Expert: Steve Holleran - 10/15/2007

Question
If the world population of 5.5 billion people were gathered together in one spot, how large an area would we cover?

Allow each person a 2 foot by 2 foot patch of ground, and give your answer in square miles.

Answer
Hi Stephanie,

Okay, a 2 ft by 2 ft square is 4 sq. ft.
4 sq. ft * 5.5 billion people = 22 billion sq ft.

1 mile = 5280 ft, so 1 sq mi = 5280^2 sq ft  

                            = 27,878,400 sq ft.

So, 22 billion / 27,878,400 = 789.14 sq mi.

That's pretty crowded!

Steve