_#_Terrain: mostly plains with mountains in west and lowlands in southeast
_#_Natural resources: nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, potash, silver, fish, timber, wildlife, coal, crude oil, natural gas
_#_Land use: arable land 5%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 3%; forest and woodland 35%; other 57%; includes NEGL% irrigated
_#_Environment: 80% of population concentrated within 160 km of US border; continuous permafrost in north a serious obstacle to development
_#_Note: second-largest country in world (after USSR); strategic location between USSR and US via north polar route
_*People #_Population: 26,835,036 (July 1991), growth rate 1.1% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 14 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 5 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)