The following is a list of definitions of the statistical indicators used in our country and region statistics, separated into categories. Definitions are from The World Bank's World Development Indicators 1998,unless otherwise noted.

LITERACY AND EDUCATION

Adult Illiterate Population (estimated)*

The estimated number of adult illiterates (15 years and over).

Adult Illiteracy Rate (Total %)

The total percentage of adults aged 15 and above who cannot, with understanding, read and write a short, simple sentence about their everyday life.

Expected Years of Schooling*

The number of years a child is expected to remain at school, or university, including years spent on repetition. It is the sum of the age-specific enrollment ratios for primary, secondary, and tertiary education.

Percentage of 1994 Cohorts Completing Fifth Grade*

The percentage of children starting primary school who eventually attain Grade 5 (Grade 4, if the duration of primary school is four years).

GEOGRAPHY AND PEOPLE

Total Population

Midyear estimate of the number of residents within a country. Includes all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum.

Average Annual Population Growth Rate

The exponential change in population for the period indicated.

Total Land Area

A country's total area, excluding areas under inland bodies of water.

ECONOMIC

GDP (Gross Domestic Product)

The sum in US$ millions of the gross value added by all resident and nonresident producers in the economy plus any taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated at purchasers' prices, without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources.

GNP (Gross National Product) Per Capita

The GNP is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any taxes (less subsidies) that are not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (employee compensation and property income) from nonresident sources. The GNP divided by midyear population and converted to U.S. dollars is the GNP per capita.

Public Expenditure on Education

The percentage of GNP accounted for by public spending on public education plus subsidies to private education at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.

MORTALITY AND HEALTH-RELATED

Fertility (births per woman)

The number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years and bear children in accordance with current age-specific fertility rates.

Maternal Mortality Ratio

The number of women who die during pregnancy and childbirth, per 100,000 live births.

Life Expectancy at Birth

The number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.

Infant Mortality

The number of deaths of infants under one year of age during the indicated year per 1,000 live births in the same year.

Under the Age of Five Mortality

The probability (expressed as a rate per 1,000) of a child born in the indicated year dying before reaching the age of 5, if subject to current age-specific mortality rates.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

Newspapers per 1,000 inhabitants

The number of newspapers published at least four times a week, per 1,000 people.

Radios per 1,000 inhabitants

The estimated number of radio receivers in use for broadcast to the general public, per 1,000 people.

Television per 1,000 inhabitants

The estimated number of television sets in use, per 1,000 people.

Personal Computers per 1,000 inhabitants

The estimated number of self-contained computers designed to be used by a single individual, per 1,000 people.

* from the UNESCO World Education Report 1998: Teachers and Teaching in a Changing World