Throughout almost the entire history of mankind, the population of the Earth has grown very slowly. The acceleration came in the period of modern history, and especially in the 20th century. The world population is about 6.1 billion people. The annual increase is approximately 85 million people or 1.4%. Almost 90% of it occurs at the expense of developing countries. Especially rapidly Africa's population is growing Muslim countries Asia. According to forecast estimates, the world population in 2050 will reach 9.3 billion people, of which 58% will live in Asia, 22 in Africa, and only 7% in Europe, including Russia. By the number of inhabitants, the largest will be (million people): India - 1535, China - 1523, Pakistan - 380, USA - 350 and Nigeria - 340.

The world's population is distributed extremely unevenly: about 70% of all people live on 7% of the earth's land area. Along with this, about half of all inhabited land has an average population density of less than 5 people per 1 km2. Areas completely undeveloped by people occupy 15% of the land. There are 4 regions on the globe high density population: South and East Asia, Western Europe and eastern North America. For the accommodation of the population strong influence have the natural conditions of the territory, employment in agriculture, attraction to transport and trade routes. For example, more than half of the population is concentrated in a 200-kilometer strip along the coasts of the seas and oceans, and almost 30% in a 50-kilometer strip. Average density population of the Earth - 40 people per 1 km2. This average hides very large differences between hotel regions and countries.

At present, the population is distributed very unevenly across countries and parts of the world: Asia - 3786 million people, Africa - 822, America - 829, Europe - 700, Australia and Oceania - 30. The largest (more than 100 million people) countries of the world in 2000 were: China - 1285, India - 1027, USA - 281, Indonesia - 228, Brazil - 175, Pakistan - 156, Russia - 145, Bangladesh - 131, Japan - 128, Nigeria - 127, Mexico - 104. 50 million people) were allocated to the Philippines - 83, Germany - 82, Vietnam - 80, Egypt - 69, Iran - 68, Turkey - 67, Ethiopia - 66, Thailand - 62, Great Britain - 59, France - 59, Italy - 58.

People are not the same appearance, according to the color of the skin, hair, eyes, the shape of the skull, face. These outward signs, by which one group of people differs from another, are called racial characteristics. Groups of people with similar racial characteristics are called human races. Main human races three: Caucasoid, Mongoloid and Equatorial. Most of the peoples of Eurasia belong to the Caucasoid race. Many Europeans moved to other continents centuries ago. Caucasoids inhabit most of North America and South America, Australia. Many peoples of Asia belong to the Mongoloid race, as well as Indians - the indigenous inhabitants of America. The main areas of settlement of the peoples of the equatorial race Africa, Australia, islands New Guinea and Madagascar. Negroes belonging to this race - the descendants of slaves taken out of Africa - live in North and South America.

As a result of communication between peoples of different races, mixed race. There are 3-4 thousand peoples or ethnic groups in the world. Ethnic groups are called established stable communities of people. The classification of peoples (ethnic groups) is usually carried out according to their number. The vast majority of peoples are small. There are 310 nations in the world with more than 1 million people, but they make up 96% of the total population of the Earth. Among all peoples, 18 largest stand out, numbering more than 50 million each, which account for about 60% of the world's population. More than 100 million people number only 7 peoples: Chinese (over 1 billion), Hindustanis, US Americans, Bengalis, Russians, Brazilians and Japanese.

Nowadays, the location of the population is increasingly determined by the geography of cities. When assessing the urban population, it should be taken into account that there is no single concept of “city” for all countries. For example, in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, a city is considered a settlement with more than 200 inhabitants, in Canada, Australia - over 1000, in Germany, France - over 2000, in the USA - over 2500, in India - over 5000, in Switzerland - over 10,000, and in Japan over 30,000.

