# How many people have lived on Earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2001, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-lived-on-earth/77791 "2001-08-23T21:11:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Survey1215](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Survey1215](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Survey1215)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-lived-on-earth/77791/1 "2001-08-23T21:11:11Z")
As in throughout history. I know there’s no way to be accurate, but I’ve been tryin to come up with a cumulative population figure. I tried several Google searches (and an SDMB search) on this subject and all I learned was that its hard enough for people to agree on how many people we have on Earth now. Is there a source out there that would be able to provide a scientifically-based guesstimate? Danke. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-lived-on-earth/77791/2 "2001-08-23T21:19:18Z")
This question was tackled in Discover Magazine recently in their “Ask the Wizard” thingie. Can’t find it online, though. If nobody else beats me to it, I’ll grab my paper copy tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-lived-on-earth/77791/3 "2001-08-23T21:21:50Z")
All of them. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-lived-on-earth/77791/4 "2001-08-23T21:25:04Z")
The Master speaks: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_085.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_085.html) ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-lived-on-earth/77791/5 "2001-08-23T21:34:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ethilrist \* > \*\*All of them. \*\* Hmm… are you absolutely positive? Some people aren’t! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-lived-on-earth/77791/6 "2001-08-23T21:55:15Z")
This is like the question as to whether the living outnumber the dead; the problem is that you need to draw an arbitrary line between humans and pre-humans. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-lived-on-earth/77791/7 "2001-08-23T22:06:51Z")
The other problem is our very sketchy knowledge of population declines due to natural disasters, climate change, pandemics, etc. We know that the population of Europe dropped by about a third in just a few years during the Black Death of the 14th century. We have good reason to believe the Black Death had a similar impact on other densely populated parts of the world as well. How frequently did such depopulations happen? We don’t have reliable demographic information before the middle ages, so it’s a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Survey1215](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Survey1215](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Survey1215)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-lived-on-earth/77791/8 "2001-08-23T23:15:30Z")
Chalk that one up to newbieness, Qadgop. I searched the message board archives but not the column archives. Duh. You do your fellow Mercotans proud. Cecil’s answer was about what I expected, in terms of having a broad range. As for his dismissing the “paleolithic crowd” as having disappeared 25,000 years ago, the SD staff has obviously never seen my neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-lived-on-earth/77791/9 "2001-08-24T13:53:12Z")
Aha. Took some hunting around, but I finally found it: [Ask Discover: How many people have ever lived on Earth?](http://www.discover.com/recent_issue/index.html) Defining “human” as _H. sap._, starting 50,000 years ago, this guy estimates that 106 billion humans have been born–toward the high end of the range Cecil quoted. ---
**Author:** ![Evnglion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f04885/32.png) [@Evnglion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evnglion)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-lived-on-earth/77791/10 "2001-08-24T13:56:42Z")
I know this can’t be true, but I ahve heard that there are more people living on this earth right now than have ever died here…but that wouldn’t make much sense…ehhhh? ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-lived-on-earth/77791/11 "2001-08-24T15:01:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evnglion \* > I know this can’t be true, but I ahve heard that there are more people living on this earth right now than have ever died here…but that wouldn’t make much sense…ehhhh? That’s an old myth, probably originated by the old “The Earth Is Overpopulated and We’re All Going To Die” movement. I’ve also seen the same canard touted as a disproof of reincarnation (human-to-human, presumably, not animal-to-human).