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That’s a big census
While it’s not possible to generate an exact number to tell us how many human beings have ever lived, Carl Haub of the Population Reference Bureau has put together a fascinating study that gives us a pretty good ballpark figure. You’re welcome (and I encourage you) to read the whole article, however if you prefer the shorthand with as little science as possible, I’ll go ahead and lay that out for you here.
Billions and billions
The generally accepted date for the first appearance of modern humans — Homo sapiens — was roughly 50,000 B.C. Based on historical facts, like the advent of agriculture around 8,000 B.C. and others such as historical lifespans, birth rates, and the like, it was possible to extrapolate the world population, not just at any given time, but of all time. Throw in a little math, and you get what is most likely the most accurate answer anyone will ever have.
Now, bear in mind that this number is, of course, just a guess — but a very educated guess, using a scientific approach.
OKay, enough talk. May I have the envelope please? The total number of humans ever born is…
*drum roll*
107,602,707,791
If you’re bad at counting decimal places, that’s just over 107.6 billion humans.
If you’d like a benchmark, the current living world population as of December 2011 is 6,987,000,000 — or just under 7 billion people. Meaning the percentage of those ever born who are living right now is about 6.5% or so. Which is a rather impressive number when you consider the human race dates back to just over 52,000 years ago.
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