# If the World Were a Village of 100 People... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 16, 2000, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513 "2000-11-16T20:58:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jjjfishe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jjjfishe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjjfishe)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/1 "2000-11-16T20:58:33Z")
If the world’s population of nearly five billion people were reduced to a village of 100 people, this would be the result: AREA: 58 would be Asians 12 would be Africans 10 would be Europeans 8 would be Latin Americans 5 would be North Americans 1 would be Australian or New Zealander LANGUAGE: 17 people would speak Mandarin 9 people would speak English 8 people would speak Hindu or Urdu 6 people would speak Russian 6 people would speak Spanish 4 people would speak Arabic The rest would speak Bengali, Portuguese, Indonesian, Japanese, German, French and 20 other languages! RELIGION: 29 would be Christians 17 would have no religion 14 would be Moslems 13 would be Hindus 12 would be Buddhists 9 would be Confucian and Shinto 5 would be Animist (traditional) 1 would be Jewish EDUCATION: 70 would be illiterate 1 would have a college education HEALTH: 50 would be malnourished 33 would not have clean, safe drinking water Excerpt from Unheard Voices: Celebrating Cultures from the Developing World, A Guide for Introducing Global Education to the Classroom ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/2 "2000-11-16T21:19:50Z")
Language 98 people would post a majority of their posts in English. 1 person would post in Bjornese. 1 person would post in SerlinTalk. Sex Education 45 people would have picked it up from Cecil’s writings. 15 people would have learned everything they needed to know from HBO’s Real Sex. 15 people would have learned from frank discussions with their parents. 15 people would have learned it from school. 5 people would have learned it from some kid in gym class who called it “Pole Shining” 2 people would have learned from old National Geographics. 1 person learned it from Bazooka Joe. Internet 99 people would have used the internet to post messages. 1 person posts by puttng notes in the microwave. Personalities 3 of the people will constantly have bad things to say about the moderators. 14 people will have permanent grudge matches and every chance they get will flame their opponent. 1 person will post to every thread, and never notice anything anyone says to them. Geography 7 people will live permanently in MPSIMS 2 people will live permanently in BBQ pit, but this 15 changes due to stress related illness, and days in lock up. 10 people will live permanently in GQ. Their brain is so large, they need to wear a helmet to catch brain ooze. 4 people live permanently in GD. the rest have passports that allow them to pass from one forum to the other. Prison 1 person is a constant troll who comes back every few days. 75 people accuse the other 25 of being that constant troll. ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/3 "2000-11-16T22:18:28Z")
Bionic Man 47 would like Jamie Summers 32 would like Steve Austin 11 Would like Max the bionic dog 8 Prefer Bionic Bogfoot 2 Like Masketron ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/4 "2000-11-16T22:48:26Z")
70 – missionary 20 – woman astride 6 – doggie 2 – standing 1 – masturbating 1 – watching ---
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/5 "2000-11-16T23:35:51Z")
…37 would be passing this inaccurate piece of glurge around by e-mail on a 24x7 basis (of course, if the world were a village of 100 people, a year would only have six seconds in it, so that effort is not as impressive as it sounds). Incidentally, the world’s population passed “nearly five billion” quite some time, so that may account for some of the _other_ inaccuracies in it. Mostly, though, it’s probably wrong from the start. ---
**Author:** ![poohpah\_chalupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@poohpah\_chalupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poohpah_chalupa)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/6 "2000-11-16T23:43:04Z")
…we’d probably _still_ be trying to count votes and figure out who the next President will be. …on the otherhand, if there were only 100 people in the world, I’d probably get to know **jjjfishe** _personally…_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/7 "2000-11-16T23:48:35Z")
… I’d STILL wind up in the slowest grocery check-out line… \ ---
**Author:** ![Juggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/juggler/32/3194_2.png) [@Juggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juggler)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/8 "2000-11-17T00:07:19Z")
> [@](#): > > EDUCATION: > 70 would be illiterate > 1 would have a college education Who would teach the person who got college education? I suppose he/she would have to kill the teacher right after graduation. ---
