OECD's Top 10 Highest CORPORATE Tax Rates

1. Japan --- 39.54%

2. United States --- 39.25%

3. France - 34.42%

4. Belgium --- 33.99%

5. Canada --- 33.5%

6. Luxembourg --- 30.38%

7. Germany --- 30.18%

8. New Zealand --- 30%

8. Spain --- 30%

8. Australia --- 30%


* OECD's 30 member countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States


* CNBC data compilation disclosure: "The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has tracked corporate tax data from its member countries every year since 1981. The tax rates listed here are “combined corporate income tax rates,” a number that includes both national and local levies. It should be noted that the OECD only compiles corporate tax data on its 30 member countries, which do not include the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China), as these countries are not currently full members. The lowest OECD Tax rates belong to Ireland (12.5%) and Iceland (15%)."

http://www.cnbc.com/id/30727913

Data Courtesy: CNBC

Demystifying South America's AMAZONIA

The Amazon BASIN:

* The Amazon Basin is the Largest drainage basin in the World and covers over 2.7 million square miles (6.9 million square kilometers or 1.7 Billion acres)...an Area over 10 times the size of Texas

* Per Wikipedia, the Basin covers approx 40% of South America...most of which (about 54%) is located in Brazil but it also extends to Peru and several other South American countries

The Amazon RIVER:

* The Amazon River stretches over 4,000 miles long and according to National Geographic, may be longer than Africa's Nile River thus making it the World's Longest River...see the link at the bottom of the post for more info

* The Amazon River is the World's Largest River by Volume and is responsible for about 1/5 of the Total Volume of Fresh Water entering the World's Oceans (1/5 of the World's total 'river flow')

* At its widest point the Amazon River can be 7 miles (11 km) wide during the DRY season, but during the RAINY season when the Amazon floods the surrounding plains it can be up to 28 miles wide (45 km)

The Amazon RAINFOREST:

* South America's Amazon Rain Forest is the World's Largest Rain Forest and covers approx 3.4 million square miles (5.5 million square km or 1.4 Billion acres)...if 'Amazonia' were a country it'd be the 9th Largest country in the World

* The Rain Forest is located within 9 countries: Brazil (with approx 60% of the rainforest), Peru (with 13%...2nd after Brazil), Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana

* Per Wiki, "...the Amazon Rainforest is the most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the WORLD as the region is home to about 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2000 birds and mammals...To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region"

* According to the January 2007 edition of National Geographic, given the Amazon Rainforest's current DEforestation Rate, the Rainforest will be reduced by 40% within the next 20 Years...Per annual deforestation data provided by Brazil's INPE (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais - 'National Institute of Space Research'), about 83% of the Rainforest now remains relative to its size prior to 1970 (100%). Most rainforests are cleared by chainsaws, bulldozers and fires for its timber value and then occupied by new farming and ranching operations. Per the below diagram, a disproportionate majority of the deforestation activity seems to have occurred in Brazil -

* As of 2006, about 1.05 million square miles (1.73 million square km or 430 million acres) of the Amazon Rainforest was marked for Conservation or protection

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Basin

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/06/070619-amazon-river.html

Data Courtesy: Wikipedia, National Geographic, BBC, WWF + INPE

El Mutun - Bolivia's IRON ORE 'Gold MINE'

The World's Largest Iron Ore deposit, El Mutun, is located in South America and is estimated to hold about 5% of the world's total Iron Ore Reserves. Iron Ore is an essential raw material required for the manufacture of STEEL. The remote mountain range deposit, also commonly referred to as El Cerro Mutun and/or Serrania Mutun, remains largely UNtapped and stretches an area of about 75 square kilometers across Bolivia and Brazil.


Numerically speaking, El Mutun's total estimated Reserves are approx 40 Billion tons containing about 20 Billion tons of Iron (50% iron). FYI, the World's total estimated ore reserves are about 800 Billion tons containing about 230 Billion tons of Iron (about 30% iron).

