The People's Republic of China is a vastly populated country. The inhabitants of the country make up approximately twenty percent of the world's population. For nearly 2,000 years, the population of China fluctuated between 60,000,000 and 110,000,000. When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the population was approximately 540,000,000. Within three decades, the population had increased to over 800,000,000. During the next three decades the population is expected to increase by over 260,000,000. Although this is not as tremendous an increase as in the first thirty years of the country, this number is equivalent to the total population of the United States. This increase is driven by the high fertility rates of the 1950's and 1960's, which averaged between 5.6 and 6.3 children per woman. During the 1970's and 1980's the fertility rate dropped to around 1.8 children per woman. Even though the fertility rate has dropped, the population will continue to experience tremendous growth because of the large number of young adults of reproductive age. .
The United Nations Population Division estimates that China's population will grow to 1,490,000,000 by 2025, but will decrease slightly to 1,480,000,000 by 2050. This decline is a result of China's government enforced one-child policy. Some 58,000 children are born every day in China, which averages out to 20,000,000 births each year. This number would be much higher if not for the one-child policy. Pregnancies must be authorized and women must obtain a birth coupon before conception. Couples who do not follow these procedures have fines imposed upon them, sometimes amounting to more than what they would earn in an entire year. This one-child policy has also resulted in the mass murder of infant girls. Many female fetuses are aborted because of the strong preference for boys in the country. Upon birth, girls are routinely put in buckets of water before they take their first breath, which isn't considered murder in China, so the parents can continue attempting to have a son.