**Author:** ![ren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@ren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ren)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/9 "2000-11-17T00:11:27Z")
> [@](#): > > 1 person posts by puttng notes in the microwave. Yes, all _flames_ no doubt. heh heh. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/10 "2000-11-17T00:59:29Z")
35 would be driving over the speed limit slightly. 30 would be driving way over the speed limit. 15 would be driving under the speed limit. 10 would be swerving across the highway. 5 would be chasing you with guns blazing, in a fit of road rage. 5 would be stopped on the on ramp, waiting for traffic to let them in. ---
**Author:** ![ren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@ren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ren)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/11 "2000-11-17T01:12:59Z")
95 would be stopped on the ramp, waiting for traffic to let them in. 5 would be swerving across the highway. ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Feelgud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3be4f8/32.png) [@Major\_Feelgud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Feelgud)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/12 "2000-11-17T01:28:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ren \* > \*\*95 would be stopped on the ramp, waiting for traffic to let them in. > 5 would be swerving across the highway. > \*\* and the carpool lane would be empty. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/13 "2000-11-17T01:49:14Z")
1 would be a politician 10 would be people working for that politician 5 would be lawyers trying to influence that one politician 20 would be people working for lawyers trying to influence that one politician The rest? F\*\*\* 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Jester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jester/32/8223_2.png) [@Jester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jester)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/14 "2000-11-17T02:01:30Z")
[Hillary Clinton] We’d all be able to raise a child…together. [/Hillary Clinton] 😃 \ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/15 "2000-11-17T04:44:31Z")
Being as I spend at least twenty minutes figuring this out the last time we did this topic [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=20985](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=20985) I’m going to reuse my previous post. > [@](#): > > In a village of 100 people: > > You’d have 21 Chinese, 16 Indians, 5 Americans (US), 4 Indonesians, 3 Brazilians, 3 Russians, 2 Pakistanis, 2 Japanese, 2 Bangladeshis, 2 Nigerians, 2 Mexicans, 1 German, 1 Filipino, 1 Vietnamese, 1 Iranian, 1 Egyptian, 1 Turk, 1 Thai, 1 Briton, 1 Frenchman, 1 Italian, 1 Ethiopian, 1 Ukrainian, 1 Zairian, 1 South Korean, 1 South African, 1 Spainard, 1 Pole, 1 Columbian, 1 Argentinian, 1 Sudanese, 1 Moroccan, 1 Algerian, 1 Tanzanian, 1 Canadian, 1 Kenyan, and 13 other nationalities. > > You would have 34 Christians (17 Roman Catholics, 8 Protestants, 4 Orthodox, 5 other Christians), 19 Muslims (16 Sunnites, 3 Shi’ites), 14 Hindus, 6 Buddhists (3 Mahayana, 2 Theravada, 1 other Buddhist), 4 Confucian-Taoists, 2 “New Religionists”, 2 “Ethnic Religionists”, and 19 non-believers. Surprisingly, all the other religions of the world, including Judaism, Sikhism, Jainism, Shintoism, Zoroastrianism, and Baha’ism, contain less than 1 percent of the world’s population combined. This time, to make it interesting, everyone pick their spot. Hurry up! There’s only room for five Americans and I just called dibs on one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Erika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/47e85d/32.png) [@Erika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erika)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/16 "2000-11-17T04:51:21Z")
And I’ve got number 2 . . . ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/17 "2000-11-17T05:08:57Z")
I get to be the Canadian, tho! ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/18 "2000-11-17T05:59:52Z")
Nationality: I’ll call one of the 13 “other” and pick Australian. Religion: I’ll call one of the 4 Confucian-Taoists, just to confuse things. I’ve already started setting up booby traps surrounding Australia. Anyone else who wants to join up needs to let me know ASAP so that I can let you in. ---
**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/19 "2000-11-17T06:14:43Z")
Um, it’d be a lot of work but I think we could repopulate the planet (…or at least Canada). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mauve\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@Mauve\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauve_Dog)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2000, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513/20 "2000-11-17T06:21:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Little Nemo \* > **This time, to make it interesting, everyone pick their spot. Hurry up! There’s only room for five Americans and I just called dibs on one of them.** Oooh! Oooh! I get to be a Therevada Bangladeshi! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-world-were-a-village-of-100-people/41513.md?page=2)