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By the Numbers

18

Percent more cars sold in China in the first half of 2008 than the same period in 2007

30

Percent drop in the number of chronically homeless people living in the nation’s streets and shelters — from 175,914 to 123,833 — from 2005 to 2007

$8,000

The cost of shipping a 40-foot container from Shanghai to the United States, up from $3,000 in 2000

20

Percent slower many container ship captains have been instructed to travel to save on fuel costs

5

Million, the estimated number of people killed in the Congolese war in the last decade (roughly the equivalent of a loss of life on the scale of the 9/11 attacks occurring every two days)

1

Rank of that war among the deadliest wars since WWII

510

Number of American soldiers killed in Afghanistan since Oct. 7, 2001

36,000

The number of U.S. troops currently deployed in Afghanistan, the highest level since the war began

Sources: New York Times; National Geographic Magazine; Department of Defense