According to Statista global revenue from mobile advertising almost doubled in 2012, increasing from $4.9 billion back in 2011 to $9.1 billion.
In North America alone, the amount spent on mobile ads per mobile subscription reached $9.39 on 2012 compared to $4.53 on the previous year. That fact puts North America as the leader in mobile advertising worldwide. Western Europe follows with $2.91 spent on mobile ads per mobile subscription, more than double the amount spent on the previous year.
Uruguay is on its way to legalize the production and consumption of cannabis, only waiting for the senate to pass the new bill. According to The Economist, more than 8% of Uruguay’s population ages 15 to 64 smoked cannabis in 2011, a higher percentage than in previous years.
Consumption of cannabis has also increased worldwide. Countries with the highest levels of consumption of cannabis in 2012, 10% or more of the population, include Italy, Nigeria, Australia, the United States, and Canada.
In 2012 China’s investment in renewable energy surpassed the investment by the United States for the previous year and for the same year. In fact, China’s is ahead every other nation including Germany, Japan, and Italy.
China’s investment in renewable energy exceeded $60 billion for 2012, compared to an estimated $36 billion in the United States, and $23 billion in Germany for the same year.
Source: Statista: China Leads the Way in Renewable Energy Investment
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 was enacted for the purpose of making it illegal for individuals or entities to make payments to foreign government officials in order to obtain business in a particular country. So far about 200 FCPA violations have been covered in 80 countries.
The darker the color of a country on the map above, the larger the FCPA violations in that country. FCPA violations have been found in different economic sectors: energy, manufacturing, agriculture, consulting, health and pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, defense and aerospace, and infrastructure.
The country with the largest number of FCPA violations is Nigeria, with the majority of bribery cases in the energy sector. Nigeria is followed by Argentina, China, Russia, Iran, and Iraq.
For the interactive map and links to documentation for every FCPA violation, please visit: The Mintz Group: Where the Bribes Are – Penalties in U.S. Government FCPA Cases Since 1977
Global Democracy Ranking released the Democracy Ranking for the year 2012, which shows the quality of democracy around the world.
Several indicators were used to calculate the Global Democracy Ranking. Those indicators were selected from a vast variety of dimensions such as politics, economy, environment, gender equality, education, health, and knowledge.
As seen in the map above, countries ranked at the top (dark green), those with the highest quality of democracy include Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland, and Austria. In contrast, we find countries where democracy is at serious risk or where it is no longer a viable system (brown). Among these countries we have Yemen, Syria, Libya, Togo, Guinea-Bissau, China, Pakistan, Egypt, Nigeria, and Haiti.
Source: Global Democracy Ranking: Democracy Ranking 2012
On average, U.S. mobile subscribers talk on the phone 356 minutes, or roughly 6 hours per month. That number is double that of the Turkey, and 4.5 times that of Germany. That estimate is the highest among selected OECD countries.
Canadians are not far behind. The outgoing traffic per mobile subscriber is an average 345 minutes (5 hours and 45 minutes) in a single month.
Source: Statista: Americans Talk on Their Mobile Phones More Than Anyone Else
This original visualization by Stanford Kay shows total carbon emissions by country. Using different colors to differentiate each region, the size of the circle depicts the carbon footprint of each country.
Countries with the largest carbon footprint include China, United States, Russia, India, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Australia, UK, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Taiwan, Ukraine, France, and Spain.
Latin American countries along with countries in the Middle East and Africa have the most restrictive abortion laws.
According to this map by the Center for Reproductive Rights, in countries like Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Oman, Egypt, Libya, Indonesia, etc. (shown in red) abortions are allowed in some cases only to save a woman’s life, or in most cases they are banned altogether.
In general, most developed nations have less restrictive abortion laws, although some 12 states in the U.S. have passed more restrictive laws banning abortion after 20 weeks of gestation.
An estimated 100 countries have signed bilateral extradition treaties with the United States, including all Latin American countries, Western European countries, Egypt, India, Australia, and New Zealand to name a few. Some 60 nations including China, Russia, several Middle Eastern and African countries have not. However, even if some countries signed extradition treaties they can still refuse to hand an individual over to the U.S. if that person is seeking asylum or if he/she would face the death penalty.
Source: The Economist: Daily Chart: Where can he go?
In light of the recent Supreme Court’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, we found this interesting visualization showing the global great divide among nations regarding the acceptance of homosexuality.
Countries where homosexuality is accepted include Spain (88%), Germany (87%), Czech Republic (80%) Canada (80%), Australia (79%), Philippines (73%), Argentina (74%), Italy (74%), Chile (68%), among others.
On the other side of the spectrum, there are countries where homosexuality is less acceptable, or not acceptable at all. Those countries include Nigeria (1%), Pakistan (2%), Tunisia (2%), Ghana (3%), Egypt (3%), Jordan (3%), Indonesia (3%), and Senegal (3%) to name a few.
Source: Pew Research Center: Global Acceptance of Homosexuality