One Thousand Representatives of Humanity in 2020

I used to wonder about what if there were a film documenting the lives of 12 people representing all of humanity. But doing the math seemed hard. I couldn’t tell whether one person should be American or African to best represent humanity mathematically statistically whatever. So I expanded it to one thousand. Maybe it could be a podcast. Maybe I could’ve expanded it to 25 so it could be like a normal class size. But it’s too late. I’ve done too much math and decisions to not care. Also I set it in 2020 because projections are hard to tell if they’re accurate or not.

Also I realized something. 8 of these people would be expected to die per year and 18 more would be expected to be born (and survive infant mortality, I think, or maybe not, I’m not sure how the statistics work) but that would mean it would take 125 years for everyone to surely die which is true but most people do not survive to that age so as the years increase more people die and as this is a study on one in 7.8 million people every time the death count per year of the world increases by 7.8 million so would the expected death count of the people in this study.

I realized another thing. I can round up certain qualities in one country so I don’t have to count them in others. Like if less than .1% of the world is afghani Shias but they’re rounded up to be .1%, then I can undercount Shias throughout the muddle East who were added to Afghanistan’s count to be more representative of the whole world even if it’s less representative of a specific country

Age

558 people aged 0–34

350 people from 35–64

92 people at or over the age of 65 years

Sex

Either 502 male sex to 498 female sex people (though the sex ratio is more like 502.48:497.52) or 492 each and then 18 intersex people. I don’t know at all

Religion

Regarding religion, I’m not certain of the exact numbers, but something like 311 Christians (about 160 Catholics 31 orthodox 120 Protestants and others), 250 Muslims (about 223 Sunni less than 25 Shia maybe about 2 ahmadi), about 140 Hindus (estimates are often a full percent higher, 15%, but a significant proportion of people who say they are Hindu on India’s census are atheists or other non religious people, and Hindus are probably slightly overcounted for no reason in data anyway), about 66 Buddhists, something like 140 non religious people (about 100 of which are convinced atheists, mostly in China, and 40 noncommittal people mostly in western countries who say they are nothing in particular or spiritual but not religious, or agnostics, which I guess is a specific term at least), something like 70 Chinese folk religion people (maybe more or maybe exactly the same counting overlap with syncretic folk Buddhists), 5 Shinto (10 if you overlap with Buddhists) 3 Sikhs, 2 Jews, 1 Jain, and about 12 others I guess, at least 1 of which would be a not particularly syncretic African religionist. Technically this might not be true because I suspect the numbers includes people who are too young to have an ideology but are raised by parents who assume their children will take their religion.

As for importance of religion, probably around 16–20–25% of the world would say it is unimportant in their lives.

I feel like the best way to count what religion people are is to ask them to self identify what religion they follow, but it would be good to ask follow up questions to see what form of that religion they follow, to see if they are orthodox and adherent to its guidelines or not, to see if they are syncretic or not, etc.

Look up the age gap of religion around the world, published by pew research. Basically it shows that almost everywhere in the world (except for subsaharan Africa) young people are at least a little more likely than their elders to be non-religious

IMPORTANT: idk this looks like an ok source I’m just gonna drop it here globalreligiousfutures.org/countries

Ok Asian folk religion and Buddhism are pretty syncretic idk it makes statistics hard

Economic indicators

I don’t know how to do economic indicators. Money and exchange rates are fake. It tells you nothing. And material conditions are statistically catalogued in a manner that is unhelpful because for example either 1/3 or 2/3 of people didn’t have toilets in 2018 depending on what report you believe. Allegedly 10.5% of the world is chronically malnourished.

Literacy rate

About 87% worldwide

IQ? Sounds like a nerd thing

Even racist people probably think theories relating to IQ are wrong (let alone what non- and anti-racist people think), but if they were right, you’d need 25 people with IQ under 70 and 25 people with IQ over 130

Lifestyle & personality

Idk dawg. Some people follow sports and/or play sports and some don’t. Some go to parties and/or hang out with people and some don’t. Basically there are sad introverts and happy extroverts

Apparently there were approximately 187 people out of 1000 who were international tourists in 2019 but I think a lot of them were probably Europeans going to each other’s countries

Language

Idk look that up yourself

Marriage

Apparently half of marriages around the world are arranged

Occupation

like over a third of the world’s working adult population is farmers and so over a third of children are in farming families. Look other stuff up idc

Education level

Idk look it up

Internet access

Like 45% of people have it

Pet ownership

Look it up

Number of family members

Look it up

Number of friends

Look it up

Politics/voting habits

Most people worldwide are probably pretty conservative. Also though most people worldwide get to vote, of countries that do let people vote, usually only about 75% of those eligible do vote.

