According to the World Population Clock, there are 7,327,599,308 people packed onto the planet at the time of writing this article. This figure is growing at at a dizzying rate – around 1.14% annually, which means there are about 80 million more mouths to feed every year.

The world's population doubled in the 40 years from 1959 (three billion) to 1999 (six billion). Although the growth rate is slowing, by 2050, the population may reach between 8.3 and 10.9 billion. China is the world's most populous country with more than 1.4 billion inhabitants, but India is catching up and is expected to overtake China by 2030.

To raise awareness of the planet's soaring birth rate, the United Nations has designated 11 July as World Population Day. IBTimesUK presents this gallery of overcrowding and huge gatherings around the globe to mark World Population Day 2015.