The birth rate is typically the rate of births in a population over time. Generally, the rate of births in one population is calculated using live birth counts from a universal system of registration of births, deaths, and marriages, and population counts from a census or using estimation through specialized demographic techniques. Birth rate, along with death rate and migration rate, are commonly used to calculate population growth.

Crude birth rate is the number of childbirths per 1,000 people per year. Another term used interchangeably with birth rate is natality. When the crude death rate is subtracted from the crude birth rate, it reveals the rate of natural increase (RNI). This number is equal to the rate of population change (not factoring in migration).

It is important to distinguish between a total or crude birth rate, which uses all births, typically indicated as births per 1,000, versus an age-specific rate which is typically indicated as the number of births per 1,000 persons in this age group. The first known use of the term "birth rate" in the English language was in 1859.

Danté Basco (born August 29, 1975) is an American actor, voice actor, poet, and dancer. He is best known for playing Rufio in the 1991 live-action Peter Pan film Hook. He is also well-known for voicing Zuko in the Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Jake Long from the Disney series American Dragon: Jake Long.

Dante Basco, a Filipino American, was born in Pittsburg, California, but was raised in Cerritos and Paramount, California. He is the brother of Darion Basco, Derek Basco, Dion Basco, and Arianna Basco. In his early years, he was part of the Streat Freaks [sic] breakdancing crew. When he got into acting, he started taking on minor roles in television. He later appeared in his most famous role in Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook with Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman, as Rufio, the charismatic red-stripe-haired leader of the Lost Boys in Peter Pan's absence. The punk band Rufio is named after this character.

He had guest roles on television shows The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and had a recurring role on Moesha. After portraying characters of various Asian ethnicities except his own, he portrayed a Filipino-American alongside his three brothers and sister in the independent film The Debut. He and his brothers starred in Naked Brown Men, a sitcom. He played a gay teenager in the 1999 film, But I'm A Cheerleader. He starred as Ramos in the 2006 film Take the Lead alongside Antonio Banderas, where he break-danced as well as performed ballroom dance. In many films he hip-hop dances, as he did in a Verizon Wireless commercial, as well as rapping and breaking in a Sprite commercial. He produced and co-starred in a music video parody of the song "Rehab", called "Wiihab".

Matthew Syed (born 2 November 1970) is a British journalist and broadcaster. He used to be an English table tennis international, and was the English number one for many years. He was five times the Men's Singles Champion at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships (in 1997, 2000 and 2001), and also competed for Great Britain in two Olympic Games.

His father is a British-Pakistani and his mother is Welsh. He attended the Maiden Erlegh School in Earley near Reading, then studied PPE at Balliol College, Oxford where he was awarded a prizewinning First.

A right-handed table-tennis player, Syed won many titles, but says that he "choked" at the Sydney Olympics: "when I walked out into the mega-watt light of the competition arena, I could hardly hit the ball."

Syed has worked as a commentator for the BBC and Eurosport, and as a journalist for The Times since 1999. He is a regular pundit on radio and television, commentating on sporting, cultural and political issues. His film, China and Table Tennis, made for the BBC, won bronze medal at the Olympic Golden Rings ceremony in Lausanne in 2008.