world population is expected to reach 8.5 million by 2030, 9.7 billion by 2050 and a massive 10.9 billion by 2100. Currently the present world population stands at 7.9 billion as of July 2021.
This day proves to be significant with an aim to highlight the issues that arise on the planet due to constant rise in population. It is also observed to spread awareness about human rights.
Through this celebration people come to know about the importance of family planning, gender equality, human rights, maternal and child health, girl child education, child marriage etc.
Theme for 2021
The theme for 2021 is – “Rights and choices are the answer: Whether baby boom or bust, the solution to shifting fertility rates lies in prioritizing the reproductive health and rights of all people”.
Research by UNFPA ( United Nations Population Fund)
- In the second year of the pandemic, the gender based inequalities have worsened.
- Gender based violence and risk of child marriage icresed in the lockdown.
- UNFPA emphasizes that women must be empowered economically, educationally and politically to have choice over their bodies and fertility.
Present population of India
The current population of India is 1,393,531,257 as of July 2, 2021. It is equal to 17.7% of the total population in the world.
Population Trends
It took hundreds of years to reach the mark of 1 billion population. But in just another 200 years the population grew sevenfold. This growth has been seen mainly due to an increase in the number of people surviving to reproduction age. Major changes in fertility rates and increasing urbanization has also been an important factor. These increasing trends affect economic development, employment, income distribution and poverty conditions.
Top 10 countries with largest population :
- China
- India
- U.S.A
- Indonesia
- Pakistan
- Brazil
- Nigeria
- Bangladesh
- Russia
- Mexico
About UNFPA
Headquarters – New York, United States
Executive Director – Natalia Kanem
About UN
Headquarters – New York, United States
Secretary General – Antonio Guterres
With this, we come to the end of this article. We have discussed in detail about the world population day, its increasing effect on the ecosystem and other relevant points.
We will be back with more such articles. Till then, stay tuned.
