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← The 2002 CIA World Factbook

Introduction…

Part 15 of 21 · United States. Central Intelligence Agency · Public domain text

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Source: Project Gutenberg e-text #6344, public domain in the United States · text not rewritten or summarized · How RedLectern is built

 

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Introduction

Philippines

Background: The Philippines were ceded by Spain to the US in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. They attained their independence in 1946 after Japanese occupation in World War II. The 21-year rule of Ferdinand MARCOS ended in 1986 when a widespread popular rebellion forced him into exile. In 1992, the US closed its last military bases on the islands. The Philippines has had two electoral presidential transitions since Marcos' removal by "people power." In January 2001, the Supreme Court declared Joseph ESTRADA unable to rule in view of mass resignations from his government and administered the oath of office to Vice President Gloria MACAPAGAL-ARROYO as his constitutional successor. The government continues to struggle with ongoing Muslim insurgencies in the south.

Geography Philippines

Location: Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, east of Vietnam

Geographic coordinates: 13 00 N, 122 00 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area: total: 300,000 sq km water: 1,830 sq km land: 298,170 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than Arizona

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 36,289 km

Maritime claims: continental shelf: to depth of exploitation territorial sea: irregular polygon extending up to 100 NM from coastline as defined by 1898 treaty; since late 1970s has also claimed polygonal-shaped area in South China Sea up to 285 NM in breadth exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

Climate: tropical marine; northeast monsoon (November to April); southwest monsoon (May to October)

Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow to extensive coastal lowlands

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Philippine Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Apo 2,954 m

Natural resources: timber, petroleum, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, copper

Land use: arable land: 18% permanent crops: 15% other: 67% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 15,500 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: astride typhoon belt, usually affected by 15 and struck by five to six cyclonic storms per year; landslides; active volcanoes; destructive earthquakes; tsunamis

Environment - current issues: uncontrolled deforestation in watershed areas; soil erosion; air and water pollution in Manila; increasing pollution of coastal mangrove swamps which are important fish breeding grounds

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: favorably located in relation to many of Southeast Asia's main water bodies: the South China Sea, Philippine Sea, Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea, and Luzon Strait

People Philippines

Population: 84,525,639 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 36.6% (male 15,731,451; female 15,169,264) 15-64 years: (male 1,399,862; female 1,756,317) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.99% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 26.88 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 5.95 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 27.87 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 71.12 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 3.35 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.07% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 28,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 1,200 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Filipino(s) adjective: Philippine

Ethnic groups: Christian Malay 91.5%, Muslim Malay 4%, Chinese 1.5%, other 3%

Religions: Roman Catholic 83%, Protestant 9%, Muslim 5%, Buddhist and other 3%

Languages: two official languages - Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English; eight major dialects - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocan, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinense

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 94.6% male: 95% female: 94.3% (1995 est.)

Government Philippines

Country name: conventional long form: Republic of the Philippines conventional short form: Philippines local short form: Pilipinas local long form: Republika ng Pilipinas

Government type: republic

Capital: Manila

Administrative divisions: 73 provinces and 61 chartered cities*; Abra, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Aklan, Albay, Angeles*, Antique, Aurora, Bacolod*, Bago*, Baguio*, Bais*, Basilan, Basilan City*, Bataan, Batanes, Batangas, Batangas City*, Benguet, Bohol, Bukidnon, Bulacan, Butuan*, Cabanatuan*, Cadiz*, Cagayan, Cagayan de Oro*, Calbayog*, Caloocan*, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Camiguin, Canlaon*, Capiz, Catanduanes, Cavite, Cavite City*, Cebu, Cebu City*, Cotabato*, Dagupan*, Danao*, Dapitan*, Davao City*, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Dipolog*, Dumaguete*, Eastern Samar, General Santos*, Gingoog*, Ifugao, Iligan*, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Iloilo, Iloilo City*, Iriga*, Isabela, Kalinga-Apayao, La Carlota*, Laguna, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Laoag*, Lapu-Lapu*, La Union, Legaspi*, Leyte, Lipa*, Lucena*, Maguindanao, Mandaue*, Manila*, Marawi*, Marinduque, Masbate, Mindoro Occidental, Mindoro Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Mountain, Naga*, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, North Cotabato, Northern Samar, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Olongapo*, Ormoc*, Oroquieta*, Ozamis*, Pagadian*, Palawan, Palayan*, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Pasay*, Puerto Princesa*, Quezon, Quezon City*, Quirino, Rizal, Romblon, Roxas*, Samar, San Carlos* (in Negros Occidental), San Carlos* (in Pangasinan), San Jose*, San Pablo*, Silay*, Siquijor, Sorsogon, South Cotabato, Southern Leyte, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, Surigao*, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Tacloban*, Tagaytay*, Tagbilaran*, Tangub*, Tarlac, Tawi-Tawi, Toledo*, Trece Martires*, Zambales, Zamboanga*, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur

Independence: 4 July 1946 (from US)

National holiday: Independence Day (from Spain), 12 June (1898); note - 12 June 1898 is the date of independence from Spain, 4 July 1946 is the date of independence from the US

Constitution: 2 February 1987, effective 11 February 1987

Legal system: based on Spanish and Anglo-American law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Gloria MACAPAGAL-ARROYO (since 20 January 2001) and Vice President Teofisto GUINGONA (since 20 January 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Gloria MACAPAGAL-ARROYO (since 20 January 2001) and Vice President Teofisto GUINGONA (since 20 January 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Appointments elections: president and vice president elected on separate tickets by popular vote for six-year terms; election last held 11 May 1998 (next to be held 16 May 2004) election results: results of the last presidential election - Joseph Ejercito ESTRADA elected president; percent of vote - approximately 40%; Gloria MACAPAGAL-ARROYO elected vice president; percent of vote - 55%; note - on 20 January 2001, Vice President Gloria MACAPAGAL-ARROYO was sworn in as the constitutional successor to President Joseph ESTRADA after the Supreme Court declared that ESTRADA was unable to rule in view of the mass resignations from his government; according to the Constitution, only in cases of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the president, can the vice president serve for the unexpired term

Legislative branch: bicameral Congress or Kongreso consists of the Senate or Senado (24 seats - one-half elected every three years; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Kapulungan Ng Mga Kinatawan (214 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; note - additional members may be appointed by the president but the Constitution prohibits the House of Representatives from having more than 250 members) elections: Senate - last held 14 May 2001 (next to be held 16 May 2004); House of Representatives - elections last held 14 May 2001 (next to be held 16 May 2004) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Lakas 13, PDP-Laban/LDP 11; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Lakas 86, NPC 51, LDP 21, LP 20, independents 10, other 26

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (justices are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Judicial and Bar Council and serve until 70 years of age)

Political parties and leaders: Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (New Society Movement) [Imelda MARCOS]; Laban Ng Demokratikong Pilipino (Struggle of Filipino Democrats) or LDP [Eduardo ANGARA]; Lakas [Jose DE VENECIA, party president]; Liberal Party or LP [Florencio ABAD]; Nacionalista Party [Jose OLIVEROS]; National People's Coalition or NPC [Eduardo COJUANGCO]; PDP-Laban [Aquilino PIMENTEL]; People's Reform Party or PRP [Miriam DEFENSOR-SANTIAGO]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: APEC, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Albert DEL ROSARIO consulate(s): San Diego consulate(s) general: Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, San Jose (Northern Mariana Islands), Tamuning (Guam) FAX: [1] (202) 328-7614 telephone: [1] (202) 333-6000 chancery: 1600 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Francis RICCIARDONE embassy: 1201 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita 1000 Manila mailing address: FPO 96515 telephone: [63] (2) 523-1001 FAX: [63] (2) 522-4361

Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red with a white equilateral triangle based on the hoist side; in the center of the triangle is a yellow sun with eight primary rays (each containing three individual rays) and in each corner of the triangle is a small yellow five-pointed star

Economy Philippines

Economy - overview: In 1998 the Philippine economy - a mixture of agriculture, light industry, and supporting services - deteriorated as a result of spillover from the Asian financial crisis and poor weather conditions. Growth fell to 0.6% in 1998 from 5% in 1997, but recovered to about 3% in 1999 and 4% in 2000. The government has promised to continue its economic reforms to help the Philippines match the pace of development in the newly industrialized countries of East Asia. The strategy includes improving infrastructure, overhauling the tax system to bolster government revenues, furthering deregulation and privatization of the economy, and increasing trade integration with the region. Prospects for 2002 depend heavily on the economic performance of two major trading partners, the US and Japan.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $335 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.8% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $4,000 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 17% industry: 30% services: 53% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line: 40% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.5% highest 10%: 39.3% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 46.2 (1997)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 32 million (2000)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 39.8%, government and social services 19.4%, services 17.7%, manufacturing 9.8%, construction 5.8%, other 7.5% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: 10% (2001)

Budget: revenues: $10.9 billion expenditures: $13.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

Industries: textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, electronics assembly, petroleum refining, fishing

