How many people were on earth at the time the tower was built?

After discussions on how many languages there were at the time of the building of the Tower of Babel, there was One language. When Jehovah confused the languages so that they had to stop building because they couldn't communicate with each other, some have concluded that there were approximately 100 languages instantly being used. Then over the next 4,000 years or so, there have come to be approximately 6,900 languages or less, which all appear to be related to the first 100 or so languages.

So how many people were there when the tower was being built? Here is one conception of a rendering of the genealogy of Noah:

Sorry, I can't get this any bigger on this chart. I'll continue to look for another one that can expand for a better more readable view.






Judging from this chart, there were about 75 names named. These names also had sub-names listed which are not shown here. Obviously the ancestors of Noah had children over the course of the 100 years to Nimrod, so I'm guessing there could have been about 300-500 people around the time Nimrod came on the scene. But not only did Nimrod arrange to build the Tower of Babel, the beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom also included the cities of Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, all in the land of Shinar. (Ge 10:10) Here Genesis 10:8-10 reads: 8 Cush became father to Nim′rod. He was the first to become a mighty one on the earth. 9 He became a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah. That is why there is a saying: “Just like Nim′rod, a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah.” 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Ba′bel, E′rech, Ac′cad, and Cal′neh, in the land of Shi′nar.

I'm still working on this because I can't figure out how so few patriarchs had so many people so as to build cities and have a kingdom.

This research is under construction and will change as I discover newer and/or different information.