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Sunday, February 7, 2010

Sobering CIA World Factbook Data II:

When people think of the various countries of the world, they'll probably envision China, India, Russia, the USA, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, and the UK. If they struggle for a bit, they can probably remember Australia, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Turkey, and Pakistan as also being important.

But a lot of countries have slipped completely beneath people's radars. The population figures of the world give a completely different image of how far our world has changed from under our feet and how different the comforting images inside our head are from the new reality. Inevitably, the poorest regions of the world continue to have the highest birth rates, so these trends aren't changing anytime soon. And unfortunately, there seems to be no limit to how poor a country can get while still supporting all of its people. Countries like Zimbabwe have a per capita GDP of $200 a year, and that's including purchasing power parity. Even so, their population went up this year. It sounds impossible, how can life be sustained with that little money? But somehow it is possible, and if it's possible for countries with $200 a year per capita, it's possible for the population of the world to increase where they make $500, $1,000, or $3,000 as well. Malthus seems to have taken a nap.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html?countryName=Egypt&countryCode=eg®ionCode=af&rank=16#eg

Rank
country Population Date of Information
1 China
1,338,612,968

July 2009 est.
2 India
1,156,897,766

July 2009 est.
3 United States
307,212,123

July 2009 est.
4 Indonesia
240,271,522

July 2009 est.
5 Brazil
198,739,269

July 2009 est.
6 Pakistan
174,578,558

July 2009 est.
7 Bangladesh
156,050,883

July 2009 est.
8 Nigeria
149,229,090

July 2009 est.
9 Russia
140,041,247

July 2009 est.
10 Japan
127,078,679

July 2009 est.


I bet a few of these surprised you. Indonesia is the 4th largest country on Earth?? What about Bangladesh having almost as many people as Pakistan, and being the 7th largest on Earth? Where do they even fit that many people into such a small country? And what's this, Nigeria outnumbers Russia and Japan?? Nigeria on the map doesn't look so mighty. It has no GDP to speak of. So how did it get so many people?

Let's look at the next 10 and see what other surprises are to be found:

11 Mexico
111,211,789

July 2009 est.
12 Philippines
97,976,603

July 2009 est.
13 Vietnam
88,576,758

July 2009 est.
14 Ethiopia
85,237,338

July 2009 est.
15 Germany
82,329,758

July 2009 est.
16 Egypt
78,866,635

July 2009 est.
17 Turkey
76,805,524

July 2009 est.
18 Congo, Democratic Republic of the
68,692,542

July 2009 est.
19 Iran
66,429,284

July 2009 est.
20 Thailand
65,998,436

July 2009 est.


When did Mexico get so big? Worse, how did ETHIOPIA, land of the starving drought-stricken send money now etc etc for the last thirty years, gain a higher population than GERMANY, that country which just 50 years ago fought the entire world on an even basis? How did that happen? What's going on here?

And why are there more middle eastern countries in the top 20 than European countries? What happened to Europe? Was it always this way? Did Thailand really have so many people? Since when?

21 France
64,057,792

July 2009 est.
22 United Kingdom
61,113,205

July 2009 est.
23 Italy
58,126,212

July 2009 est.
24 South Africa
49,052,489

July 2009 est.
25 Korea, South
48,508,972

July 2009 est.
26 Burma
48,137,741

July 2009 est.
27 Ukraine
45,700,395

July 2009 est.
28 Colombia
43,677,372

July 2009 est.
29 Sudan
41,087,825

July 2009 est.
30 Tanzania


Let's look at these numbers. There are more Thais, Vietnamese, and Filipinos than French, British, and Italians! Southeast asia more populous than Europe? Wha-? And how did South Korea, that tiny peninsula, end up with 48 million people? And wasn't Burma supposed to be poor and isolated, how do they support 48 million, ahead of the 'breadbasket of Europe' Ukraine too?

