The 1990 CIA World Factbook (part 4 of 4)
Merchant marine: 3 ships (1,000 GRT and over) totaling 9,263 GRT/15,167 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 bulk
Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft
Airports: 25 total, 20 usable; 10 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 15 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: above-average urban system, using radio relay and cable; 40,200 telephones; stations--8 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 3 submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie
Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,682,786; 878,812 fit for military service; 88,940 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: 2% of GDP, or $100 million (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Seychelles - Geography Total area: 455 km2; land area: 455 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 491 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: claims Tromelin Island
Climate: tropical marine; humid; cooler season during southeast monsoon (late May to September); warmer season during northwest monsoon (March to May)
Terrain: Mahe Group is granitic, narrow coastal strip, rocky, hilly; others are coral, flat, elevated reefs
Natural resources: fish, copra, cinnamon trees
Land use: 4% arable land; 18% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 18% forest and woodland; 60% other
Environment: lies outside the cyclone belt, so severe storms are rare; short droughts possible; no fresh water, catchements collect rain; 40 granitic and about 50 coralline islands
Note: located north-northeast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean
- People Population: 68,336 (July 1990), growth rate 0.9% (1990)
Birth rate: 24 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 8 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 15 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 65 years male, 75 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 2.6 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Seychellois (sing. and pl.); adjective--Seychelles
Ethnic divisions: Seychellois (mixture of Asians, Africans, Europeans)
Religion: 90% Roman Catholic, 8% Anglican, 2% other
Language: English and French (official); Creole
Literacy: 60%
Labor force: 27,700; 31% industry and commerce, 21% services, 20% government, 12% agriculture, forestry, and fishing, 16% other (1985); 57% of population of working age (1983)
Organized labor: three major trade unions
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Seychelles
Type: republic; member of the Commonwealth
Capital: Victoria
Administrative divisions: none; note--there may be 21 administrative districts named Anse Boileau, Anse Etoile, Anse Louis, Anse Royale, Baie Lazare, Baie St. Anne, Beau Vallon, Bel Air, Bel Ombre, Cascade, Glacis, Grand Anse (on Mahe Island), Grand Anse (on Praslin Island), La Digue, Mont Fleuri, Plaisance, Pointe Larue, Port-Glaud, Riviere Anglaise, St. Louis, Takamaka
Independence: 29 June 1976 (from UK)
Constitution: 5 June 1979
Legal system: based on English common law, French civil law, and customary law
National holiday: Liberation Day (anniversary of coup), 5 June (1977)
Executive branch: president, Council of Ministers
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal, Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--President France Albert RENE (since 5 June 1977)
Political parties and leaders: only party--Seychelles People's Progressive Front (SPPF), France Albert Rene
Suffrage: universal at age 17
Elections: President--last held 9-11 June 1989 (next to be held June 1994); results--President France Albert Rene reelected without opposition;
National Assembly--last held 5 December 1987 (next to be held December 1992); results--SPPF is the only party; seats--(25 total, 23 elected) SPPF 23
Communists: negligible, although some Cabinet ministers espouse pro-Soviet line
Other political or pressure groups: trade unions, Roman Catholic Church
Member of: ACP, AfDB, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, NAM, OAU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Second Secretary, Charge d'Affaires ad interim Marc R. MARENGO; Chancery (temporary) at 820 Second Avenue, Suite 201, New York, NY 10017; telephone (212) 687-9766; US--Ambassador James MORAN; Embassy at 4th Floor, Victoria House, Victoria (mailing address is Box 148, Victoria, or APO New York 09030); telephone 23921 or 23922
Flag: three horizontal bands of red (top), white (wavy), and green; the white band is the thinnest, the red band is the thickest
- Economy Overview: In this small, open tropical island economy, the tourist industry employs about 30% of the labor force and provides the main source of hard currency earnings. In recent years the government has encouraged foreign investment in order to upgrade hotels and other services. At the same time, the government has moved to reduce the high dependence on tourism by promoting the development of farming, fishing, and small-scale manufacturing.
GDP: $255 million, per capita $3,720; real growth rate 6.2%; (1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.3% (1988)
Unemployment rate: 15% (1986)
Budget: revenues $106 million; expenditures $130 million, including capital expenditures of $21 million (1987)
Exports: $17 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--fish, copra, cinnamon bark, petroleum products (reexports); partners--France 63%, Pakistan 12%, Reunion 10%, UK 7% (1987)
Imports: $116 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--manufactured goods, food, tobacco, beverages, machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products; partners--UK 20%, France 14%, South Africa 13%, PDRY 13%, Singapore 8%, Japan 6% (1987)
External debt: $178 million (December 1988)
Industrial production: growth rate 7% (1987)
Electricity: 25,000 kW capacity; 67 million kWh produced, 960 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: tourism, processing of coconut and vanilla, fishing, coir rope factory, boat building, printing, furniture, beverage
Agriculture: accounts for 7% of GDP, mostly subsistence farming; cash crops--coconuts, cinnamon, vanilla; other products--sweet potatoes, cassava, bananas; broiler chickens; large share of food needs imported; expansion of tuna fishing under way
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY78-88), $23 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1978-87), $297 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $5 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $56 million
Currency: Seychelles rupee (plural--rupees); 1 Seychelles rupee (SRe) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Seychelles rupees (SR) per US$1--5.4884 (January 1990), 5.6457 (1989), 5.3836 (1988), 5.6000 (1987), 6.1768 (1986), 7.1343 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Highways: 260 km total; 160 km bituminous, 100 km crushed stone or earth
Ports: Victoria
Merchant marine: 1 refrigerated cargo (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,827 GRT/2,170 DWT
Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft
Airports: 14 total, 14 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: direct radio communications with adjacent islands and African coastal countries; 13,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station; USAF tracking station
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Militia
Military manpower: males 15-49, 17,073; 8,776 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: 6% of GDP, or $12 million (1990 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Sierra Leone - Geography Total area: 71,740 km2; land area: 71,620 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than South Carolina
Land boundaries: 958 km total; Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km
Coastline: 402 km
Maritime claims:
Territorial sea: 200 nm
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry season (December to April)
Terrain: coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east
Natural resources: diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite
Land use: 25% arable land; 2% permanent crops; 31% meadows and pastures; 29% forest and woodland; 13% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: extensive mangrove swamps hinder access to sea; deforestation; soil degradation
- People Population: 4,165,953 (July 1990), growth rate 2.6% (1990)
Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 21 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 154 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 42 years male, 47 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 6.2 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Sierra Leonean(s); adjective--Sierra Leonean
Ethnic divisions: 99% native African (30% Temne, 30% Mende); 1% Creole, European, Lebanese, and Asian; 13 tribes
Religion: 30% Muslim, 30% indigenous beliefs, 10% Christian, 30% other or none
Language: English (official); regular use limited to literate minority; principal vernaculars are Mende in south and Temne in north; Krio is the language of the resettled ex-slave population of the Freetown area and is lingua franca
Literacy: 31% (1986)
Labor force: 1,369,000 (est.); 65% agriculture, 19% industry, 16% services (1981); only about 65,000 earn wages (1985); 55% of population of working age
Organized labor: 35% of wage earners
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Sierra Leone
Type: republic under presidential regime
Capital: Freetown
Administrative divisions: 4 provinces; Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western
Independence: 27 April 1961 (from UK)
Constitution: 14 June 1978
Legal system: based on English law and customary laws indigenous to local tribes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Republic Day, 27 April (1961)
Executive branch: president, two vice presidents, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral House of Representatives
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Gen. Joseph Saidu MOMOH (since 28 November 1985); First Vice President Abu Bakar KAMARA (since 4 April 1987); Second Vice President Salia JUSU-SHERIFF (since 4 April 1987)
Political parties and leaders: only party--All People's Congress (APC), Gen. Joseph Saidu Momoh
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections: President--last held 1 October 1985 (next to be held October 1992); results--Gen. Joseph Saidu Momoh was elected without opposition;
House of Representatives--last held 30 May 1986 (next to be held May 1991); results--APC is the only party; seats--(127 total, 105 elected) APC 105
Communists: no party, although there are a few Communists and a slightly larger number of sympathizers
Member of: ACP, AfDB, Commonwealth, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, Mano River Union, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador George CAREW; Chancery at 1701 19th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 939-9261; US--Ambassador Johnny YOUNG; Embassy at the corner of Walpole and Siaka Stevens Street, Freetown; telephone 26481
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of light green (top), white, and light blue
- Economy Overview: The economic and social infrastructure is not well developed. Subsistence agriculture dominates the economy, generating about one-third of GDP and employing about two-thirds of the working population. Manufacturing accounts for less than 10% of GDP, consisting mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Diamond mining provides an important source of hard currency. The economy suffers from high unemployment, rising inflation, large trade deficits, and a growing dependency on foreign assistance.
GDP: $965 million, per capita $250; real growth rate 1.8% (FY87)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 42% (September 1988)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $86 million; expenditures $128 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY90 est.)
Exports: $106 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--rutile 50%, bauxite 17%, cocoa 11%, diamonds 3%, coffee 3%; partners--US, UK, Belgium, FRG, other Western Europe
Imports: $167 million (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--capital goods 40%, food 32%, petroleum 12%, consumer goods 7%, light industrial goods; partners--US, EC, Japan, China, Nigeria
External debt: $805 million (1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate - 19% (FY88 est.)
Electricity: 83,000 kW capacity; 180 million kWh produced, 45 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: mining (diamonds, bauxite, rutile), small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear), petroleum refinery
Agriculture: accounts for over 30% of GDP and two-thirds of the labor force; largely subsistence farming; cash crops--coffee, cocoa, palm kernels; harvests of food staple rice meets 80% of domestic needs; annual fish catch averages 53,000 metric tons
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $149 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $698 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $18 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $101 million
Currency: leone (plural--leones); 1 leone (Le) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: leones per US$1--87.7193 (January 1990), 58.1395 (1989), 31.2500 (1988), 30.7692 (1987), 8.3963 (1986), 4.7304 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
- Communications Railroads: 84 km 1.067-meter narrow-gauge mineral line is used on a limited basis because the mine at Marampa is closed
Highways: 7,400 km total; 1,150 km bituminous, 490 km laterite (some gravel), remainder improved earth
Inland waterways: 800 km; 600 km navigable year round
Ports: Freetown, Pepel
Civil air: no major transport aircraft
Airports: 12 total, 8 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 3 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: marginal telephone and telegraph service; national microwave radio relay system unserviceable at present; 23,650 telephones; stations--1 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy
Military manpower: males 15-49, 918,078; 433,350 fit for military service; no conscription
Defense expenditures: 1% of GDP (1986) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Singapore - Geography Total area: 632.6 km2; land area: 622.6 km2
Comparative area: slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 193 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive fishing zone: not specific;
Territorial sea: 3 nm
Climate: tropical; hot, humid, rainy; no pronounced rainy or dry seasons; thunderstorms occur on 40% of all days (67% of days in April)
Terrain: lowland; gently undulating central plateau contains water catchment area and nature preserve
Natural resources: fish, deepwater ports
Land use: 4% arable land; 7% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 5% forest and woodland; 84% other
Environment: mostly urban and industrialized
Note: focal point for Southeast Asian sea routes
- People Population: 2,720,915 (July 1990), growth rate 1.3% (1990)
Birth rate: 18 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 8 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 77 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 2.0 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Singaporean(s), adjective--Singapore
Ethnic divisions: 76.4% Chinese, 14.9% Malay, 6.4% Indian, 2.3% other
Religion: majority of Chinese are Buddhists or atheists; Malays nearly all Muslim (minorities include Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Taoists, Confucianists)
Language: Chinese, Malay, Tamil, and English (official); Malay (national)
Literacy: 86.8% (1987)
Labor force: 1,280,000; 34.4% industry, 1.2% agriculture, 61.7% services (1988)
Organized labor: 211,200; 16.5% of labor force (1988)
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Singapore
Type: republic within Commonwealth
Capital: Singapore
Administrative divisions: none
Independence: 9 August 1965 (from Malaysia)
Constitution: 3 June 1959, amended 1965; based on preindependence State of Singapore Constitution
Legal system: based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: National Day, 9 August (1965)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, two deputy prime ministers, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State--President WEE Kim Wee (since 3 September 1985);
Head of Government--Prime Minister LEE Kuan Yew (since 5 June 1959); First Deputy Prime Minister GOH Chok Tong (since 2 January 1985); Second Deputy Prime Minister ONG Teng Cheong (since 2 January 1985)
Political parties and leaders: government--People's Action Party (PAP), Lee Kuan Yew; opposition--Workers' Party (WP), J. B. Jeyaretnam; Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), Chiam See Tong; National Solidarity Party (NSP), Soon Kia Seng; United People's Front (UPF), Harbans Singh; Barisan Sosialis (BS); Communist party illegal
Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 20
Elections: President--last held 31 August 1989 (next to be held NA August 1993); results--President Wee Kim Wee was reelected by Parliament without opposition;
Parliament--last held 3 September 1988 (next to be held NA September 1993); results--PAP 61.8%, WP 18.4%, SDP 11.5%, NSP 3.7%, UPF 1.3%, others 3.3%; seats--(81 total) PAP 80, SDP 1; note--BS has 1 nonvoting seat
Communists: 200-500; Barisan Sosialis infiltrated by Communists
Member of: ADB, ANRPC, ASEAN, CCC, Colombo Plan, Commonwealth, ESCAP, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ISO, ITU, NAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Tommy KOH Tong Bee; Chancery at 1824 R Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 667-7555; US--Ambassador Robert D. ORR; Embassy at 30 Hill Street, Singapore 0617 (mailing address is FPO San Francisco 96699); telephone [65] 338-0251
Flag: two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and white; near the hoist side of the red band, there is a vertical, white crescent (closed portion is toward the hoist side) partially enclosing five white five-pointed stars arranged in a circle
- Economy Overview: Singapore has an open entrepreneurial economy with strong service and manufacturing sectors and excellent international trading links derived from its entrepot history. During the 1970s and early 1980s, the economy expanded rapidly, achieving an average annual growth rate of 9%. Per capita GDP is among the highest in Asia. In 1985 the economy registered its first drop in 20 years and achieved less than a 2% increase in 1986. Recovery was strong. Estimates for 1989 suggest a 9.2% growth rate based on rising demand for Singapore's products in OECD countries, a strong Japanese yen, and improved competitiveness of domestic manufactures.
GDP: $27.5 billion, per capita $10,300; real growth rate 9.2% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.5% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 2% (1989 est.)
Budget: revenues $6.6 billion; expenditures $5.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.2 billion (FY88)
Exports: $46 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities--includes transshipments to Malaysia--petroleum products, rubber, electronics, manufactured goods; partners--US 24%, Malaysia 14%, Japan 9%, Thailand 6%, Hong Kong 5%, Australia 3%, FRG 3%
Imports: $53 billion (c.i.f., 1989 est.); commodities--includes transshipments from Malaysia--capital equipment, petroleum, chemicals, manufactured goods, foodstuffs; partners--Japan 22%, US 16%, Malaysia 15%, EC 12%, Kuwait 1%
External debt: $5.2 billion (December 1988)
Industrial production: growth rate 9% (1989 est.)
Electricity: 4,000,000 kW capacity; 12,000 million kWh produced, 4,490 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: petroleum refining, electronics, oil drilling equipment, rubber processing and rubber products, processed food and beverages, ship repair, entrepot trade, financial services, biotechnology
Agriculture: occupies a position of minor importance in the economy; self-sufficient in poultry and eggs; must import much of other food; major crops--rubber, copra, fruit, vegetables
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-83), $590 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $882 million
Currency: Singapore dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Singapore dollar (S$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Singapore dollars per US$1--1.8895 (January 1990), 1.9503 (1989), 2.0124 (1988), 2.1060 (1987), 2.1774 (1986), 2.2002 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
- Communications Railroads: 38 km of 1.000-meter gauge
Highways: 2,597 km total (1984)
Ports: Singapore
Merchant marine: 407 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 7,286,824 GRT/11,921,610 DWT; includes 126 cargo, 52 container, 5 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 11 refrigerated cargo, 13 vehicle carrier, 1 livestock carrier, 103 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 5 chemical tanker, 4 combination ore/oil, 1 specialized tanker, 15 liquefied gas, 68 bulk, 3 combination bulk; note--many Singapore flag ships are foreign owned
Civil air: 38 major transport aircraft (est.)
Airports: 6 total, 6 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: good domestic facilities; good international service; good radio and television broadcast coverage; 1,110,000 telephones; stations--13 AM, 4 FM, 2 TV; submarine cables extend to Malaysia (Sabah and peninsular Malaysia), Indonesia, and the Philippines; satellite earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Army Reserve
Military manpower: males 15-49, 834,720; 621,497 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: 5% of GDP, or $1.4 billion (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Solomon Islands - Geography Total area: 28,450 km2; land area: 27,540 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 5,313 km
Maritime claims: (measured from claimed archipelagic baselines);
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
Terrain: mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls
Natural resources: fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates
Land use: 1% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 1% meadows and pastures; 93% forest and woodland; 4% other
Environment: subject to typhoons, which are rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earth tremors
Note: located just east of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean
- People Population: 335,082 (July 1990), growth rate 3.5% (1990)
Birth rate: 41 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 40 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 67 years male, 72 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 6.3 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Solomon Islander(s); adjective--Solomon Islander
Ethnic divisions: 93.0% Melanesian, 4.0% Polynesian, 1.5% Micronesian, 0.8% European, 0.3% Chinese, 0.4% other
Religion: almost all at least nominally Christian; Anglican, Seventh-Day Adventist, and Roman Catholic Churches dominant
Language: 120 indigenous languages; Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English spoken by 1-2% of population
Literacy: 60%
Labor force: 23,448 economically active; 32.4% agriculture, forestry, and fishing; 25% services, 7.0% construction, manufacturing, and mining; 4.7% commerce, transport, and finance (1984)
Organized labor: NA, but most of the cash-economy workers have trade union representation
- Government Long-form name: none
Type: independent parliamentary state within Commonwealth
Capital: Honiara
Administrative divisions: 7 provinces and 1 town*; Central, Guadalcanal, Honiara*, Isabel, Makira, Malaita, Temotu, Western
Independence: 7 July 1978 (from UK; formerly British Solomon Islands)
Constitution: 7 July 1978
Legal system: common law
National holiday: Independence Day, 7 July (1978)
Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral National Parliament
Judicial branch: High Court
Leaders: Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General George LEPPING (since 27 June 1989, previously acted as governor general since 7 July 1988);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Solomon MAMALONI (since 28 March 1989); Deputy Prime Minister Danny PHILIP (since 31 March 1989)
Political parties and leaders: People's Alliance Party (PAP), Solomon Mamaloni; United Party (UP), Sir Peter Kenilorea; Solomon Islands Liberal Party (SILP), Bartholemew Ulufa'alu; Nationalist Front for Progress (NFP), Andrew Nori; Labor Party (LP), Joses Tuhanuku
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections: National Parliament--last held 22 February 1989 (next to be held February 1993); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(38 total) PAP 13, UP 6, NFP 4, SILP 4, LP 2, independents 9
Member of: ACP, ADB, Commonwealth, ESCAP, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, SPF, UN, UPU, WHO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador (vacant) resides in Honiara (Solomon Islands); US--the ambassador in Papua New Guinea is accredited to the Solomon Islands; Embassy at Mud Alley, Honiara (mailing address is American Embassy, P. O. Box 561, Honiara); telephone (677) 23488
Flag: divided diagonally by a thin yellow stripe from the lower hoist-side corner; the upper triangle (hoist side) is blue with five white five-pointed stars arranged in an X pattern; the lower triangle is green
- Economy Overview: About 90% of the population depend on subsistence agriculture, fishing, and forestry for at least part of their livelihood. Agriculture, fishing, and forestry contribute about 75% to GDP, with the fishing and forestry sectors being important export earners. The service sector contributes about 25% to GDP. Manufacturing activity is negligible. Most manufactured goods and petroleum products must be imported. The islands are rich in undeveloped mineral resources such as lead, zinc, nickel, and gold. The economy suffered from a severe cyclone in mid-1986 which caused widespread damage to the infrastructure.
GDP: $156 million, per capita $500; real growth rate 4.3% (1988)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11.2% (1988)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $139.0 million; expenditures $154.4 million, including capital expenditures of $113.4 million (1987)
Exports: $80.1 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--fish 46%, timber 31%, copra 5%, palm oil 5%; partners--Japan 51%, UK 12%, Thailand 9%, Netherlands 8%, Australia 2%, US 2% (1985)
Imports: $101.7 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--plant and machinery 30%, fuel 19%, food 16%; partners--Japan 36%, US 23%, Singapore 9%, UK 9%, NZ 9%, Australia 4%, Hong Kong 4%, China 3% (1985)
External debt: $128 million (1988 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 0% (1987)
Electricity: 15,000 kW capacity; 30 million kWh produced, 90 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: copra, fish (tuna)
Agriculture: including fishing and forestry, accounts for about 75% of GDP; mostly subsistence farming; cash crops--cocoa, beans, coconuts, palm kernels, timber; other products--rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit, cattle, pigs; not self-sufficient in food grains; 90% of the total fish catch of 44,500 metric tons was exported (1988)
Aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1985), $16.1 million
Currency: Solomon Islands dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Solomon Islands dollar (SI$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Solomon Islands dollars (SI$) per US$1--2.4067 (January 1990), 2.3090 (1989), 2.0825 (1988), 2.0033 (1987), 1.7415 (1986), 1.4808 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Highways: about 2,100 km total (1982); 30 km sealed, 290 km gravel, 980 km earth, 800 private logging and plantation roads of varied construction
Ports: Honiara, Ringi Cove
Civil air: no major transport aircraft
Airports: 29 total, 27 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 2,439 m; 5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: 3,000 telephones; stations--4 AM, no FM, no TV; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth station
- Defense Forces Branches: NA
Military manpower: NA
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Somalia - Geography Total area: 637,660 km2; land area: 627,340 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Texas
Land boundaries: 2,340 km total; Djibouti 58 km, Ethiopia 1,600 km, Kenya 682 km
Coastline: 3,025 km
Maritime claims:
Territorial sea: 200 nm
Disputes: southern half of boundary with Ethiopia is a Provisional Administrative Line; territorial dispute with Ethiopia over the Ogaden; possible claims to Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya based on unification of ethnic Somalis
Climate: desert; northeast monsoon (December to February), cooler southwest monsoon (May to October); irregular rainfall; hot, humid periods (tangambili) between monsoons
Terrain: mostly flat to undulating plateau rising to hills in north
Natural resources: uranium, and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt
Land use: 2% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 46% meadows and pastures; 14% forest and woodland; 38% other; includes 3% irrigated
Environment: recurring droughts; frequent dust storms over eastern plains in summer; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Note: strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern approaches to Bab el Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal
- People Population: 8,424,269 (July 1990), growth rate 0.8% (1990)
Birth rate: 47 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 24 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 125 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 53 years male, 54 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 7.3 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Somali(s); adjective--Somali
Ethnic divisions: 85% Somali, rest mainly Bantu; 30,000 Arabs, 3,000 Europeans, 800 Asians
Religion: almost entirely Sunni Muslim
Language: Somali (official); Arabic, Italian, English
Literacy: 11.6% (government est.)
Labor force: 2,200,000; very few are skilled laborers; 70% pastoral nomad, 30% agriculture, government, trading, fishing, handicrafts, and other; 53% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor: General Federation of Somali Trade Unions is controlled by the government
- Government Long-form name: Somali Democratic Republic
Type: republic
Capital: Mogadishu
Administrative divisions: 16 regions (plural--NA, singular--gobolka); Bakool, Banaadir, Bari, Bay, Galguduud, Gedo, Hiiraan, Jubbada Dhexe, Jubbada Hoose, Mudug, Nugaal, Sanaag, Shabeellaha Dhexe, Shabeellaha Hoose, Togdheer, Woqooyi Galbeed
Independence: 1 July 1960 (from a merger of British Somaliland, which became independent from the UK on 26 June 1960, and Italian Somaliland, which became independent from the Italian-administered UN trusteeship on 1 July 1960, to form the Somali Republic)
Constitution: 25 August 1979, presidential approval 23 September 1979
National holiday: Anniversary of the Revolution, 21 October (1969)
Executive branch: president, two vice presidents, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral People's Assembly
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State--President and Commander in Chief of the Army Maj. Gen. Mohamed SIAD Barre (since 21 October 1969);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ali SAMANTAR (since 1 February 1987)
Political parties and leaders: only party--Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), Maj. Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre, general secretary
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: President--last held 23 December 1986 (next to be held December 1993); results--President Siad was reelected without opposition;
People's Assembly--last held 31 December 1984 (next scheduled for December 1989 was postponed); results--SRSP is the only party; seats--(177 total, 171 elected) SRSP 171
Communists: probably some Communist sympathizers in the government hierarchy
Member of: ACP, AfDB, Arab League, EAMA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador ABDIKARIM Ali Omar; Chancery at Suite 710, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037; telephone (202) 342-1575; there is a Somali Consulate General in New York; US--Ambassador T. Frank CRIGLER; Embassy at Corso Primo Luglio, Mogadishu (mailing address is P. O. Box 574, Mogadishu); telephone [252] (01) 20811
Flag: light blue with a large white five-pointed star in the center; design based on the flag of the UN (Italian Somaliland was a UN trust territory)
- Economy Overview: One of the world's least developed countries, Somalia has few resources. In 1988 per capita GDP was $210. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, with the livestock sector accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of export earnings. Nomads and seminomads who are dependent upon livestock for their livelihoods make up about 50% of the population. Crop production generates only 10% of GDP and employs about 20% of the work force. The main export crop is bananas; sugar, sorghum, and corn are grown for the domestic market. The small industrial sector is based on the processing of agricultural products and accounts for less than 10% of GDP. At the end of 1988 serious economic problems facing the nation were the external debt of $2.8 billion and double-digit inflation.
GDP: $1.7 billion, per capita $210; real growth rate - 1.4% (1988)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 81.7% (1988 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $273 million; expenditures $405 million, including capital expenditures of $219 million (1987)
Exports: $58.0 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--livestock, hides, skins, bananas, fish; partners--US 0.5%, Saudi Arabia, Italy, FRG (1986)
Imports: $354.0 million (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--textiles, petroleum products, foodstuffs, construction materials; partners--US 13%, Italy, FRG, Kenya, UK, Saudi Arabia (1986)
External debt: $2.8 billion (1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 71,000 kW capacity; 65 million kWh produced, 8 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: a few small industries, including sugar refining, textiles, petroleum refining
Agriculture: dominant sector, led by livestock raising (cattle, sheep, goats); crops--bananas, sorghum, corn, mangoes, sugarcane; not self-sufficient in food; fishing potential largely unexploited
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $618 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $2.8 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $1.1 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $336 million
Currency: Somali shilling (plural--shillings); 1 Somali shilling (So.Sh.) = 100 centesimi
Exchange rates: Somali shillings (So. Sh.) per US$1--643.92 (December 1989), 170.45 (1988), 105.18 (1987), 72.00 (1986), 39.49 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Highways: 15,215 km total; including 2,335 km bituminous surface, 2,880 km gravel, and 10,000 km improved earth or stabilized soil (1983)
Pipelines: 15 km crude oil
Ports: Mogadishu, Berbera, Chisimayu
Merchant marine: 3 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,563 GRT/9,512 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo
Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft
Airports: 60 total, 45 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 20 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: minimal telephone and telegraph service; radio relay and troposcatter system centered on Mogadishu connects a few towns; 6,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station; scheduled to receive an ARABSAT station
- Defense Forces Branches: Somali National Army (including Navy, Air Force, and Air Defense Force), National Police Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,878,939; 1,052,644 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: South Africa - Geography Total area: 1,221,040 km2; land area: 1,221,040 km2; includes Walvis Bay, Marion Island, and Prince Edward Island
Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Land boundaries: 4,973 km total; Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 1,078 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km
Coastline: 2,881 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: South Africa administered Namibia until independence was achieved on 21 March 1990; possible future claim to Walvis Bay by Namibia
Climate: mostly semiarid; subtropical along coast; sunny days, cool nights
Terrain: vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain
Natural resources: gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas
Land use: 10% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 65% meadows and pastures; 3% forest and woodland; 21% other; includes 1% irrigated
Environment: lack of important arterial rivers or lakes requires extensive water conservation and control measures
Note: Walvis Bay is an exclave of South Africa in Namibia; completely surrounds Lesotho; almost completely surrounds Swaziland
- People Population: 39,549,941 (July 1990), growth rate 2.67%; includes the 10 so-called homelands, which are not recognized by the US
four independent homelands--Bophuthatswana 2,352,296, growth rate 2.80%; Ciskei 1,025,873, growth rate 2.93%; Transkei 4,367,648, growth rate 4.19%; Venda 665,197, growth rate 3.86%
six other homelands--Gazankulu 742,361, growth rate 3.99%; Kangwane 556,009, growth rate 3.64%; KwaNdebele 348,655, growth rate 3.35%; KwaZulu 5,349,247, growth rate 3.62%; Lebowa 2,704,641, growth rate 3.92%; Qwagwa 268,138, growth rate 3.59%
Birth rate: 35 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 52 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 61 years male, 67 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 4.5 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--South African(s); adjective--South African
Ethnic divisions: 73.8% black, 14.3% white, 9.1% Colored, 2.8% Indian
Religion: most whites and Coloreds and roughly 60% of blacks are Christian; roughly 60% of Indians are Hindu, 20% Muslim
Language: Afrikaans, English (official); many vernacular languages, including Zulu, Xhosa, North and South Sotho, Tswana
Literacy: almost all white population literate; government estimates 50% of blacks literate
Labor force: 11,000,000 economically active; 34% services, 30% agriculture, 29% industry and commerce, 7% mining (1985)
Organized labor: about 17% of total labor force is unionized; African unions represent 15% of black labor force
- Government Long-form name: Republic of South Africa; abbreviated RSA
Type: republic
Capital: administrative, Pretoria; legislative, Cape Town; judicial, Bloemfontein
Administrative divisions: 4 provinces; Cape, Natal, Orange Free State, Transvaal; there are 10 homelands not recognized by the US--4 independent (Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei, Venda) and 6 other (Gazankulu, Kangwane, KwaNdebele, KwaZulu, Lebowa, Qwaqwa)
Independence: 31 May 1910 (from UK)
Constitution: 3 September 1984
Legal system: based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Republic Day, 31 May (1910)
Executive branch: state president, cabinet, Executive Council (cabinet) Ministers' Councils (from the three houses of Parliament)
Legislative branch: tricameral Parliament consists of the House of Assembly (whites), House of Representatives (Coloreds), and House of Delegates (Indians)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--State President Frederik W. DE KLERK (since 13 September 1989)
Political parties and leaders: white political parties and leaders--National Party (NP), Frederik W. de Klerk (majority party); Conservative Party (CP), Dr. Andries P. Treurnicht (official opposition party); Herstigte National Party (HNP), Jaap Marais; Democratic Party (DP), Zach De Beer, Wynand Malan, and Denis Worrall;
Colored political parties and leaders--Labor Party (LP), Allan Hendrickse (majority party); Democratic Reform Party (DRP), Carter Ebrahim; United Democratic Party (UDP), Jac Rabie; Freedom Party;
Indian political parties and leaders--Solidarity, J. N. Reddy (majority party); National People's Party (NPP), Amichand Rajbansi; Merit People's Party
Suffrage: universal at age 18, but voting rights are racially based
Elections: House of Assembly (whites)--last held 6 September 1989 (next to be held by September 1994); results--NP 58%, CP 23%, DP 19%; seats--(178 total, 166 elected) NP 103, CP 41, DP 34;
House of Representatives (Coloreds)--last held 6 September 1989 (next to be held by September 1994); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(85 total, 80 elected) LP 69, DRP 5, UDP 3, Freedom Party 1, independents 2;
House of Delegates (Indians)--last held 6 September 1989 (next to be held by September 1994); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(45 total, 40 elected) Solidarity 16, NPP 9, Merit People's Party 3, United Party 2, Democratic Party 2, People's Party 1, National Federal Party 1, independents 6
Communists: small Communist party illegal since 1950; party in exile maintains headquarters in London, Daniel Tloome (Chairman) and Joe Slovo (General Secretary)
Other political groups: insurgent groups in exile--African National Congress (ANC), Oliver Tambo; Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), Zephania Mothopeng;
internal antiapartheid groups--Pan-Africanist Movement (PAM), Clarence Makwetu; United Democratic Front (UDF), Albertina Sisulu and Archibald Gumede
Member of: CCC, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFC, IHO, ILZSG, IMF, INTELSAT, ISO, ITU, IWC--International Whaling Commission, IWC--International Wheat Council, Southern African Customs Union, UN, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG (membership rights in IAEA, ICAO, ITU, WHO, WIPO, and WMO suspended or restricted)
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Piet G. J. KOORNHOF; Chancery at 3051 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 232-4400; there are South African Consulates General in Beverly Hills (California), Chicago, Houston, and New York; US--Ambassador William L. SWING; Embassy at Thibault House, 225 Pretorius Street, Pretoria; telephone [27] (12) 28-4266; there are US Consulates General in Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg
Flag: actually four flags in one--three miniature flags reproduced in the center of the white band of the former flag of the Netherlands which has three equal horizontal bands of orange (top), white, and blue; the miniature flags are a vertically hanging flag of the old Orange Free State with a horizontal flag of the UK adjoining on the hoist side and a horizontal flag of the old Transvaal Republic adjoining on the other side
- Economy Overview: Many of the white one-seventh of the South African population enjoy incomes, material comforts, and health and educational standards equal to those of Western Europe. In contrast, most of the remaining population suffers from the poverty patterns of the Third World, including unemployment, lack of job skills, and barriers to movement into higher-paying fields. Inputs and outputs thus do not move smoothly into the most productive employments, and the effectiveness of the market is further lowered by international constraints on dealings with South Africa. The main strength of the economy lies in its rich mineral resources, which provide two-thirds of exports. Average growth of 2% in output in recent years falls far short of the level needed to cut into the high unemployment level.
GDP: $83.5 billion, per capita $2,380; real growth rate 3.2% (1988)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 14.67% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 22% (1988); blacks 25-30%, up to 50% in homelands (1988 est.)
Budget: revenues $24.3 billion; expenditures $27.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA billion (FY91)
Exports: $21.5 billion (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--gold 40%, minerals and metals 23%, food 6%, chemicals 3%; partners--FRG, Japan, UK, US, other EC, Hong Kong
Imports: $18.5 billion (c.i.f., 1989 est.); commodities--machinery 27%, chemicals 11%, vehicles and aircraft 11%, textiles, scientific instruments, base metals; partners--US, FRG, Japan, UK, France, Italy, Switzerland
External debt: $21.2 billion (1988 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 5.6% (1988)
Electricity: 34,941,000 kW capacity; 158,000 million kWh produced, 4,100 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: mining (world's largest producer of diamonds, gold, chrome), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel, chemical, fertilizer, foodstuffs
Agriculture: accounts for 6% of GDP and 30% of labor force; diversified agriculture, with emphasis on livestock; products--cattle, poultry, sheep, wool, milk, beef, corn, wheat; sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; self-sufficient in food
Aid: NA
Currency: rand (plural--rand); 1 rand (R) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: rand (R) per US$1--2.5555 (January 1990), 2.6166 (1989), 2.2611 (1988), 2.0350 (1987), 2.2685 (1986), 2.1911 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
- Communications Railroads: 20,638 km route distance total; 35,079 km of 1.067-meter gauge trackage (counts double and multiple tracking as single track); 314 km of 610 mm gauge
Highways: 188,309 km total; 54,013 km paved, 134,296 km crushed stone, gravel, or improved earth
Pipelines: 931 km crude oil; 1,748 km refined products; 322 km natural gas
Ports: Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Richard's Bay, Saldanha, Mosselbaai, Walvis Bay
Merchant marine: 9 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 275,684 GRT/273,973 DWT; includes 7 container, 1 vehicle carrier, 1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker
Civil air: 81 major transport aircraft
Airports: 931 total, 793 usable; 124 with permanent-surface runways; 4 with runways over 3,659 m; 10 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 213 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: the system is the best developed, most modern, and has the highest capacity in Africa; it consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines, coaxial cables, radio relay links, fiber optic cable, and radiocommunication stations; key centers are Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, and Pretoria; 4,500,000 telephones; stations--14 AM, 286 FM, 67 TV; 1 submarine cable; satellite earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Medical Services
Military manpower: males 15-49, 9,544,357; 5,828,167 fit for military service; 419,815 reach military age (18) annually; obligation for service in Citizen Force or Commandos begins at 18; volunteers for service in permanent force must be 17; national service obligation is two years; figures include the so-called homelands not recognized by the US
Defense expenditures: 5% of GDP, or $4 billion (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (dependent territory of the UK) - Geography Total area: 4,066 km2; land area: 4,066 km2; includes Shag and Clerke Rocks
Comparative area: slightly larger than Rhode Island
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: undetermined
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: administered by the UK, claimed by Argentina
Climate: variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year, interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow
Terrain: most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous; South Georgia is largely barren and has steep, glacier-covered mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some active volcanoes
Natural resources: fish
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other; largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation consisting of grass, moss, and lichen
Environment: reindeer, introduced early in this century, live on South Georgia; weather conditions generally make it difficult to approach the South Sandwich Islands; the South Sandwich Islands are subject to active volcanism
Note: the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays, which provide good anchorage
- People Population: no permanent population; there is a small military garrison on South Georgia and the British Antarctic Survey has a biological station on Bird Island; the South Sandwich islands are uninhabited
- Government Long-form name: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (no short-form name)
Type: dependent territory of the UK
Capital: Grytviken Harbour on South Georgia is the chief town
Administrative divisions: none (dependent territory of the UK)
Independence: none (dependent territory of the UK)
Constitution: 3 October 1985
Legal system: English common law
National holiday: Liberation Day, 14 June (1982)
Executive branch: British monarch, commissioner
Legislative branch: none
Judicial branch: none
Leaders: Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Commissioner William Hugh FULLERTON (since 1988; resident at Stanley, Falkland Islands)
- Economy Overview: Some fishing takes place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from harvesting fin fish and krill. The islands receive income from postage stamps produced in the UK.
Budget: revenues $291,777; expenditures $451,011, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY88 est.)
Electricity: 900 kW capacity; 2 million kWh produced, NA kWh per capita (1989)
- Communications Highways: NA
Ports: Grytviken Harbour on South Georgia
Airports: none
Telecommunications: coastal radio station at Grytviken; no broadcast stations
- Defense Forces Note: defense is the responsibility of the UK ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Soviet Union - Geography Total area: 22,402,200 km2; land area: 22,272,000 km2
Comparative area: slightly less than 2.5 times the size of US
Land boundaries: 19,933 km total; Afghanistan 2,384 km, Czechoslovakia 98 km, China 7,520 km, Finland 1,313 km, Hungary 135 km, Iran 1,690 km, North Korea 17 km, Mongolia 3,441 km, Norway 196 km, Poland 1,215 km, Romania 1,307 km, Turkey 617 km
Coastline: 42,777 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: bilateral negotiations are under way to resolve four disputed sections of the boundary with China (Pamir, Argun, Amur, and Khabarovsk areas); US Government has not recognized the incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into the Soviet Union; Habomai Islands, Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan islands occupied by Soviet Union since 1945, claimed by Japan; Kuril Islands administered by Soviet Union; maritime dispute with Norway over portion of Barents Sea; has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other nation; Bessarabia question with Romania; Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR
Climate: mostly temperate to arctic continental; winters vary from cool along Black Sea to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from hot in southern deserts to cool along Arctic coast
Terrain: broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia, deserts in Central Asia, mountains in south
Natural resources: self-sufficient in oil, natural gas, coal, and strategic minerals (except bauxite, alumina, tantalum, tin, tungsten, fluorspar, and molybdenum), timber, gold, manganese, lead, zinc, nickel, mercury, potash, phosphates
Land use: 10% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 17% meadows and pastures; 41% forest and woodland; 32% other; includes 1% irrigated
Environment: despite size and diversity, small percentage of land is arable and much is too far north; some of most fertile land is water deficient or has insufficient growing season; many better climates have poor soils; hot, dry, desiccating sukhovey wind affects south; desertification; continuous permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development
Note: largest country in world, but unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of world
- People Population: 290,938,469 (July 1990), growth rate 0.7% (1990)
Birth rate: 18 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 24 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 65 years male, 74 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 2.4 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Soviet(s); adjective--Soviet
Ethnic divisions: Russian 50.78%, Ukrainian 15.45%, Uzbek 5.84%, Byelorussian 3.51%, Kazakh 2.85%, Azerbaijan 2.38%, Armenian 1.62%, Tajik 1.48%, Georgian 1.39%, Moldavian 1.17%, Lithuanian 1.07%, Turkmen 0.95%, Kirghiz 0.89%, Latvian 0.51%, Estonian 0.36%, others 9.75%
Religion: 20% Russian Orthodox; 10% Muslim; 7% Protestant, Georgian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Roman Catholic; less than 1% Jewish; 60% atheist (est.)
