In 2008, Athens was ranked the world's 32nd richest city by purchasing power < ref >

* 2008 – The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is topped off at, at the time becoming the world's highest residence above ground-level.

According to the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's largest companies in 2008, Canada had 69 companies in the list, ranking 5th next to France.

The world's largest derivatives exchanges ( by number of transactions ) are the Korea Exchange ( which lists KOSPI Index Futures & Options ), Eurex ( which lists a wide range of European products such as interest rate & index products ), and CME Group ( made up of the 2007 merger of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade and the 2008 acquisition of the New York Mercantile Exchange ).

In October 2008 de Klerk spoke at Brigham Young University concerning the global politics and role of the United States as the world's last remaining superpower.

Germany is a founding member of the EU, the G8 and the G20 and was the world's largest exporter from 2003 to 2008.

According to the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's largest companies in 2008, Mexico had 16 companies in the list.

MySQL ( " My S-Q-L ", officially, but also called " My Sequel ") is the world's most used open source relational database management system ( RDBMS ) as of 2008 that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases.

* 2008 – " Bloody Friday " saw many of the world's stock exchanges experience the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10 % in most indices.

* 2008 – Delta Air Lines merges with Northwest Airlines, creating the world's largest airline and reducing the number of US legacy carriers to 5.

Due to perishability, only about 5 % of the world's potato crop is traded internationally ; its minimal presence in world financial markets contributed to its stable pricing during the 2007 – 2008 world food price crisis.

South Korea eventually became the world's dominant shipbuilder with a 50. 6 % share of the global shipbuilding market as of 2008. Notable Korean shipbuilders are Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, and STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, the world's four largest shipbuilding companies.

The world's oldest leather shoe, made from a single piece of cowhide laced with a leather cord along seams at the front and back, was found in a cave in Armenia in 2008 and is believed to date to 3, 500 B. C.

The United States Geological Survey reports in its yearbook that this region produced a little less than 1 % of the world's tantalum output in 2002 – 2006, peaking at 10 % in 2000 and 2008.

* CERN's Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator ever made, was completed in 2008.

* April 9 – French typesetter Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville sings the French folk song " Au Clair de la Lune " to his phonautograph ; producing the world's earliest known sound recording ( however, it is not rediscovered until 2008 ).

* June 18 – Sandy Allen, American, world's tallest woman ( d. 2008 )

* Heroes: A possible future shown in Out of Time features the Shanti virus killing about 93 % of the world's population by 2008.

LLNL is home to many unique facilities and a number of the most powerful computer systems in the world, according to the TOP500 list, including Blue Gene / L, the world's fastest computer from 2004 until Los Alamos National Laboratory's IBM Roadrunner supercomputer surpassed it in 2008.

It is Mexico's second richest city, and the world's 63rd richest, with an economy that had a 2008 GDP of USD $ 102 billion.

The city is home to Memphis International Airport, the world's second busiest cargo airport ( following Hong Kong ), which serves as the primary hub for FedEx Express shipping and was a secondary hub for Delta Air Lines after it merged with Northwest Airlines in 2008.

* The world's most expensive grand piano is a Steinway art case piano built by Steinway's factory in Hamburg, Germany, in 2008 for € 1. 2 million.

Until 2008 it was the world's most powerful particle accelerator.

* total: 181 ( 2008 )

: Urban population: 30 % of total population ( 2008 )

: urban population: 92 % of total population ( 2008 )

American Samoa has a total of 241 km of highways ( estimated in 2008 ).

After the second terminal of International Airport Sofia was built the total number of passengers rose and reached 3 230 696 in 2008, and in April 2011 Airport Sofia serviced 282 694 passengers, 13 % more than the same period of 2009, when the record was 250 000 passengers.

As its member, Bulgaria sent a total of 485 soldiers to Iraq ( 2003 – 2008 ) as a participant in the Iraq War, and currently maintains a 608-strong force in Afghanistan as part of ISAF.

At the start of 2008, there were 59 building societies in the UK, with total assets exceeding £ 360 billion.

The total Swiss population change in 2008 ( from all sources, including moves across municipal borders ) was an increase of 278 and the non-Swiss population increased by 1138 people.

As of 2008, Canada ’ s total government debt burden is the lowest in the G8.

In total, there were 34 airports in 2008, only 10 of which had paved runways.

The loss marked a major turning point in Northern Territory politics, a result which was exacerbated when, at the 2005 NT election, the ALP won a second landslide victory, reducing the once-dominant party to a total of just four members in the Legislative Assembly. The 2008 saw the CLP reverse its earlier election losses, increasing its representation from four to 11 members.

On 13 November 2008, Cessna announced that a total of 665 jobs would be cut at its Wichita and Bend, Oregon plants starting in January 2009.

The total length of operational track is 2, 667 km, 640 km electrified at 25 kV AC, 946 km double track ( 2008 ).

Urban population: 69 % of total population ( 2008 )

As of 2008, the total enrollment at OUT was at 44, 099, the majority of which Tanzanian.

Ellensburg leans toward supporting Democrats, giving then-Senator Barack Obama of Illinois 56. 3 percent of its total vote in the 2008 presidential election to 41. 5 percent for his Republican rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona.

Before the 2008 season, Fenway Park's capacity was increased to 37, 373, where it remains following additional renovations for the 2009 season, making its total capacity the fourth smallest, ahead of Marlins Park, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, and Tropicana Field.

The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and has a total population of 594, 582 as of 1 January 2008, which ranks it as the fourth most populous in Belgium.

The total Swiss population change in 2008 ( from all sources, including moves across municipal borders ) was an increase of 135 and the non-Swiss population increased by 3181 people.

On 16 July 2008, Donald Tsang announced some " extraordinary measures for extraordinary times ", giving a total of HK $ 11 billion in inflation relief to help families ' finances.

Tourism employs nearly 150 thousand people and the total income from tourism was 4 billion euros in 2008.

The S & P 500 total return was − 37. 00 % in 2008, and that was one of the best performing equity indices in the world.

Road transport is predominant, with a total system length of 437, 759 km in 2008.

The total fertility rate has also climbed from an all-time low of 1. 18 children per woman in 1995 to 1. 41 in 2008.