Russia is the largest country in Europe, and also the largest in the world, its total size amounting to 17 million square kilometers (km2). It should be noted, however, that over three quarters of Russia is located in Asia, and the Ural mountains are often viewed as the meeting point of the two continents in Russia; nonetheless, European Russia is still significantly larger than any other European country. Ukraine, the second largest country on the continent, is only 603,000 km2, making it about 28 times smaller than its eastern neighbor, or seven times smaller than the European part of Russia. France is the third largest country in Europe, but the largest in the European Union. The Vatican City, often referred to as the Holy Sea, is both the smallest country in Europe and in the world, at just one km2. Population Russia is also the most populous country in Europe. It has around 144 million inhabitants across the country; in this case, around three quarters of the population live in the European part, which still gives it the largest population in Europe. Despite having the largest population, Russia is a very sparsely populated country due to its size and the harsh winters. Germany is the second most populous country in Europe, with 83 million inhabitants, while the Vatican has the smallest population. Worldwide, India and China are the most populous countries, with approximately 1.4 billion inhabitants each. Cities Moscow in Russia is ranked as the most populous city in Europe with around 13 million inhabitants, although figures vary, due to differences in the methodologies used by countries and sources. Some statistics include Istanbul in Turkey* as the largest city in Europe with its 15 million inhabitants, bit it has been excluded here as most of the country and parts of the city is located in Asia. Worldwide, Tokyo is the most populous city, with Jakarta the second largest and Delhi the third.

Named Landforms of the World (NLW) contains four sub-layers representing geomorphological landforms, provinces, divisions, and their respective cartographic boundaries. The latter is to support map making, while the first three represent basic units such landforms comprise provinces, and provinces comprise divisions. NLW is a substantial update to World Named Landforms in both compilation method and the attributes that describe each landform.For more details, please refer to our paper, Named Landforms of the World: A Geomorphological and Physiographic Compilation, in Annals of the American Assocation of Geographers.Landforms are commonly defined as natural features on the surface of the Earth. The National Geographic Society specifies terrain as the basis for landforms and lists four major types: mountains, hills, plateaus, and plains. Here, however, we define landforms in a richer way that includes properties relating to underlying geologic structure, erosional and depositional character, and tectonic setting and processes. These characteristics were asserted by Dr. Richard E. Murphy in 1968 in his map, titled Landforms of the World. We blended Murphy's definition for landforms with the work E.M. Bridges, who in his 1990 book, World Geomorphology, provided a globally consistent description of geomorphological divisions, provinces, and sections to give names to the landform regions of the world. AttributeDescription Bridges Full NameFull name from E.M. Bridges' 1990 "World Geomorphology" Division and if present province and section - intended for labeling print maps of small extents. Bridges DivisionGeomorphological Division as described in E.M. Bridges' 1990 "World Geomorphology" - All Landforms have a division assigned, i.e., no nulls. Bridges ProvinceGeomorphological Province as described in E.M. Bridges' 1990 "World Geomorphology" - Not all divisions are subdivided into provinces. Bridges SectionGeomorphological Section as described in E.M. Bridges' 1990 "World Geomorphology" - Not all provinces are subdivided into sections. StructureLandform Structure as described in Richard E. Murphy's 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Alpine Systems: Area of mountains formed by orogenic (collisions of tectonic plates) processes in the past 350 to 500 million years. - Caledonian/Hercynian Shield Remnants: Area of mountains formed by orogenic (collisions of tectonic plates) processes 350 to 500 million years ago. - Gondwana or Laurasian Shields: Area underlaid by mostly crystalline rock formations fromed one billion or more years ago and unbroken by tectonic processes. - Rifted Shield Areas: fractures or spreading along or adjacent to tectonic plate edges. - Isolated Volcanic Areas: volcanic activity occurring outside of Alpine Systems and Rifted Shields. - Sedimentary: Areas of deposition occurring within the past 2.5 million years Moist or DryLandform Erosional/Depositional variable as described in Richard E. Murphy's 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Moist: where annual aridity index is 1.0 or higher, which implies precipitation is absorbed or lost via runoff. - Dry: where annual aridity index is less than 1.0, which implies more precipitation evaporates before it can be absorbed or lost via runoff. TopographicLandform Topographic type variable as described in Richard E. Murphy's 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Karagulle et. al. 2017 - based on rich morphometric characteristics. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Plains: Areas with less than 90-meters of relief and slopes under 20%. - Hills: Areas with 90- to 300-meters of local relief. - Mountains: Areas with over 300-meters of relief - High Tablelands: Areas with over 300-meters of relief and 50% of highest elevation areas are of gentle slope. - Depressions or Basins: Areas of land surrounded land of higher elevation. Glaciation TypeLandform Erosional/Depositional variable as described in Richard E. Murphy's 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Values include: - Wisconsin/Wurm Glacial Extent: Areas of most recent glaciation which formed 115,000 years ago and ended 11,000 years ago. - Pre-Wisconsin/Wurm Glacial Extent: Areas subjected only to glaciation prior to 140,000 years ago. ContinentAssigned by Author during data compilation. Bridges Short NameThe name of the smallest of Division, Province, or Section containing this landform feature. Murphy Landform CodeCombination of Richard E. Murphy's 1968 "Landforms of the World" variables expressed as a 3- or 4- letter notation. Used to label medium scale maps. Area_GeoGeodesic area in km2. Primary PlateName of tectonic plate that either completely underlays this landform feature or underlays the largest portion of the landform's area. Secondary PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by two or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the second largest area. 3rd PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by three or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the third largest area. 4th PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by four or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the fourth largest area. 5th PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by five tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the fifth largest area. NotesContains standard text to convey additional tectonic process characteristics. Tectonic ProcessAssigns values of orogenic, rift zone, or above subducting plate.

