WORLD

Background:

Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. 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 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. 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).

Geography ::WORLD
Geographic overview:

The surface of the earth is approximately 70.9% water and 29.1% land. The former portion is divided into large water bodies termed oceans. The World Factbook recognizes and describes five oceans, which are in decreasing order of size: the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean.
The land portion is generally divided into several, large, discrete landmasses termed continents. Depending on the convention used, the number of continents can vary from five to seven. The most common classification recognizes seven, which are (from largest to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. Asia and Europe are sometimes lumped together into a Eurasian continent resulting in six continents. Alternatively, North and South America are sometimes grouped as simply the Americas, resulting in a continent total of six (or five, if the Eurasia designation is used).
North America is commonly understood to include the island of Greenland, the isles of the Caribbean, and to extend south all the way to the Isthmus of Panama. The easternmost extent of Europe is generally defined as being the Ural Mountains and the Ural River; on the southeast the Caspian Sea; and on the south the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean. Portions of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey fall within both Europe and Asia, but in every instance the larger section is in Asia. These countries are considered part of both continents. Armenia and Cyprus, which lie completely in Western Asia, are geopolitically European countries.
Asia usually incorporates all the islands of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The islands of the Pacific are often lumped with Australia into a "land mass" termed Oceania or Australasia. Africa's northeast extremity is frequently delimited at the Isthmus of Suez, but for geopolitical purposes, the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula is often included as part of Africa.
Although the above groupings are the most common, different continental dispositions are recognized or taught in certain parts of the world, with some arrangements more heavily based on cultural spheres rather than physical geographic considerations.
Map references:

Political Map of the World , Physical Map of the World , Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:

total: 510.072 million sq km
country comparison for the world
land: 148.94 million sq km
water: 361.132 million sq km
note: 70.9% of the world's surface is water, 29.1% is land
Area - comparative:

land area about 16 times the size of the US
top fifteen World Factbook entities ranked by size: 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; Brazil 8,514,877 sq km; Australia 7,741,220 sq km; European Union 4,324,782 sq km; India 3,287,263 sq km; Argentina 2,780,400 sq km
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
Land boundaries:

the land boundaries in the world total 251,060 km (not counting shared boundaries twice); two nations, China and Russia, each border 14 other countries
note: 45 nations and other areas are landlocked, these 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, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked
Coastline:

356,000 km
note: 94 nations and other entities are islands that border no other countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Baker Island, Barbados, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland Island, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Taiwan
Maritime claims:

a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: territorial sea - 12 nm, contiguous zone - 24 nm, and exclusive economic zone - 200 nm; additional zones provide for exploitation of continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm
Climate:

Current Weather
a wide equatorial band of hot and humid tropical climates - bordered north and south by subtropical temperate zones - that separate two large areas of cold and dry polar climates
Terrain:

the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean
Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,555 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
top ten highest mountains (measured from sea level): Mount Everest (Nepal-China) 8,850 m; K2 (Pakistan) 8,611 m; Kanchenjunga (Nepal-India) 8,598 m; Lhotse (Nepal) 8,516 m; Makalu (Nepal-China) 8,463 m; Cho Oyu (Nepal-China) 8,201 m; Dhaulagiri (Nepal) 8,167 m; Manaslu (Nepal) 8,163 m; Nanga Parbat (Pakistan) 8,125 m; Anapurna (Nepal) 8,091 m
Natural resources:

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 some countries of Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address
Land use:

arable land: 10.57%
permanent crops: 1.04%
other: 88.39% (2005)
Irrigated land:

2,770,980 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards:

large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones); natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, 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; global warming becoming a greater concern
Geography - note:

the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13.7-billion-year age estimated for the universe

People ::WORLD
Population:

6,768,181,146 (July 2010 est.)
country comparison for the world
Age structure:

0-14 years: 27% (male 944,987,919/female 884,268,378)
15-64 years: 65.3% (male 2,234,860,865/female 2,187,838,153)
65 years and over: 7.6% (male 227,164,176/female 289,048,221) (2010 est.)
Median age:

total: 28.4 years
male: 27.7 years
female: 29 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate:

1.133% (2009 est.)
country comparison for the world
Birth rate:

19.86 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison for the world
Death rate:

8.37 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison for the world
Urbanization:

urban population: 50.5% of total population (2010)
rate of urbanization: 1.85% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
ten largest urban agglomerations: Tokyo (Japan) - 36,669,000; Delhi (India) - 22,157,000; Sao Paulo (Brazil) - 20,262,000; Mumbai (India) - 20,041,000; Mexico City (Mexico) - 19,460,000; New York-Newark (US) - 19,425,000; Shanghai (China) - 16,575,000; Kolkata (India) - 15,552,000; Dhaka (Bangladesh) - 14,648,000; Karachi (Pakistan) - 13,125,000 (2009)
Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate:

total: 44.13 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison for the world
male: 46.19 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 41.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 66.12 years
country comparison for the world
male: 64.29 years
female: 68.07 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate:

