Starlink’s official availability map (May 2026) lists 166 countries and territories with active consumer service, 42 with announced 2026 launches, 34 in regulatory limbo, and 8 explicitly banned. Mapped from Starlink’s own data file plus multilingual cross-checks of regulatory status.

OECD-UNSD’s 4th MEIP release (March 2026) finds 74% of the top 500 multinationals headquartered in the Americas + Europe, 24% in Asia, almost half in the United States alone. Mapped using Fortune Global 500 (2024) country counts as the publicly verifiable companion ranking.

World Bank’s April 2026 WDI update extends internet-access data to 2024 for 211 countries. World average is 71.2%; Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE hit 100%; twelve of the bottom fifteen are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

All 35 countries heading to Wiener Stadthalle in May 2026 — the full participant map, every contestant by semi-final, and the local broadcast time of the Grand Final everywhere from Sydney to Los Angeles.

The 2026 Global Terrorism Index by the Institute for Economics & Peace ranks 163 countries by composite terrorism impact score (0–10). Pakistan (8.574) tops the index for the first time, replacing Burkina Faso (8.324). Six of the top 10 are in sub-Saharan Africa: Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Somalia, and DR Congo. Just five countries account for nearly 70% of global terrorism deaths. Globally, terrorism deaths fell 28% to 5,582 in 2025 — the lowest since 2007 — but the burden is more concentrated than at any point in two decades. Western fatalities rose 280% to 57, driven by lone-wolf attacks (93% of fatal Western attacks since 2021), antisemitism, Islamophobia, and political polarisation. This post maps every country’s GTI 2026 score and explains how the index works.

The S&P Global / HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing PMI rose to 52.2 in April 2026, the highest reading in nearly four years and the first time since June 2022 that all 8 surveyed eurozone members posted readings above the 50 expansion threshold. Ireland led at 54.9 (47-month high), followed by France at 52.8, Netherlands 52.7, Greece 52.4, Italy 52.1, Spain 51.7 (the biggest mover, jumping from 48.7), Germany 51.2, and Austria 51.2. France and Italy posted their sharpest expansions since H1 2022. But S&P Global’s chief economist Chris Williamson warned the print is “more a cause for alarm than celebration” — front-loading ahead of expected US tariff increases is inflating order books, input price inflation is at a 46-month high, and forward-looking business optimism dropped to a 6-month low.

Six different date rules cover Mother’s Day around the world. The 2nd Sunday of May (May 10 in 2026) is the global default — observed in roughly 110 countries from the United States, Canada, Australia, and most of Europe through China, Japan, India, and most of Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. The Arab world celebrates on March 21 (spring equinox, since Egypt’s 1956 reform). France and most of Francophone Africa wait until the last Sunday of May. Iberia and Lusophone Africa use the 1st Sunday of May. Post-Soviet states and parts of the Balkans fold Mother’s Day into March 8 International Women’s Day. And ~30 countries — Russia, Mexico, the UK, Indonesia, Thailand, Norway, Bolivia, Argentina, Nepal, Poland, Belarus, and others — pick their own dates for their own reasons. This post maps every country and unpacks each rule cluster.

Female labor force participation rates by country in 2025, per ILO modelled estimates published in the World Bank’s April 2026 WDI batch. Madagascar (82.9%), Solomon Islands (82.3%), Nigeria (80.7%), Tanzania (80.3%), and Burundi (79.5%) lead the world — far above the Nordic cluster at ~60%. The MENA region dominates the bottom: Yemen (4.7%), Afghanistan (5.1%), Iraq (10.9%), Syria (12.7%), Iran (14.0%), Algeria (14.1%), Jordan (16.0%), Egypt (18.5%). Saudi Arabia (+16pp since 2010) is the decade’s biggest mover. This post maps every country and explains why subsistence-economy participation rates beat OECD figures by a large margin.

240 million people live with chronic Hepatitis B globally, with fewer than 5% receiving treatment — per the WHO’s Global Hepatitis Report 2026 (released April 2026). West Africa has the world’s highest prevalence: Mali (13.9%), Sierra Leone (13.5%), Guinea-Bissau (12.3%), Cameroon (11.5%). Indonesia (17.5M cases) and Nigeria (14.4M) carry the largest absolute burden. Western Europe and Latin America sit under 1%, the result of universal infant vaccination since the 1990s. The WHO’s 2030 elimination target is now off track — birth-dose vaccine coverage in Africa is under 20% against a 90% goal. This post maps every country’s chronic HBV prevalence and surfaces where the burden is concentrated.

