US Could Be World’s Most Populous Country
US Could Be World’s Most Populous Country
NEW YORK: The United States could aim to have largest population in the world before the end of the century, thus ensuring its power.
The US now has a population of 316 million – third largest after China, 1.36 billion, and India, 1.28 billion – and could aim for 1.6 billion, simply by opening wide its doors to immigration from across the globe as it did during most of its 237-year history.
If immigration to America were increased to 10 million immigrants per year throughout the remainder of this century, the demographic result would be a US population of about 940 million by 2060 and 1.60 billion by the close the 21st century (see Figure 1). The world’s second and third largest populations in 2100 are projected to be India, 1.55 billion, and China, 0.94 billion.
However, if in the coming decades America continues with net immigration of about 1.2 million annually, as currently assumed, the US population would reach 420 million by year 2060. Although this projected growth would be an increase of more than 100 million, the US population would fall to fourth place as Nigeria takes over the number three position with a projected population of 460 million in 2060. The populations of the three countries currently larger than Nigeria – Brazil, Indonesia and Pakistan – are expected to peak around midcentury and begin declining thereafter due to projected low fertility rates falling below replacement levels. Also in the longer term, the gap between projected US population, with 1.2 million immigrants annually, versus the larger US population, with 10 million immigrants annually, widens rapidly, resulting in a difference of 1.1 billion Americans at the close of the century.
Immigration is the chief source of America’s population growth in the coming decades, unlike China, India and Nigeria. US fertility hovers around the replacement level of about two children per woman and is unlikely to change significantly in the foreseeable future. If immigration were to cease altogether, the US population in 2060 would grow to 355 million, an increase of 39 million, but the labor force would decline by several percentage points and the age structure would be considerably older.
America could easily accommodate a larger population given its considerable size and abundant resources. A population of 1.6 billion would increase the nation’s density from today’s 33 persons per square kilometers to 165 persons in 2100, about half the level in Massachusetts today. This future density is well below current densities in Germany at 231 per square kilometer; Japan, 335; and the United Kingdom, 255. Even if the world’s entire population of 7.1 billion were to reside in America, the nation’s resulting density of 732 persons per square kilometer would still be less than current densities of Bahrain, at 1,818; Bangladesh, 1,033; and Singapore, 7,447.
Increased demands for food, housing and energy could be handled with a revitalized US economy and developing underutilized land and natural resources, including natural gas and renewable sources of energy. Innovation and technology could alleviate negative environmental impacts, as has been demonstrated over the nation’s two-century history.
Increased immigration is consistent with America’s admired tradition of being a nation of immigrants and the eloquent call on the plaque inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore."
Since the nation’s founding in 1776, immigration has accounted for more than half of America’s population growth. Without its past immigration waves, America’s current population of 316 million would be about 143 million.
Immigrants have shaped American history. At the start of the 20th century, the US proportion of foreign born reached its peak near 15 percent. Considerably higher proportions of foreign born occurred in California, with 25 percent; Massachusetts, 30 percent; Minnesota, 29 percent; and New York, 26 percent. Today, the proportion of foreign born is 13 percent – leading states are California, 27 percent; New York, 22 percent; and New Jersey, 21 percent. Countries with higher proportions of foreign born include Australia, 22 percent; Canada, 21 percent; and Israel, 40 percent.
Rapid population growth for the United States is not without historical precedent. For example, between 1813 and 1900, America’s population increased nearly tenfold, 8 million to 76 million, and fivefold between 1890 and 2013, 63 million to 316 million. The populations of some individual US states grew more rapidly than the nation as a whole. For instance, between 1850 and 1910, populations of Texas and California increased 18-fold and 26-fold, respectively.
Increasing US immigration to 10 million per year would facilitate the reunification of separated families. Rather than having to wait for years, US immigrants would be joined by spouses, children, siblings, parents within weeks. This would boost American leadership in promoting family and social networks. America’s ethnic, cultural and personal ties, such as those now firmly established with Ireland, Israel and Italy, would be extended to encompass all nations.
