Geography Stats: compare key data on Albania & Serbia
Definitions
- Area > Comparative: The area of various small countries expressed in comparison to various areas within the United States of America.
- Area > Total: Total area in square kilometers
- Area > Water: Total water area in square kilometers
- Climate: A brief description of typical weather regimes throughout the year.
- Coastline: The total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea.
- Elevation extremes > Highest point: Highest point above sea level
- Elevation extremes > Lowest point: This entry is derived from Geography > Elevation extremes, which includes both the highest point and the lowest point.
- Geographic coordinates: This entry includes rounded latitude and longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate geographic center of an entity and is based on the Gazetteer of Conventional Names, Third Edition, August 1988, US Board on Geographic Names and on other sources.
- Irrigated land: The number of square kilometers of land area that is artificially supplied with water.
- Land boundaries > Border countries: Length of land boundaries by border country
- Land use > Arable land: The percentage of used land that is arable. Arable land is land cultivated for crops that are replanted after each harvest like wheat, maize, and rice
- Location: The country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.
- Map references: The name of the CIA World Factbook reference map on which a country may be found. The entry on Geographic coordinates may be helpful in finding some smaller countries.
- Natural resources: A country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.
- Terrain: A brief description of the topography
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Environment > Current issues:
This entry lists the most pressing and important environmental problems. The following terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entry:
Acidification - the lowering of soil and water pH due to acid precipitation and deposition usually through precipitation; this process disrupts ecosystem nutrient flows and may kill freshwater fish and plants dependent on more neutral or alkaline conditions (see acid rain).
Acid rain - characterized as containing harmful levels of sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxide; acid rain is damaging and potentially deadly to the earth's fragile ecosystems; acidity is measured using the pH scale where 7 is neutral, values greater than 7 are considered alkaline, and values below 5.6 are considered acid precipitation; note - a pH of 2.4 (the acidity of vinegar) has been measured in rainfall in New England.
Aerosol - a collection of airborne particles dispersed in a gas, smoke, or fog.
Afforestation - converting a bare or agricultural space by planting trees and plants; reforestation involves replanting trees on areas that have been cut or destroyed by fire.
Asbestos - a naturally occurring soft fibrous mineral commonly used in fireproofing materials and considered to be highly carcinogenic in particulate form.
Biodiversity - also biological diversity; the relative number of species, diverse in form and function, at the genetic, organism, community, and ecosystem level; loss of biodiversity reduces an ecosystem's ability to recover from natural or man-induced disruption.
Bio-indicators - a plant or animal species whose presence, abundance, and health reveal the general condition of its habitat.
Biomass - the total weight or volume of living matter in a given area or volume.
Carbon cycle - the term used to describe the exchange of carbon (in various forms, e.g., as carbon dioxide) between the atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial biosphere, and geological deposits.
Catchments - assemblages used to capture and retain rainwater and runoff; an important water management technique in areas with limited freshwater resources, such as Gibraltar.
DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane) - a colorless, odorless insecticide that has toxic effects on most animals; the use of DDT was banned in the US in 1972.
Defoliants - chemicals which cause plants to lose their leaves artificially; often used in agricultural practices for weed control, and may have detrimental impacts on human and ecosystem health.
Deforestation - ...
Full definition - Land use > Other: The percentage share of used land that is not arable or under permanent crops. This includes permanent meadows and pastures, forests and woodlands, built-on areas, roads, barren land, etc.
- Land use > Permanent crops: The percentage share of used land on which permanent crops are grown. This is land cultivated for crops that are not replanted after each harvest like citrus, coffee, and rubber. It includes land under flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees, and vines, but excludes land under trees grown for wood or timber.
- Road density > Km of road per 100 sq. km of land area: Road density (km of road per 100 sq. km of land area). Road density is the ratio of the length of the country's total road network to the country's land area. The road network includes all roads in the country: motorways, highways, main or national roads, secondary or regional roads, and other urban and rural roads.
- Environment > International agreements > Party to: This entry is derived from Geography > Environment > International agreements, which separates country participation in international environmental agreements into two levels - party to and signed, but not ratified. Agreements are listed in alphabetical order by the abbreviated form of the full name.
- Land boundaries > Total: The total length of all land boundaries and the individual lengths for each of the contiguous border countries
- Highest point: Name of country’s highest point.
- Note: This entry includes miscellaneous geographic information of significance not included elsewhere.
- Capital: Country capital.
- Border to area ratio: The ratio of a country's land border to its surface area.
- Marine Coastline: Length of each country's coastline in kilometers.
- Highest point elevation: Name of country’s highest point.
- Environment > International agreements > Signed, but not ratified: This entry is derived from Geography > Environment > International agreements, which separates country participation in international environmental agreements into two levels - party to and signed, but not ratified. Agreements are listed in alphabetical order by the abbreviated form of the full name.
- Highest town: Name of country’s highest permanent settlement, which is occupied year-round.
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Northernmost point:
Northernmost point.
No date was available from the Wikipedia article, so we used the date of retrieval.
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Northernmost point latitude:
Latitude.
No date was available from the Wikipedia article, so we used the date of retrieval.
- Terrestrial protected areas > % of total land area: Terrestrial protected areas (% of total land area). Terrestrial protected areas are totally or partially protected areas of at least 1,000 hectares that are designated by national authorities as scientific reserves with limited public access, national parks, natural monuments, nature reserves or wildlife sanctuaries, protected landscapes, and areas managed mainly for sustainable use. Marine areas, unclassified areas, littoral (intertidal) areas, and sites protected under local or provincial law are excluded.
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Continent or sub continent:
Within Continent / Subcontinent.
No date was available from the Wikipedia article, so we used the date of retrieval.
- Population living in areas where elevation is below 5 meters > % of total population: Population living in areas where elevation is below 5 meters (% of total population). Population below 5m is the percentage of the total population living in areas where the elevation is 5 meters or less.
- Low-lying areas > Elevation under 5 metres > % of land area: Land area where elevation is below 5 meters (% of total land area). Land area below 5m is the percentage of total land where the elevation is 5 meters or less.
- Arable land > % of land area: Arable land (% of land area). Arable land includes land defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow. Land abandoned as a result of shifting cultivation is excluded.
- Terrestrial and marine protected areas > % of total territorial area: Terrestrial and marine protected areas (% of total territorial area). Terrestrial protected areas are totally or partially protected areas of at least 1,000 hectares that are designated by national authorities as scientific reserves with limited public access, national parks, natural monuments, nature reserves or wildlife sanctuaries, protected landscapes, and areas managed mainly for sustainable use. Marine protected areas are areas of intertidal or subtidal terrain--and overlying water and associated flora and fauna and historical and cultural features--that have been reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment. Sites protected under local or provincial law are excluded.
SOURCES: CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011; CIA World Factbooks 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013; All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008; International Road Federation, World Road Statistics and electronic files, except where noted.; Wikipedia: List of countries by highest point (Sovereign, fully recognized countries); British Broadcasting Corporation 2014; Wikipedia: List of countries and territories by border/area ratio (Border/area ratio); CIA Factbook: List of countries by coastline size; Wikipedia: List of highest towns by country (Sovereign, fully recognized countries); Wikipedia: List of countries by northernmost point; United Nations Environmental Program and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre; Wikipedia: List of political and geographic borders (Countries); Center for International Earth Science Information Network; Food and Agriculture Organization
