1.4 billion, the whole and the parts: A tale told in puzzles, by Kabir Firaque
1 year, 8 months ago

1.4 billion, the whole and the parts: A tale told in puzzles, by Kabir Firaque

Hindustan Times  

Two staggering numbers, one on either side of the point when India tops the world population hierarchy, will be used as reference points in years to come. The country’s population was 1.417 billion at the end of 2022, when it was still behind China, and is projected to be close to 1.429 billion at the end of 2023, by when China will have fallen behind, according to projections by the United Nations World Population Prospects report of 2022. We know one billion has nine 0s and that 1.4 billion can be expressed as 1.4 x 10⁹, and we may comfortably do sums involving a number of zeroes and higher powers of 10, but it is impossible to visualise a billion or a million as a quantity that can be caught in the sweep of an eye, let alone counted. India’s projected under-30 populations by gender are 383 million men and 349 million women, each constituency larger than the entire US population. * Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has an annual capacity of 70 million passengers, which divides 1.4 billion neatly; 20 consecutive years running at full capacity would give it a passenger count equal to India’s current population.

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