REF - World's Largest Foreign Currency Reserves

WORLD'S LARGEST FOREX RESERVES:
*In U.S. Dollars equivalence
*Country Data figures range from September 2007 to April 2008

*World -- $7.3 TRILLION
1. China -- $1.6 Trillion
2. Japan -- $1.0 Trillion
3. Russia -- $507 Billion
4. India -- $309 Billion
5. Taiwan -- $287 B
6. South Korea -- $264 B
7. Brazil -- $194 B
8. Singapore -- $172 B
9. Hong Kong -- $160 B
10. Germany -- $153 B
11. France -- $125 B
12. Malaysia -- $119 B
13. Algeria -- $110 B
14. Thailand -- $109 B
15. United Kingdom -- $105 B
16. Italy -- $103 B
17. Mexico -- $90 B
18. Libya -- $79 B
19. Turkey -- $77 B
20. Iran -- $76 B
21. Switzerland -- $75 B
22. United States -- $74 B
23. Poland -- $73 B
24. Nigeria -- $60 B
25. Indonesia -- $58 B
Other Notables:
26. Norway -- $58 B
27. Argentina -- $50 B
28. Canada -- $44 B
36. Australia -- $33 B
40. Saudi Arabia -- $31 B
41. United Arab Emirates -- $30 B
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FOREX Overview:
According to Wikipedia.com, "FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES (also called FOREX reserves) in a strict sense are only the foreign currency deposits held by central banks and monetary authorities. However, the term foreign exchange reserves in popular usage (such as this list) commonly includes foreign exchange and gold, SDRs and IMF reserve position as this total figure is more readily available, however it is accurately deemed as official reserves or international reserves...These are assets of the central banks which are held in different reserve currencies such as the dollar, euro, yen and pound, and which are used to back its liabilities, e.g. the local currency issued, and the various bank reserves deposited with the central bank, by the government or financial institutions. Before the end of the gold standard, gold was the preferred reserve. Some nations are converting foreign exchange reserves into SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS, which can rival foreign exchange reserves in size."

Data Courtesy: Wikipedia.com, snagged on 4/06/08.