Broadband speeds around the world, in one map

Internet access is a lot faster in some places than others. Reddit user DMan9797 made this map showing broadband speeds around the world as of 2014:

The data comes from Speedtest.net, a website that lets users test their own internet connections. It indicates that the fastest internet in the world is in Hong Kong, with an average of almost 80 million bits per second (Mbps). Other high-speed countries include Japan, South Korea, Sweden, Romania, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The United States clocks in at number 30, with average speeds of 24 Mbps.

It’s important to note that these figures are based on a self-selected sample: users visiting the Speedtest.net website to test their own broadband speeds. It seems likely that users with fast connections would be most likely to try it. So these data likely overstate average broadband speeds somewhat — other measures, for example, peg the average US broadband speed at more like 12 Mbps than 24.

Still, the map gives a pretty good sense of which countries enjoy fast internet access (mostly in Northern Europe and parts of Eastern Asia) and which ones are relegated to the slow lane (much of the developing world).