> In 1700, almost 1 in 25 inhabitants on Earth, and one in five in Europe, was French. Today, less than a percent of humanity is French. Why did France’s population decline in relative terms so dramatically, and did it really mark the decline of France?
It seems far-fetched to use global population as a relative indicator of France's "decline", where the global population exploded after the industrial revolution.
It seems far-fetched to use global population as a relative indicator of France's "decline", where the global population exploded after the industrial revolution.