In the United States it tends to be immigrant families who have the most children. Traditional family values mean they in particular contribute to the growth of the population. So the average birth rate is 2.1 children for every American woman. That puts the US around about the middle when compared to global statistics. Take a look at southern Europe and the picture is very different. Italy has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. Italians often complain of too little state support. As in many places in Europe, women often have to decide between children or a career. The population is ageing. Only 1.3 children are born for every Italian woman. The highest birthrates in the world today are in Africa. The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the global leaders. If the current trend continues, its population will be three times as large by 2050. Here, having children is often the only way for parents to ensure they are looked after when they are old. The average birthrate for Congolese women is 6.5 children. Further information:

Tanzania's rapidly growing birth rate is posing a major challenge for the country - on the labour market, for example, and in the health system. Statistically, an average Tanzanian woman will give birth to more than five children. Often the parents are unable to feed them all. In rural areas in particular, many girls become pregnant while still teenagers, forcing them to drop out of school. The result is a vicious circle of poverty, poor schooling and insufficient sex education. The Tanzanian government is seeking to change that trend. National and international educational projects are being introduced, designed to promote family planning. The German Foundation for World Population, or DWS, is involved in the north of the country. Four years ago, the organization opened a youth center in the city of Arusha. Here young men and women can not only learn about contraception and family planning, they can also train as tailors. These young people then in turn pass on their knowledge, making regular trips into the surrounding villages. We join them on one of their tours.

Three children are born every minute in the Philippines. Statistically, every Filipino woman has 3.32 children. That is the national average; the figure among the poor is considerably higher. The number of women who die in childbirth is also very high. One third of all pregnant women cannot afford to go for medical check-ups or have a doctor present during birth. Contraceptives are equally unaffordable. Families with seven or eight children are normal. The rising birthrate in the Philippines is linked to the influence of the Catholic Church, which opposes the use of modern contraceptives. Up until the year 2000, poorer families could obtain contraceptives for free from hospitals and health organizations. But then the city government in Manila introduced "Executive Order 003", which required doctors, midwives and nurses in city-funded institutions to stop informing women about "artificial" contraceptives and promote "natural" contraception -- the rhythm method -- instead.

Tatiana Pechnikova sings for the "New Opera" in Moscow. She likes the fact that globalisation brings everyone a little closer together. But she fears that national values and the uniqueness of individual cultures could be lost in the process.

The Sertao in the Brazilian state of Bahia is a barren, semi-arid region. In Bahia, over 50 percent of the population live below the poverty line. Those who are able, tend to move elsewhere. Ismael Ferreira is one of those who decided to stay in his home town of Valente. The son of a farmer, he opted to study Agriculture. Then, more than 20 years ago, he started to recultivate sisal, a plant that no one wanted to grow anymore. And yet nothing nothing grows as well in this semi-arid region as sisal, able to survive with very little water. Ismael Ferreira set up a kind of cooperative, which today is the biggest employer in and around Valente. The company also has a factory where sisal fibers are used to make carpets. A lot of the company's output is exported abroad. And that is where this company in a small town in Brazil is feeling the effects of globalization. For quite some time now, the factory has been fighting to survive because of currency fluctuations, in particular because of the weak dollar. For months, wages have not been paid in full. But Ferreira has not given up and has come up with some ideas for weathering the crisis. We paid him a visit in Valente.