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

Environment - international agreements: selected international
environmental agreements are included under the Environment -
international agreements entry for each country and in the Selected
International Environmental Agreements appendix

@World:People

Population: 5,849,699,041 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 31% (male 922,447,462; female 877,221,909)
15-64 years: 63% (male 1,856,697,495; female 1,808,219,116)
65 years and over: 6% (male 166,513,212; female 218,599,847)

Population growth rate: 1.4% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 23 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 59 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 63 years
male: 61 years
female: 64 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.9 children born/woman (1997 est.)

@World:Government

Data code: none; there is no FIPS 10-4 country code for the World, so
the Factbook uses the "W" data code from DIAM 65-18 "Geopolitical Data
Elements and Related Features," Data Standard No. 3, March 1984,
published by the Defense Intelligence Agency; see the Cross-Reference
List of Country Data Codes appendix

Administrative divisions: 266 nations, dependent areas, other, and
miscellaneous entries

Legal system: varies by individual country; 186 (not including
Yugoslavia) are parties to the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ
or World Court)

Economy

Economy - overview: Real global output - gross world product (GWP) -
rose an estimated 3.6% in 1996, with the newly industrializing Third
World countries again setting the pace. And once more, results varied
widely among regions and countries. Average growth of 2.3% in the GDP
of industrialized countries (55% of GWP in 1996) and average growth of
6.5% in the GDP of less developed countries (39% of GWP) were partly
offset