WORLD
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 510,072,000 km2; 361,132,000 km2 (70.8%) is water and
148,940,000 km2 (29.2%) is land
Comparative area: land area about 16 times the size of the US
Land boundaries: 442,000 km
Coastline: 359,000 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: generally 24 nm, but varies from 4 nm to 25 nm;
Continental shelf: generally 200 nm, but some are 200 meters
in depth;
Exclusive fishing zone: most are 200 nm, but varies from
3 nm to 200 nm;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm; only the Maldives varies from
35-310 nm;
Territorial sea: generally 12 nm, but varies from 3 nm to 50 nm;
note--32 nations and miscellaneous areas are landlocked
and include Afghanistan, Andorra, Austria, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana,
Burkina, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Iraq-Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda,
San Marino, Swaziland, Switzerland, Uganda, Vatican City, West Bank,
Zambia, Zimbabwe
Disputes: major international land boundary
disputes--Argentina-Uruguay, Bangladesh-India, Brazil-Paraguay,
Brazil-Uruguay, Cambodia-Vietnam, Chad-Libya, China-India, China-USSR,
Ecuador-Peru, Egypt-Sudan, El Salvador-Honduras, Ethiopia-Somalia,
French Guiana-Suriname, Guyana-Suriname, Guyana-Venezuela,
Israel-Jordan, Israel-Syria, North Korea-South Korea, Oman-UAE,
Oman-Yemen, Qatar-UAE, Saudi Arabia-Yemen
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 oceans represent the last major frontier for
the discovery and development of natural resources
Land use: arable land 10%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
24%; forest and woodland 31%; other 34%; includes irrigated 1.6%
Environment: large areas subject to severe weather (tropical
cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic
eruptions), overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water,
acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing,
deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife resources, soil
degradation, soil depletion, erosion
PEOPLE
Population: 5,419,643,132 (July 1991), growth rate 1.7% (1991)
Birth rate: 26 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 66 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 61 years male, 65 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 3.3 children born/woman (1991)
Literacy: 74% (male 81%, female 67%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 2.2 billion (1991)
Organized labor: NA
GOVERNMENT
Administrative divisions: 170 sovereign nations plus 72 dependent,
other, and miscellaneous areas
Legal system: varies among each of the entities; 162 are parties
to the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court
Diplomatic representation: there are 159 members of the UN
ECONOMY
Overview: In 1990 the world economy grew at an estimated 1.0%,
considerably lower than the estimated 3.0% for 1989 and the 3.4% for
1988. The technologically advanced areas--North America, Japan, and
Western Europe--together account for 67% of the gross world product (GWP)
of $20.9 trillion; these developed areas grew in the aggregate at 2.3%
in 1990. In contrast, output in the USSR and Eastern Europe fell an
average of 5.2%; these countries account for 15% of GWP. Experience
in the developing countries continued mixed, with the newly
industrializing economies generally maintaining their rapid growth,
and many others struggling with debt, rampant inflation, and inadequate
investment. This third group contributed 18% of GWP and grew on
average 2.3% in 1990; output in this group is probably understated
because of lack of data and the method of calculation used. The year 1990
witnessed continued political and economic upheavals in the USSR and
Eastern Europe, which are in between systems, lacking both the rough
discipline of the command economy and the institutions of the market
economy. As for prospects in the 1990s, the addition of nearly 100
million people a year to an already overcrowded globe will exacerbate the
problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics,
and famine.
GWP (gross world product): $20.9 trillion, per capita $3,930;
real growth rate 1.0% (1990 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): developed countries 5%;
developing countries 100%, with wide variations (1990 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Exports: $3.33 trillion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--the whole range of industrial and agricultural
goods and services;
partners--in value, 74% of exports from industrial countries
Imports: $3.45 trillion (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
commodities--the whole range of industrial and agricultural
goods and services;
partners--in value, about 75% of imports by the industrial
countries
External debt: $1.0 trillion for less developed countries
(1990 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 3% (1990 est.)
Electricity: 2,864,000,000 kW capacity; 11,450,000 million kWh
produced, 2,150 kWh per capita (1990)
