:World People
Population:
5,515,617,484 (July 1992), growth rate 1.7% (1992)
Birth rate:
26 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
9 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
63 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
61 years male, 65 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
3.3 children born/woman (1992)
Literacy:
74% (male 81%, female 67%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
2.24 billion (1992)
Organized labor:
NA
:World Government
Administrative divisions:
187 sovereign nations plus 72 dependent, other, and miscellaneous areas
Legal system:
varies by individual country; 182 are parties to the United Nations
International Court of Justice (ICJ or World Court)
Diplomatic representation:
there are 178 members of the UN
:World Economy
Overview:
Aggregate world output in 1991 increased by 1.3%, in contrast to estimated
2% growth in 1990 and 3% growth in 1989. In 1991, the developed countries
grew by 2.5% and the LDCs by 3.5%, these gains being offset by a 10-15% drop
in the former Communist-dominated areas of the USSR and Eastern Europe. As
usual, results among individual countries differed widely. In the developed
group, Japan led with 4.5%, the West European members averaged 1.2%, and the
recession-plagued United States lagged,with GDP down 0.7%. As for the 15
former Soviet republics and the seven nations of Eastern Europe, output
plummeted in many economic sectors because of fundamental changes in the
rules of the game and in the channels of production and exchange. China and
the Four Dragons performed well in 1991 but many of the other developing
countries are mired in poverty and political instability. For the world as a
whole, the addition of nearly 100 million people each year to an already
overcrowded globe will exacerbate the problems of pollution,
desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine.
GWP (gross world product):
purchasing power equivalent - $25 trillion, per capita $4,600; real growth
rate 1.3% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
developed countries 5%; developing countries 50%, with wide variations (1991
est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Exports:
$3.34 trillion (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
commodities:
the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
partners:
in value, about 75% of exports from developed countries
Imports:
$3.49 trillion (c.i.f., 1991 est.)
commodities:
the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
partners:
in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries
External debt:
$1.0 trillion for less developed countries (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 3% (1990 est.)
Electricity:
2,864,000,000 kW capacity; 11,450,000 million kWh produced, 2,150 kWh per
capita (1990)
Industries:
industry worldwide is 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, and the technological gap between the industrial
nations and the less-developed countries continues to widen; the rapid
development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating
already grim environmental problems
:World Economy
Agriculture:
the production of major food crops has increased substantially in the last
20 years. The annual production of cereals, for instance, has risen by 50%,
from about 1.2 billion metric tons to about 1.8 billion metric tons;
production increases have resulted mainly from increased yields rather than
increases in planted areas; while global production is sufficient for
aggregate demand, about one-fifth of the world's population remains
malnourished, primarily because local production cannot adequately provide
for large and rapidly growing populations, which are too poor to pay for
food imports; conditions are especially bad in Africa where drought in
recent years has exacerbated the consequences of all other factors
Economic aid:
NA
:World Communications
Railroads:
239,430 km of narrow gauge track; 710,754 km of standard gauge track;
251,153 km of broad gauge track; includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of
electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far
East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and only 4,160 km in
North America; fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by
France's SNCF TGV-Atlantique line
Ports:
Mina al Ahmadi (Kuwait), Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, New
Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama
Merchant marine:
23,596 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 386,736,000 GRT/637,493,000 DWT;
includes 348 passenger-cargo, 12,441 freighters, 5,446 bulk carriers, and
5,361 tankers (January 1991)
Civil air:
14,500-16,000 major transport aircraft with gross take-off weight of 9,000
kg (20,000 lbs) or more (1992 est.)