In its latest report, a top internet marketing research firm comScore revealed that the global number of internet users has crossed nearly 1 billion mark during the last month (December 2008), with 41.3% coming from the Asia-Pacific region.

The comScore survey looked at Internet users aged above 15, who accessed the net from their home or work PCs during December 2008.

Mr. Magid Abraham, comScore, Inc President and Chief Executive Officer said, “Surpassing one billion global users is a significant landmark in the history of the Internet. It is a monument to the increasingly unified global community in which we live and reminds us that the world truly is becoming more flat.”

After Asia Pacific, which topped the survey with about 41.3% of internet users, Europe grabbed the second place with 28% of internet visitors followed by North America (18.4%), Latin America (7.4%) and Middle East & Africa (4.8%).

During the last month (December 2008), India boasts of the seventh highest number of internet users with as many as 32,099 visitors.

In the meantime, China accounted for the world’s largest Internet population with 1,79,710 users last month constituting more than 17% of the global traffic. The United States stood at second place with 16.2%, while Japan ranked third with 6%.

The other countries that follow in the descending order of internet usage include Germany, UK, France, India, Russia, Brazil South Korea, Canada, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Netherlands. Worldwide, India’s total internet population is about 3.2%.

And across specific Internet properties, Google Sites topped the list with 77% of the worldwide audience, followed by Microsoft Web sites represented 64.2% and Yahoo! Sites had 562.6 million visitors. AOL LLC, meanwhile, represented 27.1 percent of the worldwide Internet audience.