If I add the water area and the land area of the world, I get the same number as if I asked for the total area of the world in the first place:
In[1]:= {CountryData["World", "WaterArea"] + CountryData["World", "LandArea"],
CountryData["World", "Area"]}
Out[1]= {5.10066*10^8, 5.10066*10^8}
Now, if I add the area of all the countries, it does not add up to the total land area of the world:
In[2]:= {Total[CountryData[#, "Area"] & /@ CountryData[]],
CountryData["World", "LandArea"]}
Out[2]= {1.35936*10^8, 1.4912*10^8}
So my question is: are some countries missing? Are the ice caps to blame?
CountryData[]
. $\endgroup$ – J. M.'s ennui♦ Sep 4 '12 at 21:55CountryData["World", "LandArea"] - CountryData["Antarctica", "Area"] < Total[CountryData[#, "Area"] & /@ CountryData[]]
$\endgroup$ – Dr. belisarius Sep 4 '12 at 21:56Total[Flatten[CountryData[#, "Area"] & /@ CountryData["Continents"]]]
withCountryData["World", "LandArea"]
. Curious indeed. $\endgroup$ – J. M.'s ennui♦ Sep 4 '12 at 22:01CountryData
. We are not part of Australia yet. :-) $\endgroup$ – Matariki Sep 5 '12 at 1:31