Language: Russian (official); more than 200 languages and dialects (at least 18 with more than 1 million speakers); 75% Slavic group, 8% other Indo-European, 12% Altaic, 3% Uralian, 2% Caucasian
Literacy: 99%
Labor force: 152,300,000 civilians; 80% industry and other nonagricultural fields, 20% agriculture; shortage of skilled labor (1989)
Organized labor: 98% of workers are union members; all trade unions are organized within the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions (AUCCTU) and conduct their work under guidance of the Communist party
- Government Long-form name: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; abbreviated USSR
Type: Communist state
Capital: Moscow
Administrative divisions: 1 soviet federative socialist republic* (sovetskaya federativnaya sotsialistcheskaya respublika) and 14 soviet socialist republics (sovetskiye sotsialisticheskiye respubliki, singular--sovetskaya sotsialisticheskaya respublika); Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic, Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic*, Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic; note--the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic is often abbreviated RSFSR and Soviet Socialist Republic is often abbreviated SSR
Independence: 1721 (Russian Empire proclaimed)
Constitution: 7 October 1977
Legal system: civil law system as modified by Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Great October Socialist Revolution, 7-8 November (1917)
Executive branch: president
Legislative branch: the Congress of People's Deputies is the supreme organ of USSR state power and selects the bicameral USSR Supreme Soviet (Verkhovnyy Sovyet) which consists of two coequal houses--Council of the Union (Sovet Soyuza) and Council of Nationalities (Sovet Natsionalnostey)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court of the USSR
Leaders: Chief of State--President Mikhail Sergeyevich GORBACHEV (since 14 March 1990; General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party since 11 March 1985);
Head of Government--Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers Nikolay Ivanovich RYZHKOV (since 28 September 1985)
Political parties and leaders: only party--Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), President Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU; note--the CPSU is the only party, but others are forming
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: President--last held 14 March 1990 (next to be held NA 1995); results--Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was elected by the Congress of People's Deputies;
Congress of People's Deputies--last held 12 March 1990 (next to be held NA); results--CPSU is the only party; seats--(2,250 total) CPSU 1,931, non-CPSU 319;
USSR Supreme Soviet--last held NA June 1989 (next to be held NA); results--CPSU is the only party; seats--(542 total) CPSU 475, non-CPSU 67;
Council of the Union--last held Spring 1989 (next to be held NA); results--CPSU is the only party; seats--(271 total) CPSU 239, non-CPSU 32;
Council of Nationalities--last held Spring 1989 (next to be held NA); results--CPSU is the only party; seats--(271 total) CPSU 236, non-CPSU 35
Communists: about 19 million party members
Other political or pressure groups: Komsomol, trade unions, and other organizations that facilitate Communist control; regional popular fronts, informal organizations, and nascent parties with varying attitudes toward the Communist Party establishment
Member of: CEMA, ESCAP, IAEA, IBEC, ICAC, ICAO, ICCO, ICES, ILO, ILZSG, IMO, INRO, INTERPOL, IPU, ISO, ITC, ITU, International Whaling Commission, IWC--International Wheat Council, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, Warsaw Pact, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador-designate Aleksandr BESSMERTNYKH; Chancery at 1125 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202) 628-7551 or 8548; there is a Soviet Consulate General in San Francisco; US--Ambassador Jack F. MATLOCK, Jr.; Embassy at Ulitsa Chaykovskogo 19/21/23, Moscow (mailing address is APO New York 09862); telephone [7] (096) 252-24-51 through 59; there is a US Consulate General in Leningrad
Flag: red with the yellow silhouette of a crossed hammer and sickle below a yellow-edged five-pointed red star in the upper hoist-side corner
- Economy Overview: The first five years of perestroyka (economic restructuring) have undermined the institutions and processes of the Soviet command economy without replacing them with efficiently functioning markets. The initial reforms featured greater authority for enterprise managers over prices, wages, product mix, investment, sources of supply, and customers. But in the absence of effective market discipline, the result was the disappearance of low-price goods, excessive wage increases, an even larger volume of unfinished construction projects, and, in general, continued economic stagnation. The Gorbachev regime has made at least four serious errors in economic policy in these five years: the unpopular and short-lived anti-alcohol campaign; the initial cutback in imports of consumer goods; the failure to act decisively for the privatization of agriculture; and the buildup of a massive overhang of unspent rubles in the hands of households and enterprises. In October 1989, a top economic adviser, Leonid Abalkin presented an ambitious but reasonable timetable for the conversion to a partially privatized market system in the 1990s. In December 1989, however, Premier Ryzhkov's conservative approach prevailed, namely, the contention that a period of retrenchment was necessary to provide a stable financial and legislative base for launching further reforms. Accordingly, the new strategy was to put the reform process on hold in 1990-92 by recentralizing economic authority and to placate the rank-and-file through sharp increases in consumer goods output. In still another policy twist, the leadership in early 1990 was considering a marked speedup in the marketization process. Because the economy is caught in between two systems, there was in 1989 an even greater mismatch between what was produced and what would serve the best interests of enterprises and households. Meanwhile, the seething nationality problems have been dislocating regional patterns of economic specialization and pose a further major threat to growth prospects over the next few years.
GNP: $2,659.5 billion, per capita $9,211; real growth rate 1.4% (1989 est. based on Soviet statistics; cutbacks in Soviet reporting on products included in sample make the estimate subject to greater uncertainty than in earlier years)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: officially, no unemployment
Budget: revenues $622 billion; expenditures $781 billion, including capital expenditures of $119 billion (1989 est.)
Exports: $110.7 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, metals, wood, agricultural products, and a wide variety of manufactured goods (primarily capital goods and arms); partners--Eastern Europe 49%, EC 14%, Cuba 5%, US, Afghanistan (1988)
Imports: $107.3 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--grain and other agricultural products, machinery and equipment, steel products (including large-diameter pipe), consumer manufactures; partners--Eastern Europe 54%, EC 11%, Cuba, China, US (1988)
External debt: $27.3 billion (1988)
Industrial production: growth rate 0.2% (1989 est.)
Electricity: 355,000,000 kW capacity; 1,790,000 million kWh produced, 6,150 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: diversified, highly developed capital goods and defense industries; consumer goods industries comparatively less developed
Agriculture: accounts for roughly 20% of GNP and labor force; production based on large collective and state farms; inefficiently managed; wide range of temperate crops and livestock produced; world's second-largest grain producer after the US; shortages of grain, oilseeds, and meat; world's leading producer of sawnwood and roundwood; annual fish catch among the world's largest--11.2 million metric tons (1987)
Illicit drugs: illegal producer of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for domestic consumption; government has begun eradication program to control cultivation; used as a transshipment country
Aid: donor--extended to non-Communist less developed countries (1954-88), $47.4 billion; extended to other Communist countries (1954-88), $147.6 billion
Currency: ruble (plural--rubles); 1 ruble (R) = 100 kopeks
Exchange rates: rubles (R) per US$1--0.600 (February 1990), 0.629 (1989), 0.629 (1988), 0.633 (1987), 0.704 (1986), 0.838 (1985); note--the exchange rate is administratively set and should not be used indiscriminately to convert domestic rubles to dollars; on 1 November 1989 the USSR began using a rate of 6.26 rubles to the dollar for Western tourists buying rubles and for Soviets traveling abroad, but retained the official exchange rate for most trade transactions
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 146,100 km total; 51,700 km electrified; does not include industrial lines (1987)
Highways: 1,609,900 km total; 1,196,000 km hard-surfaced (asphalt, concrete, stone block, asphalt treated, gravel, crushed stone); 413,900 km earth (1987)
Inland waterways: 122,500 km navigable, exclusive of Caspian Sea (1987)
Pipelines: 81,500 km crude oil and refined products; 195,000 km natural gas (1987)
Ports: Leningrad, Riga, Tallinn, Kaliningrad, Liepaja, Ventspils, Murmansk, Arkhangel'sk, Odessa, Novorossiysk, Il'ichevsk, Nikolayev, Sevastopol', Vladivostok, Nakhodka; inland ports are Astrakhan', Baku, Gor'kiy, Kazan', Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kuybyshev, Moscow, Rostov, Volgograd, Kiev
Merchant marine: 1,646 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,436,063 GRT/22,732,215 DWT; includes 53 passenger, 937 cargo, 52 container, 11 barge carrier, 5 roll-on/float off cargo, 5 railcar carrier, 108 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 251 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 11 liquefied gas, 21 combination ore/oil, 4 specialized liquid carrier, 17 chemical tanker, 171 bulk; note--639 merchant ships are based in Black Sea, 383 in Baltic Sea, 408 in Soviet Far East, and 216 in Barents Sea and White Sea; the Soviet Ministry of Merchant Marine is beginning to use foreign registries for its merchant ships to increase the economic competitiveness of the fleet in the international market--the first reregistered ships have gone to the Cypriot flag
Civil air: 4,500 major transport aircraft
Airports: 6,950 total, 4,530 usable; 1,050 with permanent-surface runways; 30 with runways over 3,659 m; 490 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 660 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: extensive network of AM-FM stations broadcasting both Moscow and regional programs; main TV centers in Moscow and Leningrad plus 11 more in the Soviet republics; hundreds of TV stations; 85,000,000 TV sets; 162,000,000 radio receivers; many satellite earth stations and extensive satellite networks (including 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth stations)
- Defense Forces Branches: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Defense Forces, Air Forces, Strategic Rocket Forces
Military manpower: males 15-49, 69,634,893; 55,588,743 fit for military service; 2,300,127 million reach military age (18) annually (down somewhat from 2,500,000 a decade ago)
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Spain - Geography Total area: 504,750 km2; land area: 499,400 km2; includes Balaeric Islands, Canary Islands, Ceuta, Mellila, Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera
Comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of Oregon
Land boundaries: 1,903.2 km total; Andorra 65 km, France 623 km, Gibraltar 1.2 km, Portugal 1,214 km
Coastline: 4,964 km
Maritime claims:
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: Gibraltar question with UK; controls two presidios or places of sovereignty (Ceuta and Melilla) on the north coast of Morocco
Climate: temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast
Terrain: large, flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees in north
Natural resources: coal, lignite, iron ore, uranium, mercury, pyrites, fluorspar, gypsum, zinc, lead, tungsten, copper, kaolin, potash, hydropower
Land use: 31% arable land; 10% permanent crops; 21% meadows and pastures; 31% forest and woodland; 7% other; includes 6% irrigated
Environment: deforestation; air pollution
Note: strategic location along approaches to Strait of Gibraltar
- People Population: 39,268,715 (July 1990), growth rate 0.3% (1990)
Birth rate: 11 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 75 years male, 82 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Spaniard(s); adjective--Spanish
Ethnic divisions: composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types
Religion: 99% Roman Catholic, 1% other sects
Language: Castilian Spanish; second languages include 17% Catalan, 7% Galician, and 2% Basque
Literacy: 97%
Labor force: 14,621,000; 53% services, 24% industry, 14% agriculture, 9% construction (1988)
Organized labor: less 10% of labor force (1988)
- Government Long-form name: Kingdom of Spain
Type: parliamentary monarchy
Capital: Madrid
Administrative divisions: 17 autonomous communities (comunidades autonomas, singular--comunidad autonoma); Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias, Canarias, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Cataluna, Extremadura, Galicia, Islas Baleares, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, Pais Vasco, Valenciana
Independence: 1492 (expulsion of the Moors and unification)
Constitution: 6 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978
Legal system: civil law system, with regional applications; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: National Day, 12 October
Executive branch: monarch, president of the government (prime minister), deputy prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet), Council of State
Legislative branch: bicameral The General Courts or National Assembly (Las Cortes Generales) consists of an upper house or Senate (Senado) and a lower house or Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo)
Leaders: Chief of State--King JUAN CARLOS I (since 22 November 1975);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Felipe GONZALEZ Marquez (since 2 December 1982); Deputy Prime Minister Alfonso GUERRA Gonzalez (since 2 December 1982)
Political parties and leaders: principal national parties, from right to left--Popular Party (PP), Jose Maria Aznar; Popular Democratic Party (PDP), Luis de Grandes; Social Democratic Center (CDS), Adolfo Suarez Gonzalez; Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), Felipe Gonzalez Marquez; Spanish Communist Party (PCE), Julio Anguita; chief regional parties--Convergence and Unity (CiU), Jordi Pujol Saley, in Catalonia; Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), Xabier Arzallus; Basque Solidarity (EA), Carlos Garaicoetxea Urizza; Basque Popular Unity (HB), Jon Idigoras; Basque Left (EE), Juan Maria Bandries Molet; Andalusian Party (PA); Independent Canary Group (AIC); Aragon Regional Party (PAR); Valencian Union (UV)
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: The Courts General--last held 29 October 1989 (next to be held October 1993); results--PSOE 39.6%, PP 25.8%, CDS 9%, Communist-led coalition (IU) 9%, CiU 5%, Basque Nationalist Party 1.2%, HB 1%, Andalusian Party 1%, others 8.4%; seats--(350 total, 18 vacant pending new elections caused by voting irregularities) PSOE 176, PP 106, CiU 18, IU 17, CDS 14, PNV 5, HB 4, others 10
Communists: PCE membership declined from a possible high of 160,000 in 1977 to roughly 60,000 in 1987; the party gained almost 1 million voters and 10 deputies in the 1989 election; voters came mostly from the disgruntled socialist left; remaining strength is in labor, where it dominates the Workers Commissions trade union (one of the country's two major labor centrals), which claims a membership of about 1 million; experienced a modest recovery in 1986 national election, nearly doubling the share of the vote it received in 1982
Other political or pressure groups: on the extreme left, the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) and the First of October Antifascist Resistance Group (GRAPO) use terrorism to oppose the government; free labor unions (authorized in April 1977) include the Communist-dominated Workers Commissions (CCOO); the Socialist General Union of Workers (UGT), and the smaller independent Workers Syndical Union (USO); the Catholic Church; business and landowning interests; Opus Dei; university students
Member of: Andean Pact (observer), ASSIMER, CCC, Council of Europe, EC, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, ITC, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Julian SANTAMARIA; Chancery at 2700 15th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 265-0190 or 0191; there are Spanish Consulates General in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico); US--Ambassador Joseph ZAPPALA; Embassy at Serrano 75, Madrid 6 (mailing address is APO New York 09285); telephone [34] (1) 276-3400 or 3600; there is a US Consulate General in Barcelona and a Consulate in Bilbao
Flag: three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width), and red with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band; the coat of arms includes the royal seal framed by the Pillars of Hercules which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar
- Economy Overview: This Western capitalistic economy has done well since Spain joined the European Economic Community in 1986. With increases in real GNP of 5.5% in 1987 and about 5% in 1988 and 1989, Spain has been the fastest growing member of the EC. Increased investment--both domestic and foreign--has been the most important factor pushing the economic expansion. Inflation moderated to 4.8% in 1988, but an overheated economy caused inflation to reach an estimated 7% in 1989. Another economic problem facing Spain is an unemployment rate of 16.5%, the highest in Europe.
GNP: $398.7 billion, per capita $10,100; real growth rate 4.8% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.0% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 16.5% (1989 est.)
Budget: revenues $57.8 billion; expenditures $66.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $10.4 billion (1987)
Exports: $40.2 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--foodstuffs, live animals, wood, footwear, machinery, chemicals; partners--EC 66%, US 8%, other developed countries 9%
Imports: $60.4 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--petroleum, footwear, machinery, chemicals, grain, soybeans, coffee, tobacco, iron and steel, timber, cotton, transport equipment; partners--EC 57%, US 9%, other developed countries 13%, Middle East 3%
External debt: $32.7 billion (1988)
Industrial production: growth rate 3.0% (1988)
Electricity: 46,589,000 kW capacity; 157,040 million kWh produced, 3,980 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools
Agriculture: accounts for 5% of GNP and 14% of labor force; major products--grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus fruit, beef, pork, poultry, dairy; largely self-sufficient in food; fish catch of 1.4 million metric tons among top 20 nations
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $1.9 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-79), $545.0 million
Currency: peseta (plural--pesetas); 1 peseta (Pta) = 100 centimos
Exchange rates: pesetas (Ptas) per US$1--109.69 (January 1990), 118.38 (1989), 116.49 (1988), 123.48 (1987), 140.05 (1986), 170.04 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 15,430 km total; Spanish National Railways (RENFE) operates 12,691 km 1.668-meter gauge, 6,184 km electrified, and 2,295 km double track; FEVE (government-owned narrow-gauge railways) operates 1,821 km of predominantly 1.000-meter gauge and 441 km electrified; privately owned railways operate 918 km of predominantly 1.000-meter gauge, 512 km electrified, and 56 km double track
Highways: 150,839 km total; 82,513 km national (includes 2,433 km limited-access divided highway, 63,042 km bituminous treated, 17,038 km intermediate bituminous, concrete, or stone block) and 68,326 km provincial or local roads (bituminous treated, intermediate bituminous, or stone block)
Inland waterways: 1,045 km, but of minor economic importance
Pipelines: 265 km crude oil; 1,794 km refined products; 1,666 km natural gas
Ports: Algeciras, Alicante, Almeria, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cadiz, Cartagena, Castellon de la Plana, Ceuta, El Ferrol del Caudillo, Puerto de Gijon, Huelva, La Coruna, Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Mahon, Malaga, Melilla, Rota, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Sagunto, Tarragona, Valencia, Vigo, and 175 minor ports
Merchant marine: 324 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,492,563 GRT/6,128,190 DWT; includes 2 passenger, 9 short-sea passenger, 121 cargo, 19 refrigerated cargo, 17 container, 23 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 51 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 16 chemical tanker, 10 liquefied gas, 1 specialized tanker, 1 combination ore/oil, 49 bulk, 5 vehicle carrier
Civil air: 142 major transport aircraft
Airports: 110 total, 103 usable; 62 with permanent-surface runways; 4 with runways over 3,659 m; 20 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 29 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: generally adequate, modern facilities; 15,310,000 telephones; stations--196 AM, 404 (134 relays) FM, 143 (1,297 relays) TV; 17 coaxial submarine cables; communications satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT (5 Atlantic Ocean, 1 Indian Ocean), MARISAT, and ENTELSAT systems
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 10,032,649; 8,141,384 fit for military service; 338,582 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: 2.1% of GDP, or $8.4 billion (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Spratly Islands - Geography Total area: less than 5 km2; land area: less than 5 km2; includes 100 or so islets, coral reefs, and sea mounts scattered over the South China Sea
Comparative area: undetermined
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 926 km
Maritime claims: undetermined
Disputes: China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam claim all or part of the Spratly Islands
Climate: tropical
Terrain: flat
Natural resources: fish, guano; oil and natural gas potential
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other
Environment: subject to typhoons; includes numerous small islands, atolls, shoals, and coral reefs
Note: strategically located near several primary shipping lanes in the central South China Sea; serious navigational hazard
- People Population: no permanent inhabitants; garrisons
- Government Long-form name: none
- Economy Overview: Economic activity is limited to commercial fishing and phosphate mining. Geological surveys carried out several years ago suggest that substantial reserves of oil and natural gas may lie beneath the islands; commercial exploitation has yet to be developed.
Industries: some guano mining
- Communications Airports: 3 total, 2 usable; none with runways over 2,439 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Ports: none; offshore anchorage only
- Defense Forces Note: approximately 50 small islands or reefs are occupied by China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Sri Lanka - Geography Total area: 65,610 km2; land area: 64,740 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than West Virginia
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 1,340 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; monsoonal; northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest monsoon (June to October)
Terrain: mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in south-central interior
Natural resources: limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems, phosphates, clay
Land use: 16% arable land; 17% permanent crops; 7% meadows and pastures; 37% forest and woodland; 23% other; includes 8% irrigated
Environment: occasional cyclones, tornados; deforestation; soil erosion
Note: only 29 km from India across the Palk Strait; near major Indian Ocean sea lanes
- People Population: 17,196,436 (July 1990), growth rate 1.5% (1990)
Birth rate: 21 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 31 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 72 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 2.3 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Sri Lankan(s); adjective--Sri Lankan
Ethnic divisions: 74% Sinhalese; 18% Tamil; 7% Moor; 1% Burgher, Malay, and Veddha
Religion: 69% Buddhist, 15% Hindu, 8% Christian, 8% Muslim
Language: Sinhala (official); Sinhala and Tamil listed as national languages; Sinhala spoken by about 74% of population, Tamil spoken by about 18%; English commonly used in government and spoken by about 10% of the population
Literacy: 87%
Labor force: 6,600,000; 45.9% agriculture, 13.3% mining and manufacturing, 12.4% trade and transport, 28.4% services and other (1985 est.)
Organized labor: about 33% of labor force, over 50% of which are employed on tea, rubber, and coconut estates
- Government Long-form name: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Type: republic
Capital: Colombo
Administrative divisions: 24 districts; Amparai, Anuradhapura, Badulla, Batticaloa, Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Hambantota, Jaffna, Kalutara, Kandy, Kegalla, Kurunegala, Mannar, Matale, Matara, Moneragala, Mullativu, Nuwara Eliya, Polonnaruwa, Puttalam, Ratnapura, Trincomalee, Vavuniya; note--the administrative structure may now include 8 provinces (Central, North Central, North Eastern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, and Western) and 25 districts (with Kilinochchi added to the existing districts)
Independence: 4 February 1948 (from UK; formerly Ceylon)
Constitution: 31 August 1978
Legal system: a highly complex mixture of English common law, Roman-Dutch, Muslim, and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence and National Day, 4 February (1948)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State--President Ranasinghe PREMADASA (since 2 January 1989);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Dingiri Banda WIJETUNGE (since 6 March 1989)
Political parties and leaders: United National Party (UNP), Ranasinghe Premadasa; Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Sirimavo Bandaranaike; Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), Mhm. Ashraff; All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), Kumar Ponnambalam; Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP, or People's United Front), Dinesh Gundawardene; Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP, or Sri Lanka People's Party), Chandrika Baudaranaike Kumaranatunga; Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP, Lanka Socialist Party/Trotskyite), Colin R. de Silva; Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP, or New Socialist Party), Vasudeva Nanayakkara; Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), leader NA; Communist Party/Moscow (CP/M), K. P. Silva; Communist Party/Beijing (CP/B), N. Shanmugathasan
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: President--last held 19 December 1988 (next to be held December 1994); results--Ranasinghe Premadasa (UNP) 50%, Sirimavo Bandaranaike (SLFP) 45%, others 5%;
Parliament--last held 15 February 1989 (next to be held by February 1995); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(225 total) UNP 125, SLFP 67, others 33
Other political or pressure groups: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and other smaller Tamil separatist groups; Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP or People's Liberation Front); Buddhist clergy; Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups; labor unions
Member of: ADB, ANRPC, CCC, Colombo Plan, Commonwealth, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, NAM, SAARC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador W. Susanta De ALWIS; Chancery at 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 483-4025 through 4028; there is a Sri Lankan Consulate in New York; US--Ambassador Marion V. CREEKMORE; Embassy at 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3 (mailing address is P. O. Box 106, Colombo); telephone [94] (1) 548007
Flag: yellow with two panels; the smaller hoist-side panel has two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and orange; the other panel is a large dark red rectangle with a yellow lion holding a sword and there is a yellow bo leaf in each corner; the yellow field appears as a border that goes around the entire flag and extends between the two panels
- Economy Overview: Agriculture, forestry, and fishing dominate the economy, employing about half of the labor force and accounting for about 25% of GDP. The plantation crops of tea, rubber, and coconuts provide about 50% of export earnings and almost 20% of budgetary revenues. The economy has been plagued by high rates of unemployment since the late 1970s.
GDP: $6.1 billion, per capita $370; real growth rate 2.7% (1988)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 15% (1988)
Unemployment rate: 20% (1988 est.)
Budget: revenues $1.5 billion; expenditures $2.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $0.7 billion (1989)
Exports: $1.5 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--tea, textiles and garments, petroleum products, coconut, rubber, agricultural products, gems and jewelry, marine products; partners--US 26%, Egypt, Iraq, UK, FRG, Singapore, Japan
Imports: $2.3 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--petroleum, machinery and equipment, textiles and textile materials, wheat, transportation equipment, electrical machinery, sugar, rice; partners--Japan, Saudi Arabia, US 5.6%, India, Singapore, FRG, UK, Iran
External debt: $5.6 billion (1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 5% (1988)
Electricity: 1,300,000 kW capacity; 4,200 million kWh produced, 250 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other agricultural commodities; cement, petroleum refining, textiles, tobacco, clothing
Agriculture: accounts for 25% of GDP and nearly half of labor force; most important staple crop is paddy rice; other field crops--sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseeds, roots, spices; cash crops--tea, rubber, coconuts; animal products--milk, eggs, hides, meat; not self-sufficient in rice production
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $932 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1980-87), $4.3 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $169 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $369 million
Currency: Sri Lankan rupee (plural--rupees); 1 Sri Lankan rupee (SLRe) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Sri Lankan rupees (SLRs) per US$1--40.000 (January 1990), 36.047 (1989), 31.807 (1988), 29.445 (1987), 28.017 (1986), 27.163 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 1,868 km total (1985); all 1.868-meter broad gauge; 102 km double track; no electrification; government owned
Highways: 66,176 km total (1985); 24,300 km paved (mostly bituminous treated), 28,916 km crushed stone or gravel, 12,960 km improved earth or unimproved earth; several thousand km of mostly unmotorable tracks
Inland waterways: 430 km; navigable by shallow-draft craft
Pipelines: crude and refined products, 62 km (1987)
Ports: Colombo, Trincomalee
Merchant marine: 40 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 258,923 GRT/334,702 DWT; includes 22 cargo, 8 refrigerated cargo, 4 container, 1 livestock carrier, 2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 3 bulk
Civil air: 8 major transport (including 1 leased)
Airports: 14 total, 13 usable; 12 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 7 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: good international service; 109,900 telephones (1982); stations--12 AM, 5 FM, 1 TV; submarine cables extend to Indonesia, Djibouti, India; 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Air Force, Navy, Police Force, Special Police Task Force, National Auxiliary Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 4,568,648; 3,574,637 fit for military service; 177,610 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: 5% of GDP, or $300 million (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Sudan - Geography Total area: 2,505,810 km2; land area: 2,376,000 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than one quarter the size of US
Land boundaries: 7,697 km total; Central African Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km, Egypt 1,273 km, Ethiopia 2,221 km, Kenya 232 km, Libya 383 km, Uganda 435 km, Zaire 628 km
Coastline: 853 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 18 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: international boundary and Administrative Boundary with Kenya; international boundary and Administrative Boundary with Egypt
Climate: tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season (April to October)
Terrain: generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in east and west
Natural resources: modest reserves of crude oil, iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, crude oil
Land use: 5% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 24% meadows and pastures; 20% forest and woodland; 51% other; includes 1% irrigated
Environment: dominated by the Nile and its tributaries; dust storms; desertification
Note: largest country in Africa
- People Population: 24,971,806 (July 1990), growth rate 2.9% (1990)
Birth rate: 44 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 14 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 107 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 51 years male, 55 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 6.5 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Sudanese (sing. and pl.); adjective--Sudanese
Ethnic divisions: 52% black, 39% Arab, 6% Beja, 2% foreigners, 1% other
Religion: 70% Sunni Muslim (in north), 20% indigenous beliefs, 5% Christian (mostly in south and Khartoum)
Language: Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, and Sudanic languages, English; program of Arabization in process
Literacy: 31% (1986)
Labor force: 6,500,000; 80% agriculture, 10% industry and commerce, 6% government; labor shortages for almost all categories of skilled employment (1983 est.); 52% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor: trade unions suspended following 30 June 1989 coup; now in process of being legalized anew
- Government Long-form name: Republic of the Sudan
Type: military; civilian government suspended and martial law imposed after 30 June 1989 coup
Capital: Khartoum
Administrative divisions: 9 regions (aqalim, singular--iqlim); Aali an Nil, Al Awsat, Al Istiwai, Al Khartum, Ash Shamali, Ash Sharqi, Bahr al Ghazal, Darfur, Kurdufan
Independence: 1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK; formerly Anglo-Egyptian Sudan)
Constitution: 12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April 1985; interim constitution of 10 October 1985 suspended following coup of 30 June 1989
Legal system: based on English common law and Islamic law; in September 1983 then President Nimeiri declared the penal code would conform to Islamic law; some separate religious courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Independence Day, 1 January (1956)
Executive branch: executive and legislative authority vested in a 15-member Revolutionary Command Council (RCC); chairman of the RCC acts as prime minister; in July 1989 RCC appointed a predominately civilian 22-member cabinet to function as advisers
Legislative branch: none
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Special Revolutionary Courts
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--Revolutionary Command Council Chairman and Prime Minister Brig. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR (since 30 June 1989); Deputy Chairman of the Command Council and Deputy Prime Minister Brig. Gen. al-Zubayr Muhammad SALIH (since 9 July 1989)
Political parties and leaders: none; banned following 30 June 1989 coup
Suffrage: none
Elections: none
Member of: ACP, AfDB, APC, Arab League, CCC, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abdallah Ahmad ABDALLAH; Chancery at 2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 338-8565 through 8570; there is a Sudanese Consulate General in New York; US--Ambassador James CHEEK; Embassy at Shar'ia Ali Abdul Latif, Khartoum (mailing address is P. O. Box 699, Khartoum, or APO New York 09668); telephone 74700 or 75680, 74611
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist side
- Economy Overview: Sudan, one of the world's poorest countries, is buffeted by civil war, chronic political instability, adverse weather, and counterproductive economic policies. The economy is dominated by governmental entities that account for more than 70% of new investment. The private sector's main areas of activity are agriculture and trading, with most private industrial investment predating 1980. The economy's base is agriculture, which employs 80% of the work force. Industry mainly processes agricultural items. A high foreign debt and arrearages of about $13 billion continue to cause difficulties. Since 1979 the International Monetary Fund has provided assistance and has forced Sudan to make economic reforms aimed at improving the performance of the economy.
GDP: $8.5 billion, per capita $340 (FY87); real growth rate 7.0% (FY89 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 70% (FY89)
Unemployment rate: NA
Budget: revenues $514 million; expenditures $1.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $183 million (FY89 est.)
Exports: $550 million (f.o.b., FY89 est.); commodities--cotton 43%, sesame, gum arabic, peanuts; partners--Western Europe 46%, Saudi Arabia 14%, Eastern Europe 9%, Japan 9%, US 3% (FY88)
Imports: $1.2 billion (c.i.f., FY89 est.); commodities--petroleum products, manufactured goods, machinery and equipment, medicines and chemicals; partners--Western Europe 32%, Africa and Asia 15%, US 13%, Eastern Europe 3% (FY88)
External debt: $11.6 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate - 1.7% (FY89 est.)
Electricity: 606,000 kW capacity; 900 million kWh produced, 37 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar, soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining
Agriculture: accounts for 35% of GNP and 80% of labor force; untapped potential for higher farm production; two-thirds of land area suitable for raising crops and livestock; major products--cotton, oilseeds, sorghum, millet, wheat, gum arabic, sheep; marginally self-sufficient in most foods
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $1.4 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $4.4 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $3.1 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $588 million
Currency: Sudanese pound (plural--pounds); 1 Sudanese pound (LSd) = 100 piasters
Exchange rates: official rate--Sudanese pounds (LSd) per US$1--4.5004 (fixed rate since 1987), 2.8121 (1987), 2.5000 (1986), 2.2883 (1985); note--commercial exchange rate is set daily, 12.2 (March 1990)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
- Communications Railroads: 5,500 km total; 4,784 km 1.067-meter gauge, 716 km 1.6096-meter-gauge plantation line
Highways: 20,000 km total; 1,600 km bituminous treated, 3,700 km gravel, 2,301 km improved earth, 12,399 km unimproved earth and track
Inland waterways: 5,310 km navigable
Pipelines: refined products, 815 km
Ports: Port Sudan, Suakin
Merchant marine: 10 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 91,107 GRT/122,222 DWT; includes 8 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo
Civil air: 14 major transport aircraft
Airports: 78 total, 68 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 31 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: large, well-equipped system by African standards, but barely adequate and poorly maintained; consists of radio relay, cables, radio communications, and troposcatter; domestic satellite system with 14 stations; 73,400 telephones; stations--4 AM, 1 FM, 2 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 ARABSAT
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 5,621,469; 3,437,004 fit for military service; 273,011 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: 7.2% of GDP, or $610 million (1989 est) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Suriname - Geography Total area: 163,270 km2; land area: 161,470 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Georgia
Land boundaries: 1,707 km total; Brazil 597 km, French Guiana 510 km, Guyana 600 km
Coastline: 386 km
Maritime claims:
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: claims area in French Guiana between Litani Rivier and Riviere Marouini (both headwaters of the Lawa); claims area in Guyana between New (Upper Courantyne) and Courantyne/Kutari Rivers (all headwaters of the Courantyne)
Climate: tropical; moderated by trade winds
Terrain: mostly rolling hills; narrow coastal plain with swamps
Natural resources: timber, hydropower potential, fish, shrimp, bauxite, iron ore, and modest amounts of nickel, copper, platinum, gold
Land use: NEGL% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; NEGL% meadows and pastures; 97% forest and woodland; 3% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: mostly tropical rain forest
- People Population: 396,813 (July 1990), growth rate 1.4% (1990)
Birth rate: 27 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 7 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 40 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 66 years male, 71 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 2.9 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Surinamer(s); adjective--Surinamese
Ethnic divisions: 37.0% Hindustani (East Indian), 31.0% Creole (black and mixed), 15.3% Javanese, 10.3% Bush black, 2.6% Amerindian, 1.7% Chinese, 1.0% Europeans, 1.1% other
Religion: 27.4% Hindu, 19.6% Muslim, 22.8% Roman Catholic, 25.2% Protestant (predominantly Moravian), about 5% indigenous beliefs
Language: Dutch (official); English widely spoken; Sranan Tongo (Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki) is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca among others; also Hindi Suriname Hindustani (a variant of Bhoqpuri), and Javanese
Literacy: 65%
Labor force: 104,000 (1984)
Organized labor: 49,000 members of labor force
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Suriname
Type: republic
Capital: Paramaribo
Administrative divisions: 10 districts (distrikten, singular--distrikt); Brokopondo, Commewijne, Coronie, Marowijne, Nickerie, Para, Paramaribo, Saramacca, Sipaliwini, Wanica
Independence: 25 November 1975 (from Netherlands; formerly Netherlands Guiana or Dutch Guiana)
Constitution: ratified 30 September 1987
Legal system: NA
National holiday: Independence Day, 25 November (1975)
Executive branch: president, vice president and prime minister, Cabinet of Ministers, Council of State; note--commander in chief of the National Army maintains significant power
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Ramsewak SHANKAR (since 25 January 1988); Vice President and Prime Minister Henck Alfonsus Eugene ARRON (since 25 January 1988)
Political parties and leaders: 25 February Movement established by Lt. Col. Desire Bouterse in November 1983, but much of its activity taken over by New Democratic Party (NDP) in May 1987; leftists (all small groups)--Revolutionary People's Party (RVP), Michael Naarendorp; Progressive Workers and Farmers (PALU), Iwan Krolis; traditional parties--Progressive Reform Party (VHP), Jaggernath Lachmon; National Party of Suriname (NPS), Henck Arron; Indonesian Peasants Party (KTPI), Willy Soemita; the VHP, NPS, and KTPI formed a coalition known as The Front in July 1987 that overwhelmingly defeated the NDP in the November 1987 elections
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: National Assembly--last held 25 November 1987 (next to be held November 1992); results--The Front 80%, others 20%; seats--(51 total) The Front 40, NDP 3, PALU 4, Pendawa Llwa 4
Member of: ACP, ECLA, FAO, GATT, G-77, IBA, IBRD, ICAO, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Willem A. UDENHOUT; Chancery at Suite 108, 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 244-7488 or 7490 through 7492; there is a Surinamese Consulate General in Miami; US--Ambassador Richard HOWLAND; Embassy at Dr. Sophie Redmonstraat 129, Paramaribo (mailing address is P. O. Box 1821, Paramaribo); telephone [597] 72900 or 76459
Flag: five horizontal bands of green (top, double width), white, red (quadruple width), white, and green (double width); there is a large yellow five-pointed star centered in the red band
- Economy Overview: The economy is dominated by the bauxite industry, which accounts for about 80% of export earnings and 40% of tax revenues. The economy has been in trouble since the Dutch ended development aid in 1982. A drop in world bauxite prices that started in the late 1970s and continued until late 1986, was followed by the outbreak of a guerrilla insurgency in the interior. The guerrillas targeted the economic infrastructure, crippling the important bauxite sector and shutting down other export industries. These problems have created both high inflation and high unemployment. A small gain in economic growth of 3.6% was registered in 1988 due to reduced guerrilla activity and improved international markets for bauxite.
GDP: $1.27 billion, per capita $3,215; real growth rate 3.6% (1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 50% (1988 est.)
Unemployment rate: 27% (1988)
Budget: revenues $466 million; expenditures $716 million, including capital expenditures of $123 million (1989 est.)
Exports: $425 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--alumina, bauxite, aluminum, rice, wood and wood products, shrimp and fish, bananas; partners--Netherlands 28%, US 22%, Norway 18%, Japan 11%, Brazil 10%, UK 4%
Imports: $365 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--capital equipment, petroleum, foodstuffs, cotton, consumer goods; partners--US 34%, Netherlands 20%, Trinidad and Tobago 8%, Brazil 5%, UK 3%
External debt: $65 million (1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate - 3.1% (1986)
Electricity: 458,000 kW capacity; 2,018 million kWh produced, 5,030 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: bauxite mining, alumina and aluminum production, lumbering, food processing, fishing
Agriculture: accounts for 11% of both GDP and labor force; paddy rice planted on 85% of arable land and represents 60% of total farm output; other products--bananas, palm kernels, coconuts, plantains, peanuts, beef, chicken; shrimp and forestry products of increasing importance; self-sufficient in most foods
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-83), $2.5 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.4 billion
Currency: Surinamese guilder, gulden, or florin (plural--guilders, gulden, or florins); 1 Surinamese guilder, gulden, or florin (Sf.) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Surinamese guilders, gulden, or florins (Sf.) per US$1--1.7850 (fixed rate)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 166 km total; 86 km 1.000-meter gauge, government owned, and 80 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; all single track
Highways: 8,300 km total; 500 km paved; 5,400 km bauxite gravel, crushed stone, or improved earth; 2,400 km sand or clay
Inland waterways: 1,200 km; most important means of transport; oceangoing vessels with drafts ranging from 4.2 m to 7 m can navigate many of the principal waterways
Ports: Paramaribo, Moengo
Merchant marine: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,472 GRT/8,914 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 container
Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft
Airports: 47 total, 43 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: international facilities good; domestic radio relay system; 27,500 telephones; stations--5 AM, 14 FM, 6 TV, 1 shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
- Defense Forces Branches: National Army (including Support Battalion, Infantry Battalion, Mechanized Cavalry Unit, Military Police Brigade, Navy which is company-size, small Air Force element)
Military manpower: males 15-49, 105,328; 62,896 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: 7.2% of GDP, or $91 million (1990 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Svalbard (territory of Norway) - Geography Total area: 62,049 km2; land area: 62,049 km2; includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island)
Comparative area: slightly smaller than West Virginia
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 3,587 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 10 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm unilaterally claimed by Norway, not recognized by USSR;
Territorial sea: 4 nm
Disputes: focus of maritime boundary dispute between Norway and USSR
Climate: arctic, tempered by warm North Atlantic Current; cool summers, cold winters; North Atlantic Current flows along west and north coasts of Spitsbergen, keeping water open and navigable most of the year
Terrain: wild, rugged mountains; much of high land ice covered; west coast clear of ice about half the year; fjords along west and north coasts
Natural resources: coal, copper, iron ore, phosphate, zinc, wildlife, fish
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other; there are no trees and the only bushes are crowberry and cloudberry
Environment: great calving glaciers descend to the sea
Note: located 445 km north of Norway where the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea meet
- People Population: 3,942 (July 1990), growth rate NA% (1990); about one-third of the population resides in the Norwegian areas (Longyearbyen and Svea on Vestspitsbergen) and two-thirds in the Soviet areas (Barentsburg and Pyramiden on Vestspitsbergen); about 9 persons live at the Polish research station
Birth rate: NA births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: NA deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: NA migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: NA deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: NA years male, NA years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: NA children born/woman (1990)
Ethnic divisions: 64% Russian, 35% Norwegian, 1% other (1981)
Language: Russian, Norwegian
Literacy: NA%
Labor force: NA
Organized labor: none
- Government Long-form name: none
Type: territory of Norway administered by the Ministry of Industry, Oslo, through a governor (sysselmann) residing in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen; by treaty (9 February 1920) sovereignty was given to Norway
Capital: Longyearbyen
Leaders: Chief of State--King OLAV V (since 21 September 1957);
Head of Government Governor Leif ELDRING (since NA)
Flag: the flag of Norway is used
- Economy Overview: Coal mining is the major economic activity on Svalbard. By treaty (9 February 1920), the nationals of the treaty powers have equal rights to exploit mineral deposits, subject to Norwegian regulation. Although US, UK, Dutch, and Swedish coal companies have mined in the past, the only companies still mining are Norwegian and Soviet. Each company mines about half a million tons of coal annually. The settlements on Svalbard are essentially company towns. The Norwegian state-owned coal company employs nearly 60% of the Norwegian population on the island, runs many of the local services, and provides most of the local infrastructure. There is also some trapping of seal, polar bear, fox, and walrus.
Electricity: 21,000 kW capacity; 45 million kWh produced, 11,420 kWh per capita (1989)
Currency: Norwegian krone (plural--kroner); 1 Norwegian krone (NKr) = 100 ore
Exchange rates: Norwegian kroner (NKr) per US$1--6.5405 (January 1990), 6.9045 (1989), 6.5170 (1988), 6.7375 (1987), 7.3947 (1986), 8.5972 (1985)
- Communications Ports: limited facilities--Ny-Alesund, Advent Bay
Airports: 4 total, 4 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 2,439 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: 5 meteorological/radio stations; stations--1 AM, 1 (2 relays) FM, 1 TV
- Defense Forces Note: demilitarized by treaty (9 February 1920) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Swaziland - Geography Total area: 17,360 km2; land area: 17,200 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than New Jersey
Land boundaries: 535 km total; Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km
Coastline: none--landlocked
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
Climate: varies from tropical to near temperate
Terrain: mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains
Natural resources: asbestos, coal, clay, tin, hydroelelectric power, forests, and small gold and diamond deposits
Land use: 8% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 67% meadows and pastures; 6% forest and woodland; 19% other; includes 2% irrigated
Environment: overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion
Note: landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa
- People Population: 778,525 (July 1990), growth rate 3.1% (1990)
Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 126 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 55 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 6.0 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Swazi(s); adjective--Swazi
Ethnic divisions: 97% African, 3% European
Religion: 60% Christian, 40% indigenous beliefs
Language: English and siSwati (official); government business conducted in English
Literacy: 67.9%
Labor force: 195,000; over 60,000 engaged in subsistence agriculture; about 92,000 wage earners (many only intermittently), with 36% agriculture and forestry, 20% community and social services, 14% manufacturing, 9% construction, 21% other; 24,000-29,000 employed in South Africa (1987)
Organized labor: about 10% of wage earners
- Government Long-form name: Kingdom of Swaziland
Type: monarchy; independent member of Commonwealth
Capital: Mbabane (administrative); Lobamba (legislative)
Administrative divisions: 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni
Independence: 6 September 1968 (from UK)
Constitution: none; constitution of 6 September 1968 was suspended on 12 April 1973; a new constitution was promulgated 13 October 1978, but has not been formally presented to the people
Legal system: based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory courts, Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Somhlolo (Independence) Day, 6 September (1968)
Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Libandla) is advisory and consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Assembly
Judicial branch: High Court, Court of Appeal
Leaders: Chief of State--King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Obed MFANYANA (since 12 July 1989)
Political parties: none; banned by the Constitution promulgated on 13 October 1978
Suffrage: none
Elections: no direct elections
Communists: no Communist party
Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAU, Southern African Customs Union, SADCC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Absalom Vusani MAMBA; Chancery at 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 362-6683; US--Ambassador (vacant), Deputy Chief of Mission Armajane KARAER; Embassy at Central Bank Building, Warner Street, Mbabane (mailing address is P. O. Box 199, Mbabane); telephone 22281 through 22285
Flag: three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in yellow; centered in the red band is a large black and white shield covering two spears and a staff decorated with feather tassels, all placed horizontally
- Economy Overview: The economy is based on subsistence agriculture, which occupies much of the labor force and contributes about 25% to GDP. Manufacturing, which includes a number of agroprocessing factories, accounts for another 25% of GDP. Mining has declined in importance in recent years; high-grade iron ore deposits were depleted in 1978, and health concerns cut world demand for asbestos. Exports of sugar and forestry products are the main earners of hard currency. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa, from which it receives 90% of its imports and to which it sends about one-third of its exports.
GNP: $539 million, per capita $750; real growth rate 5.7% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 17% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $255 million; expenditures $253 million, including capital expenditures of $NA million (FY91 est.)