2.56 children born/woman (2009 est.)
country comparison for the world
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.8% (2007 est.)
country comparison for the world
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

33 million (2007 est.)
country comparison for the world
HIV/AIDS - deaths:

2 million (2007 est.)
country comparison for the world
Religions:

Christians 33.32% (of which Roman Catholics 16.99%, Protestants 5.78%, Orthodox 3.53%, Anglicans 1.25%), Muslims 21.01%, Hindus 13.26%, Buddhists 5.84%, Sikhs 0.35%, Jews 0.23%, Baha'is 0.12%, other religions 11.78%, non-religious 11.77%, atheists 2.32% (2007 est.)
Languages:

Mandarin Chinese 12.65%, Spanish 4.93%, English 4.91%, Arabic 3.31%, Hindi 2.73%, Bengali 2.71%, Portuguese 2.67%, Russian 2.16%, Japanese 1.83%, Standard German 1.35%, Javanese 1.27% (2008 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 82%
male: 87%
female: 77%
note: over two-thirds of the world's 785 million illiterate adults are found in only eight countries (Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, the Arab states, South and West Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, where around one-third of the men and half of all women are illiterate (2005 est.)

Government ::WORLD
Administrative divisions:

265 countries, dependent areas, and other entities
Legal system:

all members of the UN are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court

Economy ::WORLD
Economy - overview:

2009 marked the first year in the post-World War II era that global output - and per capita income - declined; output contracted nearly 1% year-over-year, compared with average increases of about 3.5% per year since 1946. And global trade plummeted nearly 25% from 2008's level, the largest single year drop since World War II. Among major countries, the biggest GDP losses occurred in Russia (-7.9%), Mexico (-6.5%), Japan (-5.3%), Italy (-5.1%), Germany (-4.9%), and United Kingdom (-4.9%), while China (+9.1%), India (+7.4%), and Indonesia (+4.5%) recorded the biggest gains. In 2009, global per capita income fell about 2% to US$10,400, as global unemployment rose from just over 7% in 2008 to nearly 9% in 2009 - underemployment, especially in the developing world, remained much higher. Global gross fixed investment fell about 4% year-over-year, or by roughly $800 billion. World trade and financial imbalances unwound: from 2008 to 2009 current account surpluses or deficits fell for 4 out of every 5 countries as lower commodity prices, tighter credit, and, to some degree, greater protectionism reduced demand for traded goods. World external debt dropped more than 6% from the previous year, as new international lending disappeared. The global recession was a result of widespread uncertainties in the financial markets, bank failures, tighter credit, falling home prices, collapsing asset prices, lowered consumer confidence, and the drop in trade. In response to these conditions, many, if not most, countries pursued expansionary monetary and fiscal policies, and attempted to avoid protectionist policies. By the second half of 2009, the global economy appeared to be making halting, but forward steps.
The world economy now faces a major new challenge, together with several long-standing ones. The fiscal stimulus packages put in place in 2009 required most countries to run budget deficits - government balances deteriorated for 14 out of every 15 countries. Treasuries issued new public debt - globally, worth about $4 trillion - to pay for the additional expenditures. To keep interest rates low, many central banks monetized that debt, injecting large sums of money into the economies. In the first half of 2010, excess capacity existed in product markets, and inflation was not an immediate threat. However, when economic activity picks up, central banks will face the difficult task of containing inflation without raising interest rates so high they snuff out further growth.
Long-standing challenges the world faces are several. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of underemployment, pollution, waste-disposal, epidemics, water-shortages, famine, over-fishing of oceans, deforestation, desertification, and depletion of non-renewable resources. The nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Iraq, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decisionmaking powers to international bodies, most notably the EU. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because the participating nations are culturally and politically diverse and have varying levels and rates of growth of income, and hence, differing needs for monetary policy. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. 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. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuated a growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan added new uncertainties to global economic prospects.
Despite these challenges, the world economy also shows great promise. Technology has made possible further advances in all fields, from agriculture, to medicine, alternative energy, metallurgy, and transportation. Improved global communications have greatly reduced the costs of international trade, helping the world gain from the international division of labor, raise living standards, and reduce income disparities among nations. Much of the resilience of the world economy in 2009 resulted from government leaders around the world working in concert to stem the financial onslaught, knowing well the lessons of past economic failures.
GDP (purchasing power parity):

