That's as many humans as in the next 20 most populous countries combined, or in the whole

這相當於未來20個最多的人的數量。 人口眾多的國家的總和，或在整個

other 170 countries in the world.

世界上其他170個國家。

Over the last 300 years, India and China each added more than a billion people to their

在過去的300年裡，印度和中國各自的 增加了十多億人的

populations, way more than any other country, but they have actually been growing at about

人口，遠遠超過任何其他國家。 但實際上它們的增長速度大約是

the same rate as the rest of the world.

與世界其他地區的速度相同。

They have a lot more people today because they had a lot more people a few hundred years

他們今天有更多的人，因為 百年樹人，百年樹人

ago, when the world began its period of modern, and rapid, population growth.

前，當世界開始其現代時期。 和快速，人口增長。

It's like comparing a big bank account and a small one.

這就像比較一個大銀行賬戶和。 一個小的。

If they both grow at about the same rate over many years, the big one gains a lot more money,

如果它們都以相同的速度增長，在 很多年，大的獲得了更多的錢。

simply because it started with more.

只是因為它的起點比較高。

So the billion-dollar, er, billion-person question, is why did India and China have

所以，十億美金，呃，十億人。 問題是，為什麼印度和中國有

so many people when they started their rapid growth?

當很多人開始他們的快速 增長？

We can’t know for sure, since so many variables factor into long-term population dynamics,

我們無法確定，因為有太多的變數。 納入長期人口動態的因素。

but the two most plausible explanations are food and area.

但最合理的兩種解釋是 食物和麵積。

Having lots of fertile land and good access to fresh water makes it possible to grow lots

擁有大量肥沃的土地和良好的交通 淡水，使它可以種植大量的

of food, which in turn makes it possible to nourish a lot of people.

的食物，這又使得它可以。 滋養了很多人。

Even today, the 10 most populated countries in the world all have a relatively large amount

即使在今天，人口最多的10個國家 世界上都有比較多的

of farmland.

的農田。

And Asia - and in particular south and east Asia - has tons of farmland, lots of river

而亞洲----特別是南部和東部 亞洲--有大量的農田，大量的河流。

valleys, and the ability to grow food year-round.

谷，並能常年種植糧食。

Plus, domestication of plants and animals essentially started in Asia, giving populations

另外，動植物的馴化 基本上是從亞洲開始的，給人口

an early leg - or wing - up.

早期的腿--或翅膀--了。

As such, Asia’s been the most densely populated region of the world for a really long time.

是以，亞洲一直是人口最稠密的地區。 在世界上很長一段時間內，該地區。

Area matters too; countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh may be filled with farms and

地區也很重要，像巴基斯坦這樣的國家 農場和孟加拉國可能會充滿農場和

densely-populated, but because they’re smaller in area than India and China, they simply

但由於它們的面積較小 比印度和中國的面積大，他們只是

cannot contain as many people.

不能容納那麼多人。

Of course, a few other things happened in India and China in the last few thousand years,

當然，還有一些其他的事情發生在 印度和中國在過去的幾千年裡。

and some of them helped the populations grow, and some of them shrank the populations, but

而他們中的一些人則幫助人口增長。 和其中一些人縮小了人口，但。

through it all, the large and fertile lands of India and China were able to sustain lots

阡陌縱橫、沃野千里 印度和中國能夠維持大量的

of people, such that when the era of modern population growth came around, they had a

的人，以至於當現代化的時代，人們都在為自己的生活而努力。 人口增長的時候，他們有一個

head start.

搶先一步。

Or rather, a hundred-million-head start.

或者說，一個億頭的開始。

This video was sponsored by the University of Minnesota, where students, faculty and

本視頻由大學贊助 明尼蘇達州的學生、教職員工和...

staff across all fields of study are working to solve the Grand Challenges facing society.

各個研究領域的工作人員都在努力 以解決社會面臨的重大挑戰。

The Minnesota Population Center is helping demographic researchers explore past and current

明尼蘇達州人口中心正在幫助 人口學研究人員探討過去和現在

trends in world population, the Global Landscapes Initiative is working to figure out how to

世界人口趨勢、全球地貌特徵和發展 倡議正在努力想辦法

keep feeding the world's growing population without harming the planet, and the IPUMS

養活世界上不斷增長的人口 損害地球的情況下，以及議會聯盟管理的問題。

Terra project integrates global population data with data on the environment to better

Terra項目整合全球人口 數據和環境數據，以便更好地

understand how humans transform ecosystems, and how ecosystems transform humans.

瞭解人類如何改變生態系統。 以及生態系統如何改變人類。

Thanks, University of Minnesota!

謝謝，明尼蘇達大學!