Exports: $394 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--sugar, asbestos, wood pulp, citrus, canned fruit, soft drink concentrates; partners--South Africa, UK, US
Imports: $386 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, foodstuffs; partners--South Africa, US, UK
External debt: $275 million (December 1987)
Industrial production: growth rate 24% (1986)
Electricity: 50,000 kW capacity; 130 million kWh produced, 170 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: mining (coal and asbestos), wood pulp, sugar
Agriculture: accounts for 25% of GDP and over 60% of labor force; mostly subsistence agriculture; cash crops--sugarcane, citrus fruit, cotton, pineapples; other crops and livestock--corn, sorghum, peanuts, cattle, goats, sheep; not self-sufficient in grain
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $132 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $468 million
Currency: lilangeni (plural--emalangeni); 1 lilangeni (E) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: emalangeni (E) per US$1--2.5555 (January 1990), 2.6166 (1989), 2.2611 (1988), 2.0350 (1987), 2.2685 (1986), 2.1911 (1985); note--the Swazi emalangeni is at par with the South African rand
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
- Communications Railroads: 297 km plus 71 km disused, 1.067-meter gauge, single track
Highways: 2,853 km total; 510 km paved, 1,230 km crushed stone, gravel, or stabilized soil, and 1,113 km improved earth
Civil air: 1 major transport aircraft
Airports: 23 total, 22 usable; 1 with permanent-surfaced runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; none with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: system consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines and low-capacity radio relay links; 15,400 telephones; stations--6 AM, 6 FM, 10 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
- Defense Forces Branches: Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force, Royal Swaziland Police Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 166,537; 96,239 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Sweden - Geography Total area: 449,960 km2; land area: 411,620 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than California
Land boundaries: 2,193 km total; Finland 536 km, Norway 1,657 km
Coastline: 3,218 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly cloudy summers; subarctic in north
Terrain: mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountains in west
Natural resources: zinc, iron ore, lead, copper, silver, timber, uranium, hydropower potential
Land use: 7% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 2% meadows and pastures; 64% forest and woodland; 27% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: water pollution; acid rain
Note: strategic location along Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas
- People Population: 8,526,452 (July 1990), growth rate 0.5% (1990)
Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 3 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 75 years male, 81 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Swede(s); adjective--Swedish
Ethnic divisions: homogeneous white population; small Lappish minority; about 12% foreign born or first-generation immigrants (Finns, Yugoslavs, Danes, Norwegians, Greeks, Turks)
Religion: 93.5% Evangelical Lutheran, 1.0% Roman Catholic, 5.5% other
Language: Swedish, small Lapp- and Finnish-speaking minorities; immigrants speak native languages
Literacy: 99%
Labor force: 4,531,000 (1988); 32.8% private services, 30.0% government services, 22.0% mining and manufacturing, 5.9% construction, 5.0% agriculture, forestry, and fishing, 0.9% electricity, gas, and waterworks (1986)
Organized labor: 90% of labor force (1985 est.)
- Government Long-form name: Kingdom of Sweden
Type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Stockholm
Administrative divisions: 24 provinces (lan, singular and plural); Alvsborgs Lan, Blekinge Lan, Gavleborgs Lan, Goteborgs och Bohus Lan, Gotlands Lan, Hallands Lan, Jamtlands Lan, Jonkopings Lan, Kalmar Lan, Kopparbergs Lan, Kristianstads Lan, Kronobergs Lan, Malmohus Lan, Norrbottens Lan, Orebro Lan, Ostergotlands Lan, Skaraborgs Lan, Sodermanlands Lan, Stockholms Lan, Uppsala Lan, Varmlands Lan, Vasterbottens Lan, Vasternorrlands Lan, Vastmanlands Lan
Independence: 6 June 1809, constitutional monarchy established
Constitution: 1 January 1975
Legal system: civil law system influenced by customary law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Day of the Swedish Flag, 6 June
Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (Riksdag)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Hogsta Domstolen)
Leaders: Chief of State--King CARL XVI Gustaf (since 19 September 1973); Heir Apparent Princess VICTORIA Ingrid Alice Desiree, daughter of the King (born 14 July 1977);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Ingvar CARLSSON (since 12 March 1986); Deputy Prime Minister Kjell-Olof FELDT (since NA March 1986)
Political parties and leaders: Moderate (conservative), Carl Bildt; Center, Olof Johansson; Liberal People's Party, Bengt Westerberg; Social Democratic, Ingvar Carlsson; Left Party-Communist (VPK), Lars Werner; Swedish Communist Party (SKP), Rune Pettersson; Communist Workers' Party, Rolf Hagel; Green Party, no formal leader
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: Parliament--last held 18 September 1988 (next to be held September 1991); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(349 total) Social Democratic 156, Moderate (conservative) 66, Liberals 44, Center 42, Communists 21, Greens 20
Communists: VPK and SKP; VPK, the major Communist party, is reported to have roughly 17,800 members; in the 1988 election, the VPK attracted 5.8% of the vote
Member of: ADB, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EFTA, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, INTELSAT, IPU, ISO, ITU, IWC--International, Whaling Commission, IWC--International Wheat Council, Nordic Council, OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Anders THUNBORG; Chancery at Suite 1200, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037; telephone (202) 944-5600; there are Swedish Consulates General in Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and New York; US--Ambassador Charles E. REDMAN; Embassy at Strandvagen 101, S-115 27 Stockholm; telephone [46] (8) 7835300
Flag: blue with a yellow cross that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag)
- Economy Overview: Aided by a long period of peace and neutrality during World War I through World War II, Sweden has achieved an enviable standard of living under a mixed system of high-tech capitalism and extensive welfare benefits. It has essentially full employment, a modern distribution system, excellent internal and external communications, and a skilled and intelligent labor force. Timber, hydropower, and iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy that is heavily oriented toward foreign trade. Privately owned firms account for about 90% of industrial output, of which the engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports. As the 1990s open, however, Sweden faces serious economic problems: long waits for adequate housing, the decay of the work ethic, and a loss of competitive edge in international markets.
GDP: $132.7 billion, per capita $15,700; real growth rate 2.1% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.7% (September 1989)
Unemployment rate: 1.5% (1989)
Budget: revenues $58.0 billion; expenditures $57.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY89)
Exports: $52.2 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities--machinery, motor vehicles, paper products, pulp and wood, iron and steel products, chemicals, petroleum and petroleum products; partners--EC 52.1%, (FRG 12.1%, UK 11.2%, Denmark 6.8%), US 9.8%, Norway 9.3%
Imports: $48.5 billion (c.i.f., 1989 est.); commodities--machinery, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, motor vehicles, foodstuffs, iron and steel, clothing; partners--EC 55.8% (FRG 21.2%, UK 8.6%, Denmark 6.6%), US 7.5%, Norway 6.0%
External debt: $17.9 billion (1988)
Industrial production: growth rate 3.3% (1989)
Electricity: 39,716,000 kW capacity; 200,315 million kWh produced, 23,840 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: iron and steel, precision equipment (bearings, radio and telephone parts, armaments), wood pulp and paper products, processed foods, motor vehicles
Agriculture: animal husbandry predominates, with milk and dairy products accounting for 37% of farm income; main crops--grains, sugar beets, potatoes; 100% self-sufficient in grains and potatoes, 85% self-sufficient in sugar beets
Aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $7.9 billion
Currency: Swedish krona (plural--kronor); 1 Swedish krona (SKr) = 100 ore
Exchange rates: Swedish kronor (SKr) per US$1--6.1798 (January 1990), 6.4469 (1989), 6.1272 (1988), 6.3404 (1987), 7.1236 (1986), 8.6039 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
- Communications Railroads: 12,000 km total; Swedish State Railways (SJ)--10,819 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 6,955 km electrified and 1,152 km double track; 182 km 0.891-meter gauge; 117 km rail ferry service; privately owned railways--511 km 1.435-meter standard gauge (332 km electrified); 371 km 0.891-meter gauge (all electrified)
Highways: 97,400 km (51,899 km paved, 20,659 km gravel, 24,842 km unimproved earth)
Inland waterways: 2,052 km navigable for small steamers and barges
Pipelines: 84 km natural gas
Ports: Gavle, Goteborg, Halmstad, Helsingborg, Kalmar, Malmo, Stockholm; numerous secondary and minor ports
Merchant marine: 173 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,856,217 GRT/2,215,659 DWT; includes 9 short-sea passenger, 29 cargo, 3 container, 42 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 11 vehicle carrier, 2 railcar carrier, 27 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 25 chemical tanker, 1 liquefied gas, 5 combination ore/oil, 6 specialized tanker, 12 bulk, 1 combination bulk
Civil air: 65 major transports
Airports: 259 total, 256 usable; 138 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 11 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 91 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: excellent domestic and international facilities; 8,200,000 telephones; stations--4 AM, 56 (320 relays) FM, 110 (925 relays) TV; 5 submarine coaxial cables; communication satellite earth stations operating in the INTELSAT (1 Atlantic Ocean) and EUTELSAT systems
- Defense Forces Branches: Royal Swedish Army, Royal Swedish Air Force, Royal Swedish Navy
Military manpower: males 15-49, 2,133,101; 1,865,526 fit for military service; 56,632 reach military age (19) annually
Defense expenditures: $4.5 billion (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Switzerland - Geography Total area: 41,290 km2; land area: 39,770 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of New Jersey
Land boundaries: 1,852 km total; Austria 164 km, France 573 km, Italy 740 km, Liechtenstein 41 km, FRG 334 km
Coastline: none--landlocked
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
Climate: temperate, but varies with altitude; cold, cloudy, rainy/snowy winters; cool to warm, cloudy, humid summers with occasional showers
Terrain: mostly mountains (Alps in south, Jura in northwest) with a central plateau of rolling hills, plains, and large lakes
Natural resources: hydropower potential, timber, salt
Land use: 10% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 40% meadows and pastures; 26% forest and woodland; 23% other; includes 1% irrigated
Environment: dominated by Alps
Note: landlocked; crossroads of northern and southern Europe
- People Population: 6,742,461 (July 1990), growth rate 0.6% (1990)
Birth rate: 12 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 3 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 5 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 75 years male, 83 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Swiss (sing. & pl.); adjective--Swiss
Ethnic divisions: total population--65% German, 18% French, 10% Italian, 1% Romansch, 6% other; Swiss nationals--74% German, 20% French, 4% Italian, 1% Romansch, 1% other
Religion: 49% Roman Catholic, 48% Protestant, 0.3% Jewish
Language: total population--65% German, 18% French, 12% Italian, 1% Romansch, 4% other; Swiss nationals--74% German, 20% French, 4% Italian, 1% Romansch, 1% other
Literacy: 99%
Labor force: 3,220,000; 841,000 foreign workers, mostly Italian; 42% services, 39% industry and crafts, 11% government, 7% agriculture and forestry, 1% other (1988)
Organized labor: 20% of labor force
- Government Long-form name: Swiss Confederation
Type: federal republic
Capital: Bern
Administrative divisions: 26 cantons (cantons, singular--canton in French; cantoni, singular--cantone in Italian; kantone, singular--kanton in German); Aargau, Ausser-Rhoden, Basel-Landschaft, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Fribourg, Geneve, Glarus, Graubunden, Inner-Rhoden, Jura, Luzern, Neuchatel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Sankt Gallen, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug, Zurich
Independence: 1 August 1291
Constitution: 29 May 1874
Legal system: civil law system influenced by customary law; judicial review of legislative acts, except with respect to federal decrees of general obligatory character; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Anniversary of the Founding of the Swiss Confederation, 1 August (1291)
Executive branch: president, vice president, Federal Council (German--Bundesrat, French--Conseil Federal)
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly (German--Bundesversammlung, French--Assemblee Federale) consists of an upper council or Council of States (German--Standerat, French--Conseil des Etats) and and a lower council or National Council (German--Nationalrat, French--Conseil National)
Judicial branch: Federal Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Arnold KOLLER (1990 calendar year; presidency rotates annually); Vice President Flavio COTTI (term runs concurrently with that of president)
Political parties and leaders: Social Democratic Party (SPS), Helmut Hubacher, chairman; Radical Democratic Party (FDP), Bruno Hunziker, president; Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP), Eva Segmuller-Weber, president; Swiss People's Party (SVP), Hans Uhlmann, president; Workers' Party (PdA), Armand Magnin, secretary general; National Action Party (NA), Hans Zwicky, chairman; Independents' Party (LdU), Dr. Franz Jaeger, president; Republican Movement (Rep), Dr. James Schworzenboch, Franz Baumgartner, leaders; Liberal Party (LPS), Gilbert Coutau, president; Evangelical People's Party (EVP), Max Dunki, president; Progressive Organizations of Switzerland (POCH), Georg Degen, secretary; Federation of Ecology Parties (GP), Laurent Rebeaud, president; Autonomous Socialist Party (PSA), Werner Carobbio, secretary
Suffrage: universal at age 20
Elections: Council of State--last held throughout 1987 (next to be held NA); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(46 total) CVP 19, FDP 14, SPS 5, SVP 4, others 4;
National Council--last held 18 October 1987 (next to be held October 1991); results--FDP 22.9%, CVP 20.0%, SPS 18.4%, SVP 11.0%, GP 4.8%, others 22.9%; seats--(200 total) FDP 51, CVP 42, SPS 41, SVP 25, GP 9, others 32
Communists: 4,500 members (est.)
Member of: ADB, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EFTA, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, ILO, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, OECD, UNESCO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO; permanent observer status at the UN
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Edouard BRUNNER; Chancery at 2900 Cathedral Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 745-7900; there are Swiss Consulates General in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco; US--Ambassador Joseph B. GUILDENHORN; Embassy at Jubilaeumstrasse 93, 3005 Bern; telephone [41] (31) 437011; there is a Branch Office of the Embassy in Geneva and a Consulate General in Zurich
Flag: red square with a bold, equilateral white cross in the center that does not extend to the edges of the flag
- Economy Overview: Switzerland's economic success is matched in few, if any, other nations. Per capita output, general living standards, education and science, health care, and diet are unsurpassed in Europe. Inflation remains low because of sound government policy and harmonious labor-management relations. Unemployment is negligible, a marked contrast to the larger economies of Western Europe. This economic stability helps promote the important banking and tourist sectors. Since World War II, Switzerland's economy has adjusted smoothly to the great changes in output and trade patterns in Europe and presumably can adjust to the challenges of the 1990s, in particular, the further economic integration of Western Europe and the amazingly rapid changes in East European political/economic prospects.
GDP: $119.5 billion, per capita $17,800; real growth rate 3.0% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.8% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 0.5% (1989 est.)
Budget: revenues $17.0 billion; expenditures $16.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1988)
Exports: $51.2 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--machinery and equipment, precision instruments, metal products, foodstuffs, textiles and clothing; partners--Europe 64% (EC 56%, other 8%), US 9%, Japan 4%
Imports: $57.2 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--agricultural products, machinery and transportation equipment, chemicals, textiles, construction materials; partners--Europe 79% (EC 72%, other 7%), US 5%
External debt: $NA
Industrial production: growth rate 7.0% (1988)
Electricity: 17,710,000 kW capacity; 59,070 million kWh produced, 8,930 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments
Agriculture: dairy farming predominates; less than 50% self-sufficient; food shortages--fish, refined sugar, fats and oils (other than butter), grains, eggs, fruits, vegetables, meat
Aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $2.5 billion
Currency: Swiss franc, franken, or franco (plural--francs, franken, or franchi); 1 Swiss franc, franken, or franco (SwF) = 100 centimes, rappen, or centesimi
Exchange rates: Swiss francs, franken, or franchi (SwF) per US$1--1.5150 (January 1990), 1.6359 (1989), 1.4633 (1988), 1.4912 (1987), 1.7989 (1986), 2.4571 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 5,174 km total; 2,971 km are government owned and 2,203 km are nongovernment owned; the government network consists of 2,897 km 1.435-meter standard gauge and 74 km 1.000-meter narrow gauge track; 1,432 km double track, 99% electrified; the nongovernment network consists of 710 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1,418 km 1.000-meter gauge, and 75 km 0.790-meter gauge track, 100% electrified
Highways: 62,145 km total (all paved), of which 18,620 km are canton and 1,057 km are national highways (740 km autobahn); 42,468 km are communal roads
Pipelines: 314 km crude oil; 1,506 km natural gas
Inland waterways: 65 km; Rhine (Basel to Rheinfelden, Schaffhausen to Bodensee); 12 navigable lakes
Ports: Basel (river port)
Merchant marine: 20 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 215,851 GRT/365,131 DWT; includes 4 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 3 chemical tanker, 3 specialized liquid cargo, 8 bulk
Civil air: 89 major transport aircraft
Airports: 72 total, 70 usable; 42 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 17 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: excellent domestic, international, and broadcast services; 5,808,000 telephones; stations--6 AM, 36 (400 relays) FM, 145 (1,250 relays) TV; communications satellite earth stations operating in the INTELSAT (4 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and EUTELSAT systems
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,800,211; 1,550,662 fit for military service; 44,154 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: $1.2 billion (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Syria - Geography Total area: 185,180 km2; land area: 184,050 km2 (including 1,295 km2 of Israeli-occupied territory)
Comparative area: slightly larger than North Dakota
Land boundaries: 2,253 km total; Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km, Jordan 375 km, Lebanon 375 km, Turkey 822 km
Coastline: 193 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 6 nm beyond territorial sea limit;
Territorial sea: 35 nm
Disputes: separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice Line; Golan Heights is Israeli occupied; Hatay question with Turkey; periodic disputes with Iraq over Euphrates water rights; ongoing dispute over water development plans by Turkey for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR
Climate: mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast
Terrain: primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west
Natural resources: crude oil, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum
Land use: 28% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 46% meadows and pastures; 3% forest and woodland; 20% other; includes 3% irrigated
Environment: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Note: there are 35 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights
- People Population: 12,483,440 (July 1990), growth rate 3.8% (1990); in addition, there are 13,500 Druze and 10,500 Jewish settlers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights
Birth rate: 44 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 38 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 70 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 6.7 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Syrian(s); adjective--Syrian
Ethnic divisions: 90.3% Arab; 9.7% Kurds, Armenians, and other
Religion: 74% Sunni Muslim; 16% Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim sects; 10% Christian (various sects); tiny Jewish communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo
Language: Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian; French widely understood
Literacy: 49%
Labor force: 2,400,000; 36% miscellaneous and government services, 32% agriculture, 32% industry and construction); majority unskilled; shortage of skilled labor (1984)
Organized labor: 5% of labor force
- Government Long-form name: Syrian Arab Republic
Type: republic; under leftwing military regime since March 1963
Capital: Damascus
Administrative divisions: 14 provinces (muhafazat, singular--muhafazah); Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah, Al Qunaytirah, Ar Raqqah, As Suwayda, Dara, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq, Halab, Hamah, Hims, Idlib, Madinat Dimashq, Tartus
Independence: 17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration); formerly United Arab Republic
Constitution: 13 March 1973
Legal system: based on Islamic law and civil law system; special religious courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: National Day, 17 April (1946)
Executive branch: president, three vice presidents, prime minister, three deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral People's Council (Majlis ash Shaab)
Judicial branch: Supreme Constitutional Court, High Judicial Council, Court of Cassation, State Security Courts
Leaders: Chief of State--President Lt. Gen. Hafiz al-ASSAD (since 22 February 1971); Vice Presidents Abd al-Halim KHADDAM, Dr. Rifat al-ASSAD, and Muhammad Zuhayr MASHARIQA (since 11 March 1984);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Mahmud ZUBI (since 1 November 1987); Deputy Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Mustafa TALAS (since 11 March 1984)
Political parties and leaders: ruling party is the Arab Socialist Resurrectionist (Bath) Party; the Progressive National Front is dominated by Bathists but includes independents and members of the Syrian Arab Socialist Party (ASP), Arab Socialist Union (ASU), Socialist Unionist Movement, and Syrian Communist Party (SCP)
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: President--last held 10-11 February 1985 (next to be held February 1992); results--President Hafiz al-Assad was reelected without opposition;
People's Council--last held 10-11 February 1986 (next to be held 22 May 1990); results--Bath 66%, ASU 5%, SCP 5%, Socialist Unionist Movement 4%, ASP 2%, independents 18%; seats--(195 total) Bath 129, Communist 9, ASU 9, Socialiist Unionist Movement 8, ASP 5, independents 35; the People's Council will have 250 seats total in the 22 May 1990 election
Communists: mostly sympathizers, numbering about 5,000
Other political or pressure groups: non-Bath parties have little effective political influence; Communist party ineffective; greatest threat to Assad regime lies in factionalism in the military; conservative religious leaders; Muslim Brotherhood
Member of: Arab League, CCC, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WSG, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Walid Mu'allim; Chancery at 2215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 232-6313; US--Ambassador Edward P. DJEREJIAN; Embassy at Abu Rumaneh, Al Mansur Street No.2, Damascus (mailing address is P. O. Box 29, Damascus); telephone [963] (11) 333052 or 332557, 330416, 332814, 332315
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with two small green five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered in the white band; similar to the flags of the YAR which has one star and Iraq which has three stars (in a horizontal line centered in the white band)--all green and five-pointed; also similar to the flag of Egypt which has a symbolic eagle centered in the white band
- Economy Overview: Syria's rigidly structured Bathist economy is turning out roughly the same amount of goods in 1989 as in 1983, when the population was 20% smaller. Economic difficulties are attributable, in part, to severe drought in several recent years, costly but unsuccessful attempts to match Israel's military strength, a falloff in Arab aid, and insufficient foreign exchange earnings to buy needed inputs for industry and agriculture. Socialist policy, embodied in a thicket of bureaucratic regulations, in many instances has driven away or pushed underground the mercantile and entrepreneurial spirit for which Syrian businessmen have long been famous. Two bright spots: a sizable number of villagers have benefited from land redistribution, electrification, and other rural development programs; and a recent find of light crude oil has enabled Syria to cut back its substantial imports of light crude. A long-term concern is the additional drain of upstream Euphrates water by Turkey when its vast dam and irrigation projects are completed toward the end of the 1990s.
GDP: $18.5 billion, per capita $1,540; real growth rate - 2% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 70% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $NA; expenditures $3.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.92 billion (1989)
Exports: $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--petroleum, textiles, fruits and vegetables, phosphates; partners--Italy, Romania, USSR, US, Iran, France
Imports: $1.9 billion (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--petroleum, machinery, base metals, foodstuffs and beverages; partners--Iran, FRG, USSR, France, GDR, Libya, US
External debt: $5.3 billion in hard currency (1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 2,867,000 kW capacity; 6,000 million kWh produced, 500 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rock mining, petroleum
Agriculture: accounts for 27% of GDP and one-third of labor force; all major crops (wheat, barley, cotton, lentils, chickpeas) grown on rainfed land causing wide swings in yields; animal products--beef, lamb, eggs, poultry, milk; not self-sufficient in grain or livestock products
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-81), $538 million; Western (non-US) ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.0 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $12.3 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $3.3 billion
Currency: Syrian pound (plural--pounds); 1 Syrian pound (LS) = 100 piasters
Exchange rates: Syrian pounds (LS) per US$1--11.2250 (fixed rate since 1987), 3.9250 (fixed rate 1976-87)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 2,241 km total; 1,930 km standard gauge, 311 km 1.050-meter narrow gauge; note--the Tartus-Latakia line is nearly complete
Highways: 27,000 km total; 21,000 km paved, 3,000 km gravel or crushed stone, 3,000 km improved earth
Inland waterways: 672 km; of little economic importance
Pipelines: 1,304 km crude oil; 515 km refined products
Ports: Tartus, Latakia, Baniyas
Merchant marine: 19 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 53,938 GRT/72,220 DWT; includes 16 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 bulk
Civil air: 35 major transport aircraft
Airports: 97 total, 94 usable; 24 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 21 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: fair system currently undergoing significant improvement; 512,600 telephones; stations--9 AM, 1 FM, 40 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station, with 1 Intersputnik station under construction; 1 submarine cable; coaxial cable and radio relay to Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon (inactive)
- Defense Forces Branches: Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Air Force, Syrian Arab Navy
Military manpower: males 15-49, 2,712,360; 1,520,798 fit for military service; 144,791 reach military age (19) annually
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Tanzania - Geography Total area: 945,090 km2; land area: 886,040 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than twice the size of California
Land boundaries: 3,402 km total; Burundi 451 km, Kenya 769 km, Malawi 475 km, Mozambique 756 km, Rwanda 217 km, Uganda 396 km, Zambia 338 km
Coastline: 1,424 km
Maritime claims:
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: boundary dispute with Malawi in Lake Nyasa; Tanzania-Zaire-Zambia tripoint in Lake Tanganyika may no longer be indefinite since it is reported that the indefinite section of the Zaire-Zambia boundary has been settled
Climate: varies from tropical along coast to temperate in highlands
Terrain: plains along coast; central plateau; highlands in north, south
Natural resources: hydropower potential, tin, phosphates, iron ore, coal, diamonds, gemstones, gold, natural gas, nickel
Land use: 5% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 40% meadows and pastures; 47% forest and woodland; 7% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: lack of water and tsetse fly limit agriculture; recent droughts affected marginal agriculture; Kilimanjaro is highest point in Africa
- People Population: 25,970,843 (July 1990), growth rate 3.4% (1990)
Birth rate: 50 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 16 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 107 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 49 years male, 54 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 7.1 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Tanzanian(s); adjective--Tanzanian
Ethnic divisions: mainland--99% native African consisting of well over 100 tribes; 1% Asian, European, and Arab
Religion: mainland--33% Christian, 33% Muslim, 33% indigenous beliefs; Zanzibar--almost all Muslim
Language: Swahili and English (official); English primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education; Swahili widely understood and generally used for communication between ethnic groups; first language of most people is one of the local languages; primary education is generally in Swahili
Literacy: 79%
Labor force: 732,200 wage earners; 90% agriculture, 10% industry and commerce (1986 est.)
Organized labor: 15% of labor force
- Government Long-form name: United Republic of Tanzania
Type: republic
Capital: Dar es Salaam; some government offices have been transferred to Dodoma, which is planned as the new national capital in the 1990s
Administrative divisions: 25 regions; Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Iringa, Kigoma, Kilimanjaro, Lindi, Mara, Mbeya, Morogoro, Mtwara, Mwanza, Pemba North, Pemba South, Pwani, Rukwa, Ruvuma, Shinyanga, Singida, Tabora, Tanga, Zanzibar Central/South, Zanzibar North, Zanzibar Urban/West, Ziwa Magharibi
Independence: Tanganyika became independent 9 December 1961 (from UN trusteeship under British administration); Zanzibar became independent 19 December 1963 (from UK); Tanganyika united with Zanzibar 26 April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar; renamed United Republic of Tanzania 29 October 1964
Constitution: 15 March 1984 (Zanzibar has its own Constitution but remains subject to provisions of the union Constitution)
Legal system: based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts limited to matters of interpretation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Union Day, 26 April (1964)
Executive branch: president, first vice president and prime minister of the union, second vice president and president of Zanzibar, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Bunge)
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal, High Court
Leaders: Chief of State--President Ali Hassan MWINYI (since 5 November 1985);
Head of Government--First Vice President and Prime Minister Joseph Sinde WARIOBA (since 6 November 1985)
Political parties and leaders: only party--Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM or Revolutionary Party), Julius Nyerere, party chairman
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: President--last held 27 October 1985 (next to be held October 1990); results--Ali Hassan Mwinyi was elected without opposition;
National Assembly--last held 27 October 1985 (next to be held October 1990); results--CCM is the only party; seats--(244 total, 168 elected) CCM 168
Communists: no Communist party; a few Communist sympathizers
Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAU, SADCC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador-designate Charles Musama NYIRABU; Chancery at 2139 R Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 939-6125; US--Ambassador Edmond DE JARNETTE; Embassy at 36 Laibon Road (off Bagamoyo Road), Dar es Salaam (mailing address is P. O. Box 9123, Dar es Salaam); telephone [255] (51) 37501 through 37504
Flag: divided diagonally by a yellow-edged black band from the lower hoist-side corner; the upper triangle (hoist side) is green and the lower triangle is blue
- Economy Overview: Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which accounts for about 40% of GDP, provides 85% of exports, and employs 90% of the work force. Industry accounts for about 10% of GDP and is mainly limited to processing agricultural products and light consumer goods. The economic recovery program announced in mid-1986 has generated notable increases in agricultural production and financial support for the program by bilateral donors. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have increased the availability of imports and provided funds to rehabilitate Tanzania's deteriorated economic infrastructure.
GDP: $5.92 billion, per capita $235; real growth rate 4.5% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 29% (1989)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $568 million; expenditures $835 million, including capital expenditures of $230 million (FY89)
Exports: $394 million (f.o.b., FY89); commodities--coffee, cotton, sisal, cashew nuts, meat, tobacco, tea, diamonds, coconut products, pyrethrum, cloves (Zanzibar); partners--FRG, UK, US, Netherlands, Japan
Imports: $1.3 billion (c.i.f., FY89); commodities--manufactured goods, machinery and transportation equipment, cotton piece goods, crude oil, foodstuffs; partners--FRG, UK, US, Iran, Japan, Italy
External debt: $4.5 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 6% (1988 est.)
Electricity: 401,000 kW capacity; 895 million kWh produced, 35 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: primarily agricultural processing (sugar, beer, cigarettes, sisal twine), diamond mine, oil refinery, shoes, cement, textiles, wood products, fertilizer
Agriculture: accounts for over 40% of GDP; topography and climatic conditions limit cultivated crops to only 5% of land area; cash crops--coffee, sisal, tea, cotton, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), cashews, tobacco, cloves (Zanzibar); food crops--corn, wheat, cassava, bananas, fruits, and vegetables; small numbers of cattle, sheep, and goats; not self-sufficient in food grain production
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $387 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $8.5 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $44 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $607 million
Currency: Tanzanian shilling (plural--shillings); 1 Tanzanian shilling (TSh) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Tanzanian shillings (TSh) per US$1--192.901 (January 1990), 143.377 (1989), 99.292 (1988), 64.260 (1987), 32.698 (1986), 17.472 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
- Communications Railroads: 3,555 km total; 960 km 1.067-meter gauge; 2,595 km 1.000-meter gauge, 6.4 km double track, 962 km Tazara Railroad 1.067-meter gauge; 115 km 1.000-meter gauge planned by end of decade
Highways: total 81,900 km, 3,600 km paved; 5,600 km gravel or crushed stone; remainder improved and unimproved earth
Pipelines: 982 km crude oil
Inland waterways: Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, Lake Nyasa
Ports: Dar es Salaam, Mtwara, Tanga, and Zanzibar are ocean ports; Mwanza on Lake Victoria and Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika are inland ports
Merchant marine: 7 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 29,174 GRT/39,186 DWT; includes 2 passenger-cargo, 3 cargo, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker
Civil air: 6 major transport aircraft
Airports: 103 total, 92 usable; 13 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 44 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: fair system of open wire, radio relay, and troposcatter; 103,800 telephones; stations--12 AM, 4 FM, 2 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station
- Defense Forces Branches: Tanzanian People's Defense Force includes Army, Navy, and Air Force; paramilitary Police Field Force Unit; Militia
Military manpower: males 15-49, 5,351,192; 3,087,501 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: 3.3% of GDP (1985) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Thailand - Geography Total area: 514,000 km2; land area: 511,770 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of Wyoming
Land boundaries: 4,863 km total; Burma 1,800 km, Cambodia 803 km, Laos 1,754 km, Malaysia 506 km
Coastline: 3,219 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: not specific;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: boundary dispute with Laos
Climate: tropical; rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to September); dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to mid-March); southern isthmus always hot and humid
Terrain: central plain; eastern plateau (Khorat); mountains elsewhere
Natural resources: tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite
Land use: 34% arable land; 4% permanent crops; 1% meadows and pastures; 30% forest and woodland; 31% other; includes 7% irrigated
Environment: air and water pollution; land subsidence in Bangkok area
Note: controls only land route from Asia to Malaysia and Singapore
- People Population: 55,115,683 (July 1990), growth rate 1.3% (1990)
Birth rate: 20 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 34 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 70 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 2.1 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Thai (sing. and pl.); adjective--Thai
Ethnic divisions: 75% Thai, 14% Chinese, 11% other
Religion: 95.5% Buddhist, 4% Muslim, 0.5% other
Language: Thai; English is the secondary language of the elite; ethnic and regional dialects
Literacy: 82%
Labor force: 26,000,000; 73% agriculture, 11% industry and commerce, 10% services, 6% government (1984)
Organized labor: 300,000 union members (1986)
- Government Long-form name: Kingdom of Thailand
Type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Bangkok
Administrative divisions: 73 provinces (changwat, singular and plural); Ang Thong, Buriram, Chachoengsao, Chai Nat, Chaiyaphum, Chanthaburi, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Chon Buri, Chumphon, Kalasin, Kamphaeng Phet, Kanchanaburi, Khon Kaen, Krabi, Krung Thep Mahanakhon, Lampang, Lamphun, Loei, Lop Buri, Mae Hong Son, Maha Sarakham, Nakhon Nayok, Nakhon Pathom, Nakhon Phanom, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Sawan, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Nan, Narathiwat, Nong Khai, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Pattani, Phangnga, Phatthalung, Phayao, Phetchabun, Phetchaburi, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Phrae, Phuket, Prachin Buri, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Ranong, Ratchaburi, Rayong, Roi Et, Sakon Nakhon, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram, Sara Buri, Satun, Sing Buri, Sisaket, Songkhla, Sukhothai, Suphan Buri, Surat Thani, Surin, Tak, Trang, Trat, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, Uthai Thani, Uttaradit, Yala, Yasothon
Independence: 1238 (traditional founding date); never colonized
Constitution: 22 December 1978
Legal system: based on civil law system, with influences of common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Birthday of His Majesty the King, 5 December (1927)
Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, three deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet), Privy Council
Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly (Ratha Satha) consists of an upper house or Senate (Woothi Satha) and a lower house or House of Representatives (Satha Poothan)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Sarn Dika)
Leaders: Chief of State--King BHUMIBOL ADULYADEJ (since 9 June 1946); Heir Apparent Crown Prince VAJIRALONGKORN (born 28 July 1952);
Head of Government Prime Minister Maj. Gen. CHATCHAI CHUNHAWAN (since 9 August 1988); Deputy Prime Minister CHUAN LIKPHAI
Political parties and leaders: Democrat Party (DP), Social Action Party (SAP), Thai Nation Party (TNP), People's Party (Ratsadon), People's Party (Prachachon), Thai Citizens Party (TCP), United Democracy Party, Solidarity Party, Thai People's Party, Mass Party, Force of Truth Party (Phalang Dharma)
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections: House of Representatives--last held 24 July 1988 (next to be held within 90 days of July 1992); results--TNP 27%, SAP 15%, DP 13%, TCP 9%, others 36%; seats--(357 total) TNP 96, Solidarity 62, SAP 54, DP 48, TCP 31, People's Party (Ratsadon) 21, People's Party (Prachachon) 17, Force of Truth Party (Phalang Dharma) 14, United Democracy Party 5, Mass Party 5, others 4
Communists: illegal Communist party has 500 to 1,000 members (est.); armed Communist insurgents throughout Thailand total 300 to 500 (est.)
Member of: ADB, ANRPC, ASEAN, ASPAC, Association of Tin Producing Countries, CCC, Colombo Plan, GATT, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INRO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITC, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador VITTHYA VEJJAJIVA; Embassy at 2300 Kalorama Road NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 483-7200; there are Thai Consulates General in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York; US--Ambassador Daniel O'DONAHUE; Embassy at 95 Wireless Road, Bangkok (mailing address is APO San Francisco 96346); telephone [66] (2) 252-5040; there is a US Consulate General in Chiang Mai and Consulates in Songkhla and Udorn
Flag: five horizontal bands of red (top), white, blue (double width), white, and red
- Economy Overview: Thailand, one of the more advanced developing countries in Asia, enjoyed its second straight exceptionally prosperous year in 1989. Real output again rose about 11%. The increasingly sophisticated manufacturing sector benefited from export-oriented investment, and agriculture grew by 4.0% because of improved weather. The trade deficit of $5.2 billion was more than offset by earnings from tourism ($3.9 billion), remittances, and net capital inflows. The government has followed a fairly sound fiscal and monetary policy, aided by increased tax receipts from the fast-moving economy. In 1989 the government approved new projects--roads, ports, electric power, communications--needed to refurbish the now overtaxed infrastructure. Although growth in 1990-91 must necessarily fall below the 1988-89 pace, Thailand's immediate economic outlook is good, assuming the continuation of prudent government policies in the context of a private-sector-oriented development strategy.
GNP: $64.5 billion, per capita $1,160; real growth rate 10.8% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.4% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 6% (1989 est.)
Budget: revenues $12.1 billion; expenditures $9.7 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (FY89)
Exports: $19.9 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--textiles 12%, fishery products 12%, rice 8%, tapioca 8%, jewelry 6%, manufactured gas, corn, tin; partners--US 18%, Japan 14%, Singapore 9%, Netherlands, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China (1988)
Imports: $25.1 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities--machinery and parts 23%, petroleum products 13%, chemicals 11%, iron and steel, electrical appliances; partners--Japan 26%, US 14%, Singapore 7%, FRG, Malaysia, UK (1987)
External debt: $18.5 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 12.5% (1989)
Electricity: 7,100,000 kW capacity; 28,000 million kWh produced, 500 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: tourism is the largest source of foreign exchange; textiles and garments, agricultural processing, beverages, tobacco, cement, other light manufacturing, such as jewelry; electric appliances and components, integrated circuits, furniture, plastics; world's second-largest tungsten producer and third-largest tin producer
Agriculture: accounts for 16% of GNP and 73% of labor force; leading producer and exporter of rice and cassava (tapioca); other crops--rubber, corn, sugarcane, coconuts, soybeans; except for wheat, self-sufficient in food; fish catch of 2.2 million tons (1987)
Illicit drugs: a minor producer, major illicit trafficker of heroin, particularly from Burma and Laos, and cannabis for the international drug market; eradication efforts have reduced the area of cannabis cultivation and shifted some production to neighboring countries; opium poppy cultivation has been affected by eradication efforts, but unusually good weather boosted output in 1989
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $828 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $7.0 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $19 million
Currency: baht (plural--baht); 1 baht (B) = 100 satang
Exchange rates: baht (B) per US$1--25.726 (January 1990), 25.699 (1989), 25.294 (1988), 25.723 (1987), 26.299 (1986), 27.159 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September
- Communications Railroads: 3,940 km 1.000-meter gauge, 99 km double track
Highways: 44,534 km total; 28,016 km paved, 5,132 km earth surface, 11,386 km under development
Inland waterways: 3,999 km principal waterways; 3,701 km with navigable depths of 0.9 m or more throughout the year; numerous minor waterways navigable by shallow-draft native craft
Pipelines: natural gas, 350 km; refined products, 67 km
Ports: Bangkok, Pattani, Phuket, Sattahip, Si Racha
Merchant marine: 122 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 483,688 GRT/730,750 DWT; includes 2 short-sea passenger, 70 cargo, 8 container, 27 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 8 liquefied gas, 1 chemical tanker, 3 bulk, 1 refrigerated cargo, 1 roll-on/roll-off, 1 combination bulk
Civil air: 41 (plus 2 leased) major transport aircraft
Airports: 127 total, 103 usable; 56 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 13 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 26 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: service to general public adequate; bulk of service to government activities provided by multichannel cable and radio relay network; 739,500 telephones (1987); stations--over 200 AM, 100 FM, and 11 TV in government-controlled networks; satellite earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT; domestic satellite system being developed
- Defense Forces Branches: Royal Thai Army, Royal Thai Navy (includes Royal Thai Marine Corps), Royal Thai Air Force; paramilitary forces include Border Patrol Police, Thahan Phran (irregular soldiers), Village Defense Forces
Military manpower: males 15-49, 15,617,486; 9,543,119 fit for military service; 610,410 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: 2.9% of GNP, or $1.9 billion (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Togo - Geography Total area: 56,790 km2; land area: 54,390 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than West Virginia
Land boundaries: 1,647 km total; Benin 644 km, Burkina 126 km, Ghana 877 km
Coastline: 56 km
Maritime claims:
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 30 nm
Climate: tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north
Terrain: gently rolling savanna in north; central hills; southern plateau; low coastal plain with extensive lagoons and marshes
Natural resources: phosphates, limestone, marble
Land use: 25% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 4% meadows and pastures; 28% forest and woodland; 42% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: hot, dry harmattan wind can reduce visibility in north during winter; recent droughts affecting agriculture; deforestation
- People Population: 3,674,355 (July 1990), growth rate 3.7% (1990)
Birth rate: 50 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 14 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 112 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 53 years male, 57 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 7.2 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Togolese (sing. and pl.); adjective--Togolese
Ethnic divisions: 37 tribes; largest and most important are Ewe, Mina, and Kabye; under 1% European and Syrian-Lebanese
Religion: about 70% indigenous beliefs, 20% Christian, 10% Muslim
Language: French, both official and language of commerce; major African languages are Ewe and Mina in the south and Dagomba and Kabye in the north
Literacy: 40.7%
Labor force: NA; 78% agriculture, 22% industry; about 88,600 wage earners, evenly divided between public and private sectors; 50% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor: one national union, the National Federation of Togolese Workers
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Togo
Type: republic; one-party presidential regime
Capital: Lome
Administrative divisions: 21 circumscriptions (circonscriptions, singular--circonscription); Amlame (Amou), Aneho (Lacs), Atakpame (Ogou), Badou (Wawa), Bafilo (Assoli), Bassar (Bassari), Dapaong (Tone), Kante (Keran), Klouto (Kloto), Kpagouda (Binah), Lama-Kara (Kozah), Lome (Golfe), Mango (Oti), Niamtougou (Doufelgou), Notse (Haho), Sotouboua, Tabligbo (Yoto), Tchamba, Tchaoudjo, Tsevie (Zio), Vogan (Vo); note--the 21 units may now be called prefectures (prefectures, singular--prefecture) and reported name changes for individual units are included in parenthesis
Independence: 27 April 1960 (from UN trusteeship under French administration, formerly French Togo)
Constitution: 30 December 1979, effective 13 January 1980
Legal system: French-based court system
National holiday: Liberation Day (anniversary of coup), 13 January (1967)
Executive branch: president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal (Cour d'Appel), Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA (since 14 April 1967)
Political parties and leaders: only party--Rally of the Togolese People (RPT), President Eyadema
Suffrage: universal adult at age NA
Elections: President--last held 21 December 1986 (next to be held December 1993); results--Gen. Eyadema was reelected without opposition;
National Assembly--last held 4 March 1990 (next to be held March 1995); results--RPT is the only party; seats--(77 total) RPT 77
Communists: no Communist party
Member of: ACP, AfDB, CEAO (observer), EAMA, ECA, ECOWAS, ENTENTE, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAU, OCAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Ellom-Kodjo SCHUPPIUS; Chancery at 2208 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 234-4212 or 4213; US--Ambassador Rush W. TAYLOR, Jr.; Embassy at Rue Pelletier Caventou and Rue Vauban, Lome (mailing address is B. P. 852, Lome); telephone [228] 21-29-91 through 94 and 21-36-09
Flag: five equal horizontal bands of green (top and bottom) alternating with yellow; there is a white five-pointed star on a red square in the upper hoist-side corner; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia
- Economy Overview: Togo is one of the least developed countries in the world with a per capita GDP of about $400. The economy is heavily dependent on subsistence agriculture, which accounts for about 35% of GDP and provides employment for 80% of the labor force. Primary agricultural exports are cocoa, coffee, and cotton, which together account for about 30% of total export earnings. Togo is self-sufficient in basic foodstuffs when harvests are normal. In the industrial sector phosphate mining is by far the most important activity, with phosphate exports accounting for about 40% of total foreign exchange earnings.
GDP: $1.35 billion, per capita $405; real growth rate 4.1% (1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.5% (1987 est.)
Unemployment rate: 2.0% (1987)
Budget: revenues $354 million; expenditures $399 million, including capital expenditures of $102 million (1988 est.)
Exports: $344 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--phosphates, cocoa, coffee, cotton, manufactures, palm kernels; partners--EC 70%, Africa 9%, US 2%, other 19% (1985)
Imports: $369 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--food, fuels, durable consumer goods, other intermediate goods, capital goods; partners--EC 69%, Africa 10%, Japan 7%, US 4%, other 10% (1985)
External debt: $1.3 billion (December 1988)
Industrial production: growth rate 4.9% (1987 est.)
Electricity: 117,000 kW capacity; 155 million kWh produced, 45 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: phosphate mining, agricultural processing, cement, handicrafts, textiles, beverages
Agriculture: cash crops--coffee, cocoa, cotton; food crops--yams, cassava, corn, beans, rice, millet, sorghum, fish
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $121 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.6 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $35 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $46 million
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1--287.99 (January 1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 515 km 1.000-meter gauge, single track
Highways: 6,462 km total; 1,762 km paved; 4,700 km unimproved roads
Inland waterways: none
Ports: Lome, Kpeme (phosphate port)
Merchant marine: 7 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 41,809 GRT/72,289 DWT; includes 4 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 3 multifunction large-load carrier
Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft
Airports: 9 total, 9 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m none with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: fair system based on network of open-wire lines supplemented by radio relay routes; 12,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, no FM, 3 (2 relays) TV; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 SYMPHONIE
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie
Military manpower: males 15-49, 767,949; 403,546 fit for military service; no conscription
Defense expenditures: 3.3% of GDP (1987) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Tokelau (territory of New Zealand) - Geography Total area: 10 km2; land area: 10 km2
Comparative area: about 17 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 101 km
Maritime claims:
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; moderated by trade winds (April to November)
Terrain: coral atolls enclosing large lagoons
Natural resources: negligible
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other
Environment: lies in Pacific typhoon belt
Note: located 3,750 km southwest of Honolulu in the South Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand
- People Population: 1,700 (July 1990), growth rate 0.0% (1990)
Birth rate: NA births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: NA deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: NA migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: NA deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: NA years male, NA years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: NA children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Tokelauan(s); adjective--Tokelauan
Ethnic divisions: all Polynesian, with cultural ties to Western Samoa
Religion: 70% Congregational Christian Church, 30% Roman Catholic; on Atafu, all Congregational Christian Church of Samoa; on Nukunonu, all Roman Catholic; on Fakaofo, both denominations, with the Congregational Christian Church predominant
Language: Tokelauan (a Polynesian language) and English
Literacy: NA%, but probably high
Labor force: NA
Organized labor: NA
- Government Long-form name: none
Type: territory of New Zealand
Capital: none, each atoll has its own administrative center
Administrative divisions: none (territory of New Zealand)
Independence: none (territory of New Zealand)
Constitution: administered under the Tokelau Islands Act of 1948, as amended in 1970
Legal system: British and local statutes
National holiday: Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840)
Executive branch: administrator (appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in New Zealand), official secretary
Legislative branch: Council of Elders (Taupulega) on each atoll
Judicial branch: High Court in Niue, Supreme Court in New Zealand
Leaders: Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952);
Head of Government--Administrator Neil WALTER; Official Secretary M. NORRISH, Office of Tokelau Affairs
Suffrage: NA
Elections: NA
Communists: probably none
Diplomatic representation: none (territory of New Zealand)
Flag: the flag of New Zealand is used
- Economy Overview: Tokelau's small size, isolation, and lack of resources greatly restrain economic development and confine agriculture to the subsistence level. The people must rely on aid from New Zealand to maintain public services, annual aid being substantially greater than GDP. The principal sources of revenue come from sales of copra, postage stamps, souvenir coins, and handicrafts. Money is also remitted to families from relatives in New Zealand.
GDP: $1.4 million, per capita $800; real growth rate NA% (1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $430,830; expenditures $2.8 million, including capital expenditures of $37,300 (FY87)
Exports: $98,000 (f.o.b., 1983); commodities--stamps, copra, handicrafts; partners--NZ
Imports: $323,400 (c.i.f., 1983); commodities--foodstuffs, building materials, fuel; partners--NZ
External debt: none
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 200 kW capacity; 0.30 million kWh produced, 175 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: small-scale enterprises for copra production, wood work, plaited craft goods; stamps, coins; fishing
Agriculture: coconuts, copra; basic subsistence crops--breadfruit, papaya, bananas; pigs, poultry, goats
Aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $21 million
Currency: New Zealand dollar (plural--dollars); 1 New Zealand dollar (NZ$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: New Zealand dollars (NZ$) per US$1--1.6581 (January 1990), 1.6708 (1989), 1.5244 (1988), 1.6886 (1987), 1.9088 (1986), 2.0064 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
- Communications Ports: none; offshore anchorage only
Airports: none; lagoon landings by amphibious aircraft from Western Samoa
Telecommunications: telephone service between islands and to Western Samoa
- Defense Forces Note: defense is the responsibility of New Zealand ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Tonga - Geography Total area: 748 km2; land area: 718 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than four times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 419 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: no specific limits;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; modified by trade winds; warm season (December to May), cool season (May to December)
Terrain: most islands have limestone base formed from uplifted coral formation; others have limestone overlying volcanic base
Natural resources: fish, fertile soil
Land use: 25% arable land; 55% permanent crops; 6% meadows and pastures; 12% forest and woodland; 2% other
Environment: archipelago of 170 islands (36 inhabited); subject to cyclones (October to April); deforestation
Note: located about 2,250 km north-northwest of New Zealand, about two-thirds of the way between Hawaii and New Zealand
- People Population: 101,313 (July 1990), growth rate 0.9% (1990)
Birth rate: 27 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 11 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 24 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 65 years male, 70 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.9 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Tongan(s); adjective--Tongan
Ethnic divisions: Polynesian; about 300 Europeans
Religion: Christian; Free Wesleyan Church claims over 30,000 adherents
Language: Tongan, English
Literacy: 90-95%; compulsory education for children ages 6 to 14
Labor force: NA; 70% agriculture; 600 engaged in mining
Organized labor: none
- Government Long-form name: Kingdom of Tonga
Type: hereditary constitutional monarchy
Capital: Nukualofa
Administrative divisions: three island groups; Haapai, Tongatapu, Vavau
Independence: 4 June 1970 (from UK; formerly Friendly Islands)
Constitution: 4 November 1875, revised 1 January 1967
Legal system: based on English law
National holiday: Emancipation Day, 4 June (1970)
Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet), Privy Council
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Assembly
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State--King Taufa'ahau TUPOU IV (since 16 December 1965);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Prince Fatafehi TU'IPELEHAKE (since 16 December 1965)
Political parties and leaders: none
Suffrage: all literate, tax-paying males and all literate females over 21
Elections: Legislative Assembly--last held 14-15 February 1990 (next to be held NA February 1993); results--percent of vote NA; seats--(29 total, 9 elected) 6 proreform, 3 traditionalist
Communists: none known
Member of: ACP, ADB, Commonwealth, FAO, ESCAP, GATT (de facto), IFAD, ITU, SPF, UNESCO, UPU, WHO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Siosaia a'Ulupekotofa TUITA resides in London; US--the US has no offices in Tonga; the Ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tonga and makes periodic visits
Flag: red with a bold red cross on a white rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner
- Economy Overview: The economy's base is agriculture, which employs about 70% of the labor force and contributes 50% to GDP. Coconuts, bananas, and vanilla beans are the main crops and make up two-thirds of exports. The country must import a high proportion of its food, mainly from New Zealand. The manufacturing sector accounts for only 10% of GDP. Tourism is the primary source of hard currency earnings, but the island remains dependent on sizable external aid and remittances to sustain its trade deficit.
GDP: $86 million, per capita $850; real growth rate 3.6% (FY89 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.2% (FY87)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $54.8 million; expenditures $56.2 million, including capital expenditures of $16.9 million (FY88 est.)
Exports: $9.1 million (f.o.b., FY88 est.); commodities--coconut oil, desiccated coconut, copra, bananas, taro, vanilla beans, fruits, vegetables, fish; partners--NZ 54%, Australia 30%, US 8%, Fiji 5% (FY87)
Imports: $60.1 million (c.i.f., FY88 est.); commodities--food products, beverages and tobacco, fuels, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, building materials; partners--NZ 39%, Australia 25%, Japan 9%, US 6%, EC 5% (FY87)
External debt: $31.8 million (1987)
Industrial production: growth rate 15% (FY86)
Electricity: 5,000 kW capacity; 8 million kWh produced, 80 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: tourism, fishing
Agriculture: dominated by coconut, copra, and banana production; vanilla beans, cocoa, coffee, ginger, black pepper
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $15 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $220 million
Currency: pa'anga (plural--pa'anga); 1 pa'anga (T$) = 100 seniti
Exchange rates: pa'anga (T$) per US$1--1.23 (FY89 est.), 1.37 (FY88), 1.51 (FY87), 1.43 (FY86), 1.30 (FY85)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
- Communications Highways: 198 km sealed road (Tongatapu); 74 km (Vavau); 94 km unsealed roads usable only in dry weather
Ports: Nukualofa, Neiafu, Pangai
Merchant marine: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 37,249 GRT/50,116 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 container, 1 liquefied gas
Civil air: no major transport aircraft
Airports: 6 total, 6 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: 3,529 telephones; 66,000 radio receivers; no TV sets; stations--1 AM, no FM, no TV; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth station
- Defense Forces Branches: Land Force, Maritime Force
Military manpower: NA
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Trinidad and Tobago - Geography Total area: 5,130 km2; land area: 5,130 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Delaware
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 362 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: maritime boundary with Venezuela in the Gulf of Paria
Climate: tropical; rainy season (June to December)
Terrain: mostly plains with some hills and low mountains
Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, asphalt
Land use: 14% arable land; 17% permanent crops; 2% meadows and pastures; 44% forest and woodland; 23% other; includes 4% irrigated
Environment: outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical storms
Note: located 11 km from Venezuela
- People Population: 1,344,639 (July 1990), growth rate 2.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 10 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 74 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.3 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Trinidadian(s), Tobagonian(s); adjective--Trinidadian, Tobagonian
Ethnic divisions: 43% black, 40% East Indian, 14% mixed, 1% white, 1% Chinese, 1% other
Religion: 36.2% Roman Catholic, 23.0% Hindu, 13.1% Protestant, 6.0% Muslim, 21.7% unknown
Language: English (official), Hindi, French, Spanish
Literacy: 98%
Labor force: 463,900; 18.1% construction and utilities; 14.8% manufacturing, mining, and quarrying; 10.9% agriculture; 56.2% other (1985 est.)
Organized labor: 22% of labor force (1988)
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Port-of-Spain
Administrative divisions: 8 counties, 3 municipalities*, and 1 ward**; Arima*, Caroni, Mayaro, Nariva, Port-of-Spain*, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick, San Fernando*, Tobago**, Victoria
Independence: 31 August 1962 (from UK)
Constitution: 31 August 1976
Legal system: based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 31 August (1962)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal, Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State--President Noor Mohammed HASSANALI (since 18 March 1987);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Arthur Napoleon Raymond ROBINSON (since 18 December 1986)
Political parties and leaders: National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), A. N. R. Robinson; People's National Movement (PNM), Patrick Manning; United National Congress, Basdeo Panday; Movement for Social Transformation (MOTION), David Abdullah
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: House of Representatives--last held 15 December 1986 (next to be held by December 1991); results--NAR 66%, PNM 32%, others 2%; seats--(36 total) NAR 33, PNM 3
Communists: Communist Party of Trinidad and Tobago; Trinidad and Tobago Peace Council, James Millette
Other political pressure groups: National Joint Action Committee (NJAC), radical antigovernment black-identity organization; Trinidad and Tobago Peace Council, leftist organization affiliated with the World Peace Council; Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce; Trinidad and Tobago Labor Congress, moderate labor federation; Council of Progressive Trade Unions, radical labor federation
Member of: ACP, CARICOM, CCC, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ISO, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Angus Albert KHAN; Chancery at 1708 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202) 467-6490; Trinidad and Tobago has a Consulate General in New York; US--Ambassador Charles A. GARGANO; Embassy at 15 Queen's Park West, Port-of-Spain (mailing address is P. O. Box 752, Port-of-Spain); telephone [809] 622-6372 or 6376, 6176
Flag: red with a white-edged black diagonal band from the upper hoist side
- Economy Overview: Trinidad and Tobago's petroleum-based economy has been in decline since 1982. During the first half of the 1980s, the petroleum sector accounted for nearly 80% of export earnings, 40% of government revenues, and almost 25% of GDP. In recent years, however, the economy has suffered because of the sharp fall in the price of oil. The government, in response to the revenue loss, pursued a series of austerity measures that pushed the unemployment rate to 22% in 1988. Agriculture employs only about 11% of the labor force and produces less than 3% of GDP. Since this sector is small, it has been unable to absorb the large numbers of the unemployed. The government currently seeks to diversify its export base.
GDP: $3.75 billion, per capita $3,070; real growth rate - 2.0% (1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 15.0% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 22% (1988)
Budget: revenues $1.4 billion; expenditures $2.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $430 million (1988 est.)
Exports: $1.4 billion (f.o.b., 1987); commodities--includes reexports--petroleum and petroleum products 70%, fertilizer, chemicals 15%, steel products, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus (1987); partners--US 61%, EC 15%, CARICOM 9%, Latin America 7%, Canada 3% (1986)
Imports: $1.2 billion (c.i.f., 1987); commodities--raw materials 41%, capital goods 30%, consumer goods 29% (1986); partners--US 42%, EC 21%, Japan 10%, Canada 6%, Latin America 6%, CARICOM 4% (1986)
External debt: $2.02 billion (December 1987)
Industrial production: growth rate 5.2%, excluding oil refining (1986)
Electricity: 1,176,000 kW capacity; 3,350 million kWh produced, 2,700 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement, beverage, cotton textiles
Agriculture: accounts for about 3% of GDP and 4% of labor force; highly subsidized sector; major crops--cocoa and sugarcane; sugarcane acreage is being shifted into rice, citrus, coffee, vegetables; must import large share of food needs
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-85), $370 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $437 million
Currency: Trinidad and Tobago dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TT$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Trinidad and Tobago dollars (TT$) per US$1--4.2500 (January 1990), 4.2500 (1989), 3.8438 (1988), 3.6000 (1987), 3.6000 (1986), 2.4500 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: minimal agricultural system near San Fernando
Highways: 8,000 km total; 4,000 km paved, 1,000 km improved earth, 3,000 km unimproved earth
Pipelines: 1,032 km crude oil; 19 km refined products; 904 km natural gas
Ports: Port-of-Spain, Point Lisas, Pointe-a-Pierre
Civil air: 14 major transport aircraft
Airports: 6 total, 5 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 3 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: excellent international service via tropospheric scatter links to Barbados and Guyana; good local service; 109,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, 4 FM, 5 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
- Defense Forces Branches: Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force, Trinidad and Tobago Police Service
Military manpower: males 15-49, 343,292; 248,674 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: 1.6% of GDP, or $59 million (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Tromelin Island (French possession) - Geography Total area: 1 km2; land area: 1 km2
Comparative area: about 1.7 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 3.7 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: claimed by Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles
Climate: tropical
Terrain: sandy
Natural resources: fish
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other--scattered bushes
Environment: wildlife sanctuary
Note: located 350 km east of Madagascar and 600 km north of Reunion in the Indian Ocean; climatologically important location for forecasting cyclones
- People Population: uninhabited
- Government Long-form name: none
Type: French possession administered by Commissioner of the Republic Daniel CONSTANTIN, resident in Reunion
- Economy Overview: no economic activity
- Communications Airports: 1 with runway less than 1,220 m
Ports: none; offshore anchorage only
Telecommunications: important meteorological station
- Defense Forces Note: defense is the responsibility of France ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Tunisia - Geography Total area: 163,610 km2; land area: 155,360 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Georgia
Land boundaries: 1,424 km total; Algeria 965 km, Libya 459 km
Coastline: 1,148 km
Maritime claims:
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: maritime boundary dispute with Libya
Climate: temperate in north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers; desert in south
Terrain: mountains in north; hot, dry central plain; semiarid south merges into the Sahara
Natural resources: crude oil, phosphates, iron ore, lead, zinc, salt
Land use: 20% arable land; 10% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures; 4% forest and woodland; 47% other; includes 1% irrigated
Environment: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Note: strategic location in central Mediterranean; only 144 km from Italy across the Strait of Sicily; borders Libya on east
- People Population: 8,095,492 (July 1990), growth rate 2.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 40 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 70 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 4.0 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Tunisian(s); adjective--Tunisian
Ethnic divisions: 98% Arab, 1% European, less than 1% Jewish
Religion: 98% Muslim, 1% Christian, less than 1% Jewish
Language: Arabic (official); Arabic and French (commerce)
Literacy: 62% (est.)
Labor force: 2,250,000; 32% agriculture; shortage of skilled labor
Organized labor: about 360,000 members claimed, roughly 20% of labor force; General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT), quasi-independent of Constitutional Democratic Party
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Tunisia; note--may be changed to Tunisian Republic
Type: republic
Capital: Tunis
Administrative divisions: 23 governorates (wilayat, singular--wilayah); Al Kaf, Al Mahdiyah, Al Munastir, Al Qasrayn, Al Qayrawan, Aryanah, Bajah, Banzart, Bin Arus, Jundubah, Madanin, Nabul, Qabis, Qafsah, Qibili, Safaqis, Sidi Bu Zayd, Silyanah, Susah, Tatawin, Tawzar, Tunis, Zaghwan
Independence: 20 March 1956 (from France)
Constitution: 1 June 1959
Legal system: based on French civil law system and Islamic law; some judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court in joint session
National holiday: National Day, 20 March (1956)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale)
Judicial branch: Court of Cassation (Cour de Cassation)
Leaders: Chief of State--President Gen. Zine el Abidine BEN ALI (since 7 November 1987);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Hamed KAROUI (since 26 September 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Constitutional Democratic Rally Party (RCD), President Ben Ali (official ruling party); Movement of Democratic Socialists (MDS), Ahmed Mestiri; five other political parties are legal, including the Communist Party
Suffrage: universal at age 20
Elections: President--last held 2 April 1989 (next to be held April 1994); results--Gen. Zine el Abidine Ben Aliwas reelected without opposition;
National Assembly--last held 2 April 1989 (next to be held April 1994); results--RCD 80.7%, independents/Islamists 13.7%, MDS 3.2%, others 2.4% seats--(141 total) RCD 141
Communists: a small number of nominal Communists, mostly students
Member of: AfDB, Arab League, AIOEC, CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, NAM, OAPEC, OAU, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abdelaziz HAMZAOUI; Chancery at 1515 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20005; telephone (202) 862-1850; US--Ambassador Robert H. PELLETREAU, Jr.; Embassy at 144 Avenue de la Liberte, 1002 Tunis-Belvedere; telephone [216] (1) 782-566
Flag: red with a white disk in the center bearing a red crescent nearly encircling a red five-pointed star; the crescent and star are traditional symbols of Islam
- Economy Overview: The economy depends primarily on petroleum, phosphates, and tourism for continued growth. Two successive drought-induced crop failures have strained the government's budget and increased unemployment. The current account fell from a $23 million surplus in 1988 to a $390 million deficit in 1989. Despite its foreign payments problems, Tunis appears committed to its IMF-supported structural adjustment program. Nonetheless, the government may have to slow its implementation to head off labor unrest. The increasing foreign debt--$7.6 billion at yearend 1989--is also a key problem. Tunis probably will seek debt relief in 1990.
GDP: $8.7 billion, per capita $1,105; real growth rate 3.1% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 25% (1989)
Budget: revenues $2.9 billion; expenditures $3.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $0.8 billion (1989 est.)
Exports: $3.1 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--hydrocarbons, agricultural products, phosphates and chemicals; partners--EC 73%, Middle East 9%, US 1%, Turkey, USSR
Imports: $4.4 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--industrial goods and equipment 57%, hydrocarbons 13%, food 12%, consumer goods; partners--EC 68%, US 7%, Canada, Japan, USSR, China, Saudi Arabia, Algeria
External debt: $7.6 billion (December 1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 3.5% (1988)
Electricity: 1,493,000 kW capacity; 4,210 million kWh produced, 530 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: petroleum, mining (particularly phosphate and iron ore), textiles, footwear, food, beverages
Agriculture: accounts for 16% of GDP and one-third of labor force; output subject to severe fluctuations because of frequent droughts; export crops--olives, dates, oranges, almonds; other products--grain, sugar beets, wine grapes, poultry, beef, dairy; not self-sufficient in food; fish catch of 99,200 metric tons (1986)
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $694 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $4.6 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $684 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $410 million
Currency: Tunisian dinar (plural--dinars); 1 Tunisian dinar (TD) = 1,000 millimes
Exchange rates: Tunisian dinars (TD) per US$1--0.9055 (January 1990), 0.9493 (1989), 0.8578 (1988), 0.8287 (1987), 0.7940 (1986), 0.8345 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 2,154 km total; 465 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 1,689 km 1.000-meter gauge
Highways: 17,700 km total; 9,100 km bituminous; 8,600 km improved and unimproved earth
Pipelines: 797 km crude oil; 86 km refined products; 742 km natural gas
Ports: Bizerte, Gabes, Sfax, Sousse, Tunis, La Goulette, Zarzis
Merchant marine: 21 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 160,172 GRT/218,970 DWT; includes 1 short-sea passenger, 4 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 6 chemical tanker, 1 liquefied gas, 5 bulk
Civil air: 13 major transport aircraft
Airports: 30 total, 28 usable; 13 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 7 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 7 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: the system is above the African average; facilities consist of open-wire lines, multiconductor cable, and radio relay; key centers are Safaqis, Susah, Bizerte, and Tunis; 233,000 telephones; stations--18 AM, 4 FM, 14 TV; 4 submarine cables; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 ARABSAT with back-up control station; coaxial cable to Algeria; radio relay to Algeria, Libya, and Italy
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,997,197; 1,149,141 fit for military service; 88,368 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: 2.7% of GDP, or $235 million (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Turkey - Geography Total area: 780,580 km2; land area: 770,760 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Texas
Land boundaries: 2,715 km total; Bulgaria 240 km, Greece 206 km, Iran 499 km, Iraq 331 km, Syria 822 km, USSR 617 km
Coastline: 7,200 km
Maritime claims:
Extended economic zone: in Black Sea only--to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the USSR;
Territorial sea: 6 nm (12 nm in Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea)
Disputes: complex maritime and air (but not territorial) disputes with Greece in Aegean Sea; Cyprus question; Hatay question with Syria; ongoing dispute with downstream riparians (Syria and Iraq) over water development plans for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR
Climate: temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior
Terrain: mostly mountains; narrow coastal plain; high central plateau (Anatolia)
Natural resources: antimony, coal, chromium, mercury, copper, borate, sulphur, iron ore
Land use: 30% arable land; 4% permanent crops; 12% meadows and pastures; 26% forest and woodland; 28% other; includes 3% irrigated
Environment: subject to severe earthquakes, especially along major river valleys in west; air pollution; desertification
Note: strategic location controlling the Turkish straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link Black and Aegean Seas; Turkey and Norway only NATO members having a land boundary with the USSR
- People Population: 56,704,327 (July 1990), growth rate 2.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 29 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 74 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 67 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.6 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Turk(s); adjective--Turkish
Ethnic divisions: 85% Turkish, 12% Kurd, 3% other
Religion: 98% Muslim (mostly Sunni), 2% other (mostly Christian and Jewish)
Language: Turkish (official), Kurdish, Arabic
Literacy: 70%
Labor force: 18,800,000; 56% agriculture, 30% services, 14% industry; about 1,000,000 Turks work abroad (1987)
Organized labor: 10-15% of labor force
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Turkey
Type: republican parliamentary democracy
Capital: Ankara
Administrative divisions: 67 provinces (iller, singular--il); Adana, Adiyaman, Afyon, Agri, Amasya, Ankara, Antalya, Artvin, Aydin, Balikesir, Bilecik, Bingol, Bitlis, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Canakkale, Cankiri, Corum, Denizli, Diyarbakir, Edirne, Elazig, Erzincan, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Giresun, Gumushane, Hakkari, Hatay, Icel, Isparta, Istanbul, Izmir, Kahraman Maras, Kars, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Kirklareli, Kirsehir, Kocaeli, Konya, Kutahya, Malatya, Manisa, Mardin, Mugla, Mus, Nevsehir, Nigde, Ordu, Rize, Sakarya, Samsun, Siirt, Sinop, Sivas, Tekirdag, Tokat, Trabzon, Tunceli, Urfa, Usak, Van, Yozgat, Zonguldak; note--there may be four new provinces named Aksaray, Bayburt, Karaman, and Kirikkale
Independence: 29 October 1923 (successor state to the Ottoman Empire)
Constitution: 7 November 1982
Legal system: derived from various continental legal systems; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Anniversary of the Declaration of the Republic, 29 October (1923)
Executive branch: president, Presidential Council, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Grand National Assembly (Buyuk Millet Meclisi)
Judicial branch: Court of Cassation
Leaders: Chief of State--President Turgut OZAL (since 9 November 1989);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Yildirim AKBULUT (since 9 November 1989); Deputy Prime Minister Ali BOZER (since 31 March 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Motherland Party (ANAP), Yildirim Akbulut; Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP), Erdal Inonu; Correct Way Party (CWP), Suleyman Demirel; Democratic Left Party (DLP), Bulent Ecevit; Prosperity Party (RP), Necmettin Erbakan; National Work Party (MCP), Alpaslan Turkes; Reform Democratic Party (IDP), Aykut Edibali
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections: Grand National Assembly--last held 29 November 1987 (next to be held November 1992); results--ANAP 36%, SHP 25%, CWP 19%, others 20%; seats--(450 total) ANAP 283, SHP 81, CWP 56, independents 26, vacant 4
Communists: strength and support negligible
Member of: ASSIMER, CCC, Council of Europe, EC (associate member), ECOSOC, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, ITC, ITU, NATO, OECD, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Nuzhet KANDEMIR; Chancery at 1606 23rd Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 387-3200; there are Turkish Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York; US--Ambassador Morton ABRAMOWITZ; Embassy at 110 Ataturk Boulevard, Ankara (mailing address is APO New York 09254--0001); telephone [90] (4) 126 54 70; there are US Consulates General in Istanbul and Izmir, and a Consulate in Adana
Flag: red with a vertical white crescent (the closed portion is toward the hoist side) and white five-pointed star centered on the hoist side
- Economy Overview: The economic reforms that Turkey launched in 1980 continue to bring an impressive stream of benefits. The economy has grown steadily since the early 1980s, with real growth in per capita GDP increasing more than 6% annually. Agriculture remains the most important economic sector, employing about 60% of the labor force, accounting for almost 20% of GDP, and contributing about 25% to exports. Impressive growth in recent years has not solved all of the economic problems facing Turkey. Inflation and interest rates remain high, and a large budget deficit will continue to provide difficulties for a country undergoing a substantial transformation from a centrally controlled to a free market economy. The government has launched a multimillion-dollar development program in the southeastern region, which includes the building of a dozen dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to generate electric power and irrigate large tracts of farmland. The planned tapping of huge quantities of Euphrates water has raised serious concern in the downstream riparian nations of Syria and Iraq.
GDP: $75 billion, per capita $1,350; real growth rate 1.8% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 68.8% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 15.8% (1988)
Budget: revenues $12.1 billion; expenditures $14.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.08 billion (FY88 est.)
Exports: $11.7 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--industrial products 70%, crops and livestock products 25%; partners--FRG 18.4%, Iraq 8.5%, Italy 8.2%, US 6.5%, UK 4.9%, Iran 4.7%
Imports: $14.3 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--crude oil, machinery, transport equipment, metals, pharmaceuticals, dyes, plastics, rubber, mineral fuels, fertilizers, chemicals; partners--FRG 14.3%, US 10.6%, Iraq 10.0%, Italy 7.0%, France 5.8%, UK 5.2%
External debt: $36.3 billion (November 1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 7.4% (1988)
Electricity: 14,064,000 kW capacity; 40,000 million kWh produced, 720 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: textiles, food processing, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron minerals), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper
Agriculture: accounts for 20% of GDP and employs majority of population; products--tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulses, citrus fruit, variety of animal products; self-sufficient in food most years
Illicit drugs: one of the world's major suppliers of licit opiate products; government maintains strict controls over areas of opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $2.2 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $7.9 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $665 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $4.5 billion
Currency: Turkish lira (plural--liras); 1 Turkish lira (TL) = 100 kurus
Exchange rates: Turkish liras (TL) per US$1--2,314.7 (November 1989), 1,422.3 (1988), 857.2 (1987), 674.5 (1986), 522.0 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 8,401 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; 479 km electrified
Highways: 49,615 km total; 26,915 km bituminous; 16,500 km gravel or crushed stone; 4,000 km improved earth; 2,200 km unimproved earth (1985)
Inland waterways: about 1,200 km
Pipelines: 1,738 km crude oil; 2,321 km refined products; 708 km natural gas
Ports: Iskenderun, Istanbul, Mersin, Izmir
Merchant marine: 327 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,972,465 GRT/5,087,620 DWT; includes 6 short-sea passenger, 1 passenger, 1 passenger-cargo, 193 cargo, 1 container, 4 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 3 refrigerated cargo, 1 livestock carrier, 35 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 15 chemical tanker, 2 liquefied gas, 4 combination ore/oil, 1 specialized tanker, 55 bulk, 4 combination bulk, 1 specialized liquid cargo
Civil air: 30 major transport aircraft (1985)
Airports: 119 total, 112 usable; 69 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways over 3,659 m; 30 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 28 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: fair domestic and international systems; trunk radio relay network; 3,100,000 telephones; stations--15 AM; 45 (60 repeaters) FM; 61 (476 repeaters) TV; communications satellite earth stations operating in the INTELSAT (1 Atlantic Ocean) and EUTELSAT systems; 1 submarine telephone cable
- Defense Forces Branches: Land Forces, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie, Coast Guard
Military manpower: males 15-49, 14,413,944; 8,813,430 fit for military service; 597,547 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: 3.9% of GDP, or $2.9 billion (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Turks and Caicos Islands (dependent territory of the UK) - Geography Total area: 430 km2; land area: 430 km2
Comparative area: slightly less than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 389 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; marine; moderated by trade winds; sunny and relatively dry
Terrain: low, flat limestone; extensive marshes and mangrove swamps
Natural resources: spiny lobster, conch
Land use: 2% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 98% other
Environment: 30 islands (eight inhabited); subject to frequent hurricanes
Note: located 190 km north of the Dominican Republic in the North Atlantic Ocean
- People Population: 9,761 (July 1990), growth rate 2.3% (1990)
Birth rate: 25 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 4 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 14 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 78 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.8 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: no noun or adjectival forms
Ethnic divisions: majority of African descent
Religion: Anglican, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Church of God, Seventh-Day Adventist
Language: English (official)
Literacy: 99% (est.)
Labor force: NA; majority engaged in fishing and tourist industries; some subsistence agriculture
Organized labor: St. George's Industrial Trade Union
- Government Long-form name: none
Type: dependent territory of the UK
Capital: Grand Turk (Cockburn Town)
Administrative divisions: none (dependent territory of the UK)
Independence: none (dependent territory of the UK)
Constitution: introduced 30 August 1976, suspended in 1986, and a Constitutional Commission is currently reviewing its contents
Legal system: based on laws of England and Wales with a small number adopted from Jamaica and The Bahamas
National holiday: Constitution Day, 30 August (1976)
Executive branch: British monarch, governor, Executive Council
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1953), represented by Governor Michael J. BRADLEY (since 1987);
Head of Government--Chief Minister Oswald O. SKIPPINGS (since 3 March 1988)
Political parties and leaders: People's Democratic Movement (PDM), Oswald Skippings; Progressive National Party (PNP), Dan Malcolm and Norman Saunders; National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Ariel Missick
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: Legislative Council--last held on 3 March 1988 (next to be held NA); results--PDM 60%, PNP 30%, others 10%; seats--(20 total, 13 elected) PDM 11, PNP 2
Communists: none
Diplomatic representation: as a dependent territory of the UK, the interests of the Turks and Caicos Islands are represented in the US by the UK; US--none
Flag: blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the colonial shield centered on the outer half of the flag; the shield is yellow and contains a conch shell, lobster, and cactus
- Economy Overview: The economy is based on fishing, tourism, and offshore banking. Subsistence farming--corn and beans--exists only on the Caicos Islands, so that most foods, as well as nonfood products, must be imported.
GDP: $44.9 million, per capita $5,000; real growth rate NA% (1986)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
Unemployment rate: 12% (1989)
Budget: revenues $12.4 million; expenditures $15.8 million, including capital expenditures of $2.6 million (FY87)
Exports: $2.9 million (f.o.b., FY84); commodities--lobster, dried and fresh conch, conch shells; partners--US, UK
Imports: $26.3 million (c.i.f., FY84); commodities--foodstuffs, drink, tobacco, clothing; partners--US, UK
External debt: $NA
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 9,050 kW capacity; 11 million kWh produced, 1,160 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: fishing, tourism, offshore financial services
Agriculture: subsistence farming prevails, based on corn and beans; fishing more important than farming; not self-sufficient in food
Aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $92.8 million
Currency: US currency is used
Exchange rates: US currency is used
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Highways: 121 km, including 24 km tarmac
Ports: Grand Turk, Salt Cay, Providenciales, Cockburn Harbour
Civil air: Air Turks and Caicos (passenger service) and Turks Air Ltd. (cargo service)
Airports: 7 total, 7 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 2,439 m; 4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: fair cable and radio services; 1,446 telephones; stations--3 AM, no FM, several TV; 2 submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
- Defense Forces Note: defense is the responsibility of the UK ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Tuvalu - Geography Total area: 26 km2; land area: 26 km2
Comparative area: about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 24 km
Maritime claims:
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)
Terrain: very low-lying and narrow coral atolls
Natural resources: fish
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other
Environment: severe tropical storms are rare
Note: located 3,000 km east of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean
- People Population: 9,136 (July 1990), growth rate 2.0% (1990)
Birth rate: 30 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 33 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 60 years male, 63 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.1 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Tuvaluans(s); adjective--Tuvaluan
Ethnic divisions: 96% Polynesian
Religion: Christian, predominantly Protestant
Language: Tuvaluan, English
Literacy: less than 50%
Labor force: NA
Organized labor: none
- Government Long-form name: none
Type: democracy
Capital: Funafuti
Administrative divisions: none
Independence: 1 October 1978 (from UK; formerly Ellice Islands)
Constitution: 1 October 1978
National holiday: Independence Day, 1 October (1978)
Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament
Judicial branch: High Court
Leaders: Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Tupua LEUPENA (since 1 March 1986);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Bikenibeu PAENIU (since 16 October 1989); Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Alesana SELUKA (since October 1989)
Political parties and leaders: none
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: Parliament--last held 28 September 1989 (next to be held by September 1993); results--percent of vote NA; seats--(12 total)
Member of: ACP, ESCAP (associate member), GATT (de facto), SPF, SPC, UPU
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador (vacant); US--none
Flag: light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands
- Economy Overview: Tuvalu consists of a scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor-quality soil. The country has a small economy, no known mineral resources, and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. The islands are too small and too remote for development of a tourist industry. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and worker remittances. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, New Zealand, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea.
GNP: $4.6 million, per capita $530; real growth rate NA% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.9% (1984)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $2.59 million; expenditures $3.6 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1983 est.)
Exports: $1.0 million (f.o.b., 1983 est.); commodities--copra; partners--Fiji, Australia, NZ
Imports: $2.8 million (c.i.f., 1983 est.); commodities--food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods; partners--Fiji, Australia, NZ
External debt: $NA
Industrial production: growth rate NA
Electricity: 2,600 kW capacity; 3 million kWh produced, 350 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: fishing, tourism, copra
Agriculture: coconuts, copra
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $1 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $84 million
Currency: Tuvaluan dollar and Australian dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Tuvaluan dollar ($T) or 1 Australian dollar ($A) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Tuvaluan dollars ($T) or Australian dollars ($A) per US$1--1.2784 (January 1990), 1.2618 (1989), 1.2752 (1988), 1.4267 (1987), 1.4905 (1986), 1.4269 (1985)
Fiscal year: NA
- Communications Highways: 8 km gravel
Ports: Funafuti, Nukufetau
Merchant marine: 1 passenger-cargo (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,043 GRT/450 DWT
Civil air: no major transport aircraft
Airports: 1 with runway 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: stations--1 AM, no FM, no TV; 300 radiotelephones; 4,000 radio receivers; 108 telephones
- Defense Forces Branches: NA
Military manpower: NA
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Uganda - Geography Total area: 236,040 km2; land area: 199,710 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon
Land boundaries: 2,698 km total; Kenya 933 km, Rwanda 169 km, Sudan 435 km, Tanzania 396 km, Zaire 765 km
Coastline: none--landlocked
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
Climate: tropical; generally rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to August); semiarid in northeast
Terrain: mostly plateau with rim of mountains
Natural resources: copper, cobalt, limestone, salt
Land use: 23% arable land; 9% permanent crops; 25% meadows and pastures; 30% forest and woodland; 13% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: straddles Equator; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion
Note: landlocked
- People Population: 17,960,262 (July 1990), growth rate 3.5% (1990)
Birth rate: 52 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 17 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 107 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 50 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 7.4 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Ugandan(s); adjective--Ugandan
Ethnic divisions: 99% African, 1% European, Asian, Arab
Religion: 33% Roman Catholic, 33% Protestant, 16% Muslim, rest indigenous beliefs
Language: English (official); Luganda and Swahili widely used; other Bantu and Nilotic languages
Literacy: 57.3%
Labor force: 4,500,000 (est.); 94% subsistence activities, 6% wage earners (est.); 50% of population of working age (1983)
Organized labor: 125,000 union members
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Uganda
Type: republic
Capital: Kampala
Administrative divisions: 10 provinces; Busoga, Central, Eastern, Karamoja, Nile, North Buganda, Northern, South Buganda, Southern, Western
Independence: 9 October 1962 (from UK)
Constitution: 8 September 1967, suspended following coup of 27 July 1985; in process of constitutional revision
Legal system: government plans to restore system based on English common law and customary law and reinstitute a normal judicial system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Independence Day, 9 October (1962)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, three deputy prime ministers, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral National Resistance Council
Judicial branch: Court of Appeal, High Court
Leaders: Chief of State--President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since 29 January 1986);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Samson Babi Mululu KISEKKA (since 30 January 1986); First Deputy Prime Minister Eriya KATEGAYA (since NA)
Political parties and leaders: only party--National Resistance Movement (NRM); note--the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM), Ugandan People's Congress (UPC), Democratic Party (DP), and Conservative Party (CP) are all proscribed from conducting public political activities
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: National Resistance Council--last held 11-28 February 1989 (next to be held after January 1995); results--NRM is the only party; seats--(278 total, 210 indirectly elected) NRM 210
Other political parties or pressure groups: Uganda People's Democratic Movement (UPDM), Uganda People's Front (UPF), Uganda Freedom Movement (UFM), Holy Spirit Movement (HSM)
Communists: possibly a few sympathizers
Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Stephen Kapimpina KATENTA-APULI; 5909 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20011; telephone (202) 726-7100 through 7102; US--Ambassador John A. BURROUGHS, Jr.; Embassy at British High Commission Building, Obote Avenue, Kampala (mailing address is P. O. Box 7007, Kampala); telephone [256] (41) 259791
Flag: six equal horizonal bands of black (top), yellow, red, black, yellow, and red; a white disk is superimposed at the center and depicts a red-crested crane (the national symbol) facing the staff side
- Economy Overview: Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. For most of the past 15 years the economy has been devastated by political instability, mismanagement, and civil war, keeping Uganda poor with a per capita income of about $300. (GDP remains below the levels of the early 1970s, as does industrial production.) Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force. Coffee is the major export crop and accounted for 97% of export revenues in 1988. Since 1986 the government has acted to rehabilitate and stabilize the economy by undertaking currency reform, raising producer prices on export crops, increasing petroleum prices, and improving civil service wages. The policy changes are especially aimed at dampening inflation, which was running at over 300% in 1987, and boosting production and export earnings.
GDP: $4.9 billion, per capita $300 (1988); real growth rate 6.1% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 72% (FY89)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $365 million; expenditures $545 million, including capital expenditures of $165 million (FY89 est.)
