Charted: Contributions to UN Peacekeeping Forces by Country

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13 seconds ago

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June 15, 2024 Article/Editing:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.


Charted: Contributions to UN Peacekeeping Forces by Country

An earlier version of this graphic was posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

With their sky blue helmets, berets, and badges, the UN Peacekeeping forces are meant to be a symbol of international cooperation in conflict zones around the world.

They’re composed entirely from voluntary contributions from UN Member States—and include police and civilian roles along with military personnel.

The visualization by creator Preyash Shah serves as a primer on the UN Peacekeeping forces. It shows which countries are the biggest personnel contributors, which of them are top funders, and also lists the current ongoing peacekeeping operations. Data for this chart comes from the UN Peacekeeping archives.

Countries by Troop Contributions to UN Peacekeeping (2023)

From South Asia, a trio of countries—Nepal, Bangladesh, and India—are each contributing more than 6,000 personnel to the UN peacekeepers.

A majority of these representatives are soldiers, heavily involved in the four active peacekeeping missions in Africa.

RankCountryPersonnel 1🇳🇵 Nepal6,247 2🇧🇩 Bangladesh6,197 3🇮🇳 India6,073 4🇷🇼 Rwanda5,919 5🇵🇰 Pakistan4,164 6🇮🇩 Indonesia2,717 7🇬🇭 Ghana2,664 8🇨🇳 China2,267 9🇪🇬 Egypt1,739 10🇲🇦 Morocco1,715 11🇹🇿 Tanzania1,544 12🇪🇹 Ethiopia1,509 13🇸🇳 Senegal1,194 14🇿🇦 South Africa1,133 15🇨🇲 Cameroon1,103 16🇺🇾 Uruguay1,016 17🇿🇲 Zambia996 18🇹🇳 Tunisia988 19🇲🇳 Mongolia898 20🇮🇹 Italy872 21🇲🇾 Malaysia865 22🇲🇼 Malawi802 23🇲🇷 Mauritania787 24🇧🇮 Burundi769 25🇰🇭 Cambodia734 26🇪🇸 Spain688 27🇺🇬 Uganda654 28🇫🇷 France587 29🇱🇰 Sri Lanka561 30🇰🇷 South Korea545 31🇮🇪 Ireland458 32🇰🇪 Kenya456 33🇳🇬 Nigeria421 34🇹🇬 Togo408 35🇩🇪 Germany383 36🇯🇴 Jordan357 37🇫🇯 Fiji339 38🇧🇯 Benin319 39🇦🇷 Argentina292 40🇹🇭 Thailand289 41🇬🇧 UK280 42🇻🇳 Viet Nam274 43🇷🇸 Serbia271 44🇵🇪 Peru262

Visualizing the State of Refugees by Country

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28 seconds ago

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June 6, 2024 Article/Editing:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Visualizing the State of Refugees by Country

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

30,510,629—That’s the number of refugees the world had in 2023 according to documented refugees by the UNHCR. These are the people who left their homeland to find a safe refuge in a foreign country.

In fact, according to the the UN’s refugee agency, there were a total of 110 million people forcibly displaced worldwide. Of those, a vast majority (almost 60%) were internally displaced, while the rest were the 30.5 million refugees charted above by Preyash Shah.

52% of Asylum Seekers Came from Three Countries in 2023

More than half of the refugees under UNHCR’s mandate originate from only three countries: Syria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. Here is the breakdown by country of origin, including not fully recognized countries and refugees of unknown origin.

Country of OriginRefugees 🇸🇾 Syria6,494,141 🇦🇫 Afghanistan6,110,219 🇺🇦 Ukraine5,865,447 🇸🇸 South Sudan2,227,684 🇲🇲 Myanmar1,266,022 🇸🇩 Sudan1,027,070 🇨🇩 Dem. Rep. of the Congo948,417 🇸🇴 Somalia814,561 🇨🇫 Central African Rep.750,875 🇪🇷 Eritrea537,161 🇳🇬 Nigeria381,149 🇮🇶 Iraq330,667 🇧🇮 Burundi323,487 🇻🇪 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)300,759 🇷🇼 Rwanda249,543 🇲🇱 Mali233,188 🇨🇳 China161,574 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka147,624 🇮🇷 Iran (Islamic Rep. of)147,238 🇪🇹 Ethiopia145,039 🇨🇲 Cameroon133,945 🇭🇹 Haiti116,463 🇹🇷 Türkiye115,708 🇵🇰 Pakistan115,662 🏳️ Unknown114,949 🇨🇴 Colombia111,394 🇵🇸 Palestine106,426 🇪🇭 Western Sahara91,016 🇷🇺 Russian Federation85,382 🇭🇳 Honduras72,341 🇸🇻 El Salvador62,248 🏳️ Stateless56,281 🇾🇪 Yemen43,526 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan43,305 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso43,124 🇬🇳 Guinea38,089 🇲🇷 Mauritania37,216 🇬🇹 Guatemala32,220 🇷🇸 Serbia and Kosovo30,333 🇧🇩 Bangladesh25,311 🇨🇮 Cote d’Ivoire25,264 🇪🇬 Egypt24,652 🇳🇪 Niger23,280 🇮🇳 India23,243 🇦🇱 Albania21,750

Who Rules the Waves? U.S. and Chinese Fleets, by Tonnage

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24 mins ago

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June 5, 2024

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Who Rules the Waves? U.S. and Chinese Fleets, by Tonnage

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

China’s third aircraft carrier recently began its sea trials, and there are reports that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy already has more ships than the United States, just how do these superpower rivals stack up, ton for ton?

