to the portion of the entire amount of land area that
is artificially supplied with water.

Leaders: The chief of state is the titular leader of the country who
represents the state at official and ceremonial funcions but is not involved
with the day-to-day activities of the government. The head of government is
the administrative leader who manages the day-to-day activities of the
government. In the UK, the monarch is the chief of state, and the Prime
Minister is the head of government. In the US, the President is both the
chief of state and the head of government.

Life expectancy at birth: The average number of years to be lived by a group
of people all born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains
constant in the future.

Literacy: There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy.
Unless otherwise noted, all rates are based on the most common definition -
the ability to read and write at a specified age. Detailing the standards
that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is
beyond the scope of this publication.

Maps: All maps will be available only in the printed version for the fore-
seeable future.

Maritime claims: The proximity of neighboring states may prevent some
national claims from being fully extended.

Merchant marine: All ships engaged in the carriage of goods. All commercial
vessels (as opposed to all nonmilitary ships), which excludes tugs, fishing
vessels, offshore oil rigs, etc.; also, a grouping of merchant ships by
nationality or register.

Captive register - A register of ships maintained by a territory, possession,
or colony primarily or exclusively for the use of ships owned in the parent
country; also referred to as an offshore register, the offshore equivalent
of an internal register. Ships on a captive register will fly the same flag
as the parent country, or a local variant of it, but will be subject to the
maritime laws and taxation rules of the offshore territory. Although the
nature of a captive register makes it especially desirable for ships owned in
the parent country, just as in the internal register, the ships may also be
owned abroad. The captive register then acts as a flag of convenience
register, except that it is not the register of an independent state.

Flag of convenience register - A national register offering registration to a
merchant ship not owned in the flag state. The major flags of convenience
(FOC) attract shi