Larger than Major Countries

As the world’s population surpassed 6 billion (6,000,000,000) in October 1999, China’s population represented more than 1/5 of this total (20.8%) — one out of every five people in the world lives in China. Today, China’s population exceeds 1.25 billion (1,250,000,000), a number that continues to increase minute-by-minute on Beijing’s official Ticking Population Clock (Links to an external site.):

China’s population increases each year by approximately 12-13 million people, a number that exceeds the total population of individual countries such as Belgium, Greece, Cambodia, or Ecuador. Annual population growth in China actually exceeds the current population of Ohio, Illinois, or Pennsylvania.

Some Chinese Provinces are Larger than Major Countries

The difficulty of governing China’s population as well as managing its economic and social development is underscored if one appreciates the population of many of China’s provinces and compares them to nations elsewhere in the world.

A countries government can attempt to influence the population of its country through population policies.  In 1979 they introduced a policy requiring couples from China’s ethnic Han majority to have only one child (the law has largely exempted ethnic minorities). … Since 1979, the law has prevented some 250 million births, saving China from a population explosion the nation would have difficulty accommodating. The first day of 2016 marked the end of China’s controversial, 40-year-old one child policy, Although families will still require government-issued birth permits, or face the sanction of  forced abortion, couples in china can now request to have two children.

In light of what you have learned  about population growth an d the impact on the environment and what happens when a population is too large from a biological perspective explain why managing the population in China has been a major concern for centuries and has required government involvement.  In addition, briefly state your position on the issue and explain your rationale.