Quote:
Originally Posted by olhamada
Whoever said this wasn't a religious war was an idiot. It is all about worldviews and religious zealotry.
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I wonder...is it? Or could it be population pressure, perhaps exacerbated by religious issues?
Take a look
HERE, where the following data is available:
Population: 1,500,202 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 44.7% (male 343,988/female 325,856)
15-64 years: 52.7% (male 403,855/female 386,681)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 16,196/female 23,626) (2008 est.)
Median age:
total: 17.2 years
male: 17 years
female: 17.4 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
3.422% (2008 est.)
This is a density of about 4,167 per KM^2. Compare with NY City, with a population density of 10,482 per KM^2 (
LINK) Compare Tokyo at 4,750 per KM^2 (
LINK)
Add in the young age of the population, the growth, and the poverty - then stir in religious differences - and conflict seems a foregone conclusion.
Want something scary? Crank the population growth rate into a spreadsheet. In a little more than 25 years, the population will double. So to improve their lot, they most increase GDP by some factor plus the growth rate.
I suspect the only solution for areas with the demographic profile above involves substantial and immediate reductions in the existing population, the growth rate, or both. Since that will not happen, the future becomes predictable. Not pleasant; just predictable.