Map of World | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: Globally the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America Europe and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment including loss of forests shortages of energy and water the drop in biological diversity and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820 to 2 billion in 1930 3 billion in 1960 4 billion in 1974 5 billion in 1988.


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total: total area: 510.072 million km²; land:148.94 million km²; water:361.132 million km²

Land boundaries: the land boundaries in the world total 250,883.64 km (not counting shared boundaries twice)

Coastline: 356,000 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone:24 nm claimed by most but can vary; continental shelf:200-m depth claimed by most or to depth of exploitation, others claim 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin; exclusive fishing zone:200 nm claimed by most but can vary; exclusive economic zone:200 nm claimed by most but can vary; territorial sea:12 nm claimed by most but can vary

Climate: two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates

Terrain: highest elevation is Mt. Everest at 8,848 meters and lowest depression is the Dead Sea at 392 meters below sea level; greatest ocean depth is the Marianas Trench at 10,924 meters

Elevation

Natural resources: the rapid using up of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe and the former USSR) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address

Land use: arable land:10%; permanent crops:1%; meadows and pastures:24%; forest and woodland:31%; other:34%

Irrigated land: NA km²

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)

Geography
Note: 70.8% of the world is water, 29.2% is land


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Population: 5,643,289,771 (July 1994 est.)
Growth rate: 1.5% (1994 est.)

Nationality

Ethnic groups

Languages

Religions

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios

Median age

Population growth rate: 1.5% (1994 est.)

Birth rate: 25 births/1000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1000 population (1994 est.)

Net migration rate

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion
International agreements: 20 selected international environmental agreements included under the Environment entry for each country and in Appendix E:Selected International Environmental Agreements

Air pollutants

Sex ratio

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate: 65 deaths/1000 live births (1994 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population:62 years; male:61 years; female:64 years (1994 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.1 children born/woman (1994 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.);; total population:82%; male:68%; female:75%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name

Government type

Capital

Administrative divisions: 265 sovereign nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries

Dependent areas

Independence

National holiday

Constitution

Legal system: varies by individual country; 182 are parties to the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ or World Court)

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage

Executive branch

Legislative branch: ground, maritime, and air forces at all levels of technology

Judicial branch

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation

Diplomatic representation

Flag description

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Real global output - gross world product (GWP) - rose roughly 2% in 1993, with results varying widely among regions and countries. Average growth of 1% in the GDP of industrialized countries (57% of GWP in 1993) and average growth of 6% in the GDP of less developed countries (37% of GWP) were partly offset by a further 10% drop in the GDP of the former USSR/Eastern Europe area (now only 6% of GWP). Within the industrialized world the US posted a 3% growth rate whereas both Japan and the 12-member European Union (formerly the European Community) had zero growth. With the notable exception of Japan at 2.5%, unemployment was typically 6-11% in the industrial world. The US accounted for 22% of GWP in 1993; Western Europe accounted for 22.5%; and Japan accounted for 9%. These are the three "economic superpowers" which are presumably destined to compete for mastery in international markets on into the 21st century. As for the less developed countries, China, India, and the Four Dragons--South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore--once again posted good records; however, many other countries, especially in Africa, continued to suffer from drought, rapid population growth, inflation, and civil strife. Central Europe, especially Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, made considerable progress in moving toward "market-friendly" economies, whereas the 15 ex-Soviet countries typically experienced further declines in output of 10-15%. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government in a number of cases is losing control over resources as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in former Yugoslavia, and in India. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of nearly 100 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems, the industrialized countries have inadequate resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. (For the specific economic problems of each country, see the individual country entries in this volume.)

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 2% (1993 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $5,200 (1993 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products: the production of major food crops has increased substantially in the last 20 years; the annual production of cereals, for instance, has risen by 50%, from about 1.2 billion metric tons to about 1.8 billion metric tons; production increases have resulted mainly from increased yields rather than increases in planted areas; while global production is sufficient for aggregate demand, about one-fifth of the world's population remains malnourished, primarily because local production cannot adequately provide for large and rapidly growing populations, which are too poor to pay for food imports; conditions are especially bad in Africa where drought in recent years has intensified the consequences of overpopulation

Industries: industry worldwide is dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces, and the technological gap between the industrial nations and the less-developed countries continues to widen; the rapid development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems

Industrial production growth rate: -1% (1992 est.)

Labor force: 2.24 billion (1992)
By occupation: NA

Unemployment rate: developed countries typically 6%-11%; developing countries, extensive unemployment and underemployment (1993)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $3.64 trillion (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
Commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Partners: in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries

Imports: $3.82 trillion (c.i.f., 1992 est.)
Commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Partners: in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $1 trillion for less developed countries (1993 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates


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Electricity
Capacity: 2,864,000,000 kW
Production: 11.45 trillion kWh
Consumption per capita: 2,150 kWh (1990)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: somewhat less than $1.0 trillion, 3% of total world output; decline of 5%-10% (1993 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways

Merchant marine: 23,943 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 397,225,000 GRT/652,025,000 DWT, bulk carrier 5,473, freighter 12,581, passenger-cargo 347, tanker 5,542 (all data as of January 1992)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs