Land use:
arable land: 19%
permanent crops: 2%
permanent pastures: 1%
forests and woodland: 65%
other: 13% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 13,350 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: occasional typhoons bring high winds and floods; low-level seismic activity common in southwest
Environment—current issues: air pollution in large cities; water pollution from the discharge of sewage and industrial effluents; driftnet fishing
Environment—international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical
Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification
People
Population: 46,884,800 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 22% (male 5,504,333; female 4,874,974)
15-64 years: 71% (male 16,949,807; female 16,432,951)
65 years and over: 7% (male 1,192,688; female 1,930,047) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 1% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 15.95 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)