- Nollywood—Nigeria's film industry—produces more films a year than either Hollywood or Bollywood, and is the country's second largest employer. [Prospect]
- 24 per cent of the world's construction cranes are operating in Dubai. [Gulf News, 18th June 2006]
- There is only one ATM in Afghanistan. [Foreign Office]
- The 6.5bn people alive today make up about 6 per cent of the number of people who have ever been born. [Scientific American, 1st March 2007]
- 38,000 people living in London earn over £200,000 per year—over a third of the British total. [Prospect]
- There are 254 branches of Starbucks within 50 miles of central London, compared to 37 within the same distance of central Manchester and 24 for Birmingham. [Starbucks]
- Jews in Nice who want to buy an apartment have to pay a fee of €900-7,000 to skirt a Vichy law still on the books. [Jerusalem Post, 1st March 2007]
- By 2050, Britain will be paying out £6.5bn in benefits and £1.3bn in healthcare costs to British pensioners living overseas. [Public Policy Research Journal, March-May 2007]
- In America, politicians now rank second only to car manufacturers in spending on local television adverts. Between now and the end of 2008, they will spend $2.5bn in advertising. [Prospect]
- Indonesia has higher net carbon emissions per year than the US when forest clearances and fires are taken into account. [Prospect]
- Reviews on amazon.com give an average 4.2 stars out of five. [smartmoney.com]
- A study of the 101 known suicide bombers in Iraq from March 2003 to February 2006 found that only seven were from Iraq. Eight were from Italy. [New Republic, 22nd January 2007]
- 71 per cent of Russians do not see themselves as European. [Moscow Times, 1st March 2007]
- More than half of the London underground network is overground. [Prospect research]
- Andrew Jackson personally fought in 103 duels. [Washington Monthly, March 2007]
- Between 25,000 and 100,000 Indian farmers commit suicide every year. [The Hindu, 25th February 2007]
- Since 1961, 40 US senators have run for president. Every one has failed. [New York Times, 4th March 2007]
- The death rate in Zimbabwe is greater than that in Darfur. [New Republic, 8th March 2007]
- 90 per cent of American firms are family-owned, and around a third of Fortune 500 companies are at least partly family-managed. Family businesses account for two thirds of employment in the EU. [Dynasties: Fortunes and Misfortunes of the World's Great Family Businesses, by David S Landes]
