eaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 63 years
male: 61 years
female: 65 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.9 children born/woman (1998 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)

@World:Economy

Economy-overview: Real global output-gross world product (GWP)-rose an
estimated 4.0% in 1997. And, once more, results varied widely among
regions and countries. With its solid 3.8% growth, the US again
accounted for 21% of GWP in 1997. Western Europe grew at 2.5%, not
enough to cut into its high unemployment, and accounted for another
21% of GWP. Japan's faltering economy grew at only 0.9% with its share
of GWP at 8%. The advanced countries as a whole accounted for an
estimated 53% of GWP, with overall growth at 3.0%. The 15 former
Soviet republics and the countries of Eastern Europe posted growth of
1.8%, reversing the long downturn that followed the collapse of
communism. Growth varied widely among these countries, e.g., Ukraine
at a negative 3.2%, Russia at a positive 0.4%, and the Baltic
countries at a strong 7%. The area as a whole accounted for 5% of
global output. China and India, with a combined population of 2.2
billion or 37% of the world total, grew at 8.8% and 5%, respectively.
(China's official GDP statistics probably are overstated.) The
developing countries as a whole contributed 42% to GWP with an overall
growth rate of 5.7%. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock
economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over
international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology.
Internally, the central government in a number of cases is losing
control over resources as separatist regional movements-typically
based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in the successor states of
the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, and in
Canada. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political
p