R e s u l t s

IBCD-RICH. IBCD-RICH is an undjusted measure of a country’s BCD richness. Results for IBCD-RICH (arranged alphabetically) are in Table 1. The highest- and lowest-ranked countries are shown in Figures 2 and 3, respectively.

The columns in Table 1 signify:

• Total no. languages L: the total number of languages spoken in the country. Here, the maximum is an observed value: 6,800, the world total number of languages reported in the 2000 edition of Ethnologue . The minimum is also an observed value: 1, the smallest number of languages reported for a single country.
• Language Diversity Index, LD-RICH: an index value of 1.0 is equivalent to 6,800 languages; a value of zero is equivalent to one language.
• Total no. of religions R: the number of religions reported for the country. Here, the maximum is an observed value: 10,000, the world total number of religions as estimated in the World Christian Encyclopedia. The minimum is a theoretical value: 1, the number of religions in a religiously homogeneous country.
• Religion Diversity Index, RD-RICH: an index value of 1.0 is equivalent to 10,000 religions; a value of zero is equivalent to one religion.
• No. of ethnic groups E: the total number of ethnic groups reported for the country. Here, the maximum is an observed value: 12,583, the world total number of ethnic groups reported in the World Christian Encyclopedia. The minimum is a theoretical value: 1, the number of ethnic groups that would be present in an ethnically homogeneous country.
• Ethnic Group Diversity Index, ED-RICH: an index value of 1.0 is equivalent to 12,583 ethnic groups; a value of zero is equivalent to one ethnic group.
• Cultural Diversity, CD-RICH: the index for the cultural diversity component of IBCD-RICH, which is the average of LD-RICH, RD-RICH, and ED-RICH. In cases where one or two are missing, the value(s) of the remaining indicator(s) is/are used.
• Total no. bird and mammal species S: the total number of bird and mammal species reported for the country. Here, the maximum is an observed value: 14,709, the world total number of bird and mammal species reported in Groombridge and Jenkins (2002). The minimum is a theoretical value, 1.
• Bird and Mammal Diversity Index, MD-RICH: an index value of 1.0 is equivalent to 14,709 species; an index value of zero is equivalent to one species.
• Total no. plant species S: the total number of plant species reported for the country. Here, the maximum is an observed value: 250,876, the world total number of plant species reported in Groombridge and Jenkins (2002). The minimum is a theoretical value, 1.
• Plants Diversity Index, PD-RICH: an index value of 1.0 is equivalent to 250,876 species, a value of zero is equivalent to one species.
• Biological Diversity, BD-RICH: the index for the biological diversity component of IBCD-RICH, which is the average of MD-RICH and PD-RICH. In cases where one is missing, the value of the other is used.
• IBCD-RICH: the average of CD- RICH and BD- RICH.

IBCD-AREA. IBCD-AREA is a relative measure of a country’s BCD richness adjusted for its land area. Results for IBCD-AREA (arranged alphabetically) are in Table 2. The highest- and lowest-ranked countries are shown in Figures 3 and 4, respectively.

The columns in Table 2 signify:

• Area (in km²): Country areas are taken from the The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World (1999). The world’s land area, excluding Antarctica, is 136.6 million km². Countries with areas of less than 1,000 km² were excluded from the analysis.
• Log A: the log of the area of the country.
• Language diversity index, LD-AREA: an index value of 1.0 is equivalent to 6,800 languages, the global total, in 136.6 million km², the world’s land area. An index value of zero is equivalent to one language in one million km².
• Religion diversity index, RD-AREA: an index value of 1.0 is equivalent to 10,000 religions, the world total, in 136.6 million km². An index value of zero is equivalent to one religion in one thousand km².
• Ethnic group diversity index, ED-AREA: an index value of 1.0 is equivalent to 12.583 ethnic groups, the world total, in 136.6 million km². An index value of zero is equivalent to one ethnic group in ten thousand km².
• Cultural diversity index, CD-AREA: the index for the cultural diversity component of IBCD-AREA is the average of LD-AREA, RD-AREA, and ED-AREA (Table 21). In cases where one or two are missing, the value(s) of the remaining indicator(s) is/are used.
• Bird and Mammal diversity index, MD-AREA: an index value of 1.0 is equivalent to 14,709 bird and mammal species, the world total, in 136.6 million km². An index value of zero is equivalent to one species in ten km².
• Plant diversity index, PD-AREA: an index value of 1.0 is equivalent to 250,876 plant species, the world total, in 136.6 million km². An index value of zero is equivalent to ten species in ten km².
• Biological Diversity index, BD-AREA: the index for the biological diversity component of IBCD-AREA is the average of MD-AREA and PD-AREA. In cases where one is missing, the value of the other is used.
• IBCD-AREA: the average of Cultural Diversity AREA and Biological Diversity AREA.

IBCD-POP. IBCD-POP is a relative measure of a country’s richness adjusted for its population size. Results for IBCD-POP (arranged alphabetically) are in Table 3. The highest- and lowest-ranked countries are shown in Figures 5 and 6, respectively.

The columns in Table 3 signify:

• Population 2000 (thousand): the country’s population in 2000, expressed in thousands, as reported in UNPD (1998). The maximum is an observed value: 6.05 billion, the world’s population in 2000; countries with populations of less than 10,000 24 were excluded from the calculations to prevent the least populated countries from skewing the index.
• Language diversity index, LD-POP: an index value of 1.0 is equivalent to 12,000 languages, roughly twice the world total number of languages reported in the 2000 edition of Ethnologue and approximately equal to the number of ethnic groups in the world, in 6.05 billion population. This value was selected because the world is not more diverse than the most diverse country (Papua New Guinea) after adjusting for population. The zero index value is equivalent to one language in ten million population.
• Religion diversity index, RD-POP: an index value of 1.0 is 10,000 religions, the world total number of religions reported in the World Christian Encyclopedia, in 6.05 billion population. The zero index value is equivalent to one religion in one million population.
• Ethnic group diversity index, ED-POP: an index value of 1.0 is equivalent to 12,583, the world total number of ethnic groups reported in the World Christian Encyclopedia, in 6.05 billion population. The zero index value is equivalent to one ethnic group in one million population.
• Cultural Diversity index, CD-POP: the index for the cultural diversity component of IBCD-POP is the average of LD-POP, RD-POP, and ED-POP. In cases where one or two are missing, the value(s) of the remaining indicator(s) is/are used.
• Bird and Mammal diversity index, MD-POP: an index value of 1.0 is 30,000, approximately double the world total number of bird and mammal species, in 6.05 billion population. The zero index value is equivalent to 10 species in one million population.
• Plant diversity index, PD-POP: an index value of 1.0 is equivalent to 500,000, approximately double the world total number of plant species, in 6.05 billion population. The zero index value is equivalent to one hundred species in one million population.
• Biological Diversity index, BD-POP: the index for the biological diversity component of IBCD-POP is the average of MD-POP and PD-POP. In cases where one is missing, the value of the other is used.
• IBCD-POP: the average of CD-POP and BD-POP.

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