"Ghana's population explosion
As the world population hits 7 billion, John Vidal returns to the country of his birth to find the midwife who delivered him and to see how Ghana is dealing with a leap from 4 million to more than 25 million people"
Japan's population had its sharpest decline ever last year as deaths outnumbered births, posing an escalating economic threat to growth prospects amid a global recession.
The Philippines has one of the highest birth rates in Asia. Economists say that unintended pregnancies are stifling growth and driving millions into poverty.
However, the government has refused to promote modern contraceptives which have succeeded in curbing population growth elsewhere on the continent.
"When he announced that he would baptise any child born to parents with at
least two children already we could not resist the opportunity to have another
baby. To have a child baptised by the Patriarch is so very special."
Two years after having one of the lowest birth rates in the world, Georgia is enjoying something of a baby boom, following an intervention from the country's most senior cleric.