by Seyi Lawal 

A new poll has revealed that almost 15 percent of people in the world are certain that the world will end during their lifetime if not this year, 2012. 

According to Reuters, the end of the Mayan calendar (which spans about 5,125 years, and ends on 21 December, 2012) has sparked speculation that it marks the end of the world. 

Keren Gottfried, research manager at Ipsos Global Public Affairs which conducted the poll for Reuters, said people believed one way or the other the world was going to end soon. “Whether they think it will come to an end through the hands of God, or a natural disaster or a political event, whatever the reason, one in seven thinks the end of the world is coming. Perhaps it is because of the media attention coming from one interpretation of the Mayan prophecy that states the world ‘ends’ in our calendar year 2012,” Gottfried said. 

About 1 in 10 people globally said they were experiencing fear or anxiety about the impending end of the world in 2012. The greatest numbers were in Russia and Poland, the fewest in Great Britain. 

Gottfried also said that people less educated or with low earnings, including those under 35 years old, were more likely to believe in an apocalypse during their lifetime or in 2012.

 Ipsos questioned people in China, Turkey, Russia, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Argentina, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, France, Spain, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Italy, South Africa, Great Britain, Indonesia, Germany.

It seems they left out Nigeria. What do you Y! readers think?