Financial success can be measured in many ways. Net worth, emergency funds, and debt are all taken into account. Anyone or anything can owe money, which is why there are different types of debts—from personal to those incurred by an organization or government.

In this post, we’ll highlight the highest average household debt (Switzerland) and public debt (Japan) of the 84 countries on the map below, the biggest changes throughout the years to see how the two types of debts compare.

View Countries by debt in a full screen map

Switzerland Is Not Switzerland & Other High Household Debts

The map shows how much amount of money all adults in a country’s household owe financial institutions, including consumer debt and mortgage loans as a percentage of GDP—called household debt—of 84 countries in 2018 and 2010. The highest of these, as of 2018, are as follows:

Country	Household debt as a % of GDP (2018)	Household debt as a % of GDP (2010)	Percentage change between 2018 and 2010
Switzerland	128.7%	111.53%	15.39%
Australia	120.14%	109.9%	9.32%
Denmark	115.15%	135.29%	-14.89%
Netherlands	103.42%	118.74%	-12.90%
Canada	100.68%	92.44%	8.91%
Norway	100.35%	81.85%	22.60%
Cyprus	98.94%	118.27%	-16.34%
New Zealand	94.04%	90.28%	4.16%
South Korea	91.93%	73.17%	25.64%
Sweden	87.87%	77.08%	14.00%

Switzerland certainly fails to live up to its reputation of neutrality—at least where household debt is concerned. While the middle ground household debt of all 84 counties on the map is about 39.88% of GDP, this is one average Switzerland surpasses—along with the household debt of every other country. The country is known for being the world’s wealthiest per capita, but it’s also one of the most expensive countries in the world. Understandably then, late payments (of taxes, insurance premiums, rent, mortgage interest, utilities, etc.) are the most common reason for Switzerland’s high household debt being the highest.

However, this wasn’t always the case. In 2010, Denmark’s household debt (135.29% of GDP) was far greater than Switzerland’s (111.53%), though the Danish managed to decrease that significantly by 2018. However, this is far from the biggest change, positive or negative, in household debt between 2010 and 2018.

Biggest Changes in Household Debt Over the Years

In the case of debt, being negative is actually a positive. There are quite a few countries that, like Denmark, managed to lower their household debts in the eight years between 2010 and 2018. The greatest decreases include:

• Ukraine (-70.85% household debt decrease)
• Ireland (-62.19%)
• Latvia (-58.27%)
• Afghanistan (-55.94%)
• São Tomé and Príncipe (-55.67%)
• Hungary (-54.64%)
• Sri Lanka (-41.89%)
• Sierra Leone (-41.03%)
• Spain (-29.50%)
• Iceland (-29.42%)

In 2010, Ukraine’s household debt was 19.42% of GDP. By 2018, the country managed to lower that number by 70.85% to just 5.66, the 11th lowest in the world. Both Afghanistan and Sierra Leone’s debt decreases also placed them among the top 10 countries with the least amount of debt. Afghanistan’s decrease of 55.94% makes it the #1 country with the lowest debt on the entire map (0.63% of 2018’s GDP). Similarly, Sierra Leone reigns at #2 with 1.61% of GDP thanks to their citizen’s thrifty ways between 2010 and 2018.

On the opposite end of the debt spectrum are the giant increases of certain countries from 2010 to 2018. Myanmar (+322.22% household debt), the Republic of the Congo (+170.08%), Chad (+117.19%), and Lesotho (+101.64%) all saw an increase in household debt of over 100 percent.

You can view the world’s current lowest household debts, such as Ukraine’s, when you sort the map by “Household debt (2018)” and select the “3.07 – 0.63” and “11.21 – 3.38” groups. For now, let’s move on to the highest of a different kind of debt.

Household vs. Government Debts: How Do They Compare?

Now let’s see how public or government debt compares.

