World




                                 Geography


Map references:
     Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
     510.072 million sq km
land area:
     148.94 million sq km
water area:
     361.132 million sq km
comparative area:
     land area about 16 times the size of the US
note:
     70.8% of the world is water, 29.2% is land
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
note:
     boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries
     from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm; 42
     nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan,
     Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia,
     Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech
     Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan,
     Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali,
     Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino,
     Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav
     Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank,
     Zambia, Zimbabwe
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




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 sq km
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
natural hazards:
     large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural
     disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)
international agreements:
     20 selected international environmental agreements included under the
     Environment entry for each country and in Appendix E: Selected
     International Environmental Agreements


                                  People


Population:
     5,643,289,771 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
     1.5% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
     25 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
     9 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
     65 deaths/1,000 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.)




Literacy:
     age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.);
total population:
     82%
male:
     68%
female:
     75%
Labor force:
     2.24 billion (1992)
by occupation:
     NA


                                Government


Digraph:
     XX
Administrative divisions:
     265 sovereign nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous
     entries
Legal system:
     varies by individual country; 182 are parties to the United Nations
     International Court of Justice (ICJ or World Court)


                                  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.)
National product:
     GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power equivalent - $29 trillion
     (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
     2% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
     $5,200 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
developed countries:
     5% (1993 est.)
developing countries:
     50% (1993 est.)
note:
     these figures vary widely in individual cases




Unemployment rate:
     developed countries typically 6%-11%; developing countries, extensive
     unemployment and underemployment (1993)
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
External debt:
     $1 trillion for less developed countries (1993 est.)
Industrial production:
     growth rate -1% (1992 est.)
Electricity:
capacity:
     2,864,000,000 kW
production:
     11.45 trillion kWh
consumption per capita:
     2,150 kWh (1990)
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
Agriculture:
     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
Economic aid:
     $NA


                              Communications




Railroads:
     239,430 km of narrow gauge track; 710,754 km of standard gauge track;
     251,153 km of broad gauge track; includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km
     of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in
     the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and only
     4,160 km in North America; fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr
     attained by France's SNCF TGV-Atlantique line
Highways:
total:
     NA
paved:
     NA
unpaved:
     NA
Ports:
     Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille,
     New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama
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)


                              Defense Forces


Branches:
     ground, maritime, and air forces at all levels of technology
Defense expenditures:
     somewhat less than $1.0 trillion, 3% of total world output; decline of
     5%-10% (1993 est.)