WEALTH
A country’s wealth is often measured in terms of the
money it earns in a year divided by its number of
inhabitants. This is called its Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) per capita. Both Norway and Qatar make lots
of money from exporting oil and gas, and since they
have small populations their GDP per capita are very
high. Burundi in east Africa has only one-twentyfifth
of the income of Qatar divided between five times
as many people, so its GDP per capita is very low.
TRADE
Although air freight is an important
element of international trade, about
90 percent of cargo by weight is
transported by sea. Altogether, this
adds up to around 11 billion tons of
freight. Much of this is transported
in containers, carried by more than
5,000 container ships. The busiest shipping
routes link Europe and North America
with the Middle East and Far East, with
ports such as Singapore, Shanghai, Dubai,
and Rotterdam handling most of the trade.
BUSIEST AIRPORTS
Air travel has expanded enormously since the 1950s,
when international air travel was a luxury enjoyed by
a few wealthy people known as the “jet set.” Today,
flying is often the most economical way to travel, as
well as the quickest. This is reflected in the vast number
of passengers who pass through the world’s airports as
they travel for business or pleasure. The world’s busiest
airport is Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
in Atlanta, with more than 100 million people arriving
and departing each year. The graphics below show
the busiest airport in each continent, and number
of passengers.
AIRBUS A
The growth in air travel has led to the development
of giant airliners such as the Airbus A380. When it
entered service in 2007, this was the world’s largest
passenger plane, capable of carrying up to 853 people.
Traffic in millions of tons
400+
300–
200–
100–
20–
10–
5–
Norway
$74,
Qatar
$73,
Canada
$43,
Japan
$32,
Lithuania
$14,
Bolivia
$3,
Burundi
$
N. AMERICA:
Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta, USAASIA:
Beijing Capital, ChinaAUSTRALIA
& OCEANIA:
Kingsford Smith,
Sydney, AustraliaEUROPE:
Heathrow, London, UKS. AMERICA:
Guarulhos, São
Paulo, BrazilAFRICA:
Tambo,
Jo’Burg,
South Africa19.
million
39.
million
39.
million
75 million
89.9 million
101.5 million
Planet People
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