The “world island” with 3,000+ cities (Dymaxion projection). Click to enlarge.
The world seen as a country in an almanac, using the latest figures (m = million; BA = Black America; $ = U.S. dollars in 2012 = grams of silver):
- Population: 7,095m (2013), growing at 1.1% (USA 317m at 0.9%)
Major cities:
- Tokyo: 37m
- Delhi: 22m
- Sao Paulo: 20m
- Mumbai: 20m
- Mexico City: 20m
- New York: 19m
- Area: 148.9 million sq km (land) (USA 9.2)
- arable: 10.4% (USA 16.3%)
- Language: (all speakers, native speakers)
- English (23%, 5%) *
- Chinese (16%, 12%) *
- Hindi/Urdu (9%, 3%)
- Arabic (8%, 3%) *
- Spanish (6%, 5%) *
- Russian (4%, 2%) *
- Bengali (4%, 3%)
- Portuguese (3%, 3%)
- French (3%, 1%) *
- other (~49%, 59%)
- * official UN language
Religion:
- Fertility rate: 2.45 children/woman (USA 2.06, BA 2.10)
- Life expectancy: 68.1 years (USA 78.6, BA 72.8)
- Infant mortality: 37.6 deaths/1,000 live births (USA 5.9, BA 13.4)
- Literacy: 84% (USA 99%)
- GDP: $85.0 trillion (2012 est., PPP), growing at 3.0% (USA 15.9 at 2.2%)
- GDP per capita: $12,700 (2012 est.) (USA $50,700)
- As % of GDP (2012 est.):
- Taxes: 28.9% (USA: 15.6%)
- Defence spending: 2.1% (USA 4.6%)
- Public debt: 64.5% of GDP (USA 72.5%)
- Unemployment: 9.0% (2012 est.) (USA 8.1%, BA 14.4%)
- Inflation: 4.1% (2012 est.) (USA 2.1%)
- Income inequality (GINI): 39 (2007 est.) (USA 45)
- Household income: (2007 est.)
- lowest 10%: 2.8% (USA 2.0%)
- highest 10%: 28.2% (USA 30.0%)
- Homicide rate: 6.9 per 100,000 population (USA 4.7, BA 17.1)
- Incarceration rate: 140 per 100,000 (USA 716, BA 2,304)
- Government: warlordism. Five warring states have nuclear weapons and a million men or more on active military duty:
China (2.3m)
USA (1.4m)
India (1.3m)
North Korea (1.1m)
Russia (1.0m)
Other nuclear-armed states: Britain, France, Israel, Pakistan.
- History: stuff that affects > 100m or kills > 10m (those in red kill about 10% or more of the human race):
- -500s: world population hits 100 million. Bible, Buddha
- -400s: Bhagavad Gita
- -475 to -221: Era of Warring States: 10m die
- -300s:
- -200s:
- -100s:
- -000s:
000s: Christ, compass
- 9-24: Red Eyebrows Rebellion: 10m die
- 100s:
- 200s:
- 300s: Constantine, Arabic
- 400s: English
- 500s: Justinian
- 514-542: plague – Plague of Justinian: 25m die
600s: Muhammad, Koran, Karbala- 700s:
- 755-763: An Lushan Rebellion: 13m
- 800s: French
- 900s: Swahili, Spanish, Hindi/Urdu, Bengali
- 1000s: The Great Schism, movable type, gunpowder
1100s: Northern Song dynasty, Genghis Khan- 1200s: Portuguese, Mongol Empire;
- 1206-1324: Mongol conquests: 45m die
- 1300s:
- 1338-1351: Black Death: 100m die, well over 10% of the human race. The deadliest event in recorded history.
