Category Archives: United Kingdom

Ways of Transportation in Six Selected Cities

Interesting transportation patterns emerged from the 2012 LSE Cities conference, which focused in the way cities across the globe adjust to technological innovation and environmental changes.

The graph above displays transportation patterns for six selected cities: Bogota, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, London, New York, and Stockholm. Of the six selected cities, Hong Kong is where walking and biking are the most common ways of transportation, a good 44.7%, and where cars and other private motorized vehicles are used the least (7.2%). Copenhagen and London, are the cities where the most common way of transportation are cars and other private motorized vehicles (39.9% and 39.8% percent respectively). New York city and Bogota are the cities where public transportation is most commonly used (57.9% and 56% respectively). In Stockholm, all three ways of transportation (walking/biking, private cars, and public transportation) are used almost in similar proportion.

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The Presence of McDonald’s Across the World

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One of the companies that symbolizes the dominance of US. corporations across the world is McDonald’s. McDonald’s is the second largest fast food chain in the world, according to a Nasdaq report for 2011, with more than 33,510 restaurants in 119 countries spread across all five continents.

The U.S. has the largest number of McDonald’s restaurants (13,381), followed by Japan (3,598), Canada (1,400), Germany (1,276), UK (1,250), and China (660).

The price of a McDonald’s burger is different in each country. According to the graph above, the most expensive ones can be found in Norway ($7.18), Denmark ($5.93), Iceland ($5.21), and in the Eurozone ($4.96). By comparison, the price of a McDonald’s burger in the U.S. is $3.57. These prices have been calculated using the Big Mac index published by The Economist, in order to measure the Purchasing Price Parity (PPP) between two currencies.

Resources:

  1. American Icons Temple: A Market-Dominant Minority that is McDonald’s
  2. Nasdaq: Subway tops McDonald’s for number of stores in world
  3. United States Securities and Exchange Commission – Form 10-K: McDonald’s Corporation
  4. The Economist: Big Mac Index

 

Food Exports and Imports Worldwide

Some countries are net exporters of food (their food exports are larger than their food imports) while others are net importers of food (their food imports are larger than their food exports).

Among the net exporters of food we find the majority of South American countries, with the exception of Venezuela and Suriname, the United States, Canada, Mauritania, Indonesia, Australia, and a few African countries such as Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Ghana. The largest net exporter of food, by far, is Argentina with $23.42 of food exports per every $1.00 of food imports. Argentina is followed by Brazil, New Zealand, Paraguay and Iceland.

Among the net importers of food we find countries such as Russia, Finland, Sweden, the UK, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Sudan, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Japan, etc. The largest net food importer is Eritrea, with $0.01 of food exports per every $1.00 of food imports. Eritrea is closely followed by Venezuela, Turkmenistan, and Algeria.

Data for for both agricultural exports and imports are for 2010.

Source: Slate.com: Maps: Agriculture in the U.S. and Around the World

 

Women in Front-Line Combat Roles Worldwide

Women are not allowed to take part in front-line combat roles in most nations. According to the map shown above, published by the Washington Post, front-line combat positions for women are permitted mostly in western nations.

Countries that formally allow women in combat positions (red) include: Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Eritrea, Israel, North Korea, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, where the ban on women in front-line combat has been recently lifted.

Countries where women are formally allowed in other major combat roles (orange), such as artillery and fighter pilots, include: the United Kingdom, Serbia, South Africa, Pakistan and South Korea.

 

The Global Public Debt Clock is Ticking

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Global public debt is increasing every second. This debt clock shows government debt, in dollar terms, for almost all countries. Governments with the highest debt include the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, India, China, and several western European nations.

Additional indicators such as public debt per person, public debt as percentage of GDP, total annual debt change, and country debt comparisons can be seen in the interactive map at: The Economist: The global debt clock

 

United Kingdom Facts

United Kingdom Facts

We just launched a new section with facts about the United Kingdom, its countries, and regions. We started with basic population indicators; we’ll be adding additional indicators over the coming weeks. Click on the following links to explore the thematic maps, ranking charts, and data tables we have so far: