PHYSICAL ECOLOGY: "A failing people, a springless autumn"

It’s always fascinating to check in on current fertility rates around the world. This article from earlier this year explains how the U.S. is now below the 2.1 replacement level.

[The rate is the expected number of children born per woman in her child-bearing years].

With the world average at 2.47, here are some of the laggards:

1.61 – Russia
1.59 – Canada
1.58 – European Union average
1.55 – mainland China
1.48 – Spain
1.42 – Germany
1.41 – Italy and Japan
1.32 – Poland
1.29 – Ukraine
1.24 – South Korea
1.11 – Taiwan

Most of the top countries on the list are African.

                       

"And the last king of the line of Anárion had no heir."
      (Lord of the Rings)