Of the countries with the most debt in this category, just one also made the top 10 list in high household debt: Canada. In the country, this amounts to $44,348 per person. Here’s the rest of the top countries by public debt:

1. ​​Japan: $102,503 Purchasing power parity (PPP)
2. Singapore: $97,852
3. Qatar: $77,278
4. Greece: $50,562
5. Italy: $49,060
6. Ireland: $47,822
7. Belgium: $47,291
8. United States: $46,645
9. Canada: $44,348
10. Bahrain: $43,659

Japan’s overall debt is clearly the highest. Meanwhile, the United States, which has a National Debt clock in New York City’s Times Square, only comes in 8th overall when it comes to public debt.

Find your own insights on the map above when you group by any date field. Then bring your own data to life with our free mapping tool.

What do nearly 600 million people around the world have in common? Hablan español—that is, they speak Spanish. Included in that number is an impressive amount of native Spanish speakers, who, as children, learned to speak the language of their birthplace place. Spanish is only surpassed by English, Mandarin, and Hindi in popularity.

As such, you can find Spanish speakers on nearly every continent in the world, from Africa to Oceania. There are 45 countries where Spanish is either an official language or a significant Spanish-speaking population—and not only in Spain and Latin America, as you’ll find on the map below.

View Map of Spanish-Speaking Countries in a full screen map

Spanish-Speaking Continents

As the fourth most popular language in the world, Spanish is spoken across most continents. But which are home to most of the 45 Spanish-speaking countries?

1. South America (11 Spanish-speaking countries)
2. Caribbean (7)
3. Central America (7)
4. Europe (7, including Turkey)
5. Africa (4)
6. Oceania (3)
7. North America (3)
8. Asia (4, also including Turkey)

For nine of South America’s Spanish-speaking countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela), Spanish is an official language. Meanwhile, Spanish is spoken in Brazil and Trinidad & Tobago, though it’s not an official language. Within the continent, Colombia is home to the highest percentage of the population who speak Spanish natively (99.2%) while Paraguay is home to the least (68.2%).

While the majority of South American countries all have a high amount of Spanish speakers, technically North America is the continent with the most. Though many separate the Caribbean and Central America (including the source of our data), they’re both a part of the same continent as Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.

Of those three, only Mexico lists Spanish as its official language—and 96.8% speak it natively. Meanwhile, just 1.94% of Canadians, or 732,110 people speak Spanish whether natively or non-natively. Though a small percentage, Canada is the country with the 5th most number of Spanish speakers, for which it isn’t an official language. The U.S. boasts 17.15%—56,757,391 people—of the same statistic, which is actually the highest among the countries where Spanish isn’t an official language.

Altogether, 17 North American countries speak Spanish, and it’s the official language of 10 total, including many of the countries with the most native Spanish speakers we’ll discuss below.

Countries with the Most Native Spanish Speakers

While you can find Spanish speakers on every continent aside from Antarctica, there are certain places where you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t speak Spanish. The countries where Spanish is an official language in the following table are home to almost 100% native Spanish speakers.

Country	Flag	% of population who speak Spanish natively
Cuba	🇨🇺	99.8
El Salvador	🇸🇻	99.7
Costa Rica	🇨🇷	99.3
Colombia	🇨🇴	99.2
Puerto Rico	🇵🇷	99
Honduras	🇭🇳	98.7
Uruguay	🇺🇾	98.4
Argentina	🇦🇷	98.1
Dominican Republic	🇩🇴	97.6
Venezuela	🇻🇪	97.3

If you’re visiting Cuba and don’t speak Spanish, you may have some trouble, seeing as 99.8% of the population speaks the language natively. That leaves just 22,660 of Cuba’s 11.33 million residents who aren’t native speakers.

Yet while Spanish is the official language of Cuba (as is the case for all of the top 10), it isn’t the only language spoken in the country. Many Cubans also speak Haitian Creole, Lucumi, Galician, and Corsican.

Additionally, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Puerto Rico also fall into the 99th percentile of native Spanish speakers, followed closely by the rest of the countries on the table.

You can see where the other countries fall when you group the map by “% of population who speak Spanish natively”, which includes details about the Spanish-speaking country in Africa where 74% are native speakers.

