Irrigated land: 1,570 sq km (1989)
Environment:
current issues: sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants contribute
to air pollution; some rivers polluted by agricultural wastes and
coastal waters polluted because of large-scale disposal of sewage at
sea
natural hazards: NA
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine
Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not
ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Desertification
Note: lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now linked by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters
@United Kingdom:People
Population: 58,295,119 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 19% (female 5,572,189; male 5,843,192)
15-64 years: 65% (female 18,723,583; male 18,935,931)
65 years and over: 16% (female 5,471,383; male 3,748,841) (July 1995
est.)
Population growth rate: 0.27% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 13.18 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 10.66 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)