The 2005 edition of this annual bestseller has been completely updated, revised and refreshed, with expanded coverage that includes new features on the euro area and asylum seekers and more on technology and the environment. As regulars will know, it contains rankings on more than 200 topics in subject areas as wide-ranging as geography, population, business, the economy, trade, transport, finance, industry, demographics, the environment, society, culture and crime. If you want to know: ; the highest mountain or longest river; where economic growth is fastest or inflation is highest; who consumes most energy; where computer or mobile phone ownership is highest; which countries have the most asylum seekers; the highest murder rate; who spends most, and who spends least, on health; the heaviest drinkers and smokers; who recycles most; where the internet has taken greatest hold, The Economist Pocket World in Figures has all the answers.