Some common questions asked by students
1. I NEED GRAPHS ON THE POPULATION OF COUNTRIES
The ranking of countries based on population can be found at - http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/peo_pop. You can find other statistics and graphs related to population in the people category.
2. I NEED DATA FOR MY STATE - TEXAS. WHERE CAN I FIND THE GRAPHS?
We are sorry - but we only compare countries here. Statistics for states will be available here soon - but currently, you might have to look elsewhere.
3. WHERE CAN I FIND CLIMATE INFORMATION?
Climate information of countries is found in http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/geo_cli&int=-1. Other related stats like rainfall, humidity etc can be found in the geography category.
4. I NEED ALL THE INFORMATION I CAN FIND ON MEXICO. HOW DO I START?
You need to go to the Mexico country page first. You can then select the different categories you are interested in and collect all the information you require. To find out what stats are available in each category, check the description of categories. To find similar information about other countries, start at the country listing and click on the country that interests you.
5. WHICH IS THE BIGGEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD? THE SMALLEST?
You are looking for the country size graph. Look for other similar graphs in the geography category.
6. I NEED INFANT MORTALITY AND LIFE EXPECTANCY CHARTS
Infant mortality and other related stats will be found in the health category.
7. I'M LOOKING FOR THE POPULATION PYRAMIDS OF CHINA. I WANT THESE FOR MULTIPLE YEARS. WHERE CAN I GET THEM?
Try the China - Age distribution chart we have. If you need this chart for other countries, click on 'Age Distribution' after reaching the particular country page. Start at the country listing and click on the country that interests you to reach it's country page.
8. MAPS! WHERE DO I GET THE MAPS OF THE COUNTRIES?
You need to start with our Maps listing. The maps of all countries are listed here. Click on the one that interests you to enlarge it. Alternatively, you can start with the world map on the home page and keep clicking on the area you are interested to zoom in to the country level.
9. I HAVE TO MAKE A CHART OF ALL THE FLAGS OF SOUTH AMERICA. CAN YOU HELP ME?
Sure we can. Select 'South America' from the regions listed in the box (just left of this). You'll see all the countries of this region, alongwith the flags present there.
10. I NEED TO USE THESE GRAPHS FOR MY THESIS. DO I NEED TO TAKE PERMISSION FROM ANYONE?
Yep, you do. If you are just using some figures from graphs for your school homework, we do not mind, so long as you cite us properly. But if you are using complete graphs or several of them, you do need to take prior permission. The process is simple - you just need to drop us a mail. We usually allow students to use our data, but we decide on a case-to-case basis.
11. ARE YOU RELIABLE? IS YOUR DATA AUTHENTIC? WHERE DO YOU GET THIS DATA?
We do not make these graphs off the top of our heads. They are collected from very reliable sources like the CIA Fact book, UN agencies, OECD etc. See the source listing for a complete list of all our sources. The actual source of every stat is shown at the bottom of the graph. If you have any queries on particular graphs, you can usually get more information from the source.
12. I HAVE TO COMPARE THE NUMBER OF SMOKERS IN THE USA OVER MULTIPLE YEARS, BUT I CAN JUST FIND THE GRAPH FOR ONE YEAR. WHAT DO I DO?
We are sorry, but we maintain only the latest information available for these stats. We only maintain historic data for very important graphs like GDP per capita and so on.
13. WHY CAN'T I FIND MY COUNTRY IN SOME OF THESE GRAPHS?
First, check you haven't restricted it to a particular set of countries or regions by seeing if anything is highlighted in the green "make your own graph" form.
Very few studies include all countries in the world, either because the data was not available, or because it simply wasn't of interest to the source body. We do not combine resultsets because they have different methodologies, samples and timesets. Our sources often do though, and they can do so because they are particularly qualified in the relevant area.
The lack of a statistic for a country does not imply that they have none of the thing in question (airports, etc) or even that it has never been measured. You should consider our graphs only as comparisons of the countries that are included in the graph, not of all countries.
14. WHY ISN'T ENGLAND/NEW YORK/BAVARIA INCLUDED IN THIS LIST?
We only report on countries, not smaller administrative regions.
15. HOW CAN THIS DATA BE VALID WHEN IT'S TWO YEARS OLD?
We always like to use the most up-to-date information. Often the statistic you see here is the newest you'll find anywhere. There may be nothing more recent available because:
Countries don't conduct national censuses every year. Australia, for example, conducts its census every 5 years.
The last study on the topic was conducted several years ago.
The data has been collected, but not published yet.
The data has been published, but not collated across a number of countries.
We invite you to look around - if you find something more recent, by all means let us know.
The comments section below is meant to function as a forum where you can request and receive help from your fellow students. So, if you need something which is not on this page, ask for help! Someone will point you in the right direction. Just ask!