Industrial production growth rate: 4% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production: 40.667 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 57.57% hydro: 19.85% other: 22.58% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 37.82 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: rice, coconuts, corn, sugarcane, bananas, pineapples, mangoes; pork, eggs, beef; fish

Exports: $37 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Exports - commodities: electronic equipment, machinery and transport equipment, garments, coconut products

Exports - partners: US 30%, Japan 15%, Netherlands 8%, Singapore 8%, Taiwan 8%, Hong Kong 5% (2000)

Imports: $30 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Imports - commodities: raw materials and intermediate goods, capital goods, consumer goods, fuels

Imports - partners: Japan 19%, US 16%, EU 9%, South Korea 8%, Singapore 6%, Taiwan 6% (2000)

Debt - external: $50 billion (2001)

Economic aid - recipient: ODA, $1.1 billion (1998)

Currency: Philippine peso (PHP)

Currency code: PHP

Exchange rates: Philippine pesos per US dollar - 51.201 (January 2002), 50.993 (2001), 44.192 (2000), 39.089 (1999), 40.893 (1998), 29.471 (1997)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Philippines

Telephones - main lines in use: 3.1 million (2000)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 6.5 million (2000)

Telephone system: general assessment: good international radiotelephone and submarine cable services; domestic and interisland service adequate domestic: domestic satellite system with 11 earth stations international: 9 international gateways; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Pacific Ocean); submarine cables to Hong Kong, Guam, Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan

Radio broadcast stations: AM 366, FM 290, shortwave 5 note: each shortwave station operates on multiple frequencies in the language of the target audience (2002)

Radios: 11.5 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 75 (2000)

Televisions: 3.7 million (1997)

Internet country code: .ph

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 33 (2000)

Internet users: 2 million (2001)

Transportation Philippines

Railways: total: 897 km narrow gauge: 897 km 1.067-m gauge (405 km are not in operation) (2001)

Highways: total: 199,950 km paved: 39,590 km unpaved: 160,360 km (1998 est.)

Waterways: 3,219 km note: limited to vessels with a draft of less than 1.5 m

Pipelines: petroleum products 357 km

Ports and harbors: Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Guimaras Island, Iligan, Iloilo, Jolo, Legaspi, Manila, Masao, Puerto Princesa, San Fernando, Subic Bay, Zamboanga

Merchant marine: total: 416 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,179,029 GRT/7,670,688 DWT ships by type: bulk 134, cargo 112, chemical tanker 2, combination bulk 7, container 5, liquefied gas 9, livestock carrier 9, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 10, petroleum tanker 41, refrigerated cargo 20, roll on/roll off 14, short-sea passenger 29, specialized tanker 2, vehicle carrier 18 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Australia 2, Canada 1, Germany 3, Greece 8, Hong Kong 13, Japan 47, Malaysia 19, Netherlands 14, Norway 8, Panama 3, Singapore 12, South Korea 1, Taiwan 2, United Kingdom 7 (2002 est.)

Airports: 275 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 77 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 30 under 914 m: 12 (2001) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 26

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 198 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 under 914 m: 119 (2001) 914 to 1,523 m: 74

Heliports: 2 (2001)

Military Philippines

Military branches: Army, Navy (including Coast Guard and Marine Corps), Air Force, paramilitary units

Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age (2002 est.)

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 21,718,304 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 15,285,248 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 848,181 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $995 million (FY98)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.5% (FY98)

Transnational Issues Philippines

Disputes - international: Sultanate of Sulu granted Philippines Government power of attorney to pursue his sovereignty claim over Malaysia's Sabah State, to which the Philippines have not fully revoked their claim; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei

Illicit drugs: exports locally produced marijuana and hashish to East Asia, the US, and other Western markets; serves as a transit point for heroin and crystal methamphetamine

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

========================================================================

Puerto Rico

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Introduction

Puerto Rico

Background: Populated for centuries by aboriginal peoples, the island was claimed by the Spanish Crown in 1493 following Columbus' second voyage to the Americas. In 1898, after 400 years of colonial rule that saw the indigenous population nearly exterminated and African slave labor introduced, Puerto Rico was ceded to the US as a result of the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship in 1917 and popularly elected governors have served since 1948. In 1952, a constitution was enacted providing for internal self-government. In plebiscites held in 1967, 1993, and 1998 voters chose to retain commonwealth status.

Geography Puerto Rico

Location: Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic

Geographic coordinates: 18 15 N, 66 30 W

Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

Area: total: 9,104 sq km water: 145 sq km land: 8,959 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Rhode Island

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 501 km

Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: tropical marine, mild; little seasonal temperature variation

Terrain: mostly mountains, with coastal plain belt in north; mountains precipitous to sea on west coast; sandy beaches along most coastal areas

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Cerro de Punta 1,338 m

Natural resources: some copper and nickel; potential for onshore and offshore oil

Land use: arable land: 4% permanent crops: 5% other: 91% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 400 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: periodic droughts; hurricanes

Environment - current issues: erosion; occasional drought causing water shortages

Geography - note: important location along the Mona Passage - a key shipping lane to the Panama Canal; San Juan is one of the biggest and best natural harbors in the Caribbean; many small rivers and high central mountains ensure land is well watered; south coast relatively dry; fertile coastal plain belt in north

People Puerto Rico

Population: 3,957,988 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 23.5% (male 476,726; female 453,782) 15-64 years: 65.8% (male 1,249,850; female 1,353,438) 65 years and over: 10.7% (male 180,053; female 244,139) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.51% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 15.04 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 7.82 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -2.12 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 9.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 80.66 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 1.9 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA%

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 7,397 (1997)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

Nationality: noun: Puerto Rican(s) (US citizens) adjective: Puerto Rican

Ethnic groups: white (mostly Spanish origin) 80.5%, black 8%, Amerindian 0.4%, Asian 0.2%, mixed and other 10.9%

Religions: Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant and other 15%

Languages: Spanish, English

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 89% male: 90% female: 88% (1980 est.)

Government Puerto Rico

Country name: conventional long form: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico conventional short form: Puerto Rico

Dependency status: commonwealth associated with the US

Government type: commonwealth

Capital: San Juan

Administrative divisions: none (commonwealth associated with the US); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 78 municipalities (municipios, singular - municipio) at the second order; Adjuntas, Aguada, Aguadilla, Aguas Buenas, Aibonito, Anasco, Arecibo, Arroyo, Barceloneta, Barranquitas, Bayamon, Cabo Rojo, Caguas, Camuy, Canovanas, Carolina, Catano, Cayey, Ceiba, Ciales, Cidra, Coamo, Comerio, Corozal, Culebra, Dorado, Fajardo, Florida, Guanica, Guayama, Guayanilla, Guaynabo, Gurabo, Hatillo, Hormigueros, Humacao, Isabela, Jayuya, Juana Diaz, Juncos, Lajas, Lares, Las Marias, Las Piedras, Loiza, Luquillo, Manati, Maricao, Maunabo, Mayaguez, Moca, Morovis, Naguabo, Naranjito, Orocovis, Patillas, Penuelas, Ponce, Quebradillas, Rincon, Rio Grande, Sabana Grande, Salinas, San German, San Juan, San Lorenzo, San Sebastian, Santa Isabel, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Trujillo Alto, Utuado, Vega Alta, Vega Baja, Vieques, Villalba, Yabucoa, Yauco

Independence: none (commonwealth associated with the US)

National holiday: US Independence Day, 4 July (1776)

Constitution: ratified 3 March 1952; approved by US Congress 3 July 1952; effective 25 July 1952

Legal system: based on Spanish civil code and adapted US state laws

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal; indigenous inhabitants are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections

Executive branch: chief of state: President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001); Vice President Richard B. CHENEY (since 20 January 2001) election results: Sila M. CALDERON (PPD) elected governor; percent of vote - 48.6% note: residents of Puerto Rico do not vote for US president and vice president elections: US president and vice president elected on the same ticket for four-year terms; governor elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 7 November 2000 (next to be held 2 November 2004) head of government: Governor Sila M. CALDERON (since 2 January 2001) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor with the consent of the legislature

Legislative branch: bicameral Legislative Assembly consists of the Senate (28 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives (51 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PPD 19, PNP 8, PIP 1, other 1; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PPD 30, PNP 20, PIP 1 note: Puerto Rico elects, by popular vote, a resident commissioner to serve a four-year term as a nonvoting representative in the US House of Representatives; aside from not voting on the House floor, he enjoys all the rights of a member of Congress; elections last held 7 November 2000 (next to be held 2 November 2004); results - percent of vote by party - PPD 49.3%; seats by party - PPD 1; Anibal ACEVEDO-VILA elected resident commissioner elections: House of Representatives - last held 7 November 2000 (next to be held 2 November 2004)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Appellate Court; Court of First Instance composed of two sections: a Superior Court and a Municipal Court (justices for all these courts appointed by the governor with the consent of the Senate)

