As of 2024, Barbados was the most densely populated country in Latin America and the Caribbean, with approximately 652 people per square kilometer. In that same year, Argentina's population density was estimated at approximately 16.7 people per square kilometer.

In 2025, approximately 23 million people lived in the São Paulo metropolitan area, making it the biggest in Latin America and the Caribbean and the sixth most populated in the world. The homonymous state of São Paulo was also the most populous federal entity in the country. The second place for the region was Mexico City with 22.75 million inhabitants. Brazil's cities Brazil is home to two large metropolises, only counting the population within the city limits, São Paulo had approximately 11.45 million inhabitants, and Rio de Janeiro around 6.21 million inhabitants. It also contains a number of smaller, but well known cities such as Brasília, Salvador, Belo Horizonte and many others, which report between 2 and 3 million inhabitants each. As a result, the country's population is primarily urban, with nearly 88 percent of inhabitants living in cities. Mexico City Mexico City's metropolitan area ranks sevenths in the ranking of most populated cities in the world. Founded over the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan in 1521 after the Spanish conquest as the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the city still stands as one of the most important in Latin America. Nevertheless, the preeminent economic, political, and cultural position of Mexico City has not prevented the metropolis from suffering the problems affecting the rest of the country, namely, inequality and violence. Only in 2023, the city registered a crime incidence of 52,723 reported cases for every 100,000 inhabitants and around 24 percent of the population lived under the poverty line.

Prior to the arrival of European explorers in the Americas in 1492, it is estimated that the population of the continent was around sixty million people. Over the next two centuries, most scholars agree that the indigenous population fell to just ten percent of its pre-colonization level, primarily due to the Old World diseases (namely smallpox) brought to the New World by Europeans and African slaves, as well as through violence and famine.

Distribution

It is thought that the most densely populated region of the Americas was in the fertile Mexican valley, home to over one third of the entire continent, including several Mesoamerican civilizations such as the Aztec empire. While the mid-estimate shows a population of over 21 million before European arrival, one estimate suggests that there were just 730,000 people of indigenous descent in Mexico in 1620, just one hundred years after Cortes' arrival. Estimates also suggest that the Andes, home to the Incas, was the second most-populous region in the Americas, while North America (in this case, the region north of the Rio Grande river) may have been the most sparsely populated region. There is some contention as to the size of the pre-Columbian populations in the Caribbean, as the mass genocides, forced relocation, and pandemics that followed in the early stages of Spanish colonization make it difficult to predict these numbers.

Varying estimates Estimating the indigenous populations of the Americas has proven to be a challenge and point of contention for modern historians. Totals from reputable sources range from 8.4 million people to 112.55 million, and while both of these totals were published in the 1930s and 1960s respectively, their continued citation proves the ambiguity surrounding this topic. European settlers' records from the 15th to 17th centuries have also created challenges, due to their unrealistic population predictions and inaccurate methodologies (for example, many early settlers only counted the number of warriors in each civilization). Nonetheless, most modern historians use figures close to those given in the "Middle estimate" shown here, with similar distributions by region.

This dataset was produced in the 1990s by Myron Gutmann and others at the University of Texas to assess demographic change in European- and Mexican-origin populations in Texas from the mid-nineteenth to early-twentieth centuries. Most of the data come from manuscript records for six rural Texas counties - Angelina, DeWitt, Gillespie, Jack, Red River, and Webb - for the U.S. Censuses of 1850-1880 and 1900-1910, and tax records where available. Together, the populations of these counties reflect the cultural, ethnic, economic, and ecological diversity of rural Texas. Red River and Angelina Counties, in Eastern Texas, had largely native-born white and black populations and cotton economies. DeWitt County in Southeast Texas had the most diverse population, including European and Mexican immigrants as well as native-born white and black Americans, and its economy was divided between cotton and cattle. The population of Webb County, on the Mexican border, was almost entirely of Mexican origin, and economic activities included transportation services as well as cattle ranching. Gillespie County in Central Texas had a mostly European immigrant population and an economy devoted to cropping and livestock. Jack County in North-Central Texas was sparsely populated, mainly by native-born white cattle ranchers. These counties were selected to over-represent the European and Mexican immigrant populations. Slave schedules were not included, so there are no African Americans in the samples for 1850 or 1860. In some years and counties, the Census records were sub-sampled, using a letter-based sample with the family as the primary sampling unit (families were chosen if the surname of the head began with one of the sample letters for the county). In other counties and years, complete populations were transcribed from the Census microfilms. For details and sample sizes by county, see the County table in the Original P.I. Documentation section of the ICPSR Codebook, or see Gutmann, Myron P. and Kenneth H. Fliess, How to Study Southern Demography in the Nineteenth Century: Early Lessons of the Texas Demography Project (Austin: Texas Population Research Center Papers, no. 11.11, 1989).