These data are also available as an ArcGIS Pro Map Package: Named_Landforms_of_the_World_v2.0.mpkx.These data supersede the earlier v1.0: World Named Landforms.Change Log:

DateDescription of Change July 20, 2022Corrected spelling of Guiana from incorrect representation, "Guyana", used by Bridges. July 27, 2022Corrected Structure coded value domain value, changing "Caledonian/Hercynian Shield" to "Caledonian , Hercynian, or Appalachian Remnants".

Cite as:Frye, C., Sayre R., Pippi, M., Karagulle, Murphy, A., D. Soller, D.R., Gilbert, M., and Richards, J., 2022. Named Landforms of the World. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33178.93129. Accessed on:

Named Landforms of the World version 2 (NLWv2) contains four sub-layers representing geomorphological landforms, provinces, divisions, and their respective cartographic boundaries. The latter supports map making, while the first three represent basic units, such as landforms, which comprise provinces, and provinces comprise divisions. NLW is a substantial update to World Named Landforms in both compilation method and the attributes that describe each landform. For more details, please refer to our paper, Named Landforms of the World: A Geomorphological and Physiographic Compilation, in Annals of the American Association of Geographers. July 2, 2025: We have made Named Landforms of the World v3 (NLWv3) available. Please explore this group containing all of the layers and data. NLWv2 will remain available. Landforms are commonly defined as natural features on the surface of the Earth. The National Geographic Society specifies terrain as the basis for landforms and lists four major types: mountains, hills, plateaus, and plains. Here, however, we define landforms in a richer way that includes properties relating to underlying geologic structure, erosional and depositional character, and tectonic setting and processes. These characteristics were asserted by Dr. Richard E. Murphy in 1968 in his map, titled Landforms of the World. We blended Murphy"s definition for landforms with the work E.M. Bridges, who in his 1990 book, World Geomorphology, provided a globally consistent description of geomorphological divisions, provinces, and sections to give names to the landform regions of the world. AttributeDescriptionBridges Full NameFull name from E.M. Bridges" 1990 "World Geomorphology" Division and if present province and section - intended for labeling print maps of small extents. Bridges DivisionGeomorphological Division as described in E.M. Bridges" 1990 "World Geomorphology" - All Landforms have a division assigned, i.e., no nulls. Bridges ProvinceGeomorphological Province as described in E.M. Bridges" 1990 "World Geomorphology" - Not all divisions are subdivided into provinces. Bridges SectionGeomorphological Section as described in E.M. Bridges" 1990 "World Geomorphology" - Not all provinces are subdivided into sections.StructureLandform Structure as described in Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Alpine Systems: Area of mountains formed by orogenic (collisions of tectonic plates) processes in the past 350 to 500 million years. - Caledonian/Hercynian Shield Remnants: Area of mountains formed by orogenic (collisions of tectonic plates) processes 350 to 500 million years ago. - Gondwana or Laurasian Shields: Area underlaid by mostly crystalline rock formations fromed one billion or more years ago and unbroken by tectonic processes. - Rifted Shield Areas: fractures or spreading along or adjacent to tectonic plate edges. - Isolated Volcanic Areas: volcanic activity occurring outside of Alpine Systems and Rifted Shields. - Sedimentary: Areas of deposition occurring within the past 2.5 million years Moist or DryLandform Erosional/Depositional variable as described in Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Moist: where annual aridity index is 1.0 or higher, which implies precipitation is absorbed or lost via runoff. - Dry: where annual aridity index is less than 1.0, which implies more precipitation evaporates before it can be absorbed or lost via runoff. TopographicLandform Topographic type variable as described in Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Karagulle et. al. 2017 - based on rich morphometric characteristics. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Plains: Areas with less than 90-meters of relief and slopes under 20%. - Hills: Areas with 90- to 300-meters of local relief. - Mountains: Areas with over 300-meters of relief - High Tablelands: Areas with over 300-meters of relief and 50% of highest elevation areas are of gentle slope. - Depressions or Basins: Areas of land surrounded land of higher elevation. Glaciation TypeLandform Erosional/Depositional variable as described in Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Values include: - Wisconsin/Wurm Glacial Extent: Areas of most recent glaciation which formed 115,000 years ago and ended 11,000 years ago. - Pre-Wisconsin/Wurm Glacial Extent: Areas subjected only to glaciation prior to 140,000 years ago. ContinentAssigned by Author during data compilation. Bridges Short NameThe name of the smallest of Division, Province, or Section containing this landform feature. Murphy Landform CodeCombination of Richard E. Murphy"s 1968 "Landforms of the World" variables expressed as a 3- or 4- letter notation. Used to label medium scale maps. Area_GeoGeodesic area in km2. Primary PlateName of tectonic plate that either completely underlays this landform feature or underlays the largest portion of the landform"s area.Secondary PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by two or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the second largest area.3rd PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by three or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the third largest area.4th PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by four or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the fourth largest area.5th PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by five tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the fifth largest area.NotesContains standard text to convey additional tectonic process characteristics. Tectonic ProcessAssigns values of orogenic, rift zone, or above subducting plate. These data are also available as an ArcGIS Pro Map Package: Named_Landforms_of_the_World_v2.0.mpkx.These data supersede the earlier v1.0: World Named Landforms. Change Log:DateDescription of ChangeJuly 20, 2022Corrected spelling of Guiana from incorrect representation, "Guyana", used by Bridges.July 27, 2022Corrected Structure coded value domain value, changing "Caledonian/Hercynian Shield" to "Caledonian , Hercynian, or Appalachian Remnants". Cite as: Frye, C., Sayre R., Pippi, M., Karagulle, Murphy, A., D. Soller, D.R., Gilbert, M., and Richards, J., 2022. Named Landforms of the World. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33178.93129. Accessed on:

Canada had a relatively small area when created in 1867, but it then expanded greatly to become, by area, the second largest country in the world. This map is a composite of 18 Atlas maps which show territorial changes at specific times during the period 1867 to 1999. Not only did Canada as a whole expand over time, but also most of the provinces expanded their areas: only two provinces (New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) had their present boundaries as of Confederation (1867). The boundaries and names of the territories also changed over time; one of the three existing territories, Nunavut, was created as recently as 1999.

Ukraine's nickname, the breakbasket of Europe, is based on fact that it has produced and exported an abundant wheat crop to other countries and not just Europe. Lets investigate why the Ukaine is an important agriculture supplier and how the war will directly affect agriculture production as well as how it will affect global food supplies. Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe with a total area of approximately 233,100 square miles. The map shows the Crimia region as part of Ukraine, but it has been under the control of Russian since 2014. The estimated population was 47.2 million in 1917 with the largest city being Kyvi.

This map displays predominant religion by country and predominant religion family by region. Religion family categories shown include Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Other. Religion categories by country shown include Roman Catholic, Protestant, Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Orthodox Christianity, Folk Religion, Christianity Other, Hindu, Shi’a Islam, Unaffiliated, Uninhabited, and Other. First- and second-largest religion and percent of the population practicing each are shown for each country.The main source of data comes from the Association of Religion Data Archives - https://www.thearda.com/.

