In 1500, the future Western powers (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) held just 10% of the earth’s surface and 16% of the population. By 1913, they controlled 60% of the land and population and 79% of the world’s GDP. Life expectancy in England in 1913 was double that of India. In 1500, of the ten most populous cities in the world, only one, Paris, was European. Beijing (700,000 inhabitants) came first, while Paris had 200,000, and London only 50,000. By 1900, the situation was reversed: Tokyo was the only non-Western city on the list, and London was first. Scholar Nial Ferguson identifies the main reasons for this unexpected success as: Competition (and therefore Free Market and Capitalism), Science (and therefore Technology and Weapons), Property Rights, Medicine, Consumer Society (and therefore Industry), and Work Ethic.