The earliest point where scientists can make reasonable estimates for the population of global regions is around 10,000 years before the Common Era (or 12,000 years ago). Estimates suggest that Asia has consistently been the most populated continent, and the least populated continent has generally been Oceania (although it was more heavily populated than areas such as North America in very early years). Population growth was very slow, but an increase can be observed between most of the given time periods. There were, however, dips in population due to pandemics, the most notable of these being the impact of plague in Eurasia in the 14th century, and the impact of European contact with the indigenous populations of the Americas after 1492, where it took almost four centuries for the population of Latin America to return to its pre-1500 level. The world's population first reached one billion people in 1803, which also coincided with a spike in population growth, due to the onset of the demographic transition. This wave of growth first spread across the most industrially developed countries in the 19th century, and the correlation between demographic development and industrial or economic maturity continued until today, with Africa being the final major region to begin its transition in the late-1900s.

Understanding the patterns and processes driving population structure is crucial for conservation planning. Spatial conservation units (CUs) for one or more species have been defined using similarities in communities, habitats, and resource management concerns. Additionally, CU boundaries can be informed by population genetic structure. Here, we determined the population structure of the Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), a migratory grassland bird. Its breeding range spans longitudinally across most of North America in the northern U.S. and southern Canada, and its population has declined by 59% from 1971 to 2014. We sampled blood from Bobolinks at seven breeding sites and used a ddRAD sequencing approach to identify 3236 SNPs for population genetic analyses. Using the Bayesian clustering approach, STRUCTURE, we found low levels of genetic differentiation across the breeding range. F st values ranged from 0.002 to 0.036 among all population pairs, and genetic structure followed an isolation-by-distance model. Despite low levels of genetic differentiation, we found evidence for four genetic groupings— breeding populations in Oregon and British Columbia were distinct from each other as well as from Central and eastern North American breeding populations. Investigating the demographic history of the populations using approximate Bayesian computation, we found evidence that western Bobolink populations are not relict populations but instead were founded during a recent westward range expansion, possibly enabled by agricultural expansion. We identify four genetics-based CUs that may serve as a complementary spatial framework, broader in scale compared to the commonly-used Bird Conservation Regions, for defining and achieving population objectives.

In 2022, about 40 percent of adults in Mexico held a net worth under 10,000 U.S. dollars. In contrast, merely 393,000 Mexicans (that is, 0.4 percent of the total) had a net worth of over one million U.S. dollars. Mexico is one of the most unequal countries in Latin America regarding wealth distribution, with 78.7 percent of the national wealth held by the richest ten percent of the population.

The minimum salaryThe minimum wage per day guaranteed by law in Mexico was decreed to increase by 22 percent between 2021 and 2022, reaching 172.87 Mexican pesos in 2022. In the Free Zone located near the northern border the minimum daily wage was raised to 260.34 Mexican pesos.This represented the fourth consecutive incrase since 2019, but could prove to be insufficient to maintain the wellbeing of Mexican workers after the soaring inflation rate registered in 2022 and the economic impact of the COVID-19 in Mexican households. The legal minimum salary has a long history in the North American country, it was first implemented with the approval of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States in 1917. Income inequality in Latin AmericaLatin America, as other developing regions in the world, generally records high rates of inequality, with a Gini coefficient ranging between 38 and 54 among the region’s countries. Moreover, many of the countries with the biggest inequality in income distribution worldwide are found in Latin America. According to the Human Development Report 2019, wealth redistribution by means of tax transfers improves Latin America's Gini coefficient to a lesser degree than it does in advanced economies. Wider access to education and health services, on the other hand, have been proven to have a greater direct effect in improving Gini coefficient measurements in the region.

In 2020, there was an estimated migrant stock in the world of over *** million people. Of these, *** million resided in Europe or North America. North Africa and the Middle East were the second most common destination of migrants in the world. Moreover, a high number of migrants live within the same region as their country of origin. This is especially the case in Europe and North America, as well as Central and South Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa. There are varying reasons for people to emigrate from their country of origin, from poverty and unemployment to war and persecution.

Based on land area, Brazil is the largest country in Latin America by far, with a total area of over 8.5 million square kilometers. Argentina follows with almost 2.8 million square kilometers. Cuba, whose surface area extends over almost 111,000 square kilometers, is the Caribbean country with the largest territory.

Brazil: a country with a lot to offer

Brazil's borders reach nearly half of the South American subcontinent, making it the fifth-largest country in the world and the third-largest country in the Western Hemisphere. Along with its landmass, Brazil also boasts the largest population and economy in the region. Although Brasília is the capital, the most significant portion of the country's population is concentrated along its coastline in the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

South America: a region of extreme geographic variation

With the Andes mountain range in the West, the Amazon Rainforest in the East, the Equator in the North, and Cape Horn as the Southern-most continental tip, South America has some of the most diverse climatic and ecological terrains in the world. At its core, its biodiversity can largely be attributed to the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, and the Amazon river, the world's largest river. However, with this incredible wealth of ecology also comes great responsibility. In the past decade, roughly 80,000 square kilometers of the Brazilian Amazon were destroyed. And, as of late 2019, there were at least 1,000 threatened species in Brazil alone.

The world's population first reached one billion people in 1803, and reach eight billion in 2023, and will peak at almost 11 billion by the end of the century. Although it took thousands of years to reach one billion people, it did so at the beginning of a phenomenon known as the demographic transition; from this point onwards, population growth has skyrocketed, and since the 1960s the population has increased by one billion people every 12 to 15 years. The demographic transition sees a sharp drop in mortality due to factors such as vaccination, sanitation, and improved food supply; the population boom that follows is due to increased survival rates among children and higher life expectancy among the general population; and fertility then drops in response to this population growth. Regional differences The demographic transition is a global phenomenon, but it has taken place at different times across the world. The industrialized countries of Europe and North America were the first to go through this process, followed by some states in the Western Pacific. Latin America's population then began growing at the turn of the 20th century, but the most significant period of global population growth occurred as Asia progressed in the late-1900s. As of the early 21st century, almost two thirds of the world's population live in Asia, although this is set to change significantly in the coming decades. Future growth The growth of Africa's population, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, will have the largest impact on global demographics in this century. From 2000 to 2100, it is expected that Africa's population will have increased by a factor of almost five. It overtook Europe in size in the late 1990s, and overtook the Americas a decade later. In contrast to Africa, Europe's population is now in decline, as birth rates are consistently below death rates in many countries, especially in the south and east, resulting in natural population decline. Similarly, the population of the Americas and Asia are expected to go into decline in the second half of this century, and only Oceania's population will still be growing alongside Africa. By 2100, the world's population will have over three billion more than today, with the vast majority of this concentrated in Africa. Demographers predict that climate change is exacerbating many of the challenges that currently hinder progress in Africa, such as political and food instability; if Africa's transition is prolonged, then it may result in further population growth that would place a strain on the region's resources, however, curbing this growth earlier would alleviate some of the pressure created by climate change.

