7 Billion and Still Growing: Explosive Population Growth Might Have Helped Us Displace Neandertals

The human population will top seven billion this year—more than double what it was just 50 years ago, experts say.

And these next 39 years are expected to bring about some big shifts among the biggest countries. By 2050, India will have surpassed China as the world's largest population, growing from 1.24 billion to 1.69 billion as China shrinks from 1.35 billion to 1.3 billion. And Africa's population will likely have more than doubled by then, with Nigeria slated to catch up to the U.S. numbers. The figures are described in a new report published in the July 29 issue of Science.