Exports: $272 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--coffee 97%, cotton, tea; partners--US 25%, UK 18%, France 11%, Spain 10%
Imports: $626 million (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--petroleum products, machinery, cotton piece goods, metals, transportation equipment, food; partners--Kenya 25%, UK 14%, Italy 13%
External debt: $1.4 billion (1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 25.1% (1988)
Electricity: 173,000 kW capacity; 312 million kWh produced, 18 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles, cement
Agriculture: accounts for 57% of GDP and 83% of labor force; cash crops--coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco; food crops--cassava, potatoes, corn, millet, pulses; livestock products--beef, goat meat, milk, poultry; self-sufficient in food
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (1970-88), $123 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.0 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $60 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $140 million
Currency: Ugandan shilling (plural--shillings); 1 Ugandan shilling (USh) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Ugandan shillings (USh) per US$1--370 (December 1989), 223.09 (1989), 106.14 (1988), 42.84 (1987), 14.00 (1986), 6.72 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
- Communications Railroads: 1,300 km, 1.000-meter-gauge single track
Highways: 26,200 km total; 1,970 km paved; 5,849 km crushed stone, gravel, and laterite; remainder earth roads and tracks
Inland waterways: Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, Lake George, Lake Edward; Victoria Nile, Albert Nile; principal inland water ports are at Jinja and Port Bell, both on Lake Victoria
Merchant marine: 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,697 GRT
Civil air: 4 major transport aircraft
Airports: 39 total, 30 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 10 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: fair system with radio relay and radio communications stations; 61,600 telephones; stations--10 AM, no FM, 9 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT
- Defense Forces Branches: National Resistance Army (NRA)
Military manpower: males 15-49, about 3,836,921; about 2,084,813 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: 1.4% of GDP (1985) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: United Arab Emirates - Geography Total area: 83,600 km2; land area: 83,600 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Maine
Land boundaries: 1,016 km total; Oman 410 km, Saudi Arabia 586 km, Qatar 20 km
Coastline: 1,448 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: defined by bilateral boundaries or equidistant line
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 3 nm
Disputes: boundary with Qatar is in dispute; no defined boundary with Saudi Arabia; no defined boundary with most of Oman, but Administrative Line in far north; claims three islands in the Persian Gulf occupied by Iran (Jazireh-ye Abu Musa or Abu Musa, Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg or Greater Tunb, and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchek or Lesser Tunb)
Climate: desert; cooler in eastern mountains
Terrain: flat, barren coastal plain merging into rolling sand dunes of vast desert wasteland; mountains in east
Natural resources: crude oil and natural gas
Land use: NEGL% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 2% meadows and pastures; NEGL% forest and woodland; 98% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: frequent dust and sand storms; lack of natural freshwater resources being overcome by desalination plants; desertification
Note: strategic location along southern approaches to Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil
- People Population: 2,253,624 (July 1990), growth rate 6.0% (1990)
Birth rate: 31 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 3 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 33 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 24 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 73 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 4.9 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Emirian(s), adjective--Emirian
Ethnic divisions: 19% Emirian, 23% other Arab, 50% South Asian (fluctuating), 8% other expatriates (includes Westerners and East Asians); less than 20% of the population are UAE citizens (1982)
Religion: 96% Muslim (16% Shia); 4% Christian, Hindu, and other
Language: Arabic (official); Farsi and English widely spoken in major cities; Hindi, Urdu
Literacy: 68%
Labor force: 580,000 (1986 est.); 85% industry and commerce, 5% agriculture, 5% services, 5% government; 80% of labor force is foreign
Organized labor: trade unions are illegal
- Government Long-form name: United Arab Emirates (no short-form name); abbreviated UAE
Type: federation with specified powers delegated to the UAE central government and other powers reserved to member shaykhdoms
Capital: Abu Dhabi
Administrative divisions: 7 emirates (imarat, singular--imarah); Abu Zaby, Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash Shariqah, Dubayy, Ras al Khaymah, Umm al Qaywayn
Independence: 2 December 1971 (from UK; formerly Trucial States)
Constitution: 2 December 1971 (provisional)
Legal system: secular codes are being introduced by the UAE Government and in several member shaykhdoms; Islamic law remains influential
National holiday: National Day, 2 December (1971)
Executive branch: president, vice president, Supreme Council of Rulers, prime minister, Council of Ministers
Legislative branch: unicameral Federal National Council
Judicial branch: Union Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State--President Shaykh Zayid bin Sultan Al NUHAYYAN of Abu Dhabi (since 2 December 1971); Vice President Shaykh Rashid bin Said Al MAKTUM of Dubayy (since 2 December 1971;
Head of Government--Prime Minister Shaykh Rashid bin Said Al MAKTUM of Dubayy (Prime Minister since 30 April 1979); Deputy Prime Minister Maktum bin Rashid al MAKTUM (since 2 December 1971)
Political parties and leaders: none
Suffrage: none
Elections: none
Communists: NA
Other political or pressure groups: a few small clandestine groups are active
Member of: Arab League, CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), GCC, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abdullah bin Zayed AL-NAHAYYAN; Chancery at Suite 740, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037; telephone (202) 338-6500; US--Ambassador Edward S. WALKER, Jr.; Embassy at Al-Sudan Street, Abu Dhabi (mailing address is P. O. Box 4009, Abu Dhabi); telephone [971] (2) 336691; there is a US Consulate General in Dubai
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black with a thicker vertical red band on the hoist side
- Economy Overview: The UAE has an open economy with one of the world's higher levels of income per capita. This wealth is based on oil and gas, and the fortunes of the economy fluctuate with the prices of those commodities. Since 1973, when petroleum prices shot up, the UAE has undergone a profound transformation from an impoverished region of small desert principalities to a modern state with a high standard of living. At present levels of production, crude oil reserves should last for over 100 years.
GNP: $23.3 billion, per capita $11,680; real growth rate - 2.1% (1988)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5-6% (1988 est.)
Unemployment rate: NEGL (1988)
Budget: revenues $3.5 billion; expenditures $4.0 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989 est.)
Exports: $10.6 billion (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--crude oil 75%, natural gas, reexports, dried fish, dates; partners--US, EC, Japan
Imports: $8.5 billion (c.i.f., 1988 est.); commodities--food, consumer and capital goods; partners--EC, Japan, US
External debt: $11.0 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate - 9.3% (1986)
Electricity: 5,590,000 kW capacity; 15,000 million kWh produced, 7,090 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: petroleum, fishing, petrochemicals, construction materials, some boat building, handicrafts, pearling
Agriculture: accounts for 1% of GNP and 5% of labor force; cash crop--dates; food products--vegetables, watermelons, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish; only 25% self-sufficient in food
Aid: donor--pledged $9.1 billion in bilateral aid to less developed countries (1979-89)
Currency: Emirian dirham (plural--dirhams); 1 Emirian dirham (Dh) = 100 fils
Exchange rates: Emirian dirhams (Dh) per US$1--3.6710 (fixed rate)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Highways: 2,000 km total; 1,800 km bituminous, 200 km gravel and graded earth
Pipelines: 830 km crude oil; 870 km natural gas, including natural gas liquids
Ports: Al Fujayrah, Khawr Fakkan, Mina Jabal Ali, Mina Khalid, Mina Rashid, Mina Saqr, Mina Zayid
Merchant marine: 47 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 728,332 GRT/1,181,566 DWT; includes 14 cargo, 7 container, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 20 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 4 bulk
Civil air: 8 major transport aircraft
Airports: 40 total, 34 usable; 19 with permanent-surface runways; 8 with runways over 3,659 m; 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: adequate system of radio relay and coaxial cable; key centers are Abu Dhabi and Dubayy; 386,600 telephones; stations--8 AM, 3 FM, 12 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 ARABSAT; submarine cables to Qatar, Bahrain, India, and Pakistan; tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; radio relay to Saudi Arabia
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Central Military Command, Federal Police Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 904,690; 498,082 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: $1.59 billion (1987) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: United Kingdom - Geography Total area: 244,820 km2; land area: 241,590 km2; includes Rockall and Shetland Islands
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon
Land boundary: Ireland 360 km
Coastline: 12,429 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries;
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: maritime boundary with Ireland; Northern Ireland question with Ireland; Gibraltar question with Spain; Argentina claims Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); Argentina claims South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Mauritius claims island of Diego Garcia in British Indian Ocean Territory; Hong Kong is scheduled to become a Special Administrative Region of China in 1997; Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark, Iceland, and Ireland (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area); territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory)
Climate: temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than half of the days are overcast
Terrain: mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast
Natural resources: coal, crude oil, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica
Land use: 29% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 48% meadows and pastures; 9% forest and woodland; 14% other; includes 1% irrigated
Environment: pollution control measures improving air, water quality; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters
Note: lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France
- People Population: 57,365,665 (July 1990), growth rate 0.3% (1990)
Birth rate: 14 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 79 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Briton(s), British (collective pl.); adjective--British
Ethnic divisions: 81.5% English, 9.6% Scottish, 2.4% Irish, 1.9% Welsh, 1.8% Ulster, 2.8% West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other
Religion: 27.0 million Anglican, 5.3 million Roman Catholic, 2.0 million Presbyterian, 760,000 Methodist, 410,000 Jewish
Language: English, Welsh (about 26% of population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)
Literacy: 99%
Labor force: 28,120,000; 53.3% services, 23.6% manufacturing and construction, 10.8% self-employed, 6.8% government, 1.0% agriculture (1988)
Organized labor: 37% of labor force (1987)
- Government Long-form name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; abbreviated UK
Type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: London
Administrative divisions: 47 counties, 7 metropolitan counties, 26 districts, 9 regions, and 3 islands areas
England--39 counties, 7 metropolitan counties*; Avon, Bedford, Berkshire, Buckingham, Cambridge, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derby, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucester, Greater London*, Greater Manchester*, Hampshire, Hereford and Worcester, Hertford, Humberside, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicester, Lincoln, Merseyside*, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottingham, Oxford, Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire*, Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Tyne and Wear*, Warwick, West Midlands*, West Sussex, West Yorkshire*, Wiltshire
Northern Ireland--26 districts; Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Londonderry, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane
Scotland--9 regions, 3 islands areas*; Borders, Central, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Grampian, Highland, Lothian, Orkney*, Shetland*, Strathclyde, Tayside, Western Isles*
Wales--8 counties; Clwyd, Dyfed, Gwent, Gwynedd, Mid Glamorgan, Powys, South Glamorgan, West Glamorgan
Independence: 1 January 1801, United Kingdom established
Constitution: unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice
Dependent areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong (scheduled to become a Special Administrative Region of China in 1997), Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, St. Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands
Legal system: common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Celebration of the Birthday of the Queen (second Saturday in June), 10 June 1989
Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or House of Lords and a lower house or House of Commons
Judicial branch: House of Lords
Leaders: Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the Queen, born 14 November 1948);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Margaret THATCHER (since 4 May 1979); Deputy Prime Minister Geoffrey HOWE (since 24 July 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Conservative, Margaret Thatcher; Labour, Neil Kinnock; Social Democratic, David Owen (disbanded 3 June 1990); Social and Liberal Democratic Party, Jeremy (Paddy) Ashdown; Communist, Nina Temple; Scottish National, Gordon Wilson; Plaid Cymru, Dafydd Thomas; Ulster Unionist, James Molyneaux; Democratic Unionist, Ian Paisley; Social Democratic and Labour, John Hume; Provisional Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams; Alliance/Northern Ireland
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: House of Commons--last held 11 June 1987 (next to be held by June 1992); results--Conservative 43%, Labour 32%, Social and Liberal Democratic Party 23%, others 2%; seats--(650 total) Conservative 376, Labour 228, Social and Liberal Democratic Party 18, Ulster (Official) Unionist (Northern Ireland) 9, Social Democratic Party 4, Scottish National Party 4, Plaid Cymru (Welsh Nationalist) 3, Ulster Democratic Unionist (Northern Ireland) 3, Social Democratic and Labour (Northern Ireland) 3, Ulster Popular Unionist (Northern Ireland) 1, Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) 1
Communists: 15,961
Other political or pressure groups: Trades Union Congress, Confederation of British Industry, National Farmers' Union, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Member of: ADB, CCC, Colombo Plan, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, ESCAP, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC--International Whaling Commission, IWC--International Wheat Council, NATO, OECD, UN, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Sir Antony ACLAND; Chancery at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 462-1340; there are British Consulates General in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, and Consulates in Dallas, Miami, and Seattle; US--Ambassador Henry E. CATTO; Embassy at 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W.1A1AE, (mailing address is Box 40, FPO New York 09509); telephone [44] (01) 499-9000; there are US Consulates General in Belfast and Edinburgh
Flag: blue with the red cross of St. George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of St. Patrick (patron saint of Ireland) which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of St. Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); known as the Union Flag or Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including dependencies, Commonwealth countries, and others
- Economy Overview: The UK is one of the world's great trading powers and financial centers, and its economy ranks among the four largest in Europe. The economy is essentially capitalistic with a generous admixture of social welfare programs and government ownership. Over the last decade the Thatcher government has halted the expansion of welfare measures and has promoted extensive reprivatization of the government economic sector. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labor force. Industry is a mixture of public and private enterprises, employing about 24% of the work force and generating 22% of GDP. The UK is an energy-rich nation with large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 12% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation. Following the recession of 1979-81, the economy has enjoyed the longest period of continuous economic growth it has had during the last 30 years. During the period 1982-89 real GDP grew by about 25%, while the inflation rate of 14% was nearly halved. Between 1986 and 1989 unemployment fell from 11% to about 6%. As a major trading nation, the UK will continue to be greatly affected by: world boom or recession; swings in the international oil market; productivity trends in domestic industry; and the terms on which the economic integration of Europe proceeds.
GDP: $818.0 billion, per capita $14,300; real growth rate 2.3% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.8% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 6.4% (1989)
Budget: revenues $348.7 billion; expenditures $327.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $42.0 billion (FY89)
Exports: $151.0 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, transport equipment; partners--EC 50.4% (FRG 11.7%, France 10.2%, Netherlands 6.8%), US 13.0%, Communist countries 2.3%
Imports: $189.2 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities--manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods; partners--EC 52.5% (FRG 16.6%, France 8.8%, Netherlands 7.8%), US 10.2%, Communist countries 2.1%
External debt: $15.7 billion (1988)
Industrial production: growth rate 0.9% (1989)
Electricity: 98,000,000 kW capacity; 361,990 million kWh produced, 6,350 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: machinery and transportation equipment, metals, food processing, paper and paper products, textiles, chemicals, clothing, other consumer goods, motor vehicles, aircraft, shipbuilding, petroleum, coal
Agriculture: accounts for only 1.5% of GNP and 1% of labor force; highly mechanized and efficient farms; wide variety of crops and livestock products produced; about 60% self-sufficient in food and feed needs; fish catch of 665,000 metric tons (1987)
Aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $18.9 billion
Currency: British pound or pound sterling (plural--pounds); 1 British pound (L) = 100 pence
Exchange rates: British pounds (L) per US$1--0.6055 (January 1990), 0.6099 (1989) 0.5614 (1988), 0.6102 (1987), 0.6817 (1986), 0.7714 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
- Communications Railroads: Great Britain--16,629 km total; British Railways (BR) operates 16,629 km 1.435-meter standard gauge (4,205 km electrified and 12,591 km double or multiple track); several additional small standard-gauge and narrow-gauge lines are privately owned and operated; Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) operates 332 km 1.600-meter gauge, 190 km double track
Highways: UK, 362,982 km total; Great Britain, 339,483 km paved (including 2,573 km limited-access divided highway); Northern Ireland, 23,499 km (22,907 paved, 592 km gravel)
Inland waterways: 2,291 total; British Waterways Board, 606 km; Port Authorities, 706 km; other, 979 km
Pipelines: 933 km crude oil, almost all insignificant; 2,993 km refined products; 12,800 km natural gas
Ports: London, Liverpool, Felixstowe, Tees and Hartlepool, Dover, Sullom Voe, Southampton
Merchant marine: 285 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,174,142GRT/9,024,090 DWT; includes 7 passenger, 22 short-sea passenger, 44 cargo, 44 container, 21 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 9 refrigerated cargo, 1 vehicle carrier, 1 railcar carrier, 78 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 4 chemical tanker, 5 liquefied gas, 2 combination ore/oil, 1 specialized tanker, 45 bulk, 1 combination bulk
Civil air: 618 major transport aircraft
Airports: 522 total, 379 usable; 245 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 37 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 132 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: modern, efficient domestic and international system; 30,200,000 telephones; excellent countrywide broadcast systems; stations--223 AM, 165 (396 relays) FM, 205 (3,210 relays) TV; 38 coaxial submarine cables; communication satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT (7 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean), MARISAT, and EUTELSAT systems
- Defense Forces Branches: Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Army, Royal Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 14,462,993; 12,180,580 fit for military service; no conscription
Defense expenditures: 4.3% of GDP, or $35 billion (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: United States - Geography Total area: 9,372,610 km2; land area: 9,166,600 km2; includes only the 50 states and District of Colombia
Comparative area: about four-tenths the size of USSR; about one-third the size of Africa; about one-half the size of South America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly smaller than China; about two and one-half times the size of Western Europe
Land boundaries: 12,248.1 km total; Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska), Mexico 3,326 km, Cuba (US naval base at Guantanamo) 29.1 km
Coastline: 19,924 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: not specified;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: maritime boundary disputes with Canada; US Naval Base at Guantanamo is leased from Cuba and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease; Haiti claims Navassa Island; has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other nation
Climate: mostly temperate, but varies from tropical (Hawaii) to arctic (Alaska); arid to semiarid in west with occasional warm, dry chinook wind
Terrain: vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii
Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, crude oil, natural gas, timber
Land use: 20% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 26% meadows and pastures; 29% forest and woodland; 25% other; includes 2% irrigated
Environment: pollution control measures improving air and water quality; acid rain; agricultural fertilizer and pesticide pollution; management of sparse natural water resources in west; desertification; tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around Pacific Basin; continuous permafrost in northern Alaska is a major impediment to development
Note: world's fourth-largest country (after USSR, Canada, and China)
- People Population: 250,410,000 (July 1990), growth rate 0.9% (1990)
Birth rate: 15 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 10 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 80 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--American(s); adjective--American
Ethnic divisions: 85% white, 12% black, 3% other (1985)
Religion: Protestant 61% (Baptist 21%, Methodist 12%, Lutheran 8%, Presbyterian 4%, Episcopalian 3%, other Protestant 13%), Roman Catholic 25%, Jewish 2%, other 5%; none 7%
Language: predominantly English; sizable Spanish-speaking minority
Literacy: 99%
Labor force: 125,557,000 (includes armed forces and unemployed); civilian labor force 123,869,000 (1989)
Organized labor: 16,960,000 members; 16.4% of labor force (1989)
- Government Long-form name: United States of America; abbreviated US or USA
Type: federal republic; strong democratic tradition
Capital: Washington, DC
Administrative divisions: 50 states and 1 district*; Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia*, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennyslvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Independence: 4 July 1776 (from England)
Constitution: 17 September 1787, effective 4 June 1789
Dependent areas: American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island; Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Wake Island. Since 18 July 1947, the US has administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, but recently entered into a new political relationship with three of the four political units. The Northern Mariana Islands is a Commonwealth associated with the US (effective 3 November 1986). Palau concluded a Compact of Free Association with the US that was approved by the US Congress but to date the Compact process has not been completed in Palau, which continues to be administered by the US as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. The Federated States of Micronesia signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 3 November 1986). The Republic of the Marshall Islands signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 21 October 1986).
Legal system: based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 July (1776)
Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Congress consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--President George BUSH (since 20 January 1989); Vice President Dan QUAYLE (since 20 January 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Republican Party, Lee Atwater, national committee chairman and Jeanie Austin, co-chairman; Democratic Party, Ronald H. Brown, national committee chairman; several other groups or parties of minor political significance
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: President--last held 8 November 1988 (next to be held 3 November 1992); results--George Bush (Republican Party) 53.37%, Michael Dukakis (Democratic Party) 45.67%, others 0.96%;
Senate--last held 8 November 1988 (next to be held 6 November 1990); results--Democratic Party 52.1%, Republican Party 46.2%, others 1.7%; seats--(100 total) Democratic Party 55, Republican Party 45;
House of Representatives--last held 8 November 1988 (next to be held 6 November 1990); results--Democratic Party 53.2%, Republican Party 45.3%, others 1.5%; seats--(435 total) Democratic Party 259, Republican Party 174, vacant 2
Communists: Communist Party (claimed 15,000-20,000 members), Gus Hall, general secretary; Socialist Workers Party (claimed 1,800 members), Jack Barnes, national secretary
Member of: ADB, ANZUS, CCC, Colombo Plan, DAC, FAO, ESCAP, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICEM, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITC, ITU, IWC--International Whaling Commission, IWC--International Wheat Council, NATO, OAS, OECD, PAHO, SPC, UN, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
Diplomatic representation: US Representative to the UN, Ambassador Thomas R. PICKERING; Mission at 799 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017; telephone (212) 415-4444
Flag: thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small white five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars; the 50 stars represent the 50 states, the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies; known as Old Glory; the design and colors have been the basis for a number of other flags including Chile, Liberia, Malaysia, and Puerto Rico
- Economy Overview: The US has the most powerful and diversified economy in the world, with a per capita GNP of over $21,000, the largest among the major industrial nations. In 1989 the economy entered its eighth successive year of growth, the longest in peacetime history. The expansion has featured continued moderation in wage and consumer price increases, an unemployment rate of 5.2%, (the lowest in 10 years), and an inflation rate of 4.8%. On the negative side, the US enters the 1990s with massive budget and trade deficits, huge and rapidly rising medical costs, and inadequate investment in industrial capacity and economic infrastructure.
GNP: $5,233.3 billion, per capita $21,082; real growth rate 2.9% (1989)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.8% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 5.2% (1989)
Budget: revenues $976 billion; expenditures $1,137 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (FY89 est.)
Exports: $322.3 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--capital goods, automobiles, industrial supplies and raw materials, consumer goods, agricultural products; partners--Canada 22.9%, Japan 11.8% (1988)
Imports: $440.9 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--crude and partly refined petroleum, machinery, automobiles, consumer goods, industrial raw materials, food and beverages; partners--Japan 19.6% , Canada 19.1% (1988)
External debt: $532 billion (December 1988)
Industrial production: growth rate 3.3% (1989)
Electricity: 776,550,000 kW capacity; 2,958,300 million kWh produced, 11,920 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: leading industrial power in the world, highly diversified; petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, fishing, lumber, mining
Agriculture: accounts for 2% of GNP and 2.8% of labor force; favorable climate and soils support a wide variety of crops and livestock production; world's second-largest producer and number-one exporter of grain; surplus food producer; fish catch of 5.7 million metric tons (1987)
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis for domestic consumption with 1987 production estimated at 3,500 metric tons or about 25% of the available marijuana; ongoing eradication program aimed at small plots and greenhouses has not reduced production
Aid: donor--commitments, including Ex-Im (FY80-88), $90.5 billion
Currency: United States dollar (plural--dollars); 1 United States dollar (US$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: British pounds (L) per US$--0.6055 (January 1990), 0.6099 (1989), 0.5614 (1988), 0.6102 (1987), 0.6817 (1986), 0.7714 (1985);
Canadian dollars (Can$) per US$--1.1885 (February 1990), 1.2307 (1988), 1.3260 (1987), 1.3895 (1986);
French francs (F) per US$--5.695 (February 1990), 5.9569 (1988), 6.0107 (1987), 6.9261 (1986), 8.9852 (1985);
Italian lire (Lit) per US$--1,244.8 (February 1990), 1,301.6 (1988), 1,296.1 (1987), 1,490.8 (1986), 1,909.4 (1985);
Japanese yen (Y) per US$--145.55 (February 1990), 128.15 (1988), 144.64 (1987), 168.52 (1986), 238.54 (1985);
FRG deutsche marks (DM) per US$--1.6775 (February 1990), 1.7562 (1988), 1.7974 (1987), 2.1715 (1986), 2.9440 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September
- Communications Railroads: 270,312 km
Highways: 6,365,590 km, including 88,641 km expressways
Inland waterways: 41,009 km of navigable inland channels, exclusive of the Great Lakes (est.)
Pipelines: 275,800 km petroleum, 305,300 km natural gas (1985)
Ports: Anchorage, Baltimore, Beaumont, Boston, Charleston, Cleveland, Duluth, Freeport, Galveston, Hampton Roads, Honolulu, Houston, Jacksonville, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Mobile, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), Richmond (California), San Francisco, Savannah, Seattle, Tampa, Wilmington
Merchant marine: 373 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling NA GRT/NA DWT); includes 2 passenger-cargo, 37 cargo, 22 bulk, 165 tanker, 13 tanker tug-barge, 10 liquefied gas, 124 intermodal; in addition there are 248 government-owned vessels
Civil air: 3,297 commercial multiengine transport aircraft, including 2,989 jet, 231 turboprop, 77 piston (1985)
Airports: 15,422 in operation (1981)
Telecommunications: 182,558,000 telephones; stations--4,892 AM, 5,200 FM (including 3,915 commercial and 1,285 public broadcasting), 7,296 TV (including 796 commercial, 300 public broadcasting, and 6,200 commercial cable); 495,000,000 radio receivers (1982); 150,000,000 TV sets (1982); satellite earth stations--45 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 16 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT
- Defense Forces Branches: Department of the Army, Department of the Navy (including Marine Corps), Department of the Air Force
Military manpower: 2,247,000 total; 781,000 Army; 599,000 Air Force; 793,000 Navy (includes 200,000 Marine Corps) (1988)
Defense expenditures: 5.8% of GNP, or $302.8 billion (1989) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Uruguay - Geography Total area: 176,220 km2; land area: 173,620 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Washington State
Land boundaries: 1,564 km total; Argentina 579 km, Brazil 985 km
Coastline: 660 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Territorial sea: 200 nm (overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm)
Disputes: short section of boundary with Argentina is in dispute; two short sections of the boundary with Brazil are in dispute (Arroyo de la Invernada area of the Rio Quarai and the islands at the confluence of the Rio Quarai and the Uruguay)
Climate: warm temperate; freezing temperatures almost unknown
Terrain: mostly rolling plains and low hills; fertile coastal lowland
Natural resources: soil, hydropower potential, minor minerals
Land use: 8% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 78% meadows and pastures; 4% forest and woodland; 10% other; includes 1% irrigated
Environment: subject to seasonally high winds, droughts, floods
- People Population: 3,036,660 (July 1990), growth rate 0.6% (1990)
Birth rate: 17 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 22 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 70 years male, 76 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 2.4 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Uruguayan(s); adjective--Uruguayan
Ethnic divisions: 88% white, 8% mestizo, 4% black
Religion: 66% Roman Catholic (less than half adult population attends church regularly), 2% Protestant, 2% Jewish, 30% nonprofessing or other
Language: Spanish
Literacy: 94%
Labor force: 1,300,000; 25% government, 19% manufacturing, 11% agriculture, 12% commerce, 12% utilities, construction, transport, and communications, 21% other services (1988 est.)
Organized labor: Interunion Workers' Assembly/National Workers' Confederation (PIT/CNT) Labor Federation
- Government Long-form name: Oriental Republic of Uruguay
Type: republic
Capital: Montevideo
Administrative divisions: 19 departments (departamentos, singular--departamento); Artigas, Canelones, Cerro Largo, Colonia, Durazno, Flores, Florida, Lavalleja, Maldonado, Montevideo, Paysandu, Rio Negro, Rivera, Rocha, Salto, San Jose, Soriano, Tacuarembo, Treinta y Tres
Independence: 25 August 1828 (from Brazil)
Constitution: 27 November 1966, effective February 1967, suspended 27 June 1973, new constitution rejected by referendum 30 November 1980
Legal system: based on Spanish civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 25 August (1828)
Executive branch: president, vice president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: bicameral Congress (Congreso) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camera del Diputados)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Luis Alberto LACALLE (since 1 March 1990); Vice President Gonzalo AGUIRRE (since 1 March 1990)
Political parties and leaders: National (Blanco) Party, Roberto Rubio; Colorado Party; Broad Front Coalition, Liber Seregni includes Communist Party led by Jaime Perez and National Liberation Movement (MLN) or Tupamaros led by Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro; New Space Coalition consists of the Party of the Government of the People (PGP) led by Hugo Batalla, Christian Democratic Party (PDC), and Civic Union led by Humberto Ciganda
Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18
Elections: President--last held 26 November 1989 (next to be held November 1994); results--Luis Lacalle (Blanco) 37%, Jorge Batlle (Colorado) 29%, Liber Seregni (Broad Front) 20%;
Senate--last held 26 November 1989 (next to be held November 1994); results--Blanco 40%, Colorado 30%, Broad Front 23% New Space 7%; seats--(30 total) Blanco 12, Colorado 9, Broad Front 7, New Space 2;
Chamber of Deputies--last held NA November 1989 (next to be held November 1994); results--Blanco 39%, Colorado 30%, Broad Front 22%, New Space 8%, others 1%; seats--(99 total) number of seats by party NA
Communists: 50,000
Member of: CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT, Group of Eight, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ITU, LAIA, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Juan Podesta PINON; Chancery at 1918 F Street NW, Washington DC 20006; telephone (202) 331-1313 through 1316; there are Uruguayan Consulates General in Los Angeles, Miami, and New York, and a Consulate in New Orleans; US--Ambassador Malcolm R. WILKEY; Embassy at Lauro Muller 1776, Montevideo (mailing address is APO Miami 34035); telephone [598] (2) 40-90-51
Flag: nine equal horizontal stripes of white (top and bottom) alternating with blue; there is a white square in the upper hoist-side corner with a yellow sun bearing a human face known as the Sun of May and 16 rays alternately triangular and wavy
- Economy Overview: The economy is slowly recovering from the deep recession of 1981-84. In 1986 real GDP grew by 6.6% and in 1987 by 4.9%. The recovery was led by growth in the agriculture and fishing sectors, agriculture alone contributing 20% to GDP, employing about 11% of the labor force, and generating a large proportion of export earnings. Raising livestock, particularly cattle and sheep, is the major agricultural activity. In 1988, despite healthy exports and an improved current account, domestic growth slowed because of government concentration on the external sector, adverse weather conditions, and prolonged strikes. High inflation rates of about 80%, a large domestic debt, and frequent strikes remain major economic problems for the government.
GDP: $8.8 billion, per capita $2,950; real growth rate 1% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 80% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 9.0% (1989 est.)
Budget: revenues $1.2 billion; expenditures $1.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $165 million (1988)
Exports: $1.5 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities--hides and leather goods 17%, beef 10%, wool 9%, fish 7%, rice 4%; partners--Brazil 17%, US 15%, FRG 10%, Argentina 10% (1987)
Imports: $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities--fuels and lubricants 15%, metals, machinery, transportation equipment, industrial chemicals; partners--Brazil 24%, Argentina 14%, US 8%, FRG 8% (1987)
External debt: $6 billion (1988)
Industrial production: growth rate - 2.9% (1988 est.)
Electricity: 1,950,000 kW capacity; 4,330 million kWh produced, 1,450 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: meat processing, wool and hides, sugar, textiles, footwear, leather apparel, tires, cement, fishing, petroleum refining, wine
Agriculture: large areas devoted to extensive livestock grazing; wheat, rice, corn, sorghum; self-sufficient in most basic foodstuffs
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $105 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $263 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $69 million
Currency: new Uruguayan peso (plural--pesos); 1 new Uruguayan peso (N$Ur) = 100 centesimos
Exchange rates: new Uruguayan pesos (N$Ur) per US$1--832.62 (January 1990), 605.62 (1989), 359.44 (1988), 226.67 (1987), 151.99 (1986), 101.43 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 3,000 km, all 1.435-meter standard gauge and government owned
Highways: 49,900 km total; 6,700 km paved, 3,000 km gravel, 40,200 km earth
Inland waterways: 1,600 km; used by coastal and shallow-draft river craft
Ports: Montevideo, Punta del Este
Merchant marine: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 65,212 GRT/116,613 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 container
Civil air: 14 major transport aircraft
Airports: 92 total, 87 usable; 16 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 17 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: most modern facilities concentrated in Montevideo; new nationwide radio relay network; 337,000 telephones; stations--99 AM, no FM, 26 TV, 9 shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 711,700; 580,898 fit for military service; no conscription
Defense expenditures: 2.5% of GDP (1986) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Vanuatu - Geography Total area: 14,760 km2; land area: 14,760 km2; includes more than 80 islands
Comparative area: slightly larger than Connecticut
Land boundary: none
Coastline: 2,528 km
Maritime claims: (measured from claimed archipelagic baselines);
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; moderated by southeast trade winds
Terrain: mostly mountains of volcanic origin; narrow coastal plains
Natural resources: manganese, hardwood forests, fish
Land use: 1% arable land; 5% permanent crops; 2% meadows and pastures; 1% forest and woodland; 91% other
Environment: subject to tropical cyclones or typhoons (January to April); volcanism causes minor earthquakes
Note: located 5,750 km southwest of Honolulu in the South Pacific Ocean about three-quarters of the way between Hawaii and Australia
- People Population: 165,006 (July 1990), growth rate 3.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 37 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 36 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 67 years male, 72 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 5.5 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Vanuatuan(s); adjective--Vanuatuan
Ethnic divisions: 94% indigenous Melanesian, 4% French, remainder Vietnamese, Chinese, and various Pacific Islanders
Religion: most at least nominally Christian
Language: English and French (official); pidgin (known as Bislama or Bichelama)
Literacy: 10-20% (est.)
Labor force: NA
Organized labor: 7 registered trade unions--largest include Oil and Gas Workers' Union, Vanuatu Airline Workers' Union
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Vanuatu
Type: republic
Capital: Port-Vila
Administrative divisions: 11 island councils; Ambrym, Aoba/Maewo, Banks/Torres, Efate, Epi, Malakula, Paama, Pentecote, Santo/Malo, Shepherd, Tafea
Independence: 30 July 1980 (from France and UK; formerly New Hebrides)
Constitution: 30 July 1980
Legal system: unified system being created from former dual French and British systems
National holiday: Independence Day, 30 July (1980)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament; note--the National Council of Chiefs advises on matters of custom and land
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State--President Frederick TIMAKATA (since 30 January 1989);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Father Walter Hadye LINI (since 30 July 1980); Deputy Prime Minister (vacant)
Political parties and leaders: National Party (Vanua'aku Pati), Walter Lini; Union of Moderate Parties, Maxine Carlot; Melanesian Progressive Party, Barak Sope
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: Parliament--last held 30 November 1987 (next to be held NA); byelections were held NA December 1988 to fill vacancies resulting from the expulsion of opposition members for boycotting sessions; results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(46 total) National Party 26, Union of Moderate Parties 19, independent 1
Member of: ACP, ADB, Commonwealth, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFC, IMF, ITU, NAM, SPF, UN, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Vanuatu does not have a mission in Washington; US--the ambassador in Papua New Guinea is accredited to Vanuatu
Flag: two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green (bottom) with a black isosceles triangle (based on the hoist side) all separated by a black-edged yellow stripe in the shape of a horizontal Y (the two points of the Y face the hoist side and enclose the triangle); centered in the triangle is a boar's tusk encircling two crossed namele leaves, all in yellow
- Economy Overview: The economy is based primarily on subsistence farming that provides a living for about 80% of the population. Fishing and tourism are the other mainstays of the economy. Mineral deposits are negligible; the country has no known petroleum deposits. A small light-industry sector caters to the local market. Tax revenues come mainly from import duties.
GDP: $120 million, per capita $820; real growth rate 0.7% (1987 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.0% (1988 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $80.1 million; expenditures $86.6 million, including capital expenditures of $27.1 million (1988 est.)
Exports: $16 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--copra 37%, cocoa 11%, meat 9%, fish 8%, timber 4%; partners--Netherlands 34%, France 27%, Japan 17%, Belgium 4%, New Caledonia 3%, Singapore 2% (1987)
Imports: $58 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--machines and vehicles 25%, food and beverages 23%, basic manufactures 18%, raw materials and fuels 11%, chemicals 6%; partners--Australia 36%, Japan 13%, NZ 10%, France 8%, Fiji 5% (1987)
External debt: $57 million (1988)
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 10,000 kW capacity; 20 million kWh produced, 125 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: food and fish freezing, forestry processing, meat canning
Agriculture: export crops--copra, cocoa, coffee, and fish; subsistence crops--copra, taro, yams, coconuts, fruits, and vegetables
Aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $541 million
Currency: vatu (plural--vatu); 1 vatu (VT) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: vatu (VT) per US$1--107.17 (January 1990), 116.04 (1989), 104.43 (1988), 109.85 (1987), 106.08 (1986), 106.03 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: none
Highways: 1,027 km total; at least 240 km sealed or all-weather roads
Ports: Port-Vila, Luganville, Palikoulo, Santu
Merchant marine: 65 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 885,668 GRT/1,473,443 DWT; includes 26 cargo, 4 refrigerated cargo, 5 container, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 vehicle carrier, 3 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 2 liquefied gas, 21 bulk, 1 combination bulk; note--a flag of convenience registry
Civil air: no major transport aircraft
Airports: 33 total, 28 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 2,439 m; 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: stations--2 AM, no FM, no TV; 3,000 telephones; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth station
- Defense Forces Branches: a paramilitary force is responsible for internal and external security; no military forces
Military manpower: NA
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Vatican City - Geography Total area: 0.438 km2; land area: 0.438 km2
Comparative area: about 0.7 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundary: 3.2 km with Italy
Coastline: none--landlocked
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
Climate: temperate; mild, rainy winters (September to mid-May) with hot, dry summers (May to September)
Terrain: low hill
Natural resources: none
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other
Environment: urban
Note: landlocked; enclave of Rome, Italy; world's smallest state; outside the Vatican City, 13 buildings in Rome and Castel Gandolfo (the pope's summer residence) enjoy extraterritorial rights
- People Population: 774 (July 1990), growth rate 0.5% (1990)
Nationality: no noun or adjectival forms
Ethnic divisions: primarily Italians but also many other nationalities
Religion: Roman Catholic
Language: Italian, Latin, and various other languages
Literacy: 100%
Labor force: about 1,500; Vatican City employees divided into three categories--executives, office workers, and salaried employees
Organized labor: Association of Vatican Lay Workers, 1,800 members (1987)
- Government Long-form name: State of the Vatican City; note--the Vatican City is the physical seat of the Holy See which is the central government of the Roman Catholic Church
Type: monarchical-sacerdotal state
Capital: Vatican City
Independence: 11 February 1929 (from Italy)
Constitution: Apostolic Constitution of 1967 (effective 1 March 1968)
National holiday: Installation Day of the Pope (John Paul II), 22 October (1978); note--Pope John Paul II was elected on 16 October 1978
Executive branch: pope
Legislative branch: unicameral Pontifical Commission
Judicial branch: none; normally handled by Italy
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--Pope JOHN PAUL II (Karol WOJTYLA; since 16 October 1978)
Political parties and leaders: none
Suffrage: limited to cardinals less than 80 years old
Elections: Pope--last held 16 October 1978 (next to be held after the death of the current pope); results--Karol Wojtyla was elected for life by the College of Cardinals
Communists: NA
Other political or pressure groups: none (exclusive of influence exercised by church officers)
Member: IAEA, INTELSAT, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, UPU, WIPO, WTO; permanent observer status at FAO, OAS, UN, and UNESCO
Diplomatic representation: Apostolic Pro-Nuncio Archbishop Pio LAGHI; 3339 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 333-7121; US--Ambassador Thomas P. MELADY; Embassy at Villino Pacelli, Via Aurelia 294, 00165 Rome (mailing address is APO New York 09794); telephone [396] 639-0558
Flag: two vertical bands of yellow (hoist side) and white with the crossed keys of St. Peter and the papal tiara centered in the white band
- Economy Overview: The economy is supported financially by contributions (known as Peter's pence) from Roman Catholics throughout the world, the sale of postage stamps, tourist mementos, fees for admission to museums, and the sale of publications.
Budget: revenues $57 million; expenditures $113.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1986)
Electricity: 5,000 kW standby capacity (1989); power supplied by Italy
Industries: printing and production of a small amount of mosaics and staff uniforms; worldwide banking and financial activities
Currency: Vatican lira (plural--lire); 1 Vatican lira (VLit) = 100 centesimi
Exchange rates: Vatican lire (VLit) per US$1--1,262.5 (January 1990), 1,372.1 (1989), 1,301.6 (1988), 1,296.1 (1987), 1,490.8 (1986), 1,909.4 (1985); note--the Vatican lira is at par with the Italian lira which circulates freely
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 850 m, 750 mm gauge (links with Italian network near the Rome station of St. Peter's)
Highways: none; all city streets
Telecommunications: stations--3 AM, 4 FM, no TV; 2,000-line automatic telephone exchange; no communications satellite systems
- Defense Forces Note: defense is the responsibility of Italy; Swiss Papal Guards are posted at entrances to the Vatican City ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Venezuela - Geography Total area: 912,050 km2; land area: 882,050 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of California
Land boundaries: 4,993 km total; Brazil 2,200 km, Colombia 2,050 km, Guyana 743 km
Coastline: 2,800 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 15 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: claims Essequibo area of Guyana; maritime boundary disputes with Colombia in the Gulf of Venezuela and with Trinidad and Tobago in the Gulf of Paria
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands
Terrain: Andes mountains and Maracaibo lowlands in northwest; central plains (llanos); Guyana highlands in southeast
Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower, diamonds
Land use: 3% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 20% meadows and pastures; 39% forest and woodland; 37% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: subject to floods, rockslides, mudslides; periodic droughts; increasing industrial pollution in Caracas and Maracaibo
Note: on major sea and air routes linking North and South America
- People Population: 19,698,104 (July 1990), growth rate 2.5% (1990)
Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 4 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 27 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 71 years male, 77 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.4 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Venezuelan(s); adjective--Venezuelan
Ethnic divisions: 67% mestizo, 21% white, 10% black, 2% Indian
Religion: 96% nominally Roman Catholic, 2% Protestant
Language: Spanish (official); Indian dialects spoken by about 200,000 Amerindians in the remote interior
Literacy: 85.6%
Labor force: 5,800,000; 56% services, 28% industry, 16% agriculture (1985)
Organized labor: 32% of labor force
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Venezuela
Type: republic
Capital: Caracas
Administrative divisions: 20 states (estados, singular--estado), 2 territories* (territorios, singular--territorio), 1 federal district** (distrito federal), and 1 federal dependence*** (dependencia federal); Amazonas*, Anzoategui, Apure, Aragua, Barinas, Bolivar, Carabobo, Cojedes, Delta Amacuro*, Dependencias Federales***, Distrito Federal**, Falcon, Guarico, Lara, Merida, Miranda, Monagas, Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Sucre, Tachira, Trujillo, Yaracuy, Zulia; note--the federal dependence consists of 11 federally controlled island groups with a total of 72 individual islands
Independence: 5 July 1811 (from Spain)
Constitution: 23 January 1961
Legal system: based on Napoleonic code; judicial review of legislative acts in Cassation Court only; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 5 July (1811)
Executive branch: president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justica)
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Carlos Andres PEREZ (since 2 February 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Social Christian Party (COPEI), Eduardo Fernandez, secretary general; Democratic Action (AD), Gonzalo Barrios, president, and Humberto Celli, secretary general; Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), Teodoro Petkoff, president, and Freddy Munoz, secretary general
Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18, though poorly enforced
Elections: President--last held 4 December 1988 (next to be held December 1993); results--Carlos Andres Perez (AD) 53%, Eduardo Fernandez (COPEI) 40%, others 7%;
Senate--last held 4 December 1988 (next to be held December 1993); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(49 total) AD 23, COPEI 22, others 4;
Chamber of Deputies--last held 4 December 1988 (next to be held December 1993); results--AD 43.7%, COPEI 31.4%, MAS 10.3%, others 14.6%; seats--(201 total) AD 97, COPEI 67, MAS 18, others 19
Communists: 10,000 members (est.)
Other political or pressure groups: FEDECAMARAS, a conservative business group; Venezuelan Confederation of Workers, the Democratic Action-dominated labor organization
Member of: Andean Pact, AIOEC, FAO, G-77, Group of Eight, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, LAIA, NAM, OAS, OPEC, PAHO, SELA, WFTU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Simon Alberto CONSALVI Bottaro; Chancery at 2445 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 797-3800; there are Venezuelan Consulates General in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico); US--Ambassador-designate Eric JAVITS; Embassy at Avenida Francisco de Miranda and Avenida Principal de la Floresta, Caracas (mailing address is P. O. Box 62291, Caracas 1060-A, or APO Miami 34037); telephone [58] (2) 284-6111 or 7111; there is a US Consulate in Maracaibo
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), blue, and red with the coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band and an arc of seven white five-pointed stars centered in the blue band
- Economy Overview: Petroleum is the cornerstone of the economy and accounted for 17% of GDP, 52% of central government revenues, and 81% of export earnings in 1988. President Perez introduced an economic readjustment program when he assumed office in February 1989. Lower tariffs and price supports, a free market exchange rate, and market-linked interest rates have thrown the economy into confusion, causing about an 8% decline in GDP.
