2013

World Events

Population: 7,095,217,980

Nobel Peace Prize: The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for "its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons."

Failed States Index 2013

The top 20 most vulnerable countries in danger of collapse

The Fund for Peace has ranked troubled countries that are in danger of collapse. The countries are ranked according to 12 social, economic, political, and military indicators, including economic decline and inequality, demographic pressures, war, and corruption. A failed state is defined as "one in which the government does not have effective control of its territory, is not perceived as legitimate by a significant portion of its population, does not provide domestic security or basic public services to its citizens, and lacks a monopoly on the use of force." The index covers countries at risk, not countries that have already failed. Below are the top 20 most vulnerable countries.

The Most Corrupt Countries in the World

Somalia, North Korea, and Afghanistan are perceived to be the most corrupt

The Least Corrupt Countries in the World

Denmark, New Zealand, and Finland are considered the world's least corrupt countries

Most Populous Cities of the World

Shanghai tops the list with a population of nearly 18 million

Fifty Most Populous Countries

China ranks as #1 with a population of 1.3 billion

This table provides figures about the 50 most populous nations in the world. China is the most populous.

Rank

Country

Population

World

7,095,217,980

1.

China

1,349,585,838

2.

India

1,220,800,359

3.

United States

316,668,567

4.

Indonesia

251,160,124

5.

Brazil

201,009,622

6.

Pakistan

193,238,868

7.

Nigeria

174,507,539

8.

Bangladesh

163,654,860

9.

Russia

142,500,482

10.

Japan

127,253,075

11.

Mexico

116,220,947

12.

Philippines

105,720,644

13.

Ethiopia

93,877,025

14.

Vietnam

92,477,857

15.

Egypt

85,294,388

16.

Germany

81,147,265

17.

Turkey

80,694,485

18.

Iran

79,853,900

19.

Congo, Dem. Rep.

75,507,308

20.

Thailand

67,448,120

21.

France

65,951,611

22.

United Kingdom

63,395,574

23.

Italy

61,482,297

24.

Burma

55,167,330

25.

Korea, South

48,955,203

26.

South Africa

48,601,098

27.

Tanzania

48,261,942

28.

Spain

47,370,542

29.

Colombia

45,745,783

30.

Ukraine

44,573,205

31.

Kenya

44,037,656

32.

Argentina

42,610,981

33.

Poland

38,383,809

34.

Algeria

38,087,812

35.

Sudan

34,847,910

36.

Uganda

34,758,809

37.

Canada

34,568,211

38.

Morocco

32,649,130

39.

Iraq

31,858,481

40.

Afghanistan

31,108,077

41.

Nepal

30,430,267

42.

Peru

29,849,303

43.

Malaysia

29,628,392

44.

Uzbekistan

28,661,637

45.

Venezuela

28,459,085

46.

Saudi Arabia

26,939,583

47.

Yemen

25,408,288

48.

Ghana

25,199,609

49.

Korea, North

24,720,407

50.

