Interactive map: European debt

The Telegraph has provided an excellent interactive map to illustrate the complicated web of debt within Europe.

Graphic: European debt crisis explained

The complex web of lending between banks in Europe means the whole continent is threatened by the possibility of Greece defaulting on its loans.

This map shows the net borrowing between one country and banks in another.

As an example, borrowers in Portugal owe UK banks $25 billion, and borrowers in the United Kingdom owe Portugese banks $6 billion. The difference means that our banking system is exposed to Portugese debt by $19 billion.

The colours indicate the amount of indebtedness between countries. Purple means more indebtedness, and green means less or that the country is a net creditor.

Clicking on different countries to reveal different levels of net debt shows how the network of lending between banks in Europe could cause problems for many countries.

If no steps are taken to prevent a chaotic default in Greece, or Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain are not isolated from trouble, it could mean more defaults which would affect ever larger countries.

GO HERE to view the map