All new jaw-dropping stats!

If you find yourself flummoxed when the dinner party conversation turns to space debris, or how many text messages were sent last year, then help is at hand.

A new book published today aims to arm readers with wide-ranging knowledge - on the entire world.

The State Of The World Atlas, which calls itself a "unique survey of current events and global trends", is packed with fascinating facts and figures on everything from the international drugs industry to climate change.

Author Dan Smith said: "This book is for those who want to know some background to the big issues but don't have time to dig it

up for themselves. These days there is no problem getting access to information, but it's a jungle out there. This book attempts to make a bit of sense out of that jungle. It aims to help the reader understand the big picture."

This is the seventh edition of the Atlas, which has sold more than 700,000 copies since it was first published in 1981.