$69.98 trillion (2009 est.)
country comparison for the world
$70.49 trillion (2008 est.)
$68.59 trillion (2007 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):

GWP (gross world product): $58.15 trillion (2009 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:

-0.7% (2009 est.)
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2.8% (2008 est.)
5% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):

$10,400 (2009 est.)
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$10,600 (2008 est.)
$10,400 (2007 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 6%
industry: 30.6%
services: 63.4% (2009 est.)
Labor force:

3.179 billion (2009 est.)
country comparison for the world
Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 37.5%
industry: 22.1%
services: 40.4% (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate:

8.7% (2009 est.)
country comparison for the world
7.2% (2008 est.)
note: 30% (2007 est.) combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment
Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2.5%
highest 10%: 29.5% (2003 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):

22.7% of GDP (2009 est.)
country comparison for the world
23.6% of GDP (2008 est.)
Public debt:

56% of GDP (2009 est.)
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48.9% of GDP (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):

developed countries 0% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 20% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases; inflation rates have declined for most countries for the last several years, held in check by increasing international competition from several low wage countries and lower oil prices
country comparison for the world
Stock of money:

$12.35 trillion (31 December 2007)
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Stock of quasi money:

$27.31 trillion (31 December 2007)
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Stock of domestic credit:

$69.9 trillion (31 December 2007)
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Market value of publicly traded shares:

$NA (31 December 2009 est.)
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$34.95 trillion (31 December 2008)
$64.56 trillion (31 December 2007 est.)
Industries:

dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems
Industrial production growth rate:

-2.7% (2009 est.)
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Electricity - production:

19.25 trillion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - consumption:

17.93 trillion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - exports:

615.4 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity - imports:

613.9 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Oil - production:

84.24 million bbl/day (2009 est.)
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Oil - consumption:

83.62 million bbl/day (2009 est.)
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Oil - exports:

61.96 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - imports:

66.5 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - proved reserves:

1.342 trillion bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
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Natural gas - production:

3.127 trillion cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - consumption:

3.073 trillion cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - exports:

949.9 billion cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - imports:

947.2 billion cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - proved reserves:

182.1 trillion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
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Exports:

$12.4 trillion (2009 est.)
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$15.96 trillion (2008 est.)
Exports - commodities:

the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
top ten - share of world trade: electrical machinery, including computers 14.8%; mineral fuels, including oil, coal, gas, and refined products 14.4%; nuclear reactors, boilers, and parts 14.2%; cars, trucks, and buses 8.9%; scientific and precision instruments 3.5%; plastics 3.4%; iron and steel 2.7%; organic chemicals 2.6%; pharmaceutical products 2.6%; diamonds, pearls, and precious stones 1.9%
Imports:

$12.29 trillion (2009 est.)
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$15.9 trillion (2008 est.)
Imports - commodities:

the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
top ten - share of world trade: see listing for exports
Debt - external:

$56.9 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)
country comparison for the world
$60.83 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)
note: this figure is the sum total of all countries' external debt, both public and private
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$16.42 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)
country comparison for the world
$15.32 trillion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$17.03 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)
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$16.03 trillion (31 December 2007 est.)

Communications ::WORLD
Telephones - main lines in use:

1.268 billion (2008)
country comparison for the world
Telephones - mobile cellular:

4.017 billion (2008)
country comparison for the world
Telephone system:

general assessment: NA
domestic: NA
international: NA
Internet users:

1.604 billion (2008)
country comparison for the world

Transportation ::WORLD
Airports:

total airports - 44,010 (2010)
country comparison for the world
top ten by passengers: Atlanta (ATL) - 88,032,086; London (LHR) - 66,037,578; Beijing (PEK) - 65,372,012; Chicago (ORD) - 64,158,343; Tokyo (HND) - 61,903,656; Paris (CDG) - 57,906,866; Los Angeles (LAX) - 56,520,843; Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) - 56,030,457; Frankfurt (FRA) - 50,932,840; Denver (DEN) - 50,167,485 (2009)
top ten by cargo (metric tons): Memphis (MEM) - 3,697,054; Hong Kong (HKG) - 3,385,313; Shanghai (PVG) - 2,543,394; Inch'on (ICN) - 2,313,001; Paris (CDG) - 2,054,515; Anchorage (ANC) - 1,994,629; Louisville (SDF) - 1,949,528; Dubai (DXB) - 1,927,520; Frankfurt (FRA) - 1,887,686; Tokyo (NRT) - 1,851,972 (2009)
Heliports:

3,825 (2010)
Railways:

total: 1,134,429 km (2008)
country comparison for the world
Roadways:

total: 68,937,575 km (2008)
country comparison for the world
Waterways:

