The internet is the biggest world-wide communication network of computers. It has millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together carry many different kinds of information. The term is sometimes abbreviated as "the net".
Internet: Applications
The Internet has many important applications. Of the various services available via the Internet, the three most important are e-mail, web browsing, and peer-to-peer services . E-mail, also known as electronic mail, is the most widely used and successful of Internet applications.
Internet definition
The global communication network that allows almost all computers worldwide to connect and exchange information. Some of the early impetus for such a network came from the U.S. government network Arpanet, starting in the 1960s.
Who Owns the Internet?
No one actually owns the Internet, and no single person or organization controls the Internet in its entirety. The Internet is more of a concept than an actual tangible entity, and it relies on a physical infrastructure that connects networks to other networks.
Number of Worldwide Users
According to Internet Live Stats, as of August 12, 2016 there was an estimated 3,432,809,100 Internet users worldwide. The number of Internet users represents nearly 40 percent of the world's population. The largest number of Internet users by country is China, followed by the United States and India.
In September 2014, the total number of websites with a unique hostname online exceeded 1 billion. This is an increase from one website (info.cern.ch) in 1991. The first billion Internet users worldwide was reached in 2005.