Data quality:Hamilton, City (C)Total non-response (TNR) rate, short-form census questionnaire: 2.5%Total non-response (TNR) rate, long-form census questionnaire: 3.5%Notes: 117 'Visible minority' refers to whether a person is a visible minority or not as defined by the Employment Equity Act. The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as "persons other than Aboriginal peoples who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour." The visible minority population consists mainly of the following groups: South Asian Chinese Black Filipino Arab Latin American Southeast Asian West Asian Korean and Japanese.In 2021 Census analytical and communications products the term "visible minority" has been replaced by the terms "racialized population" or "racialized groups" reflecting the increased use of these terms in the public sphere. For more information on visible minority and population group variables including information on their classifications the questions from which they are derived data quality and their comparability with other sources of data please refer to the Visible Minority and Population Group Reference Guide Census of Population 2021. 118 In 2021 Census analytical and communications products the term "visible minority" has been replaced by the terms "racialized population" or "racialized groups" reflecting the increased use of these terms in the public sphere. 119 The abbreviation "n.i.e." means "not included elsewhere." This category includes persons who provided responses that are classified as a visible minority but that cannot be classified with a specific visible minority group. Such responses include for example "Guyanese " "Pacific Islander " "Polynesian " "Tibetan" and "West Indian." 120 In 2021 Census analytical and communications products this category is referred to as "the rest of the population." 121 'Ethnic or cultural origin' refers to the ethnic or cultural origins of the person's ancestors. Ancestors may have Indigenous origins origins that refer to different countries or other origins that may not refer to different countries.The sum of the ethnic or cultural origins in this table is greater than the total population estimate because a person may report more than one ethnic or cultural origin in the census. The ethnic groups selected are the most frequently reported at the Canada level. For more information on ethnic or cultural origin variables including information on their classifications the questions from which they are derived data quality and their comparability with other sources of data please refer to the Ethnic or Cultural Origin Reference Guide Census of Population 2021. 122 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating French origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "French"). 123 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating British Isles origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "British " "United Kingdom"). 124 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Caucasian (White) origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Caucasian"). 125 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating First Nations (North American Indian) origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "First Nations " "North American Indian"). 126 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating European origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "European"). 127 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating African origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "African"). 128 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Arab origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Arab"). 129 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Asian origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Asian"). 130 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Cree origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Cree"). 131 The abbreviation "n.i.e." means "not included elsewhere." This category includes responses indicating Christian origins not included elsewhere (e.g. "Christian " "Baptist " "Catholic"). 132 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating North American Indigenous origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Aboriginal " "Indigenous"). 133 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating South Asian origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "South Asian"). 134 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Mi'kmaq origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Mi'kmaq"). 135 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Northern European origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Northern European " "Scandinavian"). 136 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Latin Central or South American origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Latin American " "South American"). 137 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Black origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Black"). 138 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Inuit origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Inuit"). 139 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Eastern European origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Eastern European"). 140 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating East or Southeast Asian origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "East Asian " "Southeast Asian"). 141 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating West or Central Asian or Middle Eastern origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Central Asian " "Middle Eastern " "West Asian"). 142 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Caribbean origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Caribbean"). 143 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating West Indian origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "West Indian"). 144 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Hispanic origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Hispanic"). 145 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Western European origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Western European"). 146 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Czechoslovakian origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Czechoslovakian"). 147 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Yugoslavian origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Yugoslavian"). 148 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Slavic origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Slavic"). 149 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Innu origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Innu " "Montagnais"). 150 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Celtic origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Celtic"). 151 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating North American origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "North American"). 152 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Dene origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Dene"). 153 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Blackfoot origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Blackfoot"). 154 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Iroquoian (Haudenosaunee) origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Iroquois " "Haudenosaunee"). 155 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating North African origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "North African"). 156 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Southern or East African origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "East African"). 157 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified.' This category includes responses indicating Anishinaabe origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Anishinaabe"). 158 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Bantu origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Bantu"). 159 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Akan origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Akan"). 160 The abbreviation "n.o.s." means "not otherwise specified." This category includes responses indicating Central or West African origins not otherwise specified (e.g. "Central African " "West African"). 161 'Religion' refers to the person's self-identification as having a connection or affiliation with any religious denomination group body or other religiously defined community or system of belief. Religion is not limited to formal membership in a

Grape Phylloxera, Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, is a gall-forming insect that feeds on the leaves and roots of many Vitis species. The roots of the cultivated V. vinifera cultivars and hybrids are highly susceptible to grape phylloxera feeding damage. The native range of this insect covers most of North America, and it is particularly abundant in the eastern and central United States. Phylloxera was introduced from North America to almost all grape-growing regions across five of the temperate zone continents. It devastated vineyards in each of these regions causing large-scale disruptions to grape growers, wine makers and national economies. In order to understand the population diversity of grape phylloxera in its native range, more than 500 samples from 19 States and 34 samples from the introduced range (northern California, Europe and South America) were genotyped with 32 simple sequence repeat markers. STRUCTURE, a model based clustering method identified five populations within these samples. The five populations were confirmed by a neighbor-joining tree and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). These populations were distinguished by their Vitis species hosts and their geographic locations. Samples collected from California, Europe and South America traced back to phylloxera sampled in the northeastern United States on V. riparia, with some influence from phylloxera collected along the Atlantic Coast and Central Plains on V. vulpina. Reproductive statistics conclusively confirmed that sexual reproduction is common in the native range and is combined with cyclical parthenogenesis. Native grape phylloxera populations were identified to be under Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The identification of admixed samples between many of these populations indicates that shared environments facilitate sexual reproduction between different host associated populations to create new genotypes of phylloxera. This study also found that assortative mating might occur across the sympatric range of the V. vulpina west and V. cinerea populations.

