Africa

Rift Valley fever spreads by mosquitoes and contact with infected livestock, causing abortion storms in animals and rare severe disease in humans.

Zimbabwe has 16 official languages — the world's most. India recognises 22 scheduled languages. Papua New Guinea has 840+ spoken languages, making it the world's most linguistically diverse country. Here's the full ranking of countries by official and spoken languages — and what extraordinary linguistic diversity means for governance.

Russia has the most desert and dryland by total area. But Australia has the highest percentage of desert territory at 35%. The Sahara covers 11 countries. Desertification is advancing at 12 million hectares per year — an area the size of England lost annually to spreading desert. Here's the full ranking and the crisis of expanding deserts.

Chad and Somalia have the world's highest birth rates at approximately 6.0 children per woman. Sub-Saharan Africa dominates the top 20. Meanwhile Europe and East Asia face demographic contraction below 1.5. The gap between the world's fastest-growing and fastest-shrinking populations is the largest in recorded history — with consequences for migration, economics, and geopolitics that are only beginning.

Ethiopia, DR Congo, and Niger have the worst access to clean drinking water — fewer than 50% of the population has access. 2.2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water globally. Waterborne diseases kill 1.5 million people annually. A child dies every 2 minutes from diarrheal disease linked to unsafe water.

Niger has a median age of just 15.0 years — half the population is younger than a teenager. The top 20 countries with the world's youngest populations are almost exclusively in sub-Saharan Africa, and their demographic trajectory will reshape the global economy over the coming decades.