Friday, August 20, 2010

sa — Saudi Arabia
sb — Solomon Islands*
sc — Seychelles*
sd — Sudan
se — Sweden*
sg — Singapore
sh — Saint Helena*
si — Slovenia
sj — Svalbard and Jan Mayen islands (not in use; no registrations)
sk — Slovakia
sl — Sierra Leone
sm — San Marino*
sn — Senegal
so — Somalia* (down, still is delegated to Monolith [ml.org] Philadelphia, an entity defunct since end—1998)
sr — Suriname*
st — São Tomé and Príncipe*
su — Soviet Union (deprecated; being phased out; code "transitionally reserved" by ISO 3166–1)
sv — El Salvador
sy — Syria*
sz — Swaziland*

tc — Turks and Caicos Islands*
td — Chad
tf — French Southern Territories
tg — Togo*
th — Thailand*
tj — Tajikistan*
tk — Tokelau*
tl — East Timor (formerly .tp)*
tm — Turkmenistan*
tn — Tunisia
to — Tonga*
tp — East Timor (deprecated — use .tl; code "transitionally reserved" by ISO 3166–1)
tr — Turkey
tt — Trinidad and Tobago*
tv — Tuvalu*
tw — Taiwan*
tz — Tanzania

ua — Ukraine
ug — Uganda*
uk — United Kingdom (code "exceptionally reserved" by ISO 3166–1) (see also .gb)
um — US Minor Outlying Islands (code terminated)
us — United States*
uy — Uruguay
uz — Uzbekistan

va — Vatican City
vc — Saint Vincent and the Grenadines*
ve — Venezuela
vg — British Virgin Islands*
vi — United States Virgin Islands
vn — Vietnam
vu — Vanuatu*

wf — Wallis and Futuna
ws — Samoa* (formerly Western Samoa)

ye — Yemen
yt — Mayotte
yu — Yugoslavia

za — South Africa*
zm — Zambia
zw — Zimbabwe

Domains with updates

Add a Domain

Thanks to Wikipedia for Country code top-level domain

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Submitting your site to search engines and directories

By Pandia Guest Writer Kalena Jordan

people submitting to the search engines (April 2005) Many years ago, when I was first learning about optimization and search engine and directory submission, I looked everywhere on the Web for an easy tutorial that explained step-by-step how to submit a website to search engines and directories.

I couldn't find one and so I had to piece together the most successful process to use via trial and error.

Now there is such a huge amount of misinformation on the Web about search engine submission, I thought it was high time I wrote a basic tutorial to help webmasters sort fact from fiction.

Submitting to search engines

Before You Begin

Before you can start to submit your site to search engines, you need to make sure it is ready for indexing.

On search engines and directories

Please note the difference between search engines and directories.

Search engines use databases that are built by software that index as many web pages on the Net as possible. When you query a search engine like Google, Yahoo! Search and the MSN search engine, you are searching a database that contains text fetched from the web pages themselves.

When you search a directory (like the Open Directory or Yahoo's old web directory), you are searching a database written by human editors. These databases only contains short descriptions of web site, not the actual content of the web pages.

The search engines are definitely most important, as most search forms on search sites and portals brings you listings from search engines by default. However, searchers that only have a general idea about what they are looking for ("a firm in Oslo selling bicycles") may use a directory.

Moreover, search engines often use the directories as a starting point when crawling the web. A listing in the Open Directory also tends to boost your ranking in the search engines, as they interpret such a listing as a sign of quality.

First Kalena will look at search engine submissions, then she will go into the art of getting web directory editors to accept your site.

The editor

Use the following checklist to be absolutely sure your site is submission-ready:

Are all pages complete? (No “under construction” pages)
Are all links valid? (No broken or dead links)
Are all pages optimized?
Are all pages search engine compatible?
Have you used Robots.txt or Robots META Tag to prevent pages you want hidden (e.g. shopping cart) from being indexed?
If your site is an e-commerce site, is your ordering process or shopping cart functional and tested for bugs?
Are you prepared to handle a sudden influx of traffic and/or sales?
Have you tested your site for usability? (Google “web site usability” for more information)

Prepare a spreadsheet

To make your job of submitting easier, you also need to prepare a text file or spreadsheet listing the following:

Your site's main URL
The URLs for other pages on your site that you will be submitting
Your site's Title (the name of your site you want listed in engines. This is usually your company name e.g.Atlanta City Tours or Acme Widgets)
A short description of your page/site content (10-20 words)
A long description of your page/site content (30-50 words)
A list of target keywords for your page/site
Name of submitter
Email address of submitter (we suggest using a real account you check regularly, but one where you have strict controls over incoming spam email -- you will receive some spam as a result of your submissions!)
Address and contact details of your company (some directories ask for this)

(You will not need all this information when you submit your site to the search engines. They need often no more than a URL. However, you might as well include all this information right away, as you will need it when you submit to thedirectories.)

It is particularly important to keep track of the email address you use when submitting your site, because some directories, like the Yahoo directory for example, require you to cite this address if you want to make changes to your listing later on.

I like to use a text file created in Notepad for the above, but some people prefer to use a Word doc or a spreadsheet. It's up to you.

Remember to utilize your target search keywords as much as possible when creating your site descriptions. Or you can use parts of your optimized Title and META tags, as long as you don't go overboard stuffing keywords and making your site description spam-like.

Submission info

The site submission information I might prepare for a fictional Miami florist would look something like this:

www.funkyflorists.com (fictional URL for demonstration purposes only)
www.funkyflorists.com/page1.htm www.funkyflorists.com/page2.htm etc
Funky Florists of Miami
Florists in Miami, Florida creating wedding bouquets, floral arrangements, tributes and displays for gifts and special occasions. Online ordering available.
Funky Florists Miami create beautiful wedding bouquets, floral arrangements, tributes and displays for all occasions, including weddings, Valentines Day, parties and corporate events. We arrange florist deliveries throughout Miami and right across Florida. We are one of very few florists in Florida to offer a personal floral service, delivered anywhere, anytime.
Florists Miami, florists Florida, wedding bouquets, wedding flowers, wedding roses, Valentine's Day roses, sympathy gifts, Mother's Day gifts, funeral wreaths, flower deliveries, floral arrangements, birthday gifts, wedding decorations.
Kalena Jordan
webmaster@funkyflorists.com
12 Street Name
Town, Miami FL USA
Phone: (00) 555 55555

You should also create a spreadsheet or Word doc listing all the search engines you plan to submit your site to, their URLs, a comments field (for chosen categories etc) and a date column. Then as you submit to each site, you can check it off on your list, writing down the date submitted.

You could even create another date column for when your site appears in the search engine so you can gauge how long the submission took to become active.

It's important that you keep track of this information so that you don't accidentally resubmit to a search engine or directory that you've already covered. If you are submitting to a search engine using a paid submission option, always make note of your receipt number in case you need to follow it up.

Where to submit

Normally search engines will find your site, even if you do not submit it, as long as you have inbound links from sites the search engines already know about. They will enter your site and start indexing it through that link.

Because of this some search engine marketing experts argue that you do not need to submit pages to the search engines, as they will find them anyway.

However, some may not have the patience needed to wait for that, and in that case you can make use of the search engines' submittal forms to let them know about the site.

Normally it is enough to give them the link to your site's home page. As long as the rest of the site is interlinked with that page, the search engines will find then. (Although that does not mean that they automatically will include them all in their index, but you can hope for the best).

Pandia has a separate submission page that has links to the search engine submission pages and the relevant help files.

The Editor

How to Submit Your Site to Directories

Unlike submitting to search engines, submitting your site to directories and niche portals usually involves a lot more than simply typing in your URL.

Choose the right category

You often have to start by researching the various topic categories to find the most appropriate area to submit to. Then you generally have to provide some detailed information about your site, its' content, your company and your contact details.

When selecting the most appropriate Directory category to submit your site to, conduct a search for your main keyword phrase and view the various related categories.

Study the sites listed within these categories and choose the category that is the most relevant to or closely related to your site content. Some directories like ODP have specific Category Descriptions you should read before submitting, to ensure you have chosen the most relevant topic for your site.

Another way to choose your category is to search for sites belonging to your direct competitors. It is likely that the category they are listed in will be the most relevant to your site.

Regional categories

If your site targets or discusses a specific regional market, you will need to submit to a regional category. For example, if my site was about rental cars for hire in Sydney, Australia, I would need to submit it to the regional Yahoo category:

Regional/Countries/Australia/States_and_Territories/
New_South_Wales/Cities_and_Regions/
Sydney/Business_and_Shopping/
Shopping_and_Services/Automotive/Rentals/

and not the general Yahoo rental car category:

Business_and_Economy/
Shopping_and_Services/Automotive/Rentals/

Variations of descriptions

I find it useful to submit a slightly different description of my client's sites for each directory submission. That way, I can gauge which descriptions are more effective in terms of encouraging people to click and also which directories are providing my clients with the most traffic.

Many directories feed their database results to other engines and directories, so if I have a description unique to each directory and I see that description pop up on other search sites, I know it is the result of that original directory submission and immediately recognize the value of that original submission.

Remember that directory editors don't care about your site's ranking in their search results. If they are reviewing a site submission that contains an obviously keyword stuffed title and description, they are unlikely to find it appealing or beneficial for inclusion in their database!

Always make sure your submission details are relevant, interesting and accurate. Try to highlight your site's benefits for the visitor and unique content that makes it stand out from others in the same category. If your site sounds just like a cookie-cutter version of others of the same topic, there is no incentive for the editor to include it.

Submitting to the Yahoo! Directory

There are a couple of sites where you want to take extreme care and do advance research when submitting your site. One of these is the Yahoo! Directory.