Political parties and leaders: National Democratic Party [Celeste BENITEZ]; National Republican Party of Puerto Rico [Luis FERRE]; New Progressive Party or PNP (pro-US statehood) [Carlos PESQUERA]; Popular Democratic Party or PPD (pro-commonwealth) [Sila M. CALDERON]; Puerto Rican Independence Party or PIP (pro-independence) [Ruben BERRIOS Martinez]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Armed Forces for National Liberation or FALN; Armed Forces of Popular Resistance; Boricua Popular Army (also known as the Macheteros); Volunteers of the Puerto Rican Revolution

International organization participation: Caricom (observer), ECLAC (associate), FAO (associate), ICFTU, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, WCL, WFTU, WHO (associate)

Diplomatic representation in the US: none (commonwealth associated with the US)

Diplomatic representation from the US: none (commonwealth associated with the US)

Flag description: five equal horizontal bands of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bears a large, white, five-pointed star in the center; design initially influenced by the US flag, but similar to the Cuban flag, with the colors of the bands and triangle reversed

Economy Puerto Rico

Economy - overview: Puerto Rico has one of the most dynamic economies in the Caribbean region. A diverse industrial sector has surpassed agriculture as the primary locus of economic activity and income. Encouraged by duty-free access to the US and by tax incentives, US firms have invested heavily in Puerto Rico since the 1950s. US minimum wage laws apply. Sugar production has lost out to dairy production and other livestock products as the main source of income in the agricultural sector. Tourism has traditionally been an important source of income, with estimated arrivals of nearly 5 million tourists in 1999. Growth fell off in 2001, largely due to the slowdown in the US economy.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $43.9 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.2% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $11,200 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 1% industry: 45% services: 54% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.7% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 1.3 million (2000)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 3%, industry 20%, services 77% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate: 9.5% (2000)

Budget: revenues: $6.7 billion expenditures: $9.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY99/00)

Industries: pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, food products; tourism

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 20.497 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 99.22% hydro: 0.78% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 19.062 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: sugarcane, coffee, pineapples, plantains, bananas; livestock products, chickens

Exports: $38.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000)

Exports - commodities: pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, canned tuna, rum, beverage concentrates, medical equipment

Exports - partners: US 88% (2000)

Imports: $27 billion (c.i.f., 2000)

Imports - commodities: chemicals, machinery and equipment, clothing, food, fish, petroleum products

Imports - partners: US 60% (2000)

Debt - external: $NA

Economic aid - recipient: $NA

Currency: US dollar (USD)

Currency code: USD

Exchange rates: the US dollar is used

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Communications Puerto Rico

Telephones - main lines in use: 1.322 million (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 169,265 (1996)

Telephone system: general assessment: modern system, integrated with that of the US by high-capacity submarine cable and Intelsat with high-speed data capability domestic: digital telephone system; cellular telephone service international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat; submarine cable to US

Radio broadcast stations: AM 72, FM 17, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios: 2.7 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 18 (plus three stations of the US Armed Forces Radio and Television Service) (1997)

Televisions: 1.021 million (1997)

Internet country code: .pr

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 76 (2000)

Internet users: 200,000 (2000)

Transportation Puerto Rico

Railways: total: 96 km narrow gauge: 96 km 1.000-m gauge, note: rural, narrow-gauge system for hauling sugarcane; no passenger service (2001)

Highways: total: 14,400 km paved: 14,400 km unpaved: 0 km (1996)

Waterways: none

Ports and harbors: Guanica, Guayanilla, Guayama, Playa de Ponce, San Juan

Merchant marine: total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 19,046 GRT/22,582 DWT ships by type: container 1 (2002 est.)

Airports: 30 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 19 over 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 8 under 914 m: 5 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 11 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 9 (2001)

Military Puerto Rico

Military branches: no regular indigenous military forces; paramilitary National Guard, Police Force

Military - note: defense is the responsibility of the US

Transnational Issues Puerto Rico

Disputes - international: none

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Russia

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Introduction

Russia

Background: The defeat of the Russian Empire in World War I led to the seizure of power by the Communists and the formation of the USSR. The brutal rule of Josef STALIN (1924-53) strengthened Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives. The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into 15 independent republics. Since then, Russia has struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political system and market economy to replace the strict social, political, and economic controls of the Communist period. A determined guerrilla conflict still plagues Russia in Chechnya.

Geography Russia

Location: Northern Asia (that part west of the Urals is sometimes included with Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean

Geographic coordinates: 60 00 N, 100 00 E

Map references: Asia

Area: total: 17,075,200 sq km water: 79,400 sq km land: 16,995,800 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly less than 1.8 times the size of the US

Land boundaries: total: 19,990 km border countries: Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China (southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 294 km, Finland 1,313 km, Georgia 723 km, Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 19 km, Latvia 217 km, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 227 km, Mongolia 3,485 km, Norway 196 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 206 km, Ukraine 1,576 km

Coastline: 37,653 km

Maritime claims: continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast

Terrain: broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m highest point: Gora El'brus 5,633 m

Natural resources: wide natural resource base including major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, and many strategic minerals, timber note: formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder exploitation of natural resources

Land use: arable land: 8% permanent crops: 0% other: 92% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 46,630 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development; volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands; volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula

Environment - current issues: air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities; industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of inland waterways and seacoasts; deforestation; soil erosion; soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals; scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination; groundwater contamination from toxic waste

Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: largest country in the world in terms of area but unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of the world; despite its size, much of the country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for agriculture; Mount Elbrus is Europe's tallest peak

People Russia

Population: 144,978,573 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 16.7% (male 12,334,659; female 11,840,058) 15-64 years: (male 6,150,775; female 12,919,811) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.33% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 9.71 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 13.91 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.94 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.48 male(s)/female total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 19.78 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 72.97 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 1.3 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.18% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 130,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 850 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Russian(s) adjective: Russian

Ethnic groups: Russian 81.5%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 3%, Chuvash 1.2%, Bashkir 0.9%, Belarusian 0.8%, Moldavian 0.7%, other 8.1%

Religions: Russian Orthodox, Muslim, other

Languages: Russian, other

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 100% female: 97% (1989 est.)

Government Russia

Country name: Russian Federation conventional short form: Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic local short form: Rossiya

Government type: federation

Capital: Moscow

Administrative divisions: 49 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics* (respublik, singular - respublika), 10 autonomous okrugs**(avtonomnykh okrugov, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 6 krays*** (krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (singular - gorod)****, and 1 autonomous oblast*****(avtonomnaya oblast'); Adygeya (Maykop)*, Aginskiy Buryatskiy (Aginskoye)**, Altay (Gorno-Altaysk)*, Altayskiy (Barnaul)***, Amurskaya (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'skaya, Astrakhanskaya, Bashkortostan (Ufa)*, Belgorodskaya, Bryanskaya, Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude)*, Chechnya (Groznyy)*, Chelyabinskaya, Chitinskaya, Chukotskiy (Anadyr')**, Chuvashiya (Cheboksary)*, Dagestan (Makhachkala)*, Evenkiyskiy (Tura)**, Ingushetiya (Nazran')*, Irkutskaya, Ivanovskaya, Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik)*, Kaliningradskaya, Kalmykiya (Elista)*, Kaluzhskaya, Kamchatskaya (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk)*, Kareliya (Petrozavodsk)*, Kemerovskaya, Khabarovskiy***, Khakasiya (Abakan)*, Khanty-Mansiyskiy (Khanty-Mansiysk)**, Kirovskaya, Komi (Syktyvkar)*, Koryakskiy (Palana)**, Kostromskaya, Krasnodarskiy***, Krasnoyarskiy***, Kurganskaya, Kurskaya, Leningradskaya, Lipetskaya, Magadanskaya, Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola)*, Mordoviya (Saransk)*, Moskovskaya, Moskva (Moscow)****, Murmanskaya, Nenetskiy (Nar'yan-Mar)**, Nizhegorodskaya, Novgorodskaya, Novosibirskaya, Omskaya, Orenburgskaya, Orlovskaya (Orel), Penzenskaya, Permskaya, Komi-Permyatskiy (Kudymkar)**, Primorskiy (Vladivostok)***, Pskovskaya, Rostovskaya, Ryazanskaya, Sakha (Yakutiya)*, Sakhalinskaya (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samarskaya, Sankt-Peterburg (Saint Petersburg)****, Saratovskaya, Severnaya Osetiya-Alaniya [North Ossetia] (Vladikavkaz)*, Smolenskaya, Stavropol'skiy***, Sverdlovskaya (Yekaterinburg), Tambovskaya, Tatarstan (Kazan')*, Taymyrskiy (Dudinka)**, Tomskaya, Tul'skaya, Tverskaya, Tyumenskaya, Tyva (Kyzyl)*, Udmurtiya (Izhevsk)*, Ul'yanovskaya, Ust'-Ordynskiy Buryatskiy (Ust'-Ordynskiy)**, Vladimirskaya, Volgogradskaya, Vologodskaya, Voronezhskaya, Yamalo-Nenetskiy (Salekhard)**, Yaroslavskaya, Yevreyskaya*****; note - when using a place name with an adjectival ending 'skaya' or 'skiy,' the word Oblast' or Avonomnyy Okrug or Kray should be added to the place name note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Independence: 24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday: Russia Day, 12 June (1990)

