Human Population: What Are the Limits?
A Conversation with Paul Demeny
From the Environmental Review Newsletter Volume Two Number Eleven, November 1995
Introduction:
The world population is now approximately 5.7 billion people, most of whom live in developing countries.
It is thought that as the developing world becomes more industrialized and urban, that people will have fewer
children, and the world population should peak around 12 billion early in the next century. The reduction in birth
rate due to the shift from an agrarian to an urban, industrial/service economy, occurred first in Europe, then
North America and Japan, and most recently in East Asia; that is, the process seems to be independent of culture
and geography.
We spoke with Professor Paul Demeny of the Population Council, a private research and technical
assistance organization based in New York. Dr. Demeny came to the U.S. from Hungary in 1956, received the
Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 1961. He became a full professor in 1969 at the University of
Michigan and established the Institute on Asia and Pacific Matters at the East West Institute at the University of
Hawaii in 1971. He was vice president and director of the Center for Policy Studies at the Population Council
until 1988, and is now a distinguished scholar there.
Professor Demeny established the quarterly journal, Population and Development Review, in 1974. The
journal seeks to advance knowledge of the relationships between population and socioeconomic development and
provides a forum for discussion of related issues of public policy. Subscriptions cost $32.00 for one year. The
journal can be reached at Population and Development Review, One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, New York, New
York 10017. Phone (212)339-0514