Among the foreign born women, the growing Turkish minority stands out for its high fertility level (3.07 children per Turkish woman in 1955-60).

Whereas the native Austrian women reached the lowest total fertility level of 1.29 after 2000, Turkish women approached three children.

However, the TFR is a reasonable summary of current fertility levels.

As late as 1970, the world's median fertility level was 5.4 births per woman; in 2000, it was 2.9.

Prior to the widespread use of chemical herbicides, cultural controls, such as altering soil pH, salinity, or fertility levels, were used to control weeds.

In an attempt to boost marriage rates and fertility levels, some local governments are helping arrange for the immigration of marriageable women from the Philippines.

Owing to such high fertility levels, Pakistan's overall population growth rate is much higher than elsewhere in South Asia (1.9 percent per year).

Our relatively high fertility levels have been augmented by increasing immigration and the return of economic exiles in recent years.

Legalization, and widespread acceptance, of contraception in the developed world is a large factor in decreased fertility levels.

If fertility levels in developing countries rest first and foremost on the number of children desired by parents, then the population control movement faces a wrenching dilemma.