Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Russia), Oct 31 (IANS/RIA Novosti): Russia announced that the seven-billionth person was born in the country's Far East in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky city.

"A boy named Alexander was born in a maternity ward in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the night of Oct 31. A certificate of the seven-billionth inhabitant on Earth was given to the mother of the newborn, Marina Bogdanova," the press service of the Russian presidential envoy's office in the Far East said Monday.

According to the governor of Kamchatka, Alexander's parents will be given a certificate for a new apartment in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

"Of course, there are many contenders for the title of the seven-billionth baby on the planet. But our country is known to start from Kamchatka. Therefore, we believe that this child was the seven-billionth child and born in Kamchatka, Russia," the governor said.

India has also announced the birth of the seven-billionth inhabitant. The UN earlier estimated that the seven-billionth child would be born in Russia's westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad.

The six-billionth person born on the planet was in 1999 in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo.