The sun., 1903-11-25
WORLD AREAS AND POPULATION.

WOnLD hNEAo hND w u A"A AV.Ns
Fresh computations are made every year
Of the area Of the total land surface of the
earth. This might seem, at first glance.
to be needless labor; but when we remem-
ber that the era OF discovery is not quite
completed. that new lands are now and
then brought into view. it is evident that
the figures require frequent revision. An
important addition to the area Of the Ameri-
can Arctic lands has recently been made
by Sverdrup's discovery Of large islands
In the archipelago north of this continent;
and the discoveries in Victoria Land have
considerably increased the known land
area In Antarctica.
The earlier figures also require frequent
revision for other reasons. 1t is not an
| easy matter to obtain the exact area OF the
continents and islands with all their large
and little indentations and prolongations.
| The great irregularity OF their forms COM
| plicates the problem, and blunders in the
computations are now and then disoov-
| cred which must be rectified and it is i'm
| possible to obtain more than an approxi-
mate idea OF the area OF continent or an
| island until its coast and geodetic surveys
| have been completed with the greatest
refinement that scientific methods can at
tain. There are many thousands Of miles
| Of coast line where such surveys have not
| yet been undertaken. We may therefore
expect, as long as new lands are discovered,
as old computations and surveys need to
be rectified, and as surveys are extended
and become more exact, that frequent re-
visions OF our figures for land areas will be
required.
The total land area of the world, all the
continental islands being counted with the
continents, as given this year by the lead
ing German authorities, is 81, Sal 1878 square
miles. In the past six years. the area
assigned to Europe has increased to $780,
10 square miles in other words, that con-
tinent is now credited with 1858 more
square miles of surface than in 1897, a re-
suit that is chiefly due to the extension of
coast surveys along the northern shores
of Russia. to- the rectification Of other sur
veys and, to a small extent, to the inclusion
Of some lands in the European Arctic not
hitherto counted because the information
about them was too indefinite.
In the same period the area assigned to
Asia has increased is, ,44s square miles, to
1921 ITS square miles. Africa, with prac-
tically no advance in her surveys, stands
at the old figure Of II l,e2e.176 square miles.
America, including the American Arctic.
is credited with ls,3Os,9O3 so uare miles.
The South Polar regions, which are begin
| ming to appear as an entity in terrestrial
calculations, are estimated to contain
| 259, 1855 square miles Of known land surface
| and the discovery Of little island or two
has added only twelve square miles to the
| domain OF Australia and Oceania, which
| are Jumped together at 3,493,s54 square
miles.
We scarcely realize how little surface is
comprised In the groups of Polynesia out =
side the Hawaiian Islands. Oahu. on which
| Honolulu stands, is as large as the Society
group, Maui is equal in area to the Mar
quesas group and the island of Hawaii ia
nearly as large as all the other islands Of
| Polynesia together.
Another feature of world statistics that is
annually revised is the statistics and esti-
mates Of population. 1t is probable that
the estimated total Of population is not
within millions of the correct figures but
some facts seem to show that the estimates
Of the past twenty years are by no means
30 far out Of the way as to make them value
| less. As we have become better acquain ted
with the Lesser known countries and are now
able to make closer approximations to their
population, it has been found that excessive
estimates in one region are likely to be quite
closely balanced by under-estimates in an
other, while for large areas the earlier fig
ures, in the light Of our present knowledge,
seem to have approSimated strikingly to the
truth.
The best that can yet be done for large
part Of the world is to collect the opinions Of
men whose word is entitled to consideration
as to the density Of population in the regions
known to them and multiply the density
by the area. The conservative geograph-
ers who compile RerGikerung der Erie
bring much critical acumen to bear upon the
analysis Of these data, and the conclusions
| they reach are at least the best that can be
| obtained.
The uncertainty with regard to the popu-
lation of China has been largely eliminate ted
by the census Of last year which has been
accepted by statisticians as fair approx
imation. In other parts of the world also
the difficulty Of ascertaining the facts is
constantly decreasing In Formosa, for
example, the Japanese have not only been
able to take an accurate census OF the Chi
nese population but also to make a close
approximation, by tribes, Of the savages
who inhabit the eastern part of the island.
These new data, coming continually to
hand, are utilized from year to year to
change the totals for the various countries;
and the censuses, which are taken nearly
every year in one nation or another, supply
far more satisfactory material to estimate
| the annual results.
The estimated population Of the world in
1908 is ,5&7 ,423 900, which is an increase of
50, sos 900 over the estimates for 1907 or an
average increase of 1854, ,l80 a year. At this
rate the worlds average growth of popua-
ton amounts in less than eleven years to the
number of persons now living in the United
States. In the merely business aspects OF
this rapid growth it is easy to see that the
large increase in the number of human be-
ings has been a very important element in
raising the value Of the international ex-
changes of commodities in the past forty
years.