Gay Marriage World Map Shows Hopeful Trend (INFOGRAPHIC)

Most people in the world will celebrate this Valentine's Day in countries that do not recognize gay marriage. Still, the number of people who live in countries with full marriage equality is much higher than it was in 2000, when it was zero.

The Netherlands became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage on April 1, 2001, and ten other countries have followed. Many are also in Western Europe, but Argentina leads the way in South America and South Africa is a hopeful anomaly on a continent where gay love is widely and brutally criminalized.

This year the map may shift again. On March 27, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. A ruling on its constitutionality is due by June. And on Tuesday, France's National Assembly passed a bill to legalize gay marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt children. The measure is headed to the Senate, where it is expected to pass.