Lastly, while the world's largest iron ore deposit remains largely UNexplored, it should be noted that India's 3rd largest steel manufacturer, Jindal Steel and Power Limited, signed a $2 Billion Mutun production deal with Bolivia's government in July 2007. Per the link below, Jindal was granted rights for exploring and developing a 30 kilometer section of the deposit for 40 years.

in.reuters.com/article/companyNews/idINN1839136120070719

Data Courtesy: Wikipedia + Reuters

The WCI's Coal Hard Facts

Coal-related Facts courtesy of the World Coal Institute:


worldcoal.org/assets_cm/files/PDF/

* Global Coal Useage: Coal supplies 25% of the World's primary energy needs and generates 40% of the World's Electricity (per cited 2005 data)

* Global Coal Production: 2006's Estimated Global Coal Production was 5,370 Metric Tons...an 8.8 % increase over 2005's 4,934 MT

* Coal and STEEL: About 13% of Total hard Coal production is currently used by the STEEL industry (about 717 Mt)...About 70% of TOTAL Global Steel production is DEPENDENT on Coal (Coking Coal/Metallurgical Coal)...Australia is the World's Largest Exporter of Coking Coal + exported an estimated 121 MT in 2006

* Reserve Lives of Coal, Oil + Gas: At current production levels, proven coal reserves are estimated to last 147 years. In contrast, proven oil and gas reserves are equivalent to around 41 and 63 years at current production levels respectively

* Over 68% of the World's Crude Oil reserves are concentrated in the Middle East and Russia

* Over 67% of the World's Natural Gas reserves are concentrated in the Middle East and Russia

* Germany is the World's Largest 'Brown Coal' producer and produced an estimated 914 Mt in 2006 (a 1% increase over their 2005 production) ...Brown Coal (aka Lignite) is the lowest grade of coal and is used almost exclusively as a fuel for steam-electric power generation

Data Courtesy: World Coal Institute.

ALUMINUM - Abundant + Energy Expen$ive

Despite being the world's most abundantly available metal, ALUMINUM is the MOST-Energy Intensive to produce. Aluminum makes up about 8% of the Earth's solid surface weight and is the 3rd most abundant of all elements, behind oxygen and silicon. However, because of its strong affinity to oxygen, it is almost never found in the elemental state; instead it is found in oxides or silicates.

According to Wikipedia, Electric Power represents about 20% to 40% of the total cost of producing aluminium, depending on the location of the smelter. As a result, Aluminum Smelters tend to be situated where electric power is both plentiful and inexpensive, such as: South Africa, the South Island of New Zealand, Australia, China, the Middle East, Russia, Quebec, Canada and Iceland.

According to Bloomberg, the energy used by China's aluminum smelters each week is enough to provide electricity for more than 2 million people for a year.

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The Chinese Are Cutting (and Prices are Rising) :

* According to the British Geological Survey, China was the World's Largest Producer of Aluminium in 2005 with almost 20% world market share..followed by Russia, Canada and the U.S.

* China's largest aluminum smelters agreed on 7/10/08 to cut output by as much as 10%

* As a result of China's recently announced production cut, the research arm of Goldman Sachs (GS) cut their 2008 forecast expectations for a global aluminum surplus of 275,000 tons this year to 62,000 tons because of power shortages in China and South Africa...Because of a tightening supply environment Goldman Sachs also RAISED its 2008-2010 Aluminum Price Forecasts:

- Raised 2008: From $1.30 to $1.39 a pound (+7%)
- Raised 2009: From $1.32 to $1.60 a pound (+21%)
- Raised 2010: From $1.25 5o $1.45 a pound (+16%)

* Goldman Sachs also believes Chinese aluminum demand will rise 20% in 2009 and 15% in 2010, resulting in deficits (of supply)

bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHuHv.qdqDTY&refer=home

Data Courtesy: Bloomberg + Wikipedia
Full Disclosure: I own shares of GS.

BHP, RTP and RIO - The Iron Ore OligOpoly

According to Bloomberg, 3 companies control about 80% of the WORLD's seaborn (exported) IRON ORE marketshare.


These companies are (in order of marketshare):

1. Brazil's Vale (RIO...$163 Billion marketcap) - WORLD's LARGEST producer

2. England's Rio Tinto (RTP...$162 Billion mCap) and

3. Australia's BHP Billiton (BHP...$223 Billion marketcap)

FYI, Iron ore is an essential input/raw material for producing STEEL. According to Wikipedia, 98% of all mined iron ore is used to create steel.

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Anecdotally, No wonder China and India (ArecelorMittal Steel - MT) are concerned about a potential merger between mining giants BHP and RTP...can you say PRICING POWER !!

Lastly, for lists of the World's Largest Steel Producers (countries + companies), please refer to my archived 4/05/08 posts titled 'REF - World's Largest Steel Producers' and 'REF - World's Largest Steel Producing Companies'.

bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=MT:US&sid=akBEPNWVyi7o

Data Courtesy: Bloomberg + Wikipedia
Full Disclosure: I own shares of MT.+ Wikipedia

U.S.'s COAL Production + Wyoming

As mentioned numerous times in previous posts, the U.S. has the WORLD's LARGEST COAL Reserves and is often referred to as the 'Saudi Arabia of Coal'. Recognizing the 'investability' of COAL as a super cheap, viable alternative energy solution in the face of $140 Crude OIL, I decided to dig deeper into the U.S.'s production of the fossil fuel courtesy of 2006 data provided by the EIA:

* Coal is produced domestically in 26 states encompassing 3 Major Producing Regions:

1. Appalachian (34% of total production - Texas, Indiana, Illinois, etc.)

2. Interior (13% of total production - West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania)

3. Western (53% of total production - Wyoming, Montana, Colorado)

* The bulk of coal production domestically comes from the Western Region and the state of Wyoming...the Western Region accounted for 53% of total U.S. coal production in 2006

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WYOMING is by far the Largest Coal Producing State in the U.S...some interesting Wyoming coal production stats:

* 38.5% of the U.S.'s TOTAL Coal production in 2006 was mined in WYOMING (next largest state producer is West Virgina with 13% share...3rd is Kentucky with 8% share...and 4th is Pennsylvania with 6% share)

* Wyoming’s “Black Thunder Mine” mine individually produced more coal than 23 other coal producing states

* Wyoming accounted for about 72% of the Western Region production total

* Wyoming produced 56.9 million short tons more than the entire Appalachian Region in 2006

* Wyoming's 2006 production was almost 3 times the production of the Interior Region

Data Courtesy: EIA

China's #1 Industrial Metal Consumption

According to a 6/20/08 CNBC interview with the CEO of Rio Tinto (RTP), Tom Albanese:

* CHINA is the World's Largest CONSUMER of Steel, Copper and Aluminum.

* Over the past 5 years, China has been responsible for 95% of the incremental growth in Copper consumption...Two years ago China was consuming 1/4 of the world's copper, now China is consuming 1/3 of the world's copper.

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* United States-based Freeport Mcmoran Copper & Gold (FCX) is the world's largest publicly traded COPPER company...England-based Rio Tinto (RTP) is the world's largest publicly traded ALUMINUM company...Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal (MT) is the world's largest publicly traded STEEL company.

Data Courtesy: CNBC

Full Disclosure: I own shares of FCX and MT.

Top 5 Carbon Dioxide Emitters

According to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, China is the World's Largest Carbon Dioxide emitting country and from 2006-2007, contributed to 2/3 of the world's 3.1% increase in CO2 emissions. The U.S. is the world's 2nd largest 'producer' of carbon dioxide and its emissions rose 1.8% from 2006 to 2007 vs. China's 8% yoy increase in emissions.

Top 5 + % of TOTAL GLOBAL Carbon Dioxide Emissions:
1. China -- 24%
2. U.S. -- 21%
3. E.U. (15 countries) -- 12%
4. India -- 8%
5. Russia --6%

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* Per the 6/13/08 NEAA press release (link is below):

"In 2007, global CO2 emissions increased by 3.1%, compared to 3.5% in 2006...With an 8% national increase, China’s carbon dioxide emissions accounted for two thirds of last year’s global carbon dioxide increase of 3.1%. India, the USA and Russia each contributed about 10% to the global increase. Since 1990, global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use and cement production have increased by about 34%. The increase in global CO2 emissions was mainly due to the combustion of the fossil fuels coal, oil and natural gas. Fossil fuel still remains the most used energy source to meet the growing energy demand...China’s CO2 emissions are now estimated to be about 14% higher than those from the USA. With this, China tops the list of CO2 emitting countries, having about a quarter share in global CO2 emissions (24%), followed by the USA (21%), the EU-15 (12%), India (8%) and the Russian Federation (6%). Together, they comprise 71% of the total of global CO2 emissions. These figures are based on a preliminary estimate by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL), using recently published BP (British Petroleum) energy data and cement production data for 2007.

