7 Billion Humans | National Geographic Magazine: Shibuyu | Most Crowded Intersection | Tokyo, Japan

Previous Image Next Image

Shibuyu | Most Crowded Intersection | Tokyo, Japan

Although birthrates and death rates have both declined sharply since the 1960s… death rates have declined more rapidly than birthrates. The cumulative effect of the excess of births over deaths in recent decades has led to a successive attainment of billion-person milestones every 12 or 13 years.

—Sam Roberts, New York Times, November 1, 2011