THE CENSUS OF THE WORLD.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1042, 7 April 1882, Page 3

THE CENSUS OF THE WORLD.

Wh are accustomed to indulge in various vague expressions indicative of the largo ex tent of territory over which the British Empire is established, such as dosoibing it is a realm “upon which the sun never goes town. ” and other phrases of similar import ; hut it is nevertheless not one man in a thousand who has any definite idea of the actual measurement of the land over which Queen Victoria now reigns. We are indebted to a foreign periodical, the Annuaire da Bureau de Longitudes, for ascertaining this, as well as several other statistical details relating not only to Great Bitain, hut to otherleadingStates and countries. According to this account, there is a hot race between Russia and ourselves for tho lead in territorial possessions, and tho Czar rules over twenty-one millions of square kilometres whereas our gracious Sovereign is the mistress of twenty-two millions The Chinese Emperor comes next with 11J millions, thou the United States with 9| Turkey witli about CJ, and so on. In the matter of population the case stands rather differently. In a list of the seven States which boast mo'-e than 40 millions of inhabitants, France and Turkey stand at the bottom with totals of 40, and Germany is close to them with 47. Next above comes Russia with 88, and then we mount up «ith a bound to more than three times that number. Great Britain, with her Colonies and independencies, being credited with 285 millions. There is, however, still a much more populous nation —tho Chinese, which numbers no less than 420 millions. We do not, perhaps, very often reflect that onr population is larger than all Europe put together, even if the Colonial possessions of all of them be counted in.