The way you submit your site to Yahoo! can make or break your site's ultimate ranking in the Directory and if you're not careful, could also cost you USD 299 for nothing.

With Yahoo!'s huge market share and popularity worldwide, I believe it's vital that your site is listed in Yahoo!'s Directory. The best way to get listed quickly is by paying the fee for Express Submission.

Yahoo! Express is an expedited fee-based site suggestion service for web sites submitted to the Yahoo! directory. A member of Yahoo!'s editorial staff will look at your site, consider your suggestion and respond to you within 7 business days.

Important: Payment does not guarantee inclusion in the directory, site placement, or site commentary. It only guarantees that Yahoo! will respond to your suggestion within seven business days, by either adding or denying the site.

The secret to obtaining excellent results via your Yahoo!submission is to choose the most appropriate category and include a carefully-crafted description that contains your main keyword phrase/s without being too verbose.

For those of you offering a Yahoo! submission service to clients, be sure to charge a generous admin fee for your expertise in researching the category and writing the description for your client – a successful Yahoo submission can pay dividends for your client for years.

Example of a successful site description for Yahoo!:

ABC VIP Adventures - offers tailored adventure travel and vacation packages to
New Zealand including day tours, exotic corporate trips, luxury travel packages,
kite surfing, and extreme sports.

Example of an unsuccessful site description for Yahoo!:

ABC Travel -- we are the best! We are the only company to contact for your vacation. Call now!

The latter does not use the actual company name, plus it contains lots of hype but no keywords and few clues as to what the site is about.

In this case, the Yahoo! editor would have to visit the site submitted and come up with their own description and it's doubtful the edited description will be something the submitter would be happy with.

Submitting to Open Directory

Another Directory where submission is critical is the Open Directory. DMOZ is run entirely by volunteers and your site submission must be hand-reviewed by one of these volunteers before it can be considered for inclusion. DMOZ is extremely under-staffed (I know this because I'm a DMOZ editor!) and it can take 6 or more months before your submission is reviewed -- you must be patient.

Note that DMOZ is used by a large number of portals and sites, which means that your entry can be found not only on the Open Directory site, but also in directories like Pandia Plus and the Google Directory.

When submitting to DMOZ, make sure you follow the directory submission guidelines above and prepare to wait, wait and wait some more.

Procedure to follow for a successful DMOZ Submission:

1) Submit site

2) wait for 3 months

3) follow up email to category editor

4) wait for 3 months

5) escalation email to category editor above your category

6) wait for 3 months

7) ask for assistance in the Open Directory Public Forum

8) wait for 1 month

9) escalation email to DMOZ senior staff & post to various forums seeking help

Rules of Submission

Do it once: Despite the hype, there is NEVER a need to resubmit to a search engine or directory unless your site is dropped entirely (which is a very rare occurrence).

2) Do it properly: Be very thorough when submitting, especially to directories. Take the time to research and locate the most appropriate category for your site.

3) Be brief: Don't waffle on about your site in the description field. Get to the point and describe your site in a short sentence or two.

4) Be accurate: Don't try to trick potential visitors by using vague or misleading descriptions about your products or services.

5) Be relevant: There is a fine line to tread between relevance and keyword optimization when creating your site descriptions for submissions. Try not to cross it by using descriptions over-stuffed with keywords.

6) Be humble: “Best Web Site in the World!!!!” is not going to convince anyone and may earn you the wrath of search engine editors.

7) Be patient: Search engines and directories can take up to 6 months to index and list your site. Re-submitting won't help things and could result in your site being shoved to the bottom of the review pile.

So that wraps up the directory submission process. It can be time consuming, but taking a little bit of time and care with your submissions can pay dividends for your site for years to come.

Learn more about submissions and search engine optimization in general by reading Pandia's Search Engine Marketing 101 tutorial.

See also our list of feature articles on search engine optimization.

The Pandia submission page has links to the most relevant submission and help pages.

Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S.

As well as running her own SEO business, Web Rank, Kalena managesSearch Engine College, an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing subjects.

More search engine news...

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Internet World Stats

	About Us

Surfing and Site Guide
Internet World Stats

Hello and welcome to Internet World Stats, the premier website for international Internet usage statistics, e-commerce data, world population and Internet growth information. Here you will find statistical Internet usage data and population figures for over 265 countries and regions of the world, consolidated from various periodic surveys and official country user records. This huge amount of information is processed and displayed in a unique and practical way in the form of original tables and graphs.

The following notes provide a detailed explanation of the architecture and structure of this website, which can rightly be considered a world Internet user directory. Reading below will save you time navigating and will also help you to achieve the maximum benefits from your visit.

Stats is an abbreviation for the word statistics. By statistics, we mean the branch of mathematics dealing with the collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of masses of numerical data, in the form of a collection of quantitative data.

