World Population Day

World Population Day 2016 will be observed on Monday, 11 July.

World Population Day is celebrated at International level to spread knowledge about Population issues around the globe. This year (2016), the day will be celebrated with theme: 'Investing in teenage girls'.

World Population Day as the name suggests is an annual day observed around the world to bring awareness about Population growth and its related issues. With a population of more than 7.2 billion as of March 2015, it's very important for people on earth to realize and act on healthier lives and importance of small families. Started in 1987, World Population Day has gained much popularity with support from organizations and masses around the world. It also focuses on challenges presented by world of 7 billion people. Reproductive Health services are one of the main targets set by UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) by 2015. So World Population Day is observed in more than 200 countries to bring awareness to people about importance of small families and living healthy lives. On this day, several programs are initiated to educate people about family planning methods. The day is observed every year to bring awareness in people about living a healthy life with benefits of having a small family.

World Population Day was first started on 11 July in 1987, the day world population reached five billion people. Many organizations around the world celebrate this day by arranging special campaigns and programs to educated people about global population issues. They are working closely with Government Organizations, NGO's and numerous non-profit organizations to spread the message.

World Population may simply refer to total number of living humans on Earth. According to latest estimates of United States Census Bureau (USCB), World Population is estimated to be 7.023 billion. World Population has witnesses a rapid growth in the last 200 years. Countries like China and India together constitutes 37% of the total world population. Also Asia with 4.2 billion people has largest population continent wise. It accounts for over 60% of the world population as compared to other continents around the world.

Growth of World Population
On 11 July, 2007, the 20 anniversary of World Population Day, the estimated World Population was 6,727,551,263. World Population Day or Five Billion Day is observed throughout the world in more than 200 countries.

World Population Day Themes

• World Population Day 2016 theme is 'Investing in teenage girls'.
• The theme of 2015 was “Vulnerable Populations in Emergencies”.
• The theme of 2014 was “A time to reflect on population trends and related issues” and “Investing in Young People”.
• The theme of 2013 was “Focus is on Adolescent Pregnancy”.
• The theme of 2012 was “Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services”.
• The theme of 2011 was “7 Billion Actions”.
• The theme of 2010 was “Be Counted: Say What You Need”.
• The theme of 2009 was “Fight Poverty: Educate Girls”.
• The theme of 2008 was “Plan Your Family, Plan Your Future”.
• The theme of 2007 was “Men at Work”
• The theme of 2006 was “Being Young is Tough”.
• The theme of 2005 was “Equality Empowers”.
• The theme of 2004 was “ICPD at 10”.
• The theme of 2003 was “1,000,000,000 adolescents”.
• The theme of 2002 was “Poverty, Population and Development”.
• The theme of 2001 was “Population, Environment and Development”.
• The theme of 2000 was “Saving Women’s Lives”.
• The theme of 1999 was “Start the Count-up to the Day of Six Billion”.
• The theme of 1998 was “Approaching the Six Billion”.
• The theme of 1997 was “Adolescent Reproductive Health Care”.
• The theme of 1996 was “Reproductive Health and AIDS”.

Scientist of the day - Igor Tamm

Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm was a Soviet physicist and mathematician who was jointly awarded ‘Nobel Prize in Physics’ in 1958 with fellow physicists Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov and Ilya Frank, for elucidating along with Frank the science behind the Cherenkov radiation or the ‘Cherenkov effect’. It is a unique form of electromagnetic radiation, a phenomenon discovered by Cherenkov, which says, when charged particles like electrons travel with high velocity, faster than light, through a particular medium, a slight bluish light is emitted. Tamm was also reputed for his initial research work on specific types of electron bonding on the surfaces of crystalline solids, the concept of Tamm states. This work of Tamm was later significantly applied in the development of solid-state semiconductor devices. He held the chair of theoretical physics at the ‘Moscow State University’ following a stint as a lecturer in its physics department. He also served for decades as the head of the theoretical division of the ‘Lebedev Physical Institute’ (commonly abbreviated as ‘FIAN’), of the ‘Russian Academy of Sciences’, Moscow, one of the oldest research institutes in Russia. He also contributed towards devising the first thermonuclear bomb of the Soviet Union when he and his team from ‘FIAN’ worked under physicist Yuly Khariton’s direction on the project in a secret installation known as Arzamas-16. He was conferred the title ‘Hero of Socialist Labour’ in 1953. 

Childhood & Early Life

He was born on July 8, 1895, in Vladivostok, Russian Empire to Evgenij Tamm and his wife Olga Davydova. His father was an electrical engineer who worked in Yelizavetgrad (presently Kirovohrad, Ukraine), designated to build and manage water systems and electric power stations.

Awards & Achievements

He received the ‘Nobel Prize in Physics’ in 1958 jointly with Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov and Ilya Frank, for explaining the real cause behind the Cherenkov radiation.

Personal Life & Legacy

• In September 1917 he married Nataliya Shuyskaya. The couple was blessed with two children - a daughter Irina, born in 1921 and a son, Evgeny, born in 1926. Irina was a chemist and Evgeny was a physicist also renowned as a mountain climber. In 1982 Evgeny led the Soviet Everest expedition.
• Tamm was an atheist.
• On April 12, 1971, he passed away in Moscow at the age of 75 years.

Trivia

The shallow lunar impact crater, situated to the west-northwest of the large and much more prominent crater called ‘Chaplygin’, is named after him as ‘Tamm’.