時事新聞:世界人口突破70億大關

The United Nations says the world's Population has reached the 7 billion mark.
聯合國說，世界人口已經達到70億。

A number of "seven billionth" babies are being honored around the world. The Philippines was chosen as the first country to celebrate the symbolic birth - feting a baby girl born late Sunday in Manila. The U. N. looks at the 7 billion milestone as a sign of people living longer and of improved birth survival rates.
世界各地都在慶祝幾名所謂的“第70億個”嬰兒的降生。菲律賓被選爲第一個迎接這個象徵性誕生的國家，慶祝一名女嬰星期日晚間在馬尼拉出生。聯合國將70億人口裏程碑視爲人類壽命延長和出生存活率提高的表現。

One of the authors of a report from the U.N. Population Fund, Richard Kollodge, says many low-income countries of sub-Saharan Africa and some in Asia have seen a growth in population that is outpacing economic growth rates. Asia's population of 4.2 billion makes it the world's most populous region. Africa's population is expected to triple to 3.6 billion people by the start of the next ility rates in many European nations and Japan have dropped below the replacement rate, causing concern that shortages of labor and productivity could threaten the quality of life.
聯合國人口基金會一項報告的作者之一理查德·克洛澤說，許多低收入的撒哈拉以南非洲國家以及一些亞洲國家出現了人口增長超過經濟增速的局面。亞洲擁有42億人口，是世界上人口最多的地區。預計非洲人口到下世紀初將增至36億，是目前的三倍。許多歐洲國家和日本的生育率已經下降到人口置換率以下，這讓人們擔心，勞動力短缺和生產力下降將威脅生活質量。