Population is one of the basic elements of a state formation. The formation of a state without population cannot be imagined in anyway. Population is the wealth of a state. But overpopulation becomes a burden for the state instead of being an asset.
Although population has been described as a 'resource', overpopulation has become a burden to the world in the 21st century. And this overpopulation is one of the challenges of today's world. According to the experts, malnutrition, lack of adequate education, unemployment, deprivation of medical services, etc. are at the root of these basic human problems.
The world's population is growing day by day. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 250 babies are born in every minute in the world. According to the researchers, the world's resources can properly accommodate a maximum of 200-300 crore people! It is noted that among the reasons for population explosion or growth in a country are: prejudices in the society such as child marriage, polygamy, giving birth to more children out of greed for boys-these are responsible for population growth.
One of the reasons why the various fences of superstition are spreading in society, is illiteracy or lack of education. When the average life expectancy of the people of the country is low and the infant mortality rate is high, the people of the country are interested in having more children. Lack of knowledge about the impact of rising poverty rates and overpopulation serves as one of the catalysts for population explosion.
Many of us may think that there is no other country in the world as populous as Bangladesh or even if there is a large population, there is no other country in terms of population density. Needless to say, the number of countries with higher population density than Bangladesh is absolutely but not less.
According to the World Bank, the world's population could grow from today's 780 crore to 970 crore in the next 30 years, and by 2100 it could reach 1100 crore. One of the inherent causes of this rapid population growth, is the increase in both life expectancy and fertility rate. Life expectancy and fertility rates were much lower in thousands of years ago. About 12 million years ago, the world population was 40 lakh which is half of the current population of the city of London. Even in the year 1800, the population was 100 crore which has now increased almost eight times in a span of 200 years.
The answer to the question of-how many people were born in the world can be deduced from the study of population growth theory which shows that so far 10,800 crore people have been born in this world. From now, until 2050, nine countries will play a significant role in world population growth. These nine countries together will add about 100 crore additional populations to the world. These countries are- India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt, and the United States. India's contribution will be the highest as India's population will surpass China's population by 2027.
Due to the increase of life expectancy, population growth occurs among the relatively richer and more developed countries. Because the current life expectancy of the people in the world is 72.6 years which is equal to the average life expectancy of the people of Bangladesh and which is again 65 years among the poor countries. As a result, the number of elderly people (over 65 years of age) in the world will increase significantly in the future.
Again, most of these countries are not able to increase population growth even if they take immediate steps. According to a statistics, Japan's population may now drop from 12.7 crore to at least 8.3 crore by 2100. In terms of population growth, countries that currently have taken birth control systems, their populations will decline.
The current world population is over 8 billion. And the current population of Bangladesh is about 169.8 million. According to the latest report (2023) of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the country's current population stands at 16,98,28,911. At the current rate of population growth, the country's population will reach 22 crore by 2050.
China is one of the few countries in the world that has taken official steps to control the population. They have strictly enforced the 'one-child policy'. There is also a provision of severe punishment if any citizen does not abide by it. Again, there are many countries or regions that have succeeded in population control without taking drastic measures like China.
Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, Kerala, and West Bengal in India, can be mentioned in this case. The methods they have adopted include making people educated and aware, making health care more accessible, significantly reducing infant and maternal mortality rates, stopping child marriage, and making contraceptive methods accessible to people.
Hopefully, Bangladesh has recently become one of the least successful developing countries in reducing population growth. Despite this achievement, population is still a big problem in Bangladesh. Because the rate of population density is the highest here. According to a statistics, the population of Bangladesh is increasing by four per minute. 60.7 percent of the world's population lives in Asia. Deficits in turning the population into wealth are having a negative impact on our socio-economic life.
Due to the rise of population growth, unemployment and poverty are rising. And a large number of people are suffering from malnutrition and illiteracy. And with the increase of the global population, innumerable problems are being added to nature and the environment. There is no food supply at the rate at which the world's population is growing.
That is to say, the population is growing at a geometric rate, and food production is growing at a mathematical rate. According to a study, about 25,000 people die every day in the world due to the lack of food and malnutrition. One of the main causes of environmental pollution is population growth. In addition, the world is facing many adverse reactions such as shortage of pure water, air toxicity, extinction of natural resources and fauna, habitat problems, ozone depletion, natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics.
According to Malthusian Population Theory, "when the world's population grows too much or too much population cannot be controlled, it is naturally destroyed. And this natural destruction happens through the arrival of an epidemic, pandemic, or disaster in the world."
As the world's population continues to grow exponentially, we are now seeing a real reflection of that natural extinction around the world. Millions of people are now being wiped out from the face of the earth by a pandemic called Coronavirus (Covid-19). The present modern medical science and the developed countries of the world are not able to control this devastating Coronavirus completely it is repeatedly striking in different forms. This is a real example of natural extinction. So, in order to make the world habitable and survive from disasters, epidemics and pandemics-we need to focus on population control. The writer is a researcher, journalist, and columnist