- 1370-1405: Tamerlane: 14m die
1400s: European expansion, Columbus
- 1451-1870: European slave trade: 17m die
- 1492-1900: European colonization of the Americas: 51m die
- 1500s: African diaspora, Protestantism, Potosí
- 1600s: Qing dynasty
- 1600-1900: Caribbean slavery: 10m die
- 1616-1662: Qing dynasty conquest: 25m die
1700s: Mogul Empire, Dream of the Red Chamber, metric system
- 1783-1784: Chalisa famine: 11m die
- 1794-1804: White Lotus Rebellion: 16m die
- 1800s: British Empire, Tsarist Russia, Marx, Dickens, germ theory, Scramble for Africa, soccer, cricket, Olympics
- 1810-1849: Four famines in China: 45m die
- 1850-1864: Taiping Rebellion: 20m die
- 1862-1877: Dungan revolt: 10m die
1900s: Lenin, USSR, Stalin, USA, cars, electricity, telephones, film, Hollywood, Le Petit Prince, French Empire, Japanese Empire, television, Agatha Christie, Tolkien, atom bomb, computers, Mao, Cold War, Moon landing, urbanization, Internet
- 1914-1918: First World War: 23m die
- 1917-1987: Communist rule in the Soviet Union: 62m die
- 1918-1920: 1918 flu pandemic: 75m die of swine flu
- 1926-1949: KMT rule in China: 10m die
- 1937-1945: Second Sino-Japanese War: 27m die
- 1939-1945: Second World War: 73m die
- 1941-1945: Holocaust: 11m die
- 1959-1961: Great Chinese Famine: 29m die
- 1981- : HIV/AIDS pandemic: 34m+ die
- (Note that death tolls are middle values. There might be some overlap between events.)
- 2000s: Google, YouTube, Facebook, Eurovision, global warming – climate change
Sources: CIA Factbook (2013), Indie Maps, the Wikipedia (2013) for most megadeath events, various posts of mine: At least 100 million, Top languages, If Black America were a country, democide.
– Abagond, 2013.
See also:
Abagond 
The literacy rate in the U.S is really 99%?
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@ Abagond
I have looking at this fascinating map and the break-downs for at least 20 minutes, but I not sure what this overview of the world is based on, as it’s not clear how the figures were arrived at.
I am asking myself what has been excluded and taken for granted as irrelevant information to “the world”.
For instance, there’s mention of fertility, infant mortality and life expectancy, but no mention of maternal mortality. The death of women and girls during and just after pregnancy is the leading cause of death worldwide.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/32021.php
*
The commenter DeepFried_BlackmansHolyGrail above mentions literacy.
I agree with him that the literacy figure seems higher than expected.
Does the figure given refer to literacy among males?
I ask because two-thirds of the world’s illiterate people are women and girls. If the figure given has been “rounded off” to show literacy in general, then it succeeds in hiding that.
According to the people who do studies on literacy:
http://www.munfw.org/archive/50th/csw1.htm
*
Also, I am not sure what is the definition of “literacy”, as there are no universal definitions and standards of literacy.
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*typos — I mean
I have been looking at this fascinating map and the break-downs for at least 20 minutes, but I am not sure…
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@ Abagond
This shouldn’t be complicated, but forgive me for not understanding this article, particularly as it concerns the history portion. Is this “The world seen as a country in an almanac” or is this the world seen in a specific almanac?
If it’s a general almanac, don’t you think you missed a huge lot of history? And how is paper an 000s invention, when Africans were writing on paper in 3000 BC?
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Yea, I mean if it meant “literacy” in the way that I interpreted it and the way I think that @Bulanik perceives it…I’m pretty sure if the literacy rate was that high then I’m for sure half the stuff we hear people say and see people do in this country would be non existent.
But I’m i wonder in what way it meant meant literacy
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Great info
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@ Abagond, still looking…
Are you referring to Mehrgarh civilization of the Indus Valley, as research seems to point to wheat production here at around that time? If it is, then perhaps proto-dentistry might be mentioned here, too, it seems the farming culture of that place and time were drilling teeth at that time too, lol.
Click to access 440755a.pdf
That aside, I am also wondering about when the Ice Age ends, and how the humans in the warmer parts of the world (so to speak) responded.
I wonder if the Ice Age ended in patches across the globe?
