The world in focus.

• Position: Almanac

On the 10 pages in this almanac, you'll find facts on 193 independent countries. Compare, for example, the life expectancy of people in Mozambique (38 for males and 42 for females), with that of Norway (77 and 82); or India's per capita GDP ($2,900), with that of the U.S. ($37,800).

To better understand the almanac, read the explanations accompanying the sample entry for Brazil at right.

Countries are grouped by continent (except for the Middle East and Oceania), then listed alphabetically.

Area (top) & Popu|ation: Land mass in square miles and number of people. To calculate population density, divide population by area. For example, Brazil has 54.3 people per square mile.

Population Growth: The percentage increase in a country's population (the birth rate minus the death rate, without factoring in immigration) for the most recent year available.

Urban Population: The percentage of a country's population living in urban areas. Urbanization is on the rise in developing countries as people move to cities in search of work.

Major Languages: There are some 6,000 languages in the world, not counting local dialects. Portuguese ranks sixth among the world's languages with about 176 million speakers worldwide.

Form of Government & Head: Type of government and name of current leader. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose parents were illiterate farmworkers, became president of Brazil in January 2003.

Percent of Population Under 15: In Brazil, 30 percent of the population is under 15. Compare that with the U.S., where the figure is 21 percent, and Niger, in Africa, where it is 50 percent.

Literacy Rate: Percentage of people who can read and write. The first number is for males, the second for females.

Date of Origin: The year a nation was formed or gained independence.

Life Expectancy: The number of years a newborn infant can expect to live, based on the current average age of death. The first number is for males, the second for females.

Per Capita GDP: The value of all goods and services produced within a country in one year (gross domestic product), divided by its population. It's one way to gauge a nation's wealth. The numbers are adjusted to account for differences in the cost of living from country to country.

HDI (Human Development Index): A measure of economic and social well-being on a scale of 0 to 1 (1 is the highest). It combines life expectancy, literacy, and purchasing power.

