Summary: Publisher Summary 1 The second edition (1979) of this standard geographic reference (first published in 1973 as The world in figures is cited in Sheehy. Showers gives, in tabular form, such superlatives as population, GNP, roads and rail lengths and usage, school enrollments, country area, climate, schools, bridges, rivers, mountains. Tables in most works are sedative, though useful; Showers' tables, to a geophile, are both exciting and useful. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.   Publisher Summary 2 A compendium of striking and unexpected facts gathered from around the world. Includes tabular data for 220 countries on nineteen subjects, from area, population, birth and death rates, and gross national product, to exports and imports, airline traffic, telephone, radio, and television receivers, and rates of illiteracy. Significantly updates the second edition. Includes statistics on buildings, bridges, tunnels, as well as mountains, rivers, and other natural features. The number of comparative rankings of leading countries has been tripled, data has been more than doubled from nine subjects to nineteen, and basic comparative tables of geographic features have been revised and expanded. Illustrated with photographs, charts, and diagrams.