The finest form of gold is a brilliant, somewhat reddish-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. The atomic number of gold is 79, and its symbol is Au.
There are numerous different ways gold may be employed because of its malleability and ductility. Aside from being heavy and thick, it may also be used in food or drink.
Gold has both monetary and symbolic significance. There are four grades of pure gold: 24 karats, 18 karats, 14 karats, and 41.7 carats, which are all the same weight. The percentage of pure gold in a piece of jewelry is often used to assess its worth.
A monetary system in which a country’s currency or paper money is directly tied to the value of gold was originally utilized by the United States. In 1933, however, this was discontinued.
Gold has always been a valuable commodity to people, igniting gold rushes and even starting wars. Gold mining has been going on for about 7,000 years, and the Egyptians are credited with being the first to smelt gold, somewhere around 3,600 B.C. Hold jewelry only came a few decades later.
Gold is a popular investment option for those concerned about currency depreciation or inflation during times of economic downturn. In November of this year, the price of one ounce of gold was $1,500.
About half of gold demand comes from jewelry, with the balance coming from investment and industrial applications. Investment vehicles such as ETFs, which hold gold and offer shares for investors to purchase and sell, also want gold.
The world’s need for gold continues to grow. According to the law of supply and demand, the price of gold is affected by the amount of gold being mined across the globe. In terms of global gold production, the following nations lead the pack:
- Russia (281.5 tonnes)
- United States (253.2 tonnes)
- Canada (193.0 tonnes)
- China (399.7 tonnes)
- Australia (312.2 tonnes)
- South Africa (123.5 tonnes)
- Mexico (121.6 tonnes)
- Ghana (101.8 tonnes)
- Indonesia (190.0 tonnes)
- Peru (155.4 tonnes)
China produced 399.7 tonnes of gold in 2018 and accounted for 12 percent of worldwide mine output, making it the world’s biggest gold producer.
China’s manufacturing output fell by 6% in 2018 compared to the previous year. Due to stricter environmental regulations, this has occurred.
Due to the over-mining of “cheap gold,” or gold readily available to the general public, the worldwide growth in gold prices has slowed significantly since 2016. There are extra issues to consider while mining for gold, including miner safety and environmental implications.
Country | 2022 Population |
---|---|
Vatican City | 0.7990 |
Tokelau | 1.3780 |
Niue | 1.6220 |
Falkland Islands | 3.5390 |
Montserrat | 4.9650 |
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 5.7590 |
Saint Barthelemy | 9.9450 |
Nauru | 10.9030 |
Wallis and Futuna | 10.9820 |
Tuvalu | 12.0660 |
Anguilla | 15.2300 |
Cook Islands | 17.5710 |
Palau | 18.2330 |
British Virgin Islands | 30.5960 |
Gibraltar | 33.7040 |
San Marino | 34.0850 |
Liechtenstein | 38.3870 |
Saint Martin | 39.7300 |
Turks and Caicos Islands | 39.7410 |
Monaco | 39.7830 |
Sint Maarten | 43.9660 |
Faroe Islands | 49.2330 |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 53.8710 |
American Samoa | 55.0300 |
Greenland | 56.9730 |
Northern Mariana Islands | 58.2690 |
Marshall Islands | 60.0570 |
Bermuda | 61.9390 |
Cayman Islands | 67.2770 |
Dominica | 72.3440 |
Andorra | 77.4630 |
Isle of Man | 85.7320 |
Seychelles | 99.4260 |
Antigua and Barbuda | 99.5090 |
United States Virgin Islands | 103.9710 |
Aruba | 107.6090 |
Tonga | 107.7490 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 111.5510 |
Grenada | 113.4750 |
Micronesia | 117.4890 |
Kiribati | 123.4190 |
Curacao | 165.5290 |
Guam | 171.5190 |
Saint Lucia | 185.1130 |
Samoa | 202.2390 |
Sao Tome and Principe | 227.6790 |
French Polynesia | 284.1640 |
Mayotte | 286.2590 |
Barbados | 288.0230 |
New Caledonia | 290.9150 |
French Guiana | 314.1690 |
Vanuatu | 321.8320 |
Iceland | 345.3930 |
Martinique | 374.0870 |
Guadeloupe | 399.7940 |
Bahamas | 400.5160 |
Belize | 412.1900 |
Malta | 444.0330 |
Brunei | 445.4310 |
Maldives | 540.9850 |
