The front page is the most distinct feature of the newspaper format. It was invented 300 years ago, and has changed little since then. Without exception, industry predictions of the future of the newspaper include a front page. The upper part of the front page is covered by the nameplate that carries the newspaper's name. Traditionally, the nameplate is positioned at the top of the page, centered, and often set in an old font type that reflects the dignity of the medium.
The area below the nameplate is dominated by the headlines of the most important stories. The size of the headline font reflects the relative importance of an article. The article itself is printed under the headline. Since American newspapers put more articles on the front page than there is room for, only the first part of the article is printed. To read the last part, the reader must jump to an inside page.
The articles are laid out in columns of fixed width. This makes line lengths shorter than e.g. in books, and leading can be reduced since the horizontal retrace is shorter and easier to follow for the human eye. These factors make it possible to put more text on each page. The fixed width of the columns also makes it easier to tile articles of different size and shape.
While the front page contains articles from several categories, inside pages are more specialized. Main categories have their own section, such as sport and business. Within these sections are found additional detail, related topics, and juxtapositions.
These figures are compiled by the World Association of Newspapers, in 2008, and represent each paper's average circulation of the year.
Out of the 215 countries and regions, China, Japan and India are the countries with the largest number of newspapers by average circulation
in the top 100, with 62 on the list.
| Newspaper | Country | Circulation | Languaje |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dainik Jagran | India | 21,240,000 | Hindi |
| Rajasthan Patrika | India | 21,000,000 | Hindi |
| Yomiuri Shimbun | Japan | 14,324,000 | Japanese |
| Asahi Shimbun | Japan | 8,054,000 | Japanese |
| Mainichi Shimbun | Japan | 3,912,000 | Japanese |
| Bild | Germany | 3,548,000 | German |
| Cankao Xiaoxi | China | 3,183,000 | Chinese |
| The Times of India | India | 3,146,000 | English |
| Nikkei | Japan | 3,053,000 | Japanese |
| The Sun | United Kingdom | 2,986,000 | English |
| People's Daily | China | 2,808,000 | Chinese |
| Chunichi Shimbun | Japan | 2,755,000 | Japanese |
| Daily Mail | United Kingdom | 2,311,000 | English |
| The Chosun Ilbo | South Korea | 2,300,000 | Korean |
| USA Today | United States | 2,293,000 | English |
| Tokyo Sports | Japan | 2,230,000 | Japanese |
| Sankei Shimbun | Japan | 2,204,000 | Japanese |
| JoongAng Ilbo | South Korea | 2,200,000 | Korean |
| Dong-a Ilbo | South Korea | 2,100,000 | Korean |
| The Wall Street Journal | United States | 2,012,000 | English |
| Nikkan Sports | Japan | 1,868,000 | Japanese |
| Yangtse Evening Post | China | 1,810,000 | Chinese |
| Sports Nippon | Japan | 1,800,000 | Japanese |
| Guangzhou Daily | China | 1,680,000 | Chinese |
| Yukan Fuji | Japan | 1,559,000 | Japanese |
| Malayala Manorama | India | 1,514,000 | Malayalam |
| Daily Mirror | United Kingdom | 1,494,000 | English |
| Information Times | China | 1,480,000 | Chinese |
| Nanfang City News (Guangzhou) | China | 1,400,000 | Chinese |
| Sankei Sports | Japan | 1,368,000 | Japanese |