I was under the impression that rye farming was employed by Natufian cultures in the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean) 1000s of year before 9,500BCE…
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Natufian_culture.html
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@ resw77
1. My mistake about paper. Thanks for the correction.
2. It is not strictly modelled on any particular almanac, but since much of the info comes from the CIA Factbook (see Sources), it is probably affected by it:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html
3. Yes, tons of history is left out, if only for reasons of space. On the other hand, all history is like that – leaving in this, taking out that. Rather than let my personal feelings and education guide me too much, I tried to stick to the rule given at the head of that section: “stuff that affects > 100m or kills > 10m”. The thinking behind that is discussed here:
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/demographically-weighted-world-history/
and set up by this post:
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/at-least-100-million/
It is not even in narrative form, just a bunch of chunks arranged by dates. But my main concern here was not to miss anything super big that my reflexive Eurocentricism would make me miss.
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The literacy rates come from the CIA Factbook.
For world literacy it says:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
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.)
Definition:
This entry includes a definition of literacy and Census Bureau percentages for the total population, males, and females. There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise specified, all rates are based on the most common definition – the ability to read and write at a specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of the Factbook. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons. Low levels of literacy, and education in general, can impede the economic development of a country in the current rapidly changing, technology-driven world.
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@ Bulanik
Wheat and the other food crops I took from Jared Diamond. He is thinking of emmer wheat in the Fertile Crescent c, 8500 BC.
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@resw77
I dont think papyrus is paper, so id say the original Abagond date was more accurate.
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Reblogged this on InnerStanding Isness and commented:
The world
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@ Abagond
Thanks for the clarification. If it’s a compilation of “stuff that affects > 100m or kills > 10m” then I’d at least add:
advanced mathematics=20,000 BC (Congo)
Spiritual writings = 2000s BC (coffin texts, pyramid texts, Egypt)=the foundation of modern religious writings.
medicine – 1000s BC (medical papyri, Egypt)
@ TMK
“I dont think papyrus is paper”
That’s your opinion, but the word “paper” comes from the latin word “PAPYR-us.” See the etymology of “paper” for more details.
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@resw77
Yes, but the material is different, and the making process, and the resulting product also is different. I think etymology is misleading,here .
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@ TMK
An invention is a matter of function, not implementation. A clock is still a clock regardless of how it keeps time. Same with paper. Over time people came up with better materials. That is only to be expected.
The etymology is important because it means that people have seen it as being pretty much the same thing all the way back to when it was made out of papyrus.They did not feel the need for a new word.
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(sorry, for some reason my comment got cut in half)
Well, it is a question of language. You and Res seem to use paper to mean “a material to record writing on”,while i use it as a “a certain kind of material to record writing on”.
In other words, to keep up with your clock analogy, you would likely include later invention of parchment or even the parallel invention of Mesopotamian clay tablets (or other writing matherials, bark etc) as “paper”, Personally i find it is misleading usage of the word.
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@ TMK
“the material is different”
LOL. Paper can be and is made from MANY types of plants including papyrus, hemp, bamboo in addition to mulberry, birch, aspen, eucalyptus trees, etc.
“and the making process”
The process for making papyrus paper is basically the same as other methods, but somewhat easier. Instead of grinding hard/soft wood to a pulp, papyrus plant was anciently peeled then cut into small strips. However, the process of diluting and then pressing/matting was done with papyrus in the same way as modern paper-making methods.
“I think etymology is misleading,here…Personally i find it is misleading usage of the word.”
That’s your opinion, and I don’t agree because the methods are basically the same.
I didn’t invent the English language and I don’t publish any dictionaries. Take up your concern with the first English-language publishers, Oxford, Webster, et al.
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@ TMK
I’m asking myself whether it is the precise “definition” of paper that is at issue, or whether your question is really about the language being used here.
Papyrus and present day understanding of paper BOTH —
* come from vegetable origins, and,
* had the same function, as Abagond said.
Why is the production PROCESS of that material so crucial?
**
Languages borrow from each other, this is obvious. The Romans borrowed from the Greeks, and the Greeks borrowed (heavily) from the Egyptians. The Greeks used the Africans’ material to write on and the word to describe this medium was passed onto whoever they came into cultural contact with after that. Hence English-with-Greek-root words like “alchemy” borrowed from Arabic, or “balsam” from Semitic, “baklava” from Armenian.
Perhaps ink is similar in this context?
Is “true” ink the pigment combo which is derived from plant bases and animals’ bodies, or is it only properly ink when manufactured from minerals?
If you believe ink, rather than mere riting-pigment, comes from combining soot with animal glue, then the Chinese invented ink.
But the word “ink” came from the purple-ish/red liquid that the Roman emperors used for their signatures — enkauston — another word with a Greek root…does that mean we should only understand THAT definition as “ink” and the other writing-pigment that came from Asia and Africa are inauthentic and inaccurate words?
^^ I’m not sure why it makes such a difference.
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Atramentum.html
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*writing (the “w” is sticking on my keyboard! lol)
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@ Bulanik
“I’m not sure why it makes such a difference.”
It makes a difference b/c people like TMK have trouble giving credit where credit is due.
And TMK’s claim that papyrus paper is materially different than other “paper” is absurd b/c paper is made of many materials. So material does not determine whether or not something is paper. It’s like saying b/c my ball is made of pig skin and yours is made of plastic, you don’t have a real “ball.”
Then the idea that the process determines whether something is paper is equally absurd. It’s like saying, b/c I knitted a sweater and you used a machine, you don’t have a real “sweater.” But that is irrelevant b/c the process of making Egyptian/Ethiopian papyrus paper was basically the same as the Chinese way.
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Well, resw77, it did feel like the usual reluctance to give credit where it is due where Africans are concerned, but I didn’t want to assume too much.
I’d simply like to see TMK’s reasoning laid bare..
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@Bulanik
Why is the production PROCESS of that material so crucial?
Eh, the whole thing is not very crucial, actually. But you state these two things as if they are obvious. What if:
Paper, papyrus, parchment
* come from organic origins, and
* had the same function,
Should all these be called paper, then?
For me, the distinction is important, perhaps because i am generally interested in history, for someone who wants something more thorough, putting all these into the box called paper might be better. But i think such person is wrong and should be burned at a stake for heresy. Or perhaps something slightly less serious 😉
Interesting thing you bring up with ink. Since i am not familiar with ink as much, i would say that whatever, plants, minerals, if it can be used to write on paper*
But yes, i think the issue is merely semantic. Whether we call it paper or papyrus or both, it was undoubtedly great invention that strongly influenced the history of human species.
*haha, this time i used paper in the broad sense, including paper, papyrus, parchment and some other materials i think – palm leaves? I think it means i conceded the point :d
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@resw77
“It makes a difference b/c people like TMK have trouble giving credit where credit is due.”
I thought you were insisting on that because of political aspects. No, for me, papyrus is as important as paper, and that i differentiate between two means not a such thing. Although i cant tell if there are no people who would insist on that because papyrus is less known word.
Okay, i might be biased, i ilked ancient history since i was a kid so papyrus is a very common/natural word for me, and i got used to it denoting the ancient Egyptian culture.
So to answer Bulanik curiousity about my motivation, and reasoning, it is mostly blind traditionalism and common usage in historical texts (i am not American, btw, so it might be different over there).
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@ TMK
“For me, the distinction is important, perhaps because i am generally interested in history”
Yet you have not clarified that distinction. I’ve stated that the main difference is that ancient Chinese used plant life ground to a pulp whilst Egyptians/Ethiopians used papyrus cut into strips. The process that creates sheets of paper from this material, however, was basically the same.
“I thought you were insisting on that because of political aspects. ”
There’s no political reason to take such a view when one can easily use etymology, process and function as a basis. But I appreciate your apparent candour about your bias.
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@resw77
I meant that i thought this distinction is important for you because of political aspects (African contribution) and that you likely think i insist on the difference because of that.
But as i wrote above, IMO it does not have to be because of that. You may have an opinion that the differences are unimporant, but i think differently – the production process is different (l will be honest – from what i gathered from googling,
So, why would i insist on the difference if i did not know about the difference? Either that anti-African bias i stated i do not have here, or as i wrote above, unthinking traditionalism? There is actually another answer, the important distinction (for me) is in the usage*. Papyrus was uniquely suited to extremely dry Egyptian climate, it could not easily spread elsewhere (and at the same time, paper could no be as easily produced in Egypt where wood was generally precious), and exported had less durability than in its homeland. This meant that there was need for new/other inventions elsewhere (such as clay tablets in Mesopotamia, or later, parchment), and on the other hand it created unique situation where we have vast amounts of ancient papyrii, because Egyptian climate was so suited for its preservation.
