Experts estimate that as much as 2% of the population meets the criteria, a group that spans all education and income levels.

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The criteria considered include population density, the distance to underground geological formations suitable for carbon sequestration, seismic activity, terrain, proximity to airports, military bases and so on and so forth.

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Regional Trends 1998 compares 13 different regions of the UK in hundreds of criteria, ranging from population and wealth to drug use and charitable spending.

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Universal service funds (USF) are set up by levies on telecoms in individual countries, which are then used to increase consumer access based on criteria such as income distribution, rural and urban population ratios, literacy and geography.

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The ageing population and squeeze on council budgets have led councils to impose stricter criteria on who can get help.

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They hope that the proposed criteria will be modified and discussed more to help the aging population.

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But such trials typically have strict enrollment criteria and findings often can't be generalized to the broader population.

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Among the several criteria is finding 1m signatories (0.2% of the EU population) from a quarter of member countries.

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The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (1933) sets forth what is generally accepted as the legal criteria for the establishment of a nation-state: (1) A permanent population, (2) a defined territory, (3) a government, and (4) the capacity to enter into relations with other states.

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