GDP: $52.0 billion, per capita $2,700; real growth rate - 8.1% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 80.7% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 7.0% (1988)
Budget: revenues $8.4 billion; expenditures $8.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $5.9 billion (1989)
Exports: $10.4 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--petroleum 81%, bauxite and aluminum, iron ore, agricultural products, basic manufactures; partners--US 50.3%, FRG 5.3%, Japan 4.1% (1988)
Imports: $10.9 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--foodstuffs, chemicals, manufactures, machinery and transport equipment; partners--US 44%, FRG 8.5%, Japan 6%, Italy 5%, Brazil 4.4% (1987)
External debt: $33.6 billion (1988)
Industrial production: growth rate 3.7%, excluding oil (1988)
Electricity: 19,110,000 kW capacity; 54,516 million kWh produced, 2,830 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: petroleum, iron-ore mining, construction materials, food processing, textiles, steel, aluminum, motor vehicle assembly
Agriculture: accounts for 6% of GDP and 15% of labor force; products--corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee, beef, pork, milk, eggs, fish; not self-sufficient in food other than meat
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis and coca for the international drug trade on a small scale; however, large quantities of cocaine and marijuana do transit the country
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-86), $488 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $10 million
Currency: bolivar (plural--bolivares); 1 bolivar (Bs) = 100 centimos
Exchange rates: bolivares (Bs) per US$1--43.42 (January 1990), 34.6815 (1989), 14.5000 (fixed rate 1987-88), 8.0833 (1986), 7.5000 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 542 km total; 363 km 1.435-meter standard gauge all single track, government owned; 179 km 1.435-meter gauge, privately owned
Highways: 77,785 km total; 22,780 km paved, 24,720 km gravel, 14,450 km earth roads, and 15,835 km unimproved earth
Inland waterways: 7,100 km; Rio Orinoco and Lago de Maracaibo accept oceangoing vessels
Pipelines: 6,370 km crude oil; 480 km refined products; 4,010 km natural gas
Ports: Amuay Bay, Bajo Grande, El Tablazo, La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, Puerto Ordaz
Merchant marine: 70 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 997,458 GRT/1,615,155 DWT; includes 1 short-sea passenger, 1 passenger cargo, 28 cargo, 2 container, 3 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 17 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 2 liquefied gas, 11 bulk, 1 vehicle carrier, 1 combination bulk, 1 combination ore/oil
Civil air: 58 major transport aircraft
Airports: 306 total, 278 usable; 134 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 12 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 92 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: modern and expanding; 1,440,000 telephones; stations--181 AM, no FM, 59 TV, 26 shortwave; 3 submarine coaxial cables; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 3 domestic
- Defense Forces Branches: Ground Forces (Army), Naval Forces (Navy, Marines, Coast Guard), Air Forces, Armed Forces of Cooperation (National Guard)
Military manpower: males 15-49, 5,073,913; 3,680,176 fit for military service; 211,269 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: 1.1% of GDP, or $570 million (1990 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Vietnam - Geography Total area: 329,560 km2; land area: 325,360
Comparative area: slightly larger than New Mexico
Land boundaries: 3,818 km total; Cambodia 982 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 1,555 km
Coastline: 3,444 km (excluding islands)
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: offshore islands and three sections of the boundary with Cambodia are in dispute; maritime boundary with Cambodia not defined; occupied Cambodia on 25 December 1978; sporadic border clashes with China; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, and Taiwan; maritime boundary dispute with China in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan
Climate: tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (mid-May to mid-September) and warm, dry season (mid-October to mid-March)
Terrain: low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest
Natural resources: phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil deposits, forests
Land use: 22% arable land; 2% permanent crops; 1% meadows and pastures; 40% forest and woodland; 35% other; includes 5% irrigated
Environment: occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding
- People Population: 66,170,889 (July 1990), growth rate 2.1% (1990)
Birth rate: 30 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 1 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 50 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 62 years male, 66 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.8 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Vietnamese (sing. and pl.); adjective--Vietnamese
Ethnic divisions: 85-90% predominantly Vietnamese; 3% Chinese; ethnic minorities include Muong, Thai, Meo, Khmer, Man, Cham; other mountain tribes
Religion: Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, Roman Catholic, indigenous beliefs, Islamic, Protestant
Language: Vietnamese (official), French, Chinese, English, Khmer, tribal languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)
Literacy: 78%
Labor force: 35,000,000 (1989 est.)
Organized labor: reportedly over 90% of wage and salary earners are members of the Vietnam Federation of Trade Unions (VFTU)
- Government Long-form name: Socialist Republic of Vietnam; abbreviated SRV
Type: Communist state
Capital: Hanoi
Administrative divisions: 37 provinces (tinh, singular and plural), 3 municipalities* (thanh pho, singular and plural); An Giang, Bac Thai, Ben Tre, Binh Tri Thien, Cao Bang, Cuu Long, Dac Lac, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Gia Lai-Cong Tum, Ha Bac, Hai Hung, Hai Phong*, Ha Nam Ninh, Ha Noi*, Ha Son Binh, Ha Tuyen, Hau Giang, Hoang Lien Son, Ho Chi Minh*, Kien Giang, Lai Chau, Lam Dong, Lang Son, Long An, Minh Hai, Nghe Tinh, Nghia Binh, Phu Khanh, Quang Nam-Da Nang, Quang Ninh, Song Be, Son La, Tay Ninh, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa, Thuan Hai, Tien Giang, Vinh Pu, Vung Tau-Con Dao; note--diacritical marks are not included; the number of provinces may have been changed with the elimination of Binh Tri Thien, Nghia Binh, and Phu Khanh and the addition of Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Quang Binh, Quang Ngai, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien
Independence: 2 September 1945 (from France)
Constitution: 18 December 1980
Legal system: based on Communist legal theory and French civil law system
National holiday: Independence Day, 2 September (1945)
Executive branch: chairman of the Council of State, Council of State, chairman of the Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Quoc Hoi)
Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court
Leaders: Chief of State--Chairman of the Council of State Vo Chi CONG (since 18 June 1987);
Head of Government--Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Premier) Do MUOI (since 22 June 1988)
Political parties and leaders: only party-- Vietnam Communist Party (VCP), Nguyen Van Linh
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: National Assembly--last held 19 April 1987 (next to be held April 1992); results--VCP is the only party; seats--(496 total) VCP or VCP-approved 496
Communists: nearly 2 million
Member of: ADB, CEMA, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBEC, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, IRC, ITU, Mekong Committee, NAM, UN, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: none
Flag: red with a large yellow five-pointed star in the center
- Economy Overview: This is a centrally planned, developing economy with extensive government ownership and control of productive facilities. The economy is primarily agricultural, employing about 65% of the labor force and accounting for almost half of GNP. Rice is the staple crop; substantial amounts of maize, sorghum, cassava, and sweet potatoes are also grown. The government permits sale of surplus grain on the open market. Most of the mineral resources are located in the north, including coal, which is an important export item. Following the end of the war in 1975, heavy handed government measures undermined efforts at an efficient merger of the agricultural resources of the south and the industrial resources of the north. The economy remains heavily dependent on foreign aid and has received assistance from Communist countries, Sweden, and UN agencies. Inflation, although down from recent triple-digit levels, is still a major weakness, and per capita output is among the world's lowest. Since early 1989 the government has sponsored a broad reform program that seeks to turn more economic activity over to the private sector.
GNP: $14.2 billion, per capita $215; real growth rate 8% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 40% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 25% (1989 est.)
Budget: revenues $3.2 billion; expenditures $4.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $528 million (1987 est.)
Exports: $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--agricultural and handicraft products, coal, minerals, ores; partners--USSR, Eastern Europe, Japan, Singapore
Imports: $2.5 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--petroleum, steel products, railroad equipment, chemicals, medicines, raw cotton, fertilizer, grain; partners--USSR, Eastern Europe, Japan, Singapore
External debt: $16 billion (1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 10% (1989)
Electricity: 2,465,000 kW capacity; 6,730 million kWh produced, 100 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: food processing, textiles, machine building, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, fishing
Agriculture: accounts for half of GNP; paddy rice, corn, potatoes make up 50% of farm output; commercial crops (rubber, soybeans, coffee, tea, bananas) and animal products other 50%; not self-sufficient in food staple rice; fish catch of 900,000 metric tons (1988 est.)
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-74), $3.1 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $2.7 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $61 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $10.9 million
Currency: new dong (plural--new dong); 1 new dong (D) = 100 xu
Exchange rates: new dong (D) per US$1--4,000 (March 1990), 900 (1988), 225 (1987), 18 (1986), 12 (1985); note--1985-89 figures are end of year
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 3,059 km total; 2,454 1.000-meter gauge, 151 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 230 km dual gauge (three rails), and 224 km not restored to service
Highways: about 85,000 km total; 9,400 km bituminous, 48,700 km gravel or improved earth, 26,900 km unimproved earth
Pipelines: 150 km, refined products
Inland waterways: about 17,702 km navigable; more than 5,149 km navigable at all times by vessels up to 1.8 meter draft
Ports: Da Nang, Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City
Merchant marine: 71 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 290,123 GRT/432,152 DWT; includes 1 short-sea passenger, 55 cargo, 4 refrigerated cargo, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 vehicle carrier, 8 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 bulk; note--Vietnam owns 10 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 111,028 DWT under the registry of Panama and Malta
Civil air: controlled by military
Airports: 100 total, 100 usable; 50 with permanent-surface runways; 10 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 20 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: 35,000 telephones in Ho Chi Minh City (1984); stations--16 AM, 1 FM, 2 TV; 2,300,000 TV sets; 6,000,000 radio receivers; at least 2 satellite earth stations, including 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 15,707,629; 10,030,563 fit for military service; 787,444 reach military age (17) annually
Defense expenditures: 19.4% of GNP (1986 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Virgin Islands (territory of the US) - Geography Total area: 352 km2; land area: 349 km2
Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 188 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 m;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: subtropical, tempered by easterly tradewinds, relatively low humidity, little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season May to November
Terrain: mostly hilly to rugged and mountainous with little level land
Natural resources: sun, sand, sea, surf
Land use: 15% arable land; 6% permanent crops; 26% meadows and pastures; 6% forest and woodland; 47% other
Environment: rarely affected by hurricanes; subject to frequent severe droughts, floods, earthquakes; lack of natural freshwater resources
Note: important location 1,770 km southeast of Miami and 65 km east of Puerto Rico, along the Anegada Passage--a key shipping lane for the Panama Canal; St. Thomas has one of the best natural, deepwater harbors in the Caribbean
- People Population: 99,200 (July 1990), growth rate - 0.3% (1990)
Birth rate: 22 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 20 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 19 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 70 years male, 76 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 2.7 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Virgin Islander(s); adjective--Virgin Islander
Ethnic divisions: 74% West Indian (45% born in the Virgin Islands and 29% born elsewhere in the West Indies), 13% US mainland, 5% Puerto Rican, 8% other; 80% black, 15% white, 5% other; 14% of Hispanic origin
Religion: 42% Baptist, 34% Roman Catholic, 17% Episcopalian, 7% other
Language: English (official), but Spanish and Creole are widely spoken
Literacy: 90%
Labor force: 45,000 (1987)
Organized labor: 90% of the government labor force
- Government Long-form name: Virgin Islands of the United States
Type: organized, unincorporated territory of the US administered by the Office of Territorial and International Affairs, US Department of the Interior
Capital: Charlotte Amalie
Administrative divisions: none (territory of the US)
Independence: none (territory of the US)
Constitution: Revised Organic Act of 22 July 1954 serves as the constitution
Legal system: based on US
National holiday: Transfer Day (from Denmark to US), 31 March (1917)
Executive branch: US president, governor, lieutenant governor
Legislative branch: unicameral Senate
Judicial branch: US District Court handles civil matters over $50,000, felonies (persons 15 years of age and over), and federal cases; Territorial Court handles civil matters up to $50,000 small claims, juvenile, domestic, misdemeanors, and traffic cases
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--President George BUSH (since 20 January 1989), represented by Governor Alexander FARRELLY (since 5 January 1987); Lieutenant Governor Derek HODGE (since 5 January 1987)
Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party, Marilyn Stapleton; Independent Citizens' Movement (ICM), Virdin Brown; Republican Party, Charlotte-Poole Davis
Suffrage: universal at age 18; indigenous inhabitants are US citizens, but do not vote in US presidential elections
Elections: Governor--last held NA 1986 (next to be held NA 1990); results--Alexander Farrelly (Democratic Party) defeated Adelbert Bryan (ICM);
Senate--last held 8 November 1988 (next to be held NA); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(15 total) number of seats by party NA;
US House of Representatives--last held 8 November 1988 (next to be held 6 November 1990); results--the Virgin Islands elects one nonvoting representative
Diplomatic representation: none (territory of the US)
Flag: white with a modified US coat of arms in the center between the large blue initials V and I; the coat of arms shows an eagle holding an olive branch in one talon and three arrows in the other with a superimposed shield of vertical red and white stripes below a blue panel
- Economy Overview: Tourism is the primary economic activity, accounting for more than 70% of GDP and 70% of employment. The manufacturing sector consists of textile, electronics, pharmaceutical, and watch assembly plants. The agricultural sector is small with most food imported. International business and financial services are a small but growing component of the economy. The world's largest petroleum refinery is at St. Croix.
GDP: $1.03 billion, per capita $9,030; real growth rate NA% (1985)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
Unemployment rate: 3.5% (1987)
Budget: revenues $315 million; expenditures $322 million, including capital expenditures of NA (FY88)
Exports: $3.4 billion (f.o.b., 1985); commodities--refined petroleum products; partners--US, Puerto Rico
Imports: $3.7 billion (c.i.f., 1985); commodities--crude oil, foodstuffs, consumer goods, building materials; partners--US, Puerto Rico
External debt: $NA
Industrial production: growth rate 12%
Electricity: 341,000 kW capacity; 507 million kWh produced, 4,650 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: tourism, government service, petroleum refining, watch assembly, rum distilling, construction, pharmaceuticals, textiles, electronics
Agriculture: truck gardens, food crops (small scale), fruit, sorghum, Senepol cattle
Aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $33.5 million
Currency: US currency is used
Exchange rates: US currency is used
Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September
- Communications Highways: 856 km total
Ports: St. Croix--Christiansted, Frederiksted; St. Thomas--Long Bay, Crown Bay, Red Hook; St. John--Cruz Bay
Airports: 2 total, 2 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways 1,220-2,439 m; international airports on St. Thomas and St. Croix
Telecommunications: 44,280 telephones; stations--4 AM, 6 FM, 3 TV; modern system using fiber optic cable, submarine cable, microwave radio, and satellite facilities; 90,000 radio receivers; 56,000 television sets
- Defense Forces Note: defense is the responsibility of the US ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Wake Island (territory of the US) - Geography Total area: 6.5 km2; land area: 6.5 km2
Comparative area: about 11 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 19.3 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 m;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: claimed by the Republic of the Marshall Islands
Climate: tropical
Terrain: atoll of three coral islands built up on an underwater volcano; central lagoon is former crater, islands are part of the rim; average elevation less than four meters
Natural resources: none
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other
Environment: subject to occasional typhoons
Note: strategic location 3,700 km west of Honolulu in the North Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way between Hawaii and the Northern Mariana Islands; emergency landing location for transpacific flights
- People Population: 195 (January 1990); no indigenous inhabitants; temporary population consists of 11 US Air Force personnel, 27 US civilians, and 151 Thai contractors
Note: population peaked about 1970 with over 1,600 persons during the Vietnam conflict
- Government Long-form name: none
Type: unincorporated territory of the US administered by the US Air Force (under an agreement with the US Department of Interior) since 24 June 1972
Flag: the US flag is used
- Economy Overview: Economic activity is limited to providing services to US military personnel and contractors located on the island. All food and manufactured goods must be imported.
- Communications Ports: none; because of the reefs, there are only two offshore anchorages for large ships
Airports: 1 with permanent-surface runways 2,987 m
Telecommunications: underwater cables to Guam and through Midway to Honolulu; AFRTS radio and television service provided by satellite; stations--1 AM, no FM, no TV
Note: formerly an important commercial aviation base, now used only by US military and some commercial cargo planes
- Defense Forces Note: defense is the responsibility of the US ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Wallis and Futuna (overseas territory of France) - Geography Total area: 274 km2; land area: 274 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 129 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; hot, rainy season (November to April); cool, dry season (May to October)
Terrain: volcanic origin; low hills
Natural resources: negligible
Land use: 5% arable land; 20% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 75% other
Environment: both island groups have fringing reefs
Note: located 4,600 km southwest of Honolulu in the South Pacific Ocean about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand
- People Population: 14,910 (July 1990), growth rate 3.0% (1990)
Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 8 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 32 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 70 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.8 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Wallisian(s), Futunan(s), or Wallis and Futuna Islanders; adjective--Wallisian, Futunan, or Wallis and Futuna Islander
Ethnic divisions: almost entirely Polynesian
Religion: largely Roman Catholic
Language: French, Wallisian (indigenous Polynesian language)
Literacy: NA%
Labor force: NA
Organized labor: NA
- Government Long-form name: Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands
Type: overseas territory of France
Capital: Mata-Utu
Administrative divisions: none (overseas territory of France)
Independence: none (overseas territory of France)
Constitution: 28 September 1958 (French Constitution)
Legal system: French
National holiday: Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)
Executive branch: French president, high administrator; note--there are three traditional kings with limited powers
Legislative branch: unicameral Territorial Assembly (Assemblee Territoriale)
Judicial branch: none; justice generally administered under French law by the chief administrator, but the three traditional kings administer customary law and there is a magistrate in Mata-Utu
Leaders: Chief of State--President Francois MITTERRAND (since 21 May 1981);
Head of Government--Chief Administrator Roger DUMEC (since 15 July 1988)
Political parties and leaders: Rally for the Republic (RPR); Union Populaire Locale (UPL); Union Pour la Democratie Francaise (UDF)
Suffrage: universal adult at age NA
Elections: Territorial Assembly--last held 15 March 1987 (next to be held March 1992); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(20 total) RPR 7, UDF coalition 7, UPL 6;
French Senate--last held NA (next to be held NA); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(1 total) party of the representative is NA;
French National Assembly--last held NA (next to be held NA); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(1 total) RPR 1
Diplomatic representation: as an overseas territory of France, local interests are represented in the US by France
Flag: the flag of France is used
- Economy Overview: The economy is limited to subsistence agriculture. The majority of the labor force earns its livelihood from agriculture, raising livestock, and fishing, with the rest employed by the government sector. Exports are negligible. The Territory has to import food, fuel, and construction materials, and is dependent on budgetary support from France to meet recurring expenses. The economy also benefits from cash remittances from expatriate workers.
GDP: $6.7 million, per capita $484; real growth rate NA% (est. 1985)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports: $NA; commodities--copra; partners--NA
Imports: $3.4 million (c.i.f., 1977); commodities--largely foodstuffs and some equipment associated with development programs; partners--France, Australia, New Zealand
External debt: $NA
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 1,200 kW capacity; 1 million kWh produced, 70 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: copra, handicrafts, fishing, lumber
Agriculture: dominated by coconut production, with subsistence crops of yams, taro, bananas
Aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $118 million
Currency: Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (plural--francs); 1 CFP franc (CFPF) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique francs (CFPF) per US$1--104.71 (January 1990), 115.99 (1989), 108.30 (1988), 109.27 (1987), 125.92 (1986), 163.35 (1985); note--linked at the rate of 18.18 to the French franc
Fiscal year: NA
- Communications Highways: 100 km on Ile Uvea (Wallis Island), 16 km sealed; 20 km earth surface on Ile Futuna (Futuna Island)
Inland waterways: none
Ports: Mata-Utu, Leava
Airports: 2 total; 2 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 2,439 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: 225 telephones; stations--1 AM, no FM, no TV
- Defense Forces Note: defense is the responsibility of France ---------------------------------------------------- Country: West Bank Note: The war between Israel and the Arab states in June 1967 ended with Israel in control of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Sinai, and the Golan Heights. As stated in the 1978 Camp David Accords and reaffirmed by President Reagan's 1 September 1982 peace initiative, the final status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, their relationship with their neighbors, and a peace treaty between Israel and Jordan are to be negotiated among the concerned parties. Camp David further specifies that these negotiations will resolve the respective boundaries. Pending the completion of this process, it is US policy that the final status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip has yet to be determined. In the view of the US, the term West Bank describes all of the area west of the Jordan River under Jordanian administration before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. However, with respect to negotiations envisaged in the framework agreement, it is US policy that a distinction must be made between Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank because of the city's special status and circumstances. Therefore, a negotiated solution for the final status of Jerusalem could be different in character from that of the rest of the West Bank.
- Geography Total area: 5,860 km2; land area: 5,640 km2; includes West Bank, East Jerusalem, Latrun Salient, Jerusalem No Man's Land, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus
Comparative area: slightly larger than Delaware
Land boundaries: 404 km total; Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km;
Coastline: none--landlocked
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
Disputes: Israeli occupied with status to be determined
Climate: temperate, temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters
Terrain: mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east
Natural resources: negligible
Land use: 27% arable land, 0% permanent crops, 32% meadows and pastures, 1% forest and woodland, 40% other
Environment: highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers
Note: landlocked; there are 173 Jewish settlements in the West Bank and 14 Israeli-built Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem
- People Population: 1,058,122 (July 1990), growth rate 2.6% (1990); in addition, there are 70,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank and 110,000 in East Jerusalem (1989 est.)
Birth rate: 37 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 5 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 48 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 65 years male, 68 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 5.0 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: NA
Ethnic divisions: 88% Palestinian Arab and other, 12% Jewish
Religion: 80% Muslim (predominantly Sunni), 12% Jewish, 8% Christian and other
Language: Arabic, Israeli settlers speak Hebrew, English widely understood
Literacy: NA%
Labor force: NA; excluding Israeli Jewish settlers--29.8% small industry, commerce, and business, 24.2% construction, 22.4% agriculture, 23.6% service and other (1984)
Organized labor: NA
- Government Long-form name: none
Note: The West Bank is currently governed by Israeli military authorities and Israeli civil administration. It is US policy that the final status of the West Bank will be determined by negotiations among the concerned parties. These negotiations will determine how the area is to be governed.
- Economy Overview: Economic progress in the West Bank has been hampered by Israeli military occupation and the effects of the Palestinian uprising. Industries using advanced technology or requiring sizable financial resources have been discouraged by a lack of financial resources and Israeli policy. Capital investment has largely gone into residential housing, not into productive assets that could compete with Israeli industry. A major share of GNP is derived from remittances of workers employed in Israel and neighboring Gulf states. Israeli reprisals against Palestinian unrest in the West Bank since 1987 have pushed unemployment up and lowered living standards.
GNP: $1.0 billion, per capita $1,000; real growth rate - 15% (1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $47.4 million; expenditures $45.7 million, including capital expenditures of NA (FY86)
Exports: $150 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--NA; partners--Jordan, Israel
Imports: $410 million (c.i.f., 1988 est.); commodities--NA; partners--Jordan, Israel
External debt: $NA
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: power supplied by Israel
Industries: generally small family businesses that produce cement, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some small-scale modern industries in the settlements and industrial centers
Agriculture: olives, citrus and other fruits, vegetables, beef, and dairy products
Aid: none
Currency: new Israeli shekel (plural--shekels) and Jordanian dinar (plural--dinars); 1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot and 1 Jordanian dinar (JD) = 1,000 fils
Exchange rates: new Israeli shekels (NIS) per US$1--1.9450 (January 1990), 1.9164 (1989), 1.5992 (1988), 1.5946 (1987), 1.4878 (1986), 1.1788 (1985); Jordanian dinars (JD) per US$1--0.6557 (January 1990), 0.5704 (1989), 0.3715 (1988), 0.3387 (1987), 0.3499 (1986), 0.3940 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
- Communications Highways: small indigenous road network, Israelis developing east-west axial highways
Airports: 2 total, 2 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 2,439 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: open-wire telephone system currently being upgraded; stations--no AM, no FM, no TV
- Defense Forces Branches: NA
Military manpower: NA
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Western Sahara - Geography Total area: 266,000 km2; land area: 266,000 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Colorado
Land boundaries: 2,046 km total; Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km
Coastline: 1,110 km
Maritime claims: contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue
Disputes: claimed and administered by Morocco, but sovereignty is unresolved and guerrilla fighting continues in the area
Climate: hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore currents produce fog and heavy dew
Terrain: mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast
Natural resources: phosphates, iron ore
Land use: NEGL% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 81% other
Environment: hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility; sparse water and arable land
- People Population: 191,707 (July 1990), growth rate 2.7% (1990)
Birth rate: 48 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 23 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 177 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 39 years male, 41 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 7.3 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Saharan(s), Moroccan(s); adjective--Saharan, Moroccan
Ethnic divisions: Arab and Berber
Religion: Muslim
Language: Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic
Literacy: 20% among Moroccans, 5% among Saharans (est.)
Labor force: 12,000; 50% animal husbandry and subsistence farming
Organized labor: NA
- Government Long-form name: none
Type: legal status of territory and question of sovereignty unresolved; territory contested by Morocco and Polisario Front (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro); territory partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania in April 1976, with Morocco acquiring northern two-thirds; Mauritania, under pressure from Polisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979; Morocco moved to occupy that sector shortly thereafter and has since asserted administrative control; the Polisario's government in exile was seated as an OAU member in 1984; guerrilla activities continue to the present
Capital: none
Administrative divisions: none (under de facto control of Morocco)
Leaders: none
Diplomatic representation: none
- Economy Overview: Western Sahara, a territory poor in natural resources and having little rainfall, has a per capita GDP of just a few hundred dollars. Fishing and phosphate mining are the principal industries and sources of income. Most of the food for the urban population must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan Government.
GDP: $NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports: $8 million (f.o.b., 1982 est.); commodities--phosphates 62%; partners--Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts
Imports: $30 million (c.i.f., 1982 est.); commodities--fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs; partners--Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts
External debt: $NA
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 60,000 kW capacity; 79 million kWh produced, 425 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: phosphate, fishing, handicrafts
Agriculture: practically none; some barley is grown in nondrought years; fruit and vegetables are grown in the few oases; food imports are essential; camels, sheep, and goats are kept by the nomadic natives; cash economy exists largely for the garrison forces
Aid: NA
Currency: Moroccan dirham (plural--dirhams); 1 Moroccan dirham (DH) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: Moroccan dirhams (DH) per US$1--8.093 (January 1990), 8.488 (1989), 8.209 (1988), 8.359 (1987), 9.104 (1986), 10.062 (1985)
Fiscal year: NA
- Communications Highways: 6,100 km total; 1,350 km surfaced, 4,750 km improved and unimproved earth roads and tracks
Ports: El Aaiun, Ad Dakhla
Airports: 16 total, 14 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 6 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: sparse and limited system; tied into Morocco's system by radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations linked to Rabat, Morocco; 2,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, no FM, 2 TV
- Defense Forces Branches: NA
Military manpower: NA
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Western Samoa - Geography Total area: 2,860 km2; land area: 2,850 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Rhode Island
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 403 km
Maritime claims:
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; rainy season (October to March), dry season (May to October)
Terrain: narrow coastal plain with volcanic, rocky, rugged mountains in interior
Natural resources: hardwood forests, fish
Land use: 19% arable land; 24% permanent crops; NEGL% meadows and pastures; 47% forest and woodland; 10% other
Environment: subject to occasional typhoons; active volcanism
Note: located 4,300 km southwest of Honolulu in the South Pacific Ocean about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand
- People Population: 186,031 (July 1990), growth rate 2.3% (1990)
Birth rate: 34 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 5 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 48 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 69 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 4.6 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Western Samoan(s); adjective--Western Samoan
Ethnic divisions: Samoan; about 7% Euronesians (persons of European and Polynesian blood), 0.4% Europeans
Religion: 99.7% Christian (about half of population associated with the London Missionary Society; includes Congregational, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Latter Day Saints, Seventh-Day Adventist)
Language: Samoan (Polynesian), English
Literacy: 90%
Labor force: 37,000; 22,000 employed in agriculture (1983 est.)
Organized labor: Public Service Association (PSA)
- Government Long-form name: Independent State of Western Samoa
Type: constitutional monarchy under native chief
Capital: Apia
Administrative divisions: 11 districts; Aana, Aiga-i-le-Tai, Atua, Faasaleleaga, Gagaemauga, Gagaifomauga, Palauli, Satupaitea, Tuamasaga, Vaa-o-Fonoti, Vaisigano
Independence: 1 January 1962 (from UN trusteeship administered by New Zealand)
Constitution: 1 January 1962
Legal system: based on English common law and local customs; judicial review of legislative acts with respect to fundamental rights of the citizen; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: National Day, 1 June
Executive branch: monarch, Executive Council, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Assembly (Fono)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Court of Appeal
Leaders: Chief of State--Susuga Malietoa TANUMAFILI II (Co-Chief of State from 1 January 1962 until becoming sole Chief of State on 5 April 1963);
Head of Government--Prime Minister TOFILAU Eti Alesana (since 7 April 1988)
Political parties and leaders: Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), Tofilau Eti, chairman; Samoan National Development Party (SNDP), Tupua Tamasese Efi, chairman
Suffrage: there are two electoral rolls--the matai (head of family) roll and the individuals roll; about 12,000 persons are on the matai roll, hold matai titles, and elect 45 members of the Legislative Assembly; about 1,600 persons are on the individuals roll, lack traditional matai ties, and elect two members of the Legislative Assembly by universal adult suffrage at the age of NA
Elections: Legislative Assembly--last held 26 February 1988 (next to be held by February 1991); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(47 total) HRPP 25, SNDP 22
Member of: ACP, ADB, Commonwealth, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IMF, SPC, SPF, UN, UNESCO, WHO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Fili (Felix) Tuaopepe WENDT; Chancery (temporary) at the Western Samoan Mission to the UN, 820 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10017 (212) 599-6196; US--the ambassador to New Zealand is accredited to Western Samoa
Flag: red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side quadrant bearing five white five-pointed stars representing the Southern Cross constellation
- Economy Overview: Agriculture employs two-thirds of the labor force, contributes 50% to GDP, and is the source of 90% of exports. The bulk of export earnings comes from the sale of coconut oil and copra. The economy depends on emigrant remittances and foreign aid to support a level of imports about five times export earnings. Tourism has become the most important growth industry, and construction of the first international hotel is under way.
GDP: $112 million, per capita $615; real growth rate 0.2% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.5% (1988)
Unemployment rate: NA%; shortage of skilled labor
Budget: revenues $54 million; expenditures $54 million, including capital expenditures of $28 million (1988)
Exports: $9.9 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--coconut oil and cream 42%, taro 19%, cocoa 14%, copra, timber; partners--NZ 30%, EC 24%, Australia 21%, American Samoa 7%, US 9% (1987)
Imports: $51.8 million (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--intermediate goods 58%, food 17%, capital goods 12%; partners--New Zealand 31%, Australia 20%, Japan 15%, Fiji 15%, US 5%, EC 4% (1987)
External debt: $75 million (December 1988 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate - 4.0% (1987)
Electricity: 23,000 kW capacity; 35 million kWh produced, 190 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: timber, tourism, food processing, fishing
Agriculture: coconuts, fruit (including bananas, taro, yams)
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $16 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $261 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $4 million
Currency: tala (plural--tala); 1 tala (WS$) = 100 sene
Exchange rates: tala (WS$) per US$1--2.2857 (January 1990), 2.2686 (1989), 2.0790 (1988), 2.1204 (1987), 2.2351 (1986), 2.2437 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Highways: 2,042 km total; 375 km sealed; remainder mostly gravel, crushed stone, or earth
Ports: Apia
Merchant marine: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 24,930 GRT/34,135 DWT; includes 2 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo
Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft
Airports: 4 total, 4 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; none with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: 7,500 telephones; 70,000 radio receivers; stations--1 AM, no FM, no TV; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT station
- Defense Forces Branches: NA
Military manpower: NA
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: World - Geography Total area: 510,072,000 km2; 361,132,000 km2 (70.8%) is water and 148,940,000 km2 (29.2%) is land
Comparative area: land area about 16 times the size of the US
Land boundaries: 442,000 km
Coastline: 359,000 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: generally 24 nm, but varies from 4 nm to 24 nm;
Continental shelf: generally 200 nm, but some are 200 meters in depth;
Exclusive fishing zone: most are 200 nm, but varies from 12 nm to 200 nm;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm, only Madagascar claims 150 nm;
Territorial sea: generally 12 nm, but varies from 3 nm to 200 nm
Disputes: 13 international land boundary disputes--Argentina-Uruguay, Bangladesh-India, Brazil-Paraguay, Brazil-Uruguay, Cambodia-Vietnam, China-India, China-USSR, Ecuador-Peru, El Salvador-Honduras, French Guiana-Suriname, Guyana-Suriname, Guyana-Venezuela, Qatar-UAE
Climate: two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates
Terrain: highest elevation is Mt. Everest at 8,848 meters and lowest elevation is the Dead Sea at 392 meters below sea level; greatest ocean depth is the Marianas Trench at 10,924 meters
Natural resources: the oceans represent the last major frontier for the discovery and development of natural resources
Land use: 10% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 24% meadows and pastures; 31% forest and woodland; 34% other; includes 1.6% irrigated
Environment: large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions), industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife resources, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion
- People Population: 5,316,644,000 (July 1990), growth rate 1.7% (1990)
Birth rate: 27 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 70 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 60 years male, 64 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.4 children born/woman (1990)
Literacy: 77% men; 66% women (1980)
Labor force: 1,939,000,000 (1984)
Organized labor: NA
- Government Administrative divisions: 248 nations, dependent areas, and other entities
Legal system: varies among each of the entities; 162 are parties to the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court
Diplomatic representation: there are 159 members of the UN
- Economy Overview: In 1989 the World economy grew at an estimated 3.0%, somewhat lower than the estimated 3.4% for 1988. The technologically advanced areas--North America, Japan, and Western Europe--together account for 65% of the gross world product (GWP) of $20.3 trillion; these developed areas grew in the aggregate at 3.5%. In contrast, the Communist (Second World) countries typically grew at between 0% and 2%, accounting for 23% of GWP. Experience in the developing countries continued mixed, with the newly industrializing countries generally maintaining their rapid growth, and many others struggling with debt, inflation, and inadequate investment. The year 1989 ended with remarkable political upheavals in the Communist countries, which presumably will dislocate economic production still further. The addition of nearly 100 million people a year to an already overcrowded globe will exacerbate the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, and poverty throughout the 1990s.
GWP (gross world product): $20.3 trillion, per capita $3,870; real growth rate 3.0% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5%, developed countries; 100%, developing countries with wide variations (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Exports: $2,694 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--NA; partners--in value, about 70% of exports from industrial countries
Imports: $2,750 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--NA; partners--in value, about 75% of imports by the industrial countries
External debt: $1,008 billion for less developed countries (1988 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 5% (1989 est.)
Electricity: 2,838,680,000 kW capacity; 11,222,029 million kWh produced, 2,140 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: chemicals, energy, machinery, electronics, metals, mining, textiles, food processing
Agriculture: cereals (wheat, maize, rice), sugar, livestock products, tropical crops, fruit, vegetables, fish
Aid: NA
- Communications Ports: Mina al Ahmadi (Kuwait), Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama
- Defense Forces Branches: ground, maritime, and air forces at all levels of technology
Military manpower: 29.15 million persons in the defense forces of the World (1987)
Defense expenditures: 5.4% of GWP, or $1.1 trillion (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Yemen Arab Republic Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen - Geography Total area: 195,000 km2; land area: 195,000 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than South Dakota
Land boundaries: 1,209 km total; Saudi Arabia 628 km, PDRY 581 km
Coastline: 523 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 18 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 meters;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: sections of the boundary with PDRY are indefinite or undefined; undefined section of boundary with Saudi Arabia
Climate: desert; hot and humid along coast; temperate in central mountains; harsh desert in east
Terrain: narrow coastal plain (Tihama); western mountains; flat dissected plain in center sloping into desert interior of Arabian Peninsula
Natural resources: crude oil, rock salt, marble; small deposits of coal, nickel, and copper; fertile soil
Land use: 14% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 36% meadows and pastures; 8% forest and woodland; 42% other; includes 1% irrigated
Environment: subject to sand and dust storms in summer; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Note: controls northern approaches to Bab el Mandeb linking Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes
- People Population: 7,160,981 (July 1990), growth rate 3.1% (1990)
Birth rate: 52 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 17 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 4 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 129 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 48 years male, 49 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 7.6 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Yemeni(s); adjective--Yemeni
Ethnic divisions: 90% Arab, 10% Afro-Arab (mixed)
Religion: 100% Muslim (Sunni and Shia)
Language: Arabic
Literacy: 15% (est.)
Labor force: NA; 70% agriculture and herding, 30% expatriate laborers (est.)
- Government Long-form name: Yemen Arab Republic; abbreviated YAR
Type: republic; military regime assumed power in June 1974
Capital: Sanaa
Administrative divisions: 11 governorates (muhafazat, singular--muhafazah); Al Bayda, Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahwit, Dhamar, Hajjah, Ibb, Marib, Sadah, Sana, Taizz
Independence: November 1918 (from Ottoman Empire)
Constitution: 28 December 1970, suspended 19 June 1974
Legal system: based on Turkish law, Islamic law, and local customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Proclamation of the Republic, 26 September (1962)
Executive branch: president, vice president, prime minister, four deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral Consultative Assembly (Majlis ash-Shura)
Judicial branch: State Security Court
Leaders: Chief of State--President Col. Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 18 July 1978); Vice President (vacant);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Abd al-Aziz ABD AL-GHANI (since 12 November 1983, previously prime minister from 1975-1980 and co-Vice President from October 1980 to November 1983)
Political parties and leaders: no legal political parties; in 1983 President Salih started the General People's Congress, which is designed to function as the country's sole political party
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: Consultative Assembly--last held 5 July 1988 (next to be held NA); results--percent of vote NA; seats--(159 total, 128 elected)
Communists: small number
Other political or pressure groups: conservative tribal groups, Muslim Brotherhood, leftist factions--pro-Iraqi Bathists, Nasirists, National Democratic Front (NDF) supported by the PDRY
Member of: ACC, Arab League, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Mohsin A. al-AINI; Chancery at Suite 840, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037; telephone (202) 965-4760 or 4761; there is a Yemeni Consulate General in Detroit and a Consulate in San Francisco; US--Ambassador Charles F. DUNBAR; Embassy at address NA, Sanaa (mailing address is P. O. Box 1088, Sanaa); telephone [967] (2) 271950 through 271958
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with a large green five-pointed star centered in the white band; similar to the flags of Iraq, which has three stars, and Syria, which has two stars--all green and five-pointed in a horizontal line centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Egypt, which has a symbolic eagle centered in the white band
- Economy Overview: The low level of domestic industry and agriculture make North Yemen dependent on imports for virtually all of its essential needs. Large trade deficits are made up for by remittances from Yemenis working abroad and foreign aid. Once self-sufficient in food production, the YAR is now a major importer. Land once used for export crops--cotton, fruit, and vegetables--has been turned over to growing qat, a mildly narcotic shrub chewed by Yemenis that has no significant export market. Oil export revenues started flowing in late 1987 and boosted 1988 earnings by about $800 million.
GDP: $5.5 billion, per capita $820; real growth rate 19.7% (1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 16.9% (1988)
Unemployment rate: 13% (1986)
Budget: revenues $1.32 billion; expenditures $2.18 billion, including capital expenditures of $588 million (1988 est.)
Exports: $853 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--crude oil, cotton, coffee, hides, vegetables; partners--US 41%, PDRY 14%, Japan 12%
Imports: $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--textiles and other manufactured consumer goods, petroleum products, sugar, grain, flour, other foodstuffs, and cement; partners--Italy 10%, Saudi Arabia 9%, US 9.3%, Japan 9%, UK 8% (1985)
External debt: $3.5 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 2% in manufacturing (1988)
Electricity: 415,000 kW capacity; 500 million kWh produced, 70 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: crude oil production, small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; fishing; small aluminum products factory; cement
Agriculture: accounts for 50% of GDP and 70% of labor force; farm products--grain, fruits, vegetables, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton, dairy, poultry, meat, goat meat; not self-sufficient in grain
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (1970-88), $354 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.4 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $2.9 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $248 million
Currency: Yemeni riyal (plural--riyals); 1 Yemeni riyal (YR) = 100 fils
Exchange rates: Yemeni riyals (YR) per US$1--9.7600 (January 1990), 9.7600 (1989), 9.7717 (1988), 10.3417 (1987), 9.6392 (1986), 7.3633 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Highways: 4,500 km; 2,000 km bituminous, 500 km crushed stone and gravel, 2,000 km earth, sand, and light gravel (est.)
Pipelines: crude oil, 424 km
Ports: Al Hudaydah, Al Mukha, Salif, Ras al Katib
Merchant marine: 1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 192,679 GRT/40,640 DWT
Civil air: 7 major transport aircraft
Airports: 19 total, 14 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 9 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 3 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: system poor but improving; new radio relay and cable networks; 50,000 telephones; stations--3 AM, no FM, 17 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 1 ARABSAT; tropospheric scatter to PDRY; radio relay to PDRY, Saudi Arabia, and Djibouti
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Police
Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,289,217; 734,403 fit for military service; 79,609 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: $358 million (1987) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen - Geography Total area: 332,970 km2; land area: 332,970 km2; includes Perim, Socotra
Comparative area: slightly larger than New Mexico
Land boundaries: 1,699 km total; Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 830 km, YAR 581 km
Coastline: 1,383 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: sections of boundary with YAR indefinite or undefined; Administrative Line with Oman; no defined boundary with Saudi Arabia
Climate: desert; extraordinarily hot and dry
Terrain: mostly upland desert plains; narrow, flat, sandy coastal plain backed by flat-topped hills and rugged mountains
Natural resources: fish, oil, minerals (gold, copper, lead)
Land use: 1% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 27% meadows and pastures; 7% forest and woodland; 65% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: scarcity of natural freshwater resources; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Note: controls southern approaches to Bab el Mandeb linking Red Sea to Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes
- People Population: 2,585,484 (July 1990), growth rate 3.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 48 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 14 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 110 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 50 years male, 54 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 7.0 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Yemeni(s); adjective--Yemeni
Ethnic divisions: almost all Arabs; a few Indians, Somalis, and Europeans
Religion: Sunni Muslim, some Christian and Hindu
Language: Arabic
Literacy: 25%
Labor force: 477,000; 45.2% agriculture, 21.2% services, 13.4% construction, 10.6% industry, 9.6% commerce and other (1983)
Organized labor: 348,200; the General Confederation of Workers of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen has 35,000 members
- Government Long-form name: People's Democratic Republic of Yemen; abbreviated PDRY
Type: republic
Capital: Aden
Administrative divisions: 6 governorates (muhafazat, singular--muhafazah); Abyan, Adan, Al Mahrah, Hadramawt, Lahij, Shabwah
Independence: 30 November 1967 (from UK)
Constitution: 31 October 1978
Legal system: based on Islamic law (for personal matters) and English common law (for commercial matters)
National holiday: National Day, 14 October
Executive branch: president, prime minister, two deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers
Legislative branch: unicameral Supreme People's Council
Judicial branch: Federal High Court
Leaders: Chief of State--President Haydar Abu Bakr al-ATTAS (since 8 February 1986);
Head of Government--Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) Dr. Yasin Said NUMAN (since 8 February 1986); Deputy Prime Minister Salih Abu Bakr bin HUSAYNUN (since 8 February 1986); Deputy Prime Minister Salih Munassir al-SIYAYLI (since 8 February 1986)
Political parties and leaders: only party--Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) is a coalition of National Front, Bath, and Communist Parties
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: Supreme People's Council--last held 28-30 October 1986 (next to be held NA); results--YSP is the only party; seats--(111 total) YSP or YSP approved 111
Communists: NA
Other political or pressure groups: NA
Member of: Arab League, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, ITU, NAM, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: none; the UK acts as the protecting power for the US in the PDRY
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black with a light blue, isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bearing a red five-pointed star
- Economy Overview: The PDRY is one of the poorest Arab countries, with a per capita GNP of about $500. A shortage of natural resources, a widely dispersed population, and an arid climate make economic development difficult. The economy has grown at an average annual rate of only 2-3% since the mid-1970s. The economy is organized along socialist lines, dominated by the public sector. Economic growth has been constrained by a lack of incentives, partly stemming from centralized control over production decisions, investment allocation, and import choices.
