• Afghanistan   Names of cities in afghanistan Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran
• Armenia   Names of cities in Armenia Southwestern Asia, east of Turkey
• Azerbaijan   Names of cities in Azerbaijan Southwestern Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Russia, with a small European portion north of the Caucasus range
• Bahrain   Middle East Names of cities in Bahrain
• Bangladesh   Southern Asia Names of cities in Bangladesh
• Bhutan   Southern Asia Names of cities in Bhutan
• British Indian Ocean Territory   Names of cities in British Indian Ocean Territory
• Brunei Southeastern Asia Names of cities in Brunei
• Burma - Myanmar - Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand
• Cambodia - Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos
• China - People's Republic of
• Christmas Island
• Cocos Islands
• Cyprus - Middle East, island in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey
• East Timor - 
• Egypt - Sinai Peninsula - Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Libya and the Gaza Strip, and the Red Sea north of Sudan, and includes the Asian Sinai Peninsula
• Georgia - Southwestern Asia, bordering the Black Sea, between Turkey and Russia
• Hong Kong - Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China
• India - Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
• Indonesia - Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
• Iran - Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan
• Iraq - Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait
• Israel - Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon
• Japan - Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
• Jordan - Middle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia
• Kazakhstan - Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe
• Korea North - Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea
• Korea South - Eastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea
• Kuwait - Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iraq and Saudi Arabia
• Kyrgyzstan - Central Asia, west of China
• Laos - Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam
• Lebanon - Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria
• Macau - Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China
• Malaysia - Southeastern Asia, peninsula bordering Thailand and northern one-third of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia, Brunei, and the South China Sea, south of Vietnam
• Maldives - Southern Asia, group of atolls in the Indian Ocean, south-southwest of India
• Mongolia - Northern Asia, between China and Russia
• Myanmar - Burma - Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand
• Nepal - Southern Asia, between China and India
• Oman
• Pakistan - Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea, between India on the east and Iran and Afghanistan on the west and China in the north
• Philippines
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore - Southeastern Asia, islands between Malaysia and Indonesia
• Sri Lanka
• Syria
• Taiwan- Republic of China
• Tajikistan
• Thailand
• Timor-Leste
• Turkey
• Turkmenistan
• United Arab Emirates - Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi Arabia
• Uzbekistan - Central Asia, north of Afghanistan
• Vietnam - Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia
• Yemen - Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia
• List of Asian Countries

• Algeria   Names of cities in Algeria Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia
• Angola - Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Namibia and Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Benin - Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and Togo
• Botswana - Southern Africa, north of South Africa
• Burkina Faso - Western Africa, north of Ghana Africa
• Burundi      -----     Eastern Africa
• Cameroon      -----     Middle Africa
• Cape Verde      -----     Western Africa
• Central African Republic -----  Middle Africa
• Chad      -----     Middle Africa
• Comoros      -----     Eastern Africa
• Congo      -----     Middle Africa
• Côte d'Ivoire      -----     Western Africa
• Democratic Republic of the Congo  ---- Middle Africa
• Djibouti      -----     Eastern Africa
• Egypt      -----     Northern Africa
• Eritrea     -----     Eastern Africa
• Equatorial Guinea      -----     Middle Africa
• Ethiopia     -----     Eastern Africa
• Gabon      -----     Middle Africa
• Gambia      -----     Western Africa
• Ghana      -----     Western Africa
• Guinea      -----     Western Africa
• Guinea-Bissau      -----     Western Africa
• Ivory Coast      -----     Western Africa
• Kenya     -----     Eastern Africa
• Lesotho     -----     Southern Africa
• Liberia      -----     Western Africa
• Libya      -----     Northern Africa
• Madagascar     -----     Eastern Africa
• Malawi     -----     Eastern Africa
• Mali      -----     Western Africa
• Mauritania      -----     Western Africa
• Mauritius     -----     Eastern Africa
• Mayotte (France)    -----     Eastern Africa
• Morocco      -----     Northern Africa
• Mozambique     -----     Eastern Africa
• Namibia     -----     Southern Africa
• Niger      -----     Western Africa
• Nigeria      -----     Western Africa
• Réunion (France)     -----     Eastern Africa
• Rwanda     -----     Eastern Africa
• Saint Helena (UK)      -----     Western Africa
• São Tomé and Príncipe   -----   Middle Africa
• Senegal      -----     Western Africa
• Seychelles     -----     Eastern Africa
• Sierra Leone      -----     Western Africa
• Somalia     -----     Eastern Africa
• South Africa     -----     Southern Africa
• Sudan      -----     Northern Africa
• Swaziland     -----     Southern Africa
• Tanzania     -----     Eastern Africa
• Togo      -----     Western Africa
• Tunisia      -----     Northern Africa
• Uganda     -----     Eastern Africa
• Western Sahara      -----     Northern Africa
• Zambia   Names of cities in Zambia Eastern Africa
• Zimbabwe     -----     Eastern Africa
• List of African Countries

