World Population Day is an annual event, observed on July 11, which seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. The event was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989. It was inspired by the public interest in Five Billion Day on July 11, 1987, approximately the date on which the world's population reached five billion people.

What do people do?

World Population Day aims to increase people’s awareness on various population issues such as the importance of family planning, including gender equality, poverty, maternal health and human rights. The day is celebrated worldwide by business groups, community organizations and individuals in many ways. Activities include seminar discussions, educational information sessions and essay competitions.

Public life

World Population Day is a global observance and not a public holiday.

Background

In 1968 world leaders proclaimed that individuals had a basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and timing of their children. About 40 years later modern contraception remains out of reach for millions of women, men and young people. World Population Day was instituted in 1989 as an outgrowth of the Day of Five Billion, marked on July 11, 1987. The UN authorized the event as a vehicle to build an awareness of population issues and the impact they have on development and the environment.

Since then, with the United Nations Population Fund's (UNFPA) encouragement, governments, non-governmental organizations, institutions and individuals organize various educational activities to celebrate the annual event.

Symbols

The UN logo is often associated with marketing and promotional material for this event. It features a projection of a world map (less Antarctica) centered on the North Pole, enclosed by olive branches. The olive branches symbolize peace and the world map represents all the people of the world. It has been featured in colors such as blue against a yellow background.

The 16 countries with the largest total population:

Rank	Country / Territory	Population	Date	% of world population	Source
1	People's Republic of China	1,338,440,000	July 4, 2010	19.59%	Chinese Official Population Clock
2	India	1,182,760,000	July 4, 2010	17.31%	Indian Official Population Clock
3	United States	309,651,000	July 4, 2010	4.53%	United States Official Population Clock
4	Indonesia	231,369,500		3.39%	Statistics Indonesia
5	Brazil	193,147,000	July 4, 2010	2.83%	Brazilian Official Population Clock
6	Pakistan	169,920,000	July 4, 2010	2.49%	Official Pakistani Population clock
7	Bangladesh	162,221,000	2009	2.37%	UN estimate
8	Nigeria	154,729,000		2.27%	UN estimate
9	Russia	141,927,297	January 1, 2010	2.08%	Federal State Statistics Service of Russia
10	Japan	127,530,000	December 1, 2009	1.87%	Official Japan Statistics Bureau
11	Mexico	107,550,697		1.57%	INEGI estimate National Population Statistics of Mexico[45]
12	Philippines	92,226,600	Mid-2009	1.35%	National Statistics Office medium projection
13	Vietnam	85,789,573	April 1, 2009	1.26%	Preliminary 2009 census results
14	Germany	81,882,342	March 31, 2009	1.2%	Federal Statistical Office
15	Ethiopia	79,221,000	July 2008	1.16%	Ethiopia Central Statistics Agency
16	Egypt	78,455,000	July 4, 2010	1.15%	Official Egyptian Population clock

Projected Population
Year		India		China		World
2009		1,160,813,000		1,338,612,968		6,786,743,939
2012		1,208,116,000		1,366,205,049		7,028,369,002
2015		1,254,019,000		1,393,417,233		7,269,526,256
2020		1,326,155,000		1,430,532,735		7,659,291,953
2025		1,388,994,000		1,453,123,817		8,027,490,191
2050		1,807,878,574		1,424,161,948		9,538,988,263
Sources : National Commission on Population Govt. of India and U.S Census Bureau, International Database.

 

World Population Day 2010: Everyone Counts

Counting everyone is an integral part of ensuring that we take everyone into account. Good demographic data is critical for planning schools, health systems and public transportation, for designing policies based on future population projections, for monitoring the effectiveness of service delivery and much more.

This year World Population Day highlights the importance of data for development. The focus is on the 2010 round of the population and housing census, data analysis for development and UNFPA’s lead role in population and development.

Reliable data makes a difference, and the key is to collect, analyze and disseminate data in a way that drives good decision making. The numbers that emerge from data collection can illuminate important trends. What striking situation does research reveal in your country? What do the numbers tell you about progress toward meeting the MDGs? Are certain groups getting left behind?

2009 : Fight Poverty:Educate Girls

2008 : Plan Your Family, Plan Your Future

2007 : Men at Work

2006 : Being Young is Tough

2005 : Equality Empowers

2004: ICPD at 10

2003 : 1,000,000,000 adolescents