Cape Verde | 567.6780 |
Suriname | 596.8310 |
Western Sahara | 626.1610 |
Montenegro | 627.9500 |
Luxembourg | 642.3710 |
Macau | 667.4900 |
Solomon Islands | 721.1590 |
Bhutan | 787.9410 |
Guyana | 794.0450 |
Comoros | 907.4190 |
Reunion | 908.0610 |
Fiji | 909.4660 |
Djibouti | 1016.0970 |
Eswatini | 1184.8170 |
Cyprus | 1223.3870 |
Mauritius | 1274.7270 |
Estonia | 1321.9100 |
Timor-Leste | 1369.4290 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 1406.5850 |
Equatorial Guinea | 1496.6620 |
Bahrain | 1783.9830 |
Latvia | 1848.8370 |
Guinea-Bissau | 2063.3670 |
Slovenia | 2078.0340 |
North Macedonia | 2081.3040 |
Lesotho | 2175.6990 |
Gabon | 2331.5330 |
Botswana | 2441.1620 |
Gambia | 2558.4820 |
Namibia | 2633.8740 |
Lithuania | 2661.7080 |
Puerto Rico | 2829.8120 |
Albania | 2866.3740 |
Armenia | 2971.9660 |
Qatar | 2979.9150 |
Jamaica | 2985.0940 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3249.3170 |
Mongolia | 3378.0780 |
Uruguay | 3496.0160 |
Eritrea | 3662.2440 |
Georgia | 3968.7380 |
Moldova | 4013.1710 |
Croatia | 4059.2860 |
Kuwait | 4380.3260 |
Panama | 4446.9640 |
New Zealand | 4898.2030 |
Mauritania | 4901.9810 |
Central African Republic | 5016.6780 |
Ireland | 5020.1990 |
Costa Rica | 5182.3540 |
Liberia | 5305.1170 |
Oman | 5323.9930 |
Palestine | 5345.5410 |
Slovakia | 5460.1930 |
Norway | 5511.3700 |
Finland | 5554.9600 |
Republic of the Congo | 5797.8050 |
Denmark | 5834.9500 |
Singapore | 5943.5460 |
Turkmenistan | 6201.9430 |
El Salvador | 6550.3890 |
Lebanon | 6684.8490 |
Kyrgyzstan | 6728.2710 |
Nicaragua | 6779.1000 |
Bulgaria | 6844.5970 |
Libya | 7040.7450 |
Paraguay | 7305.8430 |
Laos | 7481.0230 |
Hong Kong | 7604.2990 |
Sierra Leone | 8306.4360 |
Serbia | 8653.0160 |
Togo | 8680.8370 |
Switzerland | 8773.6370 |
Israel | 8922.8920 |
Austria | 9066.7100 |
Papua New Guinea | 9292.1690 |
Belarus | 9432.8000 |
Hungary | 9606.2590 |
Tajikistan | 9957.4640 |
United Arab Emirates | 10081.7850 |
Portugal | 10140.5700 |
Sweden | 10218.9710 |
Honduras | 10221.2470 |
Azerbaijan | 10300.2050 |
Jordan | 10300.8690 |
Greece | 10316.6370 |
Czech Republic | 10736.7840 |
Dominican Republic | 11056.3700 |
Cuba | 11305.6520 |
South Sudan | 11618.5110 |
Belgium | 11668.2780 |
Haiti | 11680.2830 |
Bolivia | 11992.6560 |
Tunisia | 12046.6560 |
Burundi | 12624.8400 |
Benin | 12784.7260 |
Rwanda | 13600.4640 |
Guinea | 13865.6910 |
Zimbabwe | 15331.4280 |
Somalia | 16841.7950 |
Cambodia | 17168.6390 |
Netherlands | 17211.4470 |
Chad | 17413.5800 |
Senegal | 17653.6710 |
Ecuador | 18113.3610 |
Guatemala | 18584.0390 |
Romania | 19031.3350 |
Kazakhstan | 19205.0430 |
Chile | 19250.1950 |
Syria | 19364.8090 |
Zambia | 19470.2340 |
Malawi | 20180.8390 |
Mali | 21473.7640 |
Sri Lanka | 21575.8420 |
Burkina Faso | 22102.8380 |
Taiwan | 23888.5950 |
North Korea | 25990.6790 |
Australia | 26068.7920 |
Niger | 26083.6600 |
Ivory Coast | 27742.2980 |
Cameroon | 27911.5480 |
Madagascar | 29178.0770 |
Venezuela | 29266.9910 |
Nepal | 30225.5820 |
Yemen | 31154.8670 |
Ghana | 32395.4500 |
Mozambique | 33089.4610 |
Malaysia | 33181.0720 |
Peru | 33684.2080 |
Uzbekistan | 34382.0840 |
Angola | 35027.3430 |
Saudi Arabia | 35844.9090 |
Poland | 37739.7850 |
Morocco | 37772.7560 |
Canada | 38388.4190 |
Afghanistan | 40754.3880 |
Iraq | 42164.9650 |
Ukraine | 43192.1220 |
Algeria | 45350.1480 |
Sudan | 45992.0200 |
Argentina | 46010.2340 |
Spain | 46719.1420 |
Uganda | 48432.8630 |
South Korea | 51329.8990 |
Colombia | 51512.7620 |
Myanmar | 55227.1430 |
Kenya | 56215.2210 |
Italy | 60262.7700 |
South Africa | 60756.1350 |
Tanzania | 63298.5500 |
France | 65584.5180 |
United Kingdom | 68497.9070 |
Thailand | 70078.2030 |
Germany | 83883.5960 |
Turkey | 85561.9760 |
Iran | 86022.8370 |
DR Congo | 95240.7920 |
Vietnam | 98953.5410 |
Egypt | 106156.6920 |
Philippines | 112508.9940 |
Ethiopia | 120812.6980 |
Japan | 125584.8380 |
Mexico | 131562.7720 |
Russia | 145805.9470 |
Bangladesh | 167885.6890 |
Brazil | 215353.5930 |
Nigeria | 216746.9340 |
Pakistan | 229488.9940 |
Indonesia | 279134.5050 |
United States | 334805.2690 |
India | 1406631.7760 |
China | 1448471.4000 |