THE POPULATION OF THE EARTH.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4998, 31 March 1877, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE POPULATION OF THE EARTH.

(From The Times,)

The fourth yearly issue of Behm and Wagner’s now well-known statistical work on the population of the earth has just been published. Their estimate of the whole population of the globe for the present year amounts to 1 423,917,000, and the area of the land surface they calculate to be 51,340,800 square miles, thus giving an average density of about 28 people to 1 square mile. _ These data are apportioned among the various divisions of ; the globe as nearly as possible as follows : Square Inhabi- Density per Milos. tents. Square Mile. . Europe .. 8,776,493 809,178,300 .. 82 , Asia .. 17,079,333 824,548,600 ... 48 : Africa .. 11,415,894 199,021,600 .. 17J 1 A pol™nesia 3,391,210 4,743,600 .. 1| America.. 15,687,840 65,619,800 .- It Is curious to notice that the area of the land surface of the globe has decreased since last year’s issue ns much as 83,349 square 1 miles. The decrease mainly affects America, 1 and may, no doubt, greatly be attributed to the result of more accurate and extended survey 1 in the United States. But in all the other i divisions in the land surface the area Is given ’ as less than lost year, and this, no doubt, Is also to be attributed mainly to a simi--1 lar cause. This has had the effect, along with the absolute increase of the popu--1 lation, of slightly raising the density per square mile. The increase of the population i estimate for 1876 over that of 1875 is upwards of twenty-seven millions. Of course, it must not be imagined that this enormous increase is entirely caused by the excess of births over deaths, as the area has been afi fected by extended survey, so the population i figures owe their increase in a considerable ' degree to the result of recent censuses mainly in Europe and in India, and to a more accui rate knowledge of regions hitherto imperfectly known. The following are the populations of the ! various States of Europe, according to latest ■ estimates : 1 Germany, 1873. .42,723,242 Gt. Britain. 1876.38,450.000 , Austro-Hungary, Spain, IS7O ~16,551,647 i 1876 .. • • 37,700,000 Andora .. .. 12,000 Switzerland.lß7o 2,660,147 Portugal, 1874 .. 4.298,831 Ifetherlands,lß7s 3.809,327 Italy. 1875 ..27,482.173 Belgium, 1874 .. 5,336,634 Monaco, 1873 .. 5,741 Luxemburg, 1875 205,158 San Marino, 1874 7,816 Russia, 1870 ..71,730,930 Europ’n. Turkey 8,500,000 Sweden, 1875 .. 4,383,291 Eoumanla. 1873. 5,073,000 Norway, 1875 .. 1,802,882 Servia. 1875 _ 1,377.068 Denmark, 1870.. 1,930,000 Montenegro . France, 1872 ..36,102,921 Greece, 1870 .. 1,457,894 i The dates indicate the years in which the ■ data were obtained on which Behm and Wag- ! ner have based their estimate. In the case of , Great Britain, of course, the estimate is ■ founded on the returns of the Eegistrar- ■ General, for there has been no formal census , since that of 1871. In the case of other ■ countries in which the estimates is given for 1 the years 1875 and 1876 it is the result gene- : rally of a regular census, for several Continental Governments are not content, like ourselves, with a census once every ten years. We recently gave some account of the results ! of the German census of December, 1875. Behm and Wagner naturally give these re- ' suits in considerable detail, and in the case of i Germany and other European countries, as well as generally wherever information is to . be obtained, they point out any changes that may have been made in the boundaries of divisions and subdivisions of the surface. Since 1871 the population of Germanyhasincreasedby 1,693,762, There seems to have been a census taken in Norway in January of the present 1 year, the details of which have not yet been ' published, though Behm and Wagner gave the probable total as 1,815,000, an increase of about 12,000 on the estimate for 1875. The increase in the case of Great Britain over the estimate for 1875 is 352,000. Portugal shows an increase of about 310,000 since 1871, and if the population of the Azores and Madeira be added, it will raise the number in the table by 378,681. With regard to European Turkey, the estimates given by Behm and Wagner are rather more than those published some time since in an article in The Times on the population of Turkey. The population of Turkey proper is given as 8,500,000; Eoumania, 4,559,277 ; and Servia, 1,377,068. Behm and Wagner’s numbers are mainly founded on Kutschera’s estimate, the difference between this and that of Herr Jakschitch being mainly caused by a difference of opinion as to the density of population in and around Constantinople, and as to whether any portion of the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus should be included. It is clear, at all events, that the population of Turkey proper does not exceed eight millions, a little over one-third being Mahomedans. The population of the whole of the Turkish Empire in Europe, Asia, and Africa is given at 47,660,000, 20,600,000 being claimed by Egypt, Tripoli, and Tunis, and 13,000,000 by Asia. The total population of Eussia, both in Europe and Asia, is set down as 88,586,000, being an increase of 900,000 over the estimate for 1875. As might be surmised, this increase is simply in Central Asia, and arises from additions to territory. The area given for the whole of the Eussian Empire is 8,456,500 square miles, being an increase of 26,000 square miles over that of 1875. The increase has occurred mainly in Central Asia, where the Eussian territory covers an area of about 1,290,000 square miles, with a population of 4,650,210. The entire population of Asia is larger by twenty-five millions than the estimate given in last year’s issue of Behm and Wagner’s work. The increase mainly falls upon the East India Islands and Anam, the figures In the case of the latter being more than double those given in the tables of last year, viz., twenty-one millions. The population of British India is rather less than last year, 188,073,700, that of British Burmah being about 2,750,000, including tributary or protected States. The whole population of British India is close on 239,000,000. In a map of India which accompanies the work, the varying density of population in India is shown—from five inhabitants to over 750 per square mile. The greatest density is found, of course, about Calcutta, as also in patches all along the east coast, and over all the north-west provinces, Behm and Wagner have in this year’s publication collected and arranged a vast amount of recent material on the area and population of India, which we believe will not be found in any other single publication. In this they have done great service. The population of China is given as 405 millions, with 28J millions of outlying people. Hongkong seems to have decreased by upwards of 2000 since last year, the number now given being 121,985. Japan is set down at 33,209,014. According to the last statistics, the whole population of Australia amounts to 1,867,000; of New Zealand to 421,326. In the Fiji Islands the native population seems to be rapidly decreasing. It is calculated now not to exceed 70,000, while the whites who in 1872 numbered 2940, were last year only 1650. With regard to Africa, the population of Algeria was in 1875 estimated to be 2,448,961. The population of Egypt shows a slight increase over last year, being now seventeen millions. The inhabitants of Port Said now number 9,650, and of Ismilia 3,770. Many details are given concerning the area and population of Soudan and Central and West African States, the result of recent explorations. The British possessions in South Africa show an increase of territory and population, the latter numbering, according to data, 1,338,702. There is an increase over the whole of America of upwards of 1,200,000 over the number given last year. This increase seems to a considerable extent duo to the fact that more receit statistics have been obtained since

