Worldmapper is an interesting website, showing maps drawn according to population, among other things. The world map gives a very striking illustration of why China and India have so much investment potential they're by far the most dominant countries on the map.
Map 2009 SASI Group (University of Sheffield)
Having a large and growing population alone won't make a country rich. But if the population is striving for a better standard of living, then demand for raw materials and consumer goods takes off. In a world short on resources and concerned about environmental degradation, that means India and China will be under pressure to make more efficient use of the resources they have (so keep an eye on their alternative energy industries) and to acquire more, as China's ongoing global resources grab makes clear.
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