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    World Geography - 2004

    https://immigration-usa.com/wfb2004/world/world_geography.html
    SOURCE: 2004 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

      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
      water: 361.132 million sq km
      land: 148.94 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); two nations, China and Russia, each border 14 other countries
      note: 43 nations and other areas are landlocked, these 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

      Coastline:
      356,000 km
      note: 98 nations and other areas are islands that border no other countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Baker Island, Barbados, Bassas da India, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Europa Island, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Glorioso Islands, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland Island, Iceland, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Juan de Nova Island, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Isle of Man, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tromelin Island, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Taiwan

      Maritime claims - as described in UNCLOS 1982 (see Notes and Definitions):
      a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: territorial sea - 12 NM, contiguous zone - 24 NM, and exclusive economic zone - 200 NM; additional zones provide for exploitation of continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM

      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


      NOTE: The information regarding World on this page is re-published from the 2004 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of World Geography 2004 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about World Geography 2004 should be addressed to the CIA.

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    https://immigration-usa.com/wfb2004/world/world_geography.html
    Revised 21-May-04
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