last year, the data in many instances referring to 1875 and 1876. The population in Newfound'and, e.g. is that of 1874, and is 161,386, showing a large increase over that of 1869, Canada is still 3,672,116, and the United States nearly 40,000,000. Mexico stands at 9,276,079, and this must be from quite recent data, as last year’s number was that of 1872. The Central American States show a slight decrease, the number this year being 2,828,164, the West Indies 4,316,178, and all South America 26,309,700, of which Brazil claims upwards of 11,000,000. A list of about 215 towns is given, which contain 100,000 or more inhabitants. On the exact line are Abeokuta, Herat, Leon (Mexico), and a considerable number of Chinese towns, the estimate of whose population must be founded mainly on conjecture. There are 29 towns whose population reaches or surpasses 500,000. Those at or above a million are Berlin, 1,045,000 ; Canton, 1,000,000 ; London (1876), 3,489,428 ; New York with Brooklyn (1875), 1,535,622 ; Paris, 1,851,792 ; Seangton, Shanchowfu, and Singanfu (China), each 1,000,000 ; and Vienna, 1,001,999. The entire area of British possessions abroad is given at 7,964,752 square miles, with a population of 203,941,766— excluding, of course, the protected Indian States. Such are a few of the data we have picked out of a work, tho value of which cannot be too highly estimated ; the labor and care involved in its preparation must be immense. It is a credit not only to Drs. Behm and Wagner, its laborious and accomplished compilers, but to the enterprise of the house of Perthes. ___