NewsTracker Answers for week of Feb. 15, 2021

Q: Nine month’s after last spring’s coronavirus lockdown of 64 million people in France the number of babies being born there is falling instead of growing as many had expected. Where is France, which is seeing a baby bust rather than a predicted baby boom?

Circle the area on this map

Q: A drop in births also is expected in the United States and other developed countries amid families’ economic worries and pandemic stress. What nation southeast of France also reported declining births nine months after its earlier lockdown?

A. Belgium

B. Britain

C. Italy

D. Spain

C. Italy experienced Europe’s first major outbreak and was the first Western country to declare national lockdown. Births declined by more than 21 percent in 15 big Italian cities in December.

Q: France has 11.77 births for every 1,000 people, according to the CIA World Factbook. Which neighbor of France has a lower birthrate?

A. Germany

B. Italy

C. Spain

D. All of the above

D. All of France’s European neighbors – Andorra, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Spain and Switzerland – have lower birthrates. Demographers and economists warn that developed nations could fall into a “fertility trap” with fewer young workers to keep the economy going and more older people to support.

Q: While developed nations worry about falling birthrates, the world’s poorest nations have the highest birthrates. Where are the nations with the highest birthrates?

A. Africa

B. Asia

C. Europe

D. Latin American

A. The ten nations with the highest birthrates are in Africa as well as all but two of the top 30 nations. Niger, listed as the fifth poorest nation in the world, has 47.28 births for every 1,000 people – higher than any other nation. France’s neighbor Monaco is the third richest nation based on gross domestic product per person, has a birthrate of 6.63 per 1,000 people.

Q: In addition to having the world’s highest birthrate, Niger has the lowest median age with half the population younger than 14.8 years old. Which nation has the world’s oldest population?

A. France

B. Italy

C. Japan

D. Monaco

D. Half of Monaco’s people are older than 55.4 years of age – the median age. Monaco also has the highest life expectancy at birth – 89.4 years. In comparison, life expectancy in Niger is 59.7 years one of the world’s lowest.