Hobson's choice

Number of Iraqi deaths, including 5,000 civilian, during the Gulf War: 45,000

Number of Iraqi civilian deaths, due to violence and health conditions, since the end of the Gulf War: 100,000

Number of deaths of Kurds and Turks since the formation of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, in 1968: 30,000

Of the 400,000 Bahais in Iran, where they are considered second-class citizens, number whose births, deaths or marriages are officially registered: 0

Difference in value between the exports of one district in North Italy - Treviso, which contains the headquarters of Benetton - and the combined exports of Sicily, Campania and Apulia in south Italy: 0

If, as the Northern League demand, Italy were split in two and a new country, Padania, were created in the north, position Padania would hold in a league of European countries with the highest per capita income: 1st

Assets of the Getty Foundation this year: $7bn

Amount the Getty Foundation must spend this year for non-profit purposes - on acquisitions or new buildings for the Getty Museum - to remain a tax-free institution: $350m

Total value of shares uncollected by 420,000 people since the flotation of building societies and insurers such as the Halifax and Norwich Union: pounds 820m

Number of Indians a day who travel by train: 13 million

Number of trains circulating daily in India on tracks designed for a maximum of 60 trains: 160

Out of the 37 million married working couples in America, number that are "frequent flyer" marriages, where the couples work in different cities: 1 million

Chances that young people in Britain, after drinking, have found themselves unable to remember whether they had sex the night before: 1 in 10

SOURCES. New York Review of Books, Guardian, Le Monde, Race & Class, Berliner Morgenpost, Financial Mail on Sunday, Health Education Authority, Utne Reader, National Geographic