The world's most peaceful countries

Relationships between countries have become more peaceful since the rules-based order was established

Our World in Data monitors bilateral relationships on a spectrum from open rivalry to "positive peace"—deep cooperation and mutual protection. In 1945, no countries had highly cooperative security relationships. Today, nearly a fifth do.

The world's most (and least) corrupt countries

The annual index measuring every country's relative levels of corruption. In 2022, Denmark earned the top spot for transparency, with Sudan, Syria, and Somalia identified as having the highest levels of corruption in the public sector. The rankings...

Countries with either very low or very high religious diversity tend to be more peaceful

Research found a correlation between a country's relative stability and whether it has either very low or very high levels of religious diversity. Countries in the middle range—with moderate diversity and active competition between groups—show higher levels of conflict.

The world's 10 best places to live

The Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Index ranked 173 cities based on stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. The report shows an overall increase in livability scores compared to previous...

A report on social well-being around the world

This extensive report provides quantitative evidence on social well-being trends for 36 countries. Data cover demography and family characteristics, employment and wealth, mobility and housing, health status, social expenditure, subjective...

View a map of countries with the safest and most dangerous drinking water

More than a quarter of the world's population lives in water-stressed countries, and a similar number use contaminated drinking water sources, which can lead to widespread disease, according to the World Health Organization. The Environmental Performance Index shows which countries have safe drinking water.

An interactive map tracking conflict in the Middle East

Conflict and peace in the Middle East are constantly in flux. Decision-makers need up-to-date developments – both within individual countries and across the greater MENA region – to identify trends and risks of violence, and opportunities for...

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

Infographics explaining global terrorism trends

Our World in Data’s terrorism page details global trends in terrorism. Through interactive infographics, the site shows how the number of terrorist acts varies around the world and how it has changed over time. Sections investigate common definitions of terrorism, trends in global terrorism deaths, and the global distribution of terrorism. Additional segments highlight airline hijackings, public opinion, and media coverage of terrorism. Explore this website for an array of infographics on terrorism.

Read the WEF’s Global Risks Report for 2025

The Global Risks Report is the World Economic Forum’s annual assessment of the most pressing threats facing the world. The 2025 edition highlights declining global optimism, deepening geopolitical and economic tensions, and rising social fragmentation across societies.

Check out America's happiest places to live

Where are the best overall places to live in the US? This list focused on finding the happiest towns in America, given the ongoing reconsideration of how people want to live and work in the post-pandemic world. The selection process involved...

Roughly half of the world's nations are (relatively young) electoral democracies

Classifying countries by governance type involves leaning into technical systems like the Regimes of the World classification. In this data dive, see a map of the world's oldest and youngest electoral democracies, as well as liberal democracies (which are measured by the protection of minorities and checks on executive power from the legislature).

The best countries for work-life balance, ranked

New Zealand is number one, with universal healthcare and 26 weeks of paid maternity leave.

The UN’s interactive site analyzing the world’s population

The 2022 revision of World Population Prospects contains the official population estimates and projections from the United Nations. It presents population estimates from 1950 to present for 237 countries or areas around the world. The data consider...

The global defense industry in one chart

The world's most valuable defense companies (for example, Lockheed Martin) make up much of the global defense industry. As of 2025, RTX led the pack with a roughly $183B market cap.

View the most turbulent flight routes and airports around the world

Using data from NOAA and the UK Met Office, these maps identify South America as the geographic region with the highest average turbulence. The most turbulent flights in North America are all found in the western United States.

Which countries have the fastest internet speeds?

Ever wonder about how fast internet speeds are around the world? Take a look at this graphic which lists out the countries with the highest mobile internet speeds in 2023. Countries in the Middle East and East Asia dominate the list while America lags behind in eighteenth place. Learn more about why a high-income country like the US fall behind in speed, and why other countries are internet powerhouses.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

Explore which sectors produce the most greenhouse gas emissions by country

As of 2023, the energy sector, including electricity and heating, accounts for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions. The 10 largest greenhouse gas-emitting nations account for two-thirds of global emissions, with the world's top three—China, the US, and India—contributing 15 times more than the bottom 100.

Monaco is the world's most expensive real estate market

New York City was the world's second-most expensive real estate market, and Hong Kong was the third. A visual ranks the top 20 most expensive real estate markets in the world at the time.

Global support for free speech and press freedom has declined since 2019

A 2025 Pew Research survey found that the share of people worldwide who consider free speech and press freedom important has declined over the past several years, even though majorities in most countries still say these rights matter.

40 maps that explain North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is one of the most misunderstood countries in the world. Use these maps and charts, compiled by Vox, for context and clarity on North Korea. North Korea has a large military and an advanced nuclear...

Switzerland is widely considered the world capital of cheese

This charming infographic looks at the cheese-related habits of Europe’s top three cheese-producing countries: Italy, France, and Switzerland. Cheeses in France are reported to be the lightest, and Swiss cheeses the heaviest.

Spotify's most-streamed albums to date

Interested in people's listening habits? Look through this up-to-date list to find out the most streamed albums on Spotify. See which musicians top the list by year, decade, or even all-time.

Many countries, like Iceland and Norway, offer pensions to elderly citizens

Iceland, Luxembourg, and Norway offer some of the highest annual pension payouts at over 30,000 euros. The below chart shows how European nations stack up in terms of which offer the highest annual pension payouts.

What is the most painful thing in the world?

Pain is famously difficult to quantify, and though our response to it may be subjective, most pain does have underlying objective causes. So what's the most painful thing of all? Many say childbirth, or a broken femur, but this article lays out one case for why, of all things, kidney stones may be the most painful experience. Prepare yourself to find out here.

Mapping projected food inflation across the world in 2026

Iran tops the list of hardest-hit countries with a projected 56% inflation on food prices in 2026, followed by Argentina (33%) and Turkey (25%). In the opposite direction is Niger, whose food inflation is expected to drop 18% as a result of strong harvests and financial stabilization. The global average of food inflation is expected to be 3%.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in terms of casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

See how Ebola tore through Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in 2014-2016.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is 'Afghan Girl' (1984) by Steve McCurry, yet the subject Sharbat Gula went much of her life without being identified or benefitting from the image's success.

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

American short story writer Flannery O'Connor raised 40 peacocks, which became potent symbols for her fiction's elegant violence

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.