Urbanization (from lat. city) is the growth of cities and the increase specific gravity urban population, as well as the emergence of increasingly complex networks and systems of cities. Modern urbanization has three common features that are characteristic of most countries of the world. The first feature is the rapid growth of the urban population. The second feature is the concentration of population and economy mainly in big cities. Among the large hearths, it is customary to highlight the cities-"millionaires" (with a population of more than 1 million inhabitants). The third feature is the "spread" of cities, the expansion of their territory, the formation of urban agglomerations - territorial groupings of urban and rural settlements. The largest urban agglomerations of the world have developed around Mexico City, Tokyo, Sao Paulo and New York; 16-20 million people live in each of them. In Russia, the largest agglomeration is Moscow (13.5 million people). According to the level of urbanization, all countries of the world can be divided into three large groups: highly urbanized (Kuwait, Great Britain, Sweden, Australia, Japan, USA, Russia, etc.), that is, with a share of the urban population of more than 50%, medium urbanized (20–50%) and slightly urbanized (less than 20%). The pace of urbanization largely depends on its level. In most economically developed countries that have reached a high level of urbanization, the proportion of the urban population in recent times grows relatively slowly or even decreases. AT developing countries Asia and Africa, where the level of urbanization is much lower, it continues to grow in breadth and urban population increases rapidly. This phenomenon, known in science as an urban explosion, has become one of the critical factors socio-economic development of the entire developing world.

Rural settlement is characterized by two main forms: group (village) and scattered (farm). The rural form prevails in Russia, foreign Europe, China, Japan, in the vast majority of developing countries. The farm form of settlement is most common in the USA, Canada, and Australia.

Population growth depends on the nature of its reproduction. Reproduction ( natural movement) of the population, the totality of processes of fertility, mortality and natural increase which ensure the continuous renewal and change of human generations. In the most simplified form, we can talk about two types of population reproduction

The first type of population reproduction is characterized by relatively low rates of fertility, mortality and natural increase. It is widespread in economic developed countries North America, Europe, Russia, Australia. However, in some countries foreign Europe(Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Hungary, etc.) natural population growth is so low that there is even a natural population decline.

The second type of population reproduction is characterized by high and very high performance fertility and natural increase. It is typical for developing countries, where, after gaining independence, the death rate dropped quite sharply and the birth rate remained at the same very high level. high level. Such a phenomenon of rapid population growth in countries of the second type of reproduction since the middle of the 20th century. received inliterature the figurative name of the population explosion.

Population migration, which is divided into external and internal, has a great impact on the distribution of the population, as well as on its size and composition. External migrations of the population arose in ancient times, continued in the Middle Ages, during the periods of the new and recent history. Until the middle of the XX century. The main center of emigration was Europe, the second - Asia. The US, Canada, Latin America, and Australia served primarily as centers of immigration. After the Second World War, the geography of external migrations changed markedly. Intercontinental migration has decreased and intracontinental migration has increased, especially in Europe, which now employs 12–13 million foreign workers. In the second half of the XX century. spread new form external migrations, known as the brain drain. Its essence lies in poaching foreign scientists, engineers, doctors and other specialists highly qualified. The "brain drain" has a particularly negative effect on developing countries, where the stratum of intelligentsia is small. In the late 80s - early 90s, due to the economic and political crisis the “brain drain” from Russia and other CIS countries intensified. There are several types of internal (intrastate) migrations of the population. This is the movement of people from countryside to the city, colonization and development of new lands, etc.

Population placement- Distribution of the population on the territory of the Earth. To a large extent, it depends on natural conditions. And since such conditions are not the same on the planet, the population is distributed extremely unevenly. Besides great importance have a history for the settlements of the territory and the level of development of the economy, etc.

Because of this, not all areas the globe favorable for human life. So, only 7% of the land area is home to 70% of the world's population, and 37% of the territory is not inhabited at all.

