Where do most humans live?

Critical Analysis

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:

1. The Valeriepieris circle covers an area of approximately 4,000 kilometres (2485 miles) in radius, which is roughly 6.7% of the Earth’s total surface area while being home to more than half of the world’s population. How much of the earth’s total surface area is home to the other half of the world’s population?

2. The Valeriepieris circle is named after the Reddit username of Valeriy Pyasetskiy (Ken Myers), a Texas-based ESL teacher who first brought attention to the circle in 2013. As of August 2023, the world’s population was approximately 8 billion people. About how many people live inside the Vaeriepieris circle?

3. What continent is within the Valeriepieris circle?

4. The Valeriepieris circle includes the entirety of China and India, the world’s two most populous countries which, when combined, are home to 2.82 billion people, about 36% of the total world population and 67% of Asia’s population. China and India together have more people than the entirety of Africa (1.43 Billion), Europe (748.8 million), North America (375 million), and Australia (26.2 million) combined. What country inside the Valeriepieris circle has the largest population?

5. If you live in the Valeriepieris circle and you are one in a million, how many people are just like you? The U.S. is approximately 331 million. How many populations of the United States of Americas would fit into the Valeriepieris circle?

6. What most surprised you about this visual?

7. If you drew a circle the size of the Valeriepieris circle centered on your hometown, how many countries would it cover?

8. The two most populous countries in the world are entirely within the Valeriepieris circle. It seems like being number one is always a good thing. In general, explain whether having the world’s biggest population is a good.

9. Most of the people who live in the. Valeriepieris circle didn’t move there, they were born there. Why do you think so many people are born in this part of the world?

10. The one-child policy was a program in China that limited most Chinese families to one child each. It was implemented nationwide by the Chinese government in 1980, and it ended in 2016. The policy was enacted to address the growth rate of the country's population, which the government viewed as being too rapid. Would you advocate a one-child policy for our world of over eight billion people?

Write and Discuss

Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.

Act on your Learning

Look at a Google Maps of the area covered by the Valeriepieris circle. Make an itinerary for a drive across the circle. 

Get Creative

Make a flag or logo for the Valeriepieris circle.

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