World Population Day Jul 11, 2024

World Population Day

In 1987, sometime around July 11, the world population reached the 5-billion mark. The United Nations recognized the need to address issues like family planning, infrastructure, waste, and pollution and established World Population Day in 1989. It is estimated that we hit 8 billion people in November 2022 and the UN expects the world to reach 9.7 billion people in 2050. But not everywhere faces the same challenges. While some areas struggle with overcrowding, others grapple with decreasing populations. The Italian town of Gangi, Sicily, seen in today"s image, had about 16,000 residents in the 1950s. Today, it is home to little more than 6,000. Keen on revitalization, Gangi attracts new residents by giving away abandoned houses, on the condition that the properties are then restored.

© Andrea Caruso/Amazing Aerial Agency

palette

Today in History

Jul 11, 2018All is silent for Big Ben’s musical milestone
Jul 11, 2019Evidence of human habitation
Jul 11, 2020How Quảng Ngãi got its grove back
Jul 11, 2021Why, aloe there
Jul 11, 2022World Population Day
Jul 11, 2023World Population Day
Jul 11, 2025World Population Day
Jul 11, 2026Port de Saint-Goustan, Auray, Brittany, France

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jul 28, 2025World Nature Conservation Day
Jul 14, 2021A different view of sharks
Nov 1, 2018Celebrating the Day of the Dead
Oct 19, 2018Portland celebrates its bounty
Aug 12, 2019Don t forget—it’s World Elephant Day
Nov 14, 2024Manarola, Cinque Terre National Park, Liguria, Italy
Jun 30, 2025Asteroid Day
Jul 26, 2024Summer Olympics begin in Paris
Jun 14, 2023Flag Day
May 9, 2020Here’s looking at you, teachers
Jan 11, 2025Heri es-Swani in Meknes, Morocco
May 12, 2025An iris garden in Tokyo, Japan
Jan 19, 2022Kluane National Park
May 26, 2018Honoring the first American woman in space
Dec 22, 2018Night of the ‘Cold Moon’
Apr 26, 2018National Park Week: Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Dec 14, 2024Christmas Bird Count turns 125
Jan 18, 2019An opulent backdrop for a historic event
Jun 11, 2022Misool Island, Indonesia
Jul 9, 2020High alpine color in Colorado
Feb 6, 2025Waitangi Day in New Zealand
Apr 8, 2026Seattle, Washington
Jul 21, 2019A peek behind the royal curtain
Oct 19, 2020A cliff-hanging complex of temples
Jun 4, 2018Lighting it up for Vivid Sydney
Nov 12, 2018Honoring those who served
Jun 4, 2023Waiānapanapa State Park, Maui, Hawaii
Nov 7, 2024Vancouver Coastal Sea wolves, Great Bear Rainforest, Canada
Nov 4, 2019Stepping stones in Tollymore Forest Park, Northern Ireland
Jul 31, 2019Go climb a tree