Constitution: adopted 12 December 1993

Legal system: based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (acting president since 31 December 1999, president since 7 May 2000) head of government: Aleksey Leonidovich KUDRIN (since 18 May 2000), Aleksey Vasilyevich GORDEYEV (since 20 May 2000), Viktor Borisovich KHRISTENKO (since 31 May 1999), Valentina Ivanovna MATVIYENKO (since 22 September 1998) cabinet: and his deputies, ministers, and other agency heads; all are appointed by the president note: there is also a Presidential Administration (PA) that provides staff and policy support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies; a Security Council also reports directly to the president election results: Vladimirovich PUTIN 52.9%, Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV 29.2%, Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY 5.8% elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 26 March 2000 (next to be held NA 2004); note - no vice president; if the president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers because of ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier succeeds him; the premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election is held, which must be within three months; premier appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma

Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (178 seats; as of July 2000, members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 89 federal administrative units - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; members serve four-year terms) and the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats; 225 seats elected by proportional representation from party lists winning at least 5% of the vote, and 225 seats from single-member constituencies; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms) election results: State Duma - percent of vote received by parties clearing the 5% threshold entitling them to a proportional share of the 225 party list seats - KPRF 24.29%, Unity 23.32%, OVR 13.33%, Union of Right Forces 8.52%, LDPR 5.98%, Yabloko 5.93%; seats by party - KPRF 113, Unity 72, OVR 67, Union of Rightist Forces 29, LDPR 17, Yabloko 21, other 16, independents 106, repeat election required 8, vacant 1 elections: State Duma - last held 19 December 1999 (next to be held NA December 2003)

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Superior Court of Arbitration; judges for all courts are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president

Political parties and leaders: Agrarian Party [Mikhail Ivanovich LAPSHIN]; Communist Party of the Russian Federation or KPRF [Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV]; Fatherland-All Russia or OVR [Yuriy Mikhaylovich LUZHKOV]; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir Volfovich ZHIRINOVSKIY]; Union of Rightist Forces [Anatoliy Borisovich CHUBAYS, Yegor Timurovich GAYDAR, Irina Mutsuovna KHAKAMADA, Boris Yefimovich NEMTSOV]; Unity [Sergey Kuzhugetovich SHOYGU]; Yabloko Bloc [Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY] note: some 150 political parties, blocs, and movements registered with the Justice Ministry as of the 19 December 1998 deadline to be eligible to participate in the 19 December 1999 Duma elections; of these, 36 political organizations actually qualified to run slates of candidates on the Duma party list ballot, 6 parties cleared the 5% threshold to win a proportional share of the 225 party seats in the Duma, 9 other organizations hold seats in the Duma: Bloc of Nikolayev and Academician Fedorov, Congress of Russian Communities, Movement in Support of the Army, Our Home Is Russia, Party of Pensioners, Power to the People, Russian All-People's Union, Russian Socialist Party, and Spiritual Heritage; primary political blocs include pro-market democrats - (Yabloko Bloc and Union of Right Forces), anti-market and/or ultranationalist (Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia)

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BSEC, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN (observer), CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ESCAP, G- 8, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Yuriy Viktorovich USHAKOV FAX: [1] (202) 298-5735 consulate(s) general: New York, San Francisco, and Seattle telephone: [1] (202) 298-5700, 5701, 5704, 5708 chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Alexander VERSHBOW embassy: Bolshoy Devyatinskiy Pereulok No. 8, 121099 Moscow mailing address: APO AE 09721 telephone: [7] (095) 728-5000 FAX: [7] (095) 728-5203 consulate(s) general: Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red

Economy Russia

Economy - overview: A decade after the implosion of the Soviet Union in December 1991, Russia is still struggling to establish a modern market economy and achieve strong economic growth. In contrast to its trading partners in Central Europe - which were able to overcome the initial production declines that accompanied the launch of market reforms within three to five years - Russia saw its economy contract for five years, as the executive and legislature dithered over the implementation of many of the basic foundations of a market economy. Russia achieved a slight recovery in 1997, but the government's stubborn budget deficits and the country's poor business climate made it vulnerable when the global financial crisis swept through in 1998. The crisis culminated in the August depreciation of the ruble, a debt default by the government, and a sharp deterioration in living standards for most of the population. The economy subsequently has rebounded, growing by an average of more than 6% annually in 1999-2001 on the back of higher oil prices and a weak ruble. This recovery, along with a renewed government effort in 2000 and 2001 to advance lagging structural reforms, have raised business and investor confidence over Russia's prospects in its second decade of transition. Yet serious problems persist. Russia remains heavily dependent on exports of commodities, particularly oil, natural gas, metals, and timber, which account for over 80% of exports, leaving the country vulnerable to swings in world prices. Russia's industrial base is increasingly dilapidated and must be replaced or modernized if the country is to achieve sustainable economic growth. Other problems include widespread corruption, lack of a strong legal system, capital flight, and brain drain.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.2 trillion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 5.2% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,300 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 7% industry: 37% services: 56% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line: 40% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.4% highest 10%: 33.5% (2001 est.)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 39.9 (2000)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 21.9% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 71.3 million (2001 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 10.8%, industry 27.8%, services 61.4% (2001 est.)

Unemployment rate: 8.7% (2001 est.), plus considerable underemployment

Budget: revenues: $45 billion expenditures: $43 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

Industries: complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; shipbuilding; road and rail transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery, tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer durables, textiles, foodstuffs, handicrafts

Industrial production growth rate: 5.2% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production: 835.572 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 66.14% hydro: 18.89% other: 0.31% (2000) nuclear: 14.66%

Electricity - consumption: 767.082 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 18 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 8 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk

Exports: $103.3 billion (2001 est.)

Exports - commodities: petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures

Exports - partners: Germany 9.0%, US 7.2%, Italy 7.0%, Belarus 5.4%, China 5.1%, Ukraine 4.9%, Netherlands (2000)

Imports: $51.7 billion (2001 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, grain, sugar, semifinished metal products

Imports - partners: Germany 11.5%, Belarus 11.1%, Ukraine 10.8%, US 8.0%, Kazakhstan 6.5%, Italy 3.6% (2000)

Debt - external: $157 billion (2001 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $8.523 billion (1995)

Currency: Russian ruble (RUR)

Currency code: RUR

Exchange rates: Russian rubles per US dollar - 30.4669 (January 2002), 29.1685 (2001), 28.1292 (2000), 24.6199 (1999), 9.7051 (1998), 5,785 (1997) note: 1998 rubles

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Russia

Telephones - main lines in use: 30 million (1998)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 2.5 million (October 2000)

Telephone system: general assessment: the telephone system has undergone significant changes in the 1990s; there are more than 1,000 companies licensed to offer communication services; access to digital lines has improved, particularly in urban centers; Internet and e-mail services are improving; Russia has made progress toward building the telecommunications infrastructure necessary for a market economy; however, a large demand for main line service remains unsatisfied domestic: cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint Petersburg to Khabarovsk, and from Moscow to Novorossiysk; the telephone systems in 60 regional capitals have modern digital infrastructures; cellular services, both analog and digital, are available in many areas; in rural areas, the telephone services are still outdated, inadequate, and low density international: Russia is connected internationally by three undersea fiber-optic cables; digital switches in several cities provide more than 50,000 lines for international calls; satellite earth stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Orbita systems

Radio broadcast stations: AM 420, FM 447, shortwave 56 (1998)

Radios: 61.5 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 7,306 (1998)

Televisions: 60.5 million (1997)

Internet country code: .ru

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 35 (2000)

Internet users: 9.2 million (2000)

Transportation Russia

Railways: total: 87,157 km broad gauge: 86,200 km 1.520-m gauge (40,300 km are electrified) narrow gauge: 957 km 1.067-m gauge (installed on Sakhalin Island) note: an additional 63,000 km of broad gauge routes serve specific industries and are not available for common carrier use (2002)

Highways: total: 952,000 km paved: 752,000 km (including about 336,000 km of conventionally paved roads, and about 416,000 km of roads with all-weather gravel surfaces) unpaved: 200,000 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1998)

Waterways: 95,900 km (total routes in general use) note: routes with navigation guides serving the Russian River Fleet - 95,900 km; routes with night navigational aids - 60,400 km; man-made navigable routes - 16,900 km (Jan 1994)

Pipelines: crude oil 48,000 km; petroleum products 15,000 km; natural gas 140,000 km (June 1993 est.)

