- Age: 4.55 billion years old.
- Total area: 510.072 million sq km (196.940 million sq mi). Land area: 148.94 million sq km (57.506 million sq mi). Water area: 361.132 million sq km (139.434 million sq mi). Coastline: 356,000 km (221,208 mi). Note: 70.8% of the world is water, 29.2% is land.
- Land boundaries: 251,480.24 km (156,262.58 mi.), not counting shared boundaries twice.
- Climate: Two large areas of polar climates are separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates.
- Terrain: Highest elevation is Mt. Everest at 8,850 m (29,035 ft) and lowest land depression is the Dead Sea at - 411 m ( - 1,349 ft) below sea level. The greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at - 10,924 m ( - 35,840 ft) in the Pacific Ocean.
- Land use: Arable land: 10.73%. Permanent crops: 1%. Other: 88.27% (2001 est.). Irrigated land: 2,714,320 sq km (1,048,005 sq mi).
Population: 6,458,141,043 (Aug. 3, 2005 est.).
Growth rate: 1.14% (2005 est.).
Birth rate: 20.15 births/1,000 population (2005 est.).
Death rate: 8.78 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.).
Sex ratio (at birth): 1.06 males/female (2005 est.).
Infant mortality rate: 50.11 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.).
Life expectancy at birth: Total population: 64.33 years. Male: 62.73 years. Female: 66.04 years (2005 est.).
Total fertility rate: 2.6 children born per woman (2005 est.).
Literacy: Age 15 and over who can read and write (1995 est.). Total population: 77%. Male: 83%. Female: 71%.
Political divisions: 193 sovereign nations, 61 dependent areas, and 6 disputed territories.
Economy: Global output (GWP) rose by 4.9% in 2004, led by China (9.1%), Russia (6.7%), and India (6.2%). Growth results posted by the major industrial countries varied from a small gain in Italy (1.3%) to a strong gain by the United States (4.4%). The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that erode gains in output. The addition of 75 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from an economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized.
GWP/PPP: $55.5 trillion (2004 est.).
GWP - real growth rate: 4.9% (2004 est.).
GWP/PPP - per capita: $8,800 (2004 est.).
GWP composition: agriculture 4%, industry 32%, services 64% (2004 est.).
Inflation rate (consumer price index): developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically (2004 est.).
Unemployment rate: 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many nonindustrialized countries; developed countries typically 4% - 12% unemployment.
Exports: $8.819 trillion (f.o.b., 2003 est.).
Imports: $8.754 trillion (f.o.b., 2003 est.).
External debt: $12.7 trillion (2004 est.)
Military expenditures: roughly 2% of GWP (1999 est.).