X-Message-Number: 24471 Date: Thu, 5 Aug 2004 10:24:11 -0400 From: "Jonathan Hinek" <> Subject: Rapid spread of sub-replacement fertility References: <> The rate of world population growth is important to all of us, I assume. Especially if our ultimate goal is a virtually unlimited life span for every Earthling. This article has some interesting insights about the last census: http://tinyurl.com/3mt6c Four Surprises in Global Demography: (1) the rapid spread of sub-replacement fertility, (2) the emergence of unnatural gender imbalances among the very young, (3) sustained increases in death rates (4) American "demographic exceptionalism". "Sub-replacement fertility is clearly no longer mainly a developed-nation phenomenon. If the Census Bureau's projections are roughly accurate, just about half the world's population lives in sub-replacement countries or territories. Apart from Mongolia, according to the Census Bureau, all of East Asia is sub-replacement, as are Thailand and Burma in Southeast Asia, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka in South-Central Asia, many Caribbean societies, and most South American countries. Perhaps the biggest surprise, given received notions about the Arab/Muslim expanse, is the recent spread of sub- replacement fertility to parts of the Arab and the Muslim world." http://www.fpri.org/ww/0505.200407.eberstadt.demography.html Full text available at the above URL. A longer version of the article is also set to be published in the September issue of ORBIS world affairs journal. -- Jonathan Hinek Eschaton Outlook http://tinyurl.com/6gmq2 Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=24471