What is the population of Earth?

According to the US Census estimates, the population of the world was approximately 6,985,119,415 people (6.99 billion) on January 1, 2012.

As of March, 2012, there were over 7,000,000,000 (7 billion). The UN had estimated 7 billion in October, 2011. Currently, the population shows a net increase of about 60 to 70 million people a year.

(For updated estimates, see the related links below)