Irrigated land: 2,714,320 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)
Environment - current issues: large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion
Geography - note: the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13-billion-year age estimated for the universe
People World
Population: 6,233,821,945 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 29.2% (male 932,581,592; female 885,688,851) 15-64 years: (male 193,549,180; female 247,067,032) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.23% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 21.16 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)