We were having a discussion at work about birth rates around the world, and happened upon an article at Wikipedia about the Human Development Index. It’s a composite number that takes into account a lot of factors (poverty, literacy, life expectancy, etc) for each country around the world. They also have a really interesting map:

The contrast between Africa and the rest of the world is startling, in particular Niger which has the highest fertility rate in the world, as well as the highest infant mortality rate. Also striking is the color difference between Hati and the Dominican Republic.