Statistical information World 2014
World map
World - Introduction 2014
top of pageBackground:
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 environmental degradation including deforestation energy and water shortages declining 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 1987 6 billion in 1999 and 7 billion in 2012. For the 21st century the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g. advances in medicine and agriculture) and fears (e.g. development of even more lethal weapons of war).
The surface of the earth is approximately 70.9% water and 29.1% land. The former portion is divided into large water bodies termed oceans. Gheos World Guide recognizes and describes five oceans which are in decreasing order of size: the Pacific Ocean Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean.
The land portion is generally divided into several large discrete landmasses termed continents. Depending on the convention used the number of continents can vary from five to seven. The most common classification recognizes seven which are (from largest to smallest): Asia Africa North America South America Antarctica Europe and Australia. Asia and Europe are sometimes lumped together into a Eurasian continent resulting in six continents. Alternatively North and South America are sometimes grouped as simply the Americas resulting in a continent total of six (or five if the Eurasia designation is used).
North America is commonly understood to include the island of Greenland the isles of the Caribbean and to extend south all the way to the Isthmus of Panama. The easternmost extent of Europe is generally defined as being the Ural Mountains and the Ural River; on the southeast the Caspian Sea; and on the south the Caucasus Mountains the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Portions of Azerbaijan Georgia Kazakhstan Russia and Turkey fall within both Europe and Asia but in every instance the larger section is in Asia. These countries are considered part of both continents. Armenia and Cyprus which lie completely in Western Asia are geopolitically European countries.
Asia usually incorporates all the islands of the Philippines Malaysia and Indonesia. The islands of the Pacific are often lumped with Australia into a 'land mass' termed Oceania or Australasia. Africa's northeast extremity is frequently delimited at the Isthmus of Suez but for geopolitical purposes the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula is often included as part of Africa.
Although the above groupings are the most common different continental dispositions are recognized or taught in certain parts of the world with some arrangements more heavily based on cultural spheres rather than physical geographic considerations.
The surface of the earth is approximately 70.9% water and 29.1% land. The former portion is divided into large water bodies termed oceans. Gheos World Guide recognizes and describes five oceans which are in decreasing order of size: the Pacific Ocean Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean.
The land portion is generally divided into several large discrete landmasses termed continents. Depending on the convention used the number of continents can vary from five to seven. The most common classification recognizes seven which are (from largest to smallest): Asia Africa North America South America Antarctica Europe and Australia. Asia and Europe are sometimes lumped together into a Eurasian continent resulting in six continents. Alternatively North and South America are sometimes grouped as simply the Americas resulting in a continent total of six (or five if the Eurasia designation is used).
North America is commonly understood to include the island of Greenland the isles of the Caribbean and to extend south all the way to the Isthmus of Panama. The easternmost extent of Europe is generally defined as being the Ural Mountains and the Ural River; on the southeast the Caspian Sea; and on the south the Caucasus Mountains the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Portions of Azerbaijan Georgia Kazakhstan Russia and Turkey fall within both Europe and Asia but in every instance the larger section is in Asia. These countries are considered part of both continents. Armenia and Cyprus which lie completely in Western Asia are geopolitically European countries.
Asia usually incorporates all the islands of the Philippines Malaysia and Indonesia. The islands of the Pacific are often lumped with Australia into a 'land mass' termed Oceania or Australasia. Africa's northeast extremity is frequently delimited at the Isthmus of Suez but for geopolitical purposes the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula is often included as part of Africa.
Although the above groupings are the most common different continental dispositions are recognized or taught in certain parts of the world with some arrangements more heavily based on cultural spheres rather than physical geographic considerations.