Ports and harbors: Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky, Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', De-Kastri, Indigirskiy, Kaliningrad, Kandalaksha, Kazan', Khabarovsk, Kholmsk, Krasnoyarsk, Lazarev, Mago, Mezen', Moscow, Murmansk, Nakhodka, Nevel'sk, Novorossiysk, Onega, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Rostov, Shakhtersk, Saint Petersburg, Sochi, Taganrog, Tuapse, Uglegorsk, Vanino, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Vostochnyy, Vyborg

Merchant marine: total: 888 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,390,745 GRT/5,357,436 DWT ships by type: barge carrier 1, bulk 21, cargo 556, chemical tanker 7, combination bulk 21, combination ore/oil 6, container 29, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger 41, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 153, refrigerated cargo 22, roll on/roll off 20, short-sea passenger 7 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Belize 1, Cambodia 1, Cyprus 9, Denmark 1, Estonia 4, Greece 3, Honduras 1, Latvia 4, Lithuania 3, Moldova 3, Netherlands 1, South Korea 1, Turkey 18, Turkmenistan 2, Ukraine 10, United Kingdom 5, United States 1 (2002 est.)

Airports: 2,743 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: 178 1,524 to 2,437 m: Airports - with unpaved runways: 118 1,524 to 2,437 m: Military Russia

Military branches: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Forces, Space Forces, Airborne Forces, Strategic Rocket Forces

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age (2002 est.)

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 38,906,796 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 30,392,946 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 1,242,778 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: NA%

Transnational Issues Russia

Disputes - international: 2001 Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation commits Russia and China to seek peaceable unanimity over disputed alluvial islands at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers and a small island on the Argun; Russia hastens to delimit and demarcate boundary with Kazakhstan to limit illegal border activities; in 2002, Russia is the first state to submit data to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to extend its continental shelf by claiming two undersea ridges in the Arctic; Russia signed bilateral agreements with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan delimiting the Caspian seabed, but littoral states are far from multilateral agreement on dividing the waters and seabed regimes - Iran insists on division of Caspian Sea into five equal sectors while Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan have generally agreed upon equidistant seabed boundaries; despite recent discussions, Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits in the Barents Sea and Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial limits within the Svalbard Treaty zone; Russia continues to reject signing and ratifying the joint December 1996 technical border agreement with Estonia; the Russian Duma refuses to ratify boundary treaties signed with Latvia and Lithuania; Russia and Ukraine have successfully delimited land boundary in 2001, but disagree on delimitation of maritime boundary in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea; boundary with Georgia has been largely delimited, but not demarcated; several small, strategic segments remain in dispute; islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan

Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer of amphetamine, mostly for domestic consumption; government has active eradication program; increasingly used as transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian opiates and cannabis and Latin American cocaine to Western Europe, possibly to the US, and growing domestic market; major source of heroin precursor chemicals; corruption and organized crime are major concerns; heroin an increasing threat in domestic drug market

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Rwanda

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Introduction

Rwanda

Background: In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the next several years thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000 driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front and began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political and economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions culminating in April 1994 in the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the killing in July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire. Since then most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda. Despite substantial international assistance and political reforms - including Rwanda's first local elections in March 1999 - the country continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural output and to foster reconciliation. A series of massive population displacements, a nagging Hutu extremist insurgency, and Rwandan involvement in two wars over the past four years in the neighboring DROC continue to hinder Rwanda's efforts.

Geography Rwanda

Location: Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo

Geographic coordinates: 2 00 S, 30 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area: total: 26,338 sq km water: 1,390 sq km land: 24,948 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland

Land boundaries: total: 893 km border countries: Burundi 290 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 217 km, Tanzania 217 km, Uganda 169 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: temperate; two rainy seasons (February to April, November to January); mild in mountains with frost and snow possible

Terrain: mostly grassy uplands and hills; relief is mountainous with altitude declining from west to east

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Rusizi River 950 m highest point: Volcan Karisimbi 4,519 m

Natural resources: gold, cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), methane, hydropower, arable land

Land use: arable land: 32% permanent crops: 10% other: 58% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 40 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: periodic droughts; the volcanic Virunga mountains are in the northwest along the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo

Environment - current issues: deforestation results from uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel; overgrazing; soil exhaustion; soil erosion; widespread poaching

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note: landlocked; most of the country is savanna grassland with the population predominantly rural

People Rwanda

Population: 7,398,074 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 41.7% (male 1,550,141; female 1,539,375) 15-64 years: 55.4% (male 2,039,573; female 2,057,059) 65 years and over: 2.9% (male 84,030; female 127,896) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.16% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 33.28 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 21.39 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.32 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 117.79 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 39.2 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 4.72 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 11.21% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 400,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 40,000 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Rwandan(s) adjective: Rwandan

Ethnic groups: Hutu 84%, Tutsi 15%, Twa (Pygmoid) 1%

Religions: Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, indigenous beliefs 0.1%, none 1.7% (2001)

Languages: Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 48% male: 52% female: 45% (1995 est.)

Government Rwanda

Country name: Rwandese Republic conventional short form: y'u Rwanda

Government type: republic; presidential, multiparty system

Capital: Kigali

Administrative divisions: 12 prefectures (in French - prefectures, singular - prefecture; in Kinyarwanda - plural - NA, singular - prefegitura); Butare, Byumba, Cyangugu, Gikongoro, Gisenyi, Gitarama, Kibungo, Kibuye, Kigali Rurale, Kigali-ville, Umutara, Ruhengeri

Independence: 1 July 1962 (from Belgium-administered UN trusteeship)

National holiday: Independence Day, 1 July (1962)

Constitution: on 5 May 1995, the Transitional National Assembly adopted as Fundamental Law the constitution of 18 June 1991, provisions of the 1993 Arusha peace accord, the July 1994 Declaration by the Rwanda Patriotic Front, and the November 1994 multiparty protocol of understanding

Legal system: based on German and Belgian civil law systems and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal adult

Executive branch: chief of state: President Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME (FPR) (since 22 April 2000) head of government: Prime Minister Bernard MAKUZA (since 8 March Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: special election for new president by deputies of the National Assembly and governmental ministers held 17 April 2000 (next national election to be held NA 2003); prime minister is appointed by the president election results: Paul KAGAME (FPR) elected president in a special parliamentary/ministerial ballot receiving 81 of a possible 86 votes

Legislative branch: unicameral Transitional National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale de Transition (a power-sharing body with 70 seats established on 12 December 1994 following a multiparty protocol of understanding; members were named by their parties, number of seats per party predetermined by the Arusha peace accord) note: four additional seats, two for women and two for youth, added in 2001 election results: seats by party under the Arusha peace accord - FPR 13, MDR 13, PSD 13, PL 13, PDC 6, RPA 6, PSR 2, PDI 2, UDPR 2; note - the distribution of seats was predetermined, four additional seats (two for women and two for youth) added in 2001 elections: the last national legislative elections were held 16 December 1988 for the National Development Council (the legislature prior to the advent of the Transitional National Assembly); no elections have been held for the Transitional National Assembly as the distribution of seats was predetermined by the Arusha peace accord

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; communal courts; appeals courts

Political parties and leaders: Centrist Democratic Party or PDC [Jean-Nipomuscene NAYINZIRA]; Democratic Socialist Party or PSD [leader NA]; Democratic Popular Union of Rwanda or UDPR [leader NA]; Democratic Republican Movement or MDR [Celestin KABANDA]; Islamic Democratic Party or PDI [Andre BUMAYA]; Liberal Party or PL [Pie MUGABO]; Party for Democratic Renewal (officially banned) [Pasteur BIZIMURGI and Charilg NTAKIROTINKA]; Rwanda Patriotic Army or RPA [Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME, commander]; Rwanda Patriotic Front or FPR [Maj. Gen. Paul KAGAME]; Rwandan Socialist Party or PSR [leader NA]

Political pressure groups and leaders: IBUKA - association of genocide survivors

International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEEAC, CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Richard SEZIBERA chancery: 1714 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009 FAX: [1] (202) 232-4544 telephone: [1] (202) 232-2882

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Margaret K. McMILLION since 13 December #337 Boulevard de la Revolution, Kigali mailing address: Flag description: three horizontal bands of sky blue (top, double width), yellow, and green, with a golden sun with 24 rays near the fly end of the blue band

Economy Rwanda

Economy - overview: Rwanda is a rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture. It is the most densely populated country in Africa; landlocked with few natural resources and minimal industry. Primary exports are coffee and tea. The 1994 genocide decimated Rwanda's fragile economic base, severely impoverished the population, particularly women, and eroded the country's ability to attract private and external investment. However, Rwanda has made significant progress in stabilizing and rehabilitating its economy. GDP has rebounded, and inflation has been curbed. Rwanda received approval for debt relief from the IMF in late 2000 and continued to make progress on inflation, privatization, and GDP growth in 2001. However, export earnings were hindered by low global coffee prices, depriving the country of much needed hard currency. President KAGAME is encouraging investors to take advantage of export opportunities in Rwanda based on its membership in the COMESA free trade area and its access to the US and the EU markets through preferential trade agreements.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $7.2 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 5% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 46% industry: 20% services: 34% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line: 70% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 4.2% highest 10%: 24.2% (1983-85)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 28.9 (1983-85)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 3.6 million

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 90%

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues: $199.3 million expenditures: $445 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

Industries: cement, agricultural products, small-scale beverages, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, textiles, cigarettes

Industrial production growth rate: 7% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production: 113 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 2.65% hydro: 97.35% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 174.09 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 1 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 70 million kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: coffee, tea, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), bananas, beans, sorghum, potatoes; livestock

Exports: $61 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

Exports - commodities: coffee, tea, hides, tin ore

Exports - partners: EU 56.9%, Pakistan 12.3%, US 9.2%, China 4.4% Malaysia 4.4% (2000 est.)

Imports: $248 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, steel, petroleum products, cement and construction material

Imports - partners: Kenya 29.4%, EU 28%, US 10%, India 4.4%, Tanzania 2.2% (2000 est.)

Debt - external: $1.3 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $372.9 million (1999)

Currency: Rwandan franc (RWF)

Currency code: RWF

Exchange rates: Rwandan francs per US dollar - 456.81 (January 2002), 442.99 (2001), 389.70 (2000), 333.94 (1999) 312.31 (1998), 301.53 (1997)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Rwanda

Telephones - main lines in use: 11,000 (1999)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 11,000 (1999) note: Rwanda has mobile cellular service between Kigali and several prefecture capitals (2002)

Telephone system: general assessment: telephone system primarily serves business and government domestic: the capital, Kigali, is connected to the centers of the prefectures by microwave radio relay and, recently, by cellular telephone service; much of the network depends on wire and HF radiotelephone international: international connections employ microwave radio relay to neighboring countries and satellite communications to more distant countries; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) in Kigali (includes telex and telefax service)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 3 (two main FM programs are broadcast through a system of repeaters and the third FM program is a 24 hour BBC program), shortwave 1 (2002)

Radios: 601,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: NA

Televisions: NA; probably less than 1,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .rw

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)

Internet users: 5,000 (2001)

Transportation Rwanda

Railways: 0 km

Highways: total: 12,000 km paved: 1,000 km unpaved: 11,000 km (1997 est.)

Waterways: note: Lac Kivu navigable by shallow-draft barges and native craft

Ports and harbors: Cyangugu, Gisenyi, Kibuye

Airports: 8 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 4 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2001)

Military Rwanda

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 1,858,443 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 946,990 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $58 million (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3.1% (FY01)

Transnational Issues Rwanda

Disputes - international: Tutsi, Hutu and other ethnic groups, political rebels, and various government forces continue fighting in Great Lakes region, transcending the boundaries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Saudi Arabia

Introduction Saudi Arabia

Background: In 1902 Abd al-Aziz Ibn SAUD captured Riyadh and set out on a 30-year campaign to unify the Arabian Peninsula. In the 1930s, the discovery of oil transformed the country. Following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia accepted the Kuwaiti royal family and 400,000 refugees while allowing Western and Arab troops to deploy on its soil for the liberation of Kuwait the following year. A burgeoning population, aquifer depletion, and an economy largely dependent on petroleum output and prices are all major governmental concerns.

Geography Saudi Arabia

Location: Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, north of Yemen

Geographic coordinates: 25 00 N, 45 00 E

Map references: Middle East

Area: total: 1,960,582 sq km water: 0 sq km land: 1,960,582 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly more than one-fifth the size of the US

Land boundaries: total: 4,431 km border countries: Iraq 814 km, Jordan 744 km, Kuwait 222 km, Oman 676 km, Qatar 60 km, UAE 457 km, Yemen 1,458 km

Coastline: 2,640 km

Maritime claims: not specified territorial sea: Climate: harsh, dry desert with great temperature extremes

Terrain: mostly uninhabited, sandy desert

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m highest point: Jabal Sawda' 3,133 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, copper

Land use: arable land: 2% permanent crops: 0% other: 98% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 16,200 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: frequent sand and dust storms

Environment - current issues: desertification; depletion of underground water resources; the lack of perennial rivers or permanent water bodies has prompted the development of extensive seawater desalination facilities; coastal pollution from oil spills

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: extensive coastlines on Persian Gulf and Red Sea provide great leverage on shipping (especially crude oil) through Persian Gulf and Suez Canal

People Saudi Arabia

Population: 23,513,330 note: includes 5,360,526 non-nationals (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.4% (male 5,086,541; female 4,883,942) 15-64 years: 54.8% (male 7,493,304; female 5,396,985) 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 362,780; female 289,778) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.27% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 37.25 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 5.86 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.39 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.25 male(s)/female total population: 1.22 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 49.59 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 70.2 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 6.21 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.01% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

Nationality: noun: Saudi(s) adjective: Saudi or Saudi Arabian

Ethnic groups: Arab 90%, Afro-Asian 10%

Religions: Muslim 100%

Languages: Arabic

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 78% male: 84.2% female: 69.5% (2002 est.)

Government Saudi Arabia

Country name: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia conventional short form: short form: Al Arabiyah as Suudiyah

Government type: monarchy

Capital: Riyadh

Administrative divisions: 13 provinces (mintaqat, singular - mintaqah); Al Bahah, Al Hudud ash Shamaliyah, Al Jawf, Al Madinah, Al Qasim, Ar Riyad, Ash Sharqiyah (Eastern Province), 'Asir, Ha'il, Jizan, Makkah, Najran, Tabuk

Independence: 23 September 1932 (Unification of the Kingdom)

National holiday: Unification of the Kingdom, 23 September (1932)

Constitution: governed according to Shari'a (Islamic law); the Basic Law that articulates the government's rights and responsibilities was introduced in 1993

Legal system: based on Islamic law, several secular codes have been introduced; commercial disputes handled by special committees; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: none

Executive branch: chief of state: King and Prime Minister FAHD bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (since 13 June 1982); Crown Prince and First Deputy Prime Minister ABDALLAH bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (half-brother to the monarch, heir to the throne since 13 June 1982, regent from 1 January to 22 February 1996); note - the monarch is both the chief of state and head of government elections: none; the monarch is hereditary head of government: King and Prime Minister FAHD bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (since 13 June 1982); Crown Prince and First Deputy Prime Minister ABDALLAH bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (half-brother to the monarch, heir to the throne since 13 June 1982, regent from 1 January to 22 February 1996); note - the monarch is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers is appointed by the monarch and includes many royal family members

Legislative branch: a consultative council (90 members and a chairman appointed by the monarch for four-year terms)

Judicial branch: Supreme Council of Justice

Political parties and leaders: none allowed

Political pressure groups and leaders: none

International organization participation: ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, BIS, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-19, G-77, GCC, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador BANDAR bin Sultan bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud chancery: 601 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 consulate(s) general: Houston, Los Angeles, and New York telephone: [1] (202) 342-3800

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Robert W. JORDAN (since 3 October 2001) Collector Road M, Diplomatic Quarter, Riyadh mailing address: [966] (1) 488-3800 FAX: Flag description: green with large white Arabic script (that may be translated as There is no God but God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God) above a white horizontal saber (the tip points to the hoist side); green is the traditional color of Islam

Economy Saudi Arabia

Economy - overview: This is an oil-based economy with strong government controls over major economic activities. Saudi Arabia has the largest reserves of petroleum in the world (26% of the proved reserves), ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading role in OPEC. The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 75% of budget revenues, 45% of GDP, and 90% of export earnings. About 25% of GDP comes from the private sector. Roughly 4 million foreign workers play an important role in the Saudi economy, for example, in the oil and service sectors. Riyadh expects to have a budget deficit in 2002, in part because of increased spending for education and other social programs. The government in 1999 announced plans to begin privatizing the electricity companies, which follows the ongoing privatization of the telecommunications company. The government is expected to continue calling for private sector growth to lessen the kingdom's dependence on oil and increase employment opportunities for the swelling Saudi population. Shortages of water and rapid population growth will constrain government efforts to increase self-sufficiency in agricultural products.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $241 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1.6% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $10,600 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 7% industry: 48% services: 45% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.7% (2001)

Labor force: 7 million note: 35% of the population in the 15-64 age group is non-national (July 1998 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 12%, industry 25%, services 63% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues: $42 billion expenditures: $54 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2002 est.)

Industries: crude oil production, petroleum refining, basic petrochemicals, cement, construction, fertilizer, plastics

Industrial production growth rate: 1% (1997 est.)

Electricity - production: 123.5 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 114.855 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: wheat, barley, tomatoes, melons, dates, citrus; mutton, chickens, eggs, milk

Exports: $66.9 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Exports - commodities: petroleum and petroleum products 90%

Exports - partners: US 17.4%, Japan 17.3%, South Korea 11.7%, Singapore 5.3%, India (2000)

Imports: $29.7 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, motor vehicles, textiles

Imports - partners: US 21.1%, Japan 9.4%, Germany 7.4%, UK 7.3% (2000)

Debt - external: $23.8 billion (2001 est.)