* In 2007, global emissions of the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel combustion increased by about 3.2%, which is about the same as the 3.1% increase in 2006. The increase in 2007 is mainly due to a 4.5% increase in COAL consumption:

- Global CO2 emissions from coal combustion increased by 4.5%. China contributed most to this increase with an 8% increase in 2007 (vs 12% in 2006). In the rest of the world coal combustion emissions increased by 2.2%.

- Global CO2 emissions from combustion of natural gas increased by 3.1%, mainly due to increasing consumption in China, Russia, Japan and Turkey.

- Global CO2 emissions from combustion of oil products increased by only 1.1%, mainly due to a decrease in consumption in OECD countries of 0.9%, on average. In non-OECD countries, oil consumption increased in 2007 by 3.8%. China, India, Saudi Arabia and Brazil contributed most to this increase.

Total CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion in China increased in 2007 by 7.6%. CO2 emissions from fuel combustion in the European Union countries “EU-15” decreased by 1.9% in 2007; in 2006 the emissions remained almost constant."

http://www.mnp.nl/en/index.html

Data Courtesy: NEAA

REF - The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)

Some Wikipedia Facts on the U.S. Department of Energy's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR):

* The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an EMERGENCY Crude Oil 'Store' maintained by the United States Department of Energy via mostly underground crude oil storage facilities...the SPR is Exclusively a CRUDE OIL Reserve, it is not a stockpile of refined petrochemical products, such as gasoline, diesel and kerosene

* The SPR is the World's Largest Emergency crude oil supply with CAPACITY to hold up to 727 million barrels of oil (fyi, the 2nd largest emergency supply of petroleum is Japan's with a 2003 reported capacity of 579 million barrels)...The reserve is stored at four sites on the Gulf of Mexico...the SPR's facilities COST close to $4 Billion to construct

* The United States started the SPR in 1975 with the objective of minimizing severe supply disruptions after oil supplies were cut off by OAPEC (OPEC plus Egypt and Siria) during the 1973-1974 Oil Embargo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis)

* The current inventory is displayed on the SPR's web site. As of June 6th, 2008, the current inventory was 704.2 million barrels. At $130 a barrel, the SPR holds over $90 billion worth of Crude Oil...According to the CIA World Factbook, the United States imports a NET 12 million barrels of oil a day, so the SPR holds about 58 Days worth of Crude Oil Imports. (However, the maximum total withdrawal capability from the SPR is only 4.4 million barrels per day, making it a 160 + Days of Imported Supply)

* Between the U.S. government's SPR + supply estimates of the U.S. PRIVATE sector's 'protected' oil inventory, it is believed that the U.S. has about 115 days worth of 'protected' Crude Oil Imports Supply

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Petroleum_Reserve

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* FYI, on May 16, 2008, the Department of Energy announced it was canceling its daily oil shipments (70,000 barrels a day) into the SPR beginning in July, 2008. The U.S. hopes a temporary halt to SPR stockpiling will increase available crude supplies on the market and thereby reduce the cost of oil.

Data Courtesy: Wikipedia

REF - World's Largest Oil Consumers

World's Largest Oil Consumers (in Millions of Barrels per day):

1.) The United States: 20.7 million

2.) China: 7.2 million

3.) Japan: 5.2 million

4.) Russia: 2.8 million

5.) Germany: 2.7 million

*Interesting to see that the U.S. consumes THREE Times the amount of Crude Oil as CHINA...and TEN Times the amount of Russia.

Data Courtesy: EIA

GAZPROM's #1 in Natural Gas

Some investment points on Russia's largest company, Gazprom (GZPFY):

* SCALE --> Gazprom is currently the world's 2nd Largest company in terms of market cap with a valuation near $360 Billion...Exxon Mobil (XOM) is #1 with a market cap near $500 Billion. Gazprom believes it will pass Exxon and become the world's largest company by 2014.

