Humanity on an Island

An excerpt from Chapter 17 of “The Little Prince” By Antoine de Saint-Exupéry reads:

“Men occupy a very small place upon the Earth. If the two billion inhabitants who people its surface were all to stand upright and somewhat crowded together, as they do for some big public assembly, they could easily be put into one public square twenty miles long and twenty miles wide. All humanity could be piled up on a small Pacific islet.”

I’ve had this little bit of fictional trivia in my head since I first read it. It seems reasonable, and presents a compelling sort of image I think. Here, I’ll analyze exactly how sensible it may or may not be.

So, let’s start with some figures. The World population is 6,787,432,641 (IPC/US Census Bureau Dec 15th 2009). Cool. Now, how much space can I expect a person to take up? I’m glad I checked just now, because my first estimate was “one square foot”. I’m more or less average male stature, and the span of a doorway seems more reasonable to contain my breadth. I could calculate a sensible depth dimension, but nah. Just make it an even square: 29″x29″ = a 5.8 square foot “footprint” per person. That should be ample even for larger people, and there are plenty of smaller people that should help average things out.

So, 5.83 square feet, times 6.7 Billion. = 39,367,109,317.8 square feet, equals 1,412.10 square miles to contain humanity. Hmmm. Math… Ok, the square root of that works out to 37.577, so a space 38 x 38 miles could technically handle it. According to the internet, that’s about the size of Rhode Island (1,545 sq miles)- or Delaware to be safe (1,954 sq miles).

(Compare that to the quoted 2 Billion per 20×20 sq miles. That would work out to 5.575 square feet per person. That’s pretty close to my own estimate. Looks like the figures are pretty sensible to begin with.)

But, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry didn’t say “Delaware”, he said small Pacific Islet. Let’s see if I can make good on that one. As far as small Pacific Islands go, two thousand square miles is more of a “medium” sized island. I found a few that looked good on paper, but were too mountainous for the human gathering to be practical. Finally though, behold my nomination: Isla Isabella: [ satellite photo ]. At 1790 square miles it’s the largest member of the Galapagos group. I figure there’s ample room for people on the level terrain, and the moderately steep terrain is enough to contain a good number of more agile humans if need be. And certainly, it would be enough to fit the 2 billion at the time of the original quote.

Of course, there’d need to be a massive hospital area for all the women giving birth- and likewise another hospital for all those about to die. My calculations don’t cover this contingency, but there are two or three surrounding islands on which facilities could be built.

So, that’s that. Humanity on an island. Take a look at that Google Maps link, and slowly zoom out as the island becomes a smaller point. Watch as it fades to nothing, a pale green dot. -As the rest of the continents come into view. Humanity on an island. George Bush, Barack Obama, that creepy guy from the bus stop, the Red Sox, your ex-girlfriend, Palestinians and Israelis, Blacks and Whites, terrorists, strippers, and Hugh Laurie. It could really work.

“The grown-ups, to be sure, will not believe you when you tell them that. They imagine that they fill a great deal of space. … You should advise them, then, to make their own calculations. They adore figures, and that will please them. But do not waste your time on this extra task. It is unnecessary. You have, I know, confidence in me.”