The Internet World Stats web site (IWS for short) is a useful tool for market research. It is divided into several sections, each one providing specific market research information. For fast and easy navigation, most web pages have content links on the left hand side column and all pages have a user friendly surfing menu at the bottom of each page. Additionally a pop-up website search menu and site navigation menu has been included to help you find subjects real fast. Just go to the Site Search (the pop-up menu opens in a new window) and click on the link of your interest, or write your query in the search box.

Two simple recommendations:
(1) Bookmark this website for finding it again. Simply press on your keyboard "control"+"D" (in response most browsers will open their bookmark window for your convenience).
(2) At IWS content is updated frequently. In order to assure that you are viewing the latest version, please remember to refresh the web pages you view in order to display the latest information. We believe that our visitors don't like outdated information, neither do we.

We hope you enjoy navigating our website and that you find its content useful. Your feedback with ideas, suggestions, critiques and contributions will be welcomed and appreciated. To reach us, simply write an email to: "info" at "internetworldstats.com"

This Site Surfing Guide features the following information:
1 - Internet Usage Statistics and World Population Pages
2 - Regional and Individual Country Pages
3 - Market Research Help Pages
4 - The IWS Newsletter - Privacy Policy
5 - The Internet Coaching Library Pages
6 - Search Engine Strategies
7 - Linking to this Site
8 - Web Site Link Directory
9 - New Industry Stats Section
10- Internet Users by Language
11- Good Statistical Practices
12- What's New Web Log (Blog)
13- Web Metrics
14- Search this Website
15- Reproduction of these Statistics and Disclaimer.
16- Privacy Policy
17- Abreviations
13- About Us

^ Top of page

Here is a search resource for quickly finding selected content in this website:

Custom Search
1. INTERNET USAGE AND WORLD POPULATION STATISTICS
The World Population and Internet User information is the main demographic content for this web site. It has been collected by our webmaster since 2000 and is displayed in the statistics pages. There are seven individual statistical tables for each of the six main geographical regions of the world (Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Oceania), and a general world summary page called the big picture.

Additionally, a top Internet usage countries table, a most penetrated countries table, a most populated countries table and a unique table containing Internet usage by languages are included. Other analysis are being added periodically, for example: G8 country usage, Spanish speakers, etc. For information on the sources, definitions, the methodology and details about the data displayed please read the following notes.

1.1 INTERNET USAGE
Before we can measure or forecast Internet Usage, we must first answer a basic question: What is an Internet user? Research firms, analysts, consultancies and other sources all disagree on how to answer this seemingly simple question.

The ITU subscribes to the definition of an Internet user as someone aged 2 years old and above, who went online in the past 30 days. The US Department of Commerce, in contrast, defines Internet users as those 3 years or older who 'currently use' the Internet. The CNNIC defines the Internet user as a Chinese citizen, aged 6 or above, who uses the Internet at least one hour per week.

Other market researchers and market research organizations have their own definitions. For example, Nielsen Online in its reports presents two figures for the Internet users: the first is "Active Internet User", which is defined as the number of users that viewed the Internet at least once during the last month, and the other figure is, of course, the total universe estimate of Internet users in a country, region, or city.

We believe that a definition must be as general and as simple as possible. For analyzing and comparing Internet users on a global scale, IWS adopts as its benchmark a broad definition and defines an Internet User as anyone currently in capacity to use the Internet. In our opinion, there are only two requirements for a person to be considered an Internet User:
(1) The person must have available access to an Internet connection point, and
(2) The person must have the basic knowledge required to use web technology.

That's it. No need to make complex something that is really quite simple. In many Third World countries one same Internet connection may be shared by many individual users. Due to this reason, Internet users generally outnumber the amount of Internet access subscribers and also outnumber the telephone lines available in each country.

1.2 INTERNET GROWTH
In order to establish the relative growth rate of the Internet on a global basis, we compare the current (latest) Internet usage figures for each country or region with the year 2000, our baseline year for Internet usage figures, and express this ratio as a percentage. For information on the Historic Internet Growth data please click here, a new page will open. For the Current Internet World Usage Statistics, visit this page.

1.3 INTERNET PENETRATION RATE
The Internet Penetration Rate corresponds to the percentage of the total population of a given country or region that uses the Internet. Internet users are defined in 1.1. No adjustments have been made for infants or illiteracy in the Internet penetration rate calculations. Indeed very few countries have 100% literacy, Norway is one of them. Regarding the children, they are early adopters, when given the chance to surf the Internet.

For countries with penetration rates above 50%, the data will be marked in bold letters in the corresponding pages. The list of the countries with Internet Penetration Rates over 50% may be found here. At Internet World Stats we support the 50x15 Initiative and invite you to do so also. Read about this important project for the future growth of the Internet at the Digital Divide page.

1.4 WORLD POPULATION
It is important to point out that Internet usage and population data go hand in hand. In order to determine the Internet Penetration Rate (IPR) for each country and region of the world we require accurate and up-to-date demographic data. Therefore the great majority of population figures we use are based on data published by the U.S. Census Bureau, and contained in their excellent website at: US Census Bureau, where you can also find detailed demographic information for many towns and cities for all the countries of the world.