World Bank’s April 2026 WDI update maps the global renewables divide. Bhutan (100%), Lesotho (99.8%), Costa Rica (99.4%), and Norway (99.1%) lead the world, all driven by hydropower. The Gulf monarchies — Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait — sit at the bottom near 0%. The decade’s biggest transitions: Denmark from 32% to 79% (offshore wind), the UK from 7.7% to 40.2% (offshore wind), Cambodia from 4% to 56% (hydro). The G20’s biggest economies — China 28%, US 20%, India 19% — still get the bulk of their electricity from fossil fuel. This post maps every country’s 2021 renewable share and identifies who’s moving.

The IMF April 2026 World Economic Outlook puts general government gross debt above 100% of GDP in 23 countries, led by Japan (204%), Singapore (172%), Sudan (169%), Bahrain (152%), Italy (138%), Greece (137%), and the United States (126%). The US is on the steepest projected path among advanced economies — climbing to 142% of GDP by 2031. China just crossed the 100% line and is projected at 127% by 2031. Gulf petrostates and Russia sit well below the global average. This post maps every country’s 2026 debt level and surfaces the trajectories through 2031.

May 1 is a public holiday in 171 of the world’s 199 countries and territories — making International Workers’ Day the planet’s most-shared workday off. Twelve countries observe Labour Day on a different date (USA, Canada, UK, Australia, NZ, Japan, three Caribbean nations, plus Bahamas and two more). Sixteen countries have no national Labour Day public holiday at all (Israel, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, India, the Gulf monarchies, Bhutan, Brunei, Mongolia, plus three Caucasus/Central-Asian post-Soviet states). South Korea joined the May 1 club for the first time in March 2026 after a bipartisan Public Holidays Act amendment. This post maps where May 1 stands in 2026 and explains every exception.

The world spent $2.887 trillion on its militaries in 2025 — eleven straight years of increases. But the headline 2.9% rise hides a sharper story: spending excluding the US grew 9.2%, Europe added 14%, and Ukraine’s defence burden hit 39.6% of GDP. Mapped: every country’s military expenditure as a share of GDP, with the eleven nations above the 4% line.

Government revenue as a percentage of GDP across 191 countries — Norway tops 59.5%, Sub-Saharan Africa averages 19.6%, the US is the lowest in the G7 at 30.4%. Mapped from the IMF Fiscal Monitor April 2026 vintage.

How common is renting in Europe? Germany is the only major economy where most households rent (52.8%), followed by Türkiye (43.1%) and Denmark (41.6%). Romania is lowest at 6.8%, followed by Croatia (8.6%) and Hungary (10.2%). Full 24-country 2025 ranking from Eurostat’s ilc_lvho02 series, the post-communist privatisation story, and why Germany’s Mietspiegel keeps half the country renting.

The World Happiness Report 2026 ranks 147 countries on a 0–10 life-evaluation ladder. Finland is #1 for the ninth year running at 7.764, Costa Rica breaks into the Top 5 at #4, and Afghanistan sits last at 1.446. See the full global choropleth, top 20 and bottom 15 tables, and the big 2026 finding on young-adult wellbeing.

US per-capita personal income in 2025 from the BEA’s April 2026 release. DC leads at $116,121; Connecticut tops the states at $98,879; Mississippi trails at $54,531. National average $76,393 (+4.3% YoY). Full ranking, 10-year growth story, regional breakdown.

An M7.4 earthquake struck 100 km east-northeast of Miyako, Iwate at 16:53 JST on April 20, 2026. JMA issued a 3 m tsunami warning; actual waves peaked at 80 cm (Kuji Port). All advisories lifted by ~23:53 JST. Two minor injuries, no fatalities. Nuclear plants and Shinkansen resumed normal operations on April 21. Interactive map of the epicenter, shaking intensity by city, and tsunami warning zones — with Sanriku-coast quake history.

The IMF’s April 2026 World Economic Outlook projects unemployment for 107 economies. Sudan tops the list at 61.3% — civil-war-driven collapse. South Africa follows at 32.5%, chronic and structural. Thailand reports the world’s lowest at 1.0%. Full country-by-country map, top 10 / bottom 10 rankings, and regional snapshot.

Singapore leads the 2026 Henley Passport Index with visa-free access to 192 destinations. Japan, South Korea, and the UAE share 2nd at 187. Afghanistan trails at 23 — the widest gap on record (169 destinations). Every country mapped, the 10 strongest and weakest ranked, and the UAE’s 20-year climb to joint 2nd explained.