31 Argentina
40,913,584

July 2009 est.
32 Spain
40,525,002

July 2009 est.
33 Kenya
39,002,772

July 2009 est.
34 Poland
38,482,919

July 2009 est.
35 Algeria
34,178,188

July 2009 est.
36 Canada
33,487,208

July 2009 est.
37 Uganda
32,369,558

July 2009 est.
38 Morocco
31,285,174

July 2009 est.
39 Peru
29,546,963

July 2009 est.
40 Iraq
28,945,569

July 2009 est.


Argentina finally enters the picture, behind TANZANIA? How does Tanzania support itself? What possible industries does it have? And why is Spain slightly above Kenya, and Poland slightly below Kenya? Weren't both those countries once mighty empires? Why are there more Algerians, a giant desert country with a small inhabitable coastline, than Canadians? For that matter, why do tiny countries like Morocco and Uganda have only slightly fewer people than the second largest country on Earth, Canada?

41 Saudi Arabia
28,686,633

July 2009 est.
42 Nepal
28,563,377

July 2009 est.
43 Afghanistan
28,395,716

NA
44 Uzbekistan
27,606,007

July 2009 est.
45 Venezuela
26,814,843

July 2009 est.
46 Malaysia
25,715,819

July 2009 est.
47 Ghana
23,887,812

July 2009 est.
48 Taiwan
22,974,347

July 2009 est.
49 Yemen
22,858,238

July 2009 est.
50 Korea, North
22,665,345

July 2009 est.


Next up, more surprises. How can Saudi Arabia, a giant desert, support 28 million people? What do they eat and drink? Or how about Yemen, a tiny CORNER of a desert, with 23 million people? Why is Taiwan, a tiny island, home to 23 million people? Why does Uzbekistan, a tiny mountainous county, have nearly as many people as Afghanistan, a whole 27 million? And Ghana, that small rectangle in Africa? Where's Belgium? Where's Belarus? Where's 'the real world?'

51 Romania
22,215,421

July 2009 est.
52 Syria
21,762,978

July 2009 est.
53 Mozambique
21,669,278

July 2009 est.
54 Sri Lanka
21,324,791

July 2009 est.
55 Australia
21,262,641

July 2009 est.
56 Madagascar
20,653,556

July 2009 est.
57 Cote d'Ivoire
20,617,068

July 2009 est.
58 Cameroon
18,879,301

July 2009 est.
59 Netherlands
16,715,999

July 2009 est.
60 Chile


Sri Lanka, a tiny island off the coast of India, with more people than Australia, an entire CONTINENT? Did I just see that happen? Or how about Mozambique, a funny shaped small country in Africa, outnumbering Holland?

61 Burkina Faso
15,746,232

July 2009 est.
62 Kazakhstan
15,399,437

July 2009 est.
63 Niger
15,306,252

July 2009 est.
64 Malawi
15,028,757

July 2009 est.
65 Ecuador
14,573,101

July 2009 est.
66 Cambodia
14,494,293

July 2009 est.
67 Senegal
13,711,597

July 2009 est.
68 Mali
13,443,225

July 2009 est.
69 Guatemala
13,276,517

July 2009 est.
70 Angola


Wait, Guatemala? That's a tiny strip of land in Central America. Malawi is a river basin about as thin as a finger in Africa. And Ecuador is a small circle in South America. Where are they fitting all these people -- and with no possible economy to speak of for any of them? Meanwhile, Kazakhstan, that huge country, was smaller than Uzbekistan in the end? What happened there?

71 Zambia
11,862,740

July 2009 est.
72 Cuba
11,451,652

July 2009 est.
73 Zimbabwe
11,392,629

July 2009 est.
74 Rwanda
10,746,311

July 2009 est.
75 Greece
10,737,428

July 2009 est.
76 Portugal
10,707,924

July 2009 est.
77 Tunisia
10,486,339

July 2009 est.
78 Belgium
10,414,336

July 2009 est.
79 Chad
10,329,208

July 2009 est.
80 Czech Republic


Hey look, we've finally rediscovered Europe. Greece is now smaller than Cuba, not to mention the mighty Malawians, the Burkina Fasoins, the Angolans, and everyone else on Earth. Portugal once owned half the world but now is outnumbered by similarly small Ecuador and the little dot that is Rwanda.

