The World’s Top 10 Highest Mountain Peaks: Chart

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The World’s Highest Mountain Peak is the famous Mount Everest in Nepal. Everest stands at an astonishing 26404.2 feet. The second highest peak is K2 at 28,251 feet. It is also located in the Himalayas. Climbing these peaks is not for the faint hearted. Just this week a Seattle-based US doctor died trying to climb Everest. For many people hiking to the base camp of these peaks is in itself an adventure and a challenge. One of the popular ones is the Annapurna Base Camp or ABC trek.

With that brief intro, the following chart shows The World’s Top 10 Highest Peaks:

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Source: Is K2, the “Savage Mountain,” Becoming Less Savage?, Climbing.com

Below is a short excerpt from the above article:

K2 (8,611 meters/28,251 feet), or “Chogori,” is the world’s second highest mountain, after Everest (8,048 meters). Unlike Everest and the eight other highest mountains on Earth, K2 is not located in the Himalaya, however, but in Pakistan’s Karakorum. K2 is situated on the border of the Pakistani-Kashmir region Gilgit-Baltistan, and a slice of Kashmir administered by China as part of Xinjiang. All 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks, and the vast majority of the 100 highest mountains on the planet, are located in either the Karakorum or Himalaya. 

Also known as the “Savage Mountain,” K2 is generally considered among the most difficult of the world’s 8,000ers, and its death rate was historically one of the highest of all 14 mountains, along with Annapurna I (8,091 meters) and Nanga Parbat (8,126 meters). The former sits at a death rate of approximately 25%, while Parbat and K2 have traditionally held death rates in the low 20 percents. However, swarms of K2 ascents in recent years, notably in 2022, are contributing to lowering the K2’s overall death rate, which currently sits around 13%. K2 was the last of the 8,000-meter peaks to see a winter ascent (in 2021).

The full piece is worth a read.

How BIG is Mexico: Map

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Mexico looks small when we look at the map especially when the northern neighbors US and Canada are so big. However I recently learned that Mexico is a big country. The following description details how big the country is:

Mexico is a nation in the southern part of North America. It is bordered to the north by the U.S., to the southeast by Belize and Guatemala. Mexico is a vast country. It covers almost 2 million square kilometers (~762 thousand sq mi), making it the global’s 13th-biggest nation by area. Moreover, Mexico is a tenth-most-populous nation (about 129 million citizens) and the most populated Spanish-speaking country.

Mexico doesn’t look big on maps that have a Mercator projection due to distortion. The maps below clearly convey the real size of this country.

The United Kingdom, Germany and other 21 European countries fit into Mexico.

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Source: How big is Mexico?, VividMaps.com

Hat Tip: Marginal Revolution

The Periodic Table for Developed Markets Equity Returns from 2002 to 2021: Chart

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One of the key strategies for success with equity investing is diversification. I have written many times before that diversification can be done in many ways. For instance, one can diversify across sectors, regions, countries, asset classes, etc. When investing in overseas markets it is critical that an investor spread their assets across countries since no country is the top performer year after year consistently.

The following chart shows the performance of developed markets from 2002 to 2021:

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Source: Which Country Will Outperform? Here’s Why It Shouldn’t Matter, Dimensional Fund Advisors 

Below is a brief excerpt from the above article:

• Austria posted the highest developed markets return in 2017—but the lowest the next year.

• The US ranked in the top five for annualized returns over the entire 20 years but finished first in the country rankings just once over that period. In nine calendar years, it was in the lower half of performers.

Map of The Russian Empire From 1533 To Early Nineteeth Century

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I have no way to defend my borders but to extend them

Empress Catherine the Great of Russia

I came across this interesting map of the expansion of the Russian empire. In the 1500s Russia was small. Then over the next few centuries it conquered many lands and the Soviet Union became the largest country in the world. Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia is still the largest country in the world in terms of land size. Modern day Ukraine was acquired by the empire somewhere between 1689 to 1801.

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Source: Brittanica via The Forgotten Russian Colony in Africa, Medium

How the US Tax System Works: Infographic

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The US Tax system is the most complex system in the world. Nobody knows if there is any logic or purpose behind some of the tax laws with all its all of deductions, credits and so forth. Because it is so complex thousands of people earn a living trying to interpret it for others. This group of people include attorneys, accountants, tax software companies, tax consultants, etc.

One of the earliest written legal codes is “The Code of Hammurabi”. Below is the description:

The Code of Hammurabi was one of the earliest and most complete written legal codes and was proclaimed by the Babylonian king Hammurabi, who reigned from 1792 to 1750 B.C. Hammurabi expanded the city-state of Babylon along the Euphrates River to unite all of southern Mesopotamia. The Hammurabi code of laws, a collection of 282 rules, established standards for commercial interactions and set fines and punishments to meet the requirements of justice. Hammurabi’s Code was carved onto a massive, finger-shaped black stone stele (pillar) that was looted by invaders and finally rediscovered in 1901.

Source: Code of Hammurabi

Someone today might be able to read and understand The Code of Hammurabi than the US tax system.

With that intro, below is a neat infographic on the current US Tax system from Peter G.Peterson Foundation:

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Source: Peter G.Peterson Foundation