Mass is a factor in the survival of a social group. Other things being equal, that society will stand the best chance of surviving which has the largest population. Moreover, the larger the mass of a given group the greater can be the industrial and cultural division of labor in that group. Hence, other things being equal, a large population favors the growth not only of a higher type of industry, but also of a higher type of culture or civilization in a given society. The questions which center around the growth of population, therefore, are among the most important questions which sociology has to deal with. The growth of population is, of course, more or less indirectly connected with the family life, since the growth of population in the world as a whole is dependent upon the surplus of births over deaths. But population has so long been looked at as a national question that perhaps it will be best to study it from the standpoint of the national group. The population of modern national groups, the influences which augment and deter the growth of the population of these groups, and the laws of population in general, will be what will concern us in this chapter. Population Statistics of Some Modern Nations.--The following table of statistics will show the status of the populations of the largest nations of Europe and America in the nineteenth century: Population, Population, Increase per 1801. 1901. Year, per cent. Russia (in Europe) ... 40,000,000 106,159,000 1.36 Germany .............. 24,000,000 56,367,000 1.39 France ............... 26,800,000 38,961,000 0.12 Great Britain and Ireland .............. 16,300,000 41,605,000 1.21 Austria .............. 25,000,000 45,310,000 0.91 Italy ................ 17,500,000 32,449,000 0.73 Spain ................ 10,500,000 18,000,000 0.32 United States ........ 5,308,000 76,303,000 2.09