World - Geography 2014
top of pageLocation
Geographic coordinates
Map reference
Area
Land: 148.94 million km²
Water: 361.132 million km²
Comparative: land area about 16 times the size of the US
Comparative top fifteen entities ranked by size: Pacific Ocean 155.557 million km²; Atlantic Ocean 76.762 million km²; Indian Ocean 68.556 million km²; Southern Ocean 20.327 million km²; Russia 17,098,242 km²; Arctic Ocean 14.056 million km²; Antarctica 14 million km²; Canada 9,984,670 km²; United States 9,826,675 km²; China 9,596,961 km²; Brazil 8,514,877 km²; Australia 7,741,220 km²; European Union 4,324,782 km²; India 3,287,263 km²; Argentina 2,780,400 km²
Comparative top ten largest water bodies: Pacific Ocean 155.557 million km²; Atlantic Ocean 76.762 million km²; Indian Ocean 68.556 million km²; Southern Ocean 20.327 million km²; Arctic Ocean 14.056 million km²; Coral Sea 4,184,100 km²; South China Sea 3,595,900 km²; Caribbean Sea 2.834 million km²; Bering Sea 2.52 million km²; Mediterranean Sea 2.469 million km²
Comparative top ten largest landmasses: Asia 44,568,500 km²; Africa 30.065 million km²; North America 24.473 million km²; South America 17.819 million km²; Antarctica 14 million km²; Europe 9.948 million km²; Australia 7,741,220 km²; Greenland 2,166,086 km²; New Guinea 785,753 km²; Borneo 751,929 km²
Comparative top ten largest islands: Greenland 2,166,086 km²; New Guinea (Indonesia Papua New Guinea) 785,753 km²; Borneo (Brunei Indonesia Malaysia) 751,929 km²; Madagascar 587,713 km²; Baffin Island (Canada) 507,451 km²; Sumatra (Indonesia) 472,784 km²; Honshu (Japan) 227,963 km²; Victoria Island (Canada) 217,291 km²; Great Britain (United Kingdom) 209,331 km²; Ellesmere Island (Canada) 196,236 km²
Land boundaries: the land boundaries in the world total 251,060 km (not counting shared boundaries twice); two nations China and Russia each border 14 other countries
Coastline: 356,000 km
Maritime claims: a variety of situations exist but in general most countries make the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: territorial sea - 12 nm contiguous zone - 24 nm and exclusive economic zone - 200 nm; additional zones provide for exploitation of continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm
Climate: a wide equatorial band of hot and humid tropical climates - bordered north and south by subtropical temperate zones - that separate two large areas of cold and dry polar climates
Terrain: the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean
Elevation
Extremes highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m
Extremes top ten highest mountains: Mount Everest (China-Nepal) 8,850 m; K2 (Pakistan) 8,611 m; Kanchenjunga (India-Nepal) 8,598 m; Lhotse (Nepal) 8,516 m; Makalu (China-Nepal) 8,463 m; Cho Oyu (China-Nepal) 8,201 m; Dhaulagiri (Nepal) 8,167 m; Manaslu (Nepal) 8,163 m; Nanga Parbat (Pakistan) 8,125 m; Anapurna (Nepal) 8,091 m
Natural resources: the rapid depletion 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 some countries of Eastern Europe the former USSR and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address
Land use
Land use
Permanent crops: 1.15%
Other: 88.42% (2011)
Irrigated land: 3,096,621 km² (2011 est.)
Major rivers
Major watersheds area km²
Total water withdrawal
Total renewable water resources: 53,789 km³ (2011)
Natural hazards: large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones); natural disasters (earthquakes landslides tsunamis volcanic eruptions)
Volcanism: volcanism is a fundamental driver and consequence of plate tectonics the physical process reshaping the Earth's lithosphere; the world is home to more than 1500 potentially active volcanoes with over 500 of these having erupted in historical times; an estimated 500 million people live near these volcanoes; associated dangers include lava flows lahars (mudflows) pyroclastic flows ash clouds ash fall ballistic projectiles gas emissions landslides earthquakes and tsunamis; in the 1990s the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior created a list of 16 Decade Volcanoes worthy of special study because of their great potential for destruction: Avachinsky-Koryaksky (Russia) Colima (Mexico) Etna (Italy) Galeras (Colombia) Mauna Loa (United States) Merapi (Indonesia) Nyiragongo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) Rainier (United States) Sakurajima (Japan) Santa Maria (Guatemala) Santorini (Greece) Taal (Philippines) Teide (Spain) Ulawun (Papua New Guinea) Unzen (Japan) Vesuvius (Italy)
Geography
Note: the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old just about one-third of the 13.8-billion-year age estimated for the universe
World - People 2014
top of pagePopulation: 7,174,611,584 (July 2014 est.)
