Fertility rates – something at which these 10 countries with the highest fertility rates excel, are usually calculated by the average number of children women in a particular country have while still fertile. Having a larger number of children has been something to strive for since the dawn of mankind. In the early days of our existence, leaving a bigger number of offsprings meant passing on your genes better and ensuring the survival of the kind or your social or family group. Back then having children by the dozen did not seem impossible and nobody had to look for kindergartens, babysitters and friendly neighborhoods in order to raise a child. In many places around the world infant mortality rates are still too high to be comfortable with which makes giving birth to more than two or three children a necessity more than anything if you want to continue your family.
You might think that a high fertility rate would boost the given country’s population into oblivion. However, there are a lot of factors which, combined, can affect a country’s population in various seemingly unexpected ways. For example, if a country has a big enough fertility rates, combined with a small area and favorable living conditions, you get all the countries from our list of the 10 countries with the highest population density. However, you should have in mind that most of the items on the current list are places where life is not as pink as we would all like to imagine it is. Lots of these people have to lead violent battles for survival every day which is one of the reasons why you will see that the places with the highest population density do not match any of the items on this list. Furthermore, many of these countries are severely undeveloped which does not allow for a higher density of their residents.
With all this in mind, let’s take a look at where you can find the highest fertility rates, according to the CIA Factbook of 2014.
10. Angola
Est. births per woman: 5.43
Angola is the seventh biggest country in Africa. However, it is also one of the places with the worst infant mortality rates and life expectation. You could easily see why, on average, women are expected to give birth to over five children.
9. Afghanistan
Est. births per woman: 5.43
Afghanistan shows us another seemingly unrelated factor that also affects fertility rates. As some of you may know, Islam – the religion of this country – allows men to have up to four women who in their fertile period, will also have above five children.
8. Malawi
Est. births per woman: 5.66
Malawi is one of the smallest countries in Africa. In fact, the eponymous lake in the country takes up about a third of its overall area. Malawi is also one of the worst developed places globally which can easily explain its high fertility rates.
7. Zambia
Est. births per woman: 5.76
Zambia has only won its sovereignty in the second half of the last century. From then until now, it has undergone certain development. However the country still has poor health care and one of the worst life expectancies on the planet.
6. Burkina Faso
Est. births per woman: 5.93
Going on with more African countries in our list of the 10 with the highest fertility rates, we have Burkina Faso on the 6th position. Having an estimated average age of its population of seventeen years, it is no surprise that women there have close to six children on average.
5. Uganda
Est. births per woman: 5.97
Uganda is one of the poorest countries globally. If you need to figure just how poor, keep in mind that more than thirty-seven percent of its population lives on a dollar or less a day. This means that aside from surviving, every family needs as many workhands as possible.
4. Somalia
Est. births per woman: 6.08
Somalia is a country with ancient roots. It was developing fairly good, considering all its neighbors until civil wars broke out. Nowadays, the state is crippled by the war aftermath and corruption. It is also worth to note that Somalia also has Islam as its main religion.
3. Burundi
Est. births per woman: 6.14
Burundi is a small country in the heart of Africa. Like many of its neighbors, Burundi is very poor and affected by warfare and corruption. It has one of the lowest GDP per capita in the world and currently experiences increasing rates of emigration.
2. Mali
Est. births per woman: 6.16
Mali is the eighth biggest country on the continent and one of the oldest. Today Mali still goes through violent conflicts aside from its biggest concerns which are poverty, malnutrition, and rampant diseases.
1. Niger
Est. births per woman: 6.89
The predominantly Islamic country of Niger is one of the countries with the lowest development index, according to the UN. It also tops every chart for fertility rates, including our list of the 10 countries with the highest fertility rates. Its rates indicate that about a half of the population or more is around fifteen years old.
