When I was a kid in school I was always told that the UK population was a seemingly unerring and steady 52 million. That was the figure quoted from the time I entered primary education until I left secondary education. If it changed during those 14 years, nobody mentioned it.Today, the UK's population is estimated at 63 million with the welsh population of 3 million making up a mere 4.8% of that. London's population is more than double that. As you might expect the death rate in the UK has decreased over the last 50 years but so has the birth rate. The only year where the death rate was higher than the birth rate was 1976 - perhaps it was the heat?
According to the United Nations, the world population reached 7 billion last October. That's a lot of people. You often hear the phrase that there are more people alive today than have ever lived. That's one helluva claim and, according to this BBC article on demographics, a false one. For every person alive today, it asserts, there are 15 persons dead.
For more information, you could look here for UK demographics and here for world demographics.
| Today's run at 15:32 | |||
| Distance | 4.01 km | Time | 22:21 |
| Pace | 5:35 min/km | Cadence | 80 spm |
| Comments: Sleet. Slippery. | |||
Click on the image and expand it. I've only just noticed the number of nuns present. Perhaps there was a Sister Act convention taking place nearby...?
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