The Whole World Represented in a Village of 100 People

Visualizing the world as a village of 100 people reveals a snapshot of global demographics, including racial distribution, gender balance, religious affiliation, and economic inequality.
In this village, Asia would be the largest contributor of residents, while non-whites would make up the majority of the population.
Economic disparities are stark, with a small portion of the village (20 people) receiving almost all available income.
Challenges such as inadequate housing, illiteracy, malnutrition, and limited access to technology loom large in this simplified representation of the world.

How can I better visualize the world as it is today?

Picture of the world population today

Raw population statistics can overwhelm us. Here's one way of visualizing the world and its economics, housing, health care, religious affiliation, and education: Shrink the earth's population to one village of exactly 100 people who mirror the racial, economic, religious, and other ratios of the entire globe.

Applying existing ratios, here's what that village would look like:

Where the villagers would be from:
- 60 would be from Asia
- 12 would be European in origin
- 15 would have come from the Western Hemisphere (9 Latin Americans, 5 North Americans, and one from Oceania)
- 13 would be from Africa
Sex / Gender:
- 50 would be female
- 50 would be male
Skin coloring
- 80 would be non-white
- 20 would be white
Villagers' religion:
- 67 would be non-Christian
- 33 would label themselves as "Christian"
Economics in the village
- 20 people would be receiving almost 90% of the village's total income
Housing in the village:
- 25 would live in substandard housing
Literacy in the village
- 17 would not be able to read at all
Nutrition in the village
- 13 would be malnourished
Life and death
- One would die within the year
- Two would give birth within the year
Educational levels of the villagers
- Two would have a college education
Access to technology and transportation
- 75 would have access to an electronic device
- 18 would have a vehicle of some kind

Data was compiled from documents published by Britannica Book of the Year, Habitat for Humanity, International Herald Tribune, the U.S. Census Bureau, the United Nations, UNESCO, and UNICEF. Research by Rekha Balu, Christine Engelken, and Jennifer Grosso.

This list is not presented to cause guilt. It is simply a way of helping us see the picture of reality.

-- Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu

Reflection Questions About Our GlobaL Village

How does the demographic distribution of this "global village" challenge current approaches to world evangelism, particularly in regions where the majority are non-Christian or face economic and educational hardships?
What strategies might churches and mission organizations need to adopt to reach and evangelize the 80% of the global population that is non-white and the 67% that identify as non-Christian?
How can church planting efforts approach the stark economic disparities illustrated in this village, where 20 people control almost 90% of the wealth? How do we plant sustainable communities of Christ-followers in a world of which this village is a mirror?
Only two out of 100 villagers have a college education, and only a few have access to a computer. What adjustments should be made to traditional evangelism and discipleship methods in light of the educational and technological realities of the global population?