Whereas the population is expected to decrease somewhat until 2100 in Asia, Europe, and South America, it is predicted to grow significantly in Africa. While there were 1.5 billion inhabitants on the continent at the beginning of 2024, the number of inhabitants is expected to reach 3.8 billion by 2100. In total, the global population is expected to reach nearly 10.4 billion by 2100. Worldwide population In the United States, the total population is expected to steadily increase over the next couple of years. In 2024, Asia held over half of the global population and is expected to have the highest number of people living in urban areas in 2050. Asia is home to the two most populous countries, India and China, both with a population of over one billion people. However, the small country of Monaco had the highest population density worldwide in 2021. Effects of overpopulation Alongside the growing worldwide population, there are negative effects of overpopulation. The increasing population puts a higher pressure on existing resources and contributes to pollution. As the population grows, the demand for food grows, which requires more water, which in turn takes away from the freshwater available. Concurrently, food needs to be transported through different mechanisms, which contributes to air pollution. Not every resource is renewable, meaning the world is using up limited resources that will eventually run out. Furthermore, more species will become extinct which harms the ecosystem and food chain. Overpopulation was considered to be one of the most important environmental issues worldwide in 2020.

Mexico was the most visited destination by international tourists in Latin America in 2023, surpassing ** million tourist arrivals in that year. In the second place, but far behind, was the Dominican Republic. A global tourism powerhouse By developing airport infrastructure and calibrating new direct flights, Mexico has set international tourism high on its priorities list. At the forefront of Mexico's spike in international tourism is the FONATUR, or Mexico's National Fund for Tourism Development. The tourism body worked in the expansion of Cancun's airport and other four key tourist airports in the country. Plus, Mexico City's airport added new international direct flights in the *****, resulting in being rated as the best internationally connected airport in Latin America in 2019. With this and other developments in this sector, the North American country managed to rank among the top 20 destinations in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Ranking that year. South America's tourism leader Through its geographically diverse landscape and globally recognized wine industry, Argentina has grown its international tourism sector. The influx of foreign visitors to Argentina can in some way be attributed to the country's air-travel infrastructure. The national air carrier, Aerolineas Argentinas, was one of the top airline operating in Latin America in 2019. That same year, passenger traffic to Argentinian airports grew by **** percent. Though in April 2020, in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the arrival of international air travel tourists to Argentina came to a complete halt, ensuing a similar fate of the global tourism industry.

Guyana was the South American country 20360the highest gross national income per capita, with 20,360 U.S. dollars per person in 2023. Uruguay ranked second, registering a GNI of 19,530 U.S. dollars per person, based on current prices. Gross national income (GNI) is the aggregated sum of the value added by residents in an economy, plus net taxes (minus subsidies) and net receipts of primary income from abroad. Which are the largest Latin American economies? Based on annual gross domestic product, which is the total amount of goods and services produced in a country per year, Brazil leads the regional ranking, followed by Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. Many Caribbean countries and territories hold the highest GDP per capita in this region, measurement that reflects how GDP would be divided if it was perfectly equally distributed among the population. GNI per capita is, however, a more exact calculation of wealth than GDP per capita, as it takes into consideration taxes paid and income receipts from abroad. How much inequality is there in Latin America? In many Latin American countries, more than half the total wealth created in their economies is held by the richest 20 percent of the population. When a small share of the population concentrates most of the wealth, millions of people don't have enough to make ends meet. For instance, in Brazil, about 5.32 percent of the population lives on less than 3.2 U.S. dollars per day.