GNP: $1.2 billion, per capita $495; real growth rate 5.2% (1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.8% (1987)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $429 million; expenditures $976 million, including capital expenditures of $402 million (1988 est.)
Exports: $82.2 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--cotton, hides, skins, dried and salted fish; partners--Japan, YAR, Singapore
Imports: $598.0 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--grain, consumer goods, crude oil, machinery, chemicals; partners--USSR, Australia, UK
External debt: $2.25 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 245,000 kW capacity; 600 million kWh produced, 240 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: petroleum refinery (operates on imported crude oil); fish
Agriculture: accounts for 13% of GNP and 45% of labor force; products--grain, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, fish, livestock; fish and honey major exports; most food imported
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-80), $4.5 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $241 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $279 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $2.2 billion
Currency: Yemeni dinar (plural--dinars); 1 Yemeni dinar (YD) = 1,000 fils
Exchange rates: Yemeni dinars (YD) per US$1--0.3454 (fixed rate)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Highways: 11,000 km; 2,000 km bituminous, 9,000 km natural surface (est.)
Pipelines: refined products, 32 km
Ports: Aden, Al Khalf, Nishtun
Merchant marine: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,309 GRT/6,568 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker
Civil air: 8 major transport aircraft
Airports: 42 total, 29 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 11 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 10 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: small system of open-wire, radio relay, multiconductor cable, and radio communications stations; 15,000 telephones (est.); stations--1 AM, no FM, 5 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Intersputnik, 1 ARABSAT; radio relay and tropospheric scatter to YAR
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, People's Militia, People's Police
Military manpower: males 15-49, 544,190; 307,005 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Yugoslavia - Geography Total area: 255,800 km2; land area: 255,400 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Wyoming
Land boundaries: 2,961 km total; Albania 486 km, Austria 311 km, Bulgaria 539 km, Greece 246 km, Hungary 631 km, Italy 202 km, Romania 546 km
Coastline: 3,935 km (including 2,414 km offshore islands)
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: Kosovo question with Albania; Macedonia question with Bulgaria and Greece
Climate: temperate; hot, relatively dry summers with mild, rainy winters along coast; warm summer with cold winters inland
Terrain: mostly mountains with large areas of karst topography; plain in north
Natural resources: coal, copper, bauxite, timber, iron ore, antimony, chromium, lead, zinc, asbestos, mercury, crude oil, natural gas, nickel, uranium
Land use: 28% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 25% meadows and pastures; 36% forest and woodland; 8% other; includes 1% irrigated
Environment: subject to frequent and destructive earthquakes
Note: controls the most important land routes from central and western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish straits
- People Population: 23,841,608 (July 1990), growth rate 0.6% (1990)
Birth rate: 15 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 22 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 70 years male, 76 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Yugoslav(s); adjective--Yugoslav
Ethnic divisions: 36.3% Serb, 19.7% Croat, 8.9% Muslim, 7.8% Slovene, 7.7% Albanian, 5.9% Macedonian, 5.4% Yugoslav, 2.5% Montenegrin, 1.9% Hungarian, 3.9% other (1981 census)
Religion: 50% Eastern Orthodox, 30% Roman Catholic, 9% Muslim, 1% Protestant, 10% other
Language: Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, Macedonian (all official); Albanian, Hungarian
Literacy: 90.5%
Labor force: 9,600,000; 22% agriculture, 27% mining and manufacturing; about 5% of labor force are guest workers in Western Europe (1986)
Organized labor: 6,200,000 members in the Confederation of Trade Unions of Yugoslavia (SSJ)
- Government Long-form name: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; abbreviated SFRY
Type: Communist state, federal republic in form
Capital: Belgrade
Administrative divisions: 6 socialist republics (socijalisticke republike, singular--socijalisticka republika); Bosna I Hercegovina, Crna Gora, Hrvatska, Makedonija, Slovenija, Srbija; note--there are two autonomous provinces (autonomne pokajine, singular--autonomna pokajina) named Kosovo and Vojvodina within Srbija
Independence: 1 December 1918; independent monarchy established from the Kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro, parts of the Turkish Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire; SFRY proclaimed 29 November 1945
Constitution: 21 February 1974
Legal system: mixture of civil law system and Communist legal theory; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Proclamation of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, 29 November (1945)
Executive branch: president of the Collective State Presidency, vice president of the Collective State Presidency, Collective State Presidency, president of the Federal Executive Council, two vice presidents of the Federal Executive Council, Federal Executive Council
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly (Savezna Skupstina) consists of an upper chamber or Chamber of Republics and Provinces and a lower chamber or Federal Chamber
Judicial branch: Federal Court (Savezna Sud), Constitutional Court
Leaders: Chief of State President of the Collective State Presidency Borisav JOVIC (from Srbija; one-year term expires 15 May 1991); Vice President of the Collective State Presidency--Stipe SUVAR (from Hrvatska; one-year term expires 15 May 1991); note--the offices of president and vice president rotate annually among members of the Collective State Presidency with the current vice president assuming the presidency and a new vice president selected from area which has gone the longest without filling the position (the current sequence is Srbija, Hrvatska, Crna Gora, Vojvodina, Kosovo, Makedonija, Bosna i Hercegovina, and Slovenija);
Head of Government President of the Federal Executive Council Ante MARKOVIC (since 16 March 1989); Vice President of the Federal Executive Council Aleksandar MITROVIC (since 16 March 1989); Vice President of the Federal Executive Council Zivko PREGL (since 16 March 1989)
Political parties and leaders: there are about 90 political parties operating country-wide including the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY)
Suffrage: at age 16 if employed, universal at age 18
Elections: direct national elections probably will be held in late 1990
Communists: 2,079,013 party members (1988)
Other political or pressure groups: Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia (SAWPY), the major mass front organization; Confederation of Trade Unions of Yugoslavia (CTUY), League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia, Federation of Veterans' Associations of Yugoslavia (SUBNOR)
Member of: ASSIMER, CCC, CEMA (observer but participates in certain commissions), FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITC, ITU, NAM, OECD (participant in some activities), UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Dzevad MUJEZINOVIC; Chancery at 2410 California Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 462-6566; there are Yugoslav Consulates General in Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco; US--Ambassador Warren ZIMMERMAN; Embassy at Kneza Milosa 50, Belgrade; telephone [38] (11) 645-655; there is a US Consulate General in Zagreb
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and red with a large red five-pointed star edged in yellow superimposed in the center over all three bands
- Economy Overview: Tito's reform programs 20 years ago changed the Stalinist command economy to a decentralized semimarket system but a system that the rigid, ethnically divided political structure ultimately could not accommodate. A prominent feature of the reforms was the establishment of workers' self-management councils in all large plants, which were to select managers, stimulate production, and divide the proceeds. The general result of these reforms has been rampant wage-price inflation, substantial rundown of capital plant, consumer shortages, and a still larger income gap between the poorer southern regions and the relatively affluent northern provinces of Hrvatska and Slovenija. In 1988-89 the beleaguered central government has been reforming the reforms, trying to create an open market economy with still considerable state ownership of major industrial plants. These reforms have been moving forward with the advice and support of the International Monetary Fund through a series of tough negotiations. Self-management supposedly is to be replaced by the discipline of the market and by fiscal austerity, ultimately leading to a stable dinar. However, strikes in major plants, hyperinflation, and interregional political jousting have held back progress. According to US economic advisers, only a highly unlikely combination of genuine privatization, massive Western economic investment and aid, and political moderation can salvage this economy.
GNP: $129.5 billion, per capita $5,464; real growth rate - 1.0% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2,700% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 15% (1989)
Budget: revenues $6.4 billion; expenditures $6.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1990)
Exports: $13.1 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--raw materials and semimanufactures 50%, consumer goods 31%, capital goods and equipment 19%; partners--EC 30%, CEMA 45%, less developed countries 14%, US 5%, other 6%
Imports: $13.8 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--raw materials and semimanufactures 79%, capital goods and equipment 15%, consumer goods 6%; partners--EC 30%, CEMA 45%, less developed countries 14%, US 5%, other 6%
External debt: $17.0 billion, medium and long term (1989)
Industrial production: growth rate - 1% (1989 est.)
Electricity: 21,000,000 kW capacity; 87,100 million kWh produced, 3,650 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: metallurgy, machinery and equipment, petroleum, chemicals, textiles, wood processing, food processing, pulp and paper, motor vehicles, building materials
Agriculture: diversified, with many small private holdings and large combines; main crops--corn, wheat, tobacco, sugar beets, sunflowers; occasionally a net exporter of corn, tobacco, foodstuffs, live animals
Aid: donor--about $3.5 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1966-88)
Currency: Yugoslav dinar (plural--dinars); 1 Yugoslav dinar (YD) = 100 paras; note--on 1 January 1990, Yugoslavia began issuing a new currency with 1 new dinar equal to 10,000 YD
Exchange rates: Yugoslav dinars (YD) per US$1--118,568 (January 1990), 28,764 (1989), 2,523 (1988), 737 (1987), 379 (1986), 270 (1985); note--as of February 1990 the new dinar is linked to the FRG deutsche mark at the rate of 7 new dinars per 1 deustche mark
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 9,270 km total; (all 1.435-meter standard gauge) including 926 km double track, 3,771 km electrified (1987)
Highways: 120,747 km total; 71,315 km asphalt, concrete, stone block; 34,299 km macadam, asphalt treated, gravel, crushed stone; 15,133 km earth (1987)
Inland waterways: 2,600 km (1982)
Pipelines: 1,373 km crude oil; 2,900 km natural gas; 150 km refined products
Ports: Rijeka, Split, Koper, Bar, Ploce; inland port is Belgrade
Merchant marine: 270 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,608,705 GRT/5,809,219 DWT; includes 3 passenger, 4 short-sea passenger, 131 cargo, 3 refrigerated cargo, 16 container, 14 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 3 multifunction large-load carrier, 9 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 3 chemical tanker, 3 combination ore/oil, 73 bulk, 8 combination bulk; note--Yugoslavia owns 19 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 229,614 GRT/353,224 DWT under the registry of Liberia, Panama, and Cyprus
Civil air: NA major transport aircraft
Airports: 184 total, 184 usable; 54 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3.659 m; 22 with runways 2,440 to 3,659 m; 20 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: stations--199 AM, 87 FM, 50 TV; 4,107,846 TV sets; 4,700,000 radio receivers; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT
- Defense Forces Branches: Yugoslav People's Army--Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Frontier Guard, Territorial Defense Force, Civil Defense
Military manpower: males 15-49, 6,135,628; 4,970,420 fit for military service; 188,028 reach military age (19) annually
Defense expenditures: 14.8 trillion dinars, 4.6% of national income (1989 est.); note--conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading results ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Zaire - Geography Total area: 2,345,410 km2; land area: 2,267,600 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than one-quarter the size of US
Land boundaries: 10,271 km total; Angola 2,511 km, Burundi 233 km, Central African Republic 1,577 km, Congo 2,410 km, Rwanda 217 km, Sudan 628 km, Uganda 765 km, Zambia 1,930 km
Coastline: 37 km
Maritime claims:
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: Tanzania-Zaire-Zambia tripoint in Lake Tanganyika may no longer be indefinite since it is reported that the indefinite section of the Zaire-Zambia boundary has been settled; long section with Congo along the Congo River is indefinite (no division of the river or its islands has been made)
Climate: tropical; hot and humid in equatorial river basin; cooler and drier in southern highlands; cooler and wetter in eastern highlands; north of Equator--wet season April to October, dry season December to February; south of Equator--wet season November to March, dry season April to October
Terrain: vast central basin is a low-lying plateau; mountains in east
Natural resources: cobalt, copper, cadmium, crude oil, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydropower potential
Land use: 3% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 4% meadows and pastures; 78% forest and woodland; 15% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: dense tropical rainforest in central river basin and eastern highlands; periodic droughts in south
Note: straddles Equator; very narrow strip of land is only outlet to South Atlantic Ocean
- People Population: 36,589,468 (July 1990), growth rate 3.3% (1990)
Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 13 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 103 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 51 years male, 55 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 6.2 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Zairian(s); adjective--Zairian
Ethnic divisions: over 200 African ethnic groups, the majority are Bantu; four largest tribes--Mongo, Luba, Kongo (all Bantu), and the Mangbetu-Azande (Hamitic) make up about 45% of the population
Religion: 50% Roman Catholic, 20% Protestant, 10% Kimbanguist, 10% Muslim, 10% other syncretic sects and traditional beliefs
Language: French (official), Lingala, Swahili, Kingwana, Kikongo, Tshiluba
Literacy: 55% males, 37% females
Labor force: 15,000,000; 75% agriculture, 13% industry, 12% services; 13% wage earners (1981); 51% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor: National Union of Workers of Zaire (UNTZA) is the only trade union
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Zaire
Type: republic with a strong presidential system
Capital: Kinshasa
Administrative divisions: 8 regions (regions, singular--region) and 1 town* (ville); Bandundu, Bas-Zaire, Equateur, Haut-Zaire, Kasai-Occidental, Kasai-Oriental, Kinshasa*, Kivu, Shaba; note--there may now be 10 regions with the elimination of Kivu and addition of Maniema, Nord-Kivu, and Sud-Kivu
Independence: 30 June 1960 (from Belgium; formerly Belgian Congo, then Congo/Leopoldville, then Congo/Kinshasa)
Constitution: 24 June 1967, amended August 1974, revised 15 February 1978
Legal system: based on Belgian civil law system and tribal law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Anniversary of the Regime (Second Republic), 24 November (1965)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Executive Council (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral National Legislative Council (Conseil Legislatif National)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Leaders: Chief of State--President Marshal MOBUTU Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga (since 24 November 1965);
Head of Government--Prime Minister LUNDA Bululu (since 25 April 1988)
Political parties and leaders: only party--Popular Movement of the Revolution (MPR)
Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18
Elections: President--last held 29 July 1984 (next to be held July 1991); results--President Mobutu was reelected without opposition;
National Legislative Council--last held 6 September 1987 (next to be held September 1992); results--MPR is the only party; seats--(210 total) MPR 210
Communists: no Communist party
Member of: ACP, AfDB, APC, CCC, CIPEC, EAMA, EIB (associate), FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OCAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador (vacant), Charge d'Affaires MUKENDI Tambo a Kabila; Chancery at 1800 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 234-7690 or 7691; US--Ambassador William C. HARROP; Embassy at 310 Avenue des Aviateurs, Kinshasa (mailing address is APO New York 09662); telephone 243o (12) 25881 through 25886; there is a US Consulate General in Lubumbashi
Flag: light green with a yellow disk in the center bearing a black arm holding a red flaming torch; the flames of the torch are blowing away from the hoist side; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia
- Economy Overview: In 1988, in spite of large mineral resources and one of the most developed and diversified economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, Zaire had a GDP per capita of $195, one of the lowest on the continent. Agriculture, a key sector of the economy, employs 75% of the population but generates under 30% of GDP. The main impetus for economic development has been the extractive industries. Mining and mineral processing account for about one-third of GDP and two-thirds of total export earnings. During the period 1983-88 the economy experienced slow growth, high inflation, a rising foreign debt, and a drop in foreign exchange earnings. Recent increases in foreign prices for copper--a key export earner--and other minerals offer some hope of reversing the economic decline. Zaire is the world's largest producer of diamonds.
GDP: $6.5 billion, per capita $195; real growth rate 2.8% (1988)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 82% (1988)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $856 million; expenditures $2.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $655 million (1988)
Exports: $2.2 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--copper 37%, coffee 24%, diamonds 12%, cobalt, crude oil; partners--US, Belgium, France, FRG, Italy, UK, Japan
Imports: $1.9 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--consumer goods, foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels; partners--US, Belgium, France, FRG, Italy, Japan, UK
External debt: $8.6 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 2,574,000 kW capacity; 5,550 million kWh produced, 160 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: mining, mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear, and cigarettes), processed foods and beverages, cement, diamonds
Agriculture: cash crops--coffee, palm oil, rubber, quinine; food crops--cassava, bananas, root crops, corn
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis, mostly for domestic consumption
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $998 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $6.0 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $35 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $263 million
Currency: zaire (plural--zaire); 1 zaire (Z) = 100 makuta
Exchange rates: zaire (Z) per US$1--465.000 (January 1989), 381.445 (1989), 187.070 (1988), 112.403 (1987), 59.625 (1986), 49.873 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 5,254 km total; 3,968 km 1.067-meter gauge (851 km electrified); 125 km 1.000-meter gauge; 136 km 0.615-meter gauge; 1,025 km 0.600-meter gauge
Highways: 146,500 km total; 2,550 km bituminous, 46,450 km gravel and improved earth; remainder unimproved earth
Inland waterways: 15,000 km including the Congo, its tributaries, and unconnected lakes
Pipelines: refined products 390 km
Ports: Matadi, Boma, Banana
Merchant marine: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 41,802 GRT/60,496 DWT; includes 1 passenger cargo, 3 cargo
Civil air: 38 major transport aircraft
Airports: 312 total, 258 usable; 25 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 71 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: barely adequate wire and radio relay service; 31,200 telephones; stations--10 AM, 4 FM, 18 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 14 domestic
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Logistics Corps, Special Presidential Division
Military manpower: males 15-49, 7,970,619; 4,057,561 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: $67 million (1988) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Zambia - Geography Total area: 752,610 km2; land area: 740,720 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Texas
Land boundaries: 5,664 km total; Angola 1,110 km, Malawi 837 km, Mozambique 419 km, Namibia 233 km, Tanzania 338 km, Zaire 1,930 km, Zimbabwe 797 km
Coastline: none--landlocked
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
Disputes: quadripoint with Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe is in disagreement; Tanzania-Zaire-Zambia tripoint in Lake Tanganyika may no longer be indefinite since it is reported that the indefinite section of the Zaire-Zambia boundary has been settled
Climate: tropical; modified by altitude; rainy season (October to April)
Terrain: mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains
Natural resources: copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium, hydropower potential
Land use: 7% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 47% meadows and pastures; 27% forest and woodland; 19% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: deforestation; soil erosion; desertification
Note: landlocked
- People Population: 8,112,782 (July 1990), growth rate 3.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 49 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 12 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 6 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 80 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 55 years male, 58 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 7.0 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Zambian(s); adjective--Zambian
Ethnic divisions: 98.7% African, 1.1% European, 0.2% other
Religion: 50-75% Christian, 1% Muslim and Hindu, remainder indigenous beliefs
Language: English (official); about 70 indigenous languages
Literacy: 75.7%
Labor force: 2,455,000; 85% agriculture; 6% mining, manufacturing, and construction; 9% transport and services
Organized labor: about 238,000 wage earners are unionized
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Zambia
Type: one-party state
Capital: Lusaka
Administrative divisions: 9 provinces; Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Northern, North-Western, Southern, Western
Independence: 24 October 1964 (from UK; formerly Northern Rhodesia)
Constitution: 25 August 1973
Legal system: based on English common law and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in an ad hoc constitutional council; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 24 October (1964)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State--President Dr. Kenneth David KAUNDA (since 24 October 1964);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Gen. Malimba MASHEKE (since 15 March 1989)
Political parties and leaders: only party--United National Independence Party (UNIP), Kenneth Kaunda
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: President--last held 26 October 1988 (next to be held October 1993); results--President Kenneth Kaunda was reelected without opposition;
National Assembly--last held 26 October 1988 (next to be held October 1993); results--UNIP is the only party; seats--(136 total, 125 elected) UNIP 125
Communists: no Communist party
Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, NAM, OAU, SADCC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Paul J. F. LUSAKA; Chancery at 2419 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 265-9717 through 9721; US--Ambassador Jeffrey DAVIDOW; Embassy at corner of Independence Avenue and United Nations Avenue, Lusaka (mailing address is P. O. Box 31617, Lusaka); telephone 2601o 214911
Flag: green with a panel of three vertical bands of red (hoist side), black, and orange below a soaring orange eagle, on the outer edge of the flag
- Economy Overview: Despite temporary growth in 1988, the economy has been in decline for more than a decade with falling imports and growing foreign debt. Economic difficulties stem from a sustained drop in copper production and ineffective economic policies. In 1988 real GDP stood only slightly higher than that of 10 years before, while an annual population growth of more than 3% has brought a decline in per capita GDP of 25% during the same period. A high inflation rate has also added to Zambia's economic woes in recent years.
GDP: $4.0 billion, per capita $530; real growth rate 6.7% (1988)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 55.7% (1988)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $570 million; expenditures $939 million, including capital expenditures of $36 million (1988 est.)
Exports: $1,184 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--copper, zinc, cobalt, lead, tobacco; partners--EC, Japan, South Africa, US
Imports: $687 million (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--machinery, transportation equipment, foodstuffs, fuels, manufactures; partners--EC, Japan, South Africa, US
External debt: $6.9 billion (December 1989)
Industrial production: growth rate NA% (1986)
Electricity: 1,900,000 kW capacity; 8,245 million kWh produced, 1,050 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: copper mining and processing, transport, construction, foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals, textiles, and fertilizer
Agriculture: accounts for 15% of GDP and 85% of labor force; crops--corn (food staple), sorghum, rice, peanuts, sunflower, tobacco, cotton, sugarcane, cassava; cattle, goats, beef, eggs produced; marginally self-sufficient in corn
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (1970-88), $466 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $4.2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $60 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $533 million
Currency: Zambian kwacha (plural--kwacha); 1 Zambian kwacha (ZK) = 100 ngwee
Exchange rates: Zambian kwacha (ZK) per US$1--21.7865 (January 1990), 12.9032 (1989), 8.2237 (1988), 8.8889 (1987), 7.3046 (1986), 2.7137 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 1,266 km, all 1.067-meter gauge; 13 km double track
Highways: 36,370 km total; 6,500 km paved, 7,000 km crushed stone, gravel, or stabilized soil; 22,870 km improved and unimproved earth
Inland waterways: 2,250 km, including Zambezi and Luapula Rivers, Lake Tanganyika
Pipelines: 1,724 km crude oil
Ports: Mpulungu (lake port)
Civil air: 6 major transport aircraft
Airports: 121 total, 106 usable; 13 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 22 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: facilities are among the best in Sub-Saharan Africa; high-capacity radio relay connects most larger towns and cities; 71,700 telephones; stations--11 AM, 3 FM, 9 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Air Force, Police, Paramilitary
Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,683,758; 883,283 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Zimbabwe - Geography Total area: 390,580 km2; land area: 386,670 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Montana
Land boundaries: 3,066 km total; Botswana 813 km, Mozambique 1,231 km, South Africa 225 km, Zambia 797 km
Coastline: none--landlocked
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
Disputes: quadripoint with Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia is in disagreement
Climate: tropical; moderated by altitude; rainy season (November to March)
Terrain: mostly high plateau with higher central plateau (high veld); mountains in east
Natural resources: coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin
Land use: 7% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 12% meadows and pastures; 62% forest and woodland; 19% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: recurring droughts; floods and severe storms are rare; deforestation; soil erosion; air and water pollution; desertification
Note: landlocked
- People Population: 10,392,161 (July 1990), growth rate 3.3% (1990)
Birth rate: 42 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 65 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 59 years male, 63 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 5.8 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Zimbabwean(s); adjective--Zimbabwean
Ethnic divisions: 98% African (71% Shona, 16% Ndebele, 11% other); 1% white, 1% mixed and Asian
Religion: 50% syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs), 25% Christian, 24% indigenous beliefs, a few Muslim
Language: English (official); Shona and Ndebele
Literacy: 74%
Labor force: 3,100,000; 74% agriculture, 16% transport and services, 10% mining, manufacturing, construction (1987)
Organized labor: 17% of wage and salary earners have union membership
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Zimbabwe
Type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Harare
Administrative divisions: 8 provinces; Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Midlands, Victoria (commonly called Masvingo)
Independence: 18 April 1980 (from UK; formerly Southern Rhodesia)
Constitution: 21 December 1979
Legal system: mixture of Roman-Dutch and English common law
National holiday: Independence Day, 18 April (1980)
Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Vice President Simon Vengai MUZENDA (since 31 December 1987)
Political parties and leaders: Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), Robert Mugabe; Zimbabwe African National Union-Sithole (ZANU-S), Ndabaningi Sithole; Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM), Edgar Tekere
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: President--last held 28-30 March 1990 (next to be held March 1995); results--President Robert Mugabe 78.3%; Edgar Tekere 21.7%;
Parliament--last held 28-30 March 1990 (next to be held March 1993); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(150 total, 120 elected) ZANU 116, ZUM 2, ZANU-S 1, to be determined 1
Communists: no Communist party
Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, NAM, OAU, SADCC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Counselor (Political Affairs), Head of Chancery, Ambassador Stanislaus Garikai CHIGWEDERE; Chancery at 2852 McGill Terrace NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 332-7100; US--Ambassador-designate Steven RHODES; Embassy at 172 Rhodes Avenue, Harare (mailing address is P. O. Box 3340, Harare); telephone 263o (14) 794-521
Flag: seven equal horizontal bands of green, yellow, red, black, red, yellow, and green with a white equilateral triangle edged in black based on the hoist side; a yellow Zimbabwe bird is superimposed on a red five-pointed star in the center of the triangle
- Economy Overview: Agriculture employs a majority of the labor force and supplies almost 40% of exports. The agro-based manufacturing sector produces a variety of goods and contributes about 25% to GDP. Mining accounts for only 5% of both GDP and employment, but supplies of minerals and metals account for about 40% of exports. Wide year-to-year fluctuations in agricultural production over the past six years resulted in not only an uneven growth rate, but one that did not equal the 3% annual increase in population.
GDP: $4.6 billion, per capita $470; real growth rate 5.3% (1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.4% (1988)
Unemployment rate: at least 20% (1988 est.)
Budget: revenues $2.4 billion; expenditures $3.0 billion, including capital expenditures of $290 million (FY90)
Exports: $1.6 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--agricultural 34% (tobacco 21%, other 13%), manufactures 19%, gold 11%, ferrochrome 11%, cotton 6%; partners--Europe 55% (EC 41%, Netherlands 6%, other 8%), Africa 22% (South Africa 12%, other 10%), US 6%
Imports: $1.1 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--machinery and transportation equipment 37%, other manufactures 22%, chemicals 16%, fuels 15%; partners--EC 31%, Africa 29% (South Africa 21%, other 8%), US 8%, Japan 4%
External debt: $2.96 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 4.7% (1988 est.)
Electricity: 2,036,000 kW capacity; 5,460 million kWh produced, 540 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: mining, steel, clothing and footwear, chemicals, foodstuffs, fertilizer, beverage, transportation equipment, wood products
Agriculture: accounts for about 15% of GDP and employs over 70% of population; 40% of land area divided into 6,000 large commercial farms and 42% in communal lands; crops--corn (food staple), cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; livestock--cattle, sheep, goats, pigs; self-sufficient in food
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY80-88), $359 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $2.0 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $36 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $134 million
Currency: Zimbabwean dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Zimbabwean dollar (Z$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Zimbabwean dollars (Z$) per US$1--2.2873 (January 1990), 2.1133 (1989), 1.8018 (1988), 1.6611 (1987), 1.6650 (1986), 1.6119 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
- Communications Railroads: 2,745 km 1.067-meter gauge; 42 km double track; 355 km electrified
Highways: 85,237 km total; 15,800 km paved, 39,090 km crushed stone, gravel, stabilized soil: 23,097 km improved earth; 7,250 km unimproved earth
Inland waterways: Lake Kariba is a potential line of communication
Pipelines: 8 km, refined products
Civil air: 12 major transport aircraft
Airports: 506 total, 420 usable; 23 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 37 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: system was once one of the best in Africa, but now suffers from poor maintenance; consists of radio relay links, open-wire lines, and radio communications stations; 247,000 telephones; stations--8 AM, 18 FM, 8 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
- Defense Forces Branches: Zimbabwe National Army, Air Force of Zimbabwe, Police Support Unit, People's Militia
Military manpower: males 15-49, 2,173,448; 1,342,920 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: $446.7 million (FY89 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Taiwan - Geography Total area: 35,980 km2; land area: 32,260 km2; includes the Pescadores, Matsu, and Quemoy
Comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 1,448 km
Maritime claims:
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands) claimed by China and Taiwan
Climate: tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August); cloudiness is persistent and extensive all year
Terrain: eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to gently rolling plains in west
Natural resources: small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, and asbestos
Land use: 24% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 5% meadows and pastures; 55% forest and woodland; 15% other; 14% irrigated
Environment: subject to earthquakes and typhoons
- People Population: 20,546,664 (July 1990), growth rate 1.1% (1990)
Birth rate: 16 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 17 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 77 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.7 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Chinese (sing., pl.); adjective--Chinese
Ethnic divisions: 84% Taiwanese, 14% mainland Chinese, 2% aborigine
Religion: 93% mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist; 4.5% Christian; 2.5% other
Language: Mandarin Chinese (official); Taiwanese and Hakka dialects also used
Literacy: 94%
Labor force: 7,880,000; 41% industry and commerce, 32% services, 20% agriculture, 7% civil administration (1986)
Organized labor: 1,300,000 or about 18.4% (government controlled) (1983)
- Administration Long-form name: none
Type: one-party presidential regime; opposition political parties legalized in March, 1989
Capital: Taipei
Administrative divisions: 16 counties (hsien, singular and plural), 5 municipalities* (shih, singular and plural), 2 special municipalities** (chuan-shih, singular and plural); Chang-hua, Chia-i, Chia-i*, Chi-lung*, Hsin-chu, Hsin-chu*, Hua-lien, I-lan, Kao-hsiung, Kao-hsiung**, Miao-li, Nan-t'ou, P'eng-hu, P'ing-tung, T'ai-chung, T'ai-chung*, T'ai-nan, T'ai-nan*, T'ai-pei, T'ai-pei**, T'ai-tung, T'ao-yuan, Yun-lin; note--the Wade-Giles system is used for romanization
Constitution: 25 December 1947
Legal system: based on civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: National Day (Anniversary of the Revolution), 10 October (1911)
Executive branch: president, vice president, premier of the Executive Yuan, vice premier of the Executive Yuan, Executive Yuan
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Yuan
Judicial branch: Judicial Yuan
Leaders: Chief of State--President LI Teng-hui (since 13 January 1988); Vice President LI Yuan-tzu (will take office 20 May 1990);
Head of Government--Premier (President of the Executive Yuan) HAO Po-ts'un (since 2 May 1990); Vice Premier (Vice President of the Executive Yuan) SHIH Ch'i-yang (since NA July 1988)
Political parties and leaders: Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), LI Teng-hui, chairman; Democratic Socialist Party and Young China Party controlled by Kuomintang; Democratic Progressive Party (DPP); Labor Party; 27 other minor parties
Suffrage: universal at age 20
Elections: President--last held 21 March 1990 (next to be held March 1996); results--President Li Teng-hui was elected by the National Assembly;
Vice President--last held 21 March 1990 (next to be held March 1996); results--Li Yuan-tzu was elected by the National Assembly;
Legislative Yuan--last held 2 December 1989 (next to be held December 1992); results--KMT 65%, DPP 33%, independents 2%; seats--(304 total, 102 elected) KMT 78, DPP 21, independents 3
Member of: expelled from UN General Assembly and Security Council on 25 October 1971 and withdrew on same date from other charter-designated subsidiary organs; expelled from IMF/World Bank group April/May 1980; member of ADB and PECC, seeking to join GATT and/or MFA; attempting to retain membership in ICAC, ISO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IWC--International Wheat Council; suspended from IAEA in 1972, but still allows IAEA controls over extensive atomic development
Diplomatic representation: none; unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people of the US are maintained through a private instrumentality, the Coordination Council for North American Affairs (CCNAA) with headquarters in Taipei and field offices in Washington and 10 other US cities with all addresses and telephone numbers NA; US--unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people of Taiwan are maintained through a private institution, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which has offices in Taipei at 7 Lane 134, Hsin Yi Road, Section 3 with telephone 002 886o (2) 709-2000 and in Kao-hsiung at 88 Wu Fu 3rd Road with telephone NA
Flag: red with a dark blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays
- Economy Overview: Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy with considerable government guidance of investment and foreign trade and partial government ownership of some large banks and industrial firms. Real growth in GNP has averaged about 9% a year during the past three decades. Export growth has been even faster and has provided the impetus for industrialization. Agriculture contributes about 6% to GNP, down from 35% in 1952. Taiwan currently ranks as number 13 among major trading countries. Traditional labor-intensive industries are steadily being replaced with more capital- and technology-intensive industries.
GNP: $121.4 billion, per capita $6,000; real growth rate 7.2% (1989)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.0% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 1.7% (1989)
Budget: revenues $25.9 billion; expenditures $33.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY89)
Exports: $66.2 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--textiles 9.7%, electrical machinery 19.0%, general machinery and equipment 14%, telecommunications equipment 9%, basic metals and metal products 7.4%, foodstuffs 0.9%, plywood and wood products 1.3%; partners--US 36.2%, Japan 13.7%
Imports: $52.2 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities--machinery and equipment 15.9%, crude oil 5%, chemical and chemical products 11.1%, basic metals 7.4%, foodstuffs 2.0%; partners--Japan 31%, US 23%, Saudi Arabia 8.6%
External debt: $1.0 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 4.1% (1988)
Electricity: 17,000,000 kW capacity; 68,000 million kWh produced, 3,360 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: textiles, clothing, chemicals, electronics, food processing, plywood, sugar milling, cement, shipbuilding, petroleum
Agriculture: accounts for 6% of GNP and 20% of labor force (includes part-time farmers); heavily subsidized sector; major crops--rice, sugarcane, sweet potatoes, fruits, vegetables; livestock--hogs, poultry, beef, milk, cattle; not self-sufficient in wheat, soybeans, corn; fish catch expanding, 1.1 million metric tons in (1987)
Aid: US, including Ex-Im (FY46-82), $4.6 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $439 million
Currency: new Taiwan dollar (plural--dollars); 1 new Taiwan dollar (NT$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: new Taiwan dollars per US$1--26.3 (March 1990), 26.156 (December 1989), 28.589 (1988), 31.845 (1987), 37.838 (1986), 39.849 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
- Communications Railroads: about 1,075 km common carrier lines and over 3,800 km industrial lines; common carrier lines consist of the 1.067-meter gauge 708 km West Line and the 367 km East Line; a 98.25 km South Link Line connection is under construction; common carrier lines owned by the government and operated by the Railway Administration under Ministry of Communications; industrial lines owned and operated by government enterprises
Highways: 18,800 km total; 15,800 km bituminous or concrete, 2,500 km crushed stone or gravel, 500 km graded earth
Pipelines: 615 km refined products, 97 km natural gas
Ports: Kao-hsiung, Chi-lung, Hua-lien, Su-ao, T'ai-tung
Merchant marine: 218 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,061,960 GRT/7,634,074 DWT; includes 1 short-sea passenger, 61 cargo, 13 refrigerated cargo, 71 container, 14 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 3 combination ore/oil, 1 specialized tanker, 54 bulk
Airports: 38 total, 37 usable; 32 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways over 3,659 m; 16 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 8 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: best developed system in Asia outside of Japan; 6,000,000 telephones; extensive microwave transmission links on east and west coasts; stations--91 AM, 23 FM, 15 TV (13 relays); 8,000,000 radio receivers; 6,000,000 TV sets (5,300,000 color, 700,000 monochrome); satellite earth stations--1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT; submarine cable links to Japan (Okinawa), the Philippines, Guam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, Garrison Command
Military manpower: males 15-49, 5,809,354; 4,534,950 fit for military service; about 185,235 currently reach military age (19) annually
Defense expenditures: 6.8% of GNP, or $8.2 billion (FY90 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Appendix A: The United Nations System
The UN is composed of six principal organs and numerous subordinate agencies and bodies as follows:
1) Secretariat: UNDRO United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator's Office
2) General Assembly: INSTRAW International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women UNCHS United Nations Center for Human Settlements (Habitat) UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNDP United Nations Development Program UNEP United Nations Environment Program UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNHCR United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund UNIDIR United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research UNITAR United Nations Institute for Training and Research UNRISD United Nations Research Institute for Social Development UNRWA United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East UNSP United Nations Special Fund UNU United Nations University UP University for Peace WFC World Food Council WFP World Food Program
3) Security Council: UNAVEM United Nations Angola Verification Mission UNDOF United Nations Disengagement Observer Force UNFICYP United Nations Force in Cyprus UNGOMAP United Nations Good Offices Mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan UNIFIL United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon UNIIMOG United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group UNMOGIP United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan UNTAG United Nations Transition Assistance Group UNTSO United Nations Truce Supervision Organization
4) Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC): Specialized agencies FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization IDA International Development Association IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development IFC International Finance Corporation ILO International Labor Organization IMF International Monetary Fund IMO International Maritime Organization ITU International Telecommunication Union MIGA Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization UPU Universal Postal Union WHO World Health Organization WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization WMO World Meteorological Organization Related organizations GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency Regional commissions ECA Economic Commission for Africa ECE Economic Commission for Europe ECLAC Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ESCWA Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia Functional commissions Commission on Human Rights Commission on Narcotic Drugs Commission for Social Development Commission on the Status of Women Population Commission Statistical Commission
5) Trusteeship Council
6) International Court of Justice (ICJ) ---------------------------------------------------- Appendix B: International Organizations
ACC Arab Cooperation Council ACP African, Caribbean, and Pacific Countries (assoc. with EC) ADB Asian Development Bank AfDB African Development Bank AFESD Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development AIOEC Association of Iron Ore Exporting Countries AL Arab League or League of Arab States AMF Arab Monetary Fund AMU Arab Maghreb Union --- Andean Pact ANRPC Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries ANZUS ANZUS Council AP Andean Pact APC African Peanut (Groundnut) Association ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASPAC Asian and Pacific Council ASSIMER International Mercury Producers Association --- Association of Tin Producing Countries
BADEA Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa BCIE Central American Bank for Economic Integration Benelux Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg Economic Union BIS Bank for International Settlements BLEU Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union BOAD West African Development Bank
C Commonwealth CACM Central American Common Market CAEU Council of Arab Economic Unity CARICOM Caribbean Community and Common Market CCC Customs Cooperation Council CDB Caribbean Development Bank CE Council of Europe CEAO West African Economic Community CEEAC Economic Community of Central African States CEMA Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (sometimes CMEA or Comecon) CENTO Central Treaty Organization CEPGL Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research CILSS Permanent Interstate Committee on Drought Control in the Sahel CIPEC Intergovernmental Council of Copper Exporting Countries CMEA see CEMA Comecon see CEMA --- Conference of East and Central African States CP Colombo Plan
DAC Development Assistance Committee (OECD)
EADB East African Development Bank EAMA African States associated with the EC EC European Communities ECA Economic Commission for Africa (UN) ECE Economic Commission for Europe (UN) ECLA Economic Commission for Latin America (UN) ECLAC Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN) ECOSOC Economic and Social Council (UN) ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States ECWA Economic Commission for Western Asia (UN) EFTA European Free Trade Association EIB European Investment Bank EMS European Monetary System Entente Council of the Entente ESA European Space Agency ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN) ESCWA Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN)
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization (UN) FZ Franc Zone
G-8 Group of Eight G-10 Group of Ten G-77 Group of 77 GA General Assembly (UN) GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (UN) GCC Gulf Cooperation Council
IADB Inter-American Development Bank IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency (UN) IATP International Association of Tungsten Producers IBA International Bauxite Association IBEC International Bank for Economic Cooperation IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or World Bank (UN) ICAC International Cotton Advisory Committee ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization (UN) ICC International Chamber of Commerce ICCO International Cocoa Organization ICEM Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration ICES International Cooperation in Ocean Exploration ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Unions ICJ International Court of Justice (UN) ICM Intergovernmental Committee for Migration ICO International Coffee Organization ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IDA International Development Association (IBRD affiliate, UN) IDB Inter-American Development Bank IDB Islamic Development Bank IEA International Energy Agency (associated with OECD) IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development (UN) IFC International Finance Corporation (IBRD affiliate, UN) IHO International Hydrographic Organization IIB International Investment Bank ILO International Labor Organization (UN) ILZSG International Lead and Zinc Study Group IMF International Monetary Fund (UN) IMO International Maritime Organization (UN) INMARSAT International Maritime Satellite Organization INRO International Natural Rubber Organization INTELSAT International Telecommunications Satellite Organization INTERPOL International Criminal Police Organization IOC International Olympic Committee IOOC International Olive Oil Council IPU Inter-Parliamentary Union IRC International Rice Council ISO International Sugar Organization ITC International Tin Council ITU International Telecommunication Union (UN) IWC International Whaling Commission IWC International Wheat Council LAES Latin American Economic System LAIA Latin American Integration Association --- Lake Chad Basin Commission LORCS League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies --- Mano River Commission --- Mekong Committee MIGA Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
NAM Nonaligned Movement NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NC Nordic Council NCC Nordic Council of Ministers NEA Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD) NIB Nordic Investment Bank --- Niger River Commission --- Nordic Council
OAPEC Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries OAS Organization of American States OAU Organization of African Unity OCAM Afro-Malagasy and Mauritian Common Organization ODECA Organization of Central American States OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECS Organization of Eastern Caribbean States OIC Organization of the Islamic Conference OMVS Organization for the Development of the Senegal River Valley OPANAL Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
PAHO Pan American Health Organization PCA Permanent Court of Arbitration
SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation SADCC Southern African Development Coordination Conference SC Security Council (UN) SELA Latin American Economic System SPC South Pacific Commission SPEC South Pacific Bureau for Economic Cooperation SPF South Pacific Forum
TC Trusteeship Council (UN) TDB Trade and Development Board (UN)
UDEAC Central African Customs and Economic Union UEAC Union of Central African States UN United Nations UNCTAD UN Conference on Trade and Development UNDP UN Development Program UNESCO UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization UNHCR UN High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF UN Children's Fund UNIDO UN Industrial Development Organization UPEB Union of Banana Exporting Countries UPU Universal Postal Union (UN)
WCL World Confederation of Labor WEU Western European Union WFC World Food Council (UN) WFTU World Federation of Trade Unions WHO World Health Organization (UN) WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization (UN) WMO World Meteorological Organization (UN) WP Warsaw Pact WPC World Peace Council WSG International Wool Study Group WTO World Tourism Organization ---------------------------------------------------- Appendix C: Country Membership in International Organizations
This information is currently available only as a table in the printed version of The World Factbook 1990. For the 1991 edition a new textual format will be adopted that will greatly expand the breadth and depth of coverage to include many more organizations with complete name, acronym or abbreviation, date established, aim, and list of members. ---------------------------------------------------- Appendix D: Weights and Measures
Mathematical Notation
Mathematical Power Name 10 +18 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 one quintillion 10 +15 or 1,000,000,000,000,000 one quadrillion 10 +12 or 1,000,000,000,000 one trillion 10 +9 or 1,000,000,000 one billion 10 +6 or 1,000,000 one million 10 +3 or 1,000 one thousand 10 +2 or 100 one hundred 10 +1 or 10 ten 10 +0 or 1 one 10 -1 or 0.1 one tenth 10 -2 or 0.01 one hundredth 10 -3 or 0.001 one thousandth 10 -6 or 0.000 001 one millionth 10 -9 or 0.000 000 001 one billionth 10 -12 or 0.000 000 000 001 one trillionth 10 -15 or 0.000 000 000 000 001 one quadrillionth 10 -18 or 0.000 000 000 000 000 001 one quintillionth
Conversions from a multiple or submultiple to the basic units of meters, liters, or grams can be done using the table. For example, to convert from kilometers to meters, multiply by 1,000 (9.26 kilometers equals 9,260 meters) or to convert from meters to kilometers, multiply by 0.001 (9,260 meters equals 9.26 kilometers) Length, weight, Prefix Symbol capacity Area Volume ------ ------ -------- ------ ------- exa E 10 +18 10 +36 10 +54 peta P 10 +15 10 +30 10 +45 tera T 10 +12 10 +24 10 +36 giga G 10 +9 10 +18 10 +27 mega M 10 +6 10 +12 10 +18 hectokilo hk 10 +5 10 +10 10 +15 myria ma 10 +4 10 +8 10 +12 kilo k 10 +3 10 +6 10 +9 hecto h 10 +2 10 +4 10 +6 deka da 10 +1 10 +2 10 +3 basic unit - 1 meter, 1 meter2 1 meter3 1 gram, 1 liter deci d 10 -1 10 -2 10 -3 centi c 10 -2 10 -4 10 -6 milli m 10 -3 10 -6 10 -9 decimilli dm 10 -4 10 -8 10 -12 centimilli cm 10 -5 10 -10 10 -15 micro u 10 -6 10 -12 10 -18 nano n 10 -9 10 -18 10 -27 pico p 10 -12 10 -24 10 -36 femto f 10 -15 10 -30 10 -45 atto a 10 -18 10 -36 10 -54
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EQUIVALENTS
The exponents 2 and 3 are used for square and cubic, respectively. Name Metric Equivalents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ acre 0.404 685 64 hectares 43,560 feet2 acre 4,046,856 4 meters2 4,840 yards2 acre 0.004 046 856 4 0.001 562 5 miles2, kilometers2 statute are 100 meters2 119.599 yards2 barrel (petroleum, US) 158.987 29 liters 42 gallons (proof spirits, US) 151.416 47 liters 40 gallons (beer, US) 117.347 77 liters 31 gallons bushel 35.239 07 liters 4 pecks cable 219.456 meters 120 fathoms chain (surveyor's) 20.116 8 meters 66 feet cord (wood) 3.624 556 meters3 128 feet3 cup 0.236 588 2 liters 8 ounces, liquid (US) degrees, celsius (water boils at 100 multiply by 1.8 and add degrees C, freezes at 32 to obtain degrees F 0 degrees C) degrees, fahrenheit subtract 32 and divide (water boils at 212 by 1.8 to obtain degrees F, freezes at degrees C 32 degrees F) dram, avoirdupois 1.771 845 2 grams 0.062 5 ounces, avoirdupois dram, troy 3.887 934 6 grams 0.125 ounces, troy dram, liquid (US) 3.696 69 milliliters 0.125 ounces, liquid fathom 1.828 8 meters 6 feet foot 30.48 centimeters 12 inches foot 0.304 8 meters 0.333 333 3 yards foot 0.000 304 8 kilometers 0.000 189 39 miles, statute foot2 929.030 4 centimeters2 144 inches2 foot 2 0.092 903 04 meters2 0.111 111 1 yards2 foot3 28.316 846 592 liters 7.480 519 gallons foot3 0.028 316 847 meters3 1,728 inches3 furlong 201.168 meters 220 yards gallon, liquid (US) 3.785 411 784 liters 4 quarts, liquid gill (US) 118.294 118 milliliters 4 ounces, liquid grain 64.798 91 milligrams 0.002 285 71 ounces, advp. gram 1,000 milligrams 0.035 273 96 ounces, advp. hand (height of horse) 10.16 centimeters 4 inches hectare 10,000 meters2 2.471 053 8 acres hundredweight, long 50.802 345 kilograms 112 pounds, avoirdupois hundredweight, short 45.359 237 kilograms 100 pounds, avoirdupois inch 2.54 centimeters 0.083 333 33 feet inch2 6.451 6 centimeters2 0.006 944 44 feet2 inch3 16.387 064 centimeters3 0.000 578 7 feet3 inch3 16.387 064 milliliters 0.029 761 6 pints, dry inch3 16.387 064 milliliters 0.034 632 0 pints, liquid kilogram 0.001 tons, metric 2.204 623 pounds, avoirdupois kilometer 1,000 meters 0.621 371 19 miles, statute kilometer2 100 hectares 247.105 38 acres kilometer2 1,000,000 meters2 0.386 102 16 miles2, statute knot (1 nautical mi/hr) 1.852 kilometers/hour 1.151 statute miles/hour league, nautical 5.559 552 kilometers 3 miles, nautical league, statute 4.828.032 kilometers 3 miles, statute link (surveyor's) 20.116 8 centimeters 7.92 inches liter 0.001 meters3 61.023 74 inches3 liter 0.1 dekaliter 0.908 083 quarts, dry liter 1,000 milliliters 1.056 688 quarts, liquid meter 100 centimeters 1.093 613 yards meter2 10,000 centimeters2 1.195 990 yards2 meter3 1,000 liters 1.307 951 yards3 micron 0.000 001 meter 0.000 039 4 inches mil 0.025 4 millimeters 0.001 inch mile, nautical 1.852 kilometers 1.150 779 4 miles, statute mile2, nautical 3.429 904 kilometers2 1.325 miles2, statute mile, statute 1.609 344 kilometers 5,280 feet or 8 furlongs mile2, statute 258.998 811 hectares 640 acres or 1 section mile2, statute 2.589 988 11 kilometers2 0.755 miles2, nautical minim (US) 0.061 611 52 milliliters 0.002 083 33 ounces, liquid ounce, avoirdupois 28.349 523 125 grams 437.5 grains ounce, liquid (US) 29.573 53 milliliters 0.062 5 pints, liquid ounce, troy 31.103 476 8 grams 480 grains pace 76.2 centimeters 30 inches peck 8.809 767 5 liters 8 quarts, dry pennyweight 1.555 173 84 grams 24 grains pint, dry (US) 0.550 610 47 liters 0.5 quarts, dry pint, liquid (US) 0.473 176 473 liters 0.5 quarts, liquid point (typographical) 0.351 459 8 millimeters 0.013 837 inches pound, avoirdupois 453.592 37 grams 16 ounces, avourdupois pound, troy 373.241 721 6 grams 12 ounces, troy quart, dry (US) 1.101 221 liters 2 pints, dry quart, liquid (US) 0.946 352 946 liters 2 pints, liquid quintal 100 kilograms 220.462 26 pounds, avdp. rod 5.029 2 meters 5.5 yards scruple 1.295 978 2 grams 20 grains section (US) 2.589 988 1 kilometers2 1 mile2, statute or 640 acres span 22.86 centimeters 9 inches stere 1 meter3 1.307 95 yards3 tablespoon 14.786 76 milliliters 3 teaspoons teaspoon 4.928 922 milliliters 0.333 333 tablespoons ton, long or deadweight 1,016.046 909 kilograms 2,240 pounds, avoirdupois ton, metric 1,000 kilograms 2,204.623 pounds, avoirdupois ton, register 2.831 684 7 meters3 100 feet3 ton, short 907.184 74 kilograms 2,000 pounds, avoirdupois township (US) 93.239 572 kilometers2 36 miles2, statute yard 0.914 4 meters 3 feet yard2 0.836 127 36 meters2 9 feet2 yard3 0.764 554 86 meters3 27 feet3 yard3 764.554 857 984 liters 201.974 gallons ---------------------------------------------------- Appendix E: Cross-Reference List of Geographic Names
This list indicates where various names including all United States Foreign Service Posts, alternate names, former names, and political or geographical portions of larger entities can be found in The WORLD FACTBOOK are not necessarily those approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN). Alternate names are included in parentheses, additional information is included in brackets.
