Definitions of Selected Terms

Geography   Economy   Population   Social Indicators

Geography

area
Total land and water area comprises agricultural land, forest and other wooded land, built-up land, wet open land, dry open land and inland waters and tidal waters.

largest city or urban agglomeration (population)
Comprises a city or town proper and the suburban fringe or thickly settled territory lying outside, but adjacent to, its boundaries. A single large urban agglomeration may comprise several cities or towns and their suburban fringes.

latitude-longitude
A place's angular distance on its meridian (0-90') north or south of the equator and angular distance east or west from a standard meridian, e.g. that of Greenwich, to the meridian of any place, reckoned up to 180' east or west.

language
A form of speech with a distinct political, cultural and social existence.

average temperature
Average annual temperatures ("normals") over a multi-decade period published by the World Meteorological Organization.

CO₂ emissions
Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a colourless, odourless and non-poisonous gas formed by combustion of carbon and in the respiration of living organisms and is considered a greenhouse gas. Emissions means the release of greenhouse gases and/or their precursors into the atmosphere over a specified area and period of time.

forest area
Land under natural or planted stands of trees, including land from which forest has been cleared but that will be reforested in the foreseeable future, and including areas occupied by roads, small cleared tracts and other small open areas within the forest.

urban population
Because of national differences in the characteristics that distinguish urban from rural areas, no definition has been established that would be applicable to all countries. Therefore, national definitions are mainly used in compiling these data. National definitions commonly classify towns and cities larger than, for example, 1,000 or 2,000 population as urban.

urban growth rate
The total increase in population in urban areas over a given year divided by the total urban population at the beginning of the year, expressed as a percentage.

precipitation
Average annual quantities over a multi-year period of rain, snow, etc. falling to the ground, as compiled by the World Meteorological Organization.

energy consumption
Release of primary and secondary energy from all sources of energy including transformation of primary sources. The total is based on inland deliveries of energy commodities and is expressed in terms of coal equivalent, which is a single average figure for the energy content of a specified quantity of coal.

threatened species (animals)
Species that have been assessed and found to meet one of the standard World Conservation Union status categories indicating threatened status: endangered, vulnerable, rare, indeterminate (known to be endangered, vulnerable or rare) and insufficiently known (suspected but not definitely known to belong to any of the above categories).

United Nations membership
The original Members of the United Nations are the States which, having participated in the United Nations Conference on International Organization at San Francisco, or having previously signed the Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942, signed the Charter and ratified it in accordance with Article 110. Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations. The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations is effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

Geography   Economy   Population   Social Indicators


Economy

currency
Those notes and coins in circulation that are commonly used to make payments.

gross domestic product (GDP) in US dollars
The total unduplicated value of economic goods and services originating within the boundaries of a country. It is equal to consumption plus gross capital formation plus exports, less imports and includes subsistence products produced by households for their own use, valued at current local prices for comparable commodities. National currency data are converted to United States dollars using the average market rates for currency exchange. When a market rate is not available, the official exchange rate is used. When an official rate is not available, the conversion rate is the average rate of exchange used by the United Nations for its operational activities. The conversion from national currency into US dollars may distort the comparability of US dollar income level figures for many countries, especially developing countries and countries in transition from centrally planned to market economies.

GDP per capita in US dollars
Gross domestic product in US dollars divided by the total population of a country. GDP per capita is a measure of the per capita production of goods and services in a country represented in economic terms and should not be considered as a measure of the standard of living of its inhabitants. This figure may also be distorted by the exchange rate used to convert the national currency information into US dollars (see GDP in US dollars, above).

major export industries
Exports are goods leaving the territory of a country. Major goods-producing industries, a specified proportion of whose production is exported, are calculated according to the United Nations International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Economic Activities (ISIC).

economically active population
All persons who furnish the supply of labour for the production of economic goods and services (employed and unemployed, including those seeking work for the first time), during a specified time reference period. The production of economic goods and services includes all production and processing of all primary products and other goods, whether for the market, for barter or for own consumption, the production of all other services for the market and, in the case of households that produce such services for the market, the corresponding production for own consumption. Production of economic goods and services includes own-account construction. Persons serving in the armed forces are also included.

Geography   Economy   Population   Social Indicators

Population

population
The total population of a country may comprise either all usual residents of the country (de jure population) or all persons present in the country (de facto population) at the time of the census. For purposes of international comparisons, the de facto definition is recommended.

population density
Number of population per unit of total area of a country.

female to male ratio
The ratio of females to males in the total population of a country, expressed as number of females per 100 males.

population growth rate
The ratio of total increase of population in one year to the mean population of that period.

total fertility rate
The average total number of children that would be born per woman in her lifetime, assuming no mortality in the childbearing ages, calculated from the age distribution and age-specific fertility rates of a specified country in a recent reference period.

Geography   Economy   Population   Social Indicators


Social indicators

life expectancy at birth
Average number of expected years of life from birth (age 0), given the mortality rates by age estimated for the current population.

illiteracy rate (adult)
An illiterate person cannot, with understanding, both read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life. A person who can only write figures, his or her name or a memorized ritual phrase is not considered literate.

educational expenditure of government
General government expenditures for educational affairs and services at pre-primary through tertiary levels, including subsidiary services to education. Expenditures include final consumption expenditures, gross capital formation, subsidies and loans. General government includes all central, state and local government units and non-profit institutions controlled and mainly financed by government units.

school enrolment
(primary-secondary gross enrolment ratio)
The total enrolment at primary and second levels, regardless of age, divided by the population of the total age group defined in each country for the first and second levels of education. Education at the first level provides the basic elements of education (e.g. at elementary school, primary school). Education at the second level is provided at middle school, secondary school, high school, teacher-training school at this level and schools of a vocational or technical nature. Enrolment is at the beginning of the school or academic year.

homicides
Deaths from homicides and injuries inflicted by another person with intent to injure or kill, by any means, excluding injuries due to legal intervention and operations of war.

motor vehicles
Motor cars and other motor vehicles in operation and principally designed for the transport of persons and goods.

daily newspaper circulation
Daily newspapers are periodic publications, issued at least four times a week, intended for the general public and mainly designed to be a primary source of written information on current events connected with public affairs, international questions, politics, etc. Circulation comprises average number of copies sold directly, by subscription and distributed free of charge in the country and abroad.

refugees
Any person who, owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it. May also include internally displaced persons in similar circumstances, designated as refugee populations of concern to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).


Geography   Economy   Population   Social Indicators

Source: Statistics and indicators are provided by the United Nations Statistics Division from the World Statistics Pocketbook and Statistical Yearbook, except capital cities and languages.

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