Tag Archives: Middle East

Cousin Marriage

Posted on by under Demography

POST_Cousin marriage.png

This may seem shocking, but worldwide approximately 10% of all marriages take place between first or second cousins. Above is a map displaying the relative percentages for marriages between first or second cousins for each country (Note: countries in gray mean there is not data). Marriages between cousins are concentrated in the middle east where some countries have as high as 50% of marriages between first or second cousins! The middle east region averages about 1/3 of all marriages to cousins – three times the world average.

Advertisement

US Bombed Countries (Post 1945)

Posted on by under Military, Politics

POST_Countries US has bombed since 1945.png

Above is a map of countries the United States has bombed since the end of WWII. A small portion of China was bombed by the US during the Korean War when the US government did not recognize the “People’s Republic of China” as the legitimate government of mainland China. (that lasted up until the mid-1970’s).

Here is a complete list of countries bombed by the United States:

Korea and China 1950-53 (Korean War), Guatemala 1954, Indonesia 1958, Cuba 1959-1961, Guatemala 1960, Congo 1964, Dominican Republic 1965-66, Peru 1965, Laos 1964-73, Vietnam 1961-1973, Cambodia 1969-70, Guatemala 1967-1970, Grenada 1893, Lebanon 1983-84, Libya 1986, El Salvador 1980’s, Nicaragua 1980’s, Iran 1987, Panama 1989, Iraq 1991 (Gulf War), Kuwait 1991, Somalia 1993, Bosnia 1994-95, Sudan 1998, Afghanistan 1998, Yugoslavia 1999, Yemen 2002, Iraq 1991-2003 (US and UK regular bombings), Iraq 2003-present, Afghanistan 2001-present, Pakistan 2007-present, Somalia 2007-08, 2011, Yemen 2009, 2011, Libya 2011

Country Executions

Posted on by under Demography, Politics

The United States is the only country in the western world to still retain the death penalty. It is also with the minority of the world – just 58 of 198 countries (29%) have used the death penalty in the last 10 years.

The chart below displays the top 25 countries ranked by executions over the past decade. China and Iran ‘lead’ in this category by a large margin. Iran has the distinction of having highest number of execution per capita. Meanwhile in China, the number of executions is officially unknown and regarded as a “state secret” – Estimates range from as high as 2500 to 5000 per year, more than the rest of the world combined!

The United States does not fair very well either – 5th in the world in executions with 350 since 2007.

POST_Executions by country.png

Break-even Oil Prices

Posted on by under Economics, Energy

The significant drop in the price of oil in the past few years has thrown many government regimes into question — especially those in the Middle East. The graphic below displays various Middle Eastern governments and what they need to price of oil to be in order to break-even on current payment obligations. Even foreign exchange rich Saudi Arabia will go broke in just five years if oil prices continue at this level.

POST_Breakeven prices oil.png