The functions
TakeLargest
,
TakeLargestBy
,
TakeSmallest
, and
TakeSmallestBy
provide simple ways of selecting elements from lists and associations by numerical order.
For each South American country, associate the life expectancy of its inhabitants and the gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity (PPP):
In[1]:=
data=EntityValue
South America
COUNTRIES
,
life expectancy
,
GDP|CurrentUSDollar;PPP
,"EntityAssociation"
Out[1]=

Argentina

76.305
yr
,
$
4.68499×
11
10
per year
,
Bolivia

67.26
yr
,
$
7.37957×
10
10
per year
,
Brazil

73.937
yr
,
$
3.1924×
12
10
per year
,
Chile

79.955
yr
,
$
4.00534×
11
10
per year
,
Colombia

74.038
yr
,
$
6.65594×
11
10
per year
,
Ecuador

76.471
yr
,
$
1.83855×
11
10
per year
,
Falkland Islands
Missing[NotAvailable],
$
1.051×
8
10
per year
,
French Guiana

77.121
yr
,
$
1.551×
9
10
per year
,
Guyana

66.295
yr
,
$
5.75808×
9
10
per year
,
Paraguay

72.259
yr
,
$
6.0977×
10
10
per year
,
Peru

74.826
yr
,
$
3.89147×
11
10
per year
,
Suriname

71.019
yr
,
$
9.21404×
9
10
per year
,
Uruguay

77.23
yr
,
$
7.2751×
10
10
per year
,
Venezuela

74.633
yr
,
$
5.54329×
11
10
per year

Use
TakeSmallest
to get the two countries with the lowest life expectancy:
In[2]:=
c1=TakeSmallest[data[[All,1]],2]
Out[2]=

Guyana

66.295
yr
,
Bolivia

67.26
yr

TakeLargest
gives the two countries with the largest GDP at PPP:
In[3]:=
c2=TakeLargest[data[[All,2]],2]
Out[3]=

Brazil

$
3.1924×
12
10
per year
,
Colombia

$
6.65594×
11
10
per year

Emphasize with colors these two sets of countries on a geographical map:
In[4]:=
GeoGraphics[{Red,Polygon[Keys@c1],Green,Polygon[Keys@c2]}]
Out[4]=