Thursday 15 May 2008

China

For some context:
  • In July 2007, China's population was 1,321,851,888. With a world population of approximately 6.6 billion, one out of every five people on earth lives in China. In 1950, China's population was 563 million, but had grown to one billion in the early 1980s. For a stable population, the national fertility rate must be 2.1; China's is 1.7. China's population is expected to peak in 2030. India has a much faster rate of growth and is expected to surpass China's population in 2040. Source.
  • For a live counter of Chinese population, go here.
All of these statistics come from the May 2008 edition of the National Geographic magazine. Because it is hard to paraphrase statistics, they are all selected quotes.
  • 119 baby boys are born for every 100 girls.
  • The number of unmarried young Men-called bare branches-is predicted to be 30 million by 2020.
  • China's one-child policy created a generation of only children numbering 90 million.
  • Beijing enforces a one-dog policy that prohibits pets more than 14 inches high.
  • China is expected to overtake the U.S. as the world's largest economy in ten years.
  • Urban Chinese earn more than three times as much as those in rural areas[.]
  • Authorities have added 171 new pop culture references to China's national language registry.
  • Percent of the world's umbrellas made in China: 70
  • Percent of the world's buttons made in China: 60
  • Percent of U.S. shoes made in China: 72
  • Percent of U.S. kitchen appliances made in China: 50
  • Percent of U.S. artificial Christmas lights made in China: 85
  • Percent of US toys made in China: 50
  • Percent of Chinese goods sent to the U.S. that end up on Wal-Mart's shelves: 9
  • Percent of the U.S. toys recalled in the U.S. in 2007[:] 100
  • Number of months a Chinese factory worker would need to work to earn the money to earn the cost of a Thomas the Tank Engine train set: 6
More facts gleaned from the articles and paraphrased.
  • "Wang" is the family name of 93 million Chinese.

  • Sheng Qi, a Chinese artist, cut off his own finger in protest of the 1989 events of Tiananmen Square. (Picture above.) Visit his website.
Oops. I also forgot to add Minimal Ramblings of an Incoherent Mind :"A little home on the Internet where the quiet voices inside of my head can escape to be shared with the world. The loud voices, on the other hand, are silenced and stuffed into the basement to be punished for all eternity."

No comments:

Post a Comment