The old assumptions about world population trends need to be rethought. One thing is clear, in the next century the world is in for some rapid downsizing [Atlantic Monthly]
Article describes Arabic views about how the decrease in birth rates in the west will change the population demographics in the area of religious affiliations, especially Islam. Includes an opinion of some the causes of the lower birth rate.
While for many countries concerns about high birth rates persist, for many other countries the problem now is very low rates of birth. [Population Today]
"In fact, no major industrialized country has a fertility rate above 2.1, known as the replacement rate because it is the number of children per woman at which a population replaces itself. The average fertility rate in Europe is 1.45, a rate that could lead, one day, to a severe decline in population. And 22 developing countries have also dropped below this threshold." [NBC News]