• The 10 largest stock markets represent 78.8% of the global stock market value.
• The top two—the NYSE and Nasdaq—capture 46%.

The world’s stock market exchanges have a combined market cap of $89.5 trillion. But, while their amalgamated sum is massive, there are vast discrepancies between the value of each.

Which exchanges are the world’s largest stock markets, and why?

RankExchangeMarket Value#1NYSE$28.19T#2Nasdaq$12.98T#3Japan Exchange Group$5.37T#4Shanghai Stock Exchange$4.92T#5Hong Kong Exchanges$4.48T#6Euronext$3.85T#7Shenzhen Stock Exchange$3.49T#8London Stock Exchange$3.13T#9Saudi Stock Exchange$2.15T#10TMX Group$1.97T

Market capitalizations as of April 2020

U.S. companies dominate the global equities landscape.

This is the case for several reasons. For starters, American companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon possess trillion-dollar valuations.

Another factor is prestige—U.S. stock exchanges have always carried an elevated sense of legitimacy, which ultimately provides access to the best capital and financing for companies that trade there. That’s why you’ll find non-American companies like Toyota, Sony, and Alibaba on U.S. exchanges.

On the NYSE, there are 507 non-U.S. stocks from 46 countries. Here’s a look at 10 notable ones from all over the world that bring in a combined $2.1 trillion in market cap:

CompanyTickerOriginMarket CapTaiwan SemiconductorTSMTaiwan$401.9BNovartis AGNVSSwitzerland$212.3BSAP SESAPGermany$190.4BToyota Motor CorpTMJapan$213.8BVALE S.A.VALEBrazil$59.7BAnheuser-Busch InBev NVBUDGermany$94.0BEnbridge IncENBCanada$59.8BAlibabaBABAChina$838.4BHonda MotorHMCJapan$44.0BHSBC HoldingsHSBCUnited Kingdom$80.4BTotal$2,194.7B

Trading on big American exchanges also does the job of putting some investor concerns at bay. That’s because non-U.S. companies must comply with SEC and accounting regulations, thus providing a more overall transparent process to investors.

Get in touch to know how? what? when? where?why!

 Despite a volatile 2020, the global ultra high net worth (UHNW) population increased by 2.4%, reaching an all-time high of 521,653. 

• The U.S. and China contain the most ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals in the world
• Asia is expected to see the fastest growth in UHNW population over the next five years

In this chart, we’ve used data from The Wealth Report 2021 by Knight Frank to list the 20 countries with the most UHNW individuals.

To be considered an UHNW individual, one must have a net worth of at least $30 million.

Net worth is a measure of someone’s current financial position, and is calculated as the value of their assets minus their liabilities. The following table lists examples of each:

AssetsLiabilities

• Primary residence
• Investment portfolio (stocks, bonds, etc.)
• Cars, boats, and other physical assets
• Mortgages
• Credit card balances
• Loans

In short, assets are anything that can be sold for money, while liabilities are any debts or financial obligations that one may have.

Out of the 521,653 UHNW individuals in the world, 414,308 were located in the countries below. This means that almost 80% of the world’s UHNW individuals live in just 20 countries.

RankCountryNumber of Ultra WealthyGrowth Since 2015#1 U.S.180,06016%#2 China (Mainland)70,426137%#3 Germany28,39643%#4 UK16,370-8%#5 France15,50322%#6 Japan14,75536%#7 Italy10,441-4%#8 Canada10,02527%#9 Russia8,01519%#10 Switzerland7,55312%#11 South Korea7,35416%#12 Saudi Arabia7,020227%#13 India6,88427%#14 Spain5,9389%#15 Sweden5,24327%#16 Brazil5,140-9%#17 Hong Kong SAR5,04248%#18 Singapore3,73237%#19 Mexico3,287-4%#20 Australia3,12457%

With just over 180,000 UHNW individuals within its borders, the U.S. continues to be the long-standing leader in this metric. Its five-year growth rate of 16%, however, falls far behind the Chinese Mainland’s impressive 137%.

Whether China can overtake the U.S. as the leader in UHNW population remains to be seen, but momentum appears to be in the Asian nation’s favor. Recently, China became the world’s dominant trading partner, and was one of few countries to report positive GDP growth for 2020.

»Like this? Then you might enjoy this article on the world’s richest families.

There are over 510 million square kilometers of area on the surface of Earth, but less than 30% of this is covered by land. The rest is water, in the form of vast oceans.

Today’s visualization uses data primarily from the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) to rank the world’s countries by their share of Earth’s surface.

The largest countries by surface area are Russia (3.35%), Canada (1.96%), and China (1.88%).

Together they occupy roughly 7.2% of Earth’s surface. Russia is so big that even if we divided the country between its Asian and European sections, those new regions would still be the largest in their respective continents.

Search:Country / DependencyTotal in km² (mi²)Percentage of Earth's SurfaceRussia17,098,246 (6,601,670)3.352%Antarctica14,000,000 (5,400,000)2.745%Canada9,984,670 (3,855,100)1.958%China9,596,961 (3,705,407)1.881%United States9,525,067 (3,677,649)1.867%Brazil8,515,767 (3,287,956)1.670%Australia7,692,024 (2,969,907)1.508%India3,287,263 (1,269,219)0.644%Argentina2,780,400 (1,073,500)0.545%Kazakhstan2,724,900 (1,052,100)0.534%Showing 1 to 10 of 200 entriesPreviousNext

Antarctica, although not a country, covers the second largest amount of land overall at 2.75%. Meanwhile, the other nations that surpass the 1% mark for surface area include the United States (1.87%), Brazil (1.67%), and Australia (1.51%).

The remaining 195 countries and regions below 1%, combined, account for the other half of Earth’s land surface. Among the world’s smallest countries are the island nations of the Caribbean and the South Pacific Ocean. However, the tiniest of the tiny are Vatican City and Monaco, which combine for a total area of just 2.51 km².

The remaining 70% of Earth’s surface is water: 27% territorial waters and 43% international waters or areas beyond national jurisdiction.

In the past, nations adhered to the freedom-of-the-seas doctrine, a 17th century principle that limited jurisdiction over the oceans to a narrow area along a nation’s coastline. The rest of the seas did not belong to any nation and were free for countries to travel and exploit.

This situation lasted into the 20th century, but by mid-century there was an effort to extend national claims as competition for offshore resources became increasingly fierce and ocean pollution became an issue.

In 1982, the United Nations adopted the Law of the Sea Convention which extended international law over the extra-territorial waters. The convention established freedom-of-navigation rights and set territorial sea boundaries 12 miles (19 km) offshore with exclusive economic zones up to 200 miles (322 km) offshore, extending a country’s influence over maritime resources.

The size of countries is the outcome of politics, economics, history, and geography. Put simply, borders can change over time.

In 1946, there were 76 independent countries in the world, and today there are 195. There are forces that push together or pull apart landscapes over time. While physical geography plays a role in the identity of nations, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the former ruler of UAE, a tiny Gulf nation, put it best:

“A country is not measured by the size of its area on the map. A country is truly measured by its heritage and culture.”