Irrigated land: 1,080 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: NA
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
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine
Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants,
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - 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: 59,511,464 (July 2000 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 19% (male 5,816,313; female 5,519,479) 15-64 years: 65% (male 19,622,152; female 19,228,938) 65 years and over: 16% (male 3,864,612; female 5,459,970) (2000 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.25% (2000 est.)
Birth rate: 11.76 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)