Lowest Fertility Countries Quiz

I don't love it. It's sad. The West is committing demographic suicide.

Gimme a break. The world is overpopulated whichever way you look at it.

When Malthus died world population was 1 billion, he thought the world was ending, come on; overpopulation is the boogeyman that never appears

Sure, Malthus massively over-exaggerated, but that doesn't mean it can't happen, or it isn't happening already. Look at the state of places like India and Nigeria. People have enough money to deal with it, but they don't.

It's not the shear number of people that is scary, but the heap of things they will need; oil, coal, natural gas, clean water, a Hyundai.

#notsponsered

Malthus only faked his death so that he could assemble the Black Order and build the Infinity Gauntlet.

^^Thank god I’m not the only person who thinks that. We’ll need to create a team.

Fertility rate is the amount of children, at birth, a woman born in the country is expected to produce in her lifetime. Nobody is born in the Vatican.

I think this doesnt account for migration. Lots of eastern europeans emigrate to other countries like uk, usa, australia, etc for economic reasons, and have babies there instead of their country of birth. Also, the birth rates for 'regular' Americans and Brits for example is quite low, but the birth rates for immigrants make up for it.

The fertility rate is based on the country not on the ethnicity. If Ukranians move to Rehoboth Beach and start having a bunch of babies over there... that increases the fertility rate of the United States. However, immigration either to or from a country does not affect fertility rate, as fertility rate is not a calculation of population growth, but rather a determination of how many children, on average, a woman in a given country is likely to have during her lifetime. A fertility rate of approximately 2.1 is needed to sustain a population if there is no net gain/loss from immigration, or higher in countries with a very high mortality rate. It's very hard to calculate population growth because there are so many variables, but short of geneticists unlocking an anti-aging serum or something like that it's likely that every country on this list will see large population declines in the coming decades.

kalbahamut...why did you use rehoboth beach in your example?

I don't know. Last time I was in Rehoboth Beach I noticed a lot of East Europeans working there. Though it was mostly young Romanians and Poles there for work over the summer. And that was around 2005.

I'm surprised at no Sweden or Russia- Countries with famously low birthrates. I guess in Sweden's case, the pro-natal strategy is working and Russia just has a large population anyway?

we learnt that they're going through "the second demographic change" (not sure how you call it, I'm not English)

The Muslim Yugoslav republics (Albania and Kosovo) are not on the list and I'd be surprised if they were. Religion does play a role.

I always thought Bosnia had a high Muslim minority, not slight majority

If you count different branches and sects of Christianity and Islam as separate, then Sunni Muslims constitute a plurality but not a majority in Bosnia. If you group all Muslims and all Christians together, then it's almost a 50/50 split.

Wikipedia says 50.7% Muslim. Google (quoting Indexmundi.com) cites a 40% Muslim figure. JetPunk does not include Bosnia on its Muslim majority countries quiz... which is probably why I was under the impression they were not a Muslim majority country.

Becomes easy when you work out what area to focus on. I found Italy the most interesting- who woulda thought a country full of Catholics would make this list?

Religion plays a role for sure, but it's much less important than things like the economy, prosperity, education, availability of birth control and family planning, cost of living, literacy, and the types of jobs available (agrarian countries will have much higher birthrates than countries where the majority of people live in cities, or where good jobs require higher education and therefore investment of more family resources). Here in Saudi Arabia where I live, people are still as Muslim as ever, but birth rates are falling sharply because of economic development, the rising cost of living, and the migration to cities.

The point HighFidelity was making regarding Italy was that Catholics consider it a sin to use birth control. It's not that birth control is not "available", it's that it's not (supposed to be) used. I'm guessing that Italian Catholics must treat that particular decree as more of a guideline than a strict rule.

Of course I understood that point. Virtually all religious people are hypocrites. The ones who aren't are labeled "extremists" and are in the small minority. So, like I said, religion can play a part (look at the countries that are excluded from the Balkans), as can any aspect of culture, but it's far from the most important thing.

"Virtually all religious people are hypocrites."

You LOVE to throw verbal bombs like that, don't you? I realize there is context to the comment, but geez.

well... it's true. Most non-religious people are hypocrites, too, if that makes you feel better. I was just saying professed belief in something does not often affect people's behavior.

