If the World Were a Village

A Book about the World’s People

By: David J. Smith

The village stirs and comes to life, ready for a new day. Who are the people of the global village? Where do they come from? 60 are from Asia 15 are from Africa 11 are from Europe 8 are from South America,

Central America (including Mexico) and the Caribbean

5 are from Canada and the United States

1 is from Oceania (an area that includes Australia, New Zealand and the islands of the south, west and central

Pacific)

More than half the people in the global village come from the 10 most populated countries:

20 are from China 17 are from India 5 are from the United States 4 are from Indonesia 3 are from Brazil 3 are from Pakistan 2 are from Bangladesh 2 are from Russia 2 are from Japan 2 are from Nigeria

The villagers greet one another in a babel of tongues. What languages do the people of the global village speak?

“Ni hao ma?” “Hello!” “Namaste!” “Zdraz-vooy-the.” “Hola!” “Ahlan.” “Selamat pagi.”

21 speak a Chinese dialect – of these people, 16 speak the Mandarin dialect 9 speak English 9 speak Hindi 7 speak Spanish 4 speak Arabic 4 speak Bengali 3 speak Portuguese 3 speak Russian

In the global village there are almost 6000 languages, but more than half of the people

speak these 8 languages:

One-fifth of the villagers are 9 years of age or under. More than half are under 30. Here are the ages of the villagers: 9 are children under age 5 10 are children between 5 and 9 18 are between 10 and 19 17 are between 20 and 29 15 are between 30 and 39 12 are between 40 and 49 9 are between 50 and 59 6 are between 60 and 69 3 are between 70 and 79 1 is over 79

On average, 1 person dies and 3 babies are born every year. A baby born in the village today can expect to live to age 63.

What religions do the people of the village follow? In the village of 100 people: 33 are Christians 22 are Muslims 14 are Hindus 9 practice shamanism, animism and other folk religions 5 are Buddhists 2 belong to other global religions, such as the Baha’i faith, Confucianism, Shintoism, Sikhism or Jainism 1 is Jewish 15 are non-religious

The villagers have many animals. They help to produce food or are a source of food. There are: 31 sheep and goats 23 cows, bulls and oxen 15 pigs 3 camels 2 horses700 chickens – yes, there

are seven times as many chickens as people in the global village!

30 people do not have a reliable source of food and are hungry some or all of the time. 17 other people are severely undernourished. So 53 people always have enough to eat.

There is no shortage of food in the global village. If all the food were divided equally, everyone would have enough to eat. But the food isn’t divided equally. So although there is enough to feed the villagers, not everyone is well fed:

In most of the village, the air is healthy and the water is clean. But not all villagers are so fortunate. For some, the air and water are soured by pollution, putting them at risk for diseases.

Or water may be in short supply. Instead of turning on a tap, some villagers must walk long distances to find clean water.

87 have access to a source of safe water either in their homes or within a short distance. The other 18 do not and must spend a large part of each day simply getting safe water. Most of the work of collecting water is done by women and girls. 62 have access to adequate sanitation - they have public or household sewage disposal - while 40 do not. 68 breathe clean air, while 32 breathe air that is unhealthy because of pollution.

There are 36 school-aged villagers (age 5 to 24), but only 30 of them attend school. There is 1 teacher for these students.

How many people in the village of 100 go to school?

Not everybody in the global village is encouraged to learn to read, write and think. Of the people old enough to read, 14 are illiterate, they cannot read at all. More males are taught to read than females.

In one part of the village, someone buys a new car.

In another, a man repairs the family’s bicycle, their most valued possession.

How much money do people in the global village have?

If all the money in the village were divided equally, each person would have about $10 300 US dollars per year. But in the global village, money isn’t divided equally.

The richest 10 people each have more than $87 500 a year.

The poorest 10 people each have less than $2 a day.

The other 80 people have something in between.

The average cost of food, shelter and other necessities in the village is more than $5000 per year. Many people don’t have enough money to meet these basic needs.

How many people in the village of 100 have electricity?

76 have electricity 24 do not

Of the 76 who have electricity, most use it only for light at night. In the global village, light is the one basic necessity that electricity provides. But some villagers have other luxuries that depend on electricity. In the village there are:

50 radios 45 televisions103 telephones (half of them cellular phones) 28 computers

Today, 100 people live in the global village. How many people lived here in the past? Around 1000 B.C.E., only 1 person lived in the village. In 500 B.C.E., 2 people lived in the village. In 1 C.E., 3 people lived in the village. In 1000, 5 people lived in the village. In 1500, 8 people lived in the village. In 1650, 10 people lived in the village. In 1800, 17 people lived in the village. In 1900, 32 people lived in the village. In 2012, 100 people live in the village.

What will our village be like in the future? How fast will it grow? How many people will it be home to?

Today, the village of 100 is growing at a rate of about 1.15 people a year. If there are 100 people in the year 2012, there will be more than 101 in 2013 and so on.

By the year 2150, there will be 250 people in the village. This is an important number, because

many experts think that 250 is the maximum

number of people the village can sustain.

And even then,there may be widespread shortages of

food, shelter and other resources.

Fortunately, groups such as the United Nations and many governments and private organizations are working hard to make sure that the village of the future is a good home for all who live in it. Their goal is a global village in which food, shelter and other necessities are basic rights for all.