XANDER BLAKELY BLOG

Revealing Statistics

Usually there are two types of statistics: those that bore and those that lie. However, when several boring but true statistics are juxtaposed, often they become much more interesting and insightful. The Harper's Index is the most famous, perhaps infamous, example of this technique. Using this technique, plus the Jeopardy answer-then-question format, I decided to put together my own index below:

• 890,000: Number of inmates in Russia's prisons in 2002.
  
• 1,312,354: Number of inmates in US prisons in 2000.
  

• 118: Number of Russian sailors lost in the Kursk accident.
  
• 129: Number of dead in Moscow's theater siege last fall.
  
• 90: Average number of accident fatalities on Russia's roads...everyday.

• $10,881,700,000: Total exports from Siberia in 2002.
  
• $10,800,000,000: Exports from California in 2001...to Canada alone.
  
• 15,531,000 sq. mi: Size of Siberia (including Russian Far East).
  
• 15,081,000 sq. mi: Size of the United States (including Alaska).
  

• 16.3: Number of deaths (per 1,000) in Russia in 2002
  
• 9.8: Number of births (per 1,000) in Russia in 2002 (up from 9.1 in 2000)
  
• 8.7: Number of deaths(per 1,000) in the US in 2000
  
• 14.2: Number of births(per 1,000) in the US in 2001

• 24.18: Number of deaths(per 1,000) in Botswana in 2001 (hightest in the world)
  
• 48.79: Number of births(per 1,000) in Mali in 2001 (hightest in the world)

  
  

  
  
  • Hawaii: The most Southern State in the US.
    
  • Alaska: The most Northern State in the US.
    
  • Alaska: The most Western State in the US. (Aleutian Islands)
    
  • Alaska: The most Eastern State in the US (The Aleutians Islands again)
    
  Posted by Xander at February 13, 2003 08:07 AM | TrackBack