Erik De Castro / AFP - Getty Images

A newly born baby girl named Danica May Camacho, the Philippines' symbolic seven billionth baby, is weighed in the Fabella Maternity hospital in Manila on October 31. The world's population will reach seven billion on October 31, according to projections by the United Nations, which says this global milestone presents both an opportunity and a challenge for the planet.

After all of the build-up, it seems the U.N. has decided that there should be more than one 7-billionth baby. Let the circus begin...

msnbc.com staff and news services report:

A string of festivities are being held worldwide, with a series of symbolic 7-billionth babies being born.

The celebrations began in the Philippines, where baby Danica May Camacho was greeted with cheers and an explosion of photographers' flashbulbs at Manila's Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital.

The Guardian newspaper reported that Danica, whose name means morning star, had been chosen by the U.N. to be one of a number of symbolic 7 billionth babies. It is not known who the actual baby is.

Erik De Castro / Reuters

Midwives hold Danica May Camacho up for the cameras.

Danica arrived two minutes before midnight Sunday, but doctors decided that was close enough to count for a Monday birthday. 

The baby received a shower of gifts, from a chocolate cake marked "7B Philippines" to a gift certificate for shoes.

"She looks so lovely," the mother, Camille Galura, whispered as she cradled the 5.5-pound baby, who was born about a month premature. Read the full story.

Ted Aljibe / AFP - Getty Images

Danica May Camacho is coddled by her mother Camille as United Nations resident coordinator Jacqui Badcock, left, hands over a gift and Philippine Health Secretary Enrique Ona, right, looks on, during a welcoming ceremony after she was born at a government-run maternity hospital in Manila. Weighing 2.5 kilos, the baby was delivered shortly before midnight October 30 amid an explosion of flash bulbs from a media contingent that had waited for hours at the delivery room.

See more PhotoBlog posts related to the seven billion population milestone:

• World's largest family: 1 husband, 39 wives, 94 children
• Managing a growing world population with a shrinking water supply
• China's middle class booms, but aging population threatens prosperity
• Nations' birth rates rise and fall: Philippines welcomes 200 babies an hour
• 7 billion people tax the world's environment
• What do 7 billion people look like?
• Room for more? Squeeze in, the world population is about to hit 7 billion