Oh, btw, i dont think the production process was anything like, if it was different enough not to lead to production of paper from other plants. And from what i found, the paper production is done by grinding it to pulp while papyrus is cut to strips and then glued. Looks very different for me.
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@ TMK
“I meant that i thought this distinction is important for you because of political aspects (African contribution)”
I said I don’t need to base anything on “political aspects” when I can base it on etymology, process and function.
“You may have an opinion that the differences are unimporant, but i think differently – the production process is different”
I never said the differences are unimportant, and I specifically outlined the difference above, but there are also similarities to the process which you ignore, e.g., diluting and flattening. Most important is the end result: thin sheets of paper used for writing.
“Papyrus was uniquely suited to extremely dry Egyptian climate”
Not true. Papyrus is indigenous to the wetlands of the moist Great Lakes region of Africa, and thrives throughout the wetlands of the Nile river valley.
“This meant that there was need for new/other inventions elsewhere (such as clay tablets in Mesopotamia, or later, parchment), and on the other hand it created unique situation where we have vast amounts of ancient papyrii, because Egyptian climate was so suited for its preservation.”
Not true. “Mesopotamia,” assuming you mean the Tigris/Euphrates basin, was and is very dry too. Ancient Egyptians, Ethiopians, etc. also used clay and stone tablets, animal skin, etc. to communicate. But paper, or thin sheets of fabricated plant life was pioneered in Ancient Egypt.
“And from what i found, the paper production is done by grinding it to pulp while papyrus is cut to strips and then glued.”
I already stated the main difference several times that papyrus is cut into strips instead of being ground to a pulp. The papyrus strips are not “glued” but diluted in water, pieced together and flattened in the same way as other paper from pulp is made. And again, the end result is the same: thin sheets of paper.
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Parchment was invented at Pergamon in present-day Turkey. Not because papyrus did not work in that climate but because Egypt cut it off from receiving papyrus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parchment
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Fantastic post, will use some of its infos in class!
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“ks
But, as you mentioned, Klinsman’s no dummy. He knows that in order for the US to even really sniff the next level and be consistently seriously competitive on the world stage, he needs to push the sport to be a less of a middle class “socccer mom” thing here and tap into the talent pools that are either ignored or who play other sports. Can you imagine if athletic talent the level of say, Allen Iverson or Nate Robinson and so on, were directed toward soccer? Wow. I mean that Belgian dude who, literally, ran over the US in extra time is around the size of a NFL safety”
Linda says,
ks, when Lukaku took the field, it was a total game changer…the US team knew it was over…the beautiful sport
I’ve never understood the USA… it’s like this country prides itself on being trendsetters but when it comes to soccer, since the USA can’t dominate it, its as if the everyone here said “f’ck it!”
and even with this recent hype, soccer is still being downplayed. To us world citizens (especially from poorer countries), soccer is “Everything”
David Beckham is trying to build a stadium and a new US team here in Miami because he recognizes that in order to build a strong team, he has to come where the foreign born or the immigrant, 1st generation talent is in abundance.
Down here, (south Florida) soccer is taken Very seriously and played outside of the “soccer mom” leagues… we have a lot of former South American club players, who endorse the local teams here and a few of my sons teammates have been drafted to play in European youth teams.
The University I attended regularly gave scholarships to Caribbean soccer players to come to America and play, so the problem has to be in the MLS league.
With all these millions of people here, I find it hard to believe that Klinsmann can’t find US homegrown talent that can compete… sheesh, all those Mexicans and he has to go searching in Europe and Iceland!