This map displays predominant religion by country and predominant religion family by region. Religion family categories shown include Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Other. Religion categories by country shown include Roman Catholic, Protestant, Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Orthodox Christianity, Folk Religion, Christianity Other, Hindu, Shi’a Islam, Unaffiliated, Uninhabited, and Other. First- and second-largest religion and percent of the population practicing each are shown for each country.The main source of data comes from the Association of Religion Data Archives - http://www.thearda.com/Archive/Files/Descriptions/WRDNATL.asp.

Named Landforms of the World (NLW) contains four sub-layers representing geomorphological landforms, provinces, divisions, and their respective cartographic boundaries. The latter is to support map making, while the first three represent basic units such landforms comprise provinces, and provinces comprise divisions. NLW is a substantial update to World Named Landforms in both compilation method and the attributes that describe each landform.For more details, please refer to our paper, Named Landforms of the World: A Geomorphological and Physiographic Compilation, in Annals of the American Assocation of Geographers.Landforms are commonly defined as natural features on the surface of the Earth. The National Geographic Society specifies terrain as the basis for landforms and lists four major types: mountains, hills, plateaus, and plains. Here, however, we define landforms in a richer way that includes properties relating to underlying geologic structure, erosional and depositional character, and tectonic setting and processes. These characteristics were asserted by Dr. Richard E. Murphy in 1968 in his map, titled Landforms of the World. We blended Murphy's definition for landforms with the work E.M. Bridges, who in his 1990 book, World Geomorphology, provided a globally consistent description of geomorphological divisions, provinces, and sections to give names to the landform regions of the world. AttributeDescription Bridges Full NameFull name from E.M. Bridges' 1990 "World Geomorphology" Division and if present province and section - intended for labeling print maps of small extents. Bridges DivisionGeomorphological Division as described in E.M. Bridges' 1990 "World Geomorphology" - All Landforms have a division assigned, i.e., no nulls. Bridges ProvinceGeomorphological Province as described in E.M. Bridges' 1990 "World Geomorphology" - Not all divisions are subdivided into provinces. Bridges SectionGeomorphological Section as described in E.M. Bridges' 1990 "World Geomorphology" - Not all provinces are subdivided into sections. StructureLandform Structure as described in Richard E. Murphy's 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Alpine Systems: Area of mountains formed by orogenic (collisions of tectonic plates) processes in the past 350 to 500 million years. - Caledonian/Hercynian Shield Remnants: Area of mountains formed by orogenic (collisions of tectonic plates) processes 350 to 500 million years ago. - Gondwana or Laurasian Shields: Area underlaid by mostly crystalline rock formations fromed one billion or more years ago and unbroken by tectonic processes. - Rifted Shield Areas: fractures or spreading along or adjacent to tectonic plate edges. - Isolated Volcanic Areas: volcanic activity occurring outside of Alpine Systems and Rifted Shields. - Sedimentary: Areas of deposition occurring within the past 2.5 million years Moist or DryLandform Erosional/Depositional variable as described in Richard E. Murphy's 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Moist: where annual aridity index is 1.0 or higher, which implies precipitation is absorbed or lost via runoff. - Dry: where annual aridity index is less than 1.0, which implies more precipitation evaporates before it can be absorbed or lost via runoff. TopographicLandform Topographic type variable as described in Richard E. Murphy's 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Karagulle et. al. 2017 - based on rich morphometric characteristics. Coded Value Domain. Values include: - Plains: Areas with less than 90-meters of relief and slopes under 20%. - Hills: Areas with 90- to 300-meters of local relief. - Mountains: Areas with over 300-meters of relief - High Tablelands: Areas with over 300-meters of relief and 50% of highest elevation areas are of gentle slope. - Depressions or Basins: Areas of land surrounded land of higher elevation. Glaciation TypeLandform Erosional/Depositional variable as described in Richard E. Murphy's 1968 "Landforms of the World" map. Values include: - Wisconsin/Wurm Glacial Extent: Areas of most recent glaciation which formed 115,000 years ago and ended 11,000 years ago. - Pre-Wisconsin/Wurm Glacial Extent: Areas subjected only to glaciation prior to 140,000 years ago. ContinentAssigned by Author during data compilation. Bridges Short NameThe name of the smallest of Division, Province, or Section containing this landform feature. Murphy Landform CodeCombination of Richard E. Murphy's 1968 "Landforms of the World" variables expressed as a 3- or 4- letter notation. Used to label medium scale maps. Area_GeoGeodesic area in km2. Primary PlateName of tectonic plate that either completely underlays this landform feature or underlays the largest portion of the landform's area. Secondary PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by two or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the second largest area. 3rd PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by three or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the third largest area. 4th PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by four or more tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the fourth largest area. 5th PlateWhen a landform is underlaid by five tectonic plates, this is the plate that underlays the fifth largest area. NotesContains standard text to convey additional tectonic process characteristics. Tectonic ProcessAssigns values of orogenic, rift zone, or above subducting plate.

These data are also available as an ArcGIS Pro Map Package: Named_Landforms_of_the_World_v2.0.mpkx.These data supersede the earlier v1.0: World Named Landforms.Change Log:

DateDescription of Change July 20, 2022Corrected spelling of Guiana from incorrect representation, "Guyana", used by Bridges. July 27, 2022Corrected Structure coded value domain value, changing "Caledonian/Hercynian Shield" to "Caledonian , Hercynian, or Appalachian Remnants".

Cite as:Frye, C., Sayre R., Pippi, M., Karagulle, Murphy, A., D. Soller, D.R., Gilbert, M., and Richards, J., 2022. Named Landforms of the World. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33178.93129. Accessed on:

China's reserves of rare earths amounted to an estimated ** million metric tons of rare earth oxide equivalent (REO) in 2024, thereby making it the world's leading country based on reserves of rare earths. Global snapshot of rare earth reserves According to estimates, the total worldwide reserves of rare earths amount to approximately ** million metric tons. Most of these reserves are located within China, estimated at some ** million metric tons. After China, the major rare earth countries based on reserve volume are Vietnam, Russia, and Brazil. The United States also has significant reserves, estimated to amount to *** million metric tons. The largest rare earth producers With an estimated ******* metric tons produced from mines in 2024, China was also the world's largest producer of rare earths that year. China produces most of its rare earths in the southeastern part of the country, such as in the provinces Jiangxi and Fujian, however production also occurs in other parts of the country such as Inner Mongolia and Sichuan. The second-largest producer of rare earths from mines is the United States, which extracted some ****** metric tons of rare earth mineral concentrates in 2024, as well as ***** metric tons of rare earth compounds and metals.

As of February 2025, India was the country with the largest YouTube audience by far, with approximately 491 million users engaging with the popular social video platform. The United States followed, with around 253 million YouTube viewers. Brazil came in third, with 144 million users watching content on YouTube. The United Kingdom saw around 54.8 million internet users engaging with the platform in the examined period. What country has the highest percentage of YouTube users? In July 2024, the United Arab Emirates was the country with the highest YouTube penetration worldwide, as around 94 percent of the country's digital population engaged with the service. In 2024, YouTube counted around 100 million paid subscribers for its YouTube Music and YouTube Premium services. YouTube mobile markets In 2024, YouTube was among the most popular social media platforms worldwide. In terms of revenues, the YouTube app generated approximately 28 million U.S. dollars in revenues in the United States in January 2024, as well as 19 million U.S. dollars in Japan.

As of February 2025, India had a total of 413.85 million Instagram users, the largest Instagram audience in the world. The United States had 171.7 million users, and Brazil had 140.7 million. Indonesia, Turkey, and Japan ranked in fourth, fifth and sixth position, respectively. Kazakhstan is the leading country for Instagram audience reach, with 86.2 percent of the population using the social media service. Turkey came in second, with a penetration rate of 85.5 percent and Uruguay ranked third, with 87.1 percent, followed closely by the UAE, Brazil, and Bahrain. It took Instagram 11.2 years to reach the milestone of 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, took 11 years, whilst Facebook took 13.3 years and YouTube took just over 14 years. Instagram’s demographics in the United States As of March 2025, Instagram was the fourth most visited social media service in the United States, after Facebook, Pinterest and X. Out of TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, TikTok was the most used of all three platforms by Generation Z. Overall, 57 percent of Gen Z social media users used Instagram in 2021, down from 61 percent in 2020 and 64 percent in 2019. Instagram finds most popularity with those in the 25 to 34 year age group, and as of January 2025, roughly 28.3 of all users in the United States belonged to this age group. The social media app was also more likely to be used by women. Most followed accounts on Instagram Instagram’s official account had the most followers as of April 2024 with over 672 million followers. Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) had over 628 million followers on the platform, while the Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi (@leomessi) had over 502 million followers. The Instagram accounts of the American singer and actress Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) and the media personality and makeup mogul Kylie Jenner (@kyliejenner) had over 400 million followers each.