Mozambique

24,096,669

Infant Mortality and Life Expectancy for Selected Countries, 2013

Infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

Country

Infant Mortality

Life Expectancy

Albania

15.1

77.2

Angola

178.1

38.5

Australia

4.7

81.7

Austria

4.4

79.6

Bangladesh

52.5

69.4

Brazil

21.8

72.2

Canada

5.0

81.3

Chile

7.5

77.5

China

16.5

74.5

Costa Rica

9.7

77.5

Cyprus

9.6

77.6

Czech Republic

3.8

77.0

Denmark

4.3

78.5

Ecuador

20.3

75.5

Egypt

26.2

72.4

Finland

3.4

79.1

France

3.3

81.0

Germany

4.0

79.4

Greece

5.1

79.8

Guatemala

26.9

70.6

Hungary

5.4

74.6

India

49.1

66.5

Iran

43.4

69.7

Ireland

3.9

80.0

Israel

4.2

80.8

Italy

5.4

80.3

Japan

2.8

82.1

Kenya

53.5

58.8

Korea, South

4.2

78.8

Mexico

17.8

76.2

Mozambique

103.8

41.3

New Zealand

4.8

80.5

Nigeria

92.9

47.2

Norway

3.5

80.0

Pakistan

65.3

65.6

Panama

11.9

77.6

Peru

27.7

71.0

Poland

6.6

75.8

Portugal

4.7

78.4

Russia

10.3

66.1

Slovakia

6.7

75.6

South Africa

43.8

49.2

Spain

3.4

81.0

Sri Lanka

18.1

75.3

Sweden

2.7

80.9

Switzerland

4.1

80.9

Syria

16.1

74.4

United Kingdom

4.7

79.9

United States

6.1

78.2

Venezuela

21.0

73.7

Zimbabwe

30.9

47.5

Profile of the World, 2013

Geography

• 
  
• Age: 4.55 billion years old.
• 
  
• Total area: 510.072 million sq km (196.940 million sq mi). Land area: 148.94 million sq km (57.506 million sq mi). Water area: 361.132 million sq km (139.434 million sq mi). Coastline: 356,000 km (221,208 mi). Note: 70.9% of the world is water, 29.1% is land.
• 
  
• Land boundaries: 251,060 km (156,262.58 mi.), not counting shared boundaries twice.
• 
  
• Climate: Two large areas of polar climates are separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates.
• 
  
• Terrain: Highest elevation is Mt. Everest at 8,850 m (29,035 ft) and lowest land depression is the Dead Sea at –411 m (–1,349 ft) below sea level. The greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at –10,924 m (–35,840 ft) in the Pacific Ocean.
• 
  
• Land use: Arable land: 10.43%. Permanent crops: 1.15%. Other: 88.42%(2011 est.). Irrigated land: 3,096,621.45 sq km.

People

• 
  
• Population: 7,095,217,980 (July 2013 est.).
• 
  
• Growth rate: 1.095% (2013 est.).
• 
  
• Birth rate: 18.9 births/1,000 population (2013 est.).
• 
  
• Death rate: 7.9 deaths/1,000 population (2013 est.).
• 
  
• Sex ratio (at birth): 1.07 males/females (2013 est.).
• 
  
• Infant mortality rate: 37.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2013 est.).
• 
  
• Life expectancy at birth: Total population: 68.09 years. Male: 66.09 years. Female: 70.24 years (2013 est.).
• 
  
• Total fertility rate: 2.45 children born per woman (2013 est.).
• 
  
• Literacy: Age 15 and over who can read and write (2010 est.). Total population: 84.1%. Male: 88.6%.
• 
  
• Female: 79.7%
• 
  
• NOTE: Almost three-quarters of the world's 775 million illiterate adults are found in only ten countries (in descending order: India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in South and West Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (2010 est.)

Government and Economy

• 
  
• Political divisions: 195 sovereign nations, 72 dependent areas, and 6 disputed territories.
• 
  
• Economy: In 2012, fiscal policy shifted towards greater austerity for a majority of the countries. In an attempt to attack their deficit and debt problems head-on, nearly 5 out of 6 countries slowed the rate of growth of government spending, and 1 in 3 countries actually lowered the level of their expenditures. The global growth rate for government expenditures dropped from 5.9% in 2010 and 10.1% in 2011, to just 1.4% in 2012. Roughly 1 out of 3 central banks tightened monetary policy, decelerating the rate of growth of their money supply, and about 1 out of 7 actually withdrew money from circulation. These policy choices significantly affected economic performance. The global budget deficit narrowed to roughly $2.7 trillion in 2012, or 3.8% of World GDP. But growth of the world economy slipped from 5.1% in 2010 and 3.7% in 2011, to just 3.1% in 2012. And world unemployment increased to 9.2%. Countries with expansionary fiscal and monetary policies achieved significantly higher rates of growth, lower unemployment, higher growth of tax revenues, and greater success reducing the public debt burden than those countries that chose contractionary policies. In 2012, the 85 countries that followed a pro-growth approach achieved a median GDP growth rate of 4.9%, compared to just 0.8% for the 37 countries with restrictive fiscal and monetary policies, a difference of more than 4 percentage points. Among the 85, China grew 7.8%, Indonesia 6.0%, Mexico 4.0%, Russia 3.4%, Turkey 3.0%, the United States 2.2%, and Canada 1.9%, while among the 37, Brazil grew 1.3%, Germany 0.7%, France 0.1%, Belgium -0.2%, Netherlands -0.5%, Spain -1.4%, and Italy -2.3%. The median unemployment rate for the 37 countries jumped to 11.5%, while the median for the pro-growth countries held steady at 7.3%.
• 
  