Top ten most populous countries: China 1355.69; India 1236.34; United States 318.89; Indonesia 253.61; Brazil 202.66; Pakistan 196.17; Nigeria 177.16; Bangladesh 166.28; Russia 142.47; Japan 127.10
Growth rate: 1.064%
Nationality
Ethnic groups
Languages: Mandarin Chinese 12.44% Spanish 4.85% English 4.83% Arabic 3.25% Hindi 2.68% Bengali 2.66% Portuguese 2.62% Russian 2.12% Japanese 1.8% Standard German 1.33% Javanese 1.25% (2009 est.)
Religions: Christian 33.39% (of which Roman Catholic 16.85% Protestant 6.15% Orthodox 3.96% Anglican 1.26%) Muslim 22.74% Hindu 13.8% Buddhist 6.77% Sikh 0.35% Jewish 0.22% Baha'i 0.11% other religions 10.95% non-religious 9.66% atheists 2.01% (2010 est.)
Demographic profile
Age structure
Age structure
15-24 years: 16.61% (male 613,806,639/female 577,904,561)
25-54 years: 40.78% (male 1,478,739,525/female 1,447,244,791)
55-64 years: 8.51% (male 298,092,946/female 312,206,795)
65 years and over: 8.32% (male 265,453,689/female 331,172,947) (2014 est.)
Dependency ratios
Youth dependency ratio: 39.7 %
Elderly dependency ratio: 12.3 %
Potential support ratio: 8.1 (2014 est.)
Median age
Male: 28.9 years
Female: 30.4 years (2014 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.064%
Birth rate: 18.7 births/1000 population
Death rate: 7.89 deaths/1000 population
Net migration rate
Population distribution
Urbanization
Rate of urbanization: 1.97% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
Ten largest urban agglomerations: Tokyo (Japan) - 37,217,000; Delhi (India) - 22,654,000; Mexico City (Mexico) - 20,446,000; New York-Newark (US) - 20,352,000; Shanghai (China) - 20,208,000; Sao Paulo (Brazil) - 19,924,000; Mumbai (India) - 19,744,000; Beijing (China) - 15,594,000; Dhaka (Bangladesh) - 15,391,000; Kolkata (India) - 14,402,000 (2011)
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; global warming becoming a greater concern
Air pollutants
Sex ratio
0-14 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.062 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.022 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.955 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.802 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.014 male(s)/female (2014 est.)
Mothers mean age at first birth
Maternal mortality ratio
Infant mortality rate
Male: 38.49 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 34.54 deaths/1000 live births (2014 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
Male: 66.39 years
Female: 70.43 years (2014 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.43 children born/woman (2014 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
Drinking water source:
urban: 96.4% of population
rural: 81.4% of population
total: 89.4% of population
urban: 3.6% of population
rural: 18.4% of population
total: 10.6% of population (2012 est.)
rural: 81.4% of population
total: 89.4% of population
urban: 3.6% of population
rural: 18.4% of population
total: 10.6% of population (2012 est.)
Current health expenditure
Physicians density
Hospital bed density: 2.9 beds/1000 population (2005)
Sanitation facility access:
urban: 79.6% of population
rural: 47.2% of population
total: 64.2% of population
urban: 20.4% of population
rural: 52.8% of population
total: 35.8% of population (2012 est.)
rural: 47.2% of population
total: 64.2% of population
urban: 20.4% of population
rural: 52.8% of population
total: 35.8% of population (2012 est.)
Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.8% (2009 est.)
People living with hivaids: 35.3 million (2009 est.)
Deaths: 1.6 million (2009 est.)
Major infectious diseases
Obesity adult prevalence rate
Alcohol consumption
Tobacco use
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
Education expenditures
Literacy
Total population: 84.1%
Male: 88.6%
Female: 79.7%
School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Male: 12 years
Female: 12 years (2011)
Youth unemployment
World - Government 2014
top of pageCountry name
Government type
Capital
Administrative divisions: 195 countries 72 dependent areas and other entities
Dependent areas
Independence
National holiday
Constitution
Legal system: the legal systems of nearly all countries are generally modeled upon elements of five main types: civil law (including French law the Napoleonic Code Roman law Roman-Dutch law and Spanish law); common law (including United States law); customary law; mixed or pluralistic law; and religious law (including Islamic law); an additional type of legal system - international law - governs the conduct of independent nations in their relationships with one another
International law organization participation: all members of the UN are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court; 54 countries have accepted jurisdiction of the ICJ as compulsory with reservations and 14 countries have accepted ICJ jurisdiction as compulsory without reservations; states parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICCt) are those countries that have ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute the treaty that established the Court; a total of 121 (effective 1 July 2012) countries have accepted jurisdiction of the ICCt (see Appendix B for a clarification on the differing mandates of the ICJ and ICCt)
Citizenship
Suffrage
Executive branch
Legislative branch
Judicial branch
Political parties and leaders
International organization participation
Diplomatic representation
Flag description
National symbols
National anthem
National heritage
World - Economy 2014
top of pageEconomy overview:
Beyond the current global slowdown the world faces several long-standing economic challenges. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution waste-disposal epidemics water-shortages famine over-fishing of oceans deforestation desertification and depletion of non-renewable resources. The nation-state as a bedrock economic-political institution is steadily losing control over international flows of people goods services funds and technology. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999 while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse has created economic risks because the participating nations have varying income levels and growth rates and hence require a different mix of monetary and fiscal policies. Governments especially in Western Europe face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. Because of their own internal problems and priorities the industrialized countries are unable to devote sufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world which at least from an economic point of view are becoming further marginalized. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuated a growing risk to global prosperity - the diversion of resources away from capital investments to counter-terrorist programs.
Despite these vexing problems the world economy also shows great promise. Technology has made possible further advances in a wide range of fields from agriculture to medicine alternative energy metallurgy and transportation. Improved global communications have greatly reduced the costs of international trade helping the world gain from the international division of labor raise living standards and reduce income disparities among nations. Much of the resilience of the world economy in the aftermath of the financial crisis resulted from government and central bank leaders around the globe working in concert to stem the financial onslaught knowing well the lessons of past economic failures.
Despite these vexing problems the world economy also shows great promise. Technology has made possible further advances in a wide range of fields from agriculture to medicine alternative energy metallurgy and transportation. Improved global communications have greatly reduced the costs of international trade helping the world gain from the international division of labor raise living standards and reduce income disparities among nations. Much of the resilience of the world economy in the aftermath of the financial crisis resulted from government and central bank leaders around the globe working in concert to stem the financial onslaught knowing well the lessons of past economic failures.
Real gdp purchasing power parity:
$87.25 trillion (2013 est.)
$84.83 trillion (2012 est.)
$82.25 trillion (2011 est.)
$84.83 trillion (2012 est.)
$82.25 trillion (2011 est.)
Real gdp growth rate:
2.9% (2013 est.)
3.1% (2012 est.)
3.8% (2011 est.)
3.1% (2012 est.)
3.8% (2011 est.)
Real gdp per capita:
$13,100 (2013 est.)
$12,800 (2012 est.)
$12,600 (2011 est.)
$12,800 (2012 est.)
$12,600 (2011 est.)
Gross national saving
Gdp composition by sector of origin
Gdp composition by end use
Government consumption: 18.5%
Investment in fixed capital: 19.4%
Investment in inventories: 0.5%
Exports of goods and services: 29.3%
Imports of goods and services: -29.7%: (2011 est.)
Gdp composition by sector of origin
Industry: 30.7%
Services: 63.3% (2013 est.)
Agriculture products
Industries: 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; the accelerated development of new technologies is complicating already grim environmental problems
Industrial production growth rate: 3.5% (2013 est.)
Labor force: 3.308 billion (2013 est.)
By occupation industry: 22.7%
By occupation services: 42.8% (2009 est.)
Labor force
Unemployment rate:
8.4% (2013 est.)
7.5% (2012 est.)
7.5% (2012 est.)
Youth unemployment
Population below poverty line
Gini index
Household income or consumption by percentage share
Highest 10: 28.2% (2008 est.)
Distribution of family income gini index:
38.5 (2008 est.)
37.3 (1999 est.)
37.3 (1999 est.)
Budget
Expenditures: $24.6 trillion (2013 est.)
Surplus or deficit: -3.1% of GDP (2013 est.)
Taxes and other revenues: 30.3% of GDP (2013 est.)
Public debt:
63.3% of GDP (2013 est.)
62.8% of GDP (2012 est.)
62.8% of GDP (2012 est.)