Name Entry in the WORLD FACTBOOK ------------------------------ --------------------------------------- Abidjan (US Embassy) Ivory Coast Abu Dhabi (US Embassy) United Arab Emirates Acapulco (US Consular Agency) Mexico Accra (US Embassy) Ghana Adana (US Consulate) Turkey Addis Ababa (US Embassy) Ethiopia Adelaide (US Consular Agency) Australia Adelie Land (Terre Adelie) Antarctica (claimed by France) Aden (US post not maintained, Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of representation by British Embassy) Aden, Gulf of Indian Ocean Admiralty Islands Papua New Guinea Adriatic Sea Atlantic Ocean Aegean Islands Greece Aegean Sea Atlantic Ocean Afars and Issas, French Djibouti Territory of the (F.T.A.I.) Agalega Islands Mauritius Aland Islands Finland Alaska United States Alaska, Gulf of Pacific Ocean Aldabra Islands Seychelles Alderney Guernsey Aleutian Islands United States Alexander Island Antarctica Alexandria (US Consulate General) Egypt Algiers (US Embassy) Algeria Alhucemas, Penon de Spain Alphonse Island Seychelles Amami Strait Pacific Ocean Amindivi Islands India Amirante Isles Seychelles Amman (US Embassy) Jordan Amsterdam (US Consulate General) Netherlands Amsterdam Island French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Ile Amsterdam) Amundsen Sea Pacific Ocean Amur China; Soviet Union Andaman Islands India Andaman Sea Indian Ocean Anegada Passage Atlantic Ocean Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Sudan Anjouan Comoros Ankara (US Embassy) Turkey Annobon Equatorial Guinea Antananarivo (US Embassy) Madagascar Antipodes Islands New Zealand Antwerp (US Consulate General) Belgium Aozou Strip (claimed by Libya) Chad Aqaba, Gulf of Indian Ocean Arabian Sea Indian Ocean Arafura Sea Pacific Ocean Argun China; Soviet Union Ascension Island St. Helena Assumption Island Seychelles Asuncion (US Embassy) Paraguay Asuncion Island Northern Mariana Islands Atacama Chile Athens (US Embassy) Greece Attu United States Auckland (US Consulate General) New Zealand Auckland Islands New Zealand Australes Iles (Iles Tubuai) French Polynesia Axel Heiberg Island Canada Azores Portugal Azov, Sea of Atlantic Ocean
Bab el Mandeb Indian Ocean Babuyan Channel Pacific Ocean Babuyan Islands Philippines Baffin Bay Arctic Ocean Baffin Island Canada Baghdad (US Embassy) Iraq Balabac Strait Pacific Ocean Balearic Islands Spain Balearic Sea (Iberian Sea) Atlantic Ocean Bali (US Consular Agency) Indonesia Bali Sea Indian Ocean Balintang Channel Pacific Ocean Balintang Islands Philippines Balleny Islands Antarctica Baltic Sea Atlantic Ocean Baluchistan Afghanistan; Iran; Pakistan Bamako (US Embassy) Mali Banaba (Ocean Island) Kiribati Bandar Seri Begawan (US Embassy) Brunei Banda Sea Pacific Ocean Bangkok (US Embassy) Thailand Bangui (US Embassy) Central African Republic Banjul (US Embassy) Gambia, The Banks Island Canada Banks Islands (Iles Banks) Vanuatu Barcelona (US Consulate General) Spain Barents Sea Arctic Ocean Barranquilla (US Consulate) Colombia Bashi Channel Pacific Ocean Basilan Strait Pacific Ocean Bass Strait Indian Ocean Batan Islands Philippines Bavaria (Bayern) Germany, Federal Republic of Beagle Channel Atlantic Ocean Bear Island (Bjornoya) Svalbard Beaufort Sea Arctic Ocean Bechuanaland Botswana Beijing (US Embassy) China Beirut (US Embassy) Lebanon Belem (US Consular Agency) Brazil Belep Islands (Iles Belep) New Caledonia Belfast (US Consulate General) United Kingdom Belgian Congo Zaire Belgrade (US Embassy) Yugoslavia Belize City (US Embassy) Belize Belle Isle, Strait of Atlantic Ocean Bellinghausen Sea Pacific Ocean Belmopan Belize Bengal, Bay of Indian Ocean Bering Sea Pacific Ocean Bering Strait Pacific Ocean Berkner Island Antarctica Berlin, East (US Embassy) German Democratic Republic Berlin, West (US Mission) Germany, Federal Republic of Bern (US Embassy) Switzerland Bessarabia Romania; Soviet Union Bijagos, Arquipelago dos Guinea-Bissau Bikini Atoll Marshall Islands Bilbao (US Consulate) Spain Bioko Equatorial Guinea Biscay, Bay of Atlantic Ocean Bishop Rock United Kingdom Bismarck Archipelago Papua New Guinea Bismarck Sea Pacific Ocean Bissau (US Embassy) Guinea-Bissau Bjornoya (Bear Island) Svalbard Black Rock Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Black Sea Atlantic Ocean Boa Vista Cape Verde Bogota (US Embassy) Colombia Bombay (US Consulate General) India Bonaire Netherlands Antilles Bonifacio, Strait of Atlantic Ocean Bonin Islands Japan Bonn (US Embassy) Federal Republic of Germany Bophuthatswana South Africa Bora-Bora French Polynesia Bordeaux (US Consulate General) France Borneo Brunei; Indonesia; Malaysia Bornholm Denmark Bosporus Atlantic Ocean Bothnia, Gulf of Atlantic Ocean Bougainville Island Papua New Guinea Bougainville Strait Pacific Ocean Bounty Islands New Zealand Brasilia (US Embassy) Brazil Brazzaville (US Embassy) Congo Bridgetown (US Embassy) Barbados Brisbane (US Consulate) Australia British East Africa Kenya British Guiana Guyana British Honduras Belize British Solomon Islands Solomon Islands British Somaliland Somalia Brussels (US Embassy, US Mission Belgium to European Communities, US Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or USNATO) Bucharest (US Embassy) Romania Budapest (US Embassy) Hungary Buenos Aires (US Embassy) Argentina Bujumbura (US Embassy) Burundi
Cabinda Angola Cabot Strait Atlantic Ocean Caicos Islands Turks and Caicos Islands Cairo (US Embassy) Egypt Calcutta (US Consulate General) India Calgary (US Consulate General) Canada California, Gulf of Pacific Ocean Campbell Island New Zealand Canal Zone Panama Canary Islands Spain Canberra (US Embassy) Australia Cancun (US Consular Agency) Mexico Canton (Guangzhou) China Canton Island Kiribati Cape Town (US Consulate General) South Africa Caracas (US Embassy) Venezuela Cargados Carajos Shoals Mauritius Caroline Islands Micronesia, Federated States of; Pacific Islands, Trust Territory of the Caribbean Sea Atlantic Ocean Carpentaria, Gulf of Pacific Ocean Casablanca (US Consulate General) Morocco Cato Island Australia Cebu (US Consulate) Philippines Celebes Indonesia Celebes Sea Pacific Ocean Celtic Sea Atlantic Ocean Central African Empire Central African Republic Ceuta Spain Ceylon Sri Lanka Chafarinas, Islas Spain Chagos Archipelago (Oil Islands) British Indian Ocean Territory Channel Islands Guernsey; Jersey Chatham Islands New Zealand Cheju-do Korea, South Cheju Strait Pacific Ocean Chengdu (US Consulate General) China Chesterfield Islands New Caledonia (Iles Chesterfield) Chiang Mai (US Consulate General) Thailand Chihli, Gulf of (Bo Hai) Pacific Ocean China, People's Republic of China China, Republic of Taiwan Choiseul Solomon Islands Christchurch (US Consular Agency) New Zealand Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) Australia Christmas Island (Pacific Ocean) Kiribati (Kiritimati) Chukchi Sea Arctic Ocean Ciskei South Africa Ciudad Juarez (US Consulate Mexico General) Cochabamba (US Consular Agency) Bolivia Coco, Isla del Costa Rica Cocos Islands Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombo (US Embassy) Sri Lanka Colon (US Consular Agency) Panama Colon, Archipielago de Ecuador (Galapagos Islands) Commander Islands Soviet Union (Komandorskiye Ostrova) Conakry (US Embassy) Guinea Congo (Brazzaville) Congo Congo (Kinshasa) Zaire Congo (Leopoldville) Zaire Con Son Islands Vietnam Cook Strait Pacific Ocean Copenhagen (US Embassy) Denmark Coral Sea Pacific Ocean Corn Islands (Islas del Maiz) Nicaragua Corsica France Cosmoledo Group Seychelles Cote d'Ivoire Ivory Coast Cotonou (US Embassy) Benin Crete Greece Crooked Island Passage Atlantic Ocean Crozet Islands (Iles Crozet) French Southern and Antarctic Lands Curacao (US Consulate General) Netherlands Antilles Cusco (US Consular Agency) Peru
Dahomey Benin Daito Islands Japan Dakar (US Embassy) Senegal Daman (Damao) India Damascus (US Embassy) Syria Danger Atoll Cook Islands Danish Straits Atlantic Ocean Danzig (Gdansk) Poland Dao Bach Long Vi Vietnam Dardanelles Atlantic Ocean Dar es Salaam (US Embassy) Tanzania Davis Strait Atlantic Ocean Deception Island Antarctica Denmark Strait Atlantic Ocean D'Entrecasteaux Islands Papua New Guinea Devon Island Canada Dhahran (US Consulate General) Saudi Arabia Dhaka (US Embassy) Bangladesh Diego Garcia British Indian Ocean Territory Diego Ramirez Chile Diomede Islands Soviet Union (Big Diomede); United States (Little Diomede) Diu India Djibouti (US Embassy) Djibouti Dodecanese Greece Doha (US Embassy) Qatar Douala (US Consulate General) Cameroon Dover, Strait of Atlantic Ocean Drake Passage Atlantic Ocean Dubai (US Consulate General) United Arab Emirates Dublin (US Embassy) Ireland Durango (US Consular Agency) Mexico Durban (US Consulate General) South Africa Dusseldorf (US Consulate General) Federal Republic of Germany Dutch East Indies Indonesia Dutch Guiana Suriname
East China Sea Pacific Ocean Easter Island (Isla de Pascua) Chile Eastern Channel (East Korea Pacific Ocean Strait or Tsushima Strait) East Germany German Democratic Republic East Korea Strait (Eastern Pacific Ocean Channel or Tsushima Strait) East Pakistan Bangladesh East Siberian Sea Arctic Ocean East Timor (Portuguese Timor) Indonesia Edinburgh (US Consulate General) United Kingdom Elba Italy Ellef Ringnes Island Canada Ellesmere Island Canada Ellice Islands Tuvalu Elobey, Islas de Equatorial Guinea Enderbury Island Kiribati Enewetak Atoll (Eniwetok Atoll) Marshall Islands England United Kingdom English Channel Atlantic Ocean Eniwetok Atoll Marshall Islands Epirus, Northern Albania; Greece Eritrea Ethiopia Essequibo (claimed by Venezuela) Guyana Estonia Soviet Union (de facto) Etorofu Soviet Union (de facto)
Farquhar Group Seychelles Fernando de Noronha Brazil Fernando Po (Bioko) Equatorial Guinea Finland, Gulf of Atlantic Ocean Florence (US Consulate General) Italy Florida, Straits of Atlantic Ocean Formosa Taiwan Formosa Strait (Taiwan Strait) Pacific Ocean Fort-de-France Martinique (US Consulate General) Frankfurt am Main Federal Republic of Germany (US Consulate General) Franz Josef Land Soviet Union Freetown (US Embassy) Sierra Leone French Cameroon Cameroon French Indochina Cambodia; Laos; Vietnam French Guinea Guinea French Sudan Mali French Territory of the Afars Djibouti and Issas (F.T.A.I.) French Togo Togo Friendly Islands Tonga Fukuoka (US Consulate) Japan Funchal (US Consular Agency) Portugal Fundy, Bay of Atlantic Ocean Futuna Islands (Hoorn Islands) Wallis and Futuna
Gaborone (US Embassy) Botswana Galapagos Islands (Archipielago Ecuador de Colon) Galleons Passage Atlantic Ocean Gambier Islands (Iles Gambier) French Polynesia Gaspar Strait Indian Ocean Geneva (Branch Office of the US Switzerland Embassy, US Mission to European Office of the UN and Other International Organizations) Genoa (US Consulate General) Italy George Town (US Consular Agency) Cayman Islands Georgetown (US Embassy) Guyana Gibraltar, Strait of Atlantic Ocean Gilbert Islands Kiribati Goa India Gold Coast Ghana Golan Heights Syria Good Hope, Cape of South Africa Goteborg (US Consulate General) Sweden Gotland Sweden Gough Island St. Helena Grand Banks Atlantic Ocean Grand Cayman Cayman Islands Grand Turk (US Consular Agency) Turks and Caicos Islands Great Australian Bight Indian Ocean Great Belt (Store Baelt) Atlantic Ocean Great Britain United Kingdom Great Channel Indian Ocean Greater Sunda Islands Brunei; Indonesia; Malaysia Green Islands Papua New Guinea Greenland Sea Arctic Ocean Grenadines, Northern St. Vincent and the Grenadines Grenadines, Southern Grenada Guadalajara Mexico (US Consulate General) Guadalcanal Solomon Islands Guadalupe, Isla de Mexico Guangzhou (US Consulate General) China Guantanamo (US Naval Base) Cuba Guatemala (US Embassy) Guatemala Gubal, Strait of Indian Ocean Guinea, Gulf of Atlantic Ocean Guayaquil (US Consulate General) Ecuador
Ha'apai Group Tonga Habomai Islands Soviet Union (de facto) Hague,The (US Embassy) Netherlands Haifa (US Consular Agency) Israel Hainan Dao China Halifax (US Consulate General) Canada Halmahera Indonesia Hamburg (US Consulate General) Federal Republic of Germany Hamilton (US Consulate General) Bermuda Hanoi Vietnam Harare (US Embassy) Zimbabwe Hatay Turkey Havana (US post not maintained, Cuba representation by US Interests Section or USINT of the Swiss Embassy) Hawaii United States Heard Island Heard Island and McDonald Islands Helsinki (US Embassy) Finland Hermosillo (US Consulate) Mexico Hispaniola Dominican Republic; Haiti Hokkaido Japan Holy See, The Vatican City Hong Kong (US Consulate General) Hong Kong Honiara (US Consulate) Solomon Islands Honshu Japan Hormuz, Strait of Indian Ocean Horn, Cape (Cabo de Hornos) Chile Horne, Iles de Wallis and Futuna Horn of Africa Ethiopia; Somalia Hudson Bay Arctic Ocean Hudson Strait Arctic Ocean
Inaccessible Island St. Helena Indochina Cambodia; Laos; Vietnam Inner Mongolia (Nei Mongol) China Ionian Islands Greece Ionian Sea Atlantic Ocean Irian Jaya Indonesia Irish Sea Atlantic Ocean Islamabad (US Embassy) Pakistan Islas Malvinas Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Istanbul (US Consulate General) Turkey Italian Somaliland Somalia Iwo Jima Japan Izmir (US Consulate General) Turkey
Jakarta (US Embassy) Indonesia Japan, Sea of Pacific Ocean Java Indonesia Java Sea Indian Ocean Jeddah (US Consulate General) Saudi Arabia Jerusalem (US Consulate General) Israel; West Bank Johannesburg South Africa (US Consulate General) Juan de Fuca, Strait of Pacific Ocean Juan Fernandez, Isla de Chile Juventud, Isla de la Cuba (Isle of Youth)
Kabul (US Embassy now closed) Afghanistan Kaduna (US Consulate General) Nigeria Kalimantan Indonesia Kamchatka Peninsula Soviet Union (Poluostrov Kamchatka) Kampala (US Embassy) Uganda Kampuchea Cambodia Karachi (US Consulate General) Pakistan Kara Sea Arctic Ocean Karimata Strait Indian Ocean Kathmandu (US Embassy) Nepal Kattegat Atlantic Ocean Kauai Channel Pacific Ocean Keeling Islands Cocos (Keeling) Islands Kerguelen, Iles French Southern and Antarctic Lands Kermadec Islands New Zealand Khabarovsk Soviet Union Khartoum (US Embassy) Sudan Khmer Republic Cambodia Kiel Canal (Nord-Ostsee Kanal) Atlantic Ocean Khuriya Muriya Islands Oman (Kuria Muria Islands) Khyber Pass Pakistan Kigali (US Embassy) Rwanda Kingston (US Embassy) Jamaica Kinshasa (US Embassy) Zaire Kiritimati (Christmas Island) Kiribati Kithira Strait Atlantic Ocean Kodiak Island United States Kola Peninsula Soviet Union (Kol'skiy Poluostrov) Kolonia (US Special Office) Micronesia, Federated States of Korea Bay Pacific Ocean Korea, Democratic People's Korea, North Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, South Korea Strait Pacific Ocean Koror (US Special Office) Pacific Islands, Trust Territory of Kosovo Yugoslavia Kowloon Hong Kong Krakow (US Consulate) Poland Kuala Lumpur (US Embassy) Malaysia Kunashiri (Kunashir) Soviet Union (de facto) Kuril Islands Soviet Union (de facto) Kuwait (US Embassy) Kuwait Kwajalein Atoll Marshall Islands Kyushu Japan
Labrador Canada Laccadive Islands India Laccadive Sea Indian Ocean La Coruna (US Consular Agency) Spain Lagos (US Embassy) Nigeria Lahore (US Consulate General) Pakistan Lakshadweep India La Paz (US Embassy) Bolivia La Perouse Strait Pacific Ocean Laptev Sea Arctic Ocean Las Palmas (US Consular Agency) Spain Latvia Soviet Union (de facto) Lau Group Fiji Leningrad (US Consulate General) Soviet Union Lesser Sunda Islands Indonesia Leyte Philippines Liancourt Rocks (claimed by Japan)Korea, South Libreville (US Embassy) Gabon Ligurian Sea Atlantic Ocean Lilongwe (US Embassy) Malawi Lima (US Embassy) Peru Lincoln Sea Arctic Ocean Line Islands Kiribati; Palmyra Atoll Lisbon (US Embassy) Portugal Lithuania Soviet Union (de facto) Lombok Strait Indian Ocean Lome (US Embassy) Togo London (US Embassy) United Kingdom Lord Howe Island Australia Louisiade Archipelago Papua New Guinea Loyalty Islands New Caledonia (Iles Loyaute) Lubumbashi (US Consulate General) Zaire Lusaka (US Embassy) Zambia Luxembourg (US Embassy) Luxembourg Luzon Philippines Luzon Strait Pacific Ocean Lyon (US Consulate General) France
Macao Macau Macedonia Bulgaria; Greece; Yugoslavia Macquarie Island Australia Madeira Islands Portugal Madras (US Consulate General) India Madrid (US Embassy) Spain Magellan, Strait of Atlantic Ocean Mahe Island Seychelles Maiz, Islas del (Corn Islands) Nicaragua Majorca (Mallorca) Spain Majuro (US Special Office) Marshall Islands Makassar Strait Pacific Ocean Malabo (US Embassy) Equatorial Guinea Malacca, Strait of Indian Ocean Malaga (US Consular Agency) Spain Malagasy Republic Madagascar Male (US post not maintained, Maldives representation from Colombo, Sri Lanka) Mallorca (Majorca) Spain Malpelo, Isla de Colombia Malta Channel Atlantic Ocean Malvinas, Islas Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Managua (US Embassy) Nicaragua Manama (US Embassy) Bahrain Manaus (US Consular Agency) Brazil Manchukuo China Manchuria China Manila (US Embassy) Philippines Manipa Strait Pacific Ocean Mannar, Gulf of Indian Ocean Manua Islands American Samoa Maputo (US Embassy) Mozambique Maracaibo (US Consulate) Venezuela Marcus Island (Minami-tori-shima) Japan Mariana Islands Guam; Northern Mariana Islands Marion Island South Africa Marmara, Sea of Atlantic Ocean Marquesas Islands French Polynesia (Iles Marquises) Marseille (US Consulate General) France Martin Vaz, Ilhas Brazil Mas a Tierra Chile (Robinson Crusoe Island) Mascarene Islands Mauritius; Reunion Maseru (US Embassy) Lesotho Matamoros (US Consulate) Mexico Mazatlan (US Consulate) Mexico Mbabane (US Embassy) Swaziland McDonald Islands Heard Island and McDonald Islands Medan (US Consulate) Indonesia Mediterranean Sea Atlantic Ocean Melbourne (US Consulate General) Australia Melilla Spain Merida (US Consulate) Mexico Messina, Strait of Atlantic Ocean Mexico (US Embassy) Mexico Mexico, Gulf of Atlantic Ocean Milan (US Consulate General) Italy Minami-tori-shima Japan Mindanao Philippines Mindoro Strait Pacific Ocean Minicoy Island India Mogadishu (US Embassy) Somalia Mombasa (US Consulate) Kenya Mona Passage Atlantic Ocean Monrovia (US Embassy) Liberia Montego Bay (US Consular Agency) Jamaica Monterrey (US Consulate General) Mexico Montevideo (US Embassy) Uruguay Montreal (US Consulate General, Canada US Mission to the International Civil Aviation Organization or ICAO) Moravian Gate Czechoslovakia Moroni (US Embassy) Comoros Mortlock Islands Micronesia, Federated States of Moscow (US Embassy) Soviet Union Mozambique Channel Indian Ocean Mulege (US Consular Agency) Mexico Munich (US Consulate General) Federal Republic of Germany Musandam Peninsula Oman; United Arab Emirates Muscat (US Embassy) Oman Muscat and Oman Oman Myanma, Myanmar Burma
Naha (US Consulate General) Japan Nairobi (US Embassy) Kenya Nampo-shoto Japan Naples (US Consulate General) Italy Nassau (US Embassy) Bahamas, The Natuna Besar Islands Indonesia N'Djamena (US Embassy) Chad Netherlands East Indies Indonesia Netherlands Guiana Suriname Nevis St. Kitts and Nevis New Delhi (US Embassy) India Newfoundland Canada New Guinea Indonesia; Papua New Guinea New Hebrides Vanuatu New Siberian Islands Soviet Union New Territories Hong Kong New York, New York (US Mission United States to the United Nations or USUN) Niamey (US Embassy) Niger Nice (US Consular Agency) France Nicobar Islands India Nicosia (US Embassy) Cyprus Nightingale Island St. Helena North Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Ocean North Channel Atlantic Ocean Northeast Providence Channel Atlantic Ocean Northern Epirus Albania; Greece Northern Grenadines St. Vincent and the Grenadines Northern Ireland United Kingdom Northern Rhodesia Zambia North Island New Zealand North Korea Korea, North North Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean North Sea Atlantic Ocean North Vietnam Vietnam Northwest Passages Arctic Ocean North Yemen Yemen Arab Republic Norwegian Sea Atlantic Ocean Nouakchott (US Embassy) Mauritania Novaya Zemlya Soviet Union Nuevo Laredo (US Consulate) Mexico Nyasaland Malawi
Oahu United States Oaxaca (US Consular Agency) Mexico Ocean Island (Banaba) Kiribati Ocean Island (Kure Island) United States Ogaden Ethiopia; Somalia Oil Islands (Chagos Archipelago) British Indian Ocean Territory Okhotsk, Sea of Pacific Ocean Okinawa Japan Oman, Gulf of Indian Ocean Ombai Strait Pacific Ocean Oporto (US Consulate) Portugal Oran (US Consulate) Algeria oCresund (The Sound) Atlantic Ocean Orkney Islands United Kingdom Osaka-Kobe (US Consulate General) Japan Oslo (US Embassy) Norway Otranto, Strait of Atlantic Ocean Ottawa (US Embassy) Canada Ouagadougou (US Embassy) Burkina Outer Mongolia Mongolia
Pagan Northern Mariana Islands Palau Pacific Islands, Trust Territory of the Palawan Philippines Palermo (US Consulate General) Italy Palk Strait Indian Ocean Palma de Mallorca Spain (US Consular Agency) Pamirs China; Soviet Union Panama (US Embassy) Panama Panama Canal Panama Panama, Gulf of Pacific Ocean Paramaribo (US Embassy) Suriname Parece Vela Japan Paris (US Embassy, US Mission to France the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development or OECD, US Observer Mission at the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization or UNESCO) Pascua, Isla de (Easter Island) Chile Pashtunistan Afghanistan; Pakistan Peking (Beijing) China Pemba Island Tanzania Pentland Firth Atlantic Ocean Perim Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of Perouse Strait, La Pacific Ocean Persian Gulf Indian Ocean Perth (US Consulate) Australia Pescadores Taiwan Peshawar (US Consulate) Pakistan Peter I Island Antarctica Philip Island Norfolk Island Philippine Sea Pacific Ocean Phoenix Islands Kiribati Pines, Isle of Cuba (Isla de la Juventud) Piura (US Consular Agency) Peru Pleasant Island Nauru Ponape (Pohnpei) Micronesia Ponta Delgada (US Consulate) Portugal Port-au-Prince (US Embassy) Haiti Port Louis (US Embassy) Mauritius Port Moresby (US Embassy) Papua New Guinea Porto Alegre (US Consulate) Brazil Port-of-Spain (US Embassy) Trinidad and Tobago Port Said (US Consular Agency) Egypt Portuguese Guinea Guinea-Bissau Portuguese Timor (East Timor) Indonesia Poznan (US Consulate) Poland Prague (US Embassy) Czechoslovakia Praia (US Embassy) Cape Verde Pretoria (US Embassy) South Africa Pribilof Islands United States Prince Edward Island Canada Prince Edward Islands South Africa Prince Patrick Island Canada Principe Sao Tome and Principe Puerto Plata (US Consular Agency) Dominican Republic Puerto Vallarta Mexico (US Consular Agency) Pusan (US Consulate) South Korea P'yongyang Korea, North
Quebec (US Consulate General) Canada Queen Charlotte Islands Canada Queen Elizabeth Islands Canada Queen Maud Land Antarctica (claimed by Norway) Quito (US Embassy) Ecuador
Rabat (US Embassy) Morocco Ralik Chain Marshall Islands Rangoon (US Embassy) Burma Ratak Chain Marshall Islands Recife (US Consulate) Brazil Redonda Antigua and Barbuda Red Sea Indian Ocean Revillagigedo Island United States Revillagigedo Islands Mexico Reykjavik (US Embassy) Iceland Rhodes Greece Rhodesia Zimbabwe Rhodesia, Northern Zambia Rhodesia, Southern Zimbabwe Rio de Janeiro Brazil (US Consulate General) Rio de Oro Western Sahara Rio Muni Equatorial Guinea Riyadh (US Embassy) Saudi Arabia Robinson Crusoe Island Chile (Mas a Tierra) Rocas, Atol das Brazil Rockall (disputed) United Kingdom Rodrigues Mauritius Rome (US Embassy, US Mission to Italy the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture or FODAG) Roncador Cay Colombia Roosevelt Island Antarctica Ross Dependency Antarctica (claimed by New Zealand) Ross Island Antarctica Ross Sea Antarctica Rota Northern Mariana Islands Rotuma Fiji Ryukyu Islands Japan
Saba Netherlands Antilles Sabah Malaysia Sable Island Canada Sahel Burkina; Cape Verde; Chad; The Gambia; Guinea-Bissau; Mali; Mauritania; Niger; Senegal Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) Vietnam St. Brandon Mauritius St. Christopher and Nevis St. Kitts and Nevis St. George's (US Embassy) Grenada St. George's Channel Atlantic Ocean St. John's (US Embassy) Antigua and Barbuda St. Lawrence, Gulf of Atlantic Ocean St. Lawrence Island United States St. Lawrence Seaway Atlantic Ocean St. Martin Guadeloupe St. Martin (Sint Maarten) Netherlands Antilles St. Paul Island Canada St. Paul Island United States St. Paul Island (Ile Saint-Paul) French Southern and Antarctic Lands St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks Brazil (Penedos de Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo) St. Vincent Passage Atlantic Ocean Saipan Northern Mariana Islands Sakhalin Island (Ostrov Sakhalin) Soviet Union Sala y Gomez, Isla Chile Salisbury (Harare) Zimbabwe Salvador de Bahia Brazil (US Consular Agency) Salzburg (US Consulate General) Austria Sanaa (US Embassy) Yemen Arab Republic San Ambrosio Chile San Andres y Providencia, Colombia Archipielago San Bernardino Strait Pacific Ocean San Felix, Isla Chile San Jose (US Embassy) Costa Rica San Luis Potosi Mexico (US Consular Agency) San Miguel Allende Mexico (US Consular Agency) San Salvador (US Embassy) El Salvador Santa Cruz (US Consular Agency) Bolivia Santa Cruz Islands Solomon Islands Santiago (US Embassy) Chile Santo Domingo (US Embassy) Dominican Republic Sao Luis (US Consular Agency) Brazil Sao Paulo (US Consulate General) Brazil Sao Pedro e Sao Paulo, Brazil Penedos de Sapporo (US Consulate General) Japan Sapudi Strait Indian Ocean Sarawak Malaysia Sardinia Italy Sargasso Sea Atlantic Ocean Sark Guernsey Scotia Sea Atlantic Ocean Scotland United Kingdom Scott Island Antarctica Senyavin Islands Micronesia, Federated States of Seoul (US Embassy) Korea, South Serrana Bank Colombia Serranilla Bank Colombia Severnaya Zemlya (Northland) Soviet Union Seville (US Consular Agency) Spain Shag Island Heard Island and McDonald Islands Shag Rocks Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Shanghai (US Consulate General) China Shenyang (US Consulate General) China Shetland Islands United Kingdom Shikoku Japan Shikotan (Shikotan-to) Japan Siam Thailand Sibutu Passage Pacific Ocean Sicily Italy Sicily, Strait of Atlantic Ocean Sikkim India Sinai Egypt Singapore (US Embassy) Singapore Singapore Strait Pacific Ocean Sinkiang (Xinjiang) China Sint Eustatius Netherlands Antilles Sint Maarten (St. Martin) Netherlands Antilles Skagerrak Atlantic Ocean Slovakia Czechoslovakia Society Islands French Polynesia (Iles de la Societe) Socotra Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of Sofia (US Embassy) Bulgaria Solomon Islands, northern Papua New Guinea Solomon Islands, southern Solomon Islands Soloman Sea Pacific Ocean Songkhla (US Consulate) Thailand Sound, The (Oresund) Atlantic Ocean South Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Ocean South China Sea Pacific Ocean Southern Grenadines Grenada Southern Rhodesia Zimbabwe South Georgia South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Island New Zealand South Korea Korea, South South Orkney Islands Antarctica South Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean South Sandwich Islands South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Shetland Islands Antarctica South Tyrol Italy South Vietnam Vietnam South-West Africa Namibia South Yemen Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of Spanish Guinea Equatorial Guinea Spanish Sahara Western Sahara Spitsbergen Svalbard Stockholm (US Embassy) Sweden Strasbourg (US Consulate General) France Stuttgart (US Consulate General) Federal Republic of Germany Suez, Gulf of Indian Ocean Sulu Archipelago Philippines Sulu Sea Pacific Ocean Sumatra Indonesia Sumba Indonesia Sunda Islands (Soenda Isles) Indonesia; Malaysia Sunda Strait Indian Ocean Surabaya (US Consulate) Indonesia Surigao Strait Pacific Ocean Surinam Suriname Suva (US Embassy) Fiji Swains Island American Samoa Swan Islands Honduras Sydney (US Consulate General) Australia
Tahiti French Polynesia Taipei Taiwan Taiwan Strait Pacific Ocean Tampico (US Consular Agency) Mexico Tanganyika Tanzania Tangier (US Consulate General) Morocco Tarawa Kiribati Tartar Strait Pacific Ocean Tasmania Australia Tasman Sea Pacific Ocean Taymyr Peninsula Soviet Union (Poluostrov Taymyra) Tegucigalpa (US Embassy) Honduras Tehran (US post not maintained, Iran representation by Swiss Embassy) Tel Aviv (US Embassy) Israel Terre Adelie (Adelie Land) Antarctica (claimed by France) Thailand, Gulf of Pacific Ocean Thessaloniki Greece (US Consulate General) Thurston Island Antarctica Tibet (Xizang) China Tierra del Fuego Argentina; Chile Tijuana (US Consulate General) Mexico Timor Indonesia Timor Sea Indian Ocean Tinian Northern Mariana Islands Tiran, Strait of Indian Ocean Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Tokyo (US Embassy) Japan Tonkin, Gulf of Pacific Ocean Toronto (US Consulate General) Canada Torres Strait Pacific Ocean Trans-Jordan Jordan Transkei South Africa Transylvania Romania Trieste (US Consular Agency) Italy Trindade, Ilha de Brazil Tripoli (US post not maintained, Libya representation by Belgian Embassy) Tristan da Cunha Group St. Helena Trobriand Islands Papua New Guinea Trucial States United Arab Emirates Truk Islands Micronesia Tsugaru Strait Pacific Ocean Tuamotu Islands (Iles Tuamotu) French Polynesia Tubuai Islands (Iles Tubuai) French Polynesia Tunis (US Embassy) Tunisia Turin (US Consulate) Italy Turkish Straits Atlantic Ocean Turks Island Passage Atlantic Ocean Tyrol, South Italy Tyrrhenian Sea Atlantic Ocean
Udorn (US Consulate) Thailand Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Ullung-do Korea, South Unimak Pass (strait) Pacific Ocean United Arab Republic Egypt; Syria Upper Volta Burkina
Vaduz (US post not maintained, Liechtenstein representation from Zurich, Switzerland) Vakhan Corridor Afghanistan (Wakhan) Valencia (US Consular Agency) Spain Valletta (US Embassy) Malta Vancouver (US Consulate General) Canada Vancouver Island Canada Van Diemen Strait Pacific Ocean Vatican City (US Embassy) Vatican City Velez de la Gomera, Penon de Spain Venda South Africa Veracruz (US Consular Agency) Mexico Verde Island Passage Pacific Ocean Victoria (US Embassy) Seychelles Vienna (US Embassy, US Mission Austria to International Organizations in Vienna or UNVIE) Vientiane (US Embassy) Laos Volcano Islands Japan Vostok Island Kiribati Vrangelya, Ostrov Soviet Union (Wrangel Island)
Wakhan Corridor Afghanistan (now Vakhan Corridor) Wales United Kingdom Walvis Bay South Africa Warsaw (US Embassy) Poland Washington, DC (The Permanent United States Mission of the USA to the Organization of American States or OAS) Weddell Sea Atlantic Ocean Wellington (US Embassy) New Zealand Western Channel Pacific Ocean (West Korea Strait) West Germany Germany, Federal Republic of West Korea Strait Pacific Ocean (Western Channel) West Pakistan Pakistan Wetar Strait Pacific Ocean White Sea Arctic Ocean Windhoek Namibia Windward Passage Atlantic Ocean Winnipeg (US Consular Agency) Canada Wrangel Island (Ostrov Vrangelya) Soviet Union
Yaounde (US Embassy) Cameroon Yap Islands Micronesia Yellow Sea Pacific Ocean Yemen (Aden) Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, North Yemen Arab Republic Yemen (Sanaa) Yemen Arab Republic Yemen, South Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of Youth, Isle of Cuba (Isla de la Juventud) Yucatan Channel Atlantic Ocean
Zagreb (US Consulate General) Yugoslavia Zanzibar Tanzania Zurich (US Consulate General) Switzerland ----------------------------------------------------