Population density- the number of people living on 1 km2. This is the main indicator of the distribution of people on the planet. The most densely populated areas ancient agriculture- the Nile Valley, the Great Plain of China, the Indo-Gangetic lowland, etc. There are favorable natural conditions, so the population density exceeds 300 people per 1 km2. Simultaneously in polar and tropical deserts, where the climate is extremely scrolling and limited terms for farming, the population density is less than 1 person per 1 km2. Europe is the largest part of the world, the smallest is Australia.

human races- groups of people who have certain common external features. External features that distinguish one group of people from another are called racial features. These include different skin color, hair, eyes, head shape, etc.

Racial characteristics are not random and formed a very long time ago as a result of human settlement of various geographical areas Earth. So, the inhabitants of the hot regions of the globe eventually developed adaptations that protected the body from overheating. sunbeams. They have dark skin, thick and curly hair, thick lips and wide open nostrils. All these are signs of representatives of the Negroid (equatorial) race.

The inhabitants of cold countries belong to the Caucasoid race. They have light skin, soft hair of different colors. The narrow nose limits the inhalation of cold air. These adaptations gave more chances to survive and settle in Europe, in a large area of ​​which the climate is characterized by significant cloudiness and relatively less heat.

The representatives of the Mongoloid race have a yellowish skin color, black straight hair. They have a narrow section of the eyes, since they have long lived in open spaces with strong winds and dust storms.

With the growth of the population of the Earth, peoples of different races communicated more and more closely with each other. Therefore, mixed races appeared.

The population of our planet is so diverse that one can only be surprised. What kind of nationalities, nationalities you will not meet! Everyone has their own faith, customs, traditions, orders. Its beautiful and unusual culture. However, all these differences are formed only by the people themselves in the process of social historical development. And what underlies the differences that appear externally? After all, we are all very different:

• blacks;
• yellow-skinned;
• white;
• With different color eye;
• various heights, etc.

It is obvious that the reasons are purely biological, not dependent on the people themselves and formed over thousands of years of evolution. That's how they formed modern races human, which explain the visual diversity of human morphology theoretically. Let us consider in more detail what this term is, what is its essence and meaning.

The concept of "race of people"

What is a race? It is not a nation, not a people, not a culture. These concepts should not be confused. After all, representatives of different nationalities and cultures can freely belong to the same race. Therefore, the definition can be given such as the science of biology gives.

The races of man are a collection of external morphological features, that is, those that are the phenotype of the representative. They were formed under the influence of external conditions, the impact of a complex of biotic and abiotic factors, and were fixed in the genotype during evolutionary processes. Thus, the signs that underlie the division of people into races should include:

• growth;
• skin and eye color;
• structure and shape of hair;
• hairiness of the skin;
• features of the structure of the face and its parts.

All those signs Homo sapiens how species, which lead to the formation of the external appearance of a person, but do not affect his personal, spiritual and social qualities and manifestations, as well as the level of self-development and self-education.

People of different races have a completely identical biological springboard for the development of certain abilities. Their general karyotype is the same:

• women - 46 chromosomes, that is, 23 pairs of XX;
• men - 46 chromosomes, 22 pairs XX, 23 pairs - XY.

This means that all representatives of a reasonable person are one and the same, among them there are no more or less developed, superior to others, higher. From a scientific point of view, everyone is equal.

Types of human races, formed over about 80 thousand years, have an adaptive value. It is proved that each of them was formed in order to provide a person with the possibility of a normal existence in a given habitat, to facilitate adaptability to climatic, relief and other conditions. There is a classification showing which races of Homo sapiens existed before, and which are at the present time.

Race classification

She is not alone. The thing is that until the 20th century it was customary to distinguish 4 races of people. These were the following varieties:

• Caucasian;
• australoid;
• negroid;
• Mongoloid.

For each, detailed characteristic features were described by which any individual could be identified. human species. However, later the classification became widespread, which includes only 3 human races. This became possible due to the unification of the Australoid and negroid group in one.

That's why modern views the races of man are as follows.

1. Large: Caucasoid (European), Mongoloid (Asian-American), Equatorial (Australian-Negroid).
2. Small: many different branches that were formed from one of big races.

