Billions of people...

One day this month, the world's population will reach 7 billion.

It took thousands of years - from prehistory to 1960 - for humankind to reach 3 billion. But then it took only 39 years - to 1999 - to add the next 3 billion. And now it has taken just 12 more years to move from 6 to 7 billion.

Growth has been so rapid that the US Population Reference Bureau estimates that about 5 per cent of all the people who have ever lived are living now.
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Update 27 Oct: Seven billionth person to be born next week
SOME time on Monday, the strident cries of a newborn child will echo around the world. For humankind, the birth will mark the arrival of a remarkable milestone: a world population of 7 billion.