After tracing the history of population growth in the developed and developing regions, it is worthwhile to study its growth in the different continents to find out how the growth rates varied from continent to continent.

It must be noted at this point that what is depicted is the general picture of specific continents, and the possibility of particular countries in these continents following different courses of population growth should not be ruled out.

Europe :

During the seventeenth century, the population of Europe increased very gradually because of many disasters such as cold waves, crop failures and famines, wars and rebellions and epidemics.

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In the eighteenth century, mortality conditions in Europe began to improve as a result of socio-economic development, which followed first the agricultural revolution and later the industrial revolution.

The reduction in the death rate was partly due to the greater availability of food supplies, establishment of conditions of better law-and-order conditions and better standards of living.

This reduction in the death rate was, however, also due to advances in medical technology and reforms in the field of environmental sanitation and public health. Throughout, the nineteenth century also, the population of Europe grew rapidly.

During the second decade of the twentieth century, the average annual growth rate was 0.89 per cent, though prior to that, during the period 1900-1920, a decline had been registered over the period 1850-1900.

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This decline was mainly due to the larger number of deaths during the First World War. The low growth rate of 0.75 per cent during 1930-1940 was the result of the great economic depression when people avoided getting married and having children.

In the early years of the decade 1940-1950. Europe was severely affected by the Second World War, resulting in a growth rate of 0.05 per cent per year, the lowest level reached in several centuries.

After the Second World War, following economic recovery, there was a “baby boom” in Europe, the birth rate and the population once again increasing at a high rate of growth.

This increase continued up to about 1956, after which a downward trend may be observed. The cycle of rising and falling rates of population increase in obedience to changing social and economic conditions may thus be observed over a period of time.

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When growth rates for the USSR and the rest of Europe are considered separately, it is observed that they have been higher in the former than in the latter, though the patterns are similar.

North America :

It is apparent from Table 3.7 that, during the second half of the eighteenth century, the average annual rate of population growth for North America was 3.65 per cent the highest ever recorded.

This was partly due to continuous immigration from European countries and partly due to early marriages and extremely high marital fertility.

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At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the rates of population increase in the United States of America we r e quite high. Thereafter, they started declining and continued to decline throughout the nineteenth century.

From 1860 up to the outbreak of the First World War, the birth rate and the volume of immigration decreased and the average annual rate of growth fell to 0.8 per cent in the decade 1930-1940, which is looked upon as one of the effects of the acute economic depression in the thirties.

After economic recovery and the end of the War, North America experienced a “baby boom.” The rate of population growth began to increase and the continued to go up till 1960, after which the birth rate started declining, resulting in a decreased rate of population growth.

The course of population growth in North America was similar to that in Europe, although the level of growth rates in North America was higher than that in Europe.

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Oceania :

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the rates of total and natural increase were quite high in Australia and New Zealand, but started declining towards the beginning of the twentieth century because of declining fertility.

After the Second World War, however, there was a recovery in the fertility rates, resulting in an increased growth rate bf the population. With the exception of the war years, immigration to Australia and New Zealand has continued on a substantial scale.’

Latin America :

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It is evident from Table 3.7 that, from the latter half of the nineteenth century, growth rates of the population of Latin America started increasing and continued to do so up to 1960, after which some decline is apparent.

The rate of population growth of Latin America during 1980-85 was 2.30. The downward trend in mortality rates and the continuation of high fertility rates constitute the two major factors responsible for the high rate of population growth in Latin America after 1930.

Asia :

Up to the beginning of the twentieth century, the rates of population growth in Asia were low and fluctuating. From 1920 onwards, however, they began to rise, and this rise has persisted up to 1970, after which they began to decline.

The rates of population growth in the latter half of the twentieth century have been moderate in East Asia, very high in South Asia and Middle South Asia and the highest in Western South Asia. 8

Africa :

Unfortunately, any estimate of population growth for Africa, specially those relating to the South Sahara region, have to be based on conjectures because of lack of statistical data and the absence of recorded history.

It appears, however, that North and South Africa differ from each other in respect of population trends, for the pattern of population growth in North Africa has been more or less similar to that in Asia.

In South Sahara Africa, the population size decline up to about 1800 mainly because of the practice of slave trade and this decline are reflected in the negative growth of the population of the continent up to 1800.

It has been estimated that slave trade operations eliminated as many as 50 million Africans. In the nineteenth century, however, the growth rate of African population recovered and, as is evident, the population of Western Africa, Eastern Africa and Middle Northern Africa has been growing at a rapid rate since 1950 the highest birth rates and death rates in the world being observed in the African continent.