Getting a sense of Large Numbers

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Getting a sense of Large NumbersA lakh is 105 (1,00,000), a crore is 107 (1,00,00,000), and an arab is 109 (1,00,00,00,000), whereas a million is 106 (1,000,000) and a billion is 109 (1,000,000,000). In this section, we shall explore numbers significantly larger than arabs and billions. We shall use powers of 10 to represent and compare these numbers in each case. 10^0 As of mid-2025, there are only two northern white rhinos remaining in the world, both females, and they reside at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya ( =2 \times 10^0 ). 10^1 As of early 2024, the total population of Hainan gibbons is a meagre 42 ( ≈4×10^1 ). 10^2 There are just 242 Kakapo alive as of mid-2025 ( ≈2×10^2 ). 10^3 There are fewer than 3000 Komodo dragons in the world, all based in Indonesia ( ≈3×10^3 ). 10^4 A 2005 estimate of the maned wolf population showed that there are more than 17000 of them; most are located in Brazil (1.7×10^4 ). 10^5 As of 2018, there are around 4.15 lakh African elephants ( ≈4×10^5 ). 10^6 There are an estimated 50 lakh / 5 million American alligators as of 2025(5×10^6 ). 10^7 The global camel population is estimated to be over 3.5 crore/ 35 million ( 3.5×10^7 ). India has only about 2.5 lakhs of them. The global horse population is around 5.8 crore / 58 million ( 5.8×10^7 ), with about half of them in America. 10^8 More than 20 crore / 200 million ( 2×10^8 ) water buffaloes are estimated worldwide, with a vast majority of them in Asia. 10^9 The estimated global population of starlings is around 1.3 arab/1.3 billion ( ). The global human population as of 2025 is 8.2 arab/8.2 billion ( 8.2×10^9 ). A picture of a starling murmuration over a farm in the UK. Starling murmuration is a mesmerising aerial display of thousands of starlings flying in synchronised, swirling patterns. It is often described as a 'choreographed dance'. With a global human population of about 8×10^9 and about 4×10^5 African elephants, can we say that there are nearly 20,000 people for every African elephant? 10^10 The global chicken population living at any time is estimated at ≈33 billion ( 3.3×10^10 ). 10^12 The estimated number of trees (2023) globally stands at 30 kharab/3 trillion (3 ×10^12 ). One kharab is 100 arab, and one trillion is 1000 billion. 10^14 The estimated mosquito population worldwide (2023) is 11 neel/110 trillion ( ). A derived estimate of the population of the Antarctic krill stands at 50 neel/500 trillion ( 5×10^14 ). 10^15 An estimate of the beetle population stands at 1 padma/ 1 quadrillion ( 1×10^15 ). The estimate of the earthworm population is also at 1 padma/1 quadrillion. 10^16 The estimated population of ants globally is 20 padma/ 20 quadrillion ( 2×10^16 ). Ants alone outweigh all wild birds and wild mammals combined. 10^21 is supposed to be the number of grains of sand on all beaches and deserts on Earth. This is enough sand to give every ant 10 little sand castles to live in. 10^23 The estimated number of stars in the observable universe is 2×10^23. 10^25 There are an estimated 2×10^25 drops of water on Earth (assuming 16 drops per millilitre).