Mexico is the country with the largest number of native Spanish speakers in the world. As of 2024, 132.5 million people in Mexico spoke Spanish with a native command of the language. Colombia was the nation with the second-highest number of native Spanish speakers, at around 52.7 million. Spain came in third, with 48 million, and Argentina fourth, with 46 million. Spanish, a world language As of 2023, Spanish ranked as the fourth most spoken language in the world, only behind English, Chinese, and Hindi, with over half a billion speakers. Spanish is the official language of over 20 countries, the majority on the American continent, nonetheless, it's also one of the official languages of Equatorial Guinea in Africa. Other countries have a strong influence, like the United States, Morocco, or Brazil, countries included in the list of non-Hispanic countries with the highest number of Spanish speakers. The second most spoken language in the U.S. In the most recent data, Spanish ranked as the language, other than English, with the highest number of speakers, with 12 times more speakers as the second place. Which comes to no surprise following the long history of migrations from Latin American countries to the Northern country. Moreover, only during the fiscal year 2022. 5 out of the top 10 countries of origin of naturalized people in the U.S. came from Spanish-speaking countries.

In 2023, just under 42 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa's population was below the age of 15; in contrast, this figure was just 18 percent in Europe & Central Asia and in North America. Across these regions, the share of the population aged 65 and over inversely correlated with the younger population, in that the regions with the largest share aged under 15 had the smallest share aged over 64, and vice versa. For most regions, the share of the population aged between 15 and 64 years ranged between 64 and 65 percent, except for Sub-Saharan Africa where it was below 56 percent. These trends can largely be explained by looking at global demographic development.

In 2025, the degree of urbanization worldwide was at 58 percent. North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean were the regions with the highest level of urbanization, with over four-fifths of the population residing in urban areas. The degree of urbanization defines the share of the population living in areas defined as "cities". On the other hand, less than half of Africa's population lives in urban settlements. Globally, China accounts for over one-quarter of the built-up areas of more than 500,000 inhabitants. The definition of a city differs across various world regions - some countries count settlements with 100 houses or more as urban, while others only include the capital of a country or provincial capitals in their count. Largest agglomerations worldwideThough North America is the most urbanized continent, no U.S. city was among the top ten urban agglomerations worldwide in 2023. Tokyo-Yokohama in Japan was the largest urban area in the world that year, with 37.7 million inhabitants. New York ranked 13th, with 21.4 million inhabitants. Eight of the 10 most populous cities are located in Asia. ConnectivityIt may be hard to imagine how the reality will look in 2050, with 70 percent of the global population living in cities, but some statistics illustrate the ways urban living differs from suburban and rural living. American urbanites may lead more “connected” (i.e., internet-connected) lives than their rural and/or suburban counterparts. As of 2021, around 89 percent of people living in urban areas owned a smartphone. Internet usage was also higher in cities than in rural areas. On the other hand, rural areas always have, and always will, attract those who want to escape the rush of the city.

In 2024, the Southeast was the most populated region in Brazil, according to the estimations. In that year, more than 88 million people lived in the four states of this region: Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The Central-West region, where the country's capital, Brasília, is located, was the least populated region in the South American country in 2021, with only 17 million inhabitants. Throughout the past decade, Brazil's population has grown at slower rates than before.

In 2020, about 82.66 percent of the total population in the United States lived in cities and urban areas. As the United States was one of the earliest nations to industrialize, it has had a comparatively high rate of urbanization over the past two centuries. The urban population became larger than the rural population during the 1910s, and by the middle of the century it is expected that almost 90 percent of the population will live in an urban setting. Regional development of urbanization in the U.S. The United States began to urbanize on a larger scale in the 1830s, as technological advancements reduced the labor demand in agriculture, and as European migration began to rise. One major difference between early urbanization in the U.S. and other industrializing economies, such as the UK or Germany, was population distribution. Throughout the 1800s, the Northeastern U.S. became the most industrious and urban region of the country, as this was the main point of arrival for migrants. Disparities in industrialization and urbanization was a key contributor to the Union's victory in the Civil War, not only due to population sizes, but also through production capabilities and transport infrastructure. The Northeast's population reached an urban majority in the 1870s, whereas this did not occur in the South until the 1950s. As more people moved westward in the late 1800s, not only did their population growth increase, but the share of the urban population also rose, with an urban majority established in both the West and Midwest regions in the 1910s. The West would eventually become the most urbanized region in the 1960s, and over 90 percent of the West's population is urbanized today. Urbanization today New York City is the most populous city in the United States, with a population of 8.3 million, while California has the largest urban population of any state. California also has the highest urbanization rate, although the District of Columbia is considered 100 percent urban. Only four U.S. states still have a rural majority, these are Maine, Mississippi, Montana, and West Virginia.