2007

Lore & Background

The world population on January 1, 2007, was estimated to be 6.714 billion people and increased to 6.801 billion people by January 1, 2008. An estimated 139.9 million births and 53.4 million deaths took place in 2007. The average global life expectancy was 69.0 years, an increase of 0.4 years from 2006. The estimated number of global refugees increased from 9.9 million to 11.4 million by the end of the year. The largest sources of refugees were Afghanistan with 3.1 million people and Iraq with 2.3 million people.

Reader's Guide

There were 34 conflicts in 2007 that resulted in at least 25 fatalities. Four of these resulted in at least 1,000 fatalities: the Iraqi insurgency, the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, Eelam War IV in Sri Lanka, and the War in Somalia. This was the first year since 1957 to have fewer than five such conflicts. Conflicts in 2007 trended toward fragmentation as insurgencies, criminal organizations, and terrorist groups engaged with each other.

Did You Know?

• The highest-grossing film globally in 2007 was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
• The best-selling album globally in 2007 was the High School Musical 2 soundtrack.
• The Wii console, released by Nintendo in 2006, was the predominant video game system in 2007.
• The subprime mortgage crisis occurred in the United States in late 2007 as housing prices plummeted, leading to global economic downturn.
• The Arctic ice pack melted at ten times the annual average, and during summer the Northwest Passage was entirely clear of ice for the first time.