Good Timing--Clock Ticks Off World’s Growth
UNITED NATIONS — Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar has been presented with a “population clock” that keeps track of the population growth of the world and of 157 countries, updated each minute.
The clock was the idea of the U.N. Fund for Population Activities as part of its “World of Five Billion” information campaign aimed at making world leaders aware of population problems.
The first model was presented to President Lazar Mojsov of Yugoslavia on July 11, the day the organization calculated that the world’s population reached the five-billion mark.
The fund plans to give a clock to each head of state or government.
Designed by the Japanese firm Seiko Instruments Inc., the clock calculates world and country populations every 60 seconds, from January, 1987, to June, 1991, based on U.N. projections. It also displays years, months, days of the week, hours, minutes and seconds.
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