Introduction:
Background:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
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 environmental degradation including deforestation, energy and water shortages, declining 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 1987, 6 billion in 1999, and 7 billion in 2012. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine and agriculture) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war).
Geographic overview:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
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.
Map references:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
Political Map of the World , Physical Map of the World , Standard Time Zones of the World , World Oceans
Area:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
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:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
land area about 16 times the size of the US
top fifteen World Factbook entities ranked by size: Pacific Ocean 155.557 million sq km; Atlantic Ocean 76.762 million sq km; Indian Ocean 68.556 million sq km; Southern Ocean 20.327 million sq km; Russia 17,098,242 sq km; Arctic Ocean 14.056 million sq km; Antarctica 14 million sq km; Canada 9,984,670 sq km; United States 9,826,675 sq km; China 9,596,961 sq km; Brazil 8,514,877 sq km; Australia 7,741,220 sq km; European Union 4,324,782 sq km; India 3,287,263 sq km; Argentina 2,780,400 sq km
top ten largest water bodies: Pacific Ocean 155.557 million sq km; Atlantic Ocean 76.762 million sq km; Indian Ocean 68.556 million sq km; Southern Ocean 20.327 million sq km; Arctic Ocean 14.056 million sq km; Coral Sea 4,184,100 sq km; South China Sea 3,595,900 sq km; Caribbean Sea 2.834 million sq km; Bering Sea 2.52 million sq km; Mediterranean Sea 2.469 million sq km
top ten largest landmasses: Asia 44,568,500 sq km; Africa 30.065 million sq km; North America 24.473 million sq km; South America 17.819 million sq km; Antarctica 14 million sq km; Europe 9.948 million sq km; Australia 7,741,220 sq km; Greenland 2,166,086 sq km; New Guinea 785,753 sq km; Borneo 751,929 sq km
top ten largest islands: Greenland 2,166,086 sq km; New Guinea (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea) 785,753 sq km; Borneo (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia) 751,929 sq km; Madagascar 587,713 sq km; Baffin Island (Canada) 507,451 sq km; Sumatra (Indonesia) 472,784 sq km; Honshu (Japan) 227,963 sq km; Victoria Island (Canada) 217,291 sq km; Great Britain (United Kingdom) 209,331 sq km; Ellesmere Island (Canada) 196,236 sq km
Land boundaries:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
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: 46 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, South Sudan, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked
Coastline:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
356,000 km
note: 95 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, Cabo Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Curacao, 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, 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, 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, Sint Maarten, 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:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
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:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
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:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean
Elevation extremes:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench (Antarctica) -2,555 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
top ten highest mountains (measured from sea level): Mount Everest (China-Nepal) 8,850 m; K2 (Pakistan) 8,611 m; Kanchenjunga (India-Nepal) 8,598 m; Lhotse (Nepal) 8,516 m; Makalu (China-Nepal) 8,463 m; Cho Oyu (China-Nepal) 8,201 m; Dhaulagiri (Nepal) 8,167 m; Manaslu (Nepal) 8,163 m; Nanga Parbat (Pakistan) 8,125 m; Anapurna (Nepal) 8,091 m
Natural resources:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
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:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
arable land: 10.43%
permanent crops: 1.15%
other: 88.42% (2011)
Irrigated land:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
3,096,621.45 sq km (2011 est.)
Total renewable water resources:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
53,789.29 cu km (2011)
Natural hazards:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones); natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)
volcanism: volcanism is a fundamental driver and consequence of plate tectonics, the physical process reshaping the Earth's lithosphere; the world is home to more than 1,500 potentially active volcanoes, with over 500 of these having erupted in historical times; an estimated 500 million people live near these volcanoes; associated dangers include lava flows, lahars (mudflows), pyroclastic flows, ash clouds, ash fall, ballistic projectiles, gas emissions, landslides, earthquakes, and tsunamis; in the 1990s, the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, created a list of 16 Decade Volcanoes worthy of special study because of their great potential for destruction: Avachinsky-Koryaksky (Russia), Colima (Mexico), Etna (Italy), Galeras (Colombia), Mauna Loa (United States), Merapi (Indonesia), Nyiragongo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Rainier (United States), Sakurajima (Japan), Santa Maria (Guatemala), Santorini (Greece), Taal (Philippines), Teide (Spain), Ulawun (Papua New Guinea), Unzen (Japan), Vesuvius (Italy)
Environment - current issues:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
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:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13.8-billion-year age estimated for the universe
Languages:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
Mandarin Chinese 12.44%, Spanish 4.85%, English 4.83%, Arabic 3.25%, Hindi 2.68%, Bengali 2.66%, Portuguese 2.62%, Russian 2.12%, Japanese 1.8%, Standard German 1.33%, Javanese 1.25% (2009 est.)
note 1: percents are for "first language" speakers only; the six UN languages - Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, Russian, and Spanish (Castilian) - are the mother tongue or second language of about half of the world's population, and are the official languages in more than half the states in the world; some 150 to 200 languages have more than a million speakers
note 2: all told, there are an estimated 7,100 languages spoken in the world; aproximately 80% of these languages are spoken by less than 100,000 people; about 50 languages are spoken by only 1 person; communities that are isolated from each other in mountainous regions often develop multiple languages; Papua New Guinea, for example, boasts about 836 separate languages
note 3: approximately 2,300 languages are spoken in Asia, 2,150, in Africa, 1,311 in the Pacific, 1,060 in the Americas, and 280 in Europe
Religions:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
Christian 33.39% (of which Roman Catholic 16.85%, Protestant 6.15%, Orthodox 3.96%, Anglican 1.26%), Muslim 22.74%, Hindu 13.8%, Buddhist 6.77%, Sikh 0.35%, Jewish 0.22%, Baha'i 0.11%, other religions 10.95%, non-religious 9.66%, atheists 2.01% (2010 est.)
Population:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
7,095,217,980 (July 2013 est.)
top ten most populous countries (in millions): China 1,349.59; India 1,220.80; United States 316.67; Indonesia 251.16; Brazil 201.01; Pakistan 193.24; Nigeria 174.51; Bangladesh 163.65; Russia 142.50; Japan 127.25
Age structure:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
0-14 years: 26% (male 953,496,513/female 890,372,474)
15-24 years: 16.8% (male 614,574,389/female 579,810,490)
25-54 years: 40.6% (male 1,454,831,900/female 1,426,721,773)
55-64 years: 8.4% (male 291,435,881/female 305,185,398)
65 years and over: 8.2% (male 257,035,416/female 321,753,746) (2013 est.)
population pyramid: "> Dependency ratios:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
total dependency ratio: 52 %
youth dependency ratio: 39.9 %
elderly dependency ratio: 12.1 %
potential support ratio: 8.3 (2013)
Median age:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
total: 29.4 years
male: 28.7 years
female: 30.2 years (2013 est.)
Population growth rate:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
1.1%
note: this rate results in about 148 net additions to the worldwide population every minute or 2.5 every second (2013 est.)
Birth rate:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
18.9 births/1,000 population
note: this rate results in about 255 worldwide births per minute or 4.3 births every second (2013 est.)
Death rate:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
7.9 deaths/1,000 population
note: this rate results in about 107 worldwide deaths per minute or 1.8 deaths every second (2013 est.)
Urbanization:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
urban population: 50.5% of total population (2010)
rate of urbanization: 1.85% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
ten largest urban agglomerations: Tokyo (Japan) - 36,669,000; Delhi (India) - 22,157,000; Sao Paulo (Brazil) - 20,262,000; Mumbai (India) - 20,041,000; Mexico City (Mexico) - 19,460,000; New York-Newark (US) - 19,425,000; Shanghai (China) - 16,575,000; Kolkata (India) - 15,552,000; Dhaka (Bangladesh) - 14,648,000; Karachi (Pakistan) - 13,125,000 (2009)
Sex ratio:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2013 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
total: 37.61 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 39.39 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 35.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2013 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
total population: 68.09 years
male: 66.09 years
female: 70.24 years (2013 est.)
Total fertility rate:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
2.45 children born/woman (2013 est.)
Hospital bed density:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
2.9 beds/1,000 population (2005)
Drinking water source:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
improved:
unimproved:
Sanitation facility access:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
improved:
unimproved:
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
0.8% (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
33.3 million (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
1.8 million (2009 est.)
Literacy:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 84.1%
male: 88.6%
female: 79.7%
note: almost three-quarters of the world's 775 million illiterate adults are found in only ten countries (in descending order: India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in South and West Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (2010 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
total: 12 years
male: 12 years
female: 12 years (2011)
Administrative divisions:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
195 countries, 72 dependent areas and other entities
Legal system:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
the legal systems of nearly all countries are generally modeled upon elements of five main types: civil law (including French law, the Napoleonic Code, Roman law, Roman-Dutch law, and Spanish law); common law (including United States law); customary law; mixed or pluralistic law; and religious law (including Islamic law); an additional type of legal system - international law - governs the conduct of independent nations in their relationships with one another
International law organization participation:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
all members of the UN are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court; 54 countries have accepted jurisdiction of the ICJ as compulsory with reservations and 14 countries have accepted ICJ jurisdiction as compulsory without reservations; states parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICCt) are those countries that have ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the Court; a total of 121 (effective 1 July 2012) countries have accepted jurisdiction of the ICCt (see Appendix B for a clarification on the differing mandates of the ICJ and ICCt)
Economy:
Economy - overview:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
The international financial crisis of 2008-09 led to the first downturn in global output since 1946 and presented the world with a major new challenge: determining what mix of fiscal and monetary policies to follow to restore growth and jobs, while keeping inflation and debt under control. Financial stabilization and stimulus programs that started in 2009-11, combined with lower tax revenues in 2009-10, required most countries to run large budget deficits. Treasuries issued new public debt - totaling $7.6 trillion since 2008 - to pay for the additional expenditures. To keep interest rates low, most central banks monetized that debt, injecting large sums of money into their economies - between December 2008 and December 2012 the global money supply increased by more than 31%. Governments now are faced with the difficult task of spurring current growth and employment without saddling their economies with so much debt that they sacrifice long-term growth and financial stability. And when economic activity picks up, central banks will confront the difficult task of containing inflation without raising interest rates so high they snuff out further growth.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
$83.66 trillion (2012 est.)
note: data are in 2012 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
GWP (gross world product): $71.62 trillion (2012 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
3.1% (2012 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
$12,500 (2012 est.)
note: data are in 2012 US dollars
GDP - composition, by end use:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
household consumption: 62%
government consumption: 18.5%
investment in fixed capital: 19.4%
investment in inventories: 0.5%
exports of goods and services: 29.3%
imports of goods and services: -29.7%
GDP - composition, by sector of origin:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
agriculture: 5.9%
industry: 30.7%
services: 63.4% (2012 est.)
Industries:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
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 technologies is complicating already grim environmental problems
Industrial production growth rate:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
3.9% (2011 est.)
Labor force:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
3.297 billion (2012 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
agriculture: 35.3%
industry: 22.7%
services: 42% (2008 est.)
Unemployment rate:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
9% (2012 est.)
note: 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:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 28.2% (2007 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
39 (2007 est.)
Budget:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
revenues: $20.69 trillion
expenditures: $23.38 trillion (2012 est.)
Taxes and other revenues:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
28.9% of GDP (2012 est.)
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-):
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
-3.8% of GDP (2012 est.)
Public debt:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
64.5% of GDP (2012 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
world average 4.1% (2012 est.)
note: the above estimates are weighted averages; inflation in developed countries is 0% to 4% typically, in developing countries, 5% to 10% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases; inflation rates have declined for most countries for the last several years, held in check by increasing international competition from several low wage countries, and by soft demand as a result of the world financial crisis (2011 est.)
Stock of narrow money:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
$27.02 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
Stock of broad money:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
$81.68 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
Stock of domestic credit:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
$108.7 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
$47.04 trillion (31 December 2011)
Exports:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
$18.26 trillion (2012 est.)
Exports - commodities:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
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%
Imports:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
$17.84 trillion (2012 est.)
Imports - commodities:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
top ten - share of world trade: see listing for exports
Debt - external:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
$72.85 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
note: this figure is the sum total of all countries' external debt, both public and private
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
$21.89 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
$23.11 trillion (31 December 2012 est.)
Energy:
Electricity - production:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
21.56 trillion kWh (2010 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
19.75 trillion kWh (2010 est.)
Electricity - exports:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
649.9 billion kWh (2012 est.)
Electricity - imports:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
670.2 billion kWh (2010 est.)
Electricity - installed generating capacity:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
5.25 billion kW (2010 est.)
Electricity - from fossil fuels:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
66.2% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Electricity - from nuclear fuels:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
7.5% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Electricity - from hydroelectric plants:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
18.1% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Electricity - from other renewable sources:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
5.8% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Crude oil - production:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
89.35 million bbl/day (2012 est.)
Crude oil - exports:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
43.79 million bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil - imports:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
44.21 million bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil - proved reserves:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
1.638 trillion bbl (1 January 2013 es)
Refined petroleum products - production:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
84.22 million bbl/day (2010 est.)
Refined petroleum products - consumption:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
87.67 million bbl/day (2011 est.)
Refined petroleum products - exports:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
25.42 million bbl/day (2010 est.)
Refined petroleum products - imports:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
24.49 million bbl/day (2010 est.)
Natural gas - production:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
3.446 trillion cu m (2011 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
3.303 trillion cu m (2010 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
1.336 trillion cu m (2011 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
1.653 trillion cu m (2011 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
195.3 trillion cu m (1 January 2012 es)
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
32.56 billion Mt (2011 est.)
Communications:
Telephones - main lines in use:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
1.2 billion (2011)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
6 billion (2011)
Internet users:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
2.1 billion (2010)
Transportation:
Airports:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
total airports - 41,821 (2013)
top ten by passengers: Atlanta (ATL) - 95,672,104; Beijing (PEK) - 81,908,740; London (LHR) - 70,051,902; Tokyo (HND) - 67,824,747; Chicago (ORD) - 67,124,607; Los Angeles (LAX) - 63,849,335; Paris (CDG) - 61,478,475; Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) - 58,887,570; Dubai (DXB) - 58,392,171; Jakarta (CGK) - 57,839,056 (2013)
top ten by cargo (metric tons): Hong Kong (HKG) - 4,120,348; Memphis (MEM) - 4,053,865; Shanghai (PVG) - 2,969,554; Anchorage (ANC) - 2,470,147; Incheon (ICN) - 2,461,229; Dubai (DXB) - 2,294,614; Louisville (SDF) - 2,186,937; Frankfurt (FRA) - 2,067,698; Tokyo (NRT) - 2,014,500; Paris (CDG) - 1,940,850 (2013) (2013)
Heliports:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
6,524 (2013)
Railways:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
total: 657,382 km (2013)
Roadways:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
total: 64,285,009 km (2013)
Waterways:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
2,293,412 km
top ten longest rivers: Nile (Africa) 6,693 km; Amazon (South America) 6,436 km; Mississippi-Missouri (North America) 6,238 km; Yenisey-Angara (Asia) 5,981 km; Ob-Irtysh (Asia) 5,569 km; Yangtze (Asia) 5,525 km; Yellow (Asia) 4,671 km; Amur (Asia) 4,352 km; Lena (Asia) 4,345 km; Congo (Africa) 4,344 km
note: rivers are not necessarily navigable along the entire length; if measured by volume, the Amazon is the largest river in the world
top ten largest natural lakes (by surface area): Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan) 372,960 sq km; Lake Superior (Canada, United States) 82,414 sq km; Lake Victoria (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda) 69,490 sq km; Lake Huron (Canada, United States) 59,596 sq km; Lake Michigan (United States) 57,441 sq km; Lake Tanganyika (Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Zambia) 32,890 sq km; Great Bear Lake (Canada) 31,800 sq km; Lake Baikal (Russia) 31,494 sq km; Lake Nyasa (Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania) 30,044 sq km; Great Slave Lake (Canada) 28,400 sq km
note: the areas of the lakes are subject to seasonal variation; only the Caspian Sea is saline, the rest are fresh water (2013)
Ports and terminals:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
top ten container ports as measured by Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) throughput: Shanghai (China) - 31,739,000; Singapore (Singapore) - 29,937,700; Hong Kong (China) - 24,384,000; Shenzhen (China) - 22,570,800; Busan (South Korea) - 16,163,842; Ningbo (China) - 14,719,200; Guangzhou (China) - 14,260,400; Qingdao (China) - 13,020,100; Dubai (UAE) - 12,617,595; - Rotterdam (Netherlands) - 11,876,920 (2011)
Transportation - note:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reports that 2011 saw a very slight (1%) decrease in global pirate activities with marginally fewer people taken hostage at sea; in 2011, pirates attacked a total of 439 ships world-wide including hijacking 45 ships, capturing 802 seafarers, and killing eight; while the Horn of Africa remains the most dangerous area for maritime shipping, accounting for more than 50% of all attacks in 2011, a number of attacks also occurred in the coastal waters of Indonesia, the South China Sea, Bangladesh, and West Africa; as of July 2012, there were 189 attacks worldwide with 20 hijackings; the Horn of Africa remains the most dangerous region in 2012 with 70 attacks, 13 hijackings, 212 hostages seized; as of July 2012, Somali pirates held 11 vessels and 174 hostages; the decrease in successful pirate attacks is due, in part, to more aggressive anti-piracy operations by international naval forces as well as the increased use of armed security teams aboard merchant ships
Military:
Military expenditures:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
2.42% of GDP (2012)
Transnational Issues:
Disputes - international:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
stretching over 250,000 km, the world's 322 international land boundaries separate 195 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:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that as of the end of 2012 there were 45.2 million people forcibly displaced worldwide; this includes 15.4 million refugees, 937,000 asylum seekers, and 28.8 million conflict IDPs (another 32.4 million IDPs were displaced by natural disasters); the UNHCR estimates there are currently 10-12 million stateless persons (2012)
Trafficking in persons:
Field Background: For all countries in alphabetical order
current situation: approximately 800,000 people, mostly women and children, are trafficked annually across national borders, not including the millions who are 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) (2012)
Tier 2 Watch List: (44 countries) Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Federated States of Micronesia, The Gambia, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Morocco, Namibia, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela
Tier 3: (21 countries) Algeria, Central African Republic, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, North Korea, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Zimbabwe (2013)