• GWP/PPP: $71.83 trillion (2012 est.).
• 
  
• GWP—real growth rate: 3% (2012 est.).
• 
  
• GWP/PPP—per capita: $12,700 (2012 est.).
• 
  
• GWP composition: agriculture 6%, industry 30.7%, services 63.4% (2012 est.).
• 
  
• Inflation rate (consumer price index): world average 4.1% (2012 est.); developed countries: 2.3%; developing countries: 5.1% (2012 est.).
• 
  
• Unemployment rate: 9% (2012 est.).
• 
  
• Exports: $18.26 trillion (2012 est.).
• 
  
• Imports: $17.84 trillion (2012 est.).
• 
  
• External debt: $72.85 trillion (2012 est.)

Comparative Country Statistics

Top 10 lists of country statistics on topics ranging from largest nations to lowest infant mortality rate

Largest Countries in the World

The top ten largest countries, in square kilometers, in 2013.

1.

Russia

17,098,242

2.

Canada

9,984,670

3.

United States

9,826,675

4.

China

9,596,961

5.

Brazil

8,514,877

6.

Australia

7,741,220

7.

India

3,287,263

8.

Argentina

2,780,400

9.

Kazakhstan

2,724,900

10.

Algeria

2,381,741

Smallest Countries in the World

The top ten smallest countries, in square kilometers, as of 2013.

1.

Vatican City

0

2.

Monaco

2

3.

Nauru

21

4.

Tuvalu

26

5.

San Marino

61

6.

Liechtenstein

160

7.

Saint Kitts and Nevis

261

8.

Maldives

298

9.

Malta

316

10.

Grenada

344

Highest Population Density

The top ten most densely populated countries, in square kilometers, in 2013.

1.

Macau

20,497

2.

Monaco

15,255

3.

Singapore

7,792

4.

Hong Kong

6,787

5.

Gaza Strip

4,750

6.

Gibraltar

4,466

7.

Holy See

1,900

8.

Bahrain

1,642

9.

Maldives

1,323

10.

Malta

1,296

Lowest Population Density

The top ten least densely populated countries, in square kilometers, in 2013.

1.

Greenland

0.03

2.

Svalbard

0.03

3.

Falkland Islands

0.26

4.

Pitcairn Islands

1.02

5.

Western Sahara

1.97

6.

Mongolia

2.05

7.

Namibia

2.63

8.

Australia

2.87

9.

Iceland

3.12

10.

Mauritania

3.26

Highest GDP Per Capita

The countries with the highest gross domestic product per capita in U.S. dollars, based on data available 2013.

1.

Qatar

100,900

2.

Liechtenstein

89,400

3.

Bermuda

86,000

4.

Macau

82,400

5.

Luxembourg

78,000

6.

Monaco

70,600

7.

Singapore

60,800

8.

Jersey

57,000

9.

Falkland Islands

55,400

10.

Norway

54,400

Lowest GDP Per Capita

The countries with the lowest gross domestic product per capita in U.S. dollars, based on most recent data available as of 2013.

1.

Kosovo

0

2.

San Marino

0

3.

Congo

400

4.

Zimbabwe

600

5.

