Category Archives: Countries

Basic Salary of Lawmakers by Country

How much lawmakers are paid is a sensitive issue especially in times of economic austerity, or in countries where the majority of the population lives in extreme poverty conditions.

In this chart prepared by The Economist, we can see how much lawmakers are being paid in different countries across the globe in U.S. dollars (left), and as a ratio of the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (right).

In Nigeria, for example, lawmakers receive a basic salary of $189,000, 116 times the country’s GDP per capita. In Kenya a lawmaker makes a basic salary of $74,500, 76 times the country’s GDP per capita. Other countries were lawmakers receive the heftiest salaries include Ghana, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, Thailand, and India. It is worth pointing out that most of these countries are some of the poorest in the world.

In comparison, in the wealthiest nations a lawmaker’s salary as a ratio of GDP is much smaller. In Britain, that ratio is 2.7 of the GDP per capita.

The Failed States Index 2013

Fund For Peace just released the Failed State Index (FSI) 2013. The FSI measures the level of risk in each country using a series of risk indicators such as mounting demographic pressures, massive movement of refugees, uneven economic development, poverty, legitimacy of the state, progressive deterioration of human services, violation of human rights, violation of the rule of law, security apparatus, intervention of external actors, etc. The FSI is calculated for a total of 178 countries.

Nations ranking at the top for failed states (red) include Somalia, Congo, Sudan, and South Sudan. Unfortunately, most of the world’s nations seem to be under a warning (orange) for failed states, from Africa to Asia to Latin America.

For the complete list of countries, rankings and scores, please visit: Fund For Peace: Failed State Index (FSI) 2013

Violence Against Women by World Region

In this chart published by The Economist we look at two sets of data about violence against women.

The first one shows that more than a third (39%) of homicides of women around the world are committed by a previous or current partner. The numbers are specially shocking for South East Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar [Burma], Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore). The numbers are also high for Latin American and African countries.

The second set of data shows that 30% of women around the world have experienced physical or sexual violence during their lifetime by a former or current partner. The numbers are the highest for Central African countries (Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda), followed by countries in West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, etc.), South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), the Andean region of South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia), the Middle East, and North Africa.

Iconic Alcoholic Beverages by State

This map prepared by Thrillist shows each state in the U.S. according to their most famous beer or alcoholic beverage brand.

In that sense, California is most famous for Sierra Nevada, Texas for Shiner Rock, Colorado for Coors, Massachusetts for Samuel Adams, Tennessee for Jack Daniels, Missouri for Budweiser, West Virginia for moonshine, Pennsylvania for Yuengling, and Wisconsin for Miller.

Global Carbon Footprint by Country

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.

The World’s Abortion Laws by Country

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.

U.S. Abortion Laws by State

Most states (in orange) ban abortions during the last trimester of pregnancy when the fetus is already viable outside the womb.

However, since the state of Nebraska passed the most restrictive abortion law in a decade back in 2010 banning abortions after 20 weeks, 12 other states have passed similar laws as of March 2013. States that have passed even more restrictive abortion laws include North Dakota, that bans abortions afters 6 weeks of pregnancy, and Arkansas that bans abortions after 12 weeks.

For the interactive map, please visit: The Washington Post: The landscape of abortion bans, in one must-see map

The Effect of Immunizations on Infectious Diseases

Vaccinations have helped decrease the number of cases of infectious diseases in the last 110 years.

The bubble chart on the left shows the number of cases of infectious diseases in the United States in the 1900s. Even though diseases like measles, pertussis, mumps, and rubella that used to infect hundreds of thousands of people have not disappeared, nowadays they infect a much lower number of people thanks to the use of vaccines, as shown on the bubble chart on the right.

Source: Vaccines.com

Famous U.S. Brands by State

In this map published by The Atlantic we can see each state according to its most famous brand based on which state each company was founded.

In that regard, Texas is famous for Dr. Pepper, North Carolina for Bank of America, Seattle for Starbucks, California for Apple, Arkansas for Walmart, Georgia for Coca-Cola, Tennessee for FedEx, and Florida for Hooters.

Extradition Treaties of the U.S. with Other Countries

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?

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