81 Guinea
10,057,975

July 2009 est.
82 Hungary
9,905,596

July 2009 est.
83 Somalia
9,832,017

July 2009 est.
84 Bolivia
9,775,246

July 2009 est.
85 Dominican Republic
9,650,054

July 2009 est.
86 Belarus
9,648,533

July 2009 est.
87 Burundi
9,511,330

July 2009 est.
88 Sweden
9,059,651

July 2009 est.
89 Haiti
9,035,536

July 2009 est.
90 Benin


Same story here. Why is Burundi, a small dot in Africa, more populated than Sweden, once a powerful Empire? Why is the Dominican Republic, half of a small island in the Caribbean, more populous than Belarus, one of the largest countries in Europe? Why is Guinea, a small country in Africa, more populated than Hungary, once the seat of the mighty Hapsburg Empire? For that matter, where is Austria? Austria is losing to the other half of a small island, Haiti, and Benin, a tiny sliver of land in Africa.

91 Azerbaijan
8,238,672

July 2009 est.
92 Austria
8,210,281

July 2009 est.
93 Honduras
7,833,696

July 2009 est.
94 Switzerland
7,604,467

July 2009 est.
95 Serbia
7,379,339

July 2009 est.
96 Tajikistan
7,349,145

July 2009 est.
97 Israel
7,233,701

July 2009 est.
98 Bulgaria
7,204,687

July 2009 est.
99 El Salvador
7,185,218

July 2009 est.
100 Hong Kong
7,055,071

July 2009 est.


Hey look, Austria! Just below Azerbeijan, which is much smaller and in the middle of nowhere instead of the heart of Europe. And there's Switzerland, just losing to Honduras, a little country in Central America. And look, there's Israel, a pitiful seven million people dominating the news every single day, just beating out El Salvador, a tiny chunk of Central America, and Hong Kong, a city in China. And there's Serbia, source of all the wars in the 1990's
narrowly beating Tajikistan, a few mountains in central Asia.

Well, I could go on. We haven't even reached famous countries like Denmark, Norway, Finland, Georgia, Ireland, or New Zealand. But I've made my point. For some reason, countries with vast open territories and great wealth, are completely incapable of producing the most important statistic of all, living breathing humans who can populate it. Alternatively, countries with no economy and no land, can still fill them up to a seemingly infinite scope. Just consider again for a second that there are more people in Sri Lanka than Australia. That should be impossible.

The best way to keep immigrants out of our countries is to fill up the niches they could use if they were to come here. If all the niches are full, they will find high barriers to entry. If, alternatively, we continue to leave whole continents barren, like we have Australia, the former Soviet Union, Canada, the USA (only 1/4 the population of China even though we have more and better land), and even parts of Europe, it is inevitable that outsiders will continue to flow in. Nature abhors a vacuum. Not only is it senseless for people with both the money and the land to not people their own country, it is morally wrong to deny others said land when we aren't going to use it. That's like a dog in the manger. Use it or lose it, people. No one is going to tolerate giant states like Montana having fewer people than Guatemala or El Salvador. While we were strong, we conquered the world. What we should have done next was consolidate those conquests by physically settling it with additional people. Anchoring it as a vital outpost of living breathing dependents. Instead we sat around like some regent on his throne content with his conquests, never having any purpose in conquering in the first place. Due to this, we've lost the 'mandate of heaven.'

You cannot own territory without boots on the ground. If your boots are on the ground, no one else can take your territory -- even if they conquer it, you'll still end up peopling it. This is just a fact of nature. If whites aren't going to get serious about living, they can just hand over all their land to those who are. I'm sure Japan could use the extra room. So could China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. All of their population densities far exceed ours, and it hasn't stopped them from having a healthy economy either. We destroyed Japan for wanting more land than the tiny island they lived on, we insisted they stay in their cramped borders while we stretched out freely in our empty continents. If we want to maintain the moral legitimacy of that act, we have to make our lands into something as great as what Japan would have made them. Otherwise we are just like the native Americans who wasted two continents of space wandering around hunting buffalo or gathering nuts in the rain forest. People it or get the hell out and give someone else a chance. The world's patience won't last forever.

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