Economic aid - donor: pledged $100 million in 1993 to fund reconstruction of Lebanon; since 1993, Saudi Arabia has committed $208 million for assistance to the Palestinians; pledged $240 million to development in Afghanistan

Currency: Saudi riyal (SAR)

Currency code: SAR

Exchange rates: Saudi riyals per US dollar - 3.7450 (fixed rate since June 1986)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Saudi Arabia

Telephones - main lines in use: 3.1 million (1998)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 1 million note: in 1998, the government contracted for the installation of 575,000 additional Group Speciale Mobile (GSM) cellular telephone lines over 15 months to raise the total number of subscribers to more than one million; Riyadh planned to further expand the GSM system in 1999 by adding an additional one million lines (1998)

Telephone system: general assessment: modern system domestic: extensive microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, and fiber-optic cable systems international: Sudan; coaxial cable to Kuwait and Jordan; submarine cable to Djibouti, Egypt and Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (3 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean), 1 Arabsat, and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean region)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 43, FM 31, shortwave 2 (1998)

Radios: 6.25 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 117 (1997)

Televisions: 5.1 million (1997)

Internet country code: .sa

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 42 (2001)

Internet users: 570,000 (2001)

Transportation Saudi Arabia

Railways: total: 1,392 km standard gauge: 1,392 km 1.435-m gauge (724 km are double-tracked) (2001)

Highways: total: 146,524 km paved: 44,104 km unpaved: 102,420 km (1997 est.)

Waterways: none

Pipelines: crude oil 6,400 km; petroleum products 150 km; natural gas 2,200 km (includes natural gas liquids 1,600 km)

Ports and harbors: Ad Dammam, Al Jubayl, Duba, Jiddah, Jizan, Rabigh, Ra's al Khafji, Mishab, Ras Tanura, Yanbu' al Bahr, Madinat Yanbu' al Sinaiyah

Merchant marine: total: 71 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,071,315 GRT/1,412,125 DWT ships by type: cargo 11, chemical tanker 10, container 4, livestock carrier 3, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 20, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 11, short-sea passenger 8 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Egypt 3, Finland 1, Greece 3, Kuwait 1, Sudan 1, United Arab Emirates 1, United Kingdom 3 (2002 est.)

Airports: 209 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: 12 11 914 to 1,523 m: Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 138 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 79 under 914 m: 15 (2001) 914 to 1,523 m: 39

Heliports: 5 (2001)

Military Saudi Arabia

Military branches: Land Force (Army), Navy, Air Force, Air Defense Force, National Guard, Ministry of Interior Forces (paramilitary)

Military manpower - military age: 17 years of age (2002 est.)

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 6,007,635 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 3,359,849 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 233,402 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $18.3 billion (FY00)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 13% (FY00)

Transnational Issues Saudi Arabia

Disputes - international: demarcation of delimited boundary with Yemen involves nomadic tribal affiliations; because details of 1974 and 1977 treaties have not been made public, the exact location of the Saudi Arabia-UAE boundary is unknown and status is considered de facto

Illicit drugs: death penalty for traffickers; increasing consumption of heroin and cocaine

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Introduction Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Background: First settled by the French in the early 17th century, the islands represent the sole remaining vestige of France's once vast North American possessions.

Geography Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Location: Northern North America, islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, south of Newfoundland (Canada)

Geographic coordinates: 46 50 N, 56 20 W

Map references: North America

Area: total: 242 sq km note: includes eight small islands in the Saint Pierre and the Miquelon groups water: 0 sq km land: 242 sq km

Area - comparative: 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 120 km

Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: cold and wet, with much mist and fog; spring and autumn are windy

Terrain: mostly barren rock

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Morne de la Grande Montagne 240 m

Natural resources: fish, deepwater ports

Land use: arable land: 13% permanent crops: 0% other: 87% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: persistent fog throughout the year can be a maritime hazard

Environment - current issues: recent test drilling for oil in waters around Saint Pierre and Miquelon may bring future development that would impact the environment

Geography - note: vegetation scanty

People Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Population: 6,954 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 25.4% (male 904; female 864) 15-64 years: 64.4% (male 2,288; female 2,193) 65 years and over: 10.2% (male 303; female 402) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.35% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 14.96 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 6.61 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 8.18 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 80.32 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 2.1 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA%

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

Nationality: noun: Frenchman(men), Frenchwoman(women) adjective: French

Ethnic groups: Basques and Bretons (French fishermen)

Religions: Roman Catholic 99%

Languages: French

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (1982 est.)

Government Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Country name: conventional long form: Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon conventional short form: Saint Pierre and Miquelon local short form: Saint-Pierre et Miquelon local long form: Departement de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon

Dependency status: self-governing territorial collectivity of France

Government type: NA

Capital: Saint-Pierre

Administrative divisions: none (territorial collectivity of France); note - there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are two communes - Saint Pierre, Miquelon at the second order

Independence: none (territorial collectivity of France; has been under French control since 1763)

National holiday: Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)

Constitution: 28 September 1958 (French Constitution)

Legal system: French law with special adaptations for local conditions, such as housing and taxation

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Jean-Francois TALLON (since NA) elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held, first round - 21 April 2002, second round - 5 May 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; president of the General Council is elected by the members of the council head of government: President of the General Council Marc PLANTAGENEST (since NA) cabinet: NA

Legislative branch: unicameral General Council or Conseil General (19 seats - 15 from Saint Pierre and 4 from Miquelon; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) elections: elections last held 19 and 26 Marach 2000 (next to be held NA April 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PS 12, PRG 2, UDF-RPR 5 note: Saint Pierre and Miquelon elect 1 seat to the French Senate; elections last held NA September 1995 (next to be held NA September 2004); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RPR 1; Saint Pierre and Miquelon also elects 1 seat to the French National Assembly; elections last held, first round - 9 June 2002, second round - 16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UDF 1

Judicial branch: Superior Tribunal of Appeals or Tribunal Superieur d'Appel

Political parties and leaders: PRG [leader NA]; Rassemblement pour la Republique or RPR [leader NA]; Socialist Party or PS [leader NA]; Union pour la Democratie Francaise or UDF [leader NA]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: FZ, WFTU

Diplomatic representation in the US: none (territorial collectivity of France)

Diplomatic representation from the US: none (territorial collectivity of France)

Flag description: a yellow sailing ship facing the hoist side rides on a dark blue background with a black wave line under the ship; on the hoist side, a vertical band is divided into three parts: the top part is red with a green diagonal cross extending to the corners overlaid by a white cross dividing the square into four sections; the middle part has a white background with an ermine pattern; the third part has a red background with two stylized yellow lions outlined in black, one on top of the other; the flag of France is used for official occasions

Economy Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Economy - overview: The inhabitants have traditionally earned their livelihood by fishing and by servicing fishing fleets operating off the coast of Newfoundland. The economy has been declining, however, because of disputes with Canada over fishing quotas and a steady decline in the number of ships stopping at Saint Pierre. In 1992, an arbitration panel awarded the islands an exclusive economic zone of 12,348 sq km to settle a longstanding territorial dispute with Canada, although it represents only 25% of what France had sought. The islands are heavily subsidized by France to the great betterment of living standards. The government hopes an expansion of tourism will boost economic prospects. Recent test drilling for oil may pave the way for development of the energy sector.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $74 million (1996 est.); supplemented by annual payments from France of about $60 million

GDP - real growth rate: NA%

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $11,000 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.1% (1991-96 average)

Labor force: 3,000 (1997)

Labor force - by occupation: fishing 18%, industry (mainly fish-processing) 41%, services 41% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate: 9.8% (1997)

Budget: revenues: $70 million expenditures: $60 million, including capital expenditures of $24 million (1996 est.)

Industries: fish processing and supply base for fishing fleets; tourism

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 41 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 38.13 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: vegetables; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish

Exports: $12 million (f.o.b., 1999)

Exports - commodities: fish and fish products, soybeans, animal feed, mollusks and crustaceans, fox and mink pelts

Exports - partners: US 43%, Egypt 14%, Japan 11%, Colombia 8% (1999)

Imports: $55 million (f.o.b., 1999)

Imports - commodities: meat, clothing, fuel, electrical equipment, machinery, building materials

Imports - partners: France 44%, Canada 40% (1999)

Debt - external: $NA

Economic aid - recipient: approximately $60 million in annual grants from France

Currency: euro (EUR); French franc (FRF)

Currency code: EUR; FRF

Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 1.06594 (January 2001), 1.08540 (2000), 0.93863 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Telephones - main lines in use: 4,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 0 (1994)

Telephone system: general assessment: adequate domestic: NA international: radiotelephone communication with most countries in the world; 1 earth station in French domestic satellite system

Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios: 4,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 0 (there are, however, two repeaters which rebroadcast programs from France, Canada, and the US) (1997)

Televisions: 4,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .pm

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)

Internet users: NA

Transportation Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Railways: 0 km

Highways: total: 114 km paved: 69 km unpaved: 45 km (1994 est.)

Waterways: none

Ports and harbors: Saint Pierre

Merchant marine: none (2002 est.)

