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)                                           
                                                                                
Industries: chemicals, energy, machinery, electronics, metals,                  
mining, textiles, food processing                                               
                                                                                
Agriculture: cereals (wheat, maize, rice), sugar, livestock                     
products, tropical crops, fruit, vegetables, fish                               
                                                                                
Economic aid: NA                                                                
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Ports: Mina al Ahmadi (Kuwait), Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe,                 
Marseille, New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama                           
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: ground, maritime, and air forces at all levels of                     
technology                                                                      
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,412,502,000; NA fit for                   
military service                                                                
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $1.1 trillion, 5.3% of GWP (1990 est.)                    
                                                                                
