Which country has the largest gold reserves in the world?

There are many interesting things behind the gold metal - Photo: The Glamourai

Gold is a transition metal that is soft, malleable, ductile, and unreactive to most chemicals. Itis one of the precious metals in the world, behind its sparkling beauty are many interesting things that not everyone knows.

80% of the gold on Earth has yet to be found

Gold can be found on all seven continents. A total of 166,500 tonnes of gold have been mined in world history, which if cast into a cube would have sides measuring 20.5 metres.If the above amount of gold were melted down, it would fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

The 166,500 tonnes of gold to date are divided into four main components according to application, the most common of which is gold used in jewelry (50.5%).

Next is used for private investment (18.7%), then used for government reserves around the world (17.4%), and finally gold is used in industry (13.4%).

Technicians process liquid gold into gold bars - Photo: REUTERS

75% of the gold in human possession has been mined since 1910. During the millennia before that, only 25% of all existing gold was discovered.

Archaeologists believe that humans began to discover and use gold as early as 5,000 BC. Scientists say that an estimated 80% of the gold on Earth has yet to be found.

Many opinions say that gold is likely to be located so deep underground that humans will not be able to mine it in the near future.

The first gold coins were used by people living in Lydia (part of Türkiye) around 560 BC. Legend has it that the gold came from the Pactolus River, where King Midas lost his ability to turn objects into gold.

China consumes the most, South Africa has the largest reserves

With 1 gram of gold, one can flatten it into a 165m long wire with a diameter equal to a human hair.

Because gold is an excellent conductor of electricity, it is used in many industrial applications. There are folk tales that Chinese emperors used gold foil to embroider luxurious carpets or to sew royal robes.

Gold is also used in sports. In the past, real gold was used to make gold medals awarded to champion athletes. Since 1912, the Olympic Committee has stopped using 24K gold for medals. Today's gold medals contain only about 6 grams of gold.

Gold is also used in astronauts' helmets - Photo: NASA

Gold is also used today in astronaut goggles and helmets. Gold plays a useful role in reflecting infrared rays from the sun, helping to prevent the helmet from overheating.

About 13% of gold is used as coins in national central banks or purchased from investors. The rest is used for other purposes such as industrial and dental applications.

Statistics on gold reserves of governments and monetary organizations worldwide in 2012 showed that the US held the most, followed by the IMF, then Germany, Italy, and France. As of May 2016, this order remained unchanged.

According to Business Insider, China was the world's largest buyer of gold jewelry in 2016. According to a report, South Asian countries import about 800 tons of gold each year and use about 600 tons of it to make jewelry.

South Africa is the country with the largest gold reserves in the world. Over the past 130 years, an average of 40% of the world's gold has been mined in this country.

The largest gold ore still in existence today is being preserved in Las Vegas - Photo: REUTERS

The world's largest gold nugget ever found was the "Welcome Stranger", found in Victoria, Australia in 1869, weighing 71kg of which 65kg was pure gold.

The largest known ore block in existence, the "Hand of Faith" was found in 1980 in Australia and weighs 27kg and is currently on display at the Golden Nugget Cassino in Las Vegas.