Explanatory Notes on Main Statistical Indicators

Country Area is a country total area that includes land area and inland water bodies. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.

Arable Area 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.

Permanent Crop Area is land cultivated with crops that occupy the land for long periods and need not be replanted after each harvest, such as cocoa, coffee, and rubber. This category includes land under flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees, and vines, but excludes land under trees grown for wood or timber.

Freshwater Resources refer to total renewable resources, broken down between internal flows of rivers and groundwater from rainfall in the country, and river flows from other countries.

Annual Freshwater Withdrawals refer to total water withdrawal, not counting evaporation losses from storage basins. Withdrawals also include water from desalination plants in countries where they are a significant source. Withdrawals for agriculture and industry are total withdrawals for irrigation and livestock production and for direct industrial use (including withdrawals for cooling thermoelectric plants). Withdrawals for domestic uses include drinking water, municipal use or supply, and use for public services, commercial establishments, and homes.

Nationally Protected Areas are totally or partially protected areas of at least 1,000 hectares that are designated as national parks, natural monuments, nature reserves or wildlife sanctuaries, protected landscapes and seascapes, or scientific reserves with limited public access. The data do not include sites protected under local or provincial law.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions are those stemming from the burning of fossil fuels and the manufacture of cement. They include contributions to the carbon dioxide produced during consumption of solid, liquid, and gas fuels and gas flaring.