Pingdom.com have created an animated GIF illustrating the development of the world’s online population over the past 20 years. The data comes from the World Bank and shows that there are now an estimated 2 billion Internet users as of March 2011, representing about a third of the world’s population.

Regarding the animation:

• The darker the shade of red a  country is, the higher the Internet penetration is.
• White means there is no data from the World Bank, or it’s less than 1 Internet user per 100 people.

Some statistics from the Pingdom blog post:

• 1 – In 1991, no country had more than 1 Internet user per 100 people.
• 6 – In 1991, only six out of 216 countries registered with 1 Internet user per 100 people.
• 186 – The number of countries with an Internet penetration stated in the World Bank statistics for 2010.
• 96% – The highest Internet penetration in 2010 was in Iceland.
• 34.8% – The average Internet penetration per country in 2010.
• 31% – The median Internet penetration per country in 2010.
• 34% – The Internet penetration in China in 2010.
• 460 million – The number of Internet users in China in 2010.
• 79% – The Internet penetration in U.S. in 2010.
• 245 million – The number of Internet users in U.S. in 2010.
• 8% – The Internet penetration in India in 2010.
• 91.8 million – The number of Internet users in India in 2010.

(via Pingdom)