Natural resources: tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum,
timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite
Land use:
arable land: 34%
permanent crops: 4%
meadows and pastures: 1%
forest and woodland: 30%
other: 31%
Irrigated land: 42,300 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: air pollution from vehicle emissions; water
pollution from organic and factory wastes; deforestation; soil
erosion; wildlife populations threatened by illegal hunting
natural hazards: land subsidence in Bangkok area resulting from the
depletion of the water table; droughts
international agreements: party to - Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Tropical Timber 83; signed, but not ratified -
Biodiversity, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea
Geographic note: controls only land route from Asia to Malaysia
and Singapore
People ———
Population: 58,851,357 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 25% (male 7,627,916; female 7,351,264)
15-64 years: 69% (male 19,994,884; female 20,576,141)
65 years and over: 6% (male 1,468,814; female 1,832,338) (July 1996
est.)
Population growth rate: 1.03% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 17.29 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)