Half of the world lives on 1% of the world's land

[Recursion]

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/01/world-population-distribution/422871/?utm_source=SFFB

You've probably seen the "more people live inside this circle than outside of it" map; here's a take on that with a different focus.



Half of the world lives on the 1% of the earth that is yellow.

[Petrushka]

1. Gives new meaning to "overpopulation" . . . Thanks for the link . . . (eom)

[elias49]

2. And there are 120 people per square mile, averaged, on this planet..

I can't imagine the population density in the areas of yellow on the map

[Recursion]

3. I live in one of the yellow dots on India's west coast

New York City is 8.5 million people in 750 sq km. Mumbai is 20 million people in 600 sq km (some of which are still reserved for farms). And 500 people per day migrate to the city.

You lose a lot of sense of privacy.

[elias49]

6. Holy s***! I don't know if I could take it..

I think my claustrophobia would get the better of me.

[Recursion]

7. You'd be amazed what you can adapt to

I grew up in a Mississippi town of less than 2000.

To me, what this map really speaks to is climate change.

You see that immense yellow concentration in northern India? That's the floodplain of the Ganges. That blob to its southeast is Bangladesh and Indian Bengal (where my wife's family is from). And, following to the southeast, that Indonesian island that's completely lit up is Java.

Every single person (about 1/5th of the world's population) living there depends on the monsoon for the crops they eat. Guess what climate change disrupts first?

When the Pentagon identifies climate change as a security issue, this is what they are talking about.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Above about 900 people per square mile, it says

It's anywhere with more than 8,000 people in a 3 by 3 mile square. Which really means any town with a population of more than 8,000.

[romanic]

4. Looks like India and South east Asia

are going to have to adopt population control, something akin to China's one child (or now two child) policy.

[Recursion]

5. Except China's policy didn't work.

Iran had the most effective family planning program ever, and adopted no specific limits.

[hobbit709]

8. a large chunk of the planet's land area isn't really suitable for habitation.

[Rex]

9. Yay two places with horrible health records.

A militant communist nation and a caste system nation...great...just what we needed.