The World in plate carrée projection

The World

The World is a name for the planet Earth seen from a human point of view, as a place inhabited by human beings. It is often used to mean the sum of human experience and history, or the 'human condition' in general.^[1] There are approximately 6.6 billion people living on the Earth.^[2]

Especially in a metaphysical context, it can also refer to everything that makes up reality, the universe: see World (philosophy).

Origin and history of the name

In English, world is rooted in a compound of the obsolete words were, man, and eld, age; thus, its oldest meaning is "age or life of man".^[3]

Humanity

According to the World Fact Book (2007):

The TFR (total fertility rate, or the expected number of children born per woman in her child-bearing years) was 2.80 in year 2000 and 2.59 in 2007. The infant mortality rate is 56.11 deaths per 1000 births. The world population growth rate is 1.45 % per year in average.

The World unemployment rate is 38 %.

In July 2007 the world population is estimated to be 6,641,216,000 inhabitants. The population density is 48 inhabitants per square kilometer.

The HDI (Human Development Index) for the World is 0.743.

The Gross World Product (GWP) is 48,144,966 million US Dollars according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and 44,784,871 according the World Bank, in average 46,264,669 million US Dollars or 6975 US Dollar per inhabitant.

The economic growth, the average World Domestic Product growth rate, is 5.1 % per year.

The average life expectancy is 65.82 years, 63.89 years for men and 67.84 years for women. According to the World Health Organisation, the 10 leading causes of death in 2002 were:

12.6% Ischaemic heart disease

9.7% Cerebrovascular disease

6.8% Lower respiratory infections

4.9% HIV/AIDS

4.8% Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

3.2% Diarrhoeal diseases

2.7% Tuberculosis

2.2% Malaria

2.2% Trachea/bronchus/lung cancers

2.1% Road traffic accidents

Usage

'World' distinguishes the entire planet or population from any particular country or region: world affairs are those which pertain not just to one place but to the whole world, and world history is a field of history which examines events from a global (rather than a national or a regional) perspective. Earth, on the other hand, refers to the planet as a physical entity, and distinguishes it from other planets and physical objects.

In Christian theology, the 'World' connotes the corrupt, mortal order of society outside the community of believers (which is worldly as opposed to heavenly). It is often cited alongside the flesh and the Devil as a source of temptation that Christians should flee. The adjective worldly refers to world in this sense: 'mortal', 'mundane', 'devoted to the interests of this world'. See World (theology).

'World' can also be used attributively, as an adjective, to mean 'global', 'relating to the whole world', forming usages such as World community. See World (adjective).

By extension, a 'world' may refer to any planet or heavenly body, especially when it is thought of as inhabited.

In the study of religion and mythology, the Underworld is a place, often thought of as below the world, where souls go upon death. In some mythologies there were numerous underworlds, the choice of which depended on the soul's virtue or worth: the Elysian Fields are an example from Roman religion.

'World', when qualified, can also refer to a particular domain of human experience.

• The world of work describes paid work and the pursuit of a career, in all its social aspects, to distinguish it from home life and academic study.
• The fashion world describes the environment of the designers, fashion houses and consumers that make up the fashion industry.
• The New World is a part of the world discovered or colonized later than other parts; it usually refers to the American continents or to Australia. The Old World refers, by contrast, to the continents of Europe, Asia and north Africa.

Physical characteristics

Earth dimensions

Continents and population

See also

• Earth
• Planet
• World map
• Globe
• Universe

External links

• National Geographic maps
• CIA World Factbook entry on World

References