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watch One-Minute World News Last Updated: Wednesday, 18 August,
2004, 11:26 GMT 12:26 UK India population 'to be biggest' A
crowd in India By 2050 there will be 1.63bn Indians, the study
shows India is set to overtake China as the world's most
populous nation by 2050, while some countries will shrink by
nearly 40%, according to new research.  The Population Reference
Bureau (PRB) says the next half century will see wild swings in
population sizes.  It predicts that the number of people on
Earth will reach 9.3bn by 2050, compared with 6.3bn today.
Britain's population is likely to overtake that of France, while
the US will grow by nearly 50%, it says.  The Washington-based
PRB says the general trend will be for Western developed nations
to decline slightly in numbers - the US being the major
exception - while developing states continue to expand rapidly.
1 India, 1,628m (2) 2 China, 1,437m (1) 3 United States, 420m
(3) 4 Indonesia, 308m (4) 5 Niger