Geography Stats: compare key data on Ghana & Hong Kong
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Definitions
- Area > Comparative: The area of various small countries expressed in comparison to various areas within the United States of America.
- Area > Comparative to US places: This entry provides an area comparison based on total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states based on area measurements (1990 revised) provided by the US Bureau of the Census. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 sq km, 69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi, 146 acres).
- Area > Land: Total land area in square kilometres
- Area > Land > Per capita: Total land area in square kilometres Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
- 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.
- 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.
- Land area > Square miles: Country land area.
- Location: The country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.
- Natural resources: A country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.
- Population density > People per sq. km: Population density is midyear population divided by land area in square kilometers. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.
- Surface area > Sq. km: Surface area is a country's total area, including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways.
- Terrain: A brief description of the topography
- Elevation extremes > Highest point: Highest point above sea level
- 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
- Land boundaries > Border countries: Length of land boundaries by border country
- Irrigated land: The number of square kilometers of land area that is artificially supplied with water.
- Natural hazards: Potential natural disasters.
- Maritime claims > Territorial sea: territorial sea - the sovereignty of a coastal State extends beyond its land territory and internal waters to an adjacent belt of sea, described as the territorial sea in the LOS Convention (Part II); this sovereignty extends to the air space over the territorial sea as well as its underlying seabed and subsoil; every State has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles. A full and definitive definition can be found in the Law of the Sea (LOS) Convention.
- Area > Land per 1000: Total land area in square kilometres. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
- Elevation extremes > Lowest point: This entry is derived from Geography > Elevation extremes, which includes both the highest point and the lowest point.
- Coastline per 1000: The total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
- Population density: People per square kilometre, in 1999. At this time the world average was 14.42.
- 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.
- Surface area > Sq. km per 1000: Surface area is a country's total area, including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
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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.
- Area > Total per 1000: Total area in square kilometers. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
- Area > Water per 1000: Total water area in square kilometers. Figures expressed per thousand population for the same year.
- 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.
- Surface area > Sq. km > Per capita: Surface area is a country's total area, including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways. Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
- Land boundaries > Total: The total length of all land boundaries and the individual lengths for each of the contiguous border countries
- Irrigated land > Per capita: The number of square kilometers of land area that is artificially supplied with water. Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
- Note: This entry includes miscellaneous geographic information of significance not included elsewhere.
- Irrigated land per million: The number of square kilometers of land area that is artificially supplied with water. Figures expressed per million population for the same year.
- Marine Coastline: Length of each country's coastline in kilometers.
- Area > Water > Per capita: Total water area in square kilometers Per capita figures expressed per 1 million population.
- Area > Total > Per capita: Total area in square kilometers Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
- Land boundaries > Total per million: The total length of all land boundaries and the individual lengths for each of the contiguous border countries. Figures expressed per million population for the same year.
- 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.
- 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.
- Land boundaries > Total > Per capita: The total length of all land boundaries and the individual lengths for each of the contiguous border countries Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
- 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; All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008; British Broadcasting Corporation 2014; World Development Indicators database; CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011. Population figures from World Bank: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; CIA World Factbooks 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013; Heal The World Foundation.; World Development Indicators database. Population figures from World Bank: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; International Road Federation, World Road Statistics and electronic files, except where noted.; CIA Factbook: List of countries by coastline size; Center for International Earth Science Information Network; United Nations Environmental Program and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre
