248 



EARTH. 



umes of the CYCLOPEDIA we have repeatedly 

 given the latest estimates of the aggregate 

 population of the large divisions of the globe. 

 This year we present for the first time^some 

 general and comparative statistics relative to 

 the earth as a whole : 



I. Present Area and Population of the 

 Earth. -Behm and Wagner, in volume iii. of 

 their periodical, " The Population of the Earth" 

 (Gotha, 1875), give the following estimates of 

 the area and population of the five large divi- 

 sions of the earth.* 



It will be seen that the divisions of the 

 globe in point of extent rank as follows: 1, 

 Asia ; 2, America ; 3, Africa ; 4, Europe ; 5, 

 Australia ; while their order in regard to pop- 

 ulation is as follows : 1, Asia ; 2, Europe ; 3, 

 Africa; 4, America; 5, Australia. This order 

 is, however, far from indicating their relative 

 power and influence. The great states of 

 Europe hold under their control as colonies 

 and dependencies a large number of territories, 

 while at present no Asian, African, American, 

 or Australian state has any possessions outside 

 of its own division of the globe. We subjoin a 

 table exhibiting the colonies and dependencies 

 of the European states. It will be seen that the 

 aggregate area of the territories ruled by Eu- 

 ropean governments amounts to 18,585,900 

 square miles, with a population of 325,877,700 ; 

 that Great Britain exceeds all others in terri- 

 tory and population ; that Russia is next in 

 territory, but Turkey second in population : 



If we add the area and the population of 

 Asiatic, African, American, and Australian 

 territories under European rule, to the total 

 area and population of Europe, and, at the 

 same time, deduct them from the total area 

 and population of the divisions of the world to 

 which they geographically belong, we obtain 

 the area and population of the territory respec- 

 tively ruled by European, Asiatic, African, 

 American, and Australian governments. The 

 following table, which presents these figures, 

 may therefore be regarded as an indication of 

 the aggregate power of the governments be- 

 longing to the several grand divisions of the 

 earth : 



^ II. Former Estimates of the Total Popula- 

 tion of the Earth. ThQ great value of the 

 estimates of the population which are now 



* The German work gives the area in German Quadrat- 

 meilen and in square kilometres. We have reduced one set 

 of these figures into English square miles. A table for reduc- 

 tag German ^ Quadratmeilen in the most accurate manner 

 Into English square miles may be found in Behm's " Geo- 

 graphische Jahrbuch," vol. ii. 



attainable will appear in the clearest light, 

 if they are compared with the vague and un- 

 founded guesses made by former geographers. 

 One of the editors of the periodical "Die 

 Bevolkerung der Erde," Dr. Wagner, gives in 

 his second volume an historical review of 

 former estimates, which is introduced on next 

 page. The authors whose estimates are given 

 are arranged into four groups, chiefly according 

 to the similarity of their estimates. They fol- 

 low each other in chronological order, with the 

 only exception of the Italian naturalist Ric- 

 ciotti, who, though the earliest in point of time, 

 is placed in the second group, as his estimate 

 is the same as that of Sussmilch and Black. 

 The estimates made before Ricciotti are not 

 worth mentioning. The opinion of Ricciotti 

 was violently opposed by the learned Isaac 

 Vossius, who assumed for all Europe only 

 30,000,000 people, while Ricciotti had given 

 to it 100,000,000. Nothing can better illus- 

 trate the total absence of official information 

 than this discrepancy. The steady increase of 

 the subsequent estimates of the European popu- 

 lation is an indication of the growing certainty 

 which was derived from the progress of geo- 

 graphical and statistical science, and more re- 

 cently from the official census and enumera- 

 tions. At present the population of Europe is 

 so well established that a geographical work 

 giving a total largely varying from 300,000,000 