Each of them has its own characteristics, characteristics, external manifestations in the form of people. All of them are considered by anthropologists, and the science itself, which studies this question is biology. Human races have interested people since ancient times. After all, completely contrasting external features often became the cause of racial strife and conflict.

genetic research recent years allow us to speak again about the division of the equatorial group into two. Consider all 4 races of people who stood out earlier and have become relevant again recently. We note the signs and features.

australoid race

Typical representatives of this group include the indigenous people of Australia, Melanesia, South-East Asia, India. Also the name of this race is Australo-Veddoid or Australo-Melanesian. All synonyms make it clear which minor races are included in this group. They are the following:

• australoids;
• veddoids;
• Melanesians.

In general, the characteristics of each group represented do not vary too much among themselves. There are several main features that characterize all small races of people of the Australoid group.

1. Dolichocephaly - an elongated shape of the skull in relation to the proportions of the rest of the body.
2. Deep-set eyes, wide slit. The color of the iris is predominantly dark, sometimes almost black.
3. The nose is wide, the bridge of the nose is pronounced flat.
4. The body hair is very well developed.
5. The hair on the head is dark in color (sometimes there are natural blonds among Australians, which was the result of a once-fixed natural genetic mutation of the species). Their structure is rigid, they can be curly or slightly curly.
6. The growth of people is average, often above average.
7. The physique is thin, elongated.

Within the Australoid group, people of different races differ from each other sometimes quite strongly. So, a native of Australia can be a tall blonde with a dense build, with straight hair, with light brown eyes. At the same time, the native of Melanesia will be a thin, short dark-skinned representative who has curly black hair and almost black eyes.

Therefore, the general features described above for the entire race are only an average version of their cumulative analysis. Naturally, miscegenation also takes place - mixing various groups as a result of natural crossing of species. That is why it is sometimes very difficult to identify a specific representative and attribute him to one or another small and large race.

Negroid race

The people who make up this group are the settlers of the following territories:

• Eastern, Central and South Africa;
• part of Brazil;
• some peoples of the USA;
• representatives of the West Indies.

In general, such races of people as Australoids and Negroids used to unite in the equatorial group. However Research XXI centuries have proved the failure of such an order. After all, the differences in the signs shown between the designated races are too great. And some similarities explained very simply. After all, the habitats of these individuals are very similar in terms of the conditions of existence, therefore, the adaptations in appearance are also close.

So, the representatives of the Negroid race are characterized by the following signs.

1. Very dark, sometimes blue-black, skin color, as it is especially rich in melanin content.
2. Wide eye slit. They are large, dark brown, almost black.
3. The hair is dark, curly, coarse.
4. Growth varies, often low.
5. The limbs are very long, especially the arms.
6. The nose is wide and flat, the lips are very thick, fleshy.
7. The jaw is devoid of a chin protrusion and protrudes forward.
8. Ears are large.
9. Facial hair is poorly developed, beard and mustache are absent.

Negroids are easy to distinguish from others by external data. Below are the different races of people. The photo reflects how clearly Negroids differ from Europeans and Mongoloids.

Mongoloid race

Representatives of this group are characterized by special features that allow them to adapt to fairly severe conditions. external conditions: desert sands and winds, blinding snow drifts and so on.

Mongoloids are the indigenous people of Asia and much of America. Their characteristic features are as follows.

1. Narrow or slanting eyes.
2. The presence of epicanthus - a specialized skin fold aimed at covering inner corner eyes.
3. The color of the iris is light to dark brown.
4. characterized by brachycephaly (short head).
5. Superciliary ridges thickened, strongly protruding.
6. Sharp high cheekbones are well defined.
7. The hairline on the face is poorly developed.
8. The hair on the head is coarse, dark in color, of a straight structure.
9. The nose is not wide, the bridge of the nose is low.
10. Lips of different thickness, usually narrow.
11. Skin color varies different representatives from yellow to swarthy, fair-skinned people are also found.

