World

14,500-16,000 major transport aircraft with gross take-off weight of 9,000 kg (20,000 lbs) or more (1992 est.)

23,596 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 386,736,000 GRT/637,493,000 DWT; includes 348 passenger-cargo, 12,441 freighters, 5,446 bulk carriers, and 5,361 tankers (January 1991)

Mina al Ahmadi (Kuwait), Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama

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

ground, maritime, and air forces at all levels of technology

$1.0 trillion, 4% of total world output; decline of 5-10% (1991 est.)

males 15-49, 1,400,000,000; NA fit for military service

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 exacerbated the consequences of all other factors

NA

2,864,000,000 kW capacity; 11,450,000 million kWh produced, 2,150 kWh per capita (1990)

$3.34 trillion (f.o.b., 1991 est.) commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services partners: in value, about 75% of exports from developed countries

$1.0 trillion for less developed countries (1991 est.)

purchasing power equivalent - $25 trillion, per capita $4,600; real growth rate 1.3% (1991 est.)

$3.49 trillion (c.i.f., 1991 est.) commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services partners: in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries

growth rate 3% (1990 est.)

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

developed countries 5%; developing countries 50%, with wide variations (1991 est.)

Aggregate world output in 1991 increased by 1.3%, in contrast to estimated 2% growth in 1990 and 3% growth in 1989. In 1991, the developed countries grew by 2.5% and the LDCs by 3.5%, these gains being offset by a 10-15% drop in the former Communist-dominated areas of the USSR and Eastern Europe. As usual, results among individual countries differed widely. In the developed group, Japan led with 4.5%, the West European members averaged 1.2%, and the recession-plagued United States lagged,with GDP down 0.7%. As for the 15 former Soviet republics and the seven nations of Eastern Europe, output plummeted in many economic sectors because of fundamental changes in the rules of the game and in the channels of production and exchange. China and the Four Dragons performed well in 1991 but many of the other developing countries are mired in poverty and political instability. For the world as a whole, the addition of nearly 100 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe will exacerbate the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine.

NA%

two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates

356,000 km

land area about 16 times the size of the US

major international land boundary or territorial diputes - Bahrain-Qatar, Chad-Libya, China-India, China-Russia, Ecuador-Peru, El Salvador-Honduras, Israel-Jordan, Israel-Syria, Japan-Russia, North Korea-South Korea, Saudi Arabia-Yemen, South China Sea

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

148,940,000 km2 (29.2%)

442,000 km

arable land 10%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 24%; forest and woodland 31%; other 34%; includes irrigated 1.6%

range from 3 to 200 nm; 1 claim is rectangular; 112 states claim a 12 nm limit; note - boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm; 41 nations and other areas are landlocked and include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe Contiguous zone: 39 states claim contiguous zone, 33 of which have 24 nm limits Continental shelf: approximately 78 states have specific continental shelf claims, the limit of 42 claims is based on depth (200 m) plus exploitability, 21 claims define the continental shelf as 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin Exclusive fishing zone: 23 claims with limits ranging from 12 nm to 200 nm Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): 83 states claim an EEZ, with most limits being 200 nm Territorial sea: claims range from 3 to 200 nm, 112 states claim a 12 nm limit; note - 41 nations and miscellaneous areas are landlocked and comprise Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Byelarus, Central African Republic, Chad, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macebia, Zimbabwe

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

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

510,072,000 km2

187 sovereign nations plus 72 dependent, other, and miscellaneous areas

there are 178 members of the UN

varies by individual country; 182 are parties to the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ or World Court)

26 births/1,000 population (1992)

9 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

63 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

2.24 billion (1992)

61 years male, 65 years female (1992)

74% (male 81%, female 67%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)

NA

5,515,617,484 (July 1992), growth rate 1.7% (1992)

3.3 children born/woman (1992)