Tag Archives: Italy

Hardworking People in the World

hardworking people in the world

In some countries people work really hard and in others they don’t. In the map above we can see that countries where people are the most hardworking (orange) include Mexico, South Korea, and Chile, while countries where people just take it easy (blue) include France, Germany, Italy, and Norway.

This map was elaborated for OECD countries only. To get this numbers the author took into consideration the average annual hours worked per person and the average age of retirement per worker for each OECD country.

Source: Business Insider: MAP: Here Are The Countries That Work Hard And The Ones Where They Like To Relax

 

Cannabis Consumption by Country

use of cannabis worldwideUruguay is on its way to legalize the production and consumption of cannabis, only waiting for the senate to pass the new bill. According to The Economist, more than 8% of Uruguay’s population ages 15 to 64 smoked cannabis in 2011, a higher percentage than in previous years.

Consumption of cannabis has also increased worldwide. Countries with the highest levels of consumption of cannabis in 2012, 10% or more of the population, include Italy, Nigeria, Australia, the United States, and Canada.

 

U.S. Mobile Phone Subscribers Talk the Most

americans and the mobile phoneOn average, U.S. mobile subscribers talk on the phone 356 minutes, or roughly 6 hours per month. That number is double that of the Turkey, and 4.5 times that of Germany. That estimate is the highest among selected OECD countries.

Canadians are not far behind. The outgoing traffic per mobile subscriber is an average 345 minutes (5 hours and 45 minutes) in a single month.

 Source: Statista: Americans Talk on Their Mobile Phones More Than Anyone Else

 

Wealth Comparison for the Years 1500 and 2015

wealth year 1500

wealth year 2015Comparing the levels of wealth per person for the years 1500 and 2015, as shown in these two maps, it is interesting to see how economic power has shifted from some nations to others.

Back in the 1500s, economic power was held by a majority of European nations leaded by Italy. China ranked number 23, India 53, and Japan 61. North America’s wealth was negligible compared to Europe’s, but the African region enjoyed more wealth than they do today.

A forecast for the year 2015 places Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore at the top in GDP per capita. Some European nations are still wealthy, such is the case of Malta, Luxembourg, Norway, and Ireland, but Italy is not in the lead anymore. Japan’s wealth per capita has increased, and so has the United States’, but the wealth of African countries has become the lowest worldwide.

Source: Global Finance: Wealth Distribution and Income Inequality by Country

 

Global Attitudes About the Economy

global attitudes about the economyA 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

 

Gasoline Prices in Europe by Country

According to Russian news agency Ria Novosti, Norway has the highest gasoline price among European countries, with a price of 1.90 Euro per liter ( or US $9.475 per gallon at the current exchange rate of 1 Euro = US $1.31). Norway is followed by Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, and Greece.

The lowest gasoline prices are found in Belarus and Kazakhstan, 0.68 Euros and 0.70 Euros per liter, respectively. The average gasoline price for European nations is 1.39 Euros per liter.

 

Number of Deaths in World War II

This visualization found in Wikimedia.org, shows World War II casualties per country by number and percentage of population, as well as the percentage of military and civilian deaths for the Allied and the Axis Powers.

The countries with the largest number of casualties were the Soviet Union, China, Germany, Poland, and Indonesia. As a percentage of the population, the nations with the  largest number of casualties were Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Germany, and the Soviet Union.

For the Allied forces, the heaviest casualties were inflicted on the civilian population, whereas the largest number of casualties for the Axis forces were inflicted on the military.

 

The Origins and Age of Popes

In the light of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation last week, The Guardian created different visualizations related to the papacy. The reign of each Pontiff is usually due to death. The last one to resign was Gregory XII in 1415.

According to the graph shown above, 65 is the most common age at which Popes are elected, and 78 is the most common age at which they die. The Guardian used a sample of 63 Popes out of 266 to compute these numbers.

Of all 266 Popes, 196 came from Italy (74%). The origin cannot be traced for 22 Popes (8%). 15 Popes came from France (6%), 11 from Greece (4%), 5 from Germany, 5 from Syria, 3 from Africa, 3 from Spain, 2 from Portugal, and 2 from the West Bank. Countries from which only one Pope came from include: Croatia, Israel, Netherlands, Poland, and the UK.

 

Pope Benedict XVI is on Twitter

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Pope Benedict XVI has Twitter presence beginning December, 2012. His English language account @Pontifex already has 1,342,380 followers from all around the world, and has sent 14 tweets. The Floating Sheep blog mapped followers of this account based on their location as of December 8, 2012. According to this map, the largest number of followers were located in Italy and Nicaragua, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Spain and Ireland among others.

 

Cocaine Consumption by Country

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Illicit drugs consumption seems to be relatively stable around the world, except in developing countries, where it seems to be on the rise. Although the total area for the cultivation of the coca leaf has decreased 33% since 2000, 18% decrease between 2007 and 2010, the number of deaths from heroin and cocaine abuse is estimated at 200 thousand per year.

This map shows cocaine consumption around the world, the richest countries being among the top consumers. Complete details can be found at: United Nations Office of Drug and Crime (UNODC) – World Drug Report 2012