If all the people in the world were gathered together in the form of a square?

Question

how many miles across would the square be.

a solid square all people standing together.

Answer 1

They would all fit shoulder to shoulder on the Isle of Man.
Well, they would when I actually did this calculation back in 1992.

Now there's about a billion more people and they're all fatter. So they'd probably all fit on the Isle of Lewis [my home] but the island would sink. hehe

Answer 2

I am not sure about this but if every person on Earth stood together, each occupying a space equivalent to an A4 sheet of paper, then they would occupy an area similar to the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of Great Britain.

Answer 3

Hmm, tricky one. Depends if you include obese English children and whether they are standing up or lying down. The only thing I know for sure is, "If you lay everyone in the world down in a straight line, it would only be the person at the front of the line that didn't have some body's cheesy feet in their face."

Answer 4

I want to know, like Richard above, whether the square is in outline or is it solid. And whether people would be laid end-to-end/side-to-side or stood up. Makes a huge difference.

Answer 5

42

Answer 6

6,579,721,735
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popclockworld.html

If each peron takes up 2 square feet (my guess), then multiply the above by 2.

To convert to square miles divide by 5,280 fy/mi twice (for squared).

Answer is 472 square miles.

Answer 7

Is it a big empty square or are we filling it in?

Answer 8

It would be constantly changing as people and bron and die. No one could ever measure it properly.