"Hypermortality"
A word coined by a recent U.N. report, meaning "an extraordinary tendency toward death".
The word is used to describe the extraordinary situation unfolding in Russia. (The article refers to the pathbreaking work of demographer Murray Feshbach. Here's a brief summary of Feshbach's work predicting that by 2050 Russia's population will fall by about one-third, maybe as much as nearly one-half.)
Not for the same tragic reasons, but a similarly big change is occuring in Japan. The Washington Post headlines its article, "Japan Steadily Becoming a Land of Few Children" and the second paragraph states Japan is witnessing "a slow-motion demographic catastrophe that is without precedent in the developed world".
Same thing is happening in Italy and some of the other European nations. Italy is facing rapid demographic decline and using North African immigration for workers.
I doubt that any of the Western European nations will be recognizable in one more generation.
Posted by: kyle N | June 10, 2008 at 08:21 AM