Sexuality

I remember seeing one study from like the 1940s that showed that 30% or so of men had engaged in homosexual encounters but that one statistic thrown around a lot is that 5% of people are gay even though one study found that like a much greater proportion of young people in the US considered themselves lgbt+ in some way which was closer to the 1940s study

Diseases/Medical issues

Idk. About 5 out of 1000 people are blind and something like 30 more having low vision apparently

How many more will be born/die per year?

8 people are expected to die per year for many decades until perhaps 9 or even 10 die per year. 18 people are expected to be born per year, also increasing slightly for a few decades maybe, but then stabilizing or even dropping.

This is mostly sourced through Wikipedia or whatever first comes up when you google stuff

Slightly more specific data by world regions or countries

2 millionaires in North America, 2 millionaire in Europe, 1 millionaire in china, 1 millionaire somewhere else in East Asia

4+ Shia in Iran (they are surprisingly less religious than you would expect), 4 Shia in India, 3 in Iraq, 2 in Pakistan, 2 in Yemen, 1 in Azerbaijan, 1 in Africa, idk if alevis count to the total but 1 Alevi from turkey, 1 Shia about from Afghanistan

2 international noncitizen migrants in the gulf

China

180 people

20 people over age 65

90 atheists, 39 folk religion followers, 33 Buddhists (2 of whom are initiated), 4 to 9 Christians, 4 Muslims. That doesn’t quite add up. Maybe add 2 Christians, 4 atheists, 2 folk religion people, 2 Buddhists

3 in Beijing municipality, 3 in shanghai, 4 in Chongqing, 2 in Tianjin. 15 Guangdong, 13 Shandong, 12 Henan, 11 Sichuan, 10 jiangsu, (61 so far) 10 Hebei, 9 Hunan, 8 Anhui, 7 to 8 Hubei, 7 Zhejiang, 6 Guangxi, 6 Yunnan, (114–115 so far), 6 Jiangxi, 5 to 6 Liaoning, 5 Fujian, 5 Shaanxi, 5 Heilongjiang, 5 Shanxi, 5 Guizhou, (151 so far) 4 Chongqing, 4 Jilin, 3 to 4 Gansu, 3 Inner Mongolia, 3 shanghai, 3 xinjiang, 3 Beijing, 2 Tianjin, 1 Hainan, 1 ningxia, maybe 1 Qinghai, about half a Tibet. 180 not including Hong Kong.

Estimate 32 people agriculture workers/farmers, 32 people in industry, 56 working in service about.

India

175 people

11 people over age 65

133 Hindus (or slightly fewer for unaffiliated non religious people)

27 Muslims (about 23 Sunni 4 Shia)

5 atheists

4 Christians

3 or 4 Sikhs

1 Buddhist

1 Jain

1 other (perhaps a believer of sarnai)

Allegedly 16 people living in slums

2 in Delhi capital territory, 1 in Mumbai districts, . Estimates: 30 in Uttar Pradesh, 16 in bihar, 16 Maharashtra, 13 West Bengal, 11 Madhya Pradesh, 10 Rajasthan, 10 Tamil Nadu, 9 Karnataka, 8 Gujarat, 7 Andhra pradesh, (130 so far) 6 Odisha, 5 Telangana, 5 jharkhand, 4 or 5 keralans, 4 or 5 Assam, 4 Punjab, 4 Chhattisgarh, 3 or 4 Haryana, 3 or 4 delhi(? Didn’t know it increased that much also of course closer to 3.5), 2 in Jammu Kashmir, 1 or 2 uttarakhand, 1 Himachal Pradesh, (174–175 so far) 2 more in other East Indian states, (177 so far) umm idk where the other 3 are teehee

USA

42 people, or maybe 43 due to undocumented illegal immigrants

10 to 11 Catholics, 1 Jew, 1 Mormon

27 in incorporated areas/cities, 15 in unincorporated areas. 1 in New York City

Indonesia

34 people

About 30 Muslims, 3 Christians, maybe about 1 Hindu.

1 person in Jakarta, about 3 more immediately outside. 18 people in java

Pakistan

28 people

about 27 Muslims, maybe 1 Christian

14 in Punjab, 6 in sindh, 5 in khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2 in Balochistan, 1 in azad Jammu and Kashmir

Brazil

27 people

About 18 Catholics, 6 Protestants (3 Pentecostals, 2 of whom are Assemblies of God) 2 irreligious people, 1 other, maybe an eastern religion.

