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

The World Bank’s population data bank

This website by the World Bank provides visualizations for demographic data from around the world. Specific demographic data, such as total population, can be viewed through maps, charts, and graphs. Results can be filtered by sex, country, or year....

Data visualizations showing population growth around the world

This page presents data, charts, and analysis on changes in population growth around the world. Over the last few centuries, the human population has gone through an extraordinary change. In 1800, there were 1 billion people; today, there are more...

See how populations across the world could change in the 21st century

This tool lets you model the populations of individual countries by adjusting key demographic inputs. See how changes in birth rates, mortality, and migration affect the size and structure of future populations.

Four global trends in shifting demographics

This UN summary outlines four global trends in shifting demographics. The world’s population is expected to peak by the end of the century as fertility rates continue to decline. Between now and 2050, the global population is projected to become...

Three ways the US population will change over the next decade

This article lists the top three ways the US population will change over the next decade. Using population data from the US Census Bureau and the UN Population Division, the piece explores what America might look like 10 years from now, which...

Visualizing the world's population centers

What does population density look like on a global scale? These detailed 3D renders illustrate our biggest urban areas and highlight population trends.

As of 2022, scientists estimate that 117 billion people have been born on Earth

Although no demographic data exist for more than 99% of the time humans have existed, this value can be estimated by tracking approximate population sizes over different periods and the birth rates within those periods. In 2022, about 6.8% of humans that have ever been born were alive.

A majority in surveyed countries approve of the UN

A 2024 Pew Research Center survey found that a median of 58% across 35 countries viewed the UN favorably, while 31% held unfavorable views. Notably, younger adults tended to view the UN more positively than older generations. The report offers a detailed, country-by-country analysis of global perceptions of the UN.

193 nations are members of the United Nations

The UN's Member States webpage provides an alphabetical list of all 193 member countries, along with the exact dates they were admitted. Take a look at how the UN has expanded over time and understand each nation's place in the global organization.

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 the countries with the most internet users, including 94% of those in high-income nations

As of 2025, the four most populous nations—China, India, the US, and Indonesia—are also the ones with the most internet users, collectively accounting for almost half of the 6.04 billion internet users worldwide. This suggests that population size, rather than adoption rate, is a better predictor of online activity.

Experts suggest where the UN should be reformed

In 2020, as the United Nations marked its 75th anniversary, the Council on Foreign Relations' Council of Councils published a collection of expert essays proposing reforms to enhance the UN's relevance. This collection of essays is a thought-provoking look at the UN's future.

Roughly 60,000 people serve 11 UN peacekeeping missions

One of the UN’s primary roles is peacekeeping—deploying personnel to conflict zones to maintain stability and protect civilians. The Better World Campaign’s page on UN peacekeeping offers a comprehensive overview of these missions, highlighting their global reach and the involvement of over 2 million personnel from 125 countries across 71 operations.

Under-5 child mortality has been cut in half since 2000, UNICEF reports

The United Nations Children's Fund works globally to protect children's rights and well-being. Its 2024 report on child mortality reveals that under-5 deaths have halved since 2000. The report includes interactive data visualizations that can be sorted by year or topic.

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.

Explore a series of NASA visualizations tracking satellites and space debris

The series illustrates the population of objects orbiting Earth as of February 2024, using data from US Space Command. These include active satellites, defunct spacecraft, rocket bodies and debris fragments larger than roughly 10 centimeters in low Earth orbit.

Explore the UN’s interactive guide to global plastic pollution

Around the world, 1 million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute, while 500 billion single-use plastic bags are used worldwide every year. In total, half of all plastic produced is designed to be used only once—and then thrown away.

The world's most peaceful countries

Global Peace Index presents the most comprehensive data-driven analysis to date on trends in peace, including the most and least peaceful countries in the world.

Explore Pew Research's 2025 Religious Landscape Study

The study—conducted in 2007, 2014, and 2023-24—surveys more than 35,000 Americans about their affiliations, beliefs, practices, and views on religion. Find data on religion broken down by all 50 states.

Explore OPEC’s official webpage

OPEC’s official website offers a comprehensive hub for its core work—featuring press releases, monthly and statistical reports, digital publications like the World Oil Outlook and Annual Statistical Bulletin, and other research center materials.

Explore an interactive atlas of worldwide critical mineral production

This tool from the US Geological Survey tracks the production over over 90 minerals in 180 countries. For a selected country, you can see how many critical minerals it produces, where else those minerals are produced, and what each mineral is used for.

See the results of all 59 presidential elections from 1789 to 2024

This interactive tool lets users explore the outcomes of every US presidential election from George Washington's uncontested 1789 victory through 2024, showing how electoral votes, state results, and shifting coalitions shaped each race.

Tracking the accuracy of past and future predictions of the apocalypyse

Religious figures, scientists, technologists and others have long heralded the ending of the world in what in some traditions is called the apocalypse. This site tracks those failed predictions in the past and charts those coming up in the future.

An interactive overview of the human toll of the Yemen conflict

The conflict in Yemen shows no signs of stopping. Civilians continue to suffer from military hostilities and human rights violations. More than 20,000 civilians have been killed and injured by the fighting since March 2015, according to the Office...

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

Explore more than 7,000 of the world's languages

Google collects open-source data on languages, detailing how many known speakers each language has, whether its endangered, and where in the world it is spoken.

Visualize the path of every solar eclipse from 1900 to 2099 and see what each looks like when observed from different locations on Earth.

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

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

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

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

The 2026 Ebola outbreak is hampered by a lack of vaccine against the species of the virus, heightening the need for rapid tests to aid in disease control.

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

Coral polyps reproduce via broadcast spawning, where entire reefs simultaneously release reproductive cells for about one hour, once a year.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

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.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by more than 1.5 million Muslims each year.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.