Continental Shelf to extend its continental shelf by
claiming two undersea ridges in the Arctic Ocean

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

========================================================================

World

Introduction

World

Background: Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating
world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of
vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology,
from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to
the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance
and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in
North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the
environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water,
the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of
the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only
world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1
billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in
1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century,
the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both
hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even
more lethal weapons of war).

Geography World

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,