Category Archives: World

Cervical Cancer and the HPV Vaccine in Developing Countries

An estimated 275,000 women die of cervical cancer every year, with the majority of these deaths occurring in developing nations. Those deaths could be easily avoided by vaccinating women with the HPV vaccine.

Due to the high cost of the HPV vaccine, $100 per dose in developed nations, many women and girls in poor countries did not have access to it. Thanks to the GAVI Alliance, a partnership funded by governments as well as by corporate and private partners, this vaccine will be available in developing nations at a cost of $4.50 per dose. African countries soon beginning vaccination include Kenya, Ghana, Lao PDR, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania.

Source: GAVI Alliance: Millions of girls in developing countries to be protected against cervical cancer thanks to new HPV vaccine deals

Millennium Development Goals Progress Index for 2013

Based on the data published by The Guardian, we have created this map that shows the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Progress Index for 2013.

The top countries that have accelerated their progress in meeting the MDGs in 2013 compared to 2012 include Nigeria, Turkey, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Paraguay, and Panama.

On the other side of the spectrum, the top countries that have slowed down their progress to meet the MDG’s in 2012 compared to 2012 include Nigeria, Jordan, and Kyrgyzstan.

World Production of Rare Earth Metals

Rare earth metals or rare earth elements are a collection of seventeen chemical elements located at the bottom of the periodic table. They are key elements in the manufacture of high technology components, hybrid cars, solar panels, lasers, electronics, etc.

As of 2010, China produced 97% of the total world production of rare earths, or 130,000 metric tons, followed by India (2%), Brazil (0.42%), and Malaysia (0.27%).

The estimated demand for rare earths for 2015 will increase 54% compared to the demand in 2010.

Source: GOOD: Infographic: The Future Global Supply of Rare Earth Elements

Global Attitudes About the Economy

A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 39 nations, regarding attitudes about the state of the economy in the respondents’ respective countries, yielded interesting results.

Respondents in emerging economies are the most optimistic. A median of 53% believe their economy is doing well, specially in China and Malaysia. In contrast, respondents in developed economies are the most pessimistic. A median of only 24% say their economy is doing well. European nations such as Greece, Italy, Spain, and France are the most pessimistic of all.

In the case of developing economies, some are somewhat optimistic (Philippines and Bolivia), and other not so much (Tunisia and Lebanon).

Source: Pew Research Global Attitudes Project: Widespread Dissatisfaction with Economy

Read full report: Pew Research Global Attitudes Project: Economies of Emerging Markets Better Rated During Difficult Times

The Most and Least Racially Tolerant Countries

A survey conducted by two Swedish economists asked respondents in 80 countries what kind of people they would not like as neighbors, to which many replied “people of a different race”.

The results from that survey are displayed in this map published by the Washington Post. According to the survey, people in English-speaking, Scandinavian, and Latin American countries are the most racially tolerant, with the exception of Venezuela. South Africa shows to be a tolerant country, while the attitudes in Europe show a lot of variation. People in countries such as France, Turkey, India, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Nigeria, South Korea, and Indonesia are the least racially tolerant.

Key Commodities and Emerging Markets

Commodities are raw materials essential for the production of more complex products. Commodities fall into three large categories: agricultural, energy, and metals.

According to this visualization, emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India Indonesia, China, South Africa, etc.) have the largest reserves of certain key energy and metal commodities such as oil, coal, copper, cobalt, iron ore, molybdenum, nickel, zinc, and aluminum.

Source: Business Insider: 36 Maps That Explain The Entire World

The 50 Largest Ports in the World

Every day finished goods and commodities are transported by sea in shipping containers from one port to another across the globe. Standard shipping containers measure 20 feet long by eight feet wide, hence they receive the name of “Twenty-foot Equivalent Units” or TEUs.

The largest port in the world is in Shanghai (China) which saw a volume of 31.74 million TEUs of cargo freight passing through its port in 2011. Shanghai is followed by Singapore (Singapore) which saw a volume of 29.94 million TEUs passing through its port for the same year. Singapore is followed by Hong Kong, Shenzhen (China), Busan (South Korea), Ningbo, Guangzhou, and Qingdao (China), Dubai Ports (United Arab Emirates), and Rotterdam (Netherlands), all in the top ten.

For the interactive map, that allows you to explore each one of the largest 50 ports in the world, visit: The Smithsonian: Interactive: The 50 Largest Ports in the World

Percentage of the Population Living on $2 or Less a Day

MIT economists Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, conducted surveys in developing nations to see which countries survive on a few dollars per day. The cities or countries where people are known to live on meager dollar amounts on a daily bases are not that surprising, but the percentage of the population living under these conditions is.

In Udaipur and Hyderabad (India) a staggering 94% of the population survive on $2 or less per day. In Bangladesh, 69.4% go on $2 or less per day. In Ghana, 67.7% survive on $2 or less per day. In Guatemala, 64.8% of the population survive on $2 or less per day.

Source: GOOD: Living on Less

The World’s Largest Oil Reserves by Country

Oil reserves are the amount of oil that can be technically and economically recovered from the ground.

Nations with the world’s largest oil reserves include Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, and Libya. Saudi Arabia, holds an approximate 234.5 billion barrels of oil reserves, and it has the largest market share for oil production after Russia. Saudi Arabia is followed by Venezuela, with an estimated 211.0 billion barrels of oil reserves, although its current oil production market share is only 3.2%.

By comparison, the United States has an estimated 30.9 billion barrels in oil reserves, and 8.7% market share in oil production.

Source: Spiegel Online: A World without Oil: Companies Prepare for a Fossil-Free Future

Drought Severity by Country (1901 – 2008)

This map shows drought severity, measured as the product of the average length of a drought occurrence and how dry it was the drought. This visualization is based on data collected for the period between 1901 and 2008.

The red areas in the map show the regions most severely affected by droughts. The northern region of the African continent stands out as the largest area being affected by severe droughts. Southwestern Africa (Namibia and Botswana) has also been severely affected by droughts in the same period.

Some areas in the Andean region in South America (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina) have also suffered the effects of severe droughts during the past century.

Parts of Australia and Russia have also been affected by extreme drought conditions.

Sources:

IndexMundi Blog

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