Revenue
Fiscal year
Inflation rate consumer prices:
world average 3.9% (2013 est.)
developed countries 1.5% (2013 est.)
developing countries 5.6% (2013 est.)
developed countries 1.5% (2013 est.)
developing countries 5.6% (2013 est.)
Central bank discount rate
Commercial bank prime lending rate
Stock of narrow money:
$27.49 trillion (31 December 2013 est.)
$26.67 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
$26.67 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
Stock of broad money:
$82.84 trillion (31 December 2013 est.)
$79.31 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
$79.31 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
Stock of domestic credit:
$87.9 trillion (31 December 2013 est.)
$86.03 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
$86.03 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$53.87 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
$47.13 trillion (31 December 2011)
$54.61 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)
$47.13 trillion (31 December 2011)
$54.61 trillion (31 December 2010 est.)
Current account balance
Exports:
$18.71 trillion (2013 est.)
$18.59 trillion (2012 est.)
$18.59 trillion (2012 est.)
Commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Commodities top ten share of world trade: electrical machinery including computers 14.8%; mineral fuels including oil coal gas and refined products 14.4%; nuclear reactors boilers and parts 14.2%; cars trucks and buses 8.9%; scientific and precision instruments 3.5%; plastics 3.4%; iron and steel 2.7%; organic chemicals 2.6%; pharmaceutical products 2.6%; diamonds pearls and precious stones 1.9%
Imports:
$18.36 trillion (2013 est.)
$18.13 trillion (2012 est.)
$18.13 trillion (2012 est.)
Commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Commodities top ten share of world trade: see listing for exports
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold
Debt external:
$72.97 trillion (31 December 2013 est.)
$69.87 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
$69.87 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment at home:
$24.7 trillion (31 December 2013 est.)
$22.85 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
$22.85 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment abroad:
$25.2 trillion (31 December 2013 est.)
$23.64 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
$23.64 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
Exchange rates
World - Energy 2014
top of pageElectricity
Production: 22.03 trillion kWh (2011 est.)
Consumption: 20.45 trillion kWh (2010 est.)
Exports: 673.6 billion kWh (2012 est.)
Imports: 692.6 billion kWh (2012 est.)
Installed generating capacity: 5.359 billion kW (2010 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels: 66.6% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources nuclear: 7.4% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 18.8% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources: 7.1% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Coal
Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 89.08 million bbl/day (2012 est.)
Crude oil exports: 44.06 million bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil imports: 45.41 million bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves: 1.63 trillion bbl (1 January 2013 est.)
Crude oil
Refined petroleum
Products production: 82.24 million bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products consumption: 87.31 million bbl/day (2011 est.)
Products exports: 24.4 million bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products imports: 23.75 million bbl/day (2010 est.)
Natural gas
Production: 3.471 trillion m³ (2011 est.)
Consumption: 3.235 trillion m³ (2010 est.)
Exports: 1.291 trillion m³ (2011 est.)
Imports: 1.624 trillion m³ (2011 est.)
Proven reserves: 204.7 trillion m³ (1 January 2013 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 33.4 billion Mt (2011 est.)
Energy consumption per capita
World - Communication 2014
top of pageTelephones
Main lines in use: 1.2 billion (2011)
Mobile cellular: 6 billion (2011)
Telephone system
Broadcast media
Internet
Users: 2.1 billion (2010)
Broadband fixed subscriptions
World - Military 2014
top of pageMilitary expenditures:
2.42% of GDP (2012)
2.51% of GDP (2011)
2.42% of GDP (2010)
2.51% of GDP (2011)
2.42% of GDP (2010)
Military and security forces
Military service age and obligation
Space program
Terrorist groups
World - Transportation 2014
top of pageNational air transport system
Civil aircraft registration country code prefix
Airports: 41,821 (2013)
