Mountains

Mountains

The top 20 countries with the highest percentage of mountainous areas are: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Bhutan, Lesotho, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Switzerland, Macedonia, Lebanon, Rwanda, Armenia, Nepal, Georgia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Swaziland, Turkey, Austria, Albania and Slovenia.
Mountains cover about 27 percent of the world's land surface.
All of the world's mountains above 7 000 m are in Asia, and all 14 peaks above 8 000 m are situated in the Greater Himalaya range extending along the southern rim of the Tibet Plateau.
Up to 80 percent of the planet's fresh surface water comes from mountains.
The total number of mountain people is 718 million. Of these, 625 live in developing and transition countries (2000).
About 12 percent of the world's population lives in the mountains, but over 50 percent are directly or indirectly dependent on mountain resources (FAO, 2000).
Some 80 percent of mountain people live below the poverty line.
As many as 245 million rural mountain people in developing and transition countries may be at risk of, or actually experiencing, hunger.
In 1999, 23 of the 27 major armed conflicts in the world were being fought in mountain regions.