Population is Middle East time bomb

4 December 2015 | Leicester Mercury

(Headline by Leicester Mercury)

Recent letters on Iraq and Syria and the First Person article by Suresh Chauhan on December 2 have been interesting and informative. There is however an element in the situation which needs to be reiterated and that is the huge population growth in these countries.

The United Nations Population Division’s 2015 revision estimates that in 1950 the combined population of Iraq and Syria was only 9.1 million. (That is less than the population of The Netherlands.) At present, 2015, the combined population is 54.9 million. (That is much more than the population of Spain.) Furthermore, UNPD estimates that in 2030 the combined population will be 82.7 million. (That is more than the population of Germany.) And UNDP also estimates that in 2055 the combined population will be 127.7 million. (That is more than the population of Russia.)

This great increase in population needs to be taken into account when deciding what best to do about the situation. Dealing with these countries when their combined population is greater than that of Spain, or Germany, or Russia is much more difficult than dealing with them when their combined population is less than that of The Netherlands. It’s a great problem.

Gerald Danaher