Over 1.2 million refugees from Ukraine due to the Russian invasion fled to Germany as of April 2025. Furthermore, the second-highest number was recorded in Poland. In total, around 5.1 million Ukrainian refugees were registered across Europe and 5.6 million worldwide as of May 2025. Most of them fled the country by crossing the border with Poland. Ukrainian refugees in Germany The first increases in the number of Ukrainian refugees in Germany were registered in March and April 2022. The figure exceeded one million refugees in September of that year. Germany had the highest monthly financial allowance for Ukrainians who fled the war compared to other European countries as of June 2022. Temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees in the EU European Union (EU) members implemented the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD), which guaranteed access to accommodation, welfare, and healthcare to refugees from Ukraine. People fleeing the war had a right to a residence permit in the EU, enter the labor market, and enroll children in educational institutions. The protection is granted until March 4, 2026, but it can be extended in the future depending on the situation in the country.

As of February 2025, India was the country with the largest offline population worldwide. The South Asian country had over 651 million people without internet connection. China ranked second, with around 311.9 million people not connected to the internet. Despite these large shares of the disconnected population in these countries, China and India ranked first and second, respectively, as countries with the highest number of internet users worldwide. Internet access in Africa In 2023, Africa lagged behind other global regions regarding internet penetration rate, as only 37 percent of the continent’s population accessed the web. In contrast, around 91 percent of Europe’s population were internet users. This is heavily influenced by the infrastructure development in the region. However, some improvements are forecasted, as by 2028, the internet penetration rate in Africa will be at an estimated 48.15 percent. Global internet access challenges: disruptions and restrictions Government internet shutdowns around the world are another challenge for internet access. Between 2015 and the first half of 2023, 172 local internet connection disruptions occurred due to protests globally. Moreover, according to a 2023report on internet freedom, almost four out of ten global internet users were deprived of essential freedoms on online platforms. In 2023, 76 new restrictions on internet usage were implemented worldwide. Asia led in imposing these restrictions, accounting for approximately 55 cases across various countries in the region.

In the century between Napoleon's defeat and the outbreak of the First World War (known as the "Pax Britannica"), the British Empire grew to become the largest and most powerful empire in the world. At its peak in the 1910s and 1920s, it encompassed almost one quarter of both the world's population and its land surface, and was known as "the empire on which the sun never sets". The empire's influence could be felt across the globe, as Britain could use its position to affect trade and economies in all areas of the world, including many regions that were not part of the formal empire (for example, Britain was able to affect trading policy in China for over a century, due to its control of Hong Kong and the neighboring colonies of India and Burma). Some historians argue that because of its economic, military, political and cultural influence, nineteenth century Britain was the closest thing to a hegemonic superpower that the world ever had, and possibly ever will have. "Rule Britannia" Due to the technological and logistical restrictions of the past, we will never know the exact borders of the British Empire each year, nor the full extent of its power. However, by using historical sources in conjunction with modern political borders, we can gain new perspectives and insights on just how large and influential the British Empire actually was. If we transpose a map of all former British colonies, dominions, mandates, protectorates and territories, as well as secure territories of the East India Trading Company (EIC) (who acted as the precursor to the British Empire) onto a current map of the world, we can see that Britain had a significant presence in at least 94 present-day countries (approximately 48 percent). This included large territories such as Australia, the Indian subcontinent, most of North America and roughly one third of the African continent, as well as a strategic network of small enclaves (such as Gibraltar and Hong Kong) and islands around the globe that helped Britain to maintain and protect its trade routes. The sun sets... Although the data in this graph does not show the annual population or size of the British Empire, it does give some context to how Britain has impacted and controlled the development of the world over the past four centuries. From 1600 until 1920, Britain's Empire expanded from a small colony in Newfoundland, a failing conquest in Ireland, and early ventures by the EIC in India, to Britain having some level of formal control in almost half of all present-day countries. The English language is an official language in all inhabited continents, its political and bureaucratic systems are used all over the globe, and empirical expansion helped Christianity to become the most practiced major religion worldwide. In the second half of the twentieth century, imperial and colonial empires were eventually replaced by global enterprises. The United States and Soviet Union emerged from the Second World War as the new global superpowers, and the independence movements in longstanding colonies, particularly Britain, France and Portugal, gradually succeeded. The British Empire finally ended in 1997 when it seceded control of Hong Kong to China, after more than 150 years in charge. Today, the United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries, and it is responsible for three crown dependencies and fourteen overseas territories, although the legacy of the British Empire can still be seen, and it's impact will be felt for centuries to come.

