A Fascinating Animated Map That Shows the Growth and Decline of the Human Population Through Time

The American Museum of Natural History has put together a truly fascinating animated map that shows how the human population has grown and declined throughout all of time, citing where, when and why these changes took place.

It took 200,000 years for our human population to reach 1 billion—and only 200 years to reach 7 billion. But growth has begun slowing, as women have fewer babies on average. When will our global population peak? And how can we minimize our impact on Earth’s resources, even as we approach 11 billion?