The registered voter turnout in the 2000 presidential elections in the U.S. was 67.4 percent, compared to 46.7 percent in Ireland’s 1997 elections.

For parliamentary elections, the registered voter turnout in Ireland was 62.6 percent in 2002, while in the U.S. it was 63.8 percent in 2000.

The government of Ghana is a constitutional democracy. The president and vice president are elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms. The most recent election was held on 7 December 2004 resulting in the president John Agyekum Kufuor maintaining his position with 52.75% of the vote.

For more information on the government of Ghana, see the government page of the detailed public profile for Ghana.

China has 2,810,000 armed forces personnel and 206 million men of military age who are fit for military service. In both of these statistics, China hold first rank.

In 2004 South Korea consumed around 2.14 million barrels a day. This amounts to a per capita use of 44.3 barrels per 1000 people per day, a comparable usage rate to Australia.

Between 1980 and 2000, oil consumption in South Korea increased fourfold. South Korea has ratified the Kyoto Protocol to reduce emissions caused by the burning of fossil fuels, although it has not undertaken to meet specific targets.

South Korea was not included in the list above as this information has only recently become available to the source.

Statistics showing enrolment in government-run institutions, disaggregated by gender and at all education levels, for 2003-04, is available with the Ministry of Education.

On NationMaster, you can create and view graphs, but in order to download or print these, you need to be a supporter.

This statistic is not based on land area. The quantity being measured is BMI(body mass index). BMI is a method of comparing a persons weight and height. It is calculated from the formula:

BMI = Weight (KG) / Height squared (m^2)

BMI is a widely used indicator of possible health risk as it relates to physical mass (how much space the human body actually takes up). A BMI of over 25 is associated with a higher risk of illness.

BMI does not take into account build, proportion of body fat, maturity level or other health factors (such as disease, genetic risk). Because of these limitations, BMI should not be the only indicator of a persons ideal weight.

Most of New Zealand's energy is currently derived from oil and hydro power. Other significant sources of energy include coal, gas, geothermal and thermally generated electricity. Renewable energy sources such as wind, biogas, industrial waste and wood provide lesser amounts of energy.

Most of New Zealands coastline is straddled with petroleum potential, although currently commercial extraction has only taken place in the Taranaki basin. Proven or probable economically viable petroleum reserves total 2964 million tonnes with an additional possible 500 million economically viable tonnes. Coal deposits exist throughout New Zealand. At present, coal is only mined on the west coast of the South Island and in Waikato in the north Island. Total extractable coal reserves are 112,534 tonnes (2001).

New Zealand's hydroelectric catchments include the Waikato River in the North Island, and the Waitaki River and Clutha River in the South Island. The total energy output from Hydroelectric power is 2088MW

There are currently five wind farms in New Zealand, four of these are located in the lower North Island and one is located in Canterbury. In total, these wind farms produce 170MW of electricity (enough to meet the needs of 75,000 average New Zealand households. Wind power is a reasonable new and expanding source of energy. New Zealands geography is ideally suited for electricity generation by wind power.

Currently 60MW of electricity is produced by geothermal power in the central North Island volcanic plateau. By April 2005 the geothermal energy output should reach 100MW with the estimated potential to reach 250MW.

Among the many sites describing the local food, is one that gives recipes.

Both the United Kingdom and Germany had a greater number of asylum seekers than the U.S. in 2001.

Denmark, Canada, Finland and Sweden all had higher asylum-seekers acceptance rates, and the U.S. has a lower foreign population than Luxembourg, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland and Canada.

The net migration rate for the U.S. was estimated to be 3.52 per 1,000 population in 2003, lower than 29 other countries.

However, the U.S. did lead the world in new citizenships, with 898,000. One also has to take into mind that the many illegal aliens who enter the United States, especially from Mexico, are not included in these statistics.

However, the population growth rate of Russia was estimated at minus 0.3 percent in July 2003. Given that this probably wasn’t just a single-year blip but part of a long-term trend, it would be reasonable to assume that the growth rate was the same the previous year.

This negative growth rate would mean a drop of 435,600 people 2002 to 2003. If we subtract this number from the 2002 total, the result would be 144,764,400, statistically close enough to the figure given here to consider it as a close estimate of the number of Russians.