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World: Geography
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Map references:
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Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World
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Area:
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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
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Area - comparative:
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land area about 16 times the size of the US
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Land boundaries:
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the land boundaries in the world total 250,472 km (not counting shared boundaries twice)
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Coastline:
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356,000 km
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Maritime claims:
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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, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked
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Climate:
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two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones form a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates
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Terrain:
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the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m
note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.)
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Natural resources:
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the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address
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Land use:
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arable land: 10.58%
permanent crops: 1%
other: 88.42% (1998 est.)
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Irrigated land:
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2,714,320 sq km (1998 est.)
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Natural hazards:
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large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)
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Environment - current issues:
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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
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Geography - note:
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the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13-billion-year age estimated for the universe
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