Q 01/05

Which island, home to more than 150 million people, is the most populous on Earth?

A) Honshu

B) Java

C) Sumatra

D) Luzon

Answer · why

B) Java

Java packs more than half of its country's population onto about 7% of its land area, and it holds the capital that the government is now trying to re...

Q 02/05

Which country recorded its first population fall since 1961 in 2022, the year the world passed eight billion?

A) Vietnam

B) China

C) Germany

D) Brazil

Answer · why

B) China

China's population peaked in 2022 and has started to fall, and UN projections suggest it could drop below one billion before the end of the century.

Q 03/05

Which country had the oldest population of any large nation in 2022, with over 29% of its people aged 65 or more?

A) Germany

B) Japan

C) Greece

D) Portugal

Answer · why

B) Japan

Japan combines one of the world's longest life expectancies with decades of low birth rates, and its elderly have outnumbered its children since 1997.

Q 04/05

Which country's fertility rate fell to 0.72 births per woman in 2023, the lowest in the world?

A) Taiwan

B) Singapore

C) South Korea

D) Hungary

Answer · why

C) South Korea

South Korea's deaths have outnumbered its births every year since 2020, and in Seoul the rate has sunk even lower, to about 0.55.

Q 05/05

Which continent has the youngest population in the world, with a median age of under 20 years?

A) Asia

B) Africa

C) Oceania

D) Europe

Answer · why

B) Africa

Africa's youth is driving its growth: UN projections see it reaching about 3.8 billion people by 2100, more than a third of humanity.