671,886 km (2004)
country comparison for the world
top ten longest rivers: Nile (Africa) 6,693 km; Amazon (South America) 6,436 km; Mississippi-Missouri (North America) 6,238 km; Yenisey-Angara (Asia) 5,981 km; Ob-Irtysh (Asia) 5,569 km; Yangtze (Asia) 5,525 km; Yellow (Asia) 4,671 km; Amur (Asia) 4,352 km; Lena (Asia) 4,345 km; Congo (Africa) 4,344 km
note: if measured by volume, the Amazon is the largest river in the world
Ports and terminals:

top ten container ports as measured by Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) throughput: Singapore - 25,866,400; Shanghai - 25,002,000; Hong Kong - 20,983,000; Shenzhen (China) - 18,250,100; Pusan (South Korea) - 11,954,861; Guangzhou (China) - 11,190,000; Dubai (UAE) - 11,124,082; Ningbo (China) - 10,502,800; Qingdao (China) - 10,260,000; - Rotterdam - 9,743,290 (2009)
Transportation - note:

as of September 2009, incidents of piracy around the world have more than doubled over the comparable time period in 2008; half of all attacks occur in the waters off Somalia, primarily in the Gulf of Aden; other high risk areas include the waters off Nigeria, the South China Sea, and waters off Malaysia

Military ::WORLD
Military expenditures:

roughly 2% of GDP of gross world product (2005 est.)
country comparison for the world

Transnational Issues ::WORLD
Disputes - international:

stretching over 250,000 km, the world's 322 international land boundaries separate 194 independent states and 71 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities; ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries; most maritime states have claimed limits that include territorial seas and exclusive economic zones; overlapping limits due to adjacent or opposite coasts create the potential for 430 bilateral maritime boundaries of which 209 have agreements that include contiguous and non-contiguous segments; boundary, borderland/resource, and territorial disputes vary in intensity from managed or dormant to violent or militarized; undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries tend to encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and confrontation; territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural claims, or they may be brought on by resource competition; ethnic and cultural clashes continue to be responsible for much of the territorial fragmentation and internal displacement of the estimated 6.6 million people and cross-border displacements of 8.6 million refugees around the world as of early 2006; just over one million refugees were repatriated in the same period; other sources of contention include access to water and mineral (especially hydrocarbon) resources, fisheries, and arable land; armed conflict prevails not so much between the uniformed armed forces of independent states as between stateless armed entities that detract from the sustenance and welfare of local populations, leaving the community of nations to cope with resultant refugees, hunger, disease, impoverishment, and environmental degradation
Refugees and internally displaced persons:

the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that in December 2006 there was a global population of 8.8 million registered refugees and as many as 24.5 million IDPs in more than 50 countries; the actual global population of refugees is probably closer to 10 million given the estimated 1.5 million Iraqi refugees displaced throughout the Middle East (2007)
Trafficking in persons:

current situation: approximately 800,000 people, mostly women and children, are trafficked annually across national borders, not including millions trafficked within their own countries; at least 80% of the victims are female and up to 50% are minors; 75% of all victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation; almost two-thirds of the global victims are trafficked intra-regionally within East Asia and the Pacific (260,000 to 280,000 people) and Europe and Eurasia (170,000 to 210,000 people)
Tier 2 Watch List: Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, China, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Federated States of Micronesia, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, India, Iraq, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Mali, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Yemen
Tier 3: Burma, Chad, Cuba, Eritrea, Fiji, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritania, Niger, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Zimbabwe (2009)
Illicit drugs:

cocaine: worldwide coca leaf cultivation in 2007 amounted to 232,500 hectares; Colombia produced slightly more than two-thirds of the worldwide crop, followed by Peru and Bolivia; potential pure cocaine production decreased 7% to 865 metric tons in 2007; Colombia conducts an aggressive coca eradication campaign, but both Peruvian and Bolivian Governments are hesitant to eradicate coca in key growing areas; 551 metric tons of export-quality cocaine (85% pure) is documented to have been seized or destroyed in 2005; US consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been in excess of 380 metric tons
opiates: worldwide illicit opium poppy cultivation continued to increase in 2007, with a potential opium production of 8,400 metric tons, reaching the highest levels recorded since estimates began in mid-1980s; Afghanistan is world's primary opium producer, accounting for 95% of the global supply; Southeast Asia - responsible for 9% of global opium - saw marginal increases in production; Latin America produced 1% of global opium, but most was refined into heroin destined for the US market; if all potential opium was processed into pure heroin, the potential global production would be 1,000 metric tons of heroin in 2007