SOCIETYYOUNGEST
CURRENT UK MP
Mhairi Black (UK, b. 12 Sep
1994) was elected as
Member of Parliament for
Paisley and Renfrewshire
South in 2015, aged
20 years 237 days.
Representing the Scottish
National Party, Black
received 23,548 votes
- a ɇ32.9Ʌ swing in a
seat that had previously
been held by Labour.
YOUNGEST
CABINET MEMBER
At the age of 22, Shamma
bint Suhail bin Faris Al
Mazrui was appointed
as the UAE’s Minister of
State for Youth Affairs in
Sheikh Mohammed bin
Rashid Al Maktoum’s new
cabinet, announced in
Feb 2016. She also holds
the role of President of
the Youth Council. Sheikh
Mohammed tweeted:
“Youth represents some
half of our Arab societies,
so it is only logical to give
them a voice and role in
governing the nation.”MOST APPLICATIONS RECEIVED FOR
POLITICAL ASYLUM BY ONE COUNTRY
According to the Pew Research Center (USA), Germany
received 442,000 applications for asylum in 2015. The
number of asylum seekers applying to the 28-member
European Union was 1.3 million. Around half of all refugees
could trace their origins to one of three countries – Syria,
Afghanistan or Iraq – where external and civil wars (see
right) have displaced thousands of people from their homes.
LARGEST POLITICAL PARTY MEMBERSHIP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India claimed
100 million members as of Jul 2015. It was established as
a political party in 1980, arising from the Bharatiya Jana
Sangh (founded in 1951). Under the leadership of prime
minister Narendra Modi, the right-wing political party has
outgrown the Chinese Communist Party, which claimed
around 86 million members as of the same date.LONGEST-SERVING
PRESIDENT (CURRENT)
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (b. 5 Jun 1942) has been
president of Equatorial Guinea since 1979, when he ousted
his uncle and took control of the oil-rich Central African
nation. Mbasogo (pictured inset on a 1982 visit to Spain)
has maintained power through elections that opponents
claim are controlled. On 24 Apr 2016, he extended his
37 - year rule after securing 90Ʌ of the vote in an election.COUNTRY RANKED
LEAST AT PEACE
According to the Global Peace
Index 20 16, published by the
Institute for Economics and
Peace, the country least at
peace is Syria, with a score
of 3.806. The Middle East
country has been engulfed in
civil war since 2011, leading to
the devastation of cities such
as Aleppo (inset). The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights
estimated that 313,000 people
had died in the war as of Jan 2017.MOST WOMEN PRIME MINISTERS
Including acting officials, Norway has had three female Prime
Ministers: Gro Harlem Brundtland held the title three times
(4 Feb 1981–4 Oct 1981, 9 May 1986–16 Oct 1989, and 3 Nov
1990–25 Oct 1996). Anne Enger Lahnstein was appointed
acting PM to cover Kjell Magne Bondevik’s sick leave (30 Aug
1998–23 Sep 1998). And Erna Solberg (pictured) was elected
on 16 Oct 2013 and remains the PM as of 8 May 2017.
MOST FOLLOWERS
ON TWITTER FOR
A POLITICIAN
As of 25 Jan 2017,
former US president
Barack Obama (USA,
ɘBarackObama) had
83,313,483 followers on
the social media platform.
Obama ranked third on
Twitter overall, behind pop
stars Katy Perry (95 million
followers) and Justin
Bieber (91 million).MOST TIME MAGAZINE
COVERS (FEMALE)
Hillary Clinton had
appeared on a total
of 23 covers of Time
magazine as of Dec 2016.
The former First Lady and
Democratic presidential
candidate made her first
appearance on the issue
dated 14 Sep 1992, and
her most recent on 15 Feb
2016 (above right).
Since its first publication
on 3 Mar 1923, the most
Time magazine covers is
55 – a record held by the
37th president of the USA,
Richard Milhous Nixon
(above left).COUNTRY RANKED
MOST AT PEACE
According to the 2016
Global Peace Index, Iceland
was the country most
at peace, with a score
of 1.192, ahead of Denmark
with 1.246. Iceland
retained the top spot,
which it has held every
year since 2011. The index
takes into account factors
such as domestic and
international conflict,
safety and security in
society, and militarization.