How many  orphans are there in the world, i.e. children who have no
father and mother? What is the percentage of the world population?

Exact figures are not available; not all nations have accurate census
information. Recent estimates are that approximately 143 million
children worldwide have lost at least one parent; of these, about 16.2
million are "double orphans" who have lost both parents.

If we use a global population estimate of 6.5 billion, and the
estimate of 16.2 million "double orphans," this would mean that about
.249 percent of the world's population is doubly-orphaned children.

"There are an estimated 143 million orphans worldwide (two per cent of
the world population, but this percentage is falling except in
southern Africa, where AIDS has reversed this trend)."

Wilton Park Conferences: HEALTH: THE RISING GLOBAL SECURITY CHALLENGE

"A UNAIDS/ UNICEF/ USAID collaboration 'Children on the Brink 2004'
estimates a total of:

1.4 million orphans in Thailand 
87.6 million orphans in all of Asia 
143.4 million orphans worldwide..." 

PleaseHelp International: Why We Help
http://pleasehelpinternational.com/why.asp

"There are 143 million children in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin
America and the Caribbean who are orphans. Of those 143 million, 16.2
million are double orphans. Many of these cases, especially double
orphanhood, result from the HIV/AIDS pandemic."

U.S. Representative Joe Schwarz: Foreign Policy / Human Rights
http://schwarz.house.gov/portal/alias__IRIS/lang__en-US/tabID__194/DesktopDefault.aspx

My Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "million orphans" world OR worldwide OR global
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22million+orphans%22+world+OR+worldwide+OR+global

I hope this is precisely what you need. If anything is unclear or
incomplete, please request clarification; I'll be glad to offer
further assistance before you rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

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Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 14 Aug 2005 17:48 PDT

As an example of how widely the estimates may vary, here is a much
larger figure, which also appears to be from a reputable source:

"34.7 million 'double orphans' or children under age 15 who have lost
both mother and father, are estimated in 2000 due to AIDS related
deaths. 41.6 million are projected to be double orphans by 2010.

(Children on the Brink, USAID Report by Susan Hunter and John Williamson, 2000.)"

NCMI Global Conference: Continuing Education Reader
http://ncm.org/pdf/aids_cereader.pdf

~pinkfreud

Thank you for a very helpful answer. My son came home from school with
what I thought to be an exagerated estimate of the worldwide orphan
problem. this helps give a perspective on the situation.