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The World, The Facts

The World
There are 195 countries in the world today.
Members of the United Nations (192 nations)

A Profile of the World
Source: The World Factbook, 2008
Geography

* 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: 251,060 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: 13.31%. Permanent crops: 4.71%. Other: 81.98% (2005 est.). Irrigated land: 2,770,980 sq km (1,721,886 sq mi).
People

* Population: 6,602,224,175 (July 2007 est.).
* Growth rate: 1.167% (2007 est.).
* Birth rate: 20.09 births/1,000 population (2007 est.).
* Death rate: 8.37 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.).
* Sex ratio (at birth): 1.07 males/females (2007 est.).
* Infant mortality rate: 43.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.).
* Life expectancy at birth: Total population: 65.82 years. Male: 63.89 years. Female: 67.84 years (2007 est.).
* Total fertility rate: 2.59 children born per woman (2007 est.).
* Literacy: Age 15 and over who can read and write (2005 est.). 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 (India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Egypt); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, South and West Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Arab states, where around one-third of the men and half of all women are illiterate (2005 est.)

United Nations
Preamble of the United Nations Charter

The Charter of the United Nations was adopted at the San Francisco Conference of 1945. The complete text is available on the UN website, www.un.org/aboutun/charter.

We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and

To reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and

To establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and

To promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, and for these ends

To practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors, and

To unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and

To insure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and

To employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples, have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.

Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.

Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Most Widely Spoken Languages
in the World
Language Approx. number
of speakers
1. Chinese (Mandarin) 1,075,000,000
2. English 514,000,000
3. Hindustani1 496,000,000
4. Spanish 425,000,000
5. Russian 275,000,000
6. Arabic 256,000,000
7. Bengali 215,000,000
8. Portuguese 194,000,000
9. Malay-Indonesian 176,000,000
10. French 129,000,000
Source: Ethnologue, 13th Edition, and other sources.
1. Encompasses multiple dialects, including Hindi and Urdu.

Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserve

The Names of the Months
See also Greek and Roman Mythology

* January: named after Janus, the god of doors and gates
* February: named after Februalia, a time period when sacrifices were made to atone for sins
* March: named after Mars, the god of war
* April: from aperire, Latin for "to open"(buds)
* May: named after Maia, the goddess of growth of plants
* June: from junius, Latin for the goddess Juno
* July: named after Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.
* August: named after Augustus Caesar in 8 B.C.
* September: from septem, Latin for seven
* October: from octo, Latin for eight
* November: from novem, Latin for nine
* December: from decem, Latin for ten

NOTE: The earliest Latin calendar was a 10-month one, beginning with March; thus, September was the seventh month, October, the eighth, etc. July was originally called Quintilis, meaning fifth; August was originally called Sextilis, meaning sixth.

Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

World's Ten Most Corrupt Leaders
1. Mohamed Suharto President of Indonesia (1967-1998)
2. Ferdinand Marcos President of the Philippines (1972-1986) 5–10 billion
3. Mobutu Sese Seko President of Zaire (1965-1997
4. Sani Abacha President of Nigeria (1993-1998)
5. Slobodan Milosevic President of Serbia/Yugoslavia
(1989-2000)
6. Jean-Claude Duvalier President of Haiti (1971-1986
7. Alberto Fujimori President of Peru (1990-2000)
8. Pavlo Lazarenko Prime Minister of Ukraine (1996-1997)
9. Arnoldo Alemán President of Nicaragua (1997-2002)
10. Joseph Estrada President of the Philippines (1998-2001)
1. Defined as former political leaders who have been accused of embezzling the most funds from their countries over the past two decades.

Top 10 Selling Albums, 2007
Rank Title, Artist
1. Noel, Josh Groban
2. High School Musical 2,Soundtrack
3. Long Road Out of Eden, Eagles
4. As I Am, Alicia Keys
5. Daughtry, Daughtry
6. Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, Soundtrack
7. Minutes to Midnight, Linkin Park
8. Dutchess, Fergie
9. Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift
10. Graduation, Kanye West