The two charts present the distribution of population around the world by region in the years 1900 and 2000.
It is clear that, at the beginning of the 20th century, the vast majority of global population lived in Asia and Europe, including Russia. After 100 years, though, these two continents saw a significant reduction in their shares of the chart, while the other regions, some of which had started to be called differently, either witnessed an increase or did not see any changes.
Starting with 1900, a hefty 60% of the world population inhabited Asia, with the European continent, Russia included, accounting for less than a half, at 25%. While North America, Africa and Latin America represented 5%, 4% and 3% of the total, respectively, the remaining part lived in other regions.
However, by the year 2000, the previously-wider continental population gap had narrowed. In particular, over the 100 years, there was a 6% decline in the proportion of people living in Asia-Pacific to 54%, still the highest percentage, and the European population also dropped, reaching 14%. This was followed by Latin America & Caribbean (8%) and Middle East (6%), whereas North America and the rest of the world did not record any rise or fall in their figures.