Seeing Red: Which countries owe the most?

More than $14 trillion in the red, the United States has the largest debt load on the planet.

The global recession hasn't been a cake walk for any of these three countries, but Iceland was the first to need a bailout in 2008, following a series of bank failures.

According to calculations by The Economist magazine, countries around the world have racked up a total of $40 trillion in debt.

Although credit-rating agencies had warned that France's finances were approaching the "danger zone," it retained a AAA rating as of October 2011.

Recognizing Iceland's economic recovery following 2008 financial bailouts, the credit-rating agency Fitch upgraded its economic forecast from grim to stable in May 2011.

With hyperinflation rendering the Zimbabwe dollar virtually worthless, the government opted to abandon the currency and begin accepting more stable foreign currency, including the U.S. dollar, instead.

In September 2011, the International Monetary Fund agreed to a three-year loan program to help St. Kitts & Nevis dig itself out of one of the heaviest public debt loads in the world, equating to 185 percent of the island nation's gross domestic product (GDP).

Japan has limited its borrowing from foreign investors and governments, keeping its amount of external debt relatively low.

Zimbabwe has struggled in recent years to rein in its public debt, which the CIA calculates as nearly 235 percent of its GDP -- the highest in the world.

In 2008, the Irish government was among the lowest debt holders on the entire continent, but private sector debt was so high that the country quickly capitulated to the global recession crisis.

Yes, the United States owes China more than $1 trillion, but it owes American financial institutions even more -- about $5 trillion more, in fact -- meaning the U.S. is mostly indebted to itself.

In two referendums, the Icelandic people voted against a proposal to repay $5 billion in British and Dutch loans, putting the onus on the failed banks to repay their debts instead.

Greece's financial meltdown has severely degraded its international credit and trading cache, and in 2011, the S&P named it the "least credit-worthy" government in its purview.

In an effort to manage its $2 trillion sovereign debt, Italy has turned to China as a potential foreign investor.

Japan is burdened with more than $13 trillion in debt, the second largest tab in the global economy.

Debt management data from 2009 and 2010 calculated the average American debt load at $10,000.

As of February 2011, Delawareans were the most indebted, with people owing an average $20,000.

As a government hub with a stable housing market and a local economy not dominated by the auto industry, Albany, New York, earned the top spot from the Brookings Institution think tank.

Australia has the lowest gross public debt ($254 billion), followed by Brazil ($1.1 trillion) and the United Kingdom ($1.6 trillion).

According to global financial analysis based on 2010 data, Germany was the third-richest country in the world.