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Why Do India And China Have So Many People?
分钟地球 ･ MinuteEarth
用边说边画的形式,分钟系列讲述地球生态学
印度和中国的人口加起来超过了27亿人
India and China, together, are home to over2.7 billion people.
这相当于其他20个人口最稠密国家的人口总数 或者
That’s as many humans as in the next 20 mostpopulous countries combined, or in the whole
相当于世界上其他170个国家的人口总数
other 170 countries in the world.
在300多年前 印度和中国各自为国家人口增加了十亿多人
Over the last 300 years, India and China eachadded more than a billion people to their
远超过其他国家 然而 事实上 它们人口增长的速率
populations, way more than any other country,but they have actually been growing at about
跟其他国家一样
the same rate as the rest of the world.
它们现在拥有更多人口是因为在几百年前 世界
They have a lot more people today becausethey had a lot more people a few hundred years
开始进入摩登时代 人口快速增长时 它们就拥有更多人口
ago, when the world began its period of modernand rapid population growth.
这就相当于拿一笔大存款跟一笔小存款比较一样
It’s like comparing a big bank account anda small one.
如果它们多年来都以同样的速率增长 大存款的钱增加得更多 这只是因为它从一开始就很多
If they both grow at about the same rate overmany years, the big one gains a lot more money, simply because it started with more.
所以 十亿美元 额 十亿人口的问题是为什么印度和中国
So the billion-dollar, er, billion-personquestion, is why did India and China have
在人口开始快速增长时就拥有了这么多人?
so many people when they started their rapidgrowth?
由于在长期人口变动中存在很多变量 我们无法确切得知
We can’t know for sure, since so many variablesfactor into long-term population dynamics,
但是 食物和地域貌似是两个最可信的解释
but the two most plausible explanations arefood and area.
许多肥沃的土地和获取淡水的有利途经让人们可以种植
Having lots of fertile land and good accessto fresh water makes it possible to grow lots
许多食物 致使国家可以养育许多人
of food, which in turn makes it possible tonourish a lot of people.
即使是现在 世界上10大人口最多的国家都有着相对广袤的农田
Even today, the 10 most populated countriesin the world all have a relatively large amount of farmland.
亚洲有着许多农田 河谷和全年种植食物的能力 尤其是南亚和东亚
And Asia – and in particular south and eastAsia – has tons of farmland, lots of river valleys, and the ability to grow food year-round.
此外 驯化动植物实质上开始于亚洲
Plus, domestication of plants and animalsessentially started in Asia, giving populations
这给庞大的人口埋下了伏笔
an early leg – or wing – up.
亚洲很长一段时间都算得上是世界上人口最稠密的地区
As such, Asia’s been the most densely populatedregion of the world for a really long time.
地域也发挥了很大作用 像巴基斯坦 孟加拉国这样的国家 应当充满土地和
Area matters too; countries like Pakistanand Bangladesh may be filled with farms and
稠密的人口 但因为它们的地域比印度和中国小 它们便
densely-populated, but because they’re smallerin area than India and China, they simply
不能容纳同样多的人口
cannot contain as many people.
当然 在过去几千年来 印度和中国历经了一些变动
Of course, a few other things happened inIndia and China in the last few thousand years,
这些变动 有些推动了人口增长 有些把人口缩小了 但
and some of them helped the populations grow,and some of them shrank the populations, but
一路走来 广袤肥沃的土地让印度和中国足以支撑许多
through it all, the large and fertile landsof India and China were able to sustain lots
人口 这导致进入摩登时代 人口增长时 两国便已占优势
of people, such that when the era of modernpopulation growth came around, they had a head start.
或者 更精确地说 是百分百领先
Or rather, a hundred-million-head start.
该视频由明尼苏达州大学赞助 该校学生 教师以及
This video was sponsored by the Universityof Minnesota, where students, faculty and
各个领域的研究人员都在致力于解决社会面临的巨大挑战
staff across all fields of study are workingto solve the Grand Challenges facing society.
明尼苏达州人口中心正在帮助人口研究员探索世界人口
The Minnesota Population Center is helpingdemographic researchers explore past and current
在过去和现在的发展趋势 全球景观启动正致力于如何解决
trends in world population, the Global LandscapesInitiative is working to figure out how to
世界人口保持增长的基础上 不威胁地球生存 同时IPUMS
keep feeding the world’s growing populationwithout harming the planet, and the IPUMS
Terra项目为了更好地理解人类怎样改变生态系统和生态系统怎样改变人类
Terra project integrates global populationdata with data on the environment to better
他们结合了全球人口资料和环境资料
understand how humans transform ecosystems,and how ecosystems transform humans.
在此感谢明尼苏达州大学!
Thanks, University of Minnesota!