Just a few days ago on April 19th, it was reported that India has surpassed China in terms of population. This has sparked many discussions, for this can mean huge things for the country- most of them not being very good.

India and China are the two most populated countries in the world. With both countries being home to over one billion people each, China has held the world record for the highest population for the longest period of time. However, India has broken that record and is now home to over a staggering 1.408 billion people (Los Angeles Times).

With such a large population, India could be facing many problems. The country is already quite small, and resources have been limited for a while now. Water has been rationed throughout the country for several years, and the streets are constantly packed with people. Sixteen percent of the population lives below the poverty line, and the rise in the country’s population will not help matters. Some of the risks of such a high population include ecological degradation (depletion of sources such as soil, water and air), higher risk of large scale disasters such as pandemics, higher living costs, starvation, and much more (Los Angeles Times).

This is not a problem in just India; many fellow Asian countries have the same problem as well. Indonesia, a small country made up of tiny islands, has a population of 273 million people. Bangladesh, a tiny country between Myanmar and India has a population of 169 people. Pakistan has 231 million people, and China has 1.412 billion people.

Overpopulation is one of the biggest issues in the world. With the world’s population already exceeding 8 billion people, there has to be more care and concern for our planet. Emphasis on sex education and family planning could help greatly, as well as encouraging adoption. “8 billion is a lot of people. Earth itself should not have been able to hold more than around 3 billion people. Our planet is resilient, but we need to take care of it,” says Sambhav Puri (9). We need to do more to help our planet. Overpopulation is also one of the main reasons why pollution is such a huge problem, so we need to be smarter and take the necessary precautions..