I have just finished creating the millennium development goals section for 224 countries. Although this information is available elsewhere, what makes our release unique is that I have pre-computed for each indicator the percent change from one year to the next, and also the cumulative percent change since the first measurement. I will soon be adding graphs and the ability to compare countries. Stay tuned.

I’m currently working on adding United Nations Millennium Development Goals to country profiles. Check out an early beta for Bolivia.

One of the most interesting NASA projects is the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. SRTM obtained elevation data at a global scale at an unprecedented resolution. When I learned about it, the first thought that came to my mind was that it would make perfect sense to link elevation data with the database of populated places I built using NIMA and USGS data sources. The task proved very challenging, primarily due to the volume of data involved. The effort was worth it though, because now you can go to the populated places section and find the elevation, in meters and feet, of every single city, town, and village of our planet. Check my hometown, for instance. La Paz is at an altitude of 3782 meters (12408 feet) above sea level.

Up until now our currency exchange rate graphs could only show 30 days of data at a time. Using our new handy “days” URL parameter, you can now plot rates for 1 to 365 days. See for example a 30 day graph and a 60 day graph for the Euro to American dollar exchange rate.

We put our improved color maps to work in our brand-new lesson plans library. Learn how to use color to visualize differences between countries.

The most recent version of our color-coded maps allow you to focus on the continent of your choice. Check out the death rate for the African continent for example.

Stats for Mineral Commodities Production and Trade Statistics have been refreshed with mineral production data up to 2004.

Color-coded maps provide an easy way to visualize and compare the differences between countries. Our beta release has some rough edges, but it can already produce some very interesting maps. Take a map depicting birth rate for example. Click on the map to see a larger version and then notice how the countries in red have the highest birth rates (move your mouse over each country to see its name and birth rate).

I’m currently working on improving the charting features of IndexMundi. The first step I’ve taken is to refresh the data sources for rank and trend graphs so that 2005 data is plotted when available. A good example is Iraq’s death rate, which believe it or not has gone down from an estimated 5.66 deaths per 1000 inhabitants in 2004 to 5.49 deaths per thousand in 2005.

Keep an eye on this blog as I improve IndexMundi’s graphs. Your ideas are quite naturally welcome.

One of the frequent questions we get is about the accuracy of the data we extract from the CIA Factbook. Our standard answer is that CIA figures are close estimates, but that the definitive source of information should be each country’s statistics bureau. Take for example the population of France. The CIA estimate for 2005 is 60.7 million, whereas the French statistics bureau estimates that the total population of France is 62.4 million.

How accurate are other frequently cited sources? The most recent estimate of the World Bank is 60.0 million. The World Bank’s estimate is for 2004 though, so a direct comparison cannot be made. The United Nations provides a mid-2003 estimate of 59.8 million.

In conclusion, you should check multiple sources to get an understanding of the accuracy of any figure we present in IndexMundi. When in doubt, check the web site of each country’s bureau of statistics, which is conveniently listed in the related links section of each country’s main page.