World Population Day Jul 11, 2024

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

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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

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