World Facts * |
The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1987, 6 billion in 1999, and 7 billion in 2012. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). |
World Population(July 2012 estimate) | World Labor Force (2011 estimate) |
7,021,836,029 | 3.264 billion |
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Political Composition of the World |
The world has 195 independent countries,
72 dependent areas and other entities. |
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Age Structure of the World(2011 estimate) | Life expectancy at birth |
| 0-14 years: 26.3% | Males: 65.59 years |
| 15-64 years: 65.9% | Females: 69.73 years |
| 65 years and over: 7.9% | Total population: 67.59 years |
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Top Ten
Most Populous Countries(in millions) | Top Ten Entities
ranked by size |
- China 1,343.24
- India 1,205.07
- United States 313.85
- Indonesia 248.22
- Brazil 205.72
- Pakistan 190.29
- Nigeria 170.12
- Bangladesh 161.08
- Russia 138.08
- Japan 127.37
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| - Pacific Ocean 155.557 million sq km
- Atlantic Ocean 76.762 million sq km
- Indian Ocean 68.556 million sq km
- Southern Ocean 20.327 million sq km
- Russia 17,098,242 sq km
- Arctic Ocean 14.056 million sq km
- Antarctica 14 million sq km
- Canada 9,984,670 sq km
- United States 9,826,675 sq km
- China 9,596,961 sq km
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Top Ten
Largest Islands |
- Greenland 2,166,086 sq km
- New Guinea (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea) 785,753 sq km
- Borneo (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia) 751,929 sq km
- Madagascar 587,713 sq km
- Baffin Island (Canada) 507,451 sq km
- Sumatra (Indonesia) 472,784 sq km
- Honshu (Japan) 227,963 sq km
- Victoria Island (Canada) 217,291 sq km
- Great Britain (United Kingdom) 209,331 sq km
- Ellesmere Island (Canada) 196,236 sq km
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First Languages Spoken (2009 estimate) | LiteracyAnyone at or over the age of 15
who can read and write. |
| Mandarin Chinese - 12.44% | Males: 88.3% |
| Spanish - 4.85% | Females: 79.2% |
| English - 4.83% | Total population: 83.7% |
| Arabic - 3.25% | |
| Hindi - 2.68% | |
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Did you know . . . |
China and Russia each border 14 other countries Over two-thirds of the world's illiterate adults are found in only eight countries:
Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Two-thirds of all the illiterate adults in the world are women. There are 5.373 billion (2010 figure) mobile cellular users in the world. |
The United States has several territories, not part of any state,
that are overseen by the federal government. Some of these are: |
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| American Samoa, Guam, Johnston Atoll, Midway Islands, |
| Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, |
| Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands and Wake Island |
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Sources
CIA World Factbook, Wikipedia |
| | Additional Study Materials
from BibleStudy.org | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