The White House, the Capitol building, and a certain monument are some of the most famous landmarks in Washington DC and they’re in good company. The United States capital is named for Columbia, the female national personification of the U.S., and George Washington (the district’s oldest landmark also bears the first president’s name).

It’s also one of the most visited cities in the U.S. This may be due to the over one hundred landmarks in the district.

In celebration of when DC was officially incorporated as a city on May 3, 1802, we’re highlighting all of its national landmarks past, present, and future: parks, memorials, and monuments (including the White House, Supreme Court Building, and the United States Capitol) on the map below.

View Washington D.C. Landmarks in a full screen map

Types of Landmarks in Washington DC

The District of Columbia is home to 103 national landmarks, most of which are dedicated to events or people in American history. This includes the buildings of the three branches of U.S. government: the Capitol, White House, and Supreme Court, all of which are current national historic landmarks. There are 72 more DC landmarks in the same category, along with seven other sortable types on the map:

• Current National Historic Landmarks (75)
  • Moved National Historic Landmarks (1)
• Current National Memorials (12)
  • Future National Memorials (4)
  • Other National Memorials (3)
• National Historic Sites (5)
• National Monuments (2)
• National Historical Parks (1)

Most common are, of course, national historic landmarks. However, this doesn’t make them any less worth visiting. To be designated as such, structures, districts, objects, and similar resources nationwide must meet criteria of national significance, including having a significant impact on American history, an association with a nationally significant figure, or an architectural style or significant development in engineering.

Along with the many current national historic landmarks, a national museum previously located in DC has since moved. The Army Medical Museum and Library was designated as a landmark In 1965, though it was demolished just four years later. Thankfully, the building’s collection was saved. It’s now displayed at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland, albeit this museum is currently without official landmark status.

Check out the map to view national monuments, memorials (current, future, and other), and historic sites and parks. Now let’s go over which of these landmarks in Washington DC are the oldest.

Pre-20th Century: the Oldest Washington DC Landmarks

Washington DC was officially incorporated as a city on May 3, 1802. The district’s oldest landmark was designated 83 years later in 1885 (the Washington Monument). Let’s take a closer look at the oldest Washington DC landmarks in the table below.

Landmark	Date designated
Washington Monument	February 21, 1885
Lincoln Memorial	May 30, 1922
Thomas Jefferson Memorial	April 13, 1943
City Hall / D.C. Courthouse	December 19, 1960
Decatur House	December 19, 1960
Octagon House	December 19, 1960
St. John’s Church	December 19, 1960
Tudor Place	December 19, 1960
United States Capitol	December 19, 1960
White House	December 19, 1960

The Washington Monument is the oldest landmark in the nation’s capital. Its designation was followed by two more DC landmarks dedicated to past presidents in 1922 and 1943.

But perhaps the most interesting of the ten oldest DC landmarks are the seven that were designated on the same date in December 1960. Included are the White House, Decatur House across the way, and St. John’s Church, nicknamed the Church of the Presidents.

However, the date a building is officially named a national historic landmark often isn’t when it was constructed. In fact, there can be over a hundred years between. For example, construction on the White House began in October 1792 and was finished in November 1800. This makes the President’s residence older than the city itself.

Moving on, let’s look at the latest landmarks in Washington DC.

Most Recent Monuments & Memorials

On the other hand, the district’s most recent landmark addition is the 2021 Pan American Union Headquarters. The majority of the new DC landmarks were designated throughout the 2010s:

• Pan American Union Headquarters (2021)
• Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial (2020)
• National Native American Veterans Memorial (2020)
• Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality (2016)
• World War I Memorial (2014)
• Congressional Cemetery (2011)
• Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial (2011)
• Lafayette Building (2005)
• United Mine Workers of America Building (2005)
• World War II Memorial (2004)

If you feel like you’ve already visited DC after clicking through the map, check out Hawaii’s landmarks or those in Washington (state). Otherwise, you can start mapping your own state’s landmarks at batchgeo.com.