Charts
Countries by Their Share of the Earth’s Surface
The total surface area of the Earth is about 197 million square miles. Only about 29% of that area is land; which means the vast majority is covered in water. Looking at this fun and interesting visualization from VisualCapitalist.com you can easily see just how vast the words oceans are compared to land surface area. This information is presented in a gorgeous donut chart which is an efficient and one of our favorite ways to display data when you want to show comparisons. You can think of a donut chart just like a pie chart with the center cut out, this allows the viewer to see the differences easier when compared to slices in a pie chart. Check it out here:
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Now, let’s dive into this graphic. Using data from the UNSD (the United Nations Statistics Division), this visualization breaks down individual countries’ share of the Earth’s surface. Russia, Canada, and China are the largest countries by surface area. Russia takes up a whopping 3.35% of the Earth’s land followed not-so-closely by Canada at 1.96%. The continent of Antarctica also takes up a large percentage of Earth’s surface area at 2.75% although .3% of that remains unclaimed and uninhabitable. Other nations that have a combined land mass of over 1% include the US at 1.87%, Brazil at 1.67%, and Australia at 1.51% respectively. There are a total of 195 countries and other regions that make the remaining 1% of the Earth’s surface area. The smallest on this list is the country of Monaco at just 499 acres and Vatican City, the smallest country in the world, taking up just 109 acres of the Earth’s surface.
Gems like rubies, emeralds, and diamonds are found in jewelry all over the world. Some countries are known for their prolific gemstone production. Do you know the countries are the biggest sources of each gemstone?
BriteCo, a jewelry insurance company, analyzed data from the U.S. Geological Survey and the International Gem Society to visualize the countries that produce the most of each type of gemstone.
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The graphic utilizes a world map to show which country produces the most of many different types of gems. The visualization also includes beautiful depictions of each gem included on the map as well as the kilograms of gemstones produced between 2016 and 2020.
These are the top-producing countries of some of the most popular gems:
- Amethyst: Zambia (4,465,166 kilograms)
- Diamond: Russia (22,720 kilograms)
- Emerald: Zambia (129,400 kilograms)
- Garnet: Tanzania (765,768 kilograms)
- Pearl: Burma (9,245 kilograms)
- Quartz: Brazil (69,830,000 kilograms)
- Ruby: Tanzania (99,000 kilograms)
- Sapphire: Kenya (45,339 kilograms)
- Topaz: Nigeria (77,793 kilograms)
- Turquoise: Iran (105,000 kilograms)
Overall, the top producer of gems around the world is Tanzania. The country is the top producer of six gemstones on the list (aquamarine, garnet, ruby, sunstone, tanzanite, and tourmaline). In fact, the name tanzanite was given to the gem by jewelry giant Tiffany & Co. in the 1960s to highlight how it can only be found in Tanzania. The mining area for tanzanite is just 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) long and 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) wide in the Manyara region of Tanzania. Tanzanite was named as a December birthstone in 2002 by the American Gem Trade Association.
Classic sports like baseball, football, and basketball have long been some of the most popular sports in the United States. However, in recent years, other sports have been increasing in popularity. Researchers at ReCreate analyzed data from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association to create a graphic displaying the sports that are growing the fastest in the United States.
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The visualization lists the growth of each sport’s popularity in the last four years and color codes the information based on the type of sport (team sport, racket sport, winter sport, water sport, individual sport, or outdoor sport).
The sport that is growing fastest in the U.S. is pickleball, a racket sport similar to tennis that can be played both indoors and outdoors. Pickleball has seen a 171.1% increase in participation in the last four years and has an estimated 4.8 million players. It originally started in the 1960s as a children’s game but has since become very popular with adults as well. In 2022, it was named the state sport of Washington.
The second fastest-growing sport in America is alpine touring, which has increased 115% in popularity over the last four years. Alpine touring is a type of backcountry skiing that utilizes special bindings so participants can ascend hills with heels unlocked and lock heels back in to descend. This allows for mobility when climbing and safety when going downhill.
The third sport on the list is winter fat biking. This unique sport, which has increased in popularity by 69.4%, involves riding a bicycle with oversized wheels in the snow. The big wheels make it easier for riders to peddle through the slushy snow and terrain.
How many sports on this list have you played?
Wondering where in the world you’re most likely to get some action? The NapLab team created a Global Promiscuity Index that compares different factors including average number of sexual partners, STD rates, mean age when virginity was lost, and how much of the population finds premarital sex morally acceptable. See which country ranked highest!
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The visualization utilizes a heat map of the world to show which countries rank highest and lowest on the list. Underneath the world map is an explanation of how the scores were calculated as well as a breakdown of all the data for each country that is included.
The country that earned the top spot on the promiscuity list is Australia, with an index score of 360.14. The mean age that Australians lost their virginity is 17.9, and the average number of sexual partners is 13.3. 81% of people think that premarital sex between adults is not a moral issue. Prostitution is also legal in the country.
Of the 45 countries included in the graphic, the country that ranks last on the list is India. The mean age when residents lose their virginity is 22.9 and the average number of sexual partners is 3. Only 21% of people in India think that premarital sex is morally acceptable.
The following are the top scores for each of the factors included in the ranking:
- Mean Age Virginity Was Lost: Iceland (15.6 years)
- Average Number of Sexual Partners: Turkey (14.5)
- STD Rate Per 100,000 People: South Africa (32,054)
- Percentage of People Who Think Premarital Sex is Morally Acceptable: France (94%)
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