Other tobacco-related stats include adult male smokers, adult female smokers and total adult smokers. There are also stats on cigarette consumption, total young smokers, young female smokers and young male smokers.

To get a grasp on changes in consumption over time, check this data from 1965 on hydroelectricity consumption and nuclear energy consumption.

There are also graphs on geothermal power use per $ GDP and per capita, hydroelectricity consumption per capita now and in 1965, nuclear energy consumption per capita now and in 1965.

The divorce rate in the United States is 4.95 per 1000 people per year. This means that approximately 1,437,000 people (718,500 couples) will divorce each year (1968 couples per day).

The divorce rate in the United States per population is the highest in the world. This is partly due to the marriage rate which is also the highest in the world (more marriages will potentially lead to more divorces).

To take the marriage rate into consideration when comparing divorce rates, the number of divorces per 100 marriages should be consulted. For the United States this rate is 49%, Lower than Belarus 68%, The Russian Federation 65%, Sweden 64%, Latvia 63%, Ukraine 63% The Czech Republic 61%, Belgium 56%, Finland 56%, Lithuania 55% The United Kingdom 53% and Moldova 52%.

The main religions in Canada are Roman Catholic 46% and Protestant 36%. Other major religious groups include: Christian Orthodox 1.49%, Christian (other)2.42%, Muslim 1.80%, Jewish 1.02%, Buddhist 0.93%, Hindu 0.92%, Sikh 0.86%, Other Eastern religions 0.12%, Other religions 0.20% and no religious affiliation 15.21%.

In the United States the largest religion is Christianity 77.30% (Protestant 53%, Catholic 23% Other Christian 1.3%) Other major religious groups include Judaism 1.38%, Islam 0.54%, Buddhism 0.53%, Hinduism 0.37%, Unitarian / universalist 0.31%, Wiccan/Pagan/Druid 0.11%, Spiritualist 0.04%,
Native American religions 0.05%, Baha'i 0.04%, New age 0.02%, Sikhism 0.03%, Scientology 0.03%, Humanist 0.02%, Deity 0.02%, Taoist 0.02%, Eckankar 0.01% and no religious affiliation 14.18%

The main religions in Mexico are nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5%.

As religious statistics are usually based on self identification and do not necessarily reflect religious service attendance or participation in other religious activities.

For further information on religion in North America see the religions page in the religion category.

About 2.7 million, or 54 percent of illegal aliens are believed to have come from Mexico, with an estimated 150,000 more arriving each year. Other countries that are a source of large numbers of illegal aliens include aEl Salvador, Guatemala, Canada, Haiti, the Philippines, Honduras, Poland, Nicaragua, the Bahamas, Colombia, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago, and Jamaica, all of which are believed to sources of more than 50,000 illegal aliens in the U.S. These countries account for 82 percent of all illegal aliens in the country.

Approximately 2 million, or 40 percent, of undocumented aliens are nonimmigrant overstays who entered the country legally and didn’t depart. Around 16 percent of illegal aliens from Mexico are nonimmigrant overstays, compared to 26 percent of those from Central American countries and 91 percent from all other countries.

All told, illegal aliens make up 1.9 percent of the total population of the U.S.

The poorest 20 percent of Americans earn 5.2 percent of the income, compared to the 46.4 percent of income which goes to the richest 20 percent. The average wage for a person in the top 20 percent is about 9 times as much as that of a person in the poorest 20 percent.

Based on the income distribution to the richest and poorest fifths of the population, we can deduce that the other 60 percent of Americans earn 49.4 percent of the income. That means they earn an average of about three times as much as the people in the poorest 20 percent and about one-third as much as the richest 20 percent.

Keep in mind, these averages reveal very little about the overall difference between various income earners because there is a wide range of income distribution within each of the lower, middle and upper classes.

• Net migration rate - Countries which have more people arriving than leaving have a positive net migration rate, Those with a greater number of people leaving have a negative rate.


• Asylum seekers.


• Foreign population - The proportion of the population who are immigrants.


• New citizenships.

• Applications . to the United States for refugee status.


• Refugee applications to the United States which were accepted, denied and otherwise closed.


• United States visa lottery winners.

Smoking related illnesses kill more than 400,000 Americans (around 276,000 men and 142,000 women) each year. This amounts to one fifth of all deaths.

For information on the death rate from specific smoking-related illnesses, see my detailed response to Mark (dated 2005-04-05) on this board.

Determining the number of people who have died from tobacco related illnesses is difficult as some non-smokers also die from these diseases.

Lung cancer, for example is generally considered a smoker's disease as 84% of cases are believed to have been caused by Tobacco smoking. Other factors which medical professionals believe to cause lung cancer include passive smoking, Asbestos, Radon exposure, Workplace carcinogens (such as arsenic, vinyl chloride and Chlorine gas, Talcum powder), Marijuana smoking, Recurrent infection, Genetic factors, Vitamin A deficiency or excess and Air pollution.

According to ASH (Action on Smoking and Health), Smoking is responsible for deaths from the following diseases:

• Cancers lung(84% of deaths), Upper respiratory (66%), Oesophagus (68%),Bladder (37%), Kidney (27%), Stomach (26%), Pancreas (23%), Myeloid Leukaemia (15%)
• Respiratory diseases Chronic obstructive lung disease (84%), Pneumonia (17%)
• Circulatory diseases Ischaemic heart disease (17%), Cerebrovascular disease (10%), Aortic aneurysm (57%), Myocardial degeneration (15%), Atherosclerosis (10%)
• Digestive diseases Ulcers of the stomach or duodenum (45%)

In addition to this, tobacco smoking also:

• Worsens symptoms of some diseases including Asthma, Graves’ disease (over-active thyroid gland) and Chronic rhinitis (chronic inflammation of the nose)
• Reduces function of the immune and reproductive system
• Increses the risk of other medical conditions including those affecting the eyes, teeth and gums, muscles, ligaments and tendons, reproductive system and skin.

The effect of smoking depends on the amount a person smokes and the length of time that they have been smoking. After the person stops smoking, their body begins to repair the damage, however even after ten years, the ex-smoker's risk still does not equal the lower risk of a person who never smoked.

For further information on Tsunami waves enter Tsunami in the factbites search box.

For information on the average hours spent in a classroom, refer to hours of instruction for pupils age 9, 10, 11, 12 and13.

For information on how this time is used in elementary school level refer to the proportion of primary education time spent learning physical education, arts, foreign languages, mathematics, mother tongue, religion, science, social studies, technology and vocational skills.

For information on the use of recreational drugs, see the usage rates of amphetamines, cannabis, alcohol (spirits, beer,
wine) and tobacco in the lifestyle category.