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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 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).


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Location

Geographic coordinates

Map reference: Physical Map of the World

Area
Total: 510.072 million km²
Land: 148.94 million km²
Water: 361.9 million km²
Note: 70.9% of the world's surface is water, 29.1% is land
Comparative: land area about 16 times the size of the US

Land boundaries: the land boundaries in The Gheos World Guide total 279,035.5 km (not counting shared boundaries twice); two nations, China and Russia, each border 14 other countries

Coastline: 356,000 km
Note: 95 nations and other entities are islands that border no other countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Baker Island, Barbados, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cabo Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Cyprus, Dominica, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland Island, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mayotte, Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Sint Maarten, Solomon Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Taiwan, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna

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
TenDriestPlacesonEarth(AverageAnnualPrecipitation): McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica 0 mm (0 in)
Arica, Chile 0.76 mm (0.03 in)
Al Kufrah, Libya 0.86 mm (0.03 in)
Aswan, Egypt 0.86 mm (0.03 in)
Luxor, Egypt 0.86 mm (0.03 in)
Ica, Peru 2.29 mm (0.09 in)
Wadi Halfa, Sudan 2.45 mm (0.1 in)
Iquique, Chile 5.08 mm (0.2 in)
Pelican Point, Namibia 8.13 mm (0.32 in)
El Arab (Aoulef), Algeria 12.19 mm (0.48 in)
TenWettestPlacesonEarth(AverageAnnualPrecipitation): Mawsynram, India 11,871 mm (467.4 in)
Cherrapunji, India 11,777 mm (463.7 in)
Tutunendo, Colombia 11,770 mm (463.4 in)
Cropp River, New Zealand 11,516 mm (453.4 in)
San Antonia de Ureca, Equatorial Guinea 10,450 mm (411.4 in)
Debundsha, Cameroon 10,299 mm (405.5 in)
Big Bog, US (Hawaii) 10,272 mm (404.4 in)
Mt Waialeale, US (Hawaii) 9,763 mm (384.4 in)
Kukui, US (Hawaii) 9,293 mm (365.9 in)
Emeishan, China 8,169 mm (321.6 in)
TenColdestPlacesonEarth(LowestAverageMonthlyTemperature): Verkhoyansk, Russia (Siberia) -47°C (-53°F) January
Oymyakon, Russia (Siberia) -46°C (-52°F) January
Eureka, Canada -38.4°C (-37.1°F) February
Isachsen, Canada -36°C (-32.8°F) February
Alert, Canada -34°C (-28°F) February
Kap Morris Jesup, Greenland -34°C (-29°F) March
Cornwallis Island, Canada -33.5°C (-28.3°F) February
Cambridge Bay, Canada -33.5°C (28.3°F) February
Ilirnej, Russia -33°C (-28°F) January
Resolute, Canada -33°C (-27.4°F) February
TenHottestPlacesonEarth(HighestAverageMonthlyTemperature): Death Valley, US (California) 39°C (101°F) July
Iranshahr, Iran 38.3°C (100.9°F) June
Ouallene, Algeria 38°C (100.4°F) July
Kuwait City, Kuwait 37.7°C (100°F) July
Medina, Saudi Arabia 36°C (97°F) July
Buckeye, US (Arizona) 34°C (93°F) July
Jazan, Saudi Arabia 33°C (91°F) June
Al Kufrah, Libya 31°C (87°F) July
Alice Springs, Australia 29°C (84°F) January
Tamanrasset, Algeria 29°C (84°F) June

Terrain: tremendous variation of terrain on each of the continents; check the World 'Elevation' entry for a compilation of terrain extremes; the world's ocean floors are marked by mid-ocean ridges while the ocean surfaces form a dynamic, continuously changing environment; check the 'Terrain' field and its 'major surface currents' and 'ocean zones' subfields under each of the five ocean (Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, and Southern) entries for further information on oceanic environs
TenCaveSuperlatives: compiled from 'Geography - note(s)' under various country entries where more details may be found
Largestcave: Son Doong in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Vietnam is the world's largest cave (greatest cross sectional area) and is the largest known cave passage in the world by volume; it currently measures a total of 38.5 million m³ (about 1.35 billion cu ft); it connects to Thung cave (but not yet officially); when recognized, it will add an additional 1.6 million m³ in volume
|largesticecave: the Eisriesenwelt (Ice Giants World) inside the Hochkogel mountain near Werfen, Austria is the world's largest and longest ice cave system at 42 km (26 mi)

Largestbatcave: Bracken Cave outside of San Antonio, Texas is the world's largest bat cave; it is the summer home to the largest colony of bats in the world; an estimated 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats roost in the cave from March to October making it the world's largest known concentration of mammals

Elevation

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 pose serious long-term problems

Land use

Irrigated land: 3,242,917 km² (2012 est.)

Major rivers
By length in km note: there are 20 countries without rivers: 3 in Africa (Comoros, Djibouti, Libya), 1 in the Americas (Bahamas), 8 in Asia (Bahrain, Kuwait, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen), 3 in Europe (Malta, Monaco, Holy See), 5 in Oceania (Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Tonga, Tuvalu); these countries also do not have natural lakes

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources: 53,789.29 cubic meters (2011)

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

Geography


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Population
Distribution: six of the world's seven continents are widely and permanently inhabited; Asia is easily the most populous continent with about 60% of the world's population (China and India together account for over 35%); Africa comes in second with over 15% of the earth's populace, Europe has about 10%, North America 8%, South America almost 6%, and Oceania less than 1%; the harsh conditions on Antarctica prevent any permanent habitation
Growth rate: 1.03% (2021 est.)
Growth rate note: this rate results in about 154 net additions to the worldwide population every minute or 2.6 every second

Nationality

Ethnic groups

Languages

Religions: Christian 31.1%, Muslim 24.9%, Hindu 15.2%, Buddhist 6.6%, folk religions 5.6%, Jewish <1%, other <1%, unaffiliated 15.6% (2015 est.)

Demographic profile

Age structure

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 53.3
Youth dependency ratio: 39
Elderly dependency ratio: 14.3
Potential support ratio: 7 (2020 est.)

Median age
Total: 31 years
Male: 30.3 years
Female: 31.8 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.03% (2021 est.)
Note: this rate results in about 154 net additions to the worldwide population every minute or 2.6 every second

Birth rate: 18.1 births/1000 population (2020 est.)
Note: this rate results in about 259 worldwide births per minute or 4.3 births every second

Death rate: 7.7 deaths/1000 population (2020 est.)
Note: this rate results in about 108 worldwide deaths per minute or 1.8 deaths every second

Net migration rate

Population distribution: six of the world's seven continents are widely and permanently inhabited; Asia is easily the most populous continent with about 60% of the world's population (China and India together account for over 35%); Africa comes in second with over 15% of the earth's populace, Europe has about 10%, North America 8%, South America almost 6%, and Oceania less than 1%; the harsh conditions on Antarctica prevent any permanent habitation

Urbanization
Urban population: 56.6% of total population (2021)
Rate of urbanization: 1.73% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

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 biodiversity; soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion; ozone layer depletion; waste disposal; global warming becoming a greater concern

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio: 211 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 30.8 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 32.8 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 28.6 deaths/1000 live births (2020 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 70.5 years
Male: 68.4 years
Female: 72.6 years (2020 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.42 children born/woman (2020 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate: NA

Drinking water source
Improved urban: 96.5% of population
Improved rural: 84.7% of population
Improved total: 91.1% of population
Unimproved urban: 3.5% of population
Unimproved rural: 15.3% of population
Unimproved total: 8.9% of population (2015 est.)

Current health expenditure: 10% (2016)

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access
Improved urban: 82.3% of population
Improved rural: 50.5% of population
Improved total: 67.7% of population
Unimproved urban: 17.7% of population
Unimproved rural: 49.5% of population
Unimproved total: 32.3% of population (2015 est.)

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.7% (2020 est.)
People living with hivaids: 37.7 million (2020 est.)
Deaths: 680,000 (2020 est.)

