World Population Day is observed on July 11 every year to create awareness about family planning, maternal health, gender equality, poverty, and human rights.
This year the World Population Day assumes greater significance as the population will touch the seven billion mark by the end of October 2011. The theme of this year’s population day is ‘Calling Attention to Urgent Global Issues’ by which UN urges all governments, communities and individuals to understand and take action on issues related to population growth.
India, as per the recent census has 1.21 billion people, with a 181 million increase from the last census in 2001, which is equal to the whole population of Brazil.
Have you ever compared the size of Mumbai city with that of Australia on a map? They are two extremes - Mumbai looks like an amoeba stretching into the blue of the Arabian Sea, whereas Australia is a continent which can encompass a hundred Mumbais in it. But suprisingly, the commercial city of India is home for a population that equals the entire population of Australia. The combined population of UP and Maharashtra is higher than that of the US.
The literacy rate has gone up to 64% which is more worry than merry for the government as the literate people need jobs, which is a big challenge to provide
The country has possibly about 600 million people below the age of 30, maybe 400-450 million below the age of 20, but only 13% of these age groups are in college. So we have abundant jobseekers on hand but not enough jobs, so quite a huge number of people immigrate to the west and the Middle East for employment.
The country still has two-third of its population living in villages, and while achieving the status of a Superpower is still a distant dream for India it can expect some developments in the field of business outsourcing and service industry.
China still remains the most populous country on the planet, with 1.34 billion people but India is closing the gap with 1.21 billion.Population is placing a huge strain on the social services and infrastructure in both countries, hindering them from becoming Superpowers.
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