Our World Village
In 1990 a professor at Dartmouth College wrote an article that began with the words: "If the world were a village of 1000 people..."
Professor Donella Meadows then proceeded to list statistics about the make-up of the world's population and the distribution of the world's wealth and resources. Meadows probably never imagined this simple article for her column called "The Global Citizen" would one day be widely circulated on the Internet and around the world, updated and even turned into a children's book. But the statistics, when boiled down into simple numbers that anyone could understand, are compelling reading and make it easy for everyone to grasp the inequities in our small world village.
If the World Were a Village of 1000 People...
According to the 1990 data Meadows used, if the world were a village of 1000 people, here are just a few statistics about how our world would look:584 would be Asians
123 would be Africans
95 would be East and West Europeans
84 would be Latin Americans
55 would be Soviets
52 would be North Americans
6 would be Australians and New Zealanders
165 would speak Mandarin
86 would speak English
5 would be soldiers
7 would be teachers
1 would be a doctor
300 would be Christians
175 would be Muslims
128 would be Hindus
330 of the people would be children
60 would be over the age of 65
200 people would control three-fourths of the income
200 would receive only 2% of the income
1/3 of the people would not have access to clean drinking water
3 people would die each year from lack of food
50% of adults in the village would be illiterate
These figures and others that Meadows included have been reprinted around the world, updated with more recent data, and whittled down to a village of 100 people. American author David Smith also wrote a children's book using the title "If the World Were a Village" that teaches kids about the world's population.
The concept is simple: we live on one small planet, and share scarce resources that are not always equitably distributed.
For the complete article and more statistics from Profesor Meadow's original article, see the State of the Village Report at the Donella Meadows Archive.
200 people would control 3/4 of the world's wealth
Professor Donella Meadows Biography
More about the woman behind the world village numbers
During her lifetime, Meadows was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, won the Walter C. Paine Science Education Award and was honored both as a Pew Scholar in Conservation and Environment and as a MacArthur Fellow.
She wrote a weekly column called "The Global Citizen," which appeared in more than 20 newspapers and provided commentary on world events from a systems viewpoint. It was in this column that she wrote the "world village" article.
Limits to Growth
A more in-depth look at the finite resources of our growing global village
Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update
Amazon Price: $15.30 (as of 12/14/2009)
From Publishers Weekly: Updated for the second time since 1992, this book, by a trio of professors and systems analysts, offers a pessimistic view of the natural resources available for the world's population. Using extensive computer models based on population, food production, pollution and other data, the authors demonstrate why the world is in a potentially dangerous "overshoot" situation. Put simply, overshoot means people have been steadily using up more of the Earth's resources without replenishing its supplies. The consequences, according to the authors, may be catastrophic.
World Village
Helping Children Understand
A book based on the idea articulated by Professor Meadows
If the World Were a Village - 2nd Edition: A Book about the World's People (CitizenKid)
Amazon Price: $12.89 (as of 12/14/2009)
There are currently more than six billion people on the planet! This enormous number can be difficult to grasp, especially for a child. But what if we im In a time when parents and educators are looking to help children gain a better understanding of the world's peoples and their ways of life, If the World Were a Village offers a unique and objective resource. By exploring the lives of the 100 villagers, children will discover that life in other nations is often very different from their own. The shrunk-down statistics -- some surprising, some shocking -- and David Smith's tips on building "world-mindedness" will encourage readers to embrace the bigger picture and help them to establish their own place in the global village.agine the whole world as a village of just 100 people?
And If We Whittled it Down to 100 People in Our Global Village....
Updated and modified with newer data
60 Asians
14 Africans
12 Europeans
8 Latin Americans
5 Americans and Canadians
1 South Pacific Islander
51 males
49 females
82 non-white
18 white
67 non-Christians
33 Christians
80 would live in substandard housing
67 would be unable to read
50 would be malnourished and 1 dying of starvation
33 would be without access to a safe water supply
39 would lack access to improved sanitation
24 would not have any electricity (And of the 76 that do have electricity, most would only use it for light at night.)
7 people would have access to the Internet
1 would have a college education
1 would have HIV
2 would be near birth and 1 near death
5 would control 32% of the entire world's wealth; all 5 would be US citizens
33 would be receiving and attempting to live on only 3% of the income of "village"
More Books About Our Global Village
Material World: A Global Family Portrait
Amazon Price: $16.50 (as of 12/14/2009)
Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 12/14/2009)
Women in the Material World
Amazon Price: $16.50 (as of 12/14/2009)
What the World Eats
Amazon Price: $15.63 (as of 12/14/2009)
"Your world is as big as you make it. - Georgia Douglas Johnson"
Peace on Earth, Our Global Village
Celebrate Peace on Our World Village
Earth Ornament, Peace In Many Languages, Glass With Natural Earth Continents, 50 Rivers, 2.5 Inches
Amazon Price: (as of 12/14/2009)
Celebrate the holidays with this peace on earth ornament that displays peace in 11 languages with the universal peace symbol.
Join the Global Village
Leave some feedback!
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- kimmanleyort kimmanleyort Nov 28, 2009 @ 2:45 pm
- Very well done. 5* Lensrolled to Donella Meadows lens.
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Reply
- hlkljgk hlkljgk Apr 26, 2009 @ 8:27 pm
- have you seen the miniature earth project: http://www.squidoo.com/visual_statistics#module12863615 ? right up your alley!
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- Sarunas Sarunas Mar 15, 2009 @ 11:56 am
- Great lens, dude.
5* from me :) Keep it up.
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Reply
- Sarunas Sarunas Mar 15, 2009 @ 11:55 am
- Great lens, dude.
5* from me :) Keep it up.
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Reply
- RolandTumble RolandTumble Feb 19, 2009 @ 2:14 am
- Great! 5* & lensrolled to my eco-lens
- Load More
About the Author
Lensmaster lisadh has been a member since July 23 2007, has rated 638 lenses, favorited 84, and has created 215 lenses from scratch. Lisa Howard donates their royalties to Squidoo Charity Fund and A Day of Hope. This member's top-ranked page is "Elf Yourself, Become an M&M or Turn Into a Simpsons Character". See all my lenses
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