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

People

Population: 5,995,544,836 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 30% (male 934,816,288; female 884,097,095)
15-64 years: 63% (male 1,905,701,066; female 1,861,265,079)
65 years and over: 7% (male 179,094,601; female 230,570,707) (1999
est.)

Population growth rate: 1.3% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 22 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 56 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 63 years
male: 61 years
female: 65 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.8 children born/woman (1999 est.)

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: all members of the UN (excluding Yugoslavia) plus
Nauru and Switzerland are parties to the statute that established
the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court

Economy

Economy--overview: Growth in global output (gross world product,
GWP) dropped to 2% in 1998 from 4% in 1997 because of continued
recession in Japan, severe financial difficulties in other East
Asian countries, and widespread dislocations in the Russian economy.
The US economy continued its remarkable sustained prosperity,
growing at 3.9% in 1998, and accounted for 22% of GWP. Western