TOTAL AREA: 510,072,000 sq km (196,954,200 sq mi); land area:148,940,000 sq km (57,510,232 sq mi); water area: 361,132,000 sqkm (139,443,970)
COMPARATIVE AREA: land area about 16 times the size of the U.S.
LAND BOUNDARIES: 442,000 km (274,654 mi)
COASTLINE: 359,000 km (223,078 mi)
CLIMATE: two large areas of polar climates separated by tworather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band oftropical to subtropical climates
TERRAIN: highest elevation is Mt. Everest at 8,848 meters (29,029feet) and lowest elevation is the Dead Sea at 392 meters (1,286feet) below sea level; greatest ocean depth is in the MarianasTrench at 10,924 meters (35,840 feet)
LAND USE: 10% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 24% meadows andpastures; 31% forest and woodland; 34% other; includes 1.6%irrigated
ENVIRONMENT: large areas subject to severe weather (tropicalcyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis,volcanic eruptions), industrial disasters, pollution (air, water,acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing,deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife resources, soildegradation, soil depletion, erosion
.PEOPLE OF THE WORLD
POPULATION: 5,143,031,893 (July 1988), average annual growth rate1.7%
ELECTRIC POWER: 9,390 billion kWh produced; 1,890 kWh per capita(1986) ▄j ▄îEXPORTS: $1,989 billion (f.o.b., 1986)
IMPORTS: $2,066 billion (c.i.f., 1986)
NOTE: in terms of dollar values, about 75% of exports and importsare from the industrialized countries; external debt for lessdeveloped countries is $905.7 billion (1986)