Culture
Visualized: The Most Googled Countries
View a higher resolution version of this network diagram.
Visualized: The Most Googled Countries, Worldwide
View a higher resolution version of this network diagram.
Analyzing societal trends can teach us a lot about a population’s cultural fabric.
And since Google makes up more than 90% of internet searches outside of the Great Firewall, studying its usage is one of the best resources for modern social research.
This series of visualizations by Anders Sundell uses Google Trends search data to show the most googled countries around the world, from 2004 to 2022. These graphics provide thought-provoking insight into different cultural similarities and geopolitical dynamics.
A Quick Note on Methodology
The visualization above shows the most googled country in each nation around the world over the last couple of decades.
For example, the arrow pointing from Canada to the United States means that, between 2004 and 2022, people in Canada had more searches about the U.S. than any other country globally.
And since this study only looked at interest in other countries, queries of countries searching for themselves were not included in the data.
Finally, each country’s circle is scaled relative to its search interest, meaning the bigger the circle, the more countries pointing to it (and searching for it).
The Top Googled Countries Overall
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the U.S. is the most googled country on the list, ranking first place in 45 of the 190 countries included in the dataset.
Country | Top Googled Country |
---|---|
🇦🇩 Andorra | 🇪🇸 Spain |
🇦🇪 The United Arab Emirates | 🇮🇳 India |
🇦🇫 Afghanistan | 🇮🇷 Iran |
🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇦🇱 Albania | 🇮🇹 Italy |
🇦🇲 Armenia | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇦🇴 Angola | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
🇦🇷 Argentina | 🇪🇸 Spain |
🇦🇹 Austria | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇦🇺 Australia | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan | 🇹🇷 Turkey |
🏴 Bosnia and Herzegovina | 🇷🇴 Romania |
🇧🇧 Barbados | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇧🇩 Bangladesh | 🇮🇳 India |
🇧🇪 Belgium | 🇫🇷 France |
🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | 🇫🇷 France |
🇧🇬 Bulgaria | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇧🇭 Bahrain | 🇮🇳 India |
🇧🇮 Burundi | 🇫🇷 France |
🇧🇯 Benin | 🇫🇷 France |
🇧🇳 Brunei | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
🇧🇴 Bolivia | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
🇧🇷 Brazil | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇧🇸 The Bahamas | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇧🇹 Bhutan | 🇮🇳 India |
🇧🇼 Botswana | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
🇧🇾 Belarus | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇧🇿 Belize | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇨🇦 Canada | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇨🇩 The Democratic Republic of Congo | 🇫🇷 France |
🇨🇫 The Central African Republic | 🇫🇷 France |
🇨🇬 The Congo | 🇨🇩 The Democratic Republic of Congo |
🇨🇭 Switzerland | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire | 🇫🇷 France |
🇨🇱 Chile | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
🇨🇲 Cameroon | 🇫🇷 France |
🇨🇳 China | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇨🇴 Colombia | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇨🇷 Costa Rica | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇨🇺 Cuba | 🇪🇸 Spain |
🇨🇻 Cabo Verde | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇨🇾 Cyprus | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇨🇿 Czechia | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇩🇪 Germany | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇩🇯 Djibouti | 🇫🇷 France |
🇩🇰 Denmark | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇩🇲 Dominica | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇩🇴 The Dominican Republic | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇩🇿 Algeria | 🇫🇷 France |
🇪🇨 Ecuador | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇪🇪 Estonia | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇪🇬 Egypt | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia |
🇪🇷 Eritrea | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia |
🇪🇸 Spain | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇪🇹 Ethiopia | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇫🇮 Finland | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
🇫🇯 Fiji | 🇦🇺 Australia |
🇫🇲 Micronesia | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇫🇷 France | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇬🇦 Gabon | 🇫🇷 France |
🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇬🇩 Grenada | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇬🇪 Georgia | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇬🇭 Ghana | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇬🇲 Gambia | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇬🇳 Guinea | 🇫🇷 France |
🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea | 🇪🇸 Spain |
🇬🇷 Greece | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇬🇹 Guatemala | 🇸🇻 El Salvador |
🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau | 🇵🇹 Portugal |
🇬🇾 Guyana | 🇮🇳 India |
🇭🇳 Honduras | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇭🇷 Croatia | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇭🇹 Haiti | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇭🇺 Hungary | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇮🇩 Indonesia | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇮🇪 Ireland | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇮🇱 Israel | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇮🇳 India | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇮🇶 Iraq | 🇹🇷 Turkey |
🇮🇷 Iran | 🇹🇷 Turkey |
🇮🇸 Iceland | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇮🇹 Italy | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇯🇲 Jamaica | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇯🇴 Jordan | 🇪🇬 Egypt |
🇯🇵 Japan | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇰🇪 Kenya | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇰🇭 Cambodia | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
🇰🇮 Kiribati | 🇫🇯 Fiji |
🇰🇲 Comoros | 🇫🇷 France |
🇰🇳 Saint Kitts and Nevis | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇰🇵 North Korea | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇰🇷 South Korea | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇰🇼 Kuwait | 🇮🇳 India |
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇱🇦 Laos | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
🇱🇧 Lebanon | 🇸🇾 Syria |
🇱🇨 Saint Lucia | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇱🇮 Liechtenstein | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | 🇮🇳 India |
🇱🇷 Liberia | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇱🇸 Lesotho | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
🇱🇹 Lithuania | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇱🇺 Luxembourg | 🇫🇷 France |
🇱🇻 Latvia | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇱🇾 Libya | 🇪🇬 Egypt |
🇲🇦 Morocco | 🇫🇷 France |
🇲🇨 Monaco | 🇫🇷 France |
🇲🇩 Moldova | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇲🇪 Montenegro | 🇷🇸 Serbia |
🇲🇬 Madagascar | 🇫🇷 France |
🇲🇰 Republic of North Macedonia | 🇷🇸 Serbia |
🇲🇱 Mali | 🇫🇷 France |
🇲🇲 Myanmar | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇲🇳 Mongolia | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇲🇷 Mauritania | 🇫🇷 France |
🇲🇹 Malta | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇲🇺 Mauritius | 🇮🇳 India |
🇲🇻 Maldives | 🇮🇳 India |
🇲🇼 Malawi | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
🇲🇽 Mexico | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇲🇾 Malaysia | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇲🇿 Mozambique | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
🇳🇪 The Niger | 🇫🇷 France |
🇳🇬 Nigeria | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇳🇮 Nicaragua | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇳🇱 The Netherlands | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇳🇴 Norway | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
🇳🇵 Nepal | 🇮🇳 India |
🇳🇿 New Zealand | 🇦🇺 Australia |
🇴🇲 Oman | 🇮🇳 India |
🇵🇦 Panama | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇵🇪 Peru | 🇪🇸 Spain |
🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea | 🇦🇺 Australia |
🇵🇭 The Philippines | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇵🇰 Pakistan | 🇮🇳 India |
🇵🇱 Poland | 🇩🇪 Germany |
🇵🇸 Palestine | 🇮🇱 Israel |
🇵🇹 Portugal | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
🇵🇾 Paraguay | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
🇶🇦 Qatar | 🇮🇳 India |
🇷🇴 Romania | 🇮🇹 Italy |
🇷🇸 Serbia | 🇽🇰 Kosovo |
🇷🇺 Russia | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇷🇼 Rwanda | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 🇪🇬 Egypt |
🇸🇧 Solomon Islands | 🇦🇺 Australia |
🇸🇨 Seychelles | 🇮🇳 India |
🇸🇩 Sudan | 🇪🇬 Egypt |
🇸🇪 Sweden | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇸🇬 Singapore | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇸🇮 Slovenia | 🇭🇷 Croatia |
🇸🇰 Slovakia | 🇨🇿 Czechia |
🇸🇱 Sierra Leone | 🇬🇳 Guinea |
🇸🇲 San Marino | 🇮🇹 Italy |
🇸🇳 Senegal | 🇫🇷 France |
🇸🇴 Somalia | 🇮🇳 India |
🇸🇷 Suriname | 🇳🇱 The Netherlands |
🇸🇸 South Sudan | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe | 🇵🇹 Portugal |
🇸🇻 El Salvador | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇸🇾 Syria | 🇱🇧 Lebanon |
🇸🇿 Eswatini | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
🇹🇩 Chad | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇹🇬 Togo | 🇫🇷 France |
🇹🇭 Thailand | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇹🇯 Tajikistan | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇹🇱 Timor-Leste | 🇸🇬 Singapore |
🇹🇲 Turkmenistan | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇹🇳 Tunisia | 🇫🇷 France |
🇹🇴 Tonga | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
🇹🇷 Turkey | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇹🇼 Taiwan | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇹🇿 Tanzania | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
🇺🇦 Ukraine | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇺🇬 Uganda | 🇺🇸 The United States |
🇺🇸 The United States | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
🇺🇾 Uruguay | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | 🇷🇺 Russia |
🇻🇨 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 🇧🇧 Barbados |
🇻🇪 Venezuela | 🇨🇴 Colombia |
🇻🇳 Vietnam | 🇯🇵 Japan |
🇻🇺 Vanuatu | 🇦🇺 Australia |
🇽🇰 Kosovo | 🇦🇱 Albania |
🇾🇪 Yemen | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia |
🇿🇦 South Africa | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
🇿🇲 Zambia | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
While it’s the top googled country in neighboring places like Canada and Mexico, it’s also number one in countries much farther away like Nigeria, Sweden, and Australia.
