Circumference:
Equatorial: 24,902 mi. (40,067 km.)
Polar: 24,860 mi. (40,000 km.)
Diameter:
Equatorial: 7926 mi. (12,753 km.)
Polar: 7899 mi. (12,709 km.)
Surface area:
Total surface area: 196,939,000 sq. mi. (510,072,520 sq. km.)
Land area: 57,506,000 sq. mi. (148,940,689 sq. km.)
Water surface: 139,433,000 sq. mi. (361,131,831 sq. km.)
Note: 70.8% of the world’s surface is water, 29.2% is land
Coastline: 221,208 mi. (356,000 km.)
Greatest ocean depth: Mariana Trench, 35,839 ft. (10,924 m.) in the Pacific Ocean
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Dead Sea –1339 ft. (–408 m.); highest point: Mount Everest 29,028 ft. (8,848 m.)
Land use:
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 26%
forests and woodland: 32%
other: 31%
Irrigated land: 958,016 sq. mi. ( 2,481,250 sq. km)
Population:
6,080,671,215 (July 2000)
Population growth rate: 1.3% (2000 est.)
Birth rate: 22 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Sex ratio: (2000 est.) 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
Infant mortality rate: 54 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: (2000 est.) total population: 64 years
male: 62 years
female: 65 years
Total fertility rate: 2.8 children born/woman (2000 est.)
Literacy rate (% of those age 15 and over who can read and write, 1999 est.):
Combined: 79.4%
Male: 85.2%
Female: 73.6%
Economy:
GDP (GWP: gross world product): purchasing power parity— USD$40.7 trillion (1999 est.)
GDP (real growth rate): 3% (1999 est.)
GDP (per capita): purchasing power parity—USD$6800 (1999 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer price index): all countries 25%; developed countries 1% to 3% typically; developing countries range from 5% to 60% (1999 est.)
Labor force:
total: 2.24 billion (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate: 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4–12% unemployment (1999 est.)
Railways:
total: 746, 476 mi. (1,201,337 km.) (1997 est.)
Merchant marine:
total: 27,825 ships (Jan. 1999)
Military expenditures
(percent of GDP): roughly 2% of gross world product (1998 est.)
www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/xx.html
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook, 1998. Washington, D.C.: CIA Printing and Photography Group, 1999.
Brunner, Borgna, ed. Time Almanac 2000. Boston: Information Please, 1999.
