Big Countdown: 7.6 Billion People Living in the Countries of the World

Ben Hubbard began his writing career at a what's-on newspaper in the 1990s, interviewing bands, actors and artists in his native Wellington, New Zealand. He later joined the fast-paced world of daily newspaper journalism before packing up shop and moving to England. Here, Ben tied a number of new strings to his bow: magazine editor, book editor, and finally, author. Today, Ben writes a mix of non-fiction for all ages - preschoolers through to adults. He has penned titles on an eclectic subject range: from space exploration, samurai warriors and medieval castles; to pop music, pets, tornadoes and rugby skills.

• 1: Counting down the world's continents and countries2: 1,379,302,771 people live in China3: Tokyo is the world's largest megacity with 38,100,000 residents4: 24,668,091 diamond carats mined in Botswana5: Over 1,500,000 wildebeests migrate from Tanzania annually6: North America's largest mall is 493,000 square metres in size7: Canada's coastline stretches for 202,080 kilometres8: 11,770 millimetres of rain fall on Tutunendo, Colombia every year9: The railway line in Peru climbs to 4,818 metres high10: Around 4,400 people move to Antarctica each summer11: Over 1,200 museums and art galleries in France12: Only around 800 people live in the Vatican City13: Australia is the only continent with one country