Introduction
Customer 6 Billion

On October 12, 1999, the Earth welcomed a newborn child that brought our planet's population up to the 6 billion mark, according to the U.N. Population Fund. While this is an astoundingly large number of people to have on the planet, what makes this figure even more remarkable is that as recent as 1960, there were only a little over 3 billion people on the planet. For the last century, we have been averaging a rate of increase in the world's population that would double it about every 50 years. If this continues, it means that we will have close to 12 billion people on the planet by the middle of this century. By some people's estimates, this would amount to complete environmental devastation if it were to happen.

 While the world's population has been growing at a staggering pace, it has not been a universal growth. Stable, developed countries like those in Europe have not seen that much growth. In fact, some of these countries have actually experienced a decline in their population. Almost all of the growth has been in developing countries. In some African countries, growth rates of more than 3% are not uncommon. An ironic part of this problem is that many of these countries with high growth rates are not even able to take care of the food, clothing, and housing needs of the citizens that they have right now.

U.S. Issues

In the U.S., our growth rate has been declining for years. We currently have a natural growth rate of about .6%. However, our overall growth rate is close to 1% because of immigration. This has been the situation for many decades now. In fact, the reason why our natural growth rate is as high as it is is because of the children that were/are being born to people that have immigrated to the U.S. in the last several decades. If we remove all of the people who have immigrated to the U.S. in the last several decades and their children from the census roles, the population of the U.S. would show no increase over that time period.

This situation is the source of some amount of controversy. Some groups view this growth as good. As the overall population of the U.S. ages, we will need an influx of workers to keep our economy stable, they claim. Others see this immigration in a different light. They see the influx of immigrants creating downward pressures on salaries and increasing the demand for social services.

The following websites will give you more information about population demographics and the controversy surrounding immigration in the U.S. Read through them and answer the questions below.

Population and Demographics

PopExpo
Census Bureau International Database (Be sure to check out the data for Afghanistan, Italy, Bulgaria, United States, and Zimbabwe, as well as any other countries)

Immigration

Federation for American Immigration Reform
CATO Institute

After reading through these and any other sites that you might find, answer the following questions:

• How do the rates of natural increase compare for Afghanistan, Italy, Bulgaria, United States, and Zimbabwe?  How do the demographic profiles compare?  Why do you think each country's demographic profile is the way it is?
  
• How many people were on the Earth when you were born?  What percentage of babies born worldwide in the same year as you are dead?  What percentage of babies born in the U.S. in the same year as you are dead?  What percentage of the Earth's population is younger than you?  What scenario do you see for the future of the Earth?
  
• Should immigration in the U.S. be cut, increased, or remain the same? Why (Support your position with evidence)?