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This article was first published 13 years ago

A look at the world's most talked about nations

Last updated on: December 31, 2010 18:08 IST


Every nation has a story to tell.

Some are known for providing the most excellent standard of living, while some are known as the world's most prosperous nations, and others pride on their honesty, and for being the least corrupt nations in the world, as some struggle to provide basic infrastructure like roads.

Rediff.com has captured the glimpse of this story and how some of the leading nations in the world, including India have bagged their place as the most preferred destinations in the year 2010.

A look at the world's most talked about nations

Image: A currency dealer displays various currencies at his money changer stall.
Photographs: Athar Hussain/Reuters

Foreign exchange reserves - a yard stick to gauge a country's financial strength

Here's a list of top 10 nations in terms of their foreign exchange reserves. Leading this list is China, while India takes the sixth position, as Switzerland ranks 10th on the list.

Read on: 20 nations with largest foreign exchange reserves

A look at the world's most talked about nations


All that glitters

These nations are so far known as the richest countries in the world in terms of their gold reserves. India - known to have highest saving rates in the world - features 11th on this list.

Read on: Nations with the largest gold reserves: India at 11

A look at the world's most talked about nations


The Prosperity Index of 2010

The prosperity index is based on 89 variables over 110 countries, grouped into eight sub-indices, and claims to comprehensively rank the level of prosperity in 110 nations of the world.

Here, India slipped 10 places to the 88th spot, while China ranks 30 places higher, and Pakistan ranks 109th on this list.

Read on: World's most prosperous nations: India at 88

A look at the world's most talked about nations


Bribery is not the buzzword here

On the Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore tie for the first position.

Read on: The world's least corrupt nations

A look at the world's most talked about nations


Beating the power crisis

With, the total electricity production in the world in 2008 stood at 19,950,3917,395,212 kWh (kWh, or kilowatt hour, is a unit of energy equal to 1,000 watt hours), and the total power consumption at 17,109,665,000 gigawatt hours, find out who are the largest producers and consumers of electricity.

Read on: World's top 15 electricity producers, India 5th

A look at the world's most talked about nations


Photographs: Reuters

Nation's Best

Indian cities are scripting the country's growth story.

With a total urban population of 285 million, India's cities and towns are certainly developing at a fast pace. And, with every developing city, they all come with some positives and negatives.

So, find out which Indian city offer good quality of life?

Read on: 15 best cities to live in India

A look at the world's most talked about nations


Traffic Snarl

If there is anything that makes going to work a burden, it certainly is the growing traffic and unending hours at traffic signals.

Here's a list of some of the nations that suffer from the worst traffic congestions. The average time a commuter spends on travelling is almost 90 minutes in most of these nations.

Read on: Nations where office-goers face worst traffic

 

A look at the world's most talked about nations


Photographs: Reuters

Global FDI trends of 2010

According to the World Investment Report 2010, global FDI trends and estimates of global inflows stood at $1.1 trillion in 2009 and were expected to go over $1.2 trillion in 2010 and head back towards the pre-crisis level of $1.6-2 trillion in 2012.

Read on: World's top 10 FDI hotspots; India 9th!

A look at the world's most talked about nations


Photographs: Mark Blinch/Reuters

Matters of Income

According to the World Bank categories, nations with per capita income (PCI) less than $935 are 'low income;' nations with PCI from $936 to $3,705 are 'lower middle income;' those with PCI from $3,706 to $11,455 are 'upper middle income;' and those with PCI from $11,456 or more are 'high income.'

Find out, where India stands and which are the nations with the highest per capita income in the world.

Read on: Nations with highest per capita income

A look at the world's most talked about nations

Image: Helsinki Cathedral, Finland.

On the top of the world

Economic competitiveness, quality of life, education, health and political environment are some of the factors that make a country the best place to live in.

Here are few countries that are rated on these factors. Find out, if your preferred nation features on this list.

Read on: The world's best countries to live in: India at 78!