Going global oddities of globalism

Rank	Country	Exports + Imports	Date of information
-	European Union (Extra-EU27)	$3,197,000,000,000	2009 [26]
1	United States	$2,439,700,000,000	2009 est.
2	People's Republic of China	$2,208,000,000,000	2009 est.
3	Germany	$2,052,000,000,000	2009 est.
4	Japan	$1,006,900,000,000	2009 est.
5	France	$989,000,000,000	2009 est.
6	United Kingdom	$824,900,000,000	2009 est.
7	Netherlands	$756,500,000,000	2009 est.
8	Italy	$727,700,000,000	2009 est.
-	Hong Kong	$672,600,000,000	2009 est.
9	South Korea	$668,500,000,000	2009 est.
10	Belgium	$611,100,000,000	2009 est.
11	Canada	$603,700,000,000	2009 est.
12	Spain	$508,900,000,000	2009 est.
13	Russia	$492,400,000,000	2009 est.
14	Mexico	$458,200,000,000	2009 est.
15	Singapore	$454,800,000,000	2009 est.
16	India	$387,300,000,000	2009 est.
17	Taiwan	$371,400,000,000	2009 est.
18	Switzerland	$367,300,000,000	2009 est.
19	Australia	$322,400,000,000	2009 est.
20	United Arab Emirates	$315,000,000,000	2009 est.

1. 
   Of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are corporations; only 49 are countries (based on a comparison of corporate sales and country GDPs).
   
2. 
   The Top 200 corporations' sales are growing at a faster rate than overall global economic activity. Between 1983 and 1999, their combined sales grew from the equivalent of 25.0 percent to 27.5 percent of World GDP.
   
3. 
   The Top 200 corporations' combined sales are bigger than the combined economies of all countries minus the biggest 10.
   
4. 
   The Top 200s' combined sales are 18 times the size of the combined annual income of the 1.2 billion people (24 percent of the total world population) living in "severe" poverty.
   
5. 
   While the sales of the Top 200 are the equivalent of 27.5 percent of world economic activity, they employ only 0.78 percent of the world's workforce.
   
6. 
   Between 1983 and 1999, the profits of the Top 200 firms grew 362.4 percent, while the number of people they employ grew by only 14.4 percent.
   
7. 
   A full 5 percent of the Top 200s' combined workforce is employed by Wal-Mart, a company notorious for union-busting and widespread use of part-time workers to avoid paying benefits. The discount retail giant is the top private employer in the world, with 1,140,000 workers, more than twice as many as No. 2, DaimlerChrysler, which employs 466,938.
   
8. 
   U.S. corporations dominate the Top 200, with 82 slots (41 percent of the total). Japanese firms are second, with only 41 slots.
   
9. 
   Of the U.S. corporations on the list, 44 did not pay the full standard 35 percent federal corporate tax rate during the period 1996-1998. Seven of the firms actually paid less than zero in federal income taxes in 1998 (because of rebates). These include: Texaco, Chevron, PepsiCo, Enron, Worldcom, McKesson and the world's biggest corporation - General Motors.
   
10. 
    Between 1983 and 1999, the share of total sales of the Top 200 made up by service sector corporations increased from 33.8 percent to 46.7 percent. Gains were particularly evident in financial services and telecommunications sectors, in which most countries have pursued deregulation.
    

In addition to its more than 11.5 million direct broadcast satellite (DBS) subscribers, Murdoch manages the assets of Hughes Electronics, DirecTV’s parent company, which gave News Corp. increased clout over programming in Latin America.

America’s first broadcast network, NBC, owns and operates more than 14 stations, along with CNBC, a business-news network, and Telemundo, the nation’s second-largest Spanish-language broadcaster. NBC has recently acquired Bravo, the Arts and Film cable network.

Viacom owns theatres in Canada (Famous Players) and other places—United Cinemas International, in partnership with Vivendi, for example.

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  ‘Dollar’ is the most common currency name, followed by ‘franc,’ ‘pound,’ ‘dinar,’ ‘peso,’ and ‘rupee.’
  
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  In the last Argentinian elections, 21% of the votes were declared invalid.
  
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  In Belgium, 55% of government ministers are female. The country’s first female parliamentarian was appointed in 1921.
  
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  Most people live in poverty in most African countries.
  
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  The top nations for per capita imports and exports tend to be very small.
  
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  The eight most developed countries all speak Germanic languages.
  
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  72% of people in Mali earn less than $1 per day.
  
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  41% world's poor people live in India.
  
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  The ten most generous countries are all in Europe.
  
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  Americans are 15% more innovative than the Japanese. But in percentage terms, the Japanese grant 3.5 times more patents.
  
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  United we stand? The United Kingdom and United States are both in the top ten for Gross Domestic Product - and for child poverty.
  
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  Three of the top ten countries for GDP per capita are island nations: Bermuda, Cayman Islands, and Iceland.
  
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  France is the top destination in the world for tourists, accounting for 11 percent of all tourist arrivals worldwide.
  
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  The top ten tourist destinations France, Spain, USA, Italy, China, UK, Austria, Mexico, Germany and Canada account for 49.6 percent of all tourist arrivals worldwide.
  
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  The number of tourists in San Marino is almost 19 times the resident population.
  
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  Want your kids to stay in school? Send them to Norway.
  
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  English speaking kids are the world's biggest novel readers - but the least enthusiastic comic readers.
  
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  Japanese and South Korean kids are the best in the world at science and math..
  
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  Three quarters of Japanese kids read comics.
  
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  American adults have spent more time than anyone in education .
  
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  There are 22 countries where more than half the population is illiterate. Fifteen of them are in Africa.
  

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  Clipperton Island wins our prize for the most unusual looking country.
  
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  Only two countries in the world are doubly landlocked: Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan.
  
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  Sick of crowds? Move to Greenland! Greenlanders have 38 square kilometres of land per person.
  
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  If you thought Antarctica was inhospitable, think again - its land area is only ninety-eight percent ice. Reassuringly, the other 2% is categorised as "barren rock".
  
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  The Mall in Washington, D.C. is 1.4 times larger than Vatican City.
  
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  The four largest nations are Russia, China, USA, and Canada.
  
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  Brazil takes up 47.8% of South America.
  
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  Canada lays claim to more water than any other nation.
  
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  Almost the entire Cook Islands are covered by forest.
  
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  Contrary to the popular rhyme, the rain falls mainly on Guinea.
  
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  Australia has more than 28 times the land area of New Zealand, but its coastline is not even twice as long.
  
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  Got a parking ticket in Finland? Better just pay up - it is the least corrupt nation in the world.
  
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  Members of the armed forces and the police cannot vote in the Dominican Republic.
  
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  Nauru, Tokelau and Western Sahara are the only three countries without official capital cities.
  
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  Nauru is the world's smallest independent republic.
  
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  On the probability of not reaching 40 graph, the top 34 countries are all African.
  
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  In Botswana, more than one in three adults aged 15-49 are infected with HIV/AIDS.
  
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  The average woman in New Zealand doesn't give birth until she is nearly 30 years old.
  
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  Mexican women spend 15.3% of their life in ill health.
  
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  22% of American women aged 20 gave birth while in their teens. In Switzerland and Japan, only 2% did so.
  
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  In Ethiopia, nine out of ten births occur without skilled health staff present.
  
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  The United States tops the world in plastic surgery procedures. Next comes Mexico.
  
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  Sick people is Switzerland stay in hospital for longer than the people of any other nation - almost 10 days, on average. Switzerland also has the world's highest number of hospital beds per capita.
  
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  Only 4% of married women in Chad are using contraceptives.
  
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  More than half of all doctors in Finland are female.
  
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  One in three Italian babies is born by caesarean section.
  
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  NationMaster.com is now 40 times the size of the CIA World Factbook!
  
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  Nepal’s flag isn’t square or rectangular. It’s a double triangle.
  
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  Peru’s national bird is the Andean cock of the rock (Rupicola peruviana).
  
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  Libya’s full name is the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
  
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  Of the eight countries which include the word "democratic" in their conventional long form name,
  
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  three are dictatorships: North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), Laos (Lao People's Democratic Republic) and the Democratic republic of the Congo.
  
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  The top five countries of origin for refugees are all in Africa.
  
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  Canada is immigrant-friendly. It confers the most new citizenships per capita and per $ GDP, and the second-most new citizenships overall.
  
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  Apparently, the Federated States of Micronesia is the place to leave - and Afghanistan is the place to go.
  
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  Want to go to the United States? Try going to Albania first. Albania has more U.S visa lottery winners per capita than anywhere else in the world.
  
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  In 2002, every 1000 Swedes made a bus.
  
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  Japan leads the world in car production, producing almost 50% more cars than either of its next closest competitors, Germany and the United States.
  
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  Around 80% of all livejournal users are from the United States of America.
  

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  Guatamalan women work 11.5 hours a day, while South African men work only 4.5.
  
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  Kenyan women work 35% longer than their menfolk.
  
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  Ethiopians are by far the most agricultural people on earth (both men and women)
  
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  Looking for Czech and Slovak men? Half are in factories.
  
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  Women are flooding into the workforce in many Muslim countries.
  
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  American women have the most powerful jobs.
  
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  Southern European women hugely outnumber their menfolk amongst the unemployed.
  
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  A three-minute local phone call in Ecuador costs 60 U.S. cents, 60 times as much as in Ukraine, Macedonia, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, or Uzbekistan.
  
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  Taiwan and Luxembourg are the only countries in the world where the mobile phones outnumber the people!
  
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of the Gaza Strip. Its military spending per capita tops the world.

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  North Korea spends the most of its GDP on its military.
  
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  The United States spends more money on its military than the next 12 nations combined.
  
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  In the 1990's, nearly half of all arms exported to developing countries came from the United States of America.
  
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  If you're looking to invade someone by sea, try Canada! Canada has only 9000 Navy personnel guarding the longest national coastline in the world.
  
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  Bolivia has 4,500 Navy personnel - which seems like quite a lot for a landlocked country.
  
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  Moldova has one of the smallest artillery forces in Europe, and the highest rate in the world of death by powered lawnmower. Coincidence? Surely not.
  
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  On average, more than 70 persons die of varicose veins per year per country.
  
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  If someone you know died from falling out of a tree, you’re probably Brazilian.
  
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  You are more likely to be reported as having been killed by lightning in Cuba than in any other country.
  

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  Andorrans live the longest, four years longer than in neighboring France and Spain.
  
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  China's labor force stands at 706 million people, almost three times that of Europe and twice that of North and South America combined
  
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  Luxembourgers are the world's richest people - and also the most generous.
  
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  If you like kids, then Uganda might be the place for you. Half the population is under 15!
  
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  Senior gentlemen might consider a trip to Russia, where there are two women over 65 for every man.
  
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  Single guys should check out The Virgin Islands, where the women outnumber the men.
  
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  South America is unusual in that it is both highly urbanized and poor.
  
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  Many Americans live alone - the United States leads the world in one person households.
  
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  Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country.
  
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  Looking for geniuses? Head straight to Iceland. There are more than 3 Nobel Prize Winners for every million Icelanders.
  
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  Sri Lanka has lowest divorce rate in the world - and the highest rate of female suicide.
  
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  Australians have a huge 380,000 sq m of land per person - and yet 91% live in urban areas.
  
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  Nearly a quarter of people in Monaco are over 65.
  
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  The United States has the world's highest marriage rate - as well as the world's highest divorce rate.
  
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  If you're Dutch or Swedish, you're among the world's most likely to end up living in a retirement home. If you're Japanese, you'll probably end up living with your children.
  
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  Of all the nations of the world, China has the most people. But there are 71 nations that are more crowded.
  
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  Most households in Europe and North America contain fewer than three people.
  
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  Like living in cities? Guadeloupe, Nauru, Monaco, Singapore, Gibraltar and Bermuda are only nations that are 100% urbanized.
  
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  There are 11 countries where the average woman has more than six children. Ten of them are in Africa.
  

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  Mexico has the most Jehovah's Witnesses per capita in the OECD.
  
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  At least 9 out 10 Nigerians attend church regularly. Only 4 out of 10 Americans claim to do so.
  

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  Finns are perhaps the world's greatest athletes, ranking first in medals per capita for Summer Olympics, and third for Winter Olympics.
  
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  Russia won the first World Air Games, held in Turkey in 1997. Events included hang-gliding, sky-surfing, and ballooning.
  
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  Don't start a company in Australia. More than 20% of the tax collected in Australia is corporate income tax.
  
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  In Denmark, more than 50% of the tax collected is personal income tax. In the Netherlands, personal income tax makes up less than 15%.
  
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  People in Germany, Belgium, Hungary and Sweden have to pay almost half their salaries in tax.
  
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  Tax makes up half of the of Gross Domestic Product in Denmark and Sweden. In Japan and the United States, it makes up less than 30%.
  
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  Brazil is the heliport capital of the world.
  
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  In Australia, there's plenty of open road. Which is just as well, because you wouldn't want to park your car.
  
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  American planes take-off a staggering 8.5 million times per year - almost half the number of take-offs worldwide.
  
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  More than a third of the world's airports are in the United States of America.