Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/295

* POPULATION. 251 POPULATION. rnrxTBT Population Chinese Empire 400 British Empire 400 Rusiiian Empire 135 Frauce 85 United States (incIudlDg the Philippine Islands and Porto Kiuoi 84 German Empire 70 Austria-Hungary '45 Japan 44 Ketherlands 43 Ottoman Empire (with Egypt. Bulgaria. Bosnia, etc.) 40 Italy 32 IxcBEASE. At no time since recorded history began has the increase of population been so rapid as during the nineteenth century, espe- cially the second half of it, when the outflow of people from Western Europe to America. Aus- tralia, and South Africa added great numbers to the population of those continents without a cor- responding decrease in the countries from which they set forth. (See Emigratiox. ) Between 1800 and 1S50 the population living within the present area of the German Empire in Europe increased about 43 per cent., and be- tween 18-50 and 1900, notwithstanding the great currents of emigration, it increased about 61 per cent. The population on the present terri- tory of Italy increased in the first half of the century about 4.3 per cent, and in the last half about .35 per cent. The population of Great Britain and Ireland increased in the first lialf of the century about 70 per cent., and in the last half about .50 per oeiit. The United States of America increased in population during the first half of the century .340 per cent, and during the second half 228 per cent. But in a case where the initial population is small, percentages are less significant than figures of actual increase. The United States added to its population be- tween 1800 and 18-50 nearly 18,000.000 people, and between 18-50 and 1900, disregarding the ac- cessions of territory since 1890. it added nearly 52.500.000. At the present time there is no great country except Argentina in which population is increasing at a higher rate than in the United States. Notwithstanding the comparative sparse- ness of settlement in Canada, Mexico, and Austra- lia, the percentage of increase in those countries is less, and in Europe there is no country in which the rate of growth approaches that of the United States. Ubbax PoptXATiON. No feature in the rapid increase in the population of civilized countries during the nineteenth century has been more marked than the growth of cities, both in the older European countries and in the newer coun- tries whither that European population has mi- grated. The results of the last censuses of for- eign countries are not yet in every case avail- able, and therefore the following figures speak for 1800 and 1890, or the nearest census years. The countries are arranged in the order of the proportion of urban population in 1890 in the fol- lowing table. The following figures illustrate the degree to which the growth of city population during the nineteenth century in nearly all parts of the civilized world outstripped that of population as a whole. Sex. About half the probable population of the world has been enumerated with relation to sex. From the results it appears that about 50.3 per cent are male and 49.7 per cent, female. Vol. XVI.— 17. COUXTBY Per cent, of population living in cities having at least 10,000 inhabitants 18C0 1890 England and Wales. 21.3 17.0 is.'s 8.9 29.5 "v's "3.8 9.5 "f.8 5.4 "i'.'i "i'.'i Gl.T 49.9 Australia . . 41.4 Belpnum 34.8 34.7 Netherlands 33.5 Uruguay 30.4 30.0 Argentina 27.8 27.6 France 25.9 Italy 20.6 Ireland 18.0 Huugarv 17.6 17.1 Austria 15.8 Japan 13.1 13.0 Russia 9.3 British India 7.3 In Europe alone among the great divisions of the earth's surface do the females outnumber the males, there being on that continent among the enumerated population about 49.4 per cent, males and 50.6 per cent, females. The numerical excess of females in Europe is much greater than the excess of males in the continents to which migra- tion has mainly gone, such as America and Aus- tralia, and therefore it follows that in the coun- tries representing Caucasian or white civilization females outnumber the males. But in most other parts of the world for which we have informa- tion the reverse is true. Thus in British India 50.9 per cent., in the tributary States 51.7 per cent., and in Japan 50.5 per cent, of the popula- tion are male. The excess of males in these coun- tries more than offsets the excess of females in all Europe. It seems likely that in China, which contains the largest body of population, for which we have no information, as in India and Japan, the males outnumber the females. It is even suggested by the foregoing facts that the Occi- dental civilization of Europe and America, so far as the proportion of the sexes is not disturbed by migration, tends to establish a slight excess of females, while the Oriental civilization of India, China, and .Japan tends to the reverse relation. In every case, however, where migration is not an important factor, the departure from numerical equality is slight and relatively insignificant. Age. It is usual for a census to report the number of persons of each year of age, or at least the number falling within certain wider age limits. In large population groups the true num- ber of persons living at any year of age is larger than the true number of persons at the next higher year, this being due to the fact that each such group as it advances from infancy to old age is steadily depleted by death. If the group is receiving a large number of immigrants, this would tend to neutralize for certain age groups the wasting away through death, but immigration is seldom, if ever, sufficient in amount to balance the losses from mortality. The births in succes- .sive years also vary in number, and thus the ini- tial size of these successive groups differs, but neither this cause alone nor this combined with immigration and other minor disturbing factors makes it likely that the true number of persons in a country at any one year of age is ever smaller than the true number at the next greater