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URBAN POP. % AREA (SQ MI) POP. RISE COUNTRY POPULATION %/YEAR CAPITAL North America Antigua & Barbuda 170 37 St. John's 100,000 1.7 Bahamas 5,359 89 Nassau 300,000 1.3 Barbados 166 50 Bridgetown 300,000 0.6 Belize 8,865 49 Belmopan 300,000 2.3 Canada 3,849,670 79 Ottawa 31,900,000 0.3 Costa RICA 19,730 59 San Jose 4,200,000 1.4 Cuba 42,803 75 Havana 11,300,000 0.5 Dominica 290 71 Roseau 100,000 1.0 Dominican Republic 18,815 64 Santo 8,800,000 1.9 Domingo El Salvador 8,124 58 San Salvador 6,700,000 2.0 Grenada 131 39 St. George's 100,000 1.2 Guatemala 42,042 39 Guatemala 12,700,000 2.8 City Haiti 10,714 36 Port-au-Prince 8,100,000 1.9 Honduras 43,278 47 Tegucigalpa 7,000,000 2.8 Jamaica 4,243 52 Kingston 2,600,000 1.4 Mexico 756,062 75 Mexico City 106,200,000 2.1 Nicaragua 50,193 58 Managua 5,600,000 2.7 Panama 29,158 62 Panama City 3,200,000 1.8 Saint Kitts 139 33 Basseterre & Nevis 50,000 1.0 Saint Lucia 239 30 Castries 200,000 1.1 Saint Vincent & the 151 44 Kingstown Grenadines 100,000 1.1 Trinidad & Tobago 1,981 74 Port-of-Spain 1,300,000 0.6 United States 3,717,796 79 Washington, 293,600,000 0.6 D.C. South America Argentina 1,073,514 89 Buenos Aires 37,900,000 1.1 Bolivia 424,162 63 La Paz 8,800,000 1.9 and Sucre Brazil 3,300,154 81 Brasilia 179,100,000 1.3 Chile 292,135 87 Santiago 16,000,000 1.2 Colombia 439,734 71 Bogota 45,300,000 1.7 Ecuador 109,483 61 Quito 13,400,000 2.1 Guyana 83,000 36 Georgetown 800,000 1.4 Paraguay 157,046 54 Asuncion 6,000,000 2.5 Peru 496,224 72 Lima 27,500,000 1.7 Suriname 63,039 69 Paramaribo 400,000 1.5 Uruguay 68,498 93 Montevideo 3,400,000 0.6 Venezuela 352,143 87 Caracas 26,200,000 1.9 Africa Algeria 919,591 49 Algiers 32,300,000 1.5 Angola 481,351 33 Luanda 13,300,000 2.6 Benin 43,483 40 Porto-Nova 7,300,000 2.7 Botswana 224,606 54 Gaborone 1,700,000 1.0 Burkina Faso 105,792 15 Ouagadougou 13,600,000 2.6 Burundi 10,745 8 Bujumbura 6,200,000 2.2 Cameroon 183,568 48 Yaounde 16,100,000 2.2 Cape Verde 1,556 53 Praia 500,000 2.3 Central African 240,533 39 Bangui Republic 3,700,000 1.7 Chad 495,753 24 N'Djamena 9,500,000 3.2 Comoros 861 33 Moroni 700,000 3.5 Congo 905,351 30 Kinshasa Democratic Rep. 58,300,000 3.1 Congo 132,046 52 Brazzaville Republic 3,800,000 2.9 Djibouti 8,958 82 Djibouti 700,000 2.3 Egypt ** 386,660 43 Cairo 71,400,000 2.0 Equatorial 10,830 45 Malabo Guinea 500,000 2.6 Eritrea 45,405 19 Asmara 4,400,000 2.6 Ethiopia 426,371 15 Addis Ababa 72,400,000 2.4 Gabon 103,347 73 Libreville 1,400,000 2.1 Gambia 4,363 26 Banjul 7,500,000 2.9 Ghana 92,100 44 Accra 21,400,000 2.2 Guinea 94,927 33 Conakry 9,200,000 2.7 Guinea-Bissau 13,946 32 Bissau 1,500,000 3.0 Ivory Coast 124,502 46 Yamoussoukro 16,900,000 2.0 Kenya 224,081 36 Nairobi 32,400,000 2.3 Lesotho 11,718 17 Maseru 1,800,000 1.1 Liberia 43,000 45 Monrovia 3,500,000 2.9 Libya 679,359 86 Tripoli 5,600,000 2.4 Madagascar 226,656 26 Antananarivo 17,500,000 3.0 Malawi 45,745 14 Lilongwe 11,900,000 3.1 Mali 478,838 30 Bamako 13,400,000 3.3 Mauritania 395,954 40 Nouakchott 3,000,000 2.7 Mauritius 788 42 Port Louis 1,200,000 1.0 Morocco 172,413 57 Rabat 30,600,000 1.5 Mozambique 309,494 29 Maputo 19,200,000 1.7 Namibia 318,259 33 Windhoek 1,900,000 1.6 Niger 489,189 21 Niamey 12,400,000 3.5 Nigeria 356,668 36 Abuja 137,300,000 2.9 Rwanda 10,170 17 Kigali 8,400,000 1.9 Sao Tome 371 38 Sao Tome & Principe 200,000 2.8 Senegal 75,954 43 Dakar 10,900,000 2.6 Seychelles 174 50 Victoria 100,000 1.0 Sierra Leone 27,699 37 Freetown 5,200,000 2.1 Somalia 246,201 33 Mogadishu 8,300,000 2.9 South Africa 471,444 53 Cape Town, 46,900,000 1.0 Pretoria, and Bloemfontein Sudan 967,494 31 Khartoum 39,100,000 2.8 Swaziland 6,703 25 Mbabane and 1,200,000 2.0 Lobamba Tanzania 364,900 22 Dar es 36,100,000 2.3 Salaam Togo 21,927 33 Lome 5,600,000 2.7 Tunisia 63,170 63 Tunis 10,000,000 1.1 Uganda 93,066 12 Kampala 26,100,000 3.0 Zambia 290,583 35 Lusaka 10,900,000 1.8 Zimbabwe 150,873 32 Harare 12,700,000 1.2 Europe Albania 11,100 42 Tirana 3,200,000 1.2 Andorra 174 92 Andorra 100,000 0.8 la Vella Austria 32,378 54 Vienna 8,100,000 0.0 Belarus 80,154 72 Minsk 9,800,000 -0.6 Belgium 11,787 97 Brussels 10,400,000 0.1 Bosnia & 19,741 43 Sarajevo Herzegovina 3,900,000 1.0 Bulgaria 42,822 70 Sofia 7,800,000 -0.6 Croatia 21,830 56 Zagreb 4,400,000 -0.2 Czech 30,448 77 Prague Republic 10,200,000 -0.2 Denmark 16,637 72 Copenhagen 5,400,000 0.1 Estonia 17,413 69 Tallinn 1,300,000 -0.4 Finland 130,560 62 Helsinki 5,200,000 0.2 France 212,934 74 Paris 60,000,000 0.4 Germany 137,830 88 Berlin 82,600,000 -0.2 Greece 50,950 60 Athens 11,000,000 0.0 Hungary 35,919 65 Budapest 10,100,000 -0.4 Iceland 39,768 94 Reykjavik 300,000 0.8 Ireland 27,135 60 Dublin 4,100,000 0.8 Italy 116,320 90 Rome 57,800,000 -0.1 Latvia 24,942 68 Riga 2,300,000 -0.5 Liechtenstein 62 21 Vaduz 30,000 0.5 Lithuania 25,174 67 Vilnius 3,400,000 -0.3 Luxembourg 999 91 Luxembourg 500,000 0.3 Macedonia 9,927 59 Skopje 2,000,000 0.5 Malta 124 91 Valletta 400,000 0.2 Moldova 13,012 45 Chisinau 4,200,000 -0.1 Monaco 1 100 Monaco 30,000 0.6 Netherlands 15,768 62 Amsterdam 16,300,000 0.4 Norway 125,050 78 Oslo 4,600,000 0.3 Poland 124,807 62 Warsaw 38,200,000 0.0 Portugal 35,514 53 Lisbon 10,500,000 0.0 Romania 92,042 53 Bucharest 21,700,000 -0.3 Russia 6,592,819 73 Moscow 144,100,000 -0.6 San Marino 23 84 San Marino 30,000 0.3 Serbia & 39,448 52 Belgrade Montenegro 10,700,000 0.2 Slovakia 18,923 56 Bratislava 5,400,000 0.0 Slovenia 7,819 51 Ljubljana 2,000,000 -0.1 Spain 195,363 76 Madrid 42,500,000 0.1 Sweden 173,730 84 Stockholm 9,000,000 0.1 Switzerland 15,942 68 Bern 7,400,000 0.1 Ukraine 233,089 68 Kiev 47,400,000 -0.8 United Kingdom 94,548 89 London (England, Scotland, 59,700,000 0.1 Wales, N. Ireland) Vatican City 109 acres NA Vatican City 911 1.1 Middle East *** Bahrain 266 87 Manama 700,000 1.7 Cyprus 3,571 65 Nicosia 900,000 0.5 Egypt 386,660 43 Cairo 72,100,000 2.1 Iran 630,575 67 Tehran 67,400,000 1.2 Iraq 169,236 68 Baghdad 25,900,000 2.7 Israel (4) 8,131 92 Jerusalem 6,800,000 1.6 Jordan 34,444 79 Amman 5,600,000 2.4 Kuwait 6,880 100 Kuwait City 2,500,000 1.7 Lebanon 4,015 87 Beirut 4,500,000 1.7 Oman 82,031 76 Muscat 2,700,000 2.2 Qatar 4,247 92 Doha 700,000 1.6 Saudi Arabia 829,996 86 Riyadh 25,100,000 3.0 Syria 71,498 50 Damascus 18,000,000 2.4 Turkey 299,158 59 Ankara 71,300,000 1.4 United Arab 32,278 78 Emirates 4,200,000 1.4 Abu Dhabi Yemen 203,849 26 Sanaa 20,000,000 3.3 Asia Afghanistan 251,772 22 Kabul 28,500,000 2.7 Armenia 11,506 64 Yerevan 3,200,000 0.2 Azerbaijan 33,436 51 Baku 8,300,000 0.8 Bangladesh 55,598 23 Dhaka 141,300,000 2.1 Bhutan 18,147 21 Thimphu 1,000,000 2.5 Brunei 2,228 74 Bandar Seri 400,000 1.9 Begawan Cambodia 69,900 16 Phnom Penh 13,100,000 2.2 China 3,696,100 41 Beijing 1,300,100,000 0.6 East Timor 5,741 8 Dili 800,000 1.3 Georgia 26,911 52 Tbilisi 4,500,000 0.0 India 1,269,340 28 New Delhi...