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    Why saving the world’s poorest children helps curb global population growth

    The world’s population is roughly seven billion, and the United Nations projects the figure will reach 11 billion by the end of the century. Most experts agree that curbing population growth is key to establishing a more peaceful and flourishing world in this century and beyond. Counterintuitive as it may seem, saving the world’s poorest children is essential to keeping population in check.

    Video by Gapminder

    18 September 2015
    A man explaining a world population graph from 1950 to 2100 showing an increase from around 2 billion to a projected 10 billion people.

    videoDemography and migration

    Is predicting population growth over the next century within the experts’ reach?

    2 minutes

    A man gestures while standing next to a set of blocks with red human figures in a dimly lit environment.

    videoDemography and migration

    Is the ‘population bomb’ real? The statistician Hans Rosling says ‘Don’t panic’

    59 minutes

    A map illustrating global human population distribution (1.2 billion) over time with significant historical events, created as an infographic.

    videoDemography and migration

    How we became more than 7 billion – humanity’s population explosion, visualised

    6 minutes

    A hand-drawn cartoon of a woman with a trolley full of grocery items while a cartoon Julian Simon looks on

    videoDemography and migration

    In 1980, two feuding professors bet on the fate of humanity. Who won?

    5 minutes

    Black and white photo of a woman’s face with columns of letters and numbers superimposed over it, creating a digital effect.

    videoComputing and artificial intelligence

    Civilisation peaked in 1940 and will collapse by 2040: the data-based predictions of 1973

    11 minutes

    Four children gathered around a stone table outdoors, engaged in an activity with papers and green leaves.

    videoFairness and equality

    How the one-child policy created a Chinese underclass of 13 million people with no rights

    15 minutes

    Illustration of Earth surrounded by asteroids, viruses, a rocket with a radiation symbol, and factories emitting smoke against a space background.

    videoAstronomy

    Life is durable and Earth-like planets aren’t rare. So where are all the aliens?

    6 minutes

    Illustration of a farm with grazing cows, pineapples, strawberries, tomatoes, banana trees, a river, and a bird in the sky.

    videoEcology and environmental sciences

    Producing food while restoring the planet – a glimpse of farming in the future

    7 minutes

    Illustration of a foetus inside a red orb, floating in space with a small satellite nearby against a starry galaxy background.

    videoSpace exploration

    Would children born beyond Earth ever be able to return to humanity’s home planet?

    5 minutes