Which county has the most Facebook users? There are more than 383 million Facebook users in India alone, making it the leading country in terms of Facebook audience size. To put this into context, if India’s Facebook audience were a country, then it would be ranked third in terms of largest population worldwide. Apart from India, there are several other markets with more than 100 million Facebook users each: The United States, Indonesia, and Brazil with 196.9 million, 122.3 million, and 111.65 million Facebook users respectively. Facebook – the most used social media Meta, the company that was previously called Facebook, owns four of the most popular social media platforms worldwide, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram. As of the third quarter of 2021, there were around 3.5 billion cumulative monthly users of the company’s products worldwide. With around 2.9 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most popular social media worldwide. With an audience of this scale, it is no surprise that the vast majority of Facebook’s revenue is generated through advertising. Facebook usage by device As of July 2021, it was found that 98.5 percent of active users accessed their Facebook account from mobile devices. In fact, almost 81.8 percent of Facebook audiences worldwide access the platform only via mobile phone. Facebook is not only available through mobile browser as the company has published several mobile apps for users to access their products and services. As of the third quarter 2021, the four core Meta products were leading the ranking of most downloaded mobile apps worldwide, with WhatsApp amassing approximately six billion downloads.

Based on a comparison of coronavirus deaths in 210 countries relative to their population, Peru had the most losses to COVID-19 up until July 13, 2022. As of the same date, the virus had infected over 557.8 million people worldwide, and the number of deaths had totaled more than 6.3 million. Note, however, that COVID-19 test rates can vary per country. Additionally, big differences show up between countries when combining the number of deaths against confirmed COVID-19 cases. The source seemingly does not differentiate between "the Wuhan strain" (2019-nCOV) of COVID-19, "the Kent mutation" (B.1.1.7) that appeared in the UK in late 2020, the 2021 Delta variant (B.1.617.2) from India or the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) from South Africa.

The difficulties of death figures

This table aims to provide a complete picture on the topic, but it very much relies on data that has become more difficult to compare. As the coronavirus pandemic developed across the world, countries already used different methods to count fatalities, and they sometimes changed them during the course of the pandemic. On April 16, for example, the Chinese city of Wuhan added a 50 percent increase in their death figures to account for community deaths. These deaths occurred outside of hospitals and went unaccounted for so far. The state of New York did something similar two days before, revising their figures with 3,700 new deaths as they started to include “assumed” coronavirus victims. The United Kingdom started counting deaths in care homes and private households on April 29, adjusting their number with about 5,000 new deaths (which were corrected lowered again by the same amount on August 18). This makes an already difficult comparison even more difficult. Belgium, for example, counts suspected coronavirus deaths in their figures, whereas other countries have not done that (yet). This means two things. First, it could have a big impact on both current as well as future figures. On April 16 already, UK health experts stated that if their numbers were corrected for community deaths like in Wuhan, the UK number would change from 205 to “above 300”. This is exactly what happened two weeks later. Second, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly which countries already have “revised” numbers (like Belgium, Wuhan or New York) and which ones do not. One work-around could be to look at (freely accessible) timelines that track the reported daily increase of deaths in certain countries. Several of these are available on our platform, such as for Belgium, Italy and Sweden. A sudden large increase might be an indicator that the domestic sources changed their methodology.

Where are these numbers coming from?

The numbers shown here were collected by Johns Hopkins University, a source that manually checks the data with domestic health authorities. For the majority of countries, this is from national authorities. In some cases, like China, the United States, Canada or Australia, city reports or other various state authorities were consulted. In this statistic, these separately reported numbers were put together. For more information or other freely accessible content, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

China has the greatest number of coal-fired power stations of any country or territory in the world. As of July 2024, there were 1,161 operational coal power plants on the Chinese Mainland. This was more than four times the number of such power stations in India, which ranked second. China accounts for over 50 percent of total global coal electricity generation. Coal phase-out worldwide Coal power plants present various health and environmental threats. Besides demanding large quantities of raw material to be burned, this energy source pollutes water and has high greenhouse gas emissions. Due to these reasons and to tackle the climate crisis, 40 countries committed to phase out their coal power plants at the COP26 summit in 2021. However, the three leading economies with the greatest number of operational coal-fired plants that year did not agree to the terms. In 2021, the global capacity of coal power plants in construction stood at 184.5 gigawatts with an additional 111.8 gigawatts announced. Carbon dioxide emissions China has been the largest coal polluter worldwide since 1990. In 2021, figures reached a record high of 7.96 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. That year, India had the second largest carbon dioxide emissions from coal use, followed by the United States. The U.S. was either the largest or second-largest polluter for 55 years, before being overtaken by India.