It should be noted that another characteristic feature is not high growth, both in men and women. It is the Mongoloid group that prevails in numbers, if we compare the main races of people. They populated almost all climatographic zones of the Earth. close to them quantitative characteristics there are Caucasians, which we will consider below.

Caucasian race

First of all, we will designate the predominant habitats of people from this group. It:

• Europe.
• North Africa.
• Western Asia.

Thus, representatives unite the two main parts of the world - Europe and Asia. Since the living conditions were also very different, then the general signs are again an average option after analyzing all the indicators. Thus, the following features of appearance can be distinguished.

1. Mesocephaly - medium head in the structure of the skull.
2. Horizontal section of the eyes, absence of strongly pronounced superciliary ridges.
3. Narrow protruding nose.
4. Lips of different thickness, usually of medium size.
5. Soft curly or straight hair. There are blondes, brunettes, brown-haired.
6. Eye color from light blue to brown.
7. Skin color also varies from pale, white to swarthy.
8. The hairline is very well developed, especially on the chest and face of men.
9. The jaws are orthognathic, that is, slightly pushed forward.

In general, a European is easy to distinguish from others. Appearance allows you to do this almost unmistakably, even without using additional genetic data.

If you look at all the races of people, the photo of whose representatives is located below, the difference becomes obvious. However, sometimes the signs are mixed so deeply that the identification of the individual becomes almost impossible. He is able to belong to two races at once. This is further aggravated by intraspecific mutation, which leads to the appearance of new traits.

For example, albinos-Negroids are special case the appearance of blondes in the Negroid race. genetic mutation, which violates the integrity of racial characteristics in this group.

Origin of human races

Where did such a variety of signs of the appearance of people come from? There are two main hypotheses that explain the origin of human races. It:

• monocentrism;
• polycentrism.

However, none of them has yet become an officially accepted theory. According to the monocentric point of view, initially, about 80 thousand years ago, all people lived in the same territory, and therefore their appearance was approximately the same. However, over time, growing numbers have led to a wider settlement of people. As a result, some groups found themselves in difficult climatic conditions.

This led to the development and consolidation of genetic level some morphological adaptations that help in survival. For example, dark skin and curly hair provide thermoregulation and a cooling effect on the head and body in Negroids. And the narrow cut of the eyes protects them from sand and dust, as well as from blinding by white snow among the Mongoloids. The developed hairline of Europeans is a kind of thermal insulation in severe winters.

Another hypothesis is called polycentrism. She says that different types races of man descended from several ancestral groups that were unevenly settled around the globe. That is, there were initially several foci, from which the development and consolidation of racial characteristics began. Again, under the influence of climatic conditions.

That is, the process of evolution proceeded linearly, at the same time affecting aspects of life on different continents. This is how the formation of modern types of people from several phylogenetic lines took place. However, it is not necessary to say for sure about the viability of one or another hypothesis, since evidence of biological and genetic nature, no molecular level.

Modern classification

The races of people according to the estimates of current scientists have the following classification. Two trunks stand out, and each of them has three large races and many small ones. It looks like this.

1. Western trunk. Includes three races:

• Caucasians;
• capoids;
• negroids.

The main groups of Caucasians: Nordic, Alpine, Dinaric, Mediterranean, Falian, East Baltic and others.

Minor races of capoids: Bushmen and Khoisans. They inhabit South Africa. In the fold above the eyelids, they are similar to the Mongoloids, but in other ways they differ sharply from them. The skin is not elastic, which is why the appearance of early wrinkles is characteristic of all representatives.

Groups of Negroids: Pygmies, Nilots, Negroes. They are all settlers. different parts Africa, therefore, the signs of appearance are similar. Very dark eyes, the same skin and hair. Thick lips and no chin protrusion.

2. Eastern trunk. Includes the following major races:

• australoids;
• americanoids;
• Mongoloids.

Mongoloids - are divided into two groups - northern and southern. These are the indigenous inhabitants of the Gobi Desert, which left its mark on the appearance of these people.

Americanoids are the population of North and South America. They have a very high growth, the epicanthus is often developed, especially in children. However, the eyes are not as narrow as those of the Mongoloids. Combine the characteristics of several races.

Australoids consist of several groups:

• Melanesians;
• veddoids;
• Ainu;
• Polynesians;
• Australians.

Their characteristic features have been discussed above.

Minor races

This concept is a rather highly specialized term that allows you to identify any person to any race. After all, each large one is subdivided into many small ones, and they are already compiled on the basis of not only small external hallmarks, but also includes data genetic research, clinical analyses, facts of molecular biology.

Therefore, small races are what allows you to more accurately reflect the position of each individual in the system. organic world, and specifically, in the composition species Homo sapiens sapiens. What specific groups exist was discussed above.

Racism

As we found out, there are different races of people. Their signs can be strongly polar. This is what led to the emergence of the theory of racism. She says that one race is superior to another, since it is made up of more highly organized and perfect beings. At one time, this led to the appearance of slaves and their white masters.

However, from a scientific point of view this theory completely absurd and untenable. The genetic predisposition to the development of certain skills and abilities is the same for all peoples. The proof that all races are biologically equal is the possibility of free interbreeding between them with the preservation of the health and viability of the offspring.

The population of our planet today exceeds 7 billion people. This figure is increasing every day.

Population of the Earth

Scientists have determined that in just a decade, the number of people on Earth will increase by 1 billion people. However, such dynamics of the demographic picture was not always so high.

A few centuries ago, the number of people increased slowly. People died from bad weather conditions and diseases in early age because the development of science and technology was at a low level.

To date, the largest countries in terms of population are Japan, China and India. The population of these three countries becomes half of the world's population.

The smallest number of people live in countries whose territory covers equatorial forests, tundra and taiga zones, as well as mountain ranges. The bulk of the world's population lives in the Northern Hemisphere (about 90%).

Races

All mankind is divided into races. Races are organized groups people who are united by common external features - body structure, face shape, skin color, hair structure.

Such external signs were formed as a result of adaptation human physiology to the conditions external environment. There are three major races: Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid.

The most numerous is the Caucasoid race, it includes about 45% of the world's population. Caucasoids inhabit the territory of Europe, part of Asia, South and North America and Australia.

The second largest is the Mongoloid race. The Mongoloid race includes people living in Asia, as well as the natives of North America - the Indians.

Negroid race ranks third in number. Representatives of this race live in Africa. After the slaveholding period, representatives of the Negroid race remained to live in South and North America.

peoples

Large races are formed by representatives of many peoples. Most of the world's population belongs to the 20 major nations, their number exceeds 50 million people.

Peoples are communities of people who lived in the same territory for long periods of time. historical periods and united by cultural heritage.

AT modern world there are about 1500 peoples. The geography of their settlement is the most diverse. Some of them are settled all over the planet, some are around within the limits of the settlement.

Humanity is a mosaic of races and peoples that inhabit our globe. The representative of each race and each nation has a number of differences in comparison with representatives of other population systems.

However, all people, regardless of their racial and ethnicity, are an integral part of a single whole - earthly humanity.

The concept of "race", division into races

A race is a system of a population of people who have a similarity of biological characteristics that have been formed under the influence of the natural conditions of the territory of their origin. Race is the result of adaptation human body under the natural conditions in which he had to live.

The formation of races took place over many millennia. According to anthropologists, this moment there are three main races on the planet, including more than ten anthropological types.

Representatives of each race are interconnected by common areas and genes that provoke the emergence of physiological differences from representatives of other races.

Caucasoid race: signs and resettlement

The Caucasoid or Eurasian race is the largest race in the world in terms of numbers. A characteristic feature of the appearance of a person belonging to the Caucasian race are Oval face, straight or wavy soft hair, wide eye slit, average lip thickness.

The color of eyes, hair and skin varies depending on the region of the population, but always has light shades. Representatives of the Caucasian race evenly inhabit the entire planet.

The final settlement on the continents occurred after the end of the century geographical discoveries. Very often, people of the Caucasian race tried to prove their dominant position in front of representatives of other races.

Negroid race: signs, origin and resettlement

The Negroid race is one of the three major races. Characteristic features people belonging to the Negroid race are elongated limbs, dark, melanin-rich skin, a wide flat nose, big eyes, curly hair.

Modern scientists believe that the first person of the Negroid race arose around the 40th century BC. within the territory of modern Egypt. The main region of settlement of representatives of the Negroid race is South Africa. Per recent centuries people of the Negroid race settled down considerably in the West Indies, Brazil, France and the USA.

Unfortunately, representatives of the Negroid race have been oppressed by "white" people for many centuries. They faced such anti-democratic phenomena as slavery and discrimination.

Mongoloid race: signs and resettlement

Mongoloid race is one of the largest races in the world. The characteristic features of this race are: swarthy skin color, narrow slit eyes, short stature, thin lips.

Representatives of the Mongoloid race mainly inhabit the territory of Asia, Indonesia, the islands of Oceania. Recently, the number of people of this race begins to increase in all countries of the world, which is caused by the intensification of the wave of migration.

The peoples that inhabit the earth

People - certain group people who have general series historical signs - culture, language, religion, territory. traditionally stable common feature people is its language. However, in our time, there are cases when different peoples speak the same language.

For example, the Irish and Scots speak English language although they are not British. To date, there are several tens of thousands of peoples in the world, which are systematized into 22 families of peoples. Many peoples that existed before disappeared or assimilated with other peoples at that moment.

The totality of people who live on the entire planet Earth is called the population, or, more simply, the population of the globe. The population refers to the object of study of many sciences, among which special emphasis is placed on demography (the word Greek origin, which means “description of the people”), a science that studies the processes of formation of the composition and size of the population, as well as the features of its distribution.

Introduction

At the moment, there is no universal opinion regarding the time of the appearance of man on Earth. Nevertheless, according to many demographers, the ancestors of man appeared about two million years ago, and the evolved man - about forty thousand years ago. According to the "statutes" modern science, the first people did appear in Africa. From here, the population of the globe settled on all continents, excluding Antarctica.

Occupying certain areas individual groups people for a long time under the influence of natural and climatic conditions changed, forming their own traditions, appearance, temperament, character and other traits. Thus, the main groups of people - races - appeared on the planet. In total, four races are distinguished: Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Australoid and Negroid. According to some scientists, it would be worthwhile to combine Australoids and Negroids into a common equatorial race.

Caucasoids

Caucasian race was formed by the indigenous peoples of the Middle East, Europe, North Africa. In ancient times, the European race populated the Middle and South Asia, later - Australia and America. Caucasoids are distinguished by predominantly light skin color, soft straight or slightly wavy hair, a narrow nose and thin lips. This race makes up half of the world's human population. The Caucasoid race includes all Slavs.

Mongoloids

The Mongoloid race was formed in the vast Asian spaces and settled in the South and North America, on islands Pacific Ocean. This includes almost 40% of the world's population. Anthropometric characteristics of this race include the following external features: yellowish skin tone, straight black hair, wide nose, narrow eyes, flat face.

negroids

The Negroid race was formed by equatorial African peoples. This race is different dark color skin, black curly hair, dark brown eyes, thick lips and a wide nose. On the body - underdeveloped hairline.

australoids

Unlike the Negroids, australoid race distinguished by light eye color and wavy hair. This race is made up of Indigenous Australians and Island Aborigines. If we consider the population of the globe in general, we can see that it is not widespread and is practically in danger of extinction.

