World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: John Firth/Getty Images
Photographs: A mother carrying her child in a phone booth.

From being an inevitable part of the telecommunication services, landlines are becoming outdated.

With the advent of cheaper mobile phones, the popularity of landphones started declining.

Today, China tops in the total number of main telephone lines.

China

Rank: 1

Number of main telephones: 285.11 million

Take a look at the countries with the highest number of telephone lines according to Indexmundi...

(Total number of main telephone lines in use as of January 1, 2012)

...

Tags: China Rank , Indexmundi

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: An aerial view of the Manhattan skyline as seen from Lower Manhattan in New York.
Photographs: Adrees Latif/Reuters

United States

Rank: 2

Number of main telephones: 151 million

...

Tags: United States Rank

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: A house decorated with Christmas lights and figurines is lit up in Freising, about 30 km (18.6 miles) north of Munich.
Photographs: Michaela Rehle/Reuters

Germany

Rank: 3

Number of main telephones: 45.6 million

...

Tags: Germany Rank

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: Moscow, Russia.
Photographs: Viktor Korotayev/Reuters

Russia

Rank: 4

Number of main telephones: 44.95 million

...

Tags: Russia Rank

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: Brazilian National Congress in Brasilia.
Photographs: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters

Brazil

Rank: 5

Number of main telephones: 43.02 million

...

Tags: Brazil

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: Japan's Mt Fuji, covered with snow, is seen through Shinjuku skyscrapers in Tokyo.
Photographs: Kimimasa Mayama/Reuters

Japan

Rank: 6

Number of main telephones: 40.41 million

...

Tags: Japan Rank

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: French climber Alain Robert, a rock climber who has become famous for climbing known buildings worldwide, climbs the 215m (705 feet) high, 50 floors Bakrie Tower building in Jakarta.
Photographs: Supri/Reuters

Indonesia

Rank: 7

Number of main telephones: 37.96 million

...

Tags:

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: Christmas holiday lights hang from trees to illuminate Champs Elysees in Paris as rush hour traffic fills the avenue leading up to the Arc de Triomphe.
Photographs: Charles Platiau/Reuters

France

Rank: 8

Number of main telephones: 36.15 million

...

Tags: France Rank

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: A horse-cart passes in front of the Queen Victoria Memorial in Kolkata.
Photographs: Jayanta Shaw/Reuters

India

Rank: 9

Number of main telephones: 35.09 million

...

Tags: India Rank

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: Workers sit in gondolas as they perform tests on the new cable car link across the River Thames in London.
Photographs: Toby Melville/Reuters

United Kingdom

Rank: 10

Number of main telephones: 33.32 million

...

Tags: United Kingdom Rank

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: Part of Gangnam area is seen down the Han River in Seoul.
Photographs: Lee Jae Won/Reuters

South Korea

Rank: 11

Number of main telephones: 28.5 million

...

Tags:

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: A man counts notes in Tehran.
Photographs: Reuters

Iran

Rank: 12

Number of main telephones: 26.84 million

...

Tags: Iran

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: Tourists pass a Louis Vuitton shop closed for refurbishment, its facade covered with a faux suitcase, in Rome.
Photographs: Chris Helgren/Reuters

Italy

Rank: 13

Number of main telephones: 21.60 million

...

Tags: Italy

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: A Spanish flag flutters in the wind in front of the dome of Bank of Spain headquarters in central Madrid.
Photographs: Sergio Perez/Reuters

Spain

Rank: 14

Number of main telephones: 19.90 million

...

Tags: Spain

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: Pedestrians walk past the Torre Latinoamericana illuminated by LED lights, as part of an artistic intervention, in downtown Mexico City.
Photographs: Tomas Bravo/Reuters

Mexico

Rank: 15

Number of main telephones: 19.89 million

...

Tags: Mexico Rank

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: People go shopping in a mall in downtown Toronto.
Photographs: Mark Blinch/Reuters

Canada

Rank: 16

Number of main telephones: 16.43 million

...

Tags: Canada Rank

World's top 20 nations with telephone connections

Image: People visit a giant replica of Lemuel Gulliver built in a park in central Taiwan's city of Taichung.
Photographs: Ralph Jennings/Reuters

Taiwan

Rank: 17

Number of main telephones: 16.43 million

...

Tags: Taiwan