Special note on China: Hong Kong (Xianggang) and Macao (Aomen) are both part of China, but these territories as well as Taiwan are reported separately for Internet Usage Statistical purposes. Therefore the total estimated population for China mainland has been adjusted accordingly in our statistical tables and charts.

Special note on Mexico: For statistical reasons, and following the United Nations Statistical Department, Mexico has been included together with the seven Central American countries. SeeUnited Nations Statistics Division methods and classifications of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings. Please take note that the region of North America comprises Northern America, the Caribbean, and Central America. Likewise, Greenland has been included in North America.

1.5 SOURCES FOR THE STATISTICS
The data displayed at Internet World Stats comes from various information sources: mainly from the following data research sources and the following organizations: The Nielsen Company, from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Additional sources are the GfK Group, theComputer Industry Almanac, the CIA Fact Book, local NIC, local ISP, other public such as official Internet regulating agencies, and direct information from trustworthy and reliable research private sources. Nielsen Onlines's data corresponds to the home plus work panel current digital media total universe estimate. For growth comparison purposes, usage stats from ITU for the year 2000 are utilized as "benchmark", when available, as explained above in 1.2.

The Nielsen Company is a global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis and is the industry's premier source for online advertising intelligence. This service covers 70 percent of the world's Internet usage (previously known as Nielsen//NetRatings) offers syndicated Internet and digital media research reports and custom-tailored data to help companies gain valuable insight into their business. For more information, please visit The Nielsen Company.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is an international organization established in 1865, which today is part of the United Nations. For further details and information, please visit their web site at www.itu.int.

The Internet usage and population data presented here are the best estimates available, however a reasonable margin of error should be allowed for. Please refer to our Disclaimer in 1.9.

1.6 COUNTRY CODES
The ISO 3166-1 English short country names and codes are used in the IWS website.
As of 23 July 2003 the ISO 3166-1 country code elements for Serbia and Montenegro are:
CS (Alpha-2 code)
SCG (Alpha-3 code)
891 (Numeric-3 code)

The code elements YU and YUG representing Yugoslavia are obsolete now, and their use in applications of ISO 3166-1 should be phased out. The deletion of Yugoslavia from ISO 3166-1 also leads to the exclusion of the name in ISO 3166-3. See the official ISO country list here.

1.7 GROSS NATIONAL INCOME (GNI) World Bank Atlas Method
In calculating Gross National Income (GNI—formerly referred to as GNP) and GNI per capita in U.S. dollars for certain operational purposes, the World Bank uses the Atlas conversion factor. The purpose of the Atlas conversion factor is to reduce the impact of exchange rate fluctuations in the cross-country comparison of national incomes.

Following current statistical practice, the World Bank has recently adopted the new terminology in line with the 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA. The changes in terms are listed below.
Previous terminology
New terminology
Gross national product, GNP
Gross national income, GNI
GNP per capita
GNI per capita
Private consumption
Household final consumption expenditure
General government consumption
General government final consumption expenditure
Gross domestic investment
Gross capital formation
Many countries continue to compile their national accounts according to the 1968 SNA, but more and more are adopting the 1993 SNA. A few low-income countries still use concepts from older SNA guidelines, including valuations such as factor cost, in describing major economic aggregates. In general, the definitions under the 1993 SNA guidelines for these indicators remain as before, and only the terminology has changed. Exceptions are: GNI in constant prices, which differs from GNP in that it also includes terms of trade adjustment; and gross capital formation which now includes a third category of capital formation: net acquisition of valuables. Included in gross capital formation under the 1993 SNA are capital outlays on defense establishments that may be used by the general public, such as schools, airfields, and hospitals. These expenses were treated as consumption in the earlier version of the SNA.

1.8 REPRODUCTION OF THE STATISTICS
The content of this website is intellectual property of its owner. Data from this web site may be cited freely, giving due credit to the original data sources and establishing an active link back toInternetWorldStats.com. However, the use of our graphs, tables, and/or statistics for commercial, business or academic purposes requires a licence. For obtaining a licence, please contact the editor. For full information about copyright law, registration, and licensing, visit U.S. Copyright Center.

For citing information sources, we recommend following the Duke University Guidelines. We also recommend reading the following article before using materials from the Internet.

1.9 DISCLAIMER
Most of the data in this site comes from independent sources, found displayed freely in the wide world web. Here is a sample of our information sources. Other data has been investigated and retrieved directly by our staff. All the information has been consolidated by IWS, giving due credit to the corresponding original sources when these are known, and establishing a link back if possible.IWS provides and published the data and displays statistics in good faith but does not guarantee the accuracy or provenience. Likewise IWS is not responsible for the use given to this information. The Internet usage and population data are best estimates available and a reasonable margin of error should be allowed for, as is usual for all statistical work.

In the event that any owner of the information cited or the sources opposes the publication of specific data, please let us know by advising our webmaster. We will promptly remove said data from our web site.

