Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
roughly 2% of gross world product (2005 est.)

Telephones - main lines in use:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
1,263,367,600 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
2,168,433,600 (2005)
Telephone system:
Definition Field Listing
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA
international: NA
Radio broadcast stations:
Definition Field Listing
AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
Television broadcast stations:
Definition Field Listing
NA
Internet users:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
1,018,057,389 (2005)

Debt - external:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
$53.97 trillion...

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
roughly 2% of gross world product (2005 est.)

Telephones - main lines in use:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
1,263,367,600 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
2,168,433,600 (2005)
Telephone system:
Definition Field Listing
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA
international: NA
Radio broadcast stations:
Definition Field Listing
AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
Television broadcast stations:
Definition Field Listing
NA
Internet users:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
1,018,057,389 (2005)

Debt - external:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
$53.97 trillion
note: this figure is the sum total of all countries' external debt, both public and private (2004 est.)

Oil - production:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
78.9 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
80.29 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
63.76 million bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
63.18 million bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
1.331 trillion bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
2.854 trillion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
3 trillion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
808 billion ...

Oil - production:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
78.9 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
80.29 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
63.76 million bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
63.18 million bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
1.331 trillion bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
2.854 trillion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
3 trillion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
808 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
786.5 billion cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
Definition Field Listing Rank Order
172 trillion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Background:
Definition Field Listing
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 emerg...

Background:
Definition Field Listing
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).

Geographic overview:
Definition Field Listing
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...

Geographic overview:
Definition Field Listing
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.

Climate:
Definition Field Listing
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:
Definition Field Listing
the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean
Elevation extremes:
Definition Field Listing
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:
Definition Field Listing
the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resource...

Climate:
Definition Field Listing
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:
Definition Field Listing
the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean
Elevation extremes:
Definition Field Listing
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:
Definition Field Listing
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 Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address
Land use:
Definition Field Listing
arable land: 13.31%
permanent crops: 4.71%
other: 81.98% (2005)
Irrigated land:
Definition Field Listing
2,770,980 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards:
Definition Field Listing
large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)

Religions:
Definition Field Listing
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:
Definition Field Listing
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%, Wu Chinese 1.17% (2005 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Literacy:
Definition Field Listing
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 82%
male...

Religions:
Definition Field Listing
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:
Definition Field Listing
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%, Wu Chinese 1.17% (2005 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Literacy:
Definition Field Listing
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.)