Burundi

600

6.

Somalia

600

7.

Eritrea

700

8.

Liberia<

700

9.

Niger

800

10.

Malawi

800

Highest Inflation

The countries with the highest inflation as of 2012 data (the most recent figures available).

1.

South Sudan

79.0%

2.

Belarus

59.1

3.

Syria

37.0

4.

Sudan

31.9

5.

Iran

27.1

6.

Argentina

25.3

7.

Ethiopia

23.4

8.

Malawi

21.4

9.

Venezuela

21.1

10.

Burundi

18.0

Lowest Inflation

The countries with the lowest inflation as of 2012 (the most recent figures available).

1.

Northern Mariana Islands

–2.7%

2.

Georgia

-.90

3.

Switzerland

-.70

4.

Japan

.00

5.

Liechtenstein

.20

6.

Kiribati

.20

7.

Brunei

.50

8.

Niger

.50

9.

Aruba

.60

10.

Ukraine

.60

Highest Infant Mortality Rate

The countries with the highest infant mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 births) in 2013.

1.

Afghanistan

119.41

2.

Mali

106.49

3.

Somalia

101.91

4.

Central African Republic

95.04

5.

Guinea-Bissau

92.66

6.

Chad

91.94

7.

Niger

87.98

8.

Angola

81.75

9.

Burkina Faso

78.30

10.

Malawi

76.98

Lowest Infant Mortality Rate

The countries with the lowest infant mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 births) in 2013.

1.

Monaco

1.81

2.

Japan

2.17

3.

Bermuda

2.47

4.

Singapore

2.59

5.

Sweden

2.73

6.

Hong Kong

2.89

7.

Macau S.A.R.

3.15

8.

Iceland

3.17

9.

Italy

3.33

10.

France

3.34

Highest Life Expectancy, 2013

The countries with the highest life expectancy (in years).

1.

Monaco

89.63

2.

Macau

84.46

3.

Japan

84.19

4.

Singapore

84.07

5.

San Marino

83.12

6.

Andorra

82.58

7.

Guernsey

82.32

8.

Australia

82.28

9.

Hong Kong S.A.R.

82.20

10.

Australia

81.98

Lowest Life Expectancy, 2013

The countries with the lowest life expectancy (in years).

1.

Chad

49.07

2.

South Africa

49.48

3.

Guinea-Bissau

49.50

4.

Swaziland

50.01

5.

Afghanistan

50.11

6.

Central African Republic

50.90

7.

Somalia

51.19

8.

Zambia

51.51

9.

Namibia

52.03

10.

Gabon

52.15

Lowest Literacy Rates

The countries with the lowest literacy rate, defined as the ability to read and write at a specified age.

1.

Burkina Faso

21.8%

2.

Chad

25.7

3.

Afghanistan

28.1

4.

Niger

28.7

5.

Guinea

29.5

6.

Benin

34.7

7.

Sierra Leone

35.1

8.

Somalia

37.8

9.

Senegal

39.3

10.

Gambia

40.1

Estimated Cost, Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

The estimated cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will reach about $1.5 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2013.

The NSA, Edward Snowden, and Surveillance

Nelson Mandela Dies

Violent Protests in Egypt Lead to Ouster of Morsi and Crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood

New President of China Makes His Mark

Diplomacy Trumps Force Over Chemical Weapons in Syria

Iranian President Rouhani Engages West with a Charm Offensive

Negotiations Between Israelis and Palestinians Resume After Five-Years

Netanyahu Elected to Another Term in Israel

Nuclear Weapons Testing by North Korea Ratchets Up Tension with U.S., South Korea

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio Installed as Pope Francis I

Afghan President Karzai Refuses to Sign Security Agreement With U.S.

