China is the
world's most densely populated country and makes up
of one-fifth of the world’s population. It has a total
population of 1.33474 billion as at 31 Dec 2009 with
51.44% Males and 48.56% of Females. Her population
is nearly five times more than United States even
though both have about the same geographic area.
In the mid-1950s, the Chinese
government started to pay attention to its demographic
especially the fertility rate because of the fear
that excessive growth would hinder country’s economic
development as well as improvement to healthcare.
To curb population growth, China government introduced
birth planning polices such as the “one-child campaign”
in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Due to the rapid fertility
declines and demographic change in the past 30 years,
China's rate of population growth has slowed significantly.
The country's population of 1.3 billion in the early
2000s is projected to grow by another 100 million
by 2050. It is forecasted that India with its higher
fertility levels will take over China to become the
most populous country by 2035.
Below is the chart of
China total population trends and growth rate from year 1991 - 2009:
