Charting Europe’s debt crisis

Europe's ongoing debt crisis is, of course, currently centered on Greece.

But as our friends at the New York Times point out today in this amazing interactive map, Greece isn't the only problem.

Fourteen of the 27 countries in the European Union have debt that adds up to more than 60 percent of gross domestic product (the limit the European Commission set for member states).

The list of those in the 75-100 percent zone might surprise you:

• Britain (80 percent)
• France (82 percent)
• Germany (83 percent)
• Ireland (96 percent)
• Belgium (97 percent)

The bad boys of debt? It's who you'd expect:

• Greece (143 percent)
• Italy (119 percent)

The best performers include those on Europe's so-called periphery:

• Estonia (7 percent)
• Bulgaria (16 percent)
• Czech Republic (39 percent)

The story also looks at what the debt picture was in 2000 and 2005, and parses the data in several other interesting ways.

Overall, it's a fascinating study of an important global economic trend. It's also a worthy use of the mad skills of the graphics team at the New York Times.

Bravo.