Misc
Map: The Top Tourist Attraction in Every Country
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Map: The Top Tourist Attraction in Every Country
View the high resolution version of today’s graphic by clicking here.
Even as early as a decade ago, if you were backpacking in a foreign place, it was not uncommon to rely on the wisdom printed in travel guides such as Lonely Planet or Rick Steves to choose your day-to-day activities.
“Go off the beaten path to see this secluded black sand beach that’s only used by locals.”
“See this historic city tour, because it’s a hidden treasure that you won’t find in any other guidebook.”
Tips like these felt like secrets only privy to you and other smart readers – and while you were sitting on that hidden black sand beach, you could revel in the fact that the rest of the travelling masses were stuck in a two-hour line to get into some silly tourist trap.
For better or worse, things are now very different.
The Crowdsourced Era
Today’s infographic comes to us from Vouchercloud, and it shows the top rated “Thing to Do” for every single country in the world, according to Tripadvisor reviews.
In other words, the list is based on the amalgamation of millions of reviews from fellow travelers that have experienced these sights or activities first-hand.
On the upside, these reviews are coming from your peers. People just like you have rated all of the attractions in an area – from tourist trap to hidden gem – and the end result is pretty fair and democratic.
But this democratic component also has a downside. In the United Kingdom, for example, the highest rated activity is not seeing Big Ben, Ancient Roman baths, Stonehenge, or the Churchill War Rooms – it’s the Harry Potter Studio Tour, with 32,000+ reviews and 83% of reviewers giving it a perfect 5-star rating.
While the Harry Potter tour is obviously a popular attraction, it’s not likely representative of the type of attractions that old school travel critics may have raved about in their travel books.
Top Things to Do
In the map, the top tourist destinations are broken down based on the type of attraction.
Here’s the mix of top destinations for the 197 countries and jurisdictions included in the analysis:
Type of attraction | # of countries | % of countries |
---|---|---|
Natural | 76 | 38.6% |
Historic | 54 | 27.4% |
Tourist | 38 | 19.3% |
Religious | 29 | 14.7% |
The top category of attraction is natural (38.6%), which includes places like Canada’s Niagara Falls or Norway’s Geiranger Fjord. Meanwhile, historic attractions like China’s Great Wall made up 27.4% of the total, and places of religious significance such as Thailand’s Temple of the Reclining Buddha were the top tourist attraction for 14.7% of the countries.
The remaining category, called “Tourist” includes a much wider variety of destinations within it.
These attractions range from Central Park in the New York City to the aforementioned Harry Potter Studio Tours in the United Kingdom. The wide category also includes museums like France’s Musee d’Orsay, which holds a staggering collection of impressionist art, as well as Germany’s Miniatur Wunderland, which is a massive miniature railroad in Hamburg.
Demographics
Mapped: Population Growth by Region (1900-2050F)
In this visualization, we map the populations of major regions at three different points in time: 1900, 2000, and 2050 (forecasted).
Mapping Population Growth by Region
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.
In fewer than 50 years, the world population has doubled in size, jumping from 4 to 8 billion.
In this visualization, we map the populations of major regions at three different points in time: 1900, 2000, and 2050 (forecasted). Figures come from Our World in Data as of March 2023, using the United Nations medium-fertility scenario.
Population by Continent (1900-2050F)
Asia was the biggest driver of global population growth over the course of the 20th century. In fact, the continent’s population grew by 2.8 billion people from 1900 to 2000, compared to just 680 million from the second on our list, Africa.
Region | 1900 | 2000 | 2050F |
---|---|---|---|
Asia | 931,021,418 | 3,735,089,775 | 5,291,555,919 |
Africa | 138,752,199 | 818,952,374 | 2,485,135,689 |
Europe | 406,610,221 | 727,917,165 | 704,398,730 |
North America | 104,231,973 | 486,364,446 | 679,488,449 |
South America | 41,330,704 | 349,634,344 | 491,078,697 |
Oceania | 5,936,615 | 31,223,133 | 57,834,753 |
World 🌐 | 1,627,883,130 | 6,149,181,237 | 9,709,492,237 |
China was the main source of Asia’s population expansion, though its population growth has slowed in recent years. That’s why in 2023, India surpassed China to become the world’s most populous country.
Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines and Indonesia have also been big drivers of Asia’s population boom to this point.
The Future: Africa to Hit 2.5 Billion by 2050
Under the UN’s medium-fertility scenario (all countries converge at a birthrate of 1.85 children per woman by 2050), Africa will solidify its place as the world’s second most populous region.
Three countries—Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Egypt—will account for roughly 30% of that 2.5 billion population figure.
Meanwhile, both North America and South America are expected to see a slowdown in population growth, while Europe is the only region that will shrink by 2050.
A century ago, Europe’s population was close to 30% of the world total. Today, that figure stands at less than 10%.
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