* #1 NAT GAS Reserves --> Gazprom is the World's Largest natural gas producer and controls approx 16% of the World's natural gas reserves or 29 TRILLION cubic meters.

* AGGRESSIVELY Growing Production --> Unlike slow-moving industry giant Exxon Mobile, Gazprom is Aggressively spending on production in order to cash in on higher trending oil prices. In 2010, Gazprom plans to spend $45 Billion in CAPEX on projects related to increasing energy production and transport (this is over TRIPLE the company's capital 2007 expenditures of $14 Billion!).

* PRICING POWER --> According to Wikipedia.com, 'By the end of 2004, Gazprom was the SOLE (MONOPOLY!!) Gas supplier to at least Bosnia-Herzegovina, Estonia, Finland, Republic of Macedonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova and Slovakia, and provided 97 percent of Bulgaria's gas, 89 percent of Hungary's, 86 percent of Poland's, nearly three-quarters of the Czech Republic's, 67 percent of Turkey's, 65 percent of Austria's, about 40 percent of Romania's, 36 percent of Germany's, 27 percent of Italy's, and 25 percent of France's. The European Union as a whole gets about 25 percent of its gas supplies from Gazprom.'

* NATIONAL $IGNIFICANCE --> Gazprom shares are 50% owned/controlled by Russia's government. The company employs 430,000 people and pays for 20% of Russia's annual budget. Maybe it's just me but it looks like Russia has a STRONG + Deep-Rooted interest in the continued prosperity of this company and thus Gazprom basically has the government's blessing to maintain its MONOPOLY in natural gas (the company accounts for 93% of Russia's total natural gas production).

Freeport's 'Moly B' Exposure

Besides being the world's 2nd Largest producer of COPPER (and the largest publicly traded copper producing company in the world)...Freeport McMoran (FCX) is also the WORLD'S LARGEST producer of Molybdenum.

This is significant because 75% of the worlds' molybdenum is consumed via STEEL production. In other words, Freeport is not only benefiting from record high prices in COPPER...it's also benefitting from record high prices in STEEL.

*FCX's 2007 Numbers:
Total --> $17.0B sales, $6.5 Billion operating income
Molybdenum --> $1.75 B in sales, $353 million operating income

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*Chile's private state-owned Codelco is the WORLD's LARGEST producer of COPPER

*Chile accounts for 1/3 of the World's total global production of COPPER

Full Disclosure: I own shares of FCX.

BHP's Commodity Leadership

Australia's BHP Billiton (BHP) is the WORLD' LARGEST supplier of Manganese ore. According to Wikipedia.com, manganese is used for steel production and its use in steelmaking accounts for about 85-90% of the commodity's total demand.

BHP is also the world's 3rd largest supplier of nickel, seaborne iron ore, copper, silver and lead.

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*FYI, if BHP's proposed merger with Rio Tinto (RTP) were to go through the $450 Billion combined entity would supply 20% of the total iron ore (essential for steel production) consumed by China.

Data Courtesy: CNBC.

REF - World's Largest RICE Ex/Importers

The WORLD's Largest Exporter of RICE is THAILAND.

The world's largest three EXporting countries are:
1.) Thailand (accounts for 26% of world exports)
2.) Vietnam (15%)
3.) The United States (11%)

*It should be noted that China and India are the top two largest producers of rice in the world..but they are also the top two consumers...both countries consume the majority of their domestically-produced rice leaving little to be traded (as exports) internationally.

The world's largest three IMporting countries are:
1.) Indonesia (14%)
2.) Bangladesh (4%)
3.) Brazil (3%)

*Between 1961 and 2002, per capita consumption of rice has increased by 40% (!)

*5-6% of the world's produced rice is available to be traded internationally

Random
Thought
Of
Brilliance
...ONLY Five to Six % of the WW rice SUPPLY is available via the global EXPORTs market ?!? Look at the DEMAND- A steady, impressive 40% increase in consumption AND this demand should only increase at a FASTER rate in the future given India and China's promising economies. Thus, given the above supply/demand fundamentals - Doesn't RICE have the classic look + feel of not only tight WW supplies moving forward but maybe even the HOLY grail...an investing thesis that has YEARS of legs because is driven by (GASP)...scarcity !

