World Countries 2004 represents the boundaries for the countries of the 
world, as they existed in January 2004. 

Datum: WGS84

Copyright (c) 2004 Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc. (ESRI) 
Provided in accordance with and subject to the license terms found in the 
file "notes/ESRI/LICENSE.txt" inside the My World folder.

The original ESRI Metadata and source attribution can be found in the file
"notes/ESRI/countries.metadata.xml" in the My World folder.

*****

IMPROVED DRINKING WATER ACCESS (2000) AND IMPROVED SANITATION ACCESS (2000)

Compiled by the United Nations Statistical Division from data provided by
World Health Organization and UNICEF. Data for China do not include Hong
Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan province of China.
Access to water supply and sanitation is defined in terms of the types of
technology and levels of service afforded. For water, this included house
connections, public standpipes, boreholes with handpumps, protected dug
wells, protected springs and rainwater collection; allowance was also made
for other locally defined technologies. "Reasonable access" was broadly
defined as the availability of at least 20 litres per person per day from a
source within one kilometre of the user's dwelling. Sanitation was defined
to include connection to a sewer or septic tank system, pour...flush
latrine, simple pit or ventilated improved pit latrine, again with allowance
for acceptable local technologies.

While the type of water source and the type of excreta disposal facility can
be associated with the quality of water and the adequacy of disposal,
respectively, they cannot adequately measure population coverage of safe
water or of sanitary excreta disposal. Access to water and sanitation does
not imply that the level of service or quality of water is "adequate" or
"safe". Furthermore, the assessment questionnaire did not include any
methodology for discounting coverage figures to allow for intermittence or
poor quality of the water supplies. Hence, the coverage estimates presented
represent the population covered by improved water sources and improved
sanitary facilities.

http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/social/watsan.htm

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URBAN (2001) and RURAL (2001)

Source: Population Division of the United Nations Secretariat, World
Urbanization Prospects: The 2001 Revision, Data Tables and Highlights
(ESA/P/WP.173, 20 March 2002). 

For statistical purposes the data for China do not include Hong Kong and
Macao Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan province of China. 

Estimates and projections of urban and rural populations are made by the
Population Division of the United Nations Secretariat and published every
two years. These estimates and projections are based on national census or
survey data that have been evaluated and, whenever necessary, adjusted for
deficiencies and inconsistencies. Urban-rural classification of population
in internationally published statistics follows the national census
definition, which differs from one country or area to another. National
definitions are usually based on criteria that may include any of the
following: size of population in a locality, population density, distance
between built-up areas, predominant type of economic activity, legal or
administrative boundaries and urban characteristics such as specific
services and facilities. 

http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/social/hum-set.htm

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TOTAL POPULATION (2003); MALE POPULATION (2003); FEMALE POPULATION (2003);
SEX RATIO (2003); FERTILITY RATE (1995-2000, 2000-2005, 2010-2015,
2020-2025, 2045-2050); LIFE EXPECTANCY (1995-2000, 2000-2005, 2010-2015,
2020-2025, 2045-2050); INFANT MORTALITY RATE (1995-2000, 2000-2005,
2010-2015, 2020-2025, 2045-2050); MEDIAN AGE (1950, 2000, 2050); and GROWTH
RATE (1995-2000, 2000-2005, 2010-2015, 2020-2025, 2045-2050)

Source: Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social
Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat (2003). World Population
Prospects: The 2002 Revision. Highlights. New York: United Nations.

Life expectancy is for children born in the specified range of years.
Growth rate is based on the annual population increase/total annual population.


http://www.un.org/popin/data.html

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ILLITERACY RATE (1970, 1980, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010)

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Illiteracy rates indicate the proportion of persons within the population
who cannot with understanding both read and write a short simple statement
on their everyday life. The data presented in this table are the latest
illiteracy estimates and projections of UIS, as assessed in 2002 based on
statistics collected during national population censuses. Estimated
illiteracy rate refers to the estimated number of illiterates (15 years and
over) expressed as a percentage of the population in the corresponding age
group. 

http://portal.unesco.org/uis/ev.php?URL_ID=5204&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201
