002 Total Population

Definition

Population is the number of people alive in the world, at one moment in time. It is practically impossible to count every person (before you finished millions of people would die, millions of others would be born), so estimates are used. Estimates (or projections) of population depend on demographers using many variables, and producing a range of possible total populations. Here the ‘medium variant’ (the middle of a range of estimated populations) for 2002 is used.

The territories not included in these maps have an estimated population of 2 to 3 million people (see “Areas Not Included”, Appendix 2). However, many of these people are included in the official counts of the territories that claim sovereignty over these areas. Given that these people constitute less than 0.05% the world population, the effect on the maps here is minimal.

Data Sources

Most population data is sourced from Table 5 of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Report 2004. The medium variant projection for the population in 2002 was used. The population data for Saint Kitts & Nevis is calculated from Table 18 in the same report. The population data for the following territories, which are not included in the UNDP list of 177 territories, were taken from Table 33 of the Human Development Report 2004: Afghanistan , Andorra , Democratic Republic of Korea, Iraq , Kiribati , Liberia , Liechtenstein , Marshall Islands , Federated States of Micronesia , Monaco , Nauru , Palau , San Marino , Serbia & Montenegro , Somalia , and Tuvalu .

Population estimates for the Cook Islands (18,000 people), Holy See ( Vatican City State , 1000 people), and Niue (2000 people) were derived from the UNEP (2005) figures. The population data is estimates for the population living in 2002.

The population estimates for the Western Sahara (273,000), Taiwan (21,639,000), Greenland (56,000), and Puerto Rico (3,974,000) are from the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) “The World Factbook”. This data was sourced in January 2005; the most recent CIA data available in January 2006 was collected in July 2005. The estimated populations for these four territories in July 2005 were as follows: Western Sahara ( 273,008 people), Taiwan ( 22,894,384 people), Greenland ( 56,375 people), and Puerto Rico ( 3916,632 people).

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The quote used in the poster is from Hania Zlotnik (2005). She was became Director of the United Nations Population Division in February 2004. Hania Zlotnik is a native of Mexico .

The quote is from her ‘Statement to the Thirty-Eighth Session on the Commission on Population and Development’, on 4 th April, 2005 . In January 2006 this document was available at the following website:

www.un.org/esa/population/cpd/Statement_HZ_open.pdf

Excel Sheets

Below is an explanation of each of the columns in the excel file:

Column A = The numerical territory code has been used to order territories in a consistent manner. The number is decided by the 2004 Human Development Index rank of the 177 territories included in the main United Nations Development Programme tables (1 being Norway with the highest Human Development Index in 2004). The other 23 territories are numbered in alphabetical order, starting at number 178.

Column B = Region or territory name.

Column C = The ISO 3 code, or ISO ALPHA-3 code is a three letter code devised by the International Organization for Standardization. Codes are used as a short way of identifying a territory; their shortened form makes it easier to match data.

Column D = Region code, numerical code used to identify the region that each territory is in.

Column E = Population in millions, 2002. According to the medium variant estimate.