Concern Over Russia's Human Rights Record Clouds Upcoming Winter Olympics

Central African Republic Falls into a Civil War after Coup

Pakistan Elects a Prime Minister and President in 2013

Anti-government Protests in Thailand Prompt Prime Minister to Dissolve Parliament

Ukrainian President's Rejection of Trade Deal with European Union Sparks Massive Protests

Islamic Militants to Expand Their Control Over Mali

Presidential Election Largely Peaceful in Kenya

U.S. Events

U.S. Government Closes for Business

Troubled Debut of the Affordable Care Act

Detroit Files for Bankruptcy

The Rise of Wendy Davis

Breakthrough Year for Same-Sex Marriage

U.S. Economy in 2013

Gun Violence in 2013

Boston Marathon Tragedy

Whitey Bulger Trial

IRS Targets Tea Party

Verdict on George Zimmerman

Sequester 2013

The Future of Guantanamo Bay

Voting Rights After Shelby v Holder

The Trials of Bradley Manning

Senate Limits the Use of the Filibuster

Civil Rights Anniversaries

Holder Proposes Major Criminal Justice System Changes

Hagel Nomination Is Filibustered

Entertainment

Nobel Prize for Literature: Alice Munro (Canada) "master of the contemporary short story"

Grammy Awards

Album of the Year: Babel - Mumford & Sons

Record of the Year: Somebody that I Used to Know - Gotye Featuring Kimbra

New Artist: Fun.

Best Pop Solo Performance: "Set Fire To The Rain [Live]" - Adele

Song of the Year: "We Are Young" Fun. Featuring Janelle Monae

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Dan Auerbach

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Somebody that I Used to Know" - Gotye Featuring Kimbra

Pop Vocal Album: Stronger - Kelly Clarkson

Books

Fiction: The Good Lord Bird, James McBride (Riverhead Books/Penguin Group USA)

Nonfiction: The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), George Packer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Poetry: Incarnadine, Mary Szybist (Graywolf Press)

Young People's Literature: The Thing About Luck, Cynthia Kadohata (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster)

The Higgs Boson Particle

Unpredictable Weather

Russian Meteor Causes Shock, Awe, and Injury

Problem with Plan B

The Truth About Molly and Other Party Drugs

Science

Nobel Prizes in Science

Chemistry: Jointly to Martin Karplus (France and U.S.), Michael Levitt (U.S.), and Arieh Warshel (U.S.) for "the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems"

Physics: Jointly to François Englert ( Belgium) and Peter W. Higgs (UK) for "the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider"

Physiology or Medicine: Jointly to James E. Rothman (U.S.), Randy W. Schekman (U.S.), and Thomas C. Südhof (Germany) for "their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells"

Deaths

Conrad Bain, actor

Karen Black, actor

Lindy Boggs, politician

Dr. Joyce Brothers, psychologist, television personality

James McGill Buchanan, Nobel Prize-winning economist

Scott Carpenter, astronaut, oceanographer

Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela

Tom Clancy, writer

Jeanne Cooper, actor

Roger Ebert, film reviewer, TV personality

Thomas Foley, former Speaker of the House

Joan Fontaine, actor

Annette Funicello, actor

Bonnie Franklin, actor

James Gandolfini, actor

Richie Havens, musician

Julie Harris, actor

Oscar Hijuelos, writer

George Jones, country singer

Stanley Kauffmann, writer, film reviewer

Frank Raleigh Lautenberg, U.S. Senator

Elmore Leonard, writer

Doris Lessing, writer

Nelson Mandela, political leader

Richard Matheson, writer

Cory Monteith, actor

Peter O'Toole, actor

Patti Page, singer, entertainer

Ray Price, country singer, songwriter, musician

Phil Ramone, music producer

Lou Reed, rock musician

Dale Robertson, actor

William Warren Scranton, politician, Governor of Pennsylvania

Jean Stapleton, actor

Reeva Steenkamp, model, murder victim

Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Great Britain, 1979-90

Helen Thomas, White House correspondent

Abigail Van Buren, advice columnist

Paul Walker, actor

Esther Williams, swimmer, actor

Jonathan Winters, comedian, actor