Map references:
Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard
Time Zones of the World
Area:
total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km
water: 361.132 million sq km
note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land
Area - comparative:
land area about 16 times the size of the US
Land boundaries:
the land boundaries in the world total 250,472 km (not counting
shared boundaries twice)
Coastline:
356,000 km
Maritime claims:
a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make
the following claims: contiguous zone - 24 NM; continental shelf -
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation, or 200 NM or to the
edge of the continental margin; exclusive fishing zone - 200 NM;
exclusive economic zone - 200 NM; territorial sea - 12 NM; boundary
situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from
extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43
nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan,
Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia,
Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad,
Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg,
Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San
Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan,
West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and
Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked
Climate:
two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow
temperate zones form a wide equatorial band of tropical to
subtropical climates
Terrain:
the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the
Pacific Ocean
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m
note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is
the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific
Ocean
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.)
Natural resources:
the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the
depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and
plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality
(especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose
serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only
beginning to address
Land use:
arable land: 10.58%
permanent crops: 1%
other: 88.42% (1998 est.)
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