Top ten by passengers: Atlanta (ATL) - 95,672,104; Beijing (PEK) - 81,908,740; London (LHR) - 70,051,902; Tokyo (HND) - 67,824,747; Chicago (ORD) - 67,124,607; Los Angeles (LAX) - 63,849,335; Paris (CDG) - 61,478,475; Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) - 58,887,570; Dubai (DXB) - 58,392,171; Jakarta (CGK) - 57,839,056 (2013)
Top ten by cargo: Hong Kong (HKG) - 4,120,348; Memphis (MEM) - 4,053,865; Shanghai (PVG) - 2,969,554; Anchorage (ANC) - 2,470,147; Incheon (ICN) - 2,461,229; Dubai (DXB) - 2,294,614; Louisville (SDF) - 2,186,937; Frankfurt (FRA) - 2,067,698; Tokyo (NRT) - 2,014,500; Paris (CDG) - 1,940,850 (2013) (2013)
Heliports: 6,524 (2013)
Pipelines
Railways
Roadways
Waterways: 2,293,412 km
Top ten longest rivers: Nile (Africa) 6,693 km; Amazon (South America) 6,436 km; Mississippi-Missouri (North America) 6,238 km; Yenisey-Angara (Asia) 5,981 km; Ob-Irtysh (Asia) 5,569 km; Yangtze (Asia) 5,525 km; Yellow (Asia) 4,671 km; Amur (Asia) 4,352 km; Lena (Asia) 4,345 km; Congo (Africa) 4,344 km
Top ten largest natural lakes: Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan Iran Kazakhstan Russia Turkmenistan) 372,960 km²; Lake Superior (Canada United States) 82,414 km²; Lake Victoria (Kenya Tanzania Uganda) 69,490 km²; Lake Huron (Canada United States) 59,596 km²; Lake Michigan (United States) 57,441 km²; Lake Tanganyika (Burundi Democratic Republic of the Congo Tanzania Zambia) 32,890 km²; Great Bear Lake (Canada) 31,800 km²; Lake Baikal (Russia) 31,494 km²; Lake Nyasa (Malawi Mozambique Tanzania) 30,044 km²; Great Slave Lake (Canada) 28,400 km²
Merchant marine
Ports and terminals
Top ten container ports: (as measured by TwentyFoot Equivalent Units throughput) Shanghai (China) - 33,617,000; Singapore (Singapore) - 32,578,000; Shenzhen (China) - 23,278,000; Hong Kong (China) - 22,352,000; Busan (South Korea) - 17,611,882; Ningbo (China) - 17,326,800; Qingdao (China) - 15,520,000; Guangzhou (China) - 15,309,200; Dubai (UAE) - 13,600,000; - Tianjin (China) - 12,996,510 (2013)
World - Transnational issues 2014
top of pageDisputes international: stretching over 250,000 km the world's 325 international land boundaries separate 195 independent states and 71 dependencies areas of special sovereignty and other miscellaneous entities; ethnicity culture race religion and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history physical terrain political fiat or conquest resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries; most maritime states have claimed limits that include territorial seas and exclusive economic zones; overlapping limits due to adjacent or opposite coasts create the potential for 430 bilateral maritime boundaries of which 209 have agreements that include contiguous and non-contiguous segments; boundary borderland/resource and territorial disputes vary in intensity from managed or dormant to violent or militarized; undemarcated indefinite porous and unmanaged boundaries tend to encourage illegal cross-border activities uncontrolled migration and confrontation; territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural claims or they may be brought on by resource competition; ethnic and cultural clashes continue to be responsible for much of the territorial fragmentation and internal displacement of the estimated 20.8 million people and cross-border displacements of approximately 12.1 million refugees and asylum seekers around the world as of mid-2013; over half a million refugees were repatriated during 2012; other sources of contention include access to water and mineral (especially hydrocarbon) resources fisheries and arable land; armed conflict prevails not so much between the uniformed armed forces of independent states as between stateless armed entities that detract from the sustenance and welfare of local populations leaving the community of nations to cope with resultant refugees hunger disease impoverishment and environmental degradation
Refugees and internally displaced persons: the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that as of the end of 2012 there were 45.2 million people forcibly displaced worldwide; this includes 15.4 million refugees 937,000 asylum seekers and 28.8 million conflict IDPs (another 32.4 million IDPs were displaced by natural disasters); the UNHCR estimates there are currently 10-12 million stateless persons (2012)
Illicit drugs
Opiates: worldwide illicit opium poppy cultivation continued to increase in 2007 with a potential opium production of 8,400 metric tons reaching the highest levels recorded since estimates began in mid-1980s; Afghanistan is world's primary opium producer accounting for 95% of the global supply; Southeast Asia - responsible for 9% of global opium - saw marginal increases in production; Latin America produced 1% of global opium but most was refined into heroin destined for the US market; if all potential opium was processed into pure h
