While watching the opening ceremonies with my kid, I was reminded of this...

If the World were a Village... Based on an idea by Phillip M Harter, Stanford University

If we could reduce the worlds population down to a village of 100 inhabitants with all the human ratios remaining the same, it would look like this :

60 Asians (of which 20 Chinese and 17 Indians), 14 Americans (6 from the North America and 8 from the south), 13 Africans, 12 Europeans and half an Oceanian.

52 women 48 men

70 non-whites and 30 whites

70 non-Christians and 30 Christians

89 heterosexuals 11 homosexuals

50.5 people live in the village, 49.5 are scattered in the country

6 people possess 59 % of the worlds wealth, several of them are Americans

50 of the village inhabitants live on 2 dollars a day 25 live on 1 dollar a day

15 people produce more than half the CO2 emissions in the village.

25 people consume three quarters of all the energy, the other 75 consume the remaining one quarter.

17 people have no access to medical services, decent shelter or drinking water

50 people suffer from malnutrition

70 people are illiterate

80 people live in poor-quality housing

20 inhabitants control 86 % of the GNP and 74 % of the telephone lines

11 people have a car and that number will probably be 20 in 20 years time

20 people have 87 % of the vehicles at their disposal and 84 % of the paper in use

9 people have access to the internet

1 person(yes, only 1) has a college education

1 person dies and 2 or 3 children are born into the world each year

And the population of the village will be 133 people in 2025.

When one considers our world from this perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes obvious.