1 living in city of São Paulo, about 1 living immediately outside city of São Paulo, about 1 living in city of Rio de Janeiro

Allegedly 2 living in favelas

Nigeria

26 people

13 Christians (10 Protestants, 3 Catholics), 13 Muslims

Allegedly at least 1 person living in a Lagos slum

Bangladesh

22 people

About 20 Muslims, 2 hindus

1 in dhaka, 1 more in Dhaka district, about 4 more in Dhaka district

Russia

19 people

About 16 christians, 2 Muslims, 1 atheist/unaffiliated

1 in moscow, about 2 in Moscow oblast

Mexico

16 people

13 Catholics, 2 Protestants about (more like 1.5), 1 irreligious/atheist

1 in Mexico city

Japan

16 people. 4 over age 65.

About 2 in Tokyo prefecture

Philippines

14 people

About 12 Catholics Almost 2 Protestants

About 2 in National Capital region, 1 immediately outside the region. About 8 in Luzon island group, 3 in Visayas, 3 in Mindanao.

DR Congo

13 people

Egypt

13 people

Ethiopia

13 people

Vietnam

12 people

Iran

11 people

1 in tehran county (idk about city), about 1 more in Tehran Province

Turkey

11 people

About 2 in Istanbul province

Germany

10 people

France

9 people

1 to 2 people in ile de France

UK

8 people

Thailand

8 people

7 Buddhists, 1 Muslim

Italy

8 people

South africa

8 people

Tanzania

7 people

Myanmar

7 people

6 Buddhists, maybe 1 Christian (in reality closer to half a Christian half a Muslim)

South Korea

7 people

Colombia

6 people

Kenya

6 people

Spain

6 people

Argentina

6 people

Algeria

6 people

Sudan

5 people

Ukraine

5 people

Uganda

5 people

Iraq

5 people

Poland

5 people

Canada

5 people

Morocco

5 people

Uzbekistan

4 people

Saudi arabia

4 people

Afghanistan

4 people

Malaysia

4 people

2 Muslims (closer to 2.5 but swapping out half to Thailand so Thailand can give Malaysia half a Buddhist), 1 Buddhist, 1 other, perhaps Christian.

Peru

4 people

Angola

4 people

Ghana

4 people

Mozambique

4 people

Nepal

4 people

3 Hindus, 1 other, perhaps Buddhist.

Yemen

4 people

Venezuela

4 people

Ivory Coast

3 people

Madagascar

3 people

Australia

3 people

North Korea

3 people

Cameroon

3 people

Taiwan

3 people

Niger

3

Sri Lanka

3

Burkina Faso

3

Mali

3

Chile

2

Romania

2

Malawi

2

889 total so far

Kazakhstan

2

Zambia

2

Ecuador

2

Netherlands

2

Syria

2

Guatemala

2

Senegal

2

Chad

2

Somalia

2

Zimbabwe

2

Cambodia

2

South Sudan

2

Rwanda

2

Guinea

2

Burundi

1

Benin

2

Haiti

2

Tunisia

1

Bolivia

2

Belgium

2

Cuba

1

Jordan

1

Greece

1

Czechia

1

Dominican Republic

1

Sweden

1

Portugal

1

Azerbaijan

1

Hungary

1

Belarus

1

United Arab Emirates

1

Tajikistan

1

Honduras

1

Israel

1

Papua New Guinea

1

Austria

1

Switzerland

1

Sierra Leone

1

Togo

1

Hong Kong

1

Paraguay

1

Laos

1

949 so far

Subsaharan Africa (aka countries in Africa that don’t border the Mediterranean Sea)

137 people

4 people over age 65

America’s

Total 136 people or maybe 137 because of undocumented illegal immigrants. Northern America 47/48 Carribean 5 rest of America mostly Latin America 74? (Allegedly closer to 83 but I see some discrepancies in the data admittedly from 10 years ago to data closer to today.)

Northern America

48 people, or maybe 49 because of undocumented immigrants. 8 over age 65, 2 millionaires, 32 white people, 7 or maybe 8 Latino people, 5 black people, 3 Asians, about 1 Native American, but also about 1 mixed race person. About 38 Christians (12 catholic, 26 Protestant/other), 8 unaffiliated, 1 Jew, 1 other, perhaps a Hindu or a Buddhist.

Caribbean

5 people. About half a person over 65, so maybe none. mostly catholic

Rest of America

74/83 people. About 8 over 65 years old. If 74 total, 57 catholics, 11 protestants, 6 unaffiliated

Europe

99 people, about 17 over age 65 years. 34 catholic 28 orthodox 12 Protestant. Maybe 5 or 6 Muslims.

Southeast Asia

81 people, about 7 people over age 65

Northern Africa

27 people. About 26 Muslims

West Asia

32. About 30 muslims

Central Asia

6

Final people requirements