At the very least, this situation bears further watching. NO WONDER rice prices have been on fire the past year or so..check out the below graph (and NOTE the Hyper-growth 'spurt' from 3Q07 to present):




http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/RI/M

Data Courtesy: Wikipedia.com.

REF - World's Largest Electricity Producers

Check out the below 2005 Chart showing the WW Geographic Distribution of ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION (the annual electricity generated expressed in kilowatt/hours...FYI, the discrepancy between the amount of electricity generated and/or imported and the amount consumed and/or exported is accounted for as loss in transmission and distribution.), courtesy data from the CIA World Fact Book:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html#Econ



*According to 2007 data from the CIA World Fact Book, the U.S. is #1, China is #2, Japan is #3, Russia is #4 and India is #5 in terms of annual electricity production.

*Reference the World Book's Complete List of Largest Electricity Producers:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2038rank.html

Data Courtesy: The CIA World Fact Book.

REF - World's Largest COAL EXPORTERS

According to Wikipedia.com data from 2003-2005, the World's Largest COAL EXPORTERS (million tons):

Country - Yearly Exports: 2003...2004...2005
*Total - 713.9...764.0...804.2

1. Australia - 238.1...247.6...257.6
2. Indonesia - 107.8...131.4...147.6
3. China - 103.4...95.5...79.0
4. South Africa - 78.7...74.9...77.5
5. South America (cumulative) - 57.8...65.9...68.8
6. Russia - 41.0...55.7...62.3
7. United States - 43.0...48.0...49.9
8. Canada - 27.7...28.8...31.0
9. Poland - 16.4...16.3...16.4
10. Vietnam - N/A...10.3...14.1

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*ANECDOTALLY, looks like the U.S. (aka the SAUDI ARABIA OF COAL) has some room to UP Coal Export capacity...

Data Courtesy: Wikipedia.com, snagged on 4/30/08.

REF - World's Largest COAL Reserves

According to British Petroleum's (BP) 2007 statistical review on World Energy, the World's Largest PROVEN COAL RESERVES as of year end 2006:

Rank / Country - Total Reserves…WW Share %
*World – 909,064 GIGATONS…100%

1 United States of America - 246,643…27.1% WW Share
2 Russia - 157,010…17.3%
3 China - 114,500…12.6%
4 India - 92,445…10.2%
5 Australia - 78,500…8.6%
6 South Africa - 48,750…5.4%
7 Ukraine - 34,153…3.8%
8 Kazakhstan - 31,279…3.4%
9 Poland - 14,000…1.5%
10 Brazil - 10,113…1.1%
11 Germany - 6,739…0.7%
12 Colombia - 6,611…0.7%
13 Canada - 6,578…0.7%
14 Czech Republic - 5,552…0.6%
15 Indonesia - 4,968…0.5%
16 Turkey - 4,186…0.5%
17 Greece - 3,900…0.4%
18 Hungary - 3,357…0.4%
19 Pakistan - 3,050…0.3%
20 Bulgaria - 2,187…0.2%
21 Thailand - 1,354…0.1%
22 North Korea - 600…0.1%
23 New Zealand - 571…0.1%
24 Spain - 530…0.1%
25 Zimbabwe - 502…0.1%
26 Romania - 494…0.1%
27 Venezuela – 479…0.1%

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Other Notes:
*The United States Energy Information Administration gives world reserves as 998 billion short tons (equal to 905 gigatonnes) with approximately half of it being 'hard coal'...at the current production rate, this would last 164 years.

*The 998 billion tons of recoverable coal reserves estimated by the Energy Information Administration are equal to about 4,417 BBOE (billion barrels of oil equivalent).

*The U.S. is the 'Saudi Arabia' of COAL...owning nearly 30% of the world's proven coal reserves !

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*Lastly, check out the below interesting diagram courtesy of Wiki outlining WHERE the U.S.'s country coal reserves are located:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Us_coal_regions_1996.png

Data Courtesy: Wikipedia.com, snagged on 4/30/08.