Visitors please take note that for statistical purposes Mexico has been included in the Central American countries statistics, according to the United Nations Statistics Division methods and classifications of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings. Turkey is included in the European statistics.

The designations employed and the presentation of material at this site do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on our part concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories by the United Nations or by this web page.

To this date, no confirmed figures for Internet Usage have been found for the following regions and territories of the world, some very small and some uninhabited, which do not affect significantly the overall statistical results:

AFRICA
1- Mayotte
2- Sahara (Western)

AMERICAS
1- Saint Pierre and Michelot
2- British Virgin Islands
3- Monserrat
4- Turk and Caicos Islands

ASIA
1- Korea, North - KP

EUROPE
1 - Isle of Man
2 - Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
OCEANIA
1 - American Samoa - AS
2 - Antarctica - AQ
3 - Bouvet Island - BV
4 - British Indian Ocean Territory - IO
5 - Chistmas Island - CX
6 - Palau - PW
7 - Pitcairn Islands - PN
8 - South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands
9 - Terres Australes
10- Territories of Australia
11- Other Smaller Territories.

Forwarding of information on Internet Usage for the above locations will be appreciated.

Hypertext Links
This site contains links to sites operated by third parties over which we have no control. IWS(Internet World Stats) makes no representations whatsoever about any other Web site that you may access through this one. Links imply neither that IWS is affiliated with or otherwise endorses any third parties nor that it is legally authorized to use any trademark, trade name, logo, or copyright symbol displayed in or accessible through the links, or that any linked site is authorized to use any trademark, trade name, logo, or copyright symbol of IWS.

^ return to index

2. REGIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL COUNTRY DIRECTORY
The second statistical section is the world regional country pages, an international directory featuring over 233 countries and regions of the world, organized into several hundreds of web pages. Individual country and regional pages feature maps, profiles, area information, and links to local search directories for the corresponding countries and regions.

Starting in 2010, the Individual country pages will be expanded in order to include, in addition to the Internet Indicators, telecommunication industry news summaries, and e-Commerce country data and news. This change will take some time to complete, because this additional information at Internet World Stats dot com involved updating and creating nearly one thousand pages of new content, and uploading it to the IWS website.

The best way to find a specific country is to go directly to the alphabetical country list and from there to click on the specific country name. This alphabetical country list has been enhanced with the symbol for each country or region, the current number of Internet users and the IP Count.

2.1 COUNTRY DATA
Each country (or region) entry has a header or data box with the following specific information:
Country name.
ISO 3166 short code.
Current estimated population for 2005.
Area in square kilometers (sq km) of the country or territory.
Country or territory capital city.
Capital city population.
Internet users of the country or region.
Date and source of the information.
Internet penetration for the country. This line will
be in bold for countries or regions where the penetration rate is over 50%.
Internet broadband subscribers (or connections) are shown in green, when available.

In the extent that fast Internet (broadband) usage data becomes available, this
information will be included in each country data box. Number of subscribers
data comes from various sources: ITU, each country's official telecommunications regulating agencies, local market research companies and from other trustworthy independent survey sources.

See two country "data box" examples below:

C H I N A

CN - 1,330,044,605 population ('08) - Country Area: 9,806,391 sq km

Capital city: Beijing - population 7,724,932 ('07)

253,000,000 Internet users as of June/08, 19.0% penetration, per CNNIC.

48,500,000 Internet broadband connections as of June/07, per M.I.I.

S W E D E N

SE - 9,045,389 population ('08) - Country Area: 449,965 sq km

Capital city: Stockholm - population 1,269,094 ('07)

6,981,200 Internet users as of Aug./07, 76.7% penetration, per Nielsen Online.

2,478,003 Internet broadband connections as of March/07, per ECTA

2.2 COUNTRY LISTS
The best way to quickly find any one of the 233+ countries included in the site is to go to the country alphabetical list, and to click on the country name. A country list by geographical areas is also available. Another list is available showing the countries ranked according to the latest "Digital Access Index" data.

The digital access index is a vital reference for governments, international development agencies, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to assess national conditions regarding information and communications technology (ICT) in each country.

Special note on Mexico and Turkey: For statistical purposes and consistency, and no other reasons, Mexico is included in the Central American countries statistics, according to the United Nations Statistics Division methods and classifications of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings. Turkey has been included in the European Countries as of October, 2005 because it is a candidate state for joining the European Union.

2.3 COMPOSITION OF MACRO GEOGRAPHICAL (CONTINENTAL) REGIONS
For the grouping of the countries and regions included in this web site we follow the United Nations Department of Economical and Social Affairs Classification, which may be seen here.