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nice try to bring any kind of diologue about the world cup as its in full swing right now,Linda…I cant get into Open thread to really address it…actualy, Im afraid to say anything to jinx the team of my heart…they did shut down Rames though, didnt they? and their star got a really dirty kick in the back that eliminated him…what merda…but, of the teams left..it could be anybodies game to win the cup , if they have a hot game and the openent is cold..
what you might not know, is the behind the scenes stuff happening down here…like the political agendised ridiculous chumps that are protesting waving commie and anarchist flags , and breaking things the real people are using…the foreign papers might make it sound like its demonstraions by the “people”…what crap…my gun barrels are loaded with the real information about all of that
but, maybe the real deepest behind the scenes story is the growing tension and rivalry with the host country and Argentina, between fans…there are huge chanting matches provoking each other , even when they arnt playing each other , in the stadiums..if the anouncer doesnt point it out or if you dont see the local news reports , you cant really know its happening…but it is , and, i only hope heavy stuff doesnt break out on the ground if they meet each other in the final….
you absolutly can not pass through the country I live and say “Marodona is better than Pele..” or sing it, and think its not going to generate some real tension…
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BR,
There are no words to describe what I am feeling right now. I dreaded this day because my 2 favorite teams would have to play each but
and I am in tears right now!! I expected Brazil to lose, but NOT this way! Coñjo
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Linda…what can I say…Im devastated right now and you can beleive Brazilians are devasated..
The only thing I can think is, they were mentaly psyched out not having Neymar and their captain and defensive back, Tiago Silva out on penalties..
They psyched themselves out before losing to France in 98, when Ronaldo had a seizure…so, something subconciously was at play…the defence was the second string and they fell apart, no one on the offence rose to the occasion…and that would have been essential…Solari made some bad coaching desicians…after two goals, that could win the game on just that amount, they went down mentaly from there
Brazil played the worst game of their career , and, Germany , who almost got beat by the USA, had a couple of other tight games…absolutly had one of the greatest on games of their career…they just rose to the occasion and perceived the weakness in the defence and anialated it…you cant let a team like Germany know their weakness, they are too efficiant …
but, what i can tell you is this, if Argentina loses to Holland and has to face Brazil for third place…things will heat up in a way Im not sure I want to be near, because , its going to be a confrontation that may go on off the feild, it might become the main event in Brazil instead of the final…ill certainly be watching that one with more interest…its going to be a doozy if it happens…
its been a wild and unbeleivable copa in lots of ways…its been a real trip being down here while its going on…
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I so love Brazil, so watching this match was a heart-breaker. I literally walked out the room watching Cesar get buried.
The Germans are a class act, and I expected the Polish-German Klose to score…but not how it turned out, not like this.
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“BR,
but, what i can tell you is this, if Argentina loses to Holland and has to face Brazil for third place…things will heat up in a way Im not sure I want to be near”
Linda says,
I got a few peoples down in Brazil for the game, so I’ve heard about the good, bad, and ugly 🙂 but most of them are having a great time.
I wanted Holland to beat Argentina, so that Brazil would at least RISE to the occasion to try and beat Argentina… but after watching them today (playing with an almost brand new team)… I think Argentina would have beaten the brakes off of them… so everything worked itself out.
Anyway, my other favorite team, Germany, will be playing tomorrow…. I hope they don’t let their easy win against Brazil go to their heads. Brazil left the building (stadium and Continent) the minute Neymar got injured, so I hope Germany acts accordingly tomorrow and don’t screw it up.
Argentina likes to sit back and defend but Messi is good at converting, and Germany sucks at defending–so, I will keep my beads handy and fingers crossed.
Go Deutschland!!!
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Okay. Embarrassing question (cause I should know):
What is the best way to cook plaintains? I always had them fried as a kid, that’s how I like them. I tried to fry them a couple years ago; it was not the success it should have been. I was cooking for a lady friend and myself. (Funny aside: she was white so she was impressed enough, but I knew they weren’t up to snuff. My ass would have been grass if my lady friend had been Carribbean or Latina. 😀 )
I can’t tell when the plaintains are ready to cook. When they’re soft through feeling the skin, right? Or should the skin be very dark with black marks, or moderately darkened? Do I cook them on medium heat or seer quickly on a high heat.
[Boys don’t pay attention to momma’s cooking growing up, they just enjoy it. 🙂 ]
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