It seems there is no limit to the growth of Facebook-owned mobile image-sharing platform Instagram as the company just announced it has reached the milestone of 400 million active users. This is an increase of 100 million compared to the figures released in December 2014 and to a degree explains why Facebook decided it was a good idea to pay the incredible sum of $1 billion for Instagram back in 2012. 

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In its announcement Instagram puts emphasis on the fact that a large proportion of its new users come from outside the US: 

We are thrilled to announce that the Instagram community has grown to more than 400 million strong. While milestones like this are important, what really excites us is the way that visual communication makes the world feel a little bit smaller to every one of us.

Our community has evolved to be even more global, with more than 75 percent living outside of the US. To all the new Instagrammers: welcome! Among the last 100 million to join, more than half live in Europe and Asia. The countries that added the most Instagrammers include Brazil, Japan and Indonesia.

There are also a few well-known names among the last 100 million users who joined the service. German world-cup winning soccer player Toni Kroos, David Beckham and Caitlyn Jenner are among the celebrities who joined Instagram since December last year. If you're not instagraming yet but would like to join them you can download the app from Google Play or the Apple App Store.

Source: Instagram