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Communications

Internet users (Internet Service Providers (ISPs)) [time series]

13,119 (1999)

Broadcast media (Radio broadcast stations) [time series]

AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA

Radios [time series]

Telecommunication systems (Telephone system) [time series]

domestic: NA international: NA

Telephones - fixed lines (Telephones - main lines in use) [time series]

Telephones - mobile cellular [time series]

Broadcast media (Television broadcast stations) [time series]

Televisions [time series]

Economy

Debt - external [time series]

$2 trillion for less developed countries (1999 est.)

Economic aid (Economic aid - recipient) [time series]

traditional worldwide foreign aid $50 billion (1997 est.)

Economic overview (Economy - overview) [time series]

Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) rose to 3% in 1999 from 2% in 1998 despite continued recession in Japan, severe financial difficulties in other East Asian countries, and widespread dislocations in several transition economies, notably Russia. The US economy continued its remarkable sustained prosperity, growing at 4.1% in 1999, and accounted for 23% of GWP. Western Europe's economies grew at roughly 2%, not enough to cut deeply into the region's high unemployment; the EU economies produced 20% of GWP. China, the second largest economy in the world, continued its strong growth and accounted for 12% of GWP. Japan grew at only 0.3% in 1999; its share in GWP is 7%. As usual, the 15 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations experienced widely different rates of growth. The developing nations varied widely in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that eat up gains in output. 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 often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, and in Canada. 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 80 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 and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. Continued financial difficulties in East Asia, Russia, and many African nations cast a shadow over short-term global economic prospects. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while strengthening prospects for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses serious economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 1999, see the individual country entries.)

Electricity - consumption [time series]

12,342.7 billion kWh (1994)

Electricity - production [time series]

12,342.7 billion kWh (1994)

Electricity - production by source [time series]

fossil fuel: NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA%

Exports [time series]

$5.6 trillion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

Exports - commodities [time series]

the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services

Exports - partners [time series]

in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $40.7 trillion (1999 est.)

GDP - composition, by sector of origin (GDP - composition by sector) [time series]

agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%

Real GDP per capita (GDP - per capita) [time series]

purchasing power parity - $6,800 (1999 est.)

Real GDP growth rate (GDP - real growth rate) [time series]

3% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share [time series]

lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Imports [time series]

$5.6 trillion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

Imports - commodities [time series]

the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services

Imports - partners [time series]

in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries

Industrial production growth rate [time series]

NA%

Industries [time series]

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; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

all countries 25%; developed countries 1% to 3% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically (1999 est.) note: national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from stable prices in Japan to hyperinflation in a number of Third World countries

Labor force [time series]

Labor force - by occupation [time series]

agricultue NA%, industry NA%, services NA%

Unemployment rate [time series]

30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (1999 est.)

Geography

Area [time series]

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 [time series]

land area about 16 times the size of the US

Climate [time series]

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

Coastline [time series]

356,000 km

Elevation (Elevation extremes) [time series]

lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.)

Environment - current issues [time series]

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

Irrigated land [time series]

2,481,250 sq km (1993 est.)

Land boundaries [time series]

the land boundaries in the world total 251,480.24 km (not counting shared boundaries twice)

Land use [time series]

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

Map references [time series]

World, Time Zones

Maritime claims [time series]

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

Natural hazards [time series]

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

Natural resources [time series]

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

Terrain [time series]

the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

267 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries

Data code [time series]

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

Legal system [time series]

all members of the UN (excluding Yugoslavia) plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court

Military

Military expenditures - dollar figure [time series]

aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.)

Military expenditures (Military expenditures - percent of GDP) [time series]

roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) [Country Listing] [ The World Factbook Home]

People

Age structure [time series]

0-14 years: 29.92% (male 932,832,913; female 885,970,165) 15-64 years: 63.17% (male 1,942,402,264; female 1,898,479,062) 65 years and over: 6.91% (male 184,072,470; female 235,017,660) (2000 est.)

Birth rate [time series]

22 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate [time series]

9 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate [time series]

54 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

total population: 64 years male: 62 years female: 65 years (2000 est.)

Population [time series]

6,080,671,215 (July 2000 est.)

Population growth rate [time series]

1.3% (2000 est.)

Sex ratio [time series]

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate [time series]

2.8 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Transportation

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

total: NA km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km

Ports (Ports and harbors) [time series]

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

Railways [time series]

total: 1,201,337 km 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 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line broad gauge: 251,153 km standard gauge: 710,754 km narrow gauge: 239,430 km