- Britain is responsible for half the potato crisp consumption of Europe. [Today, BBC Radio 4, 15th May 2006]
- China spends less on defence than Britain. [The Spectator, 21st April 2006]
- Up to a third of the Libyan population is estimated to have died during the Italian occupation in the 1930s. [New Yorker, 8th May 2006]
- The average age of local councillors in Britain is 58. 87 per cent of councillors are over 45. [Councillors' Census]
- Britain is the world's 15th biggest oil producer; Iraq the 16th. [CIA World Factbook]
- The cult German band Tangerine Dream were named after a nickname given to Blackpool FC. [The Book of Lists: Football by Stephen Foster]
- In 2004, the Texas Democratic Party had no full-time staff. [New Republic, 13th April 2006]
- No Labour foreign secretary has ever visited Latin America. [Denis MacShane, Comment is Free, 15th May 2006]
- Last year, 206,000 books were published in Britain—a rise of 28 per cent over 2004, and more than the US, where the number fell 18,000 to 172,000. [Bowker]
- China contributes more than twice as many troops to UN peacekeeping missions than any other member of the security council. [Foreign Policy, 9th May 2006]
- In Britain, there are fewer police trained in the use of arms than there were 30 years ago. [Radio 5 Live, 16th May 2006]
- Sudan has more rainfall per capita than Britain. [Daily Telegraph, 2nd March 2006]
- In 2005, overseas earnings for Britain from financial services was about £21bn, about a tenth of earnings from the export of goods. [Financial Times, 27th April 2006]