The issue of illegal immigration would no longer be a sensitive political matter occupying valuable time and resources of the US president or Congress. Unauthorized immigrants residing in the US – 60 percent currently from Mexico – would be granted amnesty and welcomed as new citizens. Enforcement, border patrol, legal/judicial hearings, incarceration and deportations would be negligible, saving the nation billions of dollars that could be used for rebuilding America’s ailing infrastructure.
In addition to the familial, political and administrative advantages, opening America’s doors wide to immigrants would engender many far-reaching economic and social benefits, including yielding a vastly expanded GDP and greater tax revenues; more workers, entrepreneurs, innovators and consumers; a younger population; a more competitive workforce and wage levels; increased contributions to Social Security and Medicare; a larger pool of potential recruits for all kinds of work; and enriched cultural diversity.
Furthermore, setting US immigration at 10 million per year would help repopulate and rejuvenate many declining and financially strapped cities, including Detroit, Newark or Stockton. It would ease the labor-shortages for farmers, food producers, working mothers, landscapers, health care providers, high-tech entrepreneurs and more. Energetic immigrants would take on jobs that Americans find difficult, decline to do or are not qualified to perform.
Businesses, chambers of commerce, unions, religious institutions, immigrant-advocacy groups and various government agencies would also benefit from increased immigration. Companies could choose from a terrifically expanded, motivated and youthful labor pool. Unions would have all workers authorized to participate in the labor force, thereby ending the undercutting of fair wages. Government authorities and employers would not need to verify or monitor work permits and worksites except to ensure that all employees pay required taxes.
Global opinion polls show that many people at virtually all skill levels would like to emigrate, and the number-one destination is overwhelmingly the United States. In addition to promoting continued migration from neighboring Canada, Mexico, Central America and other Latin American countries, greater numbers of bright, ambitious and innovative immigrants should be sought from countries in South and East Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Finally, with US immigration increased to 10 million per year, the enhanced America with a population of 1.6 billion by century’s close would mean a more secure and flourishing world. As the world’s most populous nation by 2100, America would strengthen its capacity to continue promoting democracy, freedom and development, thereby ensuring peace, stability and prosperity for every region of the world.
Comments
Cool article. I don't have time to give much more feedback than that, but I appreciate your points.
Or politicans should study yalereasearch qndact accordingly
And absolutely no negative effects ... Let's do it!
A good article, but will opening the doors to immigrants really solve all of America's problems? I dunno...
What about China and India? China is the most populated country with nearly 1.4 billion and India with 1.3 billion. Will the population of those two countries expect to rise before 2100?
China’s population will fall to 1.0 billion, and India’s will rise to 1.7 billion, I believe.
Just because we could theoretically fit more people doesn’t mean we should. I could fit 80 people in my 800 sq ft apartment with room to spare, but that would be insane.
This is insanity. What kind of person would want to live in a world which is even more overpopulated than todays world? A mad man or absolute idiot. Our numbers already are unsustainable. How on earth did we get to the point where it is ok to spread this kind of idiocy to peasant minds which are fertile ground for stupidity? How many of us have lost whole notion of reality just as our author here? It seems that stupidity of our species is not diminishing. It seems to be growing evermore, and with educated stupidity, as shown in this article, we have little hope of squashing this idiocy without changing whole power structure of our societies.
Peasants cannot be given power anymore. Author and likes of him are people who use imbecile mind of peasants for their own short-sighted benefit, or even worse, are literally so stupid that they believe their own nonsense. These people cannot be allowed to have any power anymore, if our ecosystem is to have any chance to survive. Democracy needs to squashed.
small is beautiful. 400 million for USA is more than enough - over 1 billion is true idiocy.
I live mainly in UK which is far too crowded as well and will only get worse with immigration. Thank God for Brexit !!!
I really hope no one is taking this insanity seriously. Has this guy never been stuck in traffic? Has he never heard of the drought and water scarcity afflicting large areas of the US? He wants us to farm, mine and log "underutilized land"--otherwise known as natural beauty, the places where countless other beings live and which provide clean air and water and the ability to escape from the craziness and stress of modern life. There are 300 million humans but only 1,500 grizzlies and 5,500 wolves left in the lower 48, and he wants to increase the number of PEOPLE?