| Anandabazar Patrika | India | 1,277,000 | Bengali |
| The Hindu | India | 1,272,000 | English |
| Amar Ujala | India | 1,230,000 | Hindi |
| Hokkaido Shimbun | Japan | 1,201,000 | Japanese |
| Thai Rath | Thailand | 1,200,000 | Thai |
| Yangcheng Evening News | China | 1,170,000 | Chinese |
| Dainik Bhaskar | India | 1,147,000 | Hindi |
| Hindustan Times | India | 1,143,000 | English |
| Hindustan | India | 1,142,000 | Hindi |
| Chutian Metro Daily | China | 1,140,000 | Chinese |
| New Express | China | 1,132,000 | Chinese |
| Eenadu | India | 1,130,000 | Telugu |
| Mathrubhumi | India | 1,077,000 | Malayalam |
| Qilu Evening News | China | 1,050,000 | Chinese |
| Global Times | China | 1,042,000 | Chinese |
| The New York Times | United States | 1,038,000 | English |
| Hochi Shimbun | Japan | 1,015,000 | Japanese |
| Daily Sports | Japan | 999,000 | Japanese |
| Xinmin Evening News (Shanghai) | China | 998,000 | Chinese |
| Yanzhao Metro Daily | China | 995,000 | Chinese |
| Qianjiang Evening News | China | 951,000 | Chinese |
| Metro Express | China | 950,000 | Chinese |
| Today Evening News | China | 910,000 | Chinese |
| Punjab Kesari | India | 902,000 | Hindi |
| Dinakaran | India | 901,000 | Tamil |
| Daily News | Thailand | 900,000 | Thai |
| Al-Ahram | Egypt | 900,000 | Arabic |
| Peninsula City News | China | 900,000 | Chinese |
| Deccan Chronicle | India | 885,000 | English |
| Kronen Zeitung | Austria | 881,000 | German |
| Sakaal | India | 879,000 | Marathi |
| Daily Telegraph | United Kingdom | 874,000 | English |
| Daily Thanthi | India | 854,000 | Tamil |
| Nanfang Daily | China | 850,000 | Chinese |
| Wuhan Evening News | China | 850,000 | Chinese |
| Nishinippon Shimbun | Japan | 849,000 | Japanese |
| Divya Bhaskar | India | 840,000 | Gujarati |
| Dahe Daily | China | 830,000 | Chinese |
| Liaoshen Evening News | China | 826,000 | Chinese |
| Chunichi Sports | Japan | 808,000 | Japanese |
| Jang Group of NewspapersJang | Pakistan | 800,000 | Urdu |
| Beijing Evening News | China | 800,000 | Chinese |
| Kom Chad Luek | Thailand | 800,000 | Thai |
| Maeil Economic Daily | South Korea | 800,000 | Korean |
| Western China City News | China | 800,000 | Chinese |
| Al Gomhuriya | Egypt | 800,000 | Arabic |
| Modern Express | China | 790,000 | Chinese |
| Ouest-France | France | 789,000 | French |
| Los Angeles Times | United States | 780,000 | English |
| AJ | India | 748,000 | Hindi |
| Daily Express | United Kingdom | 745,000 | English |
| Komsomolskaya Pravda | Russia | 735,000 | Russian |
| Daily Star | United Kingdom | 726,000 | English |
| Liberty Times | Taiwan | 723,000 | Chinese |
| Shizuoka Shimbun | Japan | 718,000 | Japanese |
| Chugoku Shimbun | Japan | 718,000 | Japanese |
| De Telegraaf | The Netherlands | 702,000 | Dutch |
| Moskovskiy Komsomolets | Russia | 700,000 | Russian |
| Rakyat Merdeka | Indonesia | 700,000 | Indonesian |
| Hankook Ilbo | South Korea | 700,000 | Korean |
| Jinling Evening News | China | 700,000 | Chinese |
| Fakt Gazeta Codzienna | Poland | 686,000 | Polish |
| New York Daily News | United States | 681,000 | English |
| New York Post | United States | 667,000 | English |
| Corriere della Sera | Italy | 664,000 | Italian |
| Khao Sod | Thailand | 650,000 | Thai |
| Zaman | Turkey | 637,000 | Turkish |
| The Washington Post | United States | 635,000 | English |
| Posta | Turkey | 635,000 | Turkish |
| La Repubblica | Italy | 624,000 | Italian |
| Economic Times | India | 620,000 | English |
