Populations

The newspapers in Taiwan are all abuzz about the declining birth statistics. This year, Taiwan has had the smallest number of babies since they started recording. Some of the commentary is that last year was the year of the Tiger and we all know how troublesome those people can be. So parents put off having children till this year of the Rabbit.

But I have another idea, certainly having a child is about a 20 year commitment and you have to be hopeful about the future to sign up for such a responsibility. Taiwan's future vis-a-vis Communist China is all but certain. When prospective parents are confident about the future then children seem a good idea, otherwise not so much.


Anyway it's a good time to look at a map of Taiwan. Here is the general geopolitical outlook:

The places of interest for me are:

Tainan(spelt T'ai-nan on this map) is where I live.
Taipei is where Florence's brothers live.
Kaohsuing is where Florence's older sister lives.
Su-ao is close to Ilan where Florence's sisters live and where she was born.
Hsin-chu is where Ely, Eli, Florence and I lived for 2 years.

Some the best statistics on a country by country basis are at the CIA's web site here is a 2010 comparison of Taiwan and the USA.


                                            Taiwan                   USA
Population                           23 million              310 million
Growth Rate                        .213                       .97
Birth Rate per 1000             8.97                    13.8
Death Rate per 1000           6.87                      8.4
Migration Rate per 1000       .03                      4.25


You can certainly say that Taiwan has its borders under control compared to the USA. Also the USA is growing at 5 times the rate of Taiwan. (As a mathematician I still can't figure out what "sustainable growth" means unless infinite population is a possibility.)