Major infectious diseases
Note: widespread ongoing transmission of a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is occurring globally; older adults and people of any age with serious chronic medical conditions are at increased risk for severe disease; some health care systems are becoming overwhelmed and there may be limited access to adequate medical care in affected areas; many countries are implementing travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines, closing borders, and prohibiting non-citizens from entry with little advance notice; US residents may have difficulty returning to the United States; as of 6 October 2021, 235,673,032

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: NA

Education expenditures: NA

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 86.7%
Male: 90.1%
Female: 83.3% (2020)
Note: more than three-quarters of the world's 750 million illiterate adults are found in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; of all the illiterate adults in the world, almost two-thirds are women (2016)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 13 years
Male: 13 years
Female: 13 years (2020)

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Note: countries with names connected to animals include: Albania 'Land of the Eagles,' Anguilla (the name means 'eel'), Bhutan 'Land of the Thunder Dragon,' Cameroon (the name derives from 'prawns'), Cayman Islands (named after the caiman, a marine crocodile), Faroe Islands (from Old Norse meaning 'sheep'), Georgia 'Land of the Wolves,' Italy 'Land of Young Cattle,' Kosovo 'Field of Blackbirds,' Sierra Leone 'Lion Mountains,' Singapore 'Lion City'

Government type

Capital
Time difference: there are 21 World entities (20 countries and 1 dependency) with multiple time zones: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, France, Greenland (part of the Danish Kingdom), Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Mexico, Micronesia, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Russia, Spain, United States
Note1: in some instances, the time zones pertain to portions of a country that lie overseas
Daylight saving time: some 67 countries - including most of the world's leading industrialized nations - use daylight savings time (DST) in at least a portion of the country; China, Japan, India, and Russia are major industrialized countries that do not use DST; Asia and Africa generally do not observe DST and it is generally not observed near the equator, where sunrise and sunset times do not vary enough to justify it; some countries observe DST only in certain regions; for example, only southeastern Australia observes it; in fact, only a minority of the world's population - about 20% - uses DST

Administrative divisions: 195 countries, 71 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 English and US law); customary law; mixed or pluralistic law; and religious law (including Islamic sharia 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; 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; as of May 2019, a total of 122 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
Chief of state: there are 27 countries with royal families in the world, most are in Asia (13) and Europe (10), three are in Africa, and one in Oceania; monarchies by continent are as follows: Asia (Bahrain, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, United Arab Emirates); Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom); Africa (Eswatini, Lesotho, Morocco); Oceania (Tonga); note that Andorra and the Holy See (Vatican) are also monarchies of a sort, but they are not ruled by royal houses; Andorra has two co-princes (the president of France and the bishop of Urgell) and the Holy See is ruled by an elected pope; note too that the sovereign of Great Britain is also the monarch for many of the countries (including Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand) that make up the Commonwealth

Legislative branch: there are 230 political entities with legislative bodies; of these 144 are unicameral (a single “house”) and 86 are bicameral (both upper and lower houses); note - while there are 195 countries in the world, 35 territories, possessions, or other special administrative units also have their own governing bodies

Judicial branch

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation

Diplomatic representation

Flag description: while a 'World' flag does not exist, the flag of the United Nations (UN) - adopted on 7 December 1946 - has been used on occasion to represent the entire planet; technically, however, it only represents the international organization itself; the flag displays the official emblem of the UN in white on a blue background; the emblem design shows a map of the world in an azimuthal equidistant projection centered on the North Pole, the image is flanked by two olive branches crossed below; blue was selected as the color to represent peace, in contrast to red usually associated with war; the map projection chosen includes all of the continents except Antarctica

Note: the flags of 12 nations: Austria, Botswana, Georgia, Jamaica, Japan, Laos, Latvia, Micronesia, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Switzerland, and Thailand have no top or bottom and may be flown with either long edge on top without any notice being taken

National symbols

National anthem
Name: virtually every country has a national anthem; most (but not all) anthems have lyrics, which are usually in the national or most common language of the country; states with more than one national language may offer several versions of their anthem
Note: the world's oldest national anthem is the 'Het Wilhelmus' (The William) of the Netherlands, which dates to the 17th century; the first national anthem to be officially adopted (1795) was 'La Marseillaise' (The Song of Marseille) of France; Japan claims to have the world's shortest national anthem, entitled 'Kimigayo' (The Emperor's Reign), it consists of 11 measures of music (the lyrics are also the world's oldest, dating to the 10th century or earlier); the world's longest national anthem is that of Greece, 'Ymnos eis tin Eleftherian' (Hymn to Liberty) with 158 stanzas - only two of which are used; both Denmark and New Zealand have two official national anthems

National heritage


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Economy overview

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $127.8 trillion (2017 est.)
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real gdp growth rate: 3.7% (2017 est.)

3.2% (2016 est.)

3.3% (2014 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $17,500 (2017 est.)
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 56.4% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 16.1% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 25.7% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: 1.4% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 28.8% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -28.3% (2017 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 6.4% (2017 est.)
Industry: 30% (2017 est.)
Services: 63% (2017 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: 3.2% (2017 est.)

Labor force: 3.432 billion (2017 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 31%
By occupation industry: 23.5%
By occupation services: 45.5% (2014 est.)

Unemployment rate: 7.7% (2017 est.)
Note: combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2007 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index
Coefficient distribution of family income: 37.9 (2012 est.)

37.9 (2005 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2.6%
Highest 10: 30.2% (2008 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $21.68 trillion (2017 est.)
Expenditures: $23.81 trillion (2017 est.)
Surplus or deficit: $-3% (of GDP) (2016 est.)

Taxes and other revenues: 26.7% (of GDP) (2016 est.)

Public debt: 67.2% of GDP (2017 est.)

67.2% of GDP (2016 est.)

Revenue

Fiscal year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 6.4% (2017 est.)
Developingcountries: 8.8% (2017 est.) 3.7% (2016 est.)
Note: the above estimates are weighted averages; inflation in developed countries is 0% to 4% typically, in developing countries, 4% to 10% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases; inflation rates have declined for most countries for the last several years, held in check by increasing international competition from several low wage countries and by soft demand due to the world financial crisis

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: $17.31 trillion (2017 est.)

$15.82 trillion (2016 est.)
Commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services

Imports: $20.01 trillion (2018 est.)

$16.02 trillion (2017 est.)
Commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $76.56 trillion (31 December 2017 est.)
Note: this figure is the sum total of all countries' external debt, both public and private

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates


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Electricity
Access electrification total population: 90% (2019)
Access electrification urban areas: 96% (2019)
Access electrification rural areas: 85% (2019)
Production: 23.65 trillion kWh (2015 est.)
Consumption: 21.78 trillion kWh (2015 est.)
Exports: $696.1 billion kWh (2016)
Imports: 721.9 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Installed generating capacity: 6.386 billion kW (2015 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels: 63% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)
Generation sources nuclear: 6% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 18% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources: 14% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)

Coal

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 80.77 million bbl/day (2016 est.)
Crude oil exports: 43.57 million bbl/day (2014 est.)
Crude oil imports: 44.58 million bbl/day (2014 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves: 1.665 trillion bbl (1 January 2017 est.)

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 88.4 million bbl/day (2014 est.)
Products consumption: 96.26 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products exports: 29.66 million bbl/day (2014 est.)
Products imports: 28.62 million bbl/day (2014 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 3.481 trillion m³ (2015 est.)
Consumption: 3.477 trillion m³ (2015 est.)
Exports: 1.156 trillion m³ (2013 est.)
Imports: 1.496 trillion m³ (2013 est.)
Proven reserves: 196.1 trillion m³ (1 January 2016 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 917,318,375
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 12 (2017 est.)
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 7,876,696,447
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 103.4 (2017 est.)

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet
Users total: 3.96 billion
Users percent of population: 51% (2019)

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 1,132,215,546
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 14.8 (2017)


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Military expenditures: 2.4% of GDP (2020 est.)

2.2% of GDP (2019 est.)

2.2% of GDP (2018 est.)

2.2% of GDP (2017 est.)

2.25% of GDP (2016 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: 6,524 (2013)

Pipelines

Railways
Total: 1,148,186 km (2013)

Roadways

Waterways: 2,293,412 km (2017)
Toptenlargestnaturallakes(bysurfacearea): 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
Note3: the deepest lake in the world (1,620 m), and also the largest freshwater lake by volume (23,600 km³), is Lake Baikal in Russia

Merchant marine
Total: 98,202
By type: bulk carrier 12,319, container ship 5,428, general cargo 18,993, oil tanker 11,243, other 50,219 (2021)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: stretching over some 280,000 km, the world's 325 international land boundaries separate 195 independent states and 70 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 45.7 million people and cross-border displacements of approximately 30.2 million refugees and asylum seekers around the world as of yearend 2019; approximately 317,200 refugees were repatriated during 2019; 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 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that as of year-end 2020 there were 82.4 million people forcibly displaced worldwide; this includes 48 million conflict IDPs, 26.4 million refugees, 4.1 million asylum seekers, and 3.9 million Venezuelans displaced abroad; the UNHCR estimates there are currently at least 10 million stateless persons

Illicit drugs