asters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis,
volcanic eruptions)
international agreements: 23 selected international environmental
agreements included under the Environment entry for each country and
in Appendix E: Selected International Environmental Agreements

@World:People

Population: 5,733,687,096 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 31.6% (female 882,809,689; male 928,121,801)
15-64 years: 62% (female 1,752,393,539; male 1,802,004,124)
65 years and over: 6.4% (female 209,437,234; male 158,246,581) (July
1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.5% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 24 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 64 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 62 years
male: 61 years
female: 64 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.1 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Labor force: 2.24 billion (1992)
by occupation: NA

@World:Government

Digraph: XX

Administrative divisions: 265 nations, dependent areas, other, and
miscellaneous entries

Legal system: varies by individual country; 186 (note including
Yugoslavia) are parties to the United Nations International Court of
Justice (ICJ or World Court)

@World:Economy

Overview: Led by recovery in Western Europe and strong performances by
the US, Canada, and key Third World countries, real global output -
gross world product (GWP) - rose 3% in 1994 compared with 2% in 1993.
Results varied widely among regions and countries. Average growth of
3% in the GDP of industrialized countries (60% of GWP in 1994) and
average growth of 6% in the GDP of less developed countries (34% of
GWP) were partly offset by a further 11% drop in the GDP of the former
USSR/Eastern Europe area (now only 6% of GWP). With the notable
exception of Japan at 2.9%, unemployment was typically 5%-12% in the
industrial world. The US accounted for 22% of GWP in 1994; Western
Europe accounted for another 22%; and Japan accounted for 8%. These
are the three "economic superpowers" which are presumably destined to
compete for mastery in international markets on into the 21st century.
As for the less developed countries, China, India, and the Four
Dragons - South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore - once again
posted records of 5% growth or better; however, many other countries,
especially in Africa, continued to suffer fr