Mixing

After the resettlement of representatives different races mixed and transitional races appeared outside the indigenous ranges. Scientists have long proved the equality of all races. Nikolai Miklukho-Maclay, who devoted his life to studying the peoples of the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean, made a significant contribution to the development of the theory of racial equality. In 1870-1883. he lived among the Papuans in New Guinea. Naturally, cultural development Papuans significantly differed from European standards.

Wild natives lived in conditions of the Stone Age. As a result of studying their way of life, Nikolai came to the conclusion that these peoples are capable of the same mental development, arts and learning, just like any other member of the world's population. The backwardness of these peoples is explained primarily by the considerable remoteness of their cells from the centers of civilization.

Analysis

According to some assumptions, for about fifteen thousand years the world's population was only three million people. The beginning of our era was marked by a powerful increase in population - the population of the planet amounted to 250 million people. According to history ancient world, in ancient times, tribal unions formed the first peoples who began to inhabit slave states Eurasia and Africa. To date, the planet is inhabited by approximately two thousand different peoples. The Chinese are recognized as the largest people - their number is over one billion. At the same time, there are peoples with fewer than a hundred representatives. No need to go far - in Ukraine, for example, there is one such people called Krymchaks.

The population density of the world is increasing every year. The rate of human growth accelerated with the onset of the second millennium of our era. If for the first millennium the population was 25 million people, then the second millennium has increased dramatically to 6 billion people. Such drastic changes explained by the fact that man has learned to produce required amount food, use medicine to overcome many diseases and create Better conditions for living. All these factors, coupled with the introduction of new, more humane laws, led to an increase in life expectancy, a decrease in infant mortality and, accordingly, an increase in the population.

Especially rapidly The population has been growing since the 1950s. the last century. For half a century there was a so-called population explosion. Surprisingly, it took only forty years for humanity to double its population. It is noteworthy that such rapid population growth is explained by an increase in the number of inhabitants in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In these countries, living conditions have improved, and this has allowed them to support the national tradition of conservation large family.

Most of the world's population is a cavalcade of 20 largest nations world, numbering more than 50 million. First of all, they include the Chinese, Americans, Brazilians, Bengalis, Russians, Japanese, Turks, Vietnamese, Iranians, French, British, Italians.

What is the population of the world now?

At the beginning of 2018, the population of our planet exceeds the number of 7.3 billion, but it is unevenly distributed according to various natural, climatic and historical factors.

Most people live in southeast and south Asia, as well as in Central and Western Europe. These areas make up about 70 percent of the world's population. In this case, how many people are there for two numerous states- China and India? These giants include about one third of all earthlings. There is only one territory on Earth that has not had and does not have a permanent population - Antarctica. Extremely harsh natural conditions do not give a person the opportunity to occupy these lands, therefore only employees of research stations are temporarily in Antarctica.

Forecasts

According to the UN forecast, by 2050 the world's population could reach 9.7 billion, and by 2100 it should presumably exceed 11 billion. Population began to grow at this rate only in the last few decades, so it is impossible to rely on any historical examples similar in forecasting possible consequences such an increase.

In other words, if the assumption of 11 billion is justified, the current level of knowledge will not allow us now to say what precedents humanity can expect in the future.

Formulation of the problem

The problem, in principle, is not in the size of the Earth's population, but in what will be the number of consumers, in the scale and nature of the consumption of resources from non-renewable sources.

According to David Satterwaite, most of the demographic growth over the next two decades will occur in countries where the income level of the population is estimated to be medium or low.

At first glance, an increase in the number of inhabitants in megacities, even if by several billion, should not have serious consequences if we consider the problem on a global scale. History shows that this is because city dwellers living in low- and middle-income countries are more low level consumption.

Residents of more prosperous countries in much more pollute environment, if we compare their way of life with the life of the inhabitants of poor countries.

According to scientists, if you look at the lifestyle of a single person, then the difference between the poor and rich categories of the population will be even more significant.

Looking to the future, we must beware of jumping to conclusions. Only time will tell how critical population growth will be for our planet.