7 Billion People? Yes, Give Or Take 56 Million
Several babies born today have been deemed the symbolic 7 billionth person — including a little girl named Nargis in Lucknow, India. Here she is with her mother, Vinita.
Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP hide caption
Several babies born today have been deemed the symbolic 7 billionth person — including a little girl named Nargis in Lucknow, India. Here she is with her mother, Vinita.
Rajesh Kumar Singh/APAs NPR and just about every other news outlet report about the milestone that United Nations experts estimate the world passed today — a population of 7 billion people — there's this from the BBC:
"The U.N. recognises that its own figures come with a 1 to 2 percent margin of error. Today's population could actually be 56 million higher or lower than 7 billion," according to U.N. population estimates expert Gerhard Heilig.
"There is a window of uncertainty of at least six months before and six months after the 31 October for the world population to reach 7 billion," he added.
Still, if it hasn't happened yet it looks like it will pretty soon. And as we reported Friday, there's also been work done on who is the world's "most typical person."