Tag Archives: China

Things Each Country Leads the World In

Each country leads the world in different things, from good to bad things to awkward ones.

According to the map above, France leads the world in tourism, India in making movies, Saudi Arabia in oil reserves, the United States in producing Nobel laureates, Greece in olive oil consumption, Switzerland in the rate of employment, Norway in democracy, Brazil in FIFA world cup titles, and Costa Rica in happiness, to name a few.

Other countries lead in not so positive things. For example, Russia leads in the number of nuclear warheads, China in carbon emissions, Afghanistan in opium production, North Korea in censorship, and Yemen in gender inequality.

Among the awkward we find Venezuela leading in the number of miss universe titles, Argentina in exporting soccer players, Netherlands in the tallest people, Iran in the highest brain drain, Sweden in atheism, and Mexico in lightning strikes.

Source: Policy Mic: This Map Shows the Weird Things Each Country Leads the World In

The Global Slavery Index 2013

Slavery still exists in many parts of the world, whether it be in the form of forced labor, forced domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, debt bondage, bonded labor, or child marriage.

The Global Slavery Index provides insight into the number of people enslaved in 162 countries. The index takes into account three indicators: the prevalence of slavery per population, child marriage, and human trafficking.

India is a the top of the list with the largest absolute number of enslaved people, an estimated 14 million. China comes in second place with an estimated 2 million people enslaved. Pakistan is in third place with an estimated 2.1 million people in slavery. These countries are followed by Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, Thailand, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Put together, these countries account for 76% of the total enslaved people, or 29.8 million people, in the 162 countries that make up this ranking.

Source: Walk Free Foundation: The Global Slavery Index 2013

Internet Population and Penetration by Country

An estimated one third of the world population is connected to the internet while the remaining two thirds do not have have access to it yet, according to the website Information Geographies.

As shown in the map above, the distortion in the size of China points out the fact that it is the country with the largest number of internet users, roughly 500 million people. China is followed by the United States, India, and Japan, among others.

Countries with the largest internet penetration, the percentage of the population of each country connected to the internet, include Canada, Great Britain, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, South Korea, Germany, Finland, Qatar, and New Zealand.

Source: Information Geographies: Internet Population and Penetration

Most Visited Website per Country

Google, Facebook, and Chinese search engine Baidu are the top three most visited websites in the world.

Using freely available website traffic statistics from Alexa, the authors of the map above found that most people in North America, Europe, South East Asia, and Oceania prefer Google. Due to the large number of Internet users in China and South Korea combined, an estimated one billion users, Baidu is the most visited website behind Google. Facebook comes in third with an estimated 280 million users spread from Latin America to the Middle East.

Source: Information Geographies: Age of Internet Empires

The Higher Cost of Higher Education

Studying abroad can be very expensive, specially if you are looking at universities in Australia or the United States.

The average cost of higher education for international students is very high in Australia, where a student is expected to pay a total of $38,516 in annual fees and cost of living. Australia is followed by the U.S. where the average cost of one year of higher education is estimated at $35,705. Other countries with a steep tab on higher education include the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

On the other hand, more affordable higher education can be found in Germany, where the average cost of one year of college annual fees plus cost of living is estimated at $6,285. Other countries with affordable higher education include Spain, Taiwan, China, and Russia.

Source: International Business Times- International Students: Higher Education Is Really Inexpensive In Germany, But Not In The US [CHARTS]

Minutes of Minimum-Wage Work to Buy a Big Mac Burger

Using the criteria of the Big Mac Index developed by The Economist in 1986 as a way to measure if currencies are valued at the right level, the International Business Times created this visualization showing how many minutes a minimum-wage worker needs to work in order to buy a Big Mac burger.

As it turns out, a minimum-wage worker in Afghanistan needs to work 372 minutes (6.2 hours) in order to buy a Big Mac burger. In contrast, a minimum-wage worker in Australia needs to work only 18 minutes to buy a Big Mac burger.

Source: International Business Times: Minutes Of Minimum-Wage Work To Buy A Big Mac: 36 minutes in the US, 6 hours in Afghanistan

The Most and Least Ethnically Diverse Countries

Using data from the Harvard Institute for Economic Research, The Washington Post created this map that shows how ethnically diverse is a country.

Dark green countries are the more ethnically diverse. Such is the case of Canada, Mexico, several South American countries, including Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. The most ethnically diverse countries are located in Africa. In contrast, dark orange countries are more ethnically homogenous. That is the case of most European nations, China, Japan, South and North Korea, and Australia.

China at the Top of Renewable Energy Investment

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

Bribes Around the World

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

Oil Production and Consumption by Country

When it comes to oil production and consumption, countries have a very close relationship of interdependence with each other. Some countries consume more oil than what they produce relying on imports to satisfy their internal demand. Others, consume less than what they produce, being able to export oil to nations that need it.

Oil consumption (yellow) for the United States, for example, was larger than its production (grey) for 2012, 18.55 mb/d (million barrels per day) compared to 8.9 mb/d, importing more than double its production to satisfy the gap in internal demand. Other nations with oil consumption higher that oil production include China, Brazil, Australia, India, UK, and Indonesia.

In contrast, oil consumption for Saudi Arabia for 2012 is estimated at 2.94 mb/d, while its production reached 11.53 md/d, exporting its oil surplus to the rest of the world. Other nations whose oil production exceeds its oil consumption include Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Norway, Russia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.

Source: Winston Smith Labs: Global Oil Production and Consumption since 1965 [Interactive Map/Graph]

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