Relax. We need immigrants from Honduras, India and Nigeria. To reject immigrants is racism and contrary to our values. Think of all those poor keeds with long faces who just want a chance to spend all day vaping CBD oil, playing Xbox and eating pizza when they're not selling you Chinese phones at Cricket. How dare you want to preserve your living space and resources? what are you, a Fascist? Go back to your mom's basement.
Do you want nature to disappear from the United States? Our country is probably already environmentally unsustainable, with a mere 328 million. Do you realize that much of our country doesn't get enough rainfall, and that global warming is going to make this worse? Are you aware that we depend on something called "ecosystem services" for clean water, good soil, pollination, and a host of other things that we could not live without? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3339477/
STOP LYING WHAT THE HECK IS THE ENHANCED US
Ask the EU how this is going for them.
Why stop at 1.6 billion? Why not just move the entire world in? Should be 11 billion by then.
I'm pretty sure I could fit 50 people in my living room . We could all hold hands, conduct a "diversity is strength" circle jerk, and sing Kumbaya, To save on toilet water, we could all crap in kitty litter boxes.
This does not seem like a well thought out plan. The US will go under based on this plan, no borders, uncontrolled growth. We would lose what we have and become a nation in destress.
This man is a seeking to use the Americas as the usual dumping grounds for over-populated nations that refuse to rein in their
grotesque breeding rates. There is ZERO evidence that technology will EVER negate the impacts of rising human numbers,
and the mass extinctions of species and lost biodiversity that has happened due to exploding human numbers
is a crime against nature and against humans because Biotech and all its potential to solve human problems is
dying a fast death with 5,000 species extinctions per year (minimum estimate).
This man must love to see people suffer and watch the environment tank and see amazing species fall into extinction.
This man should be put up on charges of crimes against humans for promoting such insanity.
I would gladly neuter this man.
This article is quite frankly delusional.
If immigrants would assimilate into the American way of life as the Europeans did, ok, but they don't. The Mexicans are here in vast numbers which makes it difficult to assimilate because it's so much more comfortable to stick in your own community. 3rd world immigration doesn't work if the people come and impose their failed culture and don't adapt to the more successful culture. If these cultures are so great, why do the people leave their countries? It's because their countries are failed states and have let them down, so why bring the flag, the culture and the pride to the USA? Makes zero sense.
The US should have more immigrants, but from places like India, Europe, South east Asia and perhaps the better educated from Africa. These are proven good quality immigrants. The key is to attract highly qualified immigrants and the best educated. Quality over quantity.
I'd recommend unlimited qualified/skilled/highly educated people. This could amount to 2 to 3 million per year, I'm ok with that. However, the key is to massively increase birth rates, so American people remain the vast majority and new immigrants are brought in to assimilate. 20 million immigrants per 10 years + a policy that doubles the birth rate would result in a population of 1 billion plus in 2100.
The US needs a bigger population to continue its influence on the world, but it cannot open the doors yet. The world needs to improve education standards and only then can they come to the US, otherwise the US will end up like the rest of the 3rd world, poor with uneducated people.
The author of this article is not a futurist. He doesn't seem to notice the trends for the United States are for decline. Our infrastructure is crumbling, tax bases eroding, water resources for many large cities unsustainable, not to mention many other shortcomings facing our nation. We no longer live in a "melting pot", but rather a plural society of diverse cultures that are now starting to clash with evermore frequency. Yes, our birth rates are going down, but our poorest of families are still having large families with little or no regard for the resources it takes to raise a child. With an increasing amount of aid needed in most communities to fortify the ever increasing amount of families, of course the poor will keep getting poorer. No, the author is not a futurist, but rather an idealist dreamer.
The author has failed to define "power" here. The author has also failed to note the percentage of immigrants that live in poverty and how the percentage of all Americans living below the poverty line continues to increas. So if the author means that like countries, that are grossly overpopulated, the US should seek to obtain a large labor force living in poverty that can be exploited to work for pennies, thereby increasing the nations wealth...as evidenced by China, well then - no, this does not make the country powerful, this makes an oligarchy powerful..
ONE BILLION AMERICANS. HOO-RAH!