Chart Analysis (6/3)

Chart 1 shows the number of people using the Internet from 1995 to 2002. 26 million people were using the Internet in 1995, and from then, the Internet user rate started to increase steadily. In 1999, 195 million people were using the Internet and there was a dramatic rise in the following year, 2000. The number of the Internet users came to a total of 451 million in 2000. After that, the rate continued to rise gradually, but it's not a sharp increase like what was like in 2000. Finally, in 2002, the number of people online arrives at a total of 580.

Chart 2 shows the proportion of the Internet users in 2003 with various nationality. While the majority, 53%, of the Internet users are from USA and Canada, 24% of them are Europeans. European users are followed by Asia/Pacific users accounting for 15% of the graph. 6% of the Internet users were living in South Africa, and they ranked the 4th. The rest consists of people from Africa and Middle East, 1% each.

We can draw out the expansion of the Internet worldwide related to certain regions where people live, if we put the two charts together. While the number of the Internet users has risen significantly, the ratio of the Internet users from different regions isn't proportionate. Therefore we can possibly draw a conclusion: It has become available for much more people to access the Internet, however the increase in the users' number has nothing to do with the equal access of information through the Internet. We can also find out that this phenomenon is related to national wealth, observing that the majority of the Internet useres were from western countries.