The world's population first reached one billion people in 1803, and reach eight billion in 2023, and will peak at almost 11 billion by the end of the century. Although it took thousands of years to reach one billion people, it did so at the beginning of a phenomenon known as the demographic transition; from this point onwards, population growth has skyrocketed, and since the 1960s the population has increased by one billion people every 12 to 15 years. The demographic transition sees a sharp drop in mortality due to factors such as vaccination, sanitation, and improved food supply; the population boom that follows is due to increased survival rates among children and higher life expectancy among the general population; and fertility then drops in response to this population growth. Regional differences The demographic transition is a global phenomenon, but it has taken place at different times across the world. The industrialized countries of Europe and North America were the first to go through this process, followed by some states in the Western Pacific. Latin America's population then began growing at the turn of the 20th century, but the most significant period of global population growth occurred as Asia progressed in the late-1900s. As of the early 21st century, almost two thirds of the world's population live in Asia, although this is set to change significantly in the coming decades. Future growth The growth of Africa's population, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, will have the largest impact on global demographics in this century. From 2000 to 2100, it is expected that Africa's population will have increased by a factor of almost five. It overtook Europe in size in the late 1990s, and overtook the Americas a decade later. In contrast to Africa, Europe's population is now in decline, as birth rates are consistently below death rates in many countries, especially in the south and east, resulting in natural population decline. Similarly, the population of the Americas and Asia are expected to go into decline in the second half of this century, and only Oceania's population will still be growing alongside Africa. By 2100, the world's population will have over three billion more than today, with the vast majority of this concentrated in Africa. Demographers predict that climate change is exacerbating many of the challenges that currently hinder progress in Africa, such as political and food instability; if Africa's transition is prolonged, then it may result in further population growth that would place a strain on the region's resources, however, curbing this growth earlier would alleviate some of the pressure created by climate change.

Remittances between the United States and Mexico were over twice as large in value as the second-biggest corridor, which was in Asia. This is according to a Statista ranking, using a table that tried to map out migrant remittance flows between individual countries. Multiple countries across the world received remittances worth more than three percent of their GDP in 2022. That said, it should be stressed that remittance figures are not without their flaws. First, the numbers shown here are based on migrant stock. This is a difficult topic to track for certain countries, but also potentially excludes other types of remittances - such as pensions or illegal remittances. Two, the figures essentially assume that every migrant will send the difference of per capita income in PPP terms back home to the country of origin. The source acknowledges this is a rough proxy, potentially leading to over- or undervaluing any estimates.

In 2023, almost nine million people lived in Greater London, making it the most populated ceremonial county in England. The West Midlands Metropolitan County, which contains the large city of Birmingham, was the second-largest county at 2.98 million inhabitants, followed by Greater Manchester and then West Yorkshire with populations of 2.95 million and 2.4 million, respectively. Kent, Essex, and Hampshire were the three next-largest counties in terms of population, each with around 1.89 million people. A patchwork of regions England is just one of the four countries that compose the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with England, Scotland and Wales making up Great Britain. England is therefore not to be confused with Great Britain or the United Kingdom as a whole. Within England, the next subdivisions are the nine regions of England, containing various smaller units such as unitary authorities, metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan districts. The counties in this statistic, however, are based on the ceremonial counties of England as defined by the Lieutenancies Act of 1997. Regions of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland Like England, the other countries of the United Kingdom have their own regional subdivisions, although with some different terminology. Scotland’s subdivisions are council areas, while Wales has unitary authorities, and Northern Ireland has local government districts. As of 2022, the most-populated Scottish council area was Glasgow City, with over 622,000 inhabitants. In Wales, Cardiff had the largest population among its unitary authorities, and in Northern Ireland, Belfast was the local government area with the most people living there.