ODTmaps'  World Population Map is a graphic image of the world, made up of 7,265 colorful squares... each square representing one million people. The stunning observation - having just updated our 2005 World Population Map - was recognizing how many more people occupy the planet now, compared with just ten years ago. This timely map is being released in recognition of World Population Day - July 11, 2015.

ODT's Howard Bronstein says, "From 2005, when there were 6.4 billion people on Earth to 2015 (projections) of 7.2 billion people, we knew conceptually that the population had increased by around 12%.  We knew that there were about 823 million additional people sharing our planet in that 10-year period...but when the numbers were converted to visuals, the result was truly astonishing. Conventional wisdom says that a picture is worth 1,000 words...and in this case it was clear that putting the 2005 Population Map side-by-side with the map of the 2015 projections was worth an entire encyclopedia."

Cartographer Paul Breding says, "I thought there would be a few countries that might have lost population in that time, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea, Haiti, Sudan.  But surprisingly they all gained population. The only countries that lost population were in Eastern Europe!"

Here are the other things that astonished Breding as he finished the work on his updated map:

1. The Middle East is growing significantly.

2. Three countries made it over the 1 million threshold: Qatar, Bahrain, Cyprus...all in the Middle East. (On the new map the countries under 1 million don't get a color square, they are represented by a small black star showing each country's relative position)

3. India will soon surpass China in population, and that date seems to be getting closer and closer...probably between 2023 and 2028.

ODT created a 2015 World Population Wall Map several months ago. Now they have re-designed the 50-inch wide wall map to an 11x17-inch desktop map. The scale is the same – each square represents one million people – but the desktop map has smaller squares. Not only is there a massive amount of information on the face of the map…but the back of the map includes historical thumbnails showing where the humans were (and how many were there): 100,000 years ago, at the Birth of Christ, A.D. 1650, A.D. 1900, as well as projections for the year 2150.

ODT's original 2005 Population map was hailed by Gizmodo as one of the 13 best maps of the year. See:  http://gizmodo.com/you-are-here-the-13-best-maps-of-2013-1490022952

Renowned map critic Denis Wood, upon seeing the new 2015 map, says: "the 2015 Population Map is VERY impressive. China and India are huge,  but so is the whole of the western Pacific. All I can say is WOW!"

The desktop map was produced with support from www.populationeducation.org  Population Education's Senior Vice President for Education, Pam Wasserman, says "The World Population Map is a fantastic teaching tool, especially for the geography classroom, and we were delighted to partner with ODTmaps to get this into teachers' hands. We plan to use the desktop sizes in summer Advanced Placement teaching institutes and social studies conferences throughout the year. Next month, we'll be showcasing the map at the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) conference in Washington, DC."

For some great videos on world population issues see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIRDRFuN3BQ  (under 10 minutes) and https://www.populationeducation.org/content/world-population-video  (under 6 minutes)

ODTmaps video which explains the Population Map and 12 other world map images is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aALCuA9H2KI

Just released:   Desktop (11"x17") Population Map

Laminated flat maps –ISBN 978-1-931057-45-5              $9.95

UV coating and & folded  - ISBN   978-1-931057-47-9    $8.25

Available from ODTmaps at: http://odtmaps.com/detail.asp_Q_product_id_E_POPdesktop2015

The wall and desktop maps are available from ODTmaps, at many local map shops and on AMAZON

MEDIA can get electronic images from: odtstore@odt.org or call Kate Larson at 413-549-1293.