[katana]

Funny, I've been flying all over the world on business for the past 30 years and always select a window seat so I can indulge my interests in geography and geology. My first hand estimate, not counting the ocean surface, is that the globe is about 99% empty of any concentrations of human life.

But if Thomas feels our numbers need to be reduced he should set a good example and go first.

[IYAS9YAS]

My first hand estimate, not counting the ocean surface, is that the globe is about 99% empty of any concentrations of human life.

I had some friends visit from Germany back in the early 90s. They'd been here before, but only traveled to the cities, and never got around other than airports and cabs.

I was on leave when they visited. They were amazed at all the nothing between my little hometown of Nampa, ID, and Tucson, AZ (where I was stationed). US-93 is a lonely stretch of road. Their jaws dropped at the temperature sign they saw in Phoenix on the way through. They didn't blink at the 111 farenheit, but were very excited about the 44 celsius.

[texmexis best]

“the globe is about 99% empty of any concentrations of human life.

The Bureau of Land Management says that the amount of developed land in the US is....wait for it....a whopping 4.3%. Took us 400 years to do that.

Environmentalists, most of whom live in the big cities, hane no idea just how empty the Hearland of the US is. Simply put, there is no one out there.

Your estimate of the world being 99% devoid of human habitation is about right. 85% of the world’s population lives within 100 miles of an ocean and most of the earth in unpopulated.