All the world in one village of 100 people

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:

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 grasp the picture of reality.

    -- Howard Culbertson,

Afterword: More on Our Diverse Village

Avoid being a missionary!

arrow pointing to the rightDoes the thought of being a missionary scare you? There are ways to avoid becoming one.

More world missions data for you