Science Forums 2

[carlton-temple]

May I be permitted to make a few demographic observations.
In general, the population of Europe remained as far as we know, pretty much stable up to the 1700 century, regardless of wars, plagues appalling hygiene and so on. Then for reasons unknown the population suddenly began to steadily increase, again regardless of the appalling sanitary conditions and there were as yet no important medical advances. Why? This population increase seems, so far as what records there were, to have been common all over Europe. One of the main sources showing this increase, at least in England, were church registers which in general (for tax purposes), were well kept. Much the same in France, tax and soldiers ! The present situation in Europe seems to be equally odd. Number one political problem in Russia is the falling population. Mongolia's population has dropped so dramatically that huge swathes of land have been hire to the Chinese. In France, were it not for large "breeding" allowances and immigration the problem would be equally desperate, Germany likewise, I believe, but am not sure, eastern Europe is in a similar situation. Scandinavia, on the other hand, has remained demographically stable for generations? Where I live in rural France the "resident" population, which is not unusual, is down to 7/kilometre!