he UNCLOS,
some states (e.g. the United Kingdom) have chosen not to claim an EEZ,
but rather to claim jurisdiction over the living resources off their
coast; in such cases, the term exclusive fishing zone is often used;
the breadth of this zone is normally the same as the EEZ or 200
nautical miles.

Median age
This entry is the age that divides a population into two numerically
equal groups; that is, half the people are younger than this age and
half are older. It is a single index that summarizes the age
distribution of a population. Currently, the median age ranges from a
low of about 15 in Uganda and Gaza Strip to 40 or more in several
European countries and Japan. See the entry for "Age structure" for the
importance of a young versus an older age structure and, by
implication, a low versus a higher median age.

Merchant marine
Merchant marine may be defined as all ships engaged in the carriage of
goods; or all commercial vessels (as opposed to all nonmilitary ships),
which excludes tugs, fishing vessels, offshore oil rigs, etc. This
entry contains information in four fields - total, ships by type,
foreign-owned, and registered in other countries.
Total includes the number of ships (1,000 GRT or over), total DWT for
those ships, and total GRT for those ships. DWT or dead weight tonnage
is the total weight of cargo, plus bunkers, stores, etc., that a ship
can carry when immersed to the appropriate load line. GRT or gross
register tonnage is a figure obtained by measuring the entire sheltered
volume of a ship available for cargo and passengers and converting it
to tons on the basis of 100 cubic feet per ton; there is no stable
relationship between GRT and DWT. Ships
by type includes a listing of barge carriers, bulk cargo ships, cargo
ships, chemical tankers, combination bulk carriers, combination ore/oil
carriers, container ships, liquefied gas tankers, livestock carriers,
multifunctional large-load carriers, petroleum tankers, passenger
ships, passenger/cargo ships, railcar carriers, refrigerated cargo
ships, roll-on/roll-off cargo ships, short-sea passenger ships,
specialized tankers, and vehicle carriers.
Foreign-owned are ships that fly the flag of one country but belong to
owners in another.
Registered in other countries are ships that belong to owners in one
country but fly the flag of another.

Military
This category includes the entries dealing with a country's military
structure, manpower, and expendi