Background: Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war).

Geography Overview: The surface of the earth is approximately 70.9% water and 29.1% land. The former portion is divided into large water bodies termed oceans. The World Factbook recognizes and describes five oceans, which are in decreasing order of size: the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean. The land portion is generally divided into several, large, discrete landmasses termed continents. Depending on the convention used, the number of continents can vary from five to seven. The most common classification recognizes seven, which are (from largest to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. Asia and Europe are sometimes lumped together into a Eurasian continent resulting in six continents. Alternatively, North and South America are sometimes grouped as simply the Americas, resulting in a continent total of six (or five, if the Eurasia designation is used). North America is commonly understood to include the island of Greenland, the isles of the Caribbean, and to extend south all the way to the Isthmus of Panama. The easternmost extent of Europe is generally defined as being the Ural Mountains and the Ural River; on the southeast the Caspian Sea; and on the south the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean. Africa's northeast extremity is frequently delimited at the Isthmus of Suez, but for geopolitical purposes, the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula is often included as part Africa. Asia usually incorporates all the islands of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The islands of the Pacific are often lumped with Australia into a "land mass" termed Oceania or Australasia. Although the above groupings are the most common, different continental dispositions are recognized or taught in certain parts of the world, with some arrangements more heavily based on cultural spheres rather than physical geographic considerations.

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

Land boundaries: the land boundaries in the world total 251,060 km (not counting shared boundaries twice); two nations, China and Russia, each border 14 other countries
note: 45 nations and other areas are landlocked, these 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, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked.

Coastline: 356,000 km
note: 94 nations and other entities are islands that border no other countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Baker Island, Barbados, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland Island, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Taiwan

Maritime claims: a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: territorial sea - 12 nm, contiguous zone - 24 nm, and exclusive economic zone - 200 nm; additional zones provide for exploitation of continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm

Climate: a wide equatorial band of hot and humid tropical climates - bordered north and south by subtropical temperate zones - that separate two large areas of cold and dry polar climates

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

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m
note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m

Introduction

World

Background:

Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war).

Geography

World

Geographic overview:	The surface of the earth is approximately 70.9% water and 29.1% land. The former portion is divided into large water bodies termed oceans. The World Factbook recognizes and describes five oceans, which are in decreasing order of size: the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean. The land portion is generally divided into several, large, discrete landmasses termed continents. Depending on the convention used, the number of continents can vary from five to seven. The most common classification recognizes seven, which are (from largest to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. Asia and Europe are sometimes lumped together into a Eurasian continent resulting in six continents. Alternatively, North and South America are sometimes grouped as simply the Americas, resulting in a continent total of six (or five, if the Eurasia designation is used). North America is commonly understood to include the island of Greenland, the isles of the Caribbean, and to extend south all the way to the Isthmus of Panama. The easternmost extent of Europe is generally defined as being the Ural Mountains and the Ural River; on the southeast the Caspian Sea; and on the south the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean. Africa's northeast extremity is frequently delimited at the Isthmus of Suez, but for geopolitical purposes, the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula is often included as part of Africa. Asia usually incorporates all the islands of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The islands of the Pacific are often lumped with Australia into a "land mass" termed Oceania or Australasia. Although the above groupings are the most common, different continental dispositions are recognized or taught in certain parts of the world, with some arrangements more heavily based on cultural spheres rather than physical geographic considerations.
Map references:	Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:	total: 510.072 million sq km land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.9% of the world's surface is water, 29.1% is land
Area - comparative:	land area about 16 times the size of the US
Land boundaries:	the land boundaries in the world total 251,060 km (not counting shared boundaries twice); two nations, China and Russia, each border 14 other countries note: 45 nations and other areas are landlocked, these 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, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked
Coastline:	356,000 km note: 94 nations and other entities are islands that border no other countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Baker Island, Barbados, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland Island, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Taiwan
Maritime claims:	a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: territorial sea - 12 nm, contiguous zone - 24 nm, and exclusive economic zone - 200 nm; additional zones provide for exploitation of continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm
Climate:	a wide equatorial band of hot and humid tropical climates - bordered north and south by subtropical temperate zones - that separate two large areas of cold and dry polar climates
Terrain:	the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean
Elevation extremes:	lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m
Natural resources:	the rapid depletion 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 some countries of 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: 10.57% permanent crops: 1.04% other: 88.38% (2005)
Irrigated land:	2,770,980 sq km (2003)
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; global warming becoming a greater concern
Geography - note:	the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13.7-billion-year age estimated for the universe

People

World

Population:	6,706,993,152 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure:	0-14 years: 27.3% (male 944,665,142/female 887,471,328) 15-64 years: 65.1% 65 years and over: 7.6% (male 222,808,372/female 284,647,297) (2008 est.)
Median age:	total: male: 27.4 years female: 28.7 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:	1.188% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:	20.18 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate:	8.23 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Urbanization:	urban population: 48.6% of total population (2005) rate of urbanization: 1.98% annual rate of change (2005-2010) ten largest urban agglomerations: Tokyo (Japan) - 35,676,000; New York-Newark (US) - 19,040,000; Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico) - 19,028,000; Mumbai (India) - 18,978,000; Sao Paulo (Brazil) - 18,845,000; Delhi (India) - 15,926,000; Shanghai (China) - 14,987,000; Kolkata (India) - 14,787,000; Dhaka (Bangladesh) - 13,458,000; Buenos Aires (Argentina) - 12,795,000 (2007)
Sex ratio:	at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 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 (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate:	total: 42.09 deaths/1,000 live births male: 44.91 deaths/1,000 live births female: 39.09 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:	total population: 66.26 years male: 64.3 years female: 68.35 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate:	2.61 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:	NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:	NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths:	NA
Religions:	Christians 33.32% (of which Roman Catholics 16.99%, Protestants 5.78%, Orthodox 3.53%, Anglicans 1.25%), Muslims 21.01%, Hindus 13.26%, Buddhists 5.84%, Sikhs 0.35%, Jews 0.23%, Baha'is 0.12%, other religions 11.78%, non-religious 11.77%, atheists 2.32% (2007 est.)
Languages:	Mandarin Chinese 13.22%, Spanish 4.88%, English 4.68%, Arabic 3.12%, Hindi 2.74%, Portuguese 2.69%, Bengali 2.59%, Russian 2.2%, Japanese 1.85%, Standard German 1.44%, French 1.2% (2005 est.) note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Literacy:	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 82% male: 87% female: 77% note: over two-thirds of the world's 785 million illiterate adults are found in only eight countries (India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Egypt); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, South and West Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Arab states, where around one-third of the men and half of all women are illiterate (2005 est.)

Government

World

Administrative divisions:	265 nations, dependent areas, and other entities
Legal system:	all members of the UN are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court

Economy

World

Economy - overview:	Global output rose by 3.8% in 2008, down from 5.2% in 2007. Among major economies, growth was led by China (9.8%), Russia (7.4%), and India (7.3%). Worldwide, nations varied widely in their growth results, with Macau (16.6%), Azerbaijan (15.6%), and Angola (15.1%), registering the highest. Growth rates slowed in all the major industrial countries and most developing countries, because of uncertainties in the financial markets and lowered consumer confidence. 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, in Iraq, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decisionmaking powers to international bodies, notably the EU. 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 an economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuated a growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic prospects. The complex political difficulties and the high economic cost of establishing domestic order in Iraq became major global problems that continued through 2008.
GDP (purchasing power parity):	GWP (gross world product): $70.65 trillion (2008 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):	GWP (gross world product): $78.36 trillion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:	3.8% (2008 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):	$10,500 (2008 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:	agriculture: 4% industry: 32% services: 64% (2008 est.)
Labor force:	3.167 billion (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:	agriculture: 39.9% industry: 20.6% services: 39.5% (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate:	30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2007 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:	lowest 10%: 2.5% highest 10%: 29.9% (2002 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):	21.9% of GDP (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):	developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 20% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in one Third World country (Zimbabwe); inflation rates have declined for most countries for the last several years, held in check by increasing international competition from several low wage countries (2005 est.)
Stock of money:	$12.35 trillion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money:	$27.31 trillion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit:	$69.9 trillion (31 December 2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares:	$66.82 trillion (31 December 2007 est.)
Industries:	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
Industrial production growth rate:	2.2% (2008 est.)
Electricity - production:	19.02 trillion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - consumption:	17.48 trillion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - exports:	674 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:	622.6 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - production by source:	fossil fuel: NA hydro: NA nuclear: NA other: NA
Oil - production:	85.54 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption:	85.22 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - exports:	66.19 million bbl/day (2005)
Oil - imports:	65.41 million bbl/day (2005)
Oil - proved reserves:	1.332 trillion bbl (1 January 2008 est.)
Natural gas - production:	3.021 trillion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:	3.198 trillion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - exports:	929.9 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports:	957.6 billion cu m (2007)
Natural gas - proved reserves:	175.4 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Exports:	$16.28 trillion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Exports - commodities:	the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services top ten - share of world trade: electrical machinery, including computers 14.8%; mineral fuels, including oil, coal, gas, and refined products 14.4%; nuclear reactors, boilers, and parts 14.2%; cars, trucks, and buses 8.9%; scientific and precision instruments 3.5%; plastics 3.4%; iron and steel 2.7%; organic chemicals 2.6%; pharmaceutical products 2.6%; diamonds, pearls, and precious stones 1.9% (2006 est.)
Exports - partners:	US 13.7%, Germany 7.3%, China 6.2%, France 4.6%, UK 4.5%, Japan 4.1% (2007)
Imports:	$16.19 trillion f.o.b. (2008 est.)
Imports - commodities:	the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services top ten - share of world trade: see listing for exports
Imports - partners:	China 10.7%, Germany 9.2%, US 8.3%, Japan 5.1%, France 4% (2007)
Economic aid - recipient:	ODA, $106.4 billion (2005)
Debt - external:	$54.61 trillion note: this figure is the sum total of all countries' external debt, both public and private (31 December 2008 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:	World total DFI $16.65 trillion top ten recipients of DFI: US $2.220 trillion; UK $1.409 trillion; HK $1.235 trillion; France $1.079 trillion; Germany $924.7 billion; China $758.9 billion; Belgium $733.9 billion; Netherlands $726.9 billion; Spain $606.8 billion; Canada $586.6 billion (2008 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:	World total DFI $16.22 trillion top ten sources of DFI: US $2.751 trillion; UK $1.841 trillion; France $1.571 trillion; Germany $1.360 trillion; HK $1.078 trillion; Netherlands $872.5 billion; Spain $738.5 billion; Switzerland $633.5 billion; Japan $597.0 billion; Belgium $581.9 billion (2008 est.)

Communications

World

Telephones - main lines in use:	1,263,367,600 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular:	2,168,433,600 (2005)
Telephone system:	general assessment: NA domestic: NA international: NA
Radio broadcast stations:	AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
Radios:	NA
Television broadcast stations:	NA
Televisions:	NA
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):	10,350 (2000 est.)
Internet users:	1,018,057,389 (2005)

Transportation

World

Airports:	total airports - 49,024 top ten by passengers: Atlanta (ATL) - 89,379,287; Chicago (ORD) - 76,177,855; London (LHR) - 68,068,304; Tokyo (HND) - 66,823,414; Los Angeles (LAX) - 61,896,075; Paris (CDG) - 59,922,177; Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) - 59,786,476; Frankfurt (FRA) - 54,161,856; Beijing (PEK) - 53,583,664; Madrid (MAD) - 52,122,702 top ten by cargo (metric tons): Memphis (MEM) - 3,840,491; Hong Kong (HKG) - 3,773,964; Anchorage (ANC) - 2,825,511; Shanghai (PVG) - 2,559,310; Inch'on (ICN) - 2,555,580; Paris (CDG) - 2,297,896; Tokyo (NRT) - 2,254,421; Frankfurt (FRA) - 2,127,646; Louisville (SDF) - 2,078,947; Miami (MIA) - 1,922,985 (2007)
Heliports:	1,359 (2007)
Railways:	total: 1,370,782 km (2006)
Roadways:	total: 68,937,575 km (2008)
Waterways:	671,886 km (2004)
Ports and terminals:	top ten container ports (TEUs): Singapore - 27,935,500; Shanghai - 26,150,000; Hong Kong - 23,999,000; Shenzhen (China) - 21,099,100; Pusan (South Korea) - 13,254,703; - Rotterdam - 10,790,604; Dubai (UAE) - 10,650,000; Kaohsiung (Taiwan) - 10,256,829; Hamburg - 9,917,180; Qingdao (China) - 9,462,000 (2007)

Military

World

Military expenditures:

roughly 2% of GDP of gross world product (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues

World

Disputes - international:	stretching over 250,000 km, the world's 322 international land boundaries separate 194 independent states and 71 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities; ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries; most maritime states have claimed limits that include territorial seas and exclusive economic zones; overlapping limits due to adjacent or opposite coasts create the potential for 430 bilateral maritime boundaries of which 209 have agreements that include contiguous and non-contiguous segments; boundary, borderland/resource, and territorial disputes vary in intensity from managed or dormant to violent or militarized; undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries tend to encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and confrontation; territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural claims, or they may be brought on by resource competition; ethnic and cultural clashes continue to be responsible for much of the territorial fragmentation and internal displacement of the estimated 6.6 million people and cross-border displacements of 8.6 million refugees around the world as of early 2006; just over one million refugees were repatriated in the same period; other sources of contention include access to water and mineral (especially hydrocarbon) resources, fisheries, and arable land; armed conflict prevails not so much between the uniformed armed forces of independent states as between stateless armed entities that detract from the sustenance and welfare of local populations, leaving the community of nations to cope with resultant refugees, hunger, disease, impoverishment, and environmental degradation
Refugees and internally displaced persons:	the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that in December 2006 there was a global population of 8.8 million registered refugees and as many as 24.5 million IDPs in more than 50 countries; the actual global population of refugees is probably closer to 10 million given the estimated 1.5 million Iraqi refugees displaced throughout the Middle East (2007)
Trafficking in persons:	current situation: approximately 800,000 people, mostly women and children, are trafficked annually across national borders, not including millions trafficked within their own countries; at least 80% of the victims are female and up to 50% are minors; 75% of all victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation; almost two-thirds of the global victims are trafficked intra-regionally within East Asia and the Pacific (260,000 to 280,000 people) and Europe and Eurasia (170,000 to 210,000 people) Tier 2 Watch List: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, India, Jordan, Libya, Malaysia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Niger, Panama, Republic of the Congo, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe Tier 3: Algeria, Burma, Cuba, Fiji, Iran, Kuwait, Moldova, North Korea, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria (2008)
Illicit drugs:	cocaine: worldwide coca leaf cultivation in 2007 amounted to 232,500 hectares; Colombia produced slightly more than two-thirds of the worldwide crop, followed by Peru and Bolivia; potential pure cocaine production decreased 7% to 865 metric tons in 2007; Colombia conducts aggressive coca eradication campaign, but both Peruvian and Bolivian Governments are hesitant to eradicate coca in key growing areas; 551 metric tons of export-quality cocaine (85% pure) is documented to have been seized or destroyed in 2005; US consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been in excess of 380 metric tons opiates: worldwide illicit opium poppy cultivation continued to increase in 2007, with a potential opium production of 8,400 metric tons, reaching the highest levels recorded since estimates began in mid-1980s; Afghanistan is world's primary opium producer, accounting for 95% of the global supply; Southeast Asia - responsible for 9% of global opium - saw marginal increases in production; Latin America produced 1% of global opium, but most was refined into heroin destined for the US market; if all potential opium was processed into pure heroin, the potential global production would be 1,000 metric tons of heroin in 2007

This page was last updated on 5 March, 2009

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