New research ranks the countries with the fastest Internet connections, and all 50 U.S. states too.

The speed at which people around the world connect to the Internet is climbing at a 14% annual clip and now averages nearly 2 megabits per second, according Akamai's "State of the Internet" report that is due out tomorrow.

There remain huge variations around that average speed. South Koreans hook into the Internet at 14 megabits a second, seven times the global average, earning them the top spot on Akamai's list:

The global Internet continues to grow bigger and faster at an impressive pace, the report's data show.  The number of devices hooked to the Internet climbed 20% in the last year (ended September 30), but it's the increases in speed that are the most eye-catching.

The Akamai data give a unique window into the rapidly evolving Internet.  More