Some human beings have lived to be 130, 140, or even 170 years
old.
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Empirical evidence has failed to support these claims. A man
from the Ukraine who supposedly was 130 years old had falsified
his date of birth in order to escape military service during World
War I; he actually was only 78 years old.
A fire destroyed the records of an Ecuadorian man who claimed
to be 130 years old. Further investigation revealed that he died
at age 93. The notoriety that comes with extreme old age apparently
offers a strong temptation to exaggerate the truth.
The greatest authenticated human ages are 122 years (a French
woman), 120 years (a Japanese man), 113 years and 273 days (a California
woman), and 113 years and 124 days (a Canadian man).
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Most elderly Americans live in the southern sunbelt states.
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Florida does have the highest concentration of the elderly,
but most of the states that rank second through twentieth are all
in the North and Midwest.
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The dramatic increase in the number of elderly people is occurring
only in a few developed countries, such as the United States, Canada,
and in western Europe.
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Because of worldwide advances in medical care and birth control,
many nations face the prospect of an increasingly older population.
This includes both developed countries (Japan, Canada, the United
States) and developing countries (China, India, Mexico).
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