Here we go again. In my lifetime, formercolonies gained independence, and then finally they started to get healthier,and healthier, and healthier. And in the 1970s, then countries in Asia and LatinAmerica started to catch up with the western countries. They became theemerging economies. Some in Africa follows, some Africans were stuck in civilwar and others hit by HIV.
And now, we can see the world today, inthe most up-to-date statistics.
Most people today live in the middle, butthere are huge differences at the same time between the best-off countries and theworst-off countries, and there are also huge inequalities within countries. Thesebubbles show country averages, but I can split them. Take China, I can split itinto provinces. There goes Shanghai. It has the same wealth and health as Italytoday. And there is the poor inland province Guizhou. It is like Pakistan. Andif I split it further, the rural parts are like Ghana in Africa.
And yet, despite the enormous disparities today, we have seen 200years of remarkable progress. That huge historical gap between the west and therest is now closing. We have become an entirely new converging world. And I seea clear trend into the future, with aid, trade, green technology and peace. It'sfully possible that everyone can make it to the healthy, wealthy corner.
Well, what you’ve just seen in the lastfew minutes is a story of 200 countries shown over 200 years and beyond. Itinvolved plotting of 120,000 numbers. Pretty neat, huh?