The world population has grown very rapidly. Why?

Natural growth rate is the main reason behind the population increase in the world. In a country, the natural growth rate is the difference between the birth rate and the death rate.Natural causes of population change are deaths and births.

• Until the 1800s, the population of the world rose steadily but moderately, for a very long period of world history.
• Although many babies were born, those babies died at a very young age.
• These deaths occured due to lack of adequate health infrastructure.
• People did not have access to adequate and nutritious food.
• Farmers were unable to meet the food requirements of the people as there was not enough production of the food.
• Hence the rise in population was very low.
• This sudden explosion in population was due to a sustained higher number of births and many factors such as reduction in the number of deaths, better access and supply of medicines and food.
• The number of live births per 1,000 people is the usual way to measure the birth rate.
• The number of deaths per 1,000 people is known as the death rate.
• The people moving in and out of an area is migration.
• The world’s population reached one billion in 1804.
• The world’s population reached 3 billion, in 1959, a hundred and fifty five years later.
• This is known as population explosion.
• 40 years later, the population doubled to 6 billion, in 1999.