Airports: 2 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2001)

Military Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Military - note: defense is the responsibility of France

Transnational Issues Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Disputes - international: none

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Saint Kitts and Nevis

Introduction Saint Kitts and Nevis

Background: First settled by the British in 1623, the islands became an associated state with full internal autonomy in 1967. The island of Anguilla rebelled and was allowed to secede in 1971. Saint Kitts and Nevis achieved independence in 1983. In 1998, a vote in Nevis on a referendum to separate from Saint Kitts fell short of the two-thirds majority needed.

Geography Saint Kitts and Nevis

Location: Caribbean, islands in the Caribbean Sea, about one-third of the way from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago

Geographic coordinates: 17 20 N, 62 45 W

Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

Area: total: 261 sq km (Saint Kitts 168 sq km; Nevis 93 sq km) water: 0 sq km land: 261 sq km

Area - comparative: 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 135 km

Maritime claims: 200 NM territorial sea: Climate: tropical tempered by constant sea breezes; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November)

Terrain: volcanic with mountainous interiors

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Liamuiga 1,156 m

Natural resources: arable land

Land use: arable land: 17% permanent crops: 3% other: 80% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: hurricanes (July to October)

Environment - current issues: NA

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: with coastlines in the shape of a baseball bat and ball, the two volcanic islands are separated by a three-km-wide channel called The Narrows; on the southern tip of long, baseball bat-shaped Saint Kitts lies the Great Salt Pond; Nevis Peak sits in the center of its almost circular namesake island and its ball shape complements that of its sister island

People Saint Kitts and Nevis

Population: 38,736 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 29.4% (male 5,827; female 5,571) 15-64 years: 61.9% (male 11,980; female 12,005) 65 years and over: 8.7% (male 1,383; female 1,970) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.01% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 18.61 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 9.04 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -9.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 15.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 74.26 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 2.39 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA%

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

Nationality: noun: Kittitian(s), Nevisian(s) adjective: Kittitian, Nevisian

Ethnic groups: predominantly black some British, Portuguese, and Lebanese

Religions: Anglican, other Protestant, Roman Catholic

Languages: English

Literacy: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: Government Saint Kitts and Nevis

Country name: conventional long form: Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis conventional short form: Saint Kitts and Nevis former: Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis

Government type: constitutional monarchy with Westminster-style parliament

Capital: Basseterre

Administrative divisions: 14 parishes; Christ Church Nichola Town, Saint Anne Sandy Point, Saint George Basseterre, Saint George Gingerland, Saint James Windward, Saint John Capesterre, Saint John Figtree, Saint Mary Cayon, Saint Paul Capesterre, Saint Paul Charlestown, Saint Peter Basseterre, Saint Thomas Lowland, Saint Thomas Middle Island, Trinity Palmetto Point

Independence: 19 September 1983 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 19 September (1983)

Constitution: 19 September 1983

Legal system: based on English common law

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Cuthbert Montraville SEBASTIAN (since 1 January 1996) elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the governor general is appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general in consultation with the prime minister head of government: Minister Sam CONDOR (since 6 July 1995)

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (14 seats, 3 appointed and 11 popularly elected from single-member constituencies; members serve five-year terms) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - SKNLP 8, CCM 2, NRP 1 elections: last held 6 March 2000 (next to be held by July 2005)

Judicial branch: Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (based on Saint Lucia; one judge of the Supreme Court resides in Saint Kitts and Nevis)

Political parties and leaders: Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Vance AMORY]; Nevis Reformation Party or NRP [Joseph PARRY]; People's Action Movement or PAM [Lindsey GRANT]; Saint Kitts and Nevis Labor Party or SKNLP [Dr. Denzil DOUGLAS]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US: Ambassador Dr. Izben Cordinal WILLIAMS chancery: 686-2636 FAX: [1] (202) 686-5740

Diplomatic representation from the US: the US does not have an embassy in Saint Kitts and Nevis; the US Ambassador in Barbados is accredited to Saint Kitts and Nevis

Flag description: divided diagonally from the lower hoist side by a broad black band bearing two white, five-pointed stars; the black band is edged in yellow; the upper triangle is green, the lower triangle is red

Economy Saint Kitts and Nevis

Economy - overview: Sugar was the traditional mainstay of the St. Kitts economy until the 1970s. Although the crop still dominates the agricultural sector, activities such as tourism, export-oriented manufacturing, and offshore banking have assumed larger roles in the economy. As tourism revenues are now the chief source of the islands' foreign exchange, a decline in stopover tourist arrivals following the September 11 terrorist attacks has eroded government finances. The government revised estimates of 2001 growth down to 1% and faces dim recovery prospects in 2002, given the depressed state of the tourism industry, low sugar prices, and a growing budget deficit.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $339 million (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,700 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 3.5% industry: 25.8% services: 70.7% (2001)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.7% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 18,172 (June 1995)

Labor force - by occupation: NA

Unemployment rate: 4.5% (1997)

Budget: revenues: $85.7 million expenditures: $95.6 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

Industries: sugar processing, tourism, cotton, salt, copra, clothing, footwear, beverages

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 95 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 88.35 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: sugarcane, rice, yams, vegetables, bananas; fish

Exports: $51.7 million (2000 est.)

Exports - commodities: machinery, food, electronics, beverages, tobacco

Exports - partners: US 68.5%, UK 22.3%, Caricom countries 5.5% (1995 est.)

Imports: $141.3 million (2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery, manufactures, food, fuels

Imports - partners: US 42.4%, Caricom countries 17.2%, UK 11.3% (1995 est.)

Debt - external: $140 million (2000)

Economic aid - recipient: $5.5 million (1995)

Currency: East Caribbean dollar (XCD)

Currency code: XCD

Exchange rates: East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7000 (fixed rate since 1976)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Saint Kitts and Nevis

Telephones - main lines in use: 17,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 205 (1997)

Telephone system: general assessment: good interisland and international connections domestic: interisland links to Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Martin (Guadeloupe and Netherlands Antilles) are handled by VHF/UHF/SHF radiotelephone international: international calls are carried by radiotelephone to Antigua and Barbuda and switched there to submarine cable or to Intelsat; or carried to Saint Martin (Guadeloupe and Netherlands Antilles) by radiotelephone and switched to Intelsat

Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios: 28,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 1 (plus three repeaters) (1997)

Televisions: 10,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .kn

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 16 (2000)

Internet users: 2,000 (2000)

Transportation Saint Kitts and Nevis

Railways: total: 58 km narrow gauge: 58 km 0.762-m gauge on Saint Kitts to serve sugarcane plantations (2002)

Highways: total: 320 km paved: 136 km unpaved: 184 km (2000)

Waterways: none

Ports and harbors: Basseterre, Charlestown

Merchant marine: none (2002 est.)

Airports: 2 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2001)

Military Saint Kitts and Nevis

Military branches: Saint Kitts and Nevis Defense Force (including Coast Guard), Royal Saint Kitts and Nevis Police Force (including Special Service Unit)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: NA%

Transnational Issues Saint Kitts and Nevis

Disputes - international: none

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Seychelles

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Introduction

Seychelles

Background: A lengthy struggle between France and Great Britain for the islands ended in 1814, when they were ceded to the latter. Independence came in 1976. Socialist rule was brought to a close with a new constitution and free elections in 1993.

Geography Seychelles

Location: Eastern Africa, group of islands in the Indian Ocean, northeast of Madagascar

Geographic coordinates: 4 35 S, 55 40 E

Map references: Africa

Area: total: 455 sq km water: 0 sq km land: 455 sq km

Area - comparative: 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 491 km

Maritime claims: 12 NM exclusive economic zone: 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

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Morne Seychellois 905 m

Natural resources: fish, copra, cinnamon trees

Land use: arable land: 2% permanent crops: 13% other: 85% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: lies outside the cyclone belt, so severe storms are rare; short droughts possible

Environment - current issues: water supply depends on catchments to collect rainwater

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: Geography - note: 40 granitic and about 50 coralline islands

People Seychelles

Population: 80,098 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 27.8% (male 11,238; female 11,002) 15-64 years: 66% (male 25,763; female 27,086) 65 years and over: 6.2% (male 1,667; female 3,342) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.47% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 17.27 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 6.57 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -5.99 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.5 male(s)/female total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 16.86 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 76.63 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 1.81 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA%

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

Nationality: noun: Seychellois (singular and plural) adjective: Seychellois

Ethnic groups: mixed French, African, Indian, Chinese, and Arab

Religions: Roman Catholic 86.6%, Anglican 6.8%, other Christian 2.5%, other 4.1%

Languages: English (official), French (official), Creole

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 58% male: 56% female: 60% (1971 est.)

Government Seychelles

Country name: Republic of Seychelles conventional short form: Government type: republic

Capital: Victoria

Administrative divisions: 23 administrative districts; Anse aux Pins, Anse Boileau, Anse Etoile, Anse Louis, Anse Royale, Baie Lazare, Baie Sainte Anne, Beau Vallon, Bel Air, Bel Ombre, Cascade, Glacis, Grand' Anse (on Mahe), Grand' Anse (on Praslin), La Digue, La Riviere Anglaise, Mont Buxton, Mont Fleuri, Plaisance, Pointe La Rue, Port Glaud, Saint Louