Highways:
2,042 km total; 375 km sealed; 1,667 km mostly gravel, crushed stone, or
earth
Ports:
Apia
Merchant marine:
1 roll-on/roll-off ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,838 GRT/5,536 DWT
Airports:
total:
3
usable:
3
with permanent-surface runways:
1
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
1
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
0
Telecommunications:
7,500 telephones; 70,000 radios; broadcast stations - 1 AM, no FM, no TV; 1
Pacific Ocean INTELSAT ground station
*Western Samoa, Defense Forces
Branches:
Department of Police and Prisons
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 NA; fit for military service NA
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP
*World, Geography
Map references:
Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
510.072 million km2
land area:
148.94 million km2
water area:
361.132 million km2
comparative area: land area about 16 times the size of the US
note:
70.8% of the world is water, 29.2% is land
Land boundaries:
the land boundaries in the world total 250,883.64 km (not counting shared
boundaries twice)
Coastline:
356,000 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
24 nm claimed by most but can vary
continental shelf:
200 m depth claimed by most or to the depth of exploitation, others claim
200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive fishing zone:
200 nm claimed by most but can vary
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm claimed by most but can vary
territorial sea:
12 nm claimed by most but can vary
note:
boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from
extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm; 42 nations and
other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia,
Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi,
Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican
City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger,
Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Climate:
two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate
zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates
Terrain:
highest elevation is Mt. Everest at 8,848 meters and lowest depression is
the Dead Sea at 392 meters below sea level; greatest ocean depth is the
Marianas Trench at 10,924 meters
Natural resources:
the rapid using up 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 and
the former USSR) pose serious long-term problems that governments and
peoples are only beginning to address
Land use:
arable land:
10%
permanent crops:
1%
*World, Geography
meadows and pastures:
24%
forest and woodland: 31%
other:
34%
Irrigated land:
NA km2
Environment:
large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters
(earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions), overpopulation,
industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances),
loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of
wildlife resources, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion
*World, People
Population:
5,554,552,453 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.6% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
25 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
9 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
66 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
62 years
male:
60 years
female:
64 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
3.2 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
combined:
74%
male:
81%
female:
67%
Labor force:
2.24 billion (1992)
by occupation:
NA
*World, Government