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World

Map references: World, Time Zones   

Area:   total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km      water: 361.132 million sq km
note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land

Area—comparative: land area about 15 times the size of the US

Land boundaries: the land boundaries in the world total 251,480.24 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; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, 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: the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,848 m

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, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address

Land use:
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 26%
forests and woodland: 32%
other: 31% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 2,481,250 sq km (1993 est.)

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

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

Environment—international agreements: selected international environmental agreements are included under the Environment—international agreements entry for each country and in the Selected International Environmental Agreements appendix

Population: 5,995,544,836 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 30% (male 934,816,288; female 884,097,095)
15-64 years: 63% (male 1,905,701,066; female 1,861,265,079)
65 years and over: 7% (male 179,094,601; female 230,570,707) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.3% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 22 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:  
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 56 deaths/1,000 live births 
(1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 63 years
male: 61 years
female: 65 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.8 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Data code: none; there is no FIPS 10-4 country code for the World, so the Factbook uses the "W" data code from DIAM 65-18 "Geopolitical Data Elements and Related Features," Data Standard No. 3, March 1984, published by the Defense Intelligence Agency; see the Cross-Reference List of Country Data Codes appendix

Administrative divisions: 266 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries

Legal system: all members of the UN, excluding Yugoslavia, Nauru and Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court

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