Special Note on country name modifications:

Current Name
Symbol
Old Name
Burkina Faso
BF
previously listed as Upper Volta
Cambodia
KH
previously listed as Democratic Kampuchea
Cote d'Ivoire
CI
previously listed as Ivory Coast
Democratic Republic of the Congo
CD
previously listed as Zaire
Hong Kong SAR
HK
HK is a Special Administrative Region of China
Macao SAR
MO
MO is a Special Administrative Region of China
Montenegro
ME
previously listed as Serbia and Montenegro, SC
Myanmar
MM
previously listed as Burma
Serbia
RS
previously listed as Serbia and Montenegro, SC
Sri Lanka
LK
previously listed as Ceilan
Timor-Leste
TP
previously listed as East Timor

2.4 ECONOMIC DATA
The main source for economic data and statistics is the World Bank.
Gross National Income per capita (GNI p.c.) is shown for most countries, if available. Details here.

2.5 BROADBAND DATA
Broadband or high speed Internet is generally defined as a transmission capacity that is faster than primary rate ISDN, at 1.5 or 2.0 Mbit/s. 256 kbit/s is generally taken as the minimum speed, according to Recommendation I.113 of the ITU Standardization Sector. In some countries 128 kbit/s is taken as the minimum speed and in some statistics ISDN usage is included in the broadband figures.

Broadband Internet access worldwide is mainly by means of Cable or DSL lines. This type of access is gaining more subscribers each day. IWS is now publishing broadband subscriber data for each country or region of the world, as such figures become available.
See broadband news here.

2.6 LANGUAGE DATA
The Internet is a Global Village with no physical frontiers, it is divided only by the different languages spoken in each country or region. We have researched the top ten languages spoken by the Internet Users and published this information. People speaking the same language show an inclination to form their own online community no matter what country they happen to live in. The latest estimated figures of the number of people online in each major language group may be seenhere.
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3. MARKET RESEARCH HELP
The statistics and demographic information displayed constitute valuable information for anyone involved in Internet Market Research. Most of our content is free, for personal use as well as for work purposes. Under each individual country a link has been included to the official statistics page for that country (in English when available). Additional useful Market Research links, guides, and tips may be found in our market research page.

A sister website has been created and may be found at all about market research.
This website features additional market research information, resources and tools.

Other IWS pages useful for Internet Marketing are:
B2B Trade Exchanges
Webmaster Tools and eMarketing Tips
Broadband Usage
The Digital Divide
Market Reports
Translation Tools
Tutorials
Web Services
Links Directory
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4. THE IWS NEWSLETTER - Privacy Policy
Subscribe to receive free information regarding changes in the Internet Usage and World Population Statistics as well as free Internet Market Research data, site update news and other information of interest. Please subscribe to the Internet World Stats monthly Newsletter, it's free. Your name and address will be kept confidential and private. Under no circumstances will we share, rent or sell a subscriber's email address. Click here to get your free subscription.

The IWS Newsletter has over 9,000 subscribers from 148 countries. Circulation is growing daily.Subscription Form

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5. INTERNET COACHING FREE LIBRARY

The Internet Coaching Free Library The object of this section is to offer free help, tips, advice, and guidence (coaching) about the Internet to the visitors of our website. It is a free resource and features useful articles and links on the subjects listed below:
Business Managing Tips
Business Opportunities
Blog Coaching
Coaching for Success
Coaching for Internet Beginners
Global Internet Languages
International Markets
Internet Advertising
Internet and Broadband
Internet Marketing
Industry Markets Research
Internet Security
Internet Writing
Personal Investing Tips
Personal Success Coaching
Press Release Coaching
Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Website Analytics
Website Design Coaching

Your suggestions regarding the articles are welcomed. Tell us what articles you liked best, and what additional content you would like us to publish.

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6. SEARCH ENGINE STRATEGIES

Here is a search resource that you can use for quickly finding selected content in this website:

Custom Search

There are several pages containing articles about Search Engines and coaching on this subject, refering to Internet Marketing. The pages and links below will help find them. Each page name contains the description of the content:
Search Engines & Directories
SEM - Search Engine Marketing
SEO - Search Engine Optimization
Coaching in Search Engine Marketing
Coaching in Search Engine Optimization

7. GOOD STATISTICAL PRACTICES

United Nations Statistical Division
We believe that high quality international statistics, accessible for all, are a fundamental element of global information systems, and that to maintain the trust in international statistics, their production is to be impartial and strictly based on the highest professional standards. In this order of ideas we try to apply good practices and standards as recommended by the UN Statistical Division.

Other useful website sections to visit are:
The Webmaster Tools and eMarketing Tips

The Software Gallery
This section features several recommended software programs.
You are invited to visit the page and make use of the free trials.
Again, your support o, we try to apply the good practices as contains links to statisticsf the sponsors helps keep this website free.

Pop-Unders Gone
All pop-unders on this site have been removed. Visitors will
now experience a more enjoyable navigation during their visit.
No more pop-unders will show up in the future. Sometimes the
cache your PC keeps in old versions of the pages you visited,
so be sure to refresh any old IWS pages to be pop-under free

IWS believes that you should never be tricked into installing
software on your computer. We also believe that external
pop-ups, pop-unders, and exit-pops are all intrusive and
annoying to the Internet user.

