2006: What we already know
It's too early to tell if the new year will turn out good or bad. But a surprising number of facts about it can be stated with something close to certainty. Ed Caesar presents a selection
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Your support makes all the difference.Next year, for the first time, more than 50 per cent of the world's population will live in towns and cities rather than in the countryside
30bn tonnes of greenhouse gases will be discharged
There will be more than 2bn mobile phones in use
More than 65m new cars will be made
22bn rolls of toilet paper will be used
Twenty-four nations are due to hold national elections
The sea will rise by 2mm
Around 130m babies will be born, and around 57m people will die
At least 35 nations will experience armed conflict
On 29 March, a total eclipse of the Sun will be visible from over half the Earth
More than 1m people will die from acute malaria
Around 2.7trn insects will be accidentally eaten by humans
NASA will attempt to launch its first mission to Pluto
Manuel Noriega will become eligible for parole
More than 3m people will die from HIV/Aids; a further 3m will become newly infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa
At least 25,000 sq km of Amazonian rain forest will be destroyed
The global internet community will reach 1.21bn
Gas and electricity bills in the UK will increase
292bn cans or bottles of Coke will be sold
Tesco will open 80 new hypermarkets and 128 new supermarkets worldwide
Russia will assume the presidency of G8
One person in five will have less than $1 a day to live on
50,000 species will become extinct
More than 1bn people will watch the final of football's World Cup on 9 July
At least 13m people will be refugees
Smoking in public places will become illegal in Scotland
Austria, and then Finland, will take over the EU presidency
More than 1m people will commit suicide; a further 10m will try but fail
Roughly a third of the planet's population will be under 18
Kofi Annan will step down after 10 years as Secretary-General of the UN
Ten million people - including 4.5m children - will die from hunger or hunger-related diseases
More than 1m working computers will be thrown away
39bn barrels of oil will be pumped
The UK will produce around 400m tonnes of waste, including 30m tonnes of domestic waste
Around £350bn will be spent on advertising
Kenneth Lay, formerly of Enron, and Conrad Black, former owner of the Telegraph Group, will both stand trial
More than 900 films will be made in Bollywood
Al Jazeera will launch its satellite service, Al Jazeera International, in Europe, North America and Asia
Around $1trn will be spent on arms
Roughly 530,000 military servicemen and women will be deployed globally; 70 per cent of them American
Patras, in south-west Greece, will be European City of Culture
Over 100,000 new book titles will be published in the UK
More than 4m British people will be on weight-reducing diets
One person in five will be Chinese
At least 6,150 square miles of Arctic sea-ice will disappear
The average Briton will spend more than 400 hours shopping
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