REF - World's Largest Internet Users

According to the 2007 data from the CIA World Fact Book, below are the WORLD's LARGEST INTERNET POPULATIONS:

Rank / Country (Internet Users...% of Pop)
* World (1,173,109,925…17.8%)
* European Union (273,234,619…55.7%)

1 United States (210,575,287…69.7%)
2 China (162,000,000…12.3%)
3 Japan (86,300,000…67.1%)
4 Germany (50,426,117…61.1%)
5 India (42,000,000…3.7%)
6 Brazil (39,140,000…21.0%)
7 United Kingdom (37,600,000…62.3%)
8 South Korea (34,120,000…66.5%)
9 France (32,925,953…53.7%)
10 Italy (31,481,928…52.9%)
11 Russia (28,000,000…19.5%)
13 Mexico (22,700,000…21.3%)
12 Canada (22,000,000…67.8%)
14 Indonesia (20,000,000…8.5%)
15 Spain (19,765,033…43.9%)
16 Vietnam (18,226,701…21.4%)
17 Iran (18,000,000…27.5%)
18 Argentina (16,000,000…49.7%)
19 Turkey (16,000,000…21.1%)
20 Taiwan (15,400,000…67.4%)
21 Australia (15,085,600…71.9%)
22 Malaysia (14,904,000…56.3%)
23 Netherlands (14,544,400…87.8%)
24 Poland (14,084,600…36.6%)
25 Philippines (14,000,000…15.4%)
26 Pakistan (12,000,000…7.3%)
27 Colombia (10,097,000…22.8%)
28 Thailand (8,465,800…13.0%)
29 Nigeria (8,000,000…5.9%)
30 Portugal (7,782,760…73.1%)
31 Peru (7,324,300…25.5%)
32 Chile (7,035,000…43.2%)
Other Notables:
36 Egypt (6,000,000…7.5%)
40 Venezuela (5,297,798…20.4%)
44 Saudi Arabia (4,700,000…17.0%)
56 Singapore (2,421,800…53.2%)
61 UAE (1,708,500…38.4%)
64 Ecuador (1,549,000…11.3%)
65 Dominican Rep (1,500,000…16.2%)
73 Uruguay (1,100,000…31.8%)
76 Guatemala (1,000,000…7.6%)
76 Puerto Rico (1,000,000…25.0%)
79 Costa Rica (922,500…20.5%)
88 El Salvador (637,100…9.5%)
90 Bolivia (580,000…6.4%)
108 Panama (300,000…2.2%)
113 Honduras (260,000…3.8%)
117 Cuba (190,000…1.7%)
130 Nicaragua (140,000…2.5%)
157 Iraq (36,000…0.1%)

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Some Quick Takeaways:

*The WORLD is less than 20% penetrated.
*China is only 12% penetrated!
*India is only 4% penetrated!
*Brazil, Russia and Mexico are only 20% penetrated!
*The. U.S., Canada, Japan and EU are relatively mature markets (60-70% penetration)
*MANY South American countries are 'under-penetrated' (Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Bolivia, Panema, Honduras, Cuba, Nicaragua, etc.)

Data Courtesy: Wikipedia.com, snagged on 4/30/08.

U.S. is #1 in Corn Production

The U.S. is the WORLD'S LARGEST PRODUCER + EXPORTER of CORN.

Anecdotally, now I understand how the U.S. Department of AGRIGULTURE could have so much sway with the U.S. politicians and their foolish, potentially crooked and certainly harmful Energy + Agriculture policies.

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*Quick Examples of current SKETCHY U.S. Ag policies include:

1.) the hopelessly INefficient + INFLATIONARY ethanol from CORN gasoline Fuel MANDATE

2.) the Brazillian ethanol Import TARIFF (Brazil is the world's largest ethanol producer and they could easily add additional supply to support the growing needs/demands of the U.S. market...allowing for a meaningful reduction in the amount of U.S. domestic corn production geared towards satisfying the substantial ethanol fuel production requirements (currently about 30% of the U.S.'s corn crop is used for fuel)...this would free up more U.S. domestic corn production that would be geared towards satisfying the MUCH MORE SIGINFICANT NEED of WORLDWIDE FOOD consumption...which would ultimately lead to lower prices in at least corn and ethanol + would help counter WORLDWIDE food price inflation!)

3.) Farm Subsidies during 'BOOM' times (BTW, this is one of those BOOM times...it also seems like the U.S. government is doing more than its fair share to sustain the current Agriculture industry BOOM).