Browser Tips: if you want a good and useful pop-up blocker,
get the Google toolbar. It is Free and has several useful features.
The Google toolbar also shows the Google Page Rank.

Another good alternative we recommend to block pop-ups
and pop-unders, and decrease the spyware and virus you
pick up while surfing the web, is to use a browser that
stops the pops and is safe and secure like the new
Mozilla Foundation Firefox . Already over 200 million
free copies of Firefox have been downloaded. We also
suggest using Opera, another fast browser that blocks
all the pop-ups and pop-unders and is free to download.

Other Internet Explorer compatible enhancements that
also block pop-ups are: the avantbrowser, and the
Maxthon , both are freeware that make use of the basic
Microsoft 'Internet Explorer' engine.

NEW WEB LOG (the What's New Page)
A new Blog has been added to the site in order to report changes,
post Internet news and inform updates regarding statistics at the site.
This blog is a useful resource for our frequent visitors. To see the blog,
click this Blog link, and a new window will open with the web log.
Older archive blog news are available at Blog 2, Blog 3 and Blog 4

8. ABREVIATIONS USED IN THIS WEBSITE

CIA - The US Central Intelligence Agency

C-I-A - The Computer Industry Almanac

EMEA - Generally refers to the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region

G8 - Refers to the G8 Group of countries, integrated by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom and United States.

ITU = International Telecommunications Union.

IWS = Internet World Stats.

" GNI p.c. " is an economic indicator that means
"Gross National Income Per Capita". It corresponds to the
country's Gross Income divided by its total population
(number of inhabitants). It's the old GNP per capita.

MENA = Refers to Middle East plus North of Africa countries.

NIC = Network Information Center, part of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet.

OECD = Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developement.
p.r. = penetration rate

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For contacting us, please send your email to:
info @ internetworldstats.com

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Here's How -
Just find the page you want to link to, highlight the (Address) line of your web browser, copy and paste it into your site pages. - or - Copy the address from the box below.

http://www.internetworldstats.com">Up-to-Date Internet World Stats here
Up-to-Date Internet World Stats here

InternetWorldStats.com is a free Directory for Internet Market Research. Its aim is to make the Internet Usage Statistics available to the business community, the academic community, and to the general public. At present IWS has stats for over 233 countries and selected regions of the world. These statistics have been searched for, reviewed, and consolidated from various periodic surveys and other public information sources available in the Internet.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, this site is frequently modified with updates whenever new statistics become available, and the old data is removed. If you have any comments regarding this site or if you wish to suggest additional statistics or topics, please feel free to send us an email message addressed to:
info at internetworldstats dot com

Thank you for visiting the Internet World Stats web site!

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About Us
Enrique de Argaez The Internet World Stats web site was created on March 25, 2002 by Enrique de Argaez, MBA, who is the editor, webmaster and owner. His current activities include Internet Market Research and Internet Publishing. He is also the Managing Director of his company, Miniwatts de Colombia Ltda., located at Calle 140 # 7-C-10, Local 41, in Bogota, Colombia, South America. His Phone number is: +57-1-603-8155 and Facsimile is: +57-1-626-9391.
His Skype phone address (ID) is: enrique.de.argaez and "miniwatts"
His Mobile (celular phone) is: +57-313-857-3958

The Miniwatts Marketing Group is the International Division of Miniwatts de Colombia Ltda. ("Miniwatts"), a limited liability company (LLC) legally established on April 24, 1997 in Bogota, Colombia, South America. Other websites owned by Miniwatts are:

www.InternetWorldStats.com (English)
www.InternetOnlineSearching.com (English)
www.CloverHosting.com (Bilingual: En/Sp)
www.better-health-and-fitness.com (English)
www.AllAboutMarketReseach.com (English)
www.ExitoExportador.com (Spanish)
www.ABCdelinternet.com (Spanish)
www.CentraldeTrafico.com (Spanish)
www.DirectorioDelAdultoMayor.com (Spanish)
www.EventosyVacaciones.com (Spanish)
www.Miniwatts.com (English and Spanish)
www.Miniwatts-Email-Marketer.com
www.Miniwatts-Shopping-Cart.info
www.Miniwatts-Web-Publisher.com
www.InternetMarketReports.com (English)
InternetStatsToday.com (blog in English)
www.Internet-Online-Search.com (blog in English)
www.Telecommunications-Today.com (blog in English)
www.Talleres-Internet.com (blog in Spanish)
www.AbadiadelBosque.com (website in Spanish)
www.Health-and-Fitness-Today.com (blog in English)
www.Best-Tips-Internet.com (website in English)
www.Internet-Best-Tips.com (blog in English)
www.Wordpress-Today.com (WP training in English)
www.Wordpress-Hoy.com (WP training in Spanish)

Enrique De Argaez

deargaez

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Page updated on July 27, 2010

Statistics
The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions.

Quotation by Evan Esar (1899-1995),
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