Hypocrisy is claiming we have moral standards which we then fail to live up to. I can't agree that all religious people are hypocrites, unless, as you were close to claiming, you say that all people are hypocrites and their hypocrisy has nothing to do with their religious beliefs. I try to follow the teachings of Jesus as best I can but I've never heard any Christian (or follower of any other religion for that matter) claim they achieve perfection, and I would certainly never say I always take the high road or that my beliefs make me better than anyone else. I think most of us, whether religious or atheist or whatever in between, try to do the best we can in life and should accept that all of us fail at times. I don't think that makes us hypocrites, it just makes us human, and human failings such as pride, greed, and/or a need to think we are better than someone else is what makes us hypocrites, not the absence or presence of religious beliefs.

Having said all that, I agree with your statement that religion is not the most important factor in birth rate. Economics seems to be the top factor in most things.

ander... points taken. I think I disagree, though.

While I appreciate that there are very many people out there who nominally believe in some religion and make some effort to do good by it (I used to be one of them), at the same time... if you *really* *TRULY* believed that 1. the creator of the Universe made you and loves you and wants you to behave a certain way. 2. He is watching you at all times without fail. 3. displeasing Him could potentially carry with it the penalty of eternal horrendous barbaric torture the likes of which would put Uday Hussein or Genghis Khan to shame (god is love!)... then... would you *really* risk it to sneak a peek at that porn site? Or sleep through church? Or skip reading the Bible (most Christians never have! If you believed the creator of the universe wrote a book, wouldn't you want to read it!?)?
Think about it this way. If you were on the highway and you KNEW a cop was trailing behind you waiting to pull you over, would you speed?

Heck no. Because you can SEE the cop. You really believe he is there. And you KNOW that there will be consequences. You won't "burn in hell"... but you will have to listen to some lecture, or potentially pay $50 for a citation. But still, people will resist the urge to drive fast because they KNOW there are REAL consequences.

I think that, somewhere, perhaps subconsciously, at the back of their minds maybe, most religious people know that what they believe in really makes no sense. They try to suppress that knowledge because it makes them uncomfortable. But I still think that it is there.

and then, of course, there are those who are just shamelessly, openly hypocritical and do not believe at all in what they say. But they're in the minority. Most people simply don't practice what they preach because they talk a big game but don't really have much conviction. Or they judge others more harshly than themselves. Self-serving bias. Lots of explanations, really.

I think Jesus would agree with you on some points, Kalba. (see Matt 23.) The Christians I know don't refrain from doing bad things because they are afraid they will burn in hell - not all Christians even believe in the concept of hell - we do good things because we try to follow the teachings of Christ. Do we always do the right thing? Of course not. But the possibility of hell doesn't control the things we do. Neither does one have to be a Christian to do good things. But if one claims to be a Christian, they should have that desire and act on it. Do you travel the speed limit because you are afraid you'll be pulled over, or do you follow the speed limit because it's the safe thing to do? Would you drive 120 mph if you didn't fear a policeman would stop you? Some people would, and some people look at religion the same way, but not all. All Christians fail, but we should admit it and keep trying to be better. It's not hypocritical to fail. Hypocrisy is when we fail but claim success.

When I fail and do the wrong thing is the time I need most to stay in touch with the spirit inside me. Praying for forgiveness is important to me at those times. The guilt I feel isn't an easy thing to discharge, and there is always a cost even when I know I have been forgiven. Being forgiven isn't the same thing as being excused. Sometimes I still have a lot of cleaning up to do in order, for example, to right a wrong that's been done to someone, and I'm not talking about penance. I'm talking about owning up to the person I've wronged, fixing what's been broken if possible, and setting about regaining their trust. That's hard to do but I'm a spiritual person, and I'm thankful the spirit is there to guide and comfort me. I need all the help I can get.

Speed limits are kept very unreasonably low (which is actually less safe) because states and municipalities have found that it is a useful way to raise illegal tax revenue. I only ever follow the speed limit out of fear of legal penalty, never for safety. I've been in exactly one accident in my lifetime that I was at fault for.

But anyway that's not really the point. Even if I was going 55 on a big open highway with no traffic because I loved safety, that doesn't mean I would stop believing in the penalty for speeding.

Your commitment to making amends is a very secular humanist principle and I applaud you for it.

Differently to what people think, northern Italy is a fully western advanced economy, as developed as Germany, France and the UK. But the image Italy has abroad still reflects the under-developed and overly catholic south, because it is the place where most immigrants, the mafia and pizza came from ;)

15 isn't bad for me. I love this quiz! Although I'm annoyed at not getting Greece.

I think the problem is when the economy and stuff is set up so that women can't easily re-enter the workforce after raising their kids for a few years, so then they can't support a family financially, even with the husband's income. And that deters women from having children.

Is there a quiz for highest fertility?

yes

Whats up with the not including vatican thing?

Do you know how small the Vatican is? The information wouldn't even be relevant.

