Navigate to content

The journal Akadeemia erects a monument to the 7 billion people on Earth

News
Posted on 9 December 2011, 10:00
Today, on 9 December, at 15:00, the journal Akadeemia will present its latest issue at club Atlantis in Tartu. The launch of the issue, which is dedicated to the coming population census, will begin on the bank of the River Emajõgi where, just for one evening, the monument celebrating the birth of Tartu’s one hundred thousandth citizen will be turned into a monument to the seven billion people of the Earth.

“This year, the seven billionth person was born on planet Earth, but there are just one million of us in Estonia. Given these numbers, we have reason to contemplate population trends and developments,” said Mr Toomas Kiho, editor-in-chief of Akadeemia. “The latest issue of Akadeemia analyzes population changes in Estonia and in the world.”

“The results of the Population and Housing Census will show where the processes of the last ten years have brought us,” said Mr Priit Potisepp, Director General of Statistics Estonia, who will give a brief presentation on the census at the launch of this Akadeemia issue. “This is the eleventh census in Estonia. It is a great opportunity to take a look back and see how the Estonian population has developed in the last 130 years.”

An overview of the articles in this issue of Akadeemia will also be given at the launch. Classic essays by several important demographers will be published in Estonian for the first time. These include articles by John Graunt and Thomas Malthus, the founders of demography, and an article from 1945 by Frank W. Notestein, the very first director of the Population Division of the United Nations, where he introduced the term ‘demographic transition’ for the first time in the world.

Articles on the Estonian population have been contributed by Allan Puur and Leen Rahnu who analyze current population developments in Estonia; by Ene-Margit Tiit who discusses the history of censuses in Estonia; by Marin Tasuja who shares interesting data about the number and composition of households; and by Mare Ainsaar who writes about the impact of values, norms and resources on birth trends.

Everyone is welcome to attend the launch of this Akadeemia issue (dedicated to the coming Census) which starts at 15:00 on Friday, 9 December, at club Atlantis.

In 2011, the Population Census will be conducted for the eleventh time in the territory of Estonia. Previous censuses were carried out in 1881, 1897, 1922, 1934, 1941, 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989 and 2000.

Read more:

Akadeemia, issue No 12 – 2011, http://www.akad.ee/

Population and Housing Census 2011, www.rel2011.ee