As of 2007, only 28 countries, representing 13% of the world's
population, are fully democratic. 54 countries, representing
38.3% of the world's population are flawed democracies;
30 are hybrid regimes; and 55, or 38.2% of the world's
population, are authoritarian regimes.
Multiparty elections are now held in 140 of the world's 195
countries.
Coups overthrew 46 elected governments in the second half of the
twentieth century.
The proportion of the world's extremely poor fell from 29% in
1990 to 23% in 1999.
In 2006, 2.6 billion people, or 40% of the world’s
population, lived on less than $2 a day, with 1 billion of them
surviving on the margins of subsistence with less than $1 a day.
In 2000, 1.1 billion people lacked access to safe water, and
2.4 billion did not have access to any form of improved sanitation
services.
Between 1970 and 2000 the under-5 mortality rate worldwide
fell from 96 to 56 per 1,000 live births.
Just 125 countries, with 62% of the world's population, have a free
or partly free press.
In 2007, 65 journalists died in the line of duty.
In 103 countries the proportion of women in parliament
increased between 1995 and 2000, but around the world it still
averages just 14%.
Of the world's estimated 854 million illiterate adults, 544
million are women.
Armed conflict continues to blight the lives of millions: since
1990, 3.6 million people have died as a result of civil wars and
ethnic violence, more than 16 times the number killed in wars
between states.
Civilians have accounted for more than 90% of the
casualties—either injured or killed—in post-cold
war conflicts.
Ninety countries are affected by landmines and unexploded
ordinance, with rough estimates of 15,000 to 20,000 mine victims each
year.
Greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere are accruing
at a record rate. In 2007, there were 380 parts per million of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere, which exceeds the natural range of the
past 650,000 years.
The United States has a carbon footprint five times that of
China, and over 15 times that of India.
The 23 million residents of the US state of Texas emit more
carbon dioxide than the entire population of sub-Saharan Africa,
which is 720 million people.
