Report shows world IP address distribution is uneven

A recently published document, entitled Internet IP Address 2009 Report, yields some interesting information about IP address allocation around the world.

IPs are far from evenly distributed. According to the report, the United States holds more IPv4 addresses than any other country– 37.14%. Trailing far behind with the second-greatest number of IPs is the UK with 11.37%. Third is China and fourth is Japan with 7.08% and 6.95% respectively.

Pacific islands and undeveloped or sparsely populated nations had the lowest number of IP addresses. North Korea, Pitcairn, Central African Republic, the Isle of Man, Jersey, and Liberia were among the lowest. Two countries famous for their free domains, Tokelau and Niue, also ranked extremely low.

Unless developing countries adopt IPv6 or find a way to share IPv4 addresses, they may find themselves out of luck when they wish to bring more of their citizens online. It’s no surprise that those countries that were first to connect to the Internet hold the greatest percentage of addresses. As the old saying goes, the early bird gets the worm.