Actually it would rank first - it is the only country with a zero birth rate. So why has it been left out?

Let's get Dan Brown on this.

Very surprising that China isn't here. You know... with their one child policy and everything.

It's a pity all these people in the Slavic, Balkan, CIS/east European states aren't even reproducing enough to maintain their population. Some very good genes over there... at least in terms of aesthetic quality. A world with no Czech, Polish, Romanian or Hungarian girls would be impoverished indeed. Same goes for the Asian countries that make the top 4... also a very comely lot... but I suppose we have enough Japanese and Korean people to last a while. The population of Tokyo alone is greater than the total number of Magyars in the world.

When I hear comments saying that "aesthetically pleasing" people should be reproducing more, I feel uncomfortable. I know you didn't mean it this way, but I immediately thought of Hitler's master race of people with "good genes" and aesthetically pleasing blue eyes and blond hair - the Slavs didn't fair very well with the concept back then.

no accounting for taste I guess. Slavic women are the most beautiful in the world. But, don't worry, I will never have any political power.

Something else interesting about these figures... if you go to the wikipedia page on population projections into the future and look in the talk section, there are some really thick people there trying to say that the numbers are made up for political reasons. They interpret it as some kind of insult to say that a country has a declining population. I find this incredibly ironic since, really, if you look at all the data the countries with sharply rising populations are the ones that have the most poverty, illiteracy, unskilled workers, and underdeveloped economies. Having a low fertility rate is a good thing. It usually means people in that country have a high quality of life, are well-educated, and appreciate the impact that their reproductive decisions have on themselves and the world in general. It could also be a sign of a stagnant economy or poor outlook on life- but still, I'd rather live in Eastern Europe than Sub-Saharan Africa.

7/22 :(

Yes! Armenia was hard but I got them all.

Some surprising data! Why not taking one of mine? Leave a comment too! :)

13/20 . A good score for me

Easy: I simply guessed each of the Asian Tigers and then every country in Europe. Finished with 2:30 left.

ITS MISSING CHINA!!!!!!! such laws forbid their woman to do so!

Ex-communist countries... since them planing their families

Forgot Singapore and Taiwan. Always have a habit of forgetting Taiwan

Did the Chinese brainwash you?

If the quiz didn't have the caveat saying that, then yes, the Vatican would be at 0.00

It's amazing how the top two countries on the list are in the bottom four in the stats. (I'm not saying I got them; I didn't.)

Good Lord, we, Slavs, are really dying out...

My parents originated from Romania and when I visited the country last year most people had 2-3 kids. Which was surprising because usually poorer countries have more kids.

Fertility is quite different from birthrate. I can be fertile like a bunny rabbit, but choose not to act upon it and remaining happy & childless. Therefore birthrate tells very little about actual fertility, except if they really are all medically infertile.

That's not what "fertility rate" means in a geographical context.

Overpopulation is the greatest problem for the future. Any country that keeps its population down will anyway be eventually swamped by people from overcrowded countries. The Earth does not have enough resources to constantly find an increasing amount. We can all play the ostrich game and stick our heads in the sand but there is no denying that too many people at present are going without just the bare essentials at 7+ Billion. At 8 Billion, 9 Billion ......... 10 Billion etc. The human race will be in a heap of trouble.

I hardly got any for the longest time and then I got south korea, taiwan, and singapore. Then I just started guessing in Europe and got them all with 0:29 to spare!

i had already wasted half of my time trying to input the microcountries of the world before i realized i was doing it completely wrong and that most of them were in central asia/ the balkans. interesting... oh, and why isn't china on here?

The maternity hospitals are in Rome, not in the Vatican.

For the sake of argument, what would happen if a pregnant tourist suddenly went into labor and gave birth inside the Vatican before she could be transported to a hospital in Rome? How would that affect the birth rate? If it happened in the US, that baby would be an American citizen. Any thoughts?

Fertility rates are based on the number of babies that a woman born in the country is expected to have. Not on the number of babies born in the country. I'm guessing that their methodology is not so rigorous as to count every baby born to tourist parents in a country and then follow them back to the country where they are from. If they did, then it would depend on how many kids that tourist baby had in their life. If she was the only baby born in the Vatican that year, then the fertility rate would presumably become the same as the number of children she had. Since this happens so infrequently, they can't come up with averages, so you wouldn't be getting in the data for that year until about 60 years later.

They told us the same thing in junior high, and we girls were to stay far away from any red-blooded male, Italian or otherwise. :)

If they would have more than 0.0 heads would roll

At this rate (and with zero immigration), Singapore will be empty of people in 358 years.