The U.S. is currently the world’s largest economy by nominal GDP, and one of the biggest cultural influences globally. However, it’s worth noting that China, the world’s second-largest economy and the most populated, had very little search interest in comparison, at least based on Google Trends data.
Zooming into Specific Regions
In addition to the network map highlighting the overall top googled countries, Sundell created a series of videos breaking down the data monthly, by regions. Here are the videos for the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
The United States
Since 2004, there have been a high number of searches for Canada, Mexico and India in America.
The searches for Mexico seem to be concentrated in the Western U.S., which is also where a large portion of the country’s Hispanic population lives. In contrast, searches for India seem to come mostly from the eastern side of the country.
Europe
The U.S. is by the far the most commonly googled country across Europe, ranking number one consistently over the last two decades.
However, Russia stole the limelight in 2014, the year that they invaded and ultimately annexed Crimea.
Asia
In the early 2000s, the U.S. held the top googled spot in Asia, but over time, relative searches for the U.S. go down. India stole the top spot to become the most googled country in Asia for a majority of the 2010s.
One anomaly occurred when Japan briefly took the top spot in March 2011, which is when a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit the northern coast of Japan, causing a devastating tsunami.
What will future search results reveal about the global landscape? Were any of the results surprising?
This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.
Culture
The Highest Earning Athletes in Seven Professional Sports
We illustrate how much the highest earning athletes across seven different sports make, and where they get their money from.
The Highest Earning Athletes in Seven Professional Sports
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on Apple or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
How much money do the world’s biggest athletes really make? And how do they compare across different sports?
We visualized the highest earning athletes in various professional sports, according to calculations from Forbes. Earnings reported here cover the period of May 2022 to May 2023. Earnings includes on-field (salary, bonuses, prize money) and off-field (endorsements, licensing, etc).
Forbes’ research included talking to industry insiders, following news reports, and parsing salary databases. Please see their methodology page for further details.
Who is the Highest Paid Athlete in the World?
Cristiano Ronaldo was the highest-paid athlete in the world, making an estimated $136 million between May 2022 and May 2023. His move to Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr set a record for the biggest contract in the sport at the time.
Here’s how he compared to the top earners in some other sports.
Athlete | Sport | Total Earnings (May 2022–23) |
---|---|---|
Cristiano Ronaldo | ⚽ Soccer | $136M |
LeBron James | 🏀 Basketball | $120M |
Canelo Alvarez | 🥊 Boxing | $110M |
Dustin Johnson | ⛳ Golf | $107M |
Roger Federer | 🎾 Tennis | $95M |
Russell Wilson | 🏈 American Football | $85M |
Lewis Hamilton | 🏎️ Formula 1 | $65M |
Note: Figures are rounded.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James made the most money in basketball (just under $120 million), which is almost twice as much as Formula 1’s top earner, Lewis Hamilton, who took home about $65 million in 2022–23.
Something else to note is how off-court earnings can contribute significantly to total income for some athletes.
Athlete | Sport | On-Field Earnings | Off-Field Earnings |
---|---|---|---|
Cristiano Ronaldo | ⚽ Soccer | $46M | $90M |
LeBron James | 🏀 Basketball | $45M | $75M |
Canelo Alvarez | 🥊 Boxing | $100M | $10M |
Dustin Johnson | ⛳ Golf | $102M | $5M |
Roger Federer | 🎾 Tennis | $0.1M | $95M |
Russell Wilson | 🏈 American Football | $72M | $13M |
Lewis Hamilton | 🏎️ Formula 1 | $55M | $10M |
Note: Figures are rounded.
This is most apparent with Roger Federer, who retired in 2022, after playing his last Laver Cup. However, his massive deals with Uniqlo, Rolex, and Mercedes, as well as his stake in running company On, still keeps him towards the top of the these lists.
Together with Ronaldo and James, these three athletes are widely considered the face of their sport, undoubtedly helping them secure lucrative endorsements and business deals.
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