The World’s Biggest Governments, Mapped
Kiribati’s government spends 98% of the country’s GDP, the highest share on earth. A cluster of wealthy European countries very nearly match that number, for an entirely unrelated reason.
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Tea Consumption by Country and How It Changed Since 2010
Global tea and mate supply grew from 11,476 to 33,091 thousand tonnes between 2010 and 2023. China and India together account for about 64 percent of the 2023 total. Sri Lanka leads every country in per capita consumption at 51.69 kg (114.0 lbs) per person. Vietnam and Turkiye posted the sharpest per capita gains of the period.
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Where Is Eastern Europe?
Geography gives us a starting point, but the actual idea of Eastern Europe comes from centuries of changing borders, politics, and shared traditions. We look at different maps, from the CIA to time zones, to show why this region is so hard to define.
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Canada Is Much Further South Than Most Maps Suggest
Canada looks like a country of snow and endless winter on the map, yet its six biggest cities land at the same latitude as London, Paris and even Florence.
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Which US States Require a Front License Plate
23 states don’t require a front license plate, and the list keeps growing. Utah joined most recently in January 2025, and a bill to make Virginia the next one died in the legislature earlier this year.
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Gambling Laws Around the World
The oldest gambling dice are over 5,000 years old. The global gambling market hit $650 billion in 2026. Whether a bet is legal where you are is a completely different question. Five world maps break down casino gambling, online casinos, sports betting and online betting for all 195 countries, plus a Gambling Friendliness score for each.
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Countries Where the Official Language Uses a Native Writing Script
Most of the world writes its official languages in alphabets that arrived from outside, whether Latin from Roman colonialism or Cyrillic from 9th-century Byzantine missionaries. Only about 44 of 195 countries use a script that grew from within their own tradition.
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Earth’s Biodiversity Hotspots, Mapped
About one million species are currently sliding toward extinction, and most of what remains is concentrated in a surprisingly small slice of the planet. This map traces 33 of the regions carrying that weight, from California’s redwood groves to the volcanic forests of Chile and the islands of Wallacea.
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The Fertile Crescent Around 7500 BCE
A single map tracking the world around 7500 BCE lines up eighteen sites tied to the origins of farming, from Göbekli Tepe in Turkey to Jericho in the West Bank. Only one of them still has people living on it today.
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The Native Range of Palm Trees Around the World
A palm has no bark, no growth rings, and only one growing point for its whole life, yet roughly 2,600 species have found ways to survive everywhere from rainforest floors to Mediterranean cliffs.
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