How Many Nukes Each Nuclear Country Has

Nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons exist today in the arsenals of these 9 nations. 14,995 to be exact. Only nine possess actual nuclear weapons: Russia, the United States, China, India, Israel, France, North Korea, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. North Korea may have more than triple the number of nuclear weapons that experts recently estimated.

While the exact number in each country's arsenal is often a closely guarded secret, some information is publicly available. Here's a breakdown of nuclear arsenals by country, based on data from leading experts in nuclear estimates. 

The failure of the nuclear powers to disarm has heightened the risk that other countries will acquire nuclear weapons. The only guarantee against the spread and use of nuclear weapons is to eliminate them without delay. Although the leaders of some nuclear-armed nations have expressed their vision for a nuclear-weapon-free world, they have failed to develop any detailed plans to eliminate their arsenals and are modernizing them. Source: ICAN 

The World in 2050

Will the shift in global economic power continue?  PriceWaterhouseCoopers (pwc) World in 2050 report presents economic growth projections for 32 of the largest economies in the world, accounting for around 84% of global GDP. They project the world economy to grow at an average of just over 3% per annum in the period2014–50, doubling in size by 2037 and nearly tripling by 2050.

 

The global economic power shift away from the established advanced economies in North America, Western Europe and Japan will continue over the next 35 years. China has already overtaken the US in 2014 to become the largest economy in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. In market exchange rate (MER) terms, we project China to overtake the US in2028 despite its projected growth slowdown. 

 

 

By 2050, India will have overtaken the US as the world's second largest economy. The gap between the three biggest economies, China, India and the US, and the rest of the world will widen over the next few decades.

Countries with emerging economies today will overtake G7 countries in terms of GDP. E7 economies, China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Indonesia and Turkey, will, combined, dwarf the G7 economies, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US, by 2050.

Christianity will still be the dominant religion. However, Islam will be the fastest-growing religion. Atheism will rise, but not in the West mainly due to ageing populations and low fertility rates in countries such as Japan and China.

The world population will reach 9.6 billion. An increasingly large population may result in issues such as food shortages, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Humans are expected to live longer. The average life expectancy will be 76 by 2050.

Global CO2 emissions will steadily increase. In 2010, the world produced around 33 gallstones of CO2 - by 2050 its predicted to be 55.87 gigatonnes which could have truly disastrous effects.

Global Terrorism Index 2017

The yearly report, developed by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) based on the Global Terrorism Database by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) as well as other sources, provides the most comprehensive resource on global terrorist trends. Measuring 163 countries and covering 99.7% of the world’s population, one of the principle aims of the Global Terrorism Index is to help us to understand the global, regional and local impact of terrorism.

For the second year in a row, the total number of global deaths from terrorism has declined. There have been 22% fewer deaths from terrorism since the peak of terror activity in 2014. There were significant declines in terrorism in four of the five countries most impacted by terrorism – Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. Collectively these four countries recorded 33 per cent fewer deaths. The intensity of global terrorism has decreased. However, it continues to spread to an increasing number of countries. There were 77 countries that experienced at least one death from terrorism in 2016. This is more than at any time in the past 17 years with two out of every three countries experiencing at least one attack. 

The largest reduction occurred in Nigeria where deaths attributed to Boko Haram decreased by 80% in 2016, as the terror group faced mounting pressure from the Multinational Joint Task Force. Iraq was the only country of the five most affected by terrorism to record an increase in deaths, primarily driven by ISIL as it increased suicide attacks and assaults on civilians to compensate for territorial losses. Total deaths attributed to ISIL increased by 50% in 2016, marking the group's deadliest year ever. The majority of the deaths occurred in Iraq, which accounted for 40% of the increase. Full Report: Vision of Humanity

Child Labor Around the World

A Bangladeshi child works in a brick-breaking yard in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The broken bricks are mixed in with concrete. Typically working barefoot and with rough utensils, a child worker earns less than $2 a day. (Mehedi Hasan)

The term “child labor” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. 

An estimated 152 million children around the globe are doing work that prevents them from getting an education or that's harmful to their health. That's almost 1 in 10 children worldwide.

• Worldwide 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are in employment.
  Among them, 152 million are victims of child labor; almost half of them, 73 million, work in hazardous child labor.
• In absolute terms, almost half of child labor (72.1 million) is to be found in Africa; 62.1 million in the Asia and the Pacific; 10.7 million in the Americas; 1.2 million in the Arab States and 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia.
• In terms of prevalence, 1 in 5 children in Africa (19.6%) are in child labor, whilst prevalence in other regions is between 3% and 7%: 2.9% in the Arab States (1 in 35 children); 4.1% in Europe and Central Asia (1 in 25); 5.3% in the Americas (1 in 19) and 7.4% in Asia and the Pacific region (1 in 14).
• Almost half of all 152 million children victims of child labor are aged 5-11 years.
  42 million (28%) are 12-14 years old; and 37 million (24%) are 15-17 years old.
• Hazardous child labor is most prevalent among the 15-17 years old. Nevertheless up to a fourth of all hazardous child labor (19 million) is done by children less than 12 years old.

• Among 152 million children in child labor, 88 million are boys and 64 million are girls.
• 58% of all children in child labor and 62% of all children in hazardous work are boys. Boys appear to face a greater risk of child labor than girls, but this may also be a reflection of an under-reporting of girls’ work, particularly in domestic child labour.
• Child labor is concentrated primarily in agriculture (71%), which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming; 17% in Services; and 12% in the Industrial sector, including mining.Source: International Labor Organization

 

 

The IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour , held in Buenos Aires, concluded with a call to action to accelerate efforts to end child labor by 2025 and forced labour by 2030, and to generate more decent employment opportunities for young people around the world. 

Global Supply of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs)

Raw materials are crucial to the world. They form a strong industrial base, producing a broad range of goods and applications used in everyday life and modern technologies. Reliable and unhindered access to certain raw materials is a growing concern within the EU and across the globe. To address this challenge, the European Commission has created a list of critical raw materials (CRMs) for the EU, which is subject to a regular review and update. CRMs combine raw materials of high importance to the EU economy and of high risk associated with their supply.

Why critical raw materials are important?

• Link to industry - non-energy raw materials are linked to all industries across all supply chain stages
• Modern technology - technological progress and quality of life rely on access to a growing number of raw materials. For example, a smartphone might contain up to 50 different kinds of metals, all of which contribute to its small size, light weight and functionality.
• Environment – raw materials are closely linked to clean technologies. They are irreplaceable in solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and energy-efficient lighting.

China is the major supplier of critical raw materials, accounting for 70% of their global supply and 62% of their supply to the EU (e.g. rare earth elements, magnesium, antimony, natural graphite, etc.). Brazil (niobium), USA (beryllium and helium), Russia (palladium) and South Africa (iridium, platinum, rhodium and ruthenium) are also important producers of critical raw materials. The risks associated with the concentration of production are in many cases compounded by low substitution and low recycling rates. Source: European Commission

Every Country's Biggest Imports & Exports

From Israel's massive influx of diamonds to Nepal's unique speciality - exporting flavored water - every country has a unique set of natural resources and intricate economy. And with everything from cloves (Comoros) to cocoa beans (Ivory Coast) being a nation's biggest export, and recreational boats (Saint Kitts and Nevis) and diamonds (Israel) among a nation's biggest imports, some of the results are pretty interesting.

And with everything from cloves (Comoros) to cocoa beans (Ivory Coast) being a nation's biggest export, and recreational boats (Saint Kitts and Nevis) and diamonds (Israel) among a nation's biggest imports, some of the results are pretty interesting.

When it comes to the biggest import for each country, fuel dominates overall. In fact, 97 of 187 countries - over half - import some kind of fuel more than anything else, with crude petroleum (18 countries) and refined petroleum (74 countries) the most common. It does run the world, after all. 

Transportation is something of a surprise second place (54 countries), with fully manufactured products showing quite the contrast from some of the raw materials and fuels that many countries import. In fact, cars are imported by 26 countries more than anything else - including the likes of Australia, the UK and the USA - with passenger ships, special purpose ships and even planes, helicopters and spacecraft making up the rest of the total.

Food is the biggest import for many of the world's poorest and most remote countries, with the likes of Somalia, South Sudan and Syria importing food more than anything else. Of the 12 countries importing food and produce more than anything else, three import wheat, two pull in poultry and two more reap in rice.

The map shows a significant divide between the richest and poorest nations around the world, especially across American and Western Europe - most of which deals in transportation and technology more than anything else. Eastern Europe and Asia then switches the focus back to fuels, with the more remote and smaller island nations around the world also understandably needing to import fuel more than anything else.. And yes, the Central African Republic imports weapons more than anything else.

 

Things are a little more varied when it comes to each country's biggest export - every country's unique offering when it comes to natural resources, trades and skills is shown off in earnest here. Fuel is still the most common export overall, though only 53 of 187 countries export some kind of fuel more than anything else. Crude petroleum (24 countries) and refined petroleum (18 countries) split the difference here, though petroleum gas (11 countries) is also high on the list.

Metal, mineral and organic exports are in 2nd place, with 50 countries exporting raw materials above anything else. Gold is the biggest export among them, making up 16 of the 51 countries' greatest offering to the world. Indonesia and North Korea, on the other hand, export coal briquettes more than anything else - while Lebanon provides jewellery, Niger deals in radioactive chemicals, and Gambia and the Solomon Islands go back to basics with a largest export of rough wood.

Food is the biggest export for many countries - 35 of the 187 included - though it covers most of the smaller countries and island nations. This might explain why the foods also make for some of the more eclectic exports - concentrated milk (New Zealand), hard liquor (Barbados), grapes (Afghanistan), fish fillets (Maldives) and cloves (Comoros) are among the more unique items that make for a country's biggest export around the world.
Source: Vouchercloud

 

Global Vegetarian Index

The Global Vegetarian Index was published by Oliver’s Travels to help vegetarian travellers pick their next diet-friendly travel destination. To come up with this index, 183 countries were studied. Factors analysed include the number of vegetarian restaurants in the country in relation to the population size, as well as the annual meal consumption per capita. Scores were computed and the countries were ranked. 

The world’s most vegetarian-friendly country is none other than Seychelles, an island destination in the Indian Ocean. This country, with a Global Vegetarian Index score of 328, has a low meat consumption and the most vegetarian restaurants per person. In Seychelles, you’ll find a myriad of vegetarian dishes from breadfruit salad to seasonal veggies.
Coming up next on the list are two countries in Asia: Thailand and Malaysia. 

Here are the top 15:

1.  Seychelles
2. Thailand
3. Malaysia
4. Sao Tome & Principe
5. Peru
6. Singapore
7. Cambodia
8. Solomon Islands
9. United Kingdom
10. Botswana
11. India
12. Liberia
13. Belize
14. Sri Lanka
15. Japan

 Tripzilla