f
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:
6,379,157,361 (July 2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 28.2% (male 925,276,767; female 875,567,830)
15-64 years: 64.5% (male 2,083,789,165; female 2,033,226,759)
65 years and over: 7.2% (male 203,286,504; female 257,705,851)
note: some countries do not maintain age structure information, thus
a slight discrepancy exists between the total world population and
the total for world age structure (2004 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.14% (2004 est.)

Birth rate:
20.24 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate:
8.86 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 50.31 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 52.17 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 48.33 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 64.05 years
male: 62.48 years
female: 65.7 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate:
2.62 children born/woman (2004 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA

Religions:
Christians 32.71% (of which Roman Catholics 17.28%, Protestants
5.61%, Orthodox 3.49%, Anglicans 1.31%), Muslims 19.67%, Hindus
13.28%, Buddhists 5.84%, Sikhs 0.38%, Jews 0.23%, other religions
13.05%, non-religious 12.43%, atheists 2.41% (2002 est.)

Languages:
Chinese, Mandarin 14.37%, Hindi 6.02%, English 5.61%, Spanish
5.59%, Bengali 3.4%, Portuguese 2.63%, Russian 2.75%, Japanese
2.06%, German, Standard 1.64%, Korean 1.28%, French 1.27% (2000 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 77%
male: 83%
female: 71% (1995 est.)

Government World

Administrative divisions:
271 nations, dependent areas, and other entities

Legal system:
all members of the UN are parties to the statute that established
the International Court o