This graphic from Chris Dickert looks at the Chinese and U.S. navies by tonnage using data from the International Institute for Security Studies.

Key Takeaways The U.S. Navy has over 3.6 million (U.S.) tons of ships in its fleet, more than seven times the size China’s combined fleets of less than half a million tons. While China boasts the largest number of ships, 875 between both the PLA Navy and the Chinese Coast Guard, against the U.S. Navy’s 364, they are generally smaller and less advanced than their U.S. counterparts. The Chinese Coast Guard has received many of the PLA Navy’s older ships, however the vast majority of their ships are patrol and coastal combatants that average 156 tons apiece and aren’t able to sail far from China’s coast. Even as the U.S. Navy edges out the PLA Navy across the board, China does hold a 2:1 edge in tonnage of landing ships and craft, reflecting the Asian superpower’s stated policy goal of reunifying Taiwan with the mainland. BranchShip TypeNumberTonnage (U.S. short ton) PLA NavyLanding Crafts781,789 PLA NavyLanding Ships5228,410 PLA NavyPrincipal Amphibious Ships1165,000 PLA NavyAircraft Carriers2137,500 PLA NavyCruisers813,000 PLA NavyDestroyer4270,480 PLA NavyFrigates4913,810 PLA NavyStrategic1230,000 PLA NavyTactical4727,219 U.S. NavyAmphibious396,050 U.S. NavyLanding Craft14111,692 U.S. NavyPrincipal Amphibious Ships31843,580 U.S. NavyAircraft Carriers111,100,000 U.S. NavyCruisers15159,390 U.S. NavyDestroyer73619,964 U.S. NavyFrigates2477,600 U.S. NavyStrategic14262,500 U.S. NavyTactical52431,124 China Coast GuardLanding Ships24,800 China Coast GuardLogistics and Support2711,085 China Coast GuardPatrol and Coastal Combatants54585,425 1,2394,090,418

Mapped: The World’s Largest Armies in 2024

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21 seconds ago

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June 1, 2024

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Mapped: The World’s Largest Armies in 2024

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Despite being considered the biggest military force in the world, the United States doesn’t have the largest army in terms of personnel.

This graphic shows the top 10 countries by military personnel as of May 2024, including active and reserve personnel, as well as paramilitary forces. It is based on estimates from GlobalFirepower.com.

Vietnam, India, and South Korea Have the Biggest Armies

China has the largest standing army, with over 2 million active personnel. With increasing defense spending over the last decades, the country also ranks third in the number of tanks and second in the number of aircraft carriers in service.

When reserve personnel are included, however, the Chinese military falls behind those of Vietnam, India, South Korea, and Russia.

Vietnam’s forces include 600,000 active personnel and over 5 million in reserve. This is because Vietnam, along with countries like South Korea and Israel, has a standing policy of conscription for young adults.

CountryTotal Military Personnel (est.)Region 🇻🇳 Vietnam5.8MAsia 🇮🇳 India5.1MAsia 🇰🇷 South Korea3.8MAsia 🇷🇺 Russia3.6MEurope/Asia 🇨🇳 China3.2MAsia 🇺🇦 Ukraine2.2MEurope 🇺🇸 United States2.1MNorth America 🇰🇵 North Korea2.0MAsia 🇵🇰 Pakistan1.7MAsia 🇮🇷 Iran1.2MMiddle East

Interestingly, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted in a massive increase in Ukrainian personnel numbers. Active personnel rose from around 170,000 in 2016 to over 900,000.

Despite not having the largest army, the U.S. accounts for almost 40% of global military expenditures, with its 2022 spending totaling $877 billion.

China ranked second in absolute terms, accounting for another 13% of world military expenditure at $292 billion.

Visualized: Aircraft Carriers by Country

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26 seconds ago

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May 11, 2024 Graphics/Design:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Visualized: Aircraft Carriers by Country

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Aircraft carriers are warships equipped with a full-length flight deck for carrying, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Since they allow naval forces to utilize air power without relying on local bases, they usually serve as the capital ships of a fleet.

In this graphic, we visualize the number of aircraft carriers in service by country as of May 2024.

This graphic only includes ships capable of carrying planes (excluding those designed solely for helicopters). The list is based on data from various sources.

U.S. Dominance

The U.S., with 11 aircraft carriers in total, owns 40% of the global fleet. Some of the American carriers can carry around 80 fighters. The country’s total combined deck space is over twice that of all other nations combined.

CountryIn serviceNATO Member 🇺🇸 United States11Yes 🇨🇳 China3No 🇮🇳 India2No 🇮🇹 Italy2Yes 🇯🇵 Japan2No 🇬🇧 United Kingdom2Yes 🇫🇷 France1Yes 🇷🇺 Russia1No 🇪🇸 Spain1Yes 🇹🇭 Thailand1No 🇹🇷 Turkey1Yes Total27

Along with France, the U.S. is the only nation with nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. These ships can remain at sea for as long as crew provisions last, without the need for refueling.

In 2024, China’s newest, largest, and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, started sea trials. With the addition of this ship, the country becomes second in our ranking.

Of 11 countries that have aircraft carriers in their fleets, six are NATO members.

Learn More About War Machines from Visual Capitalist

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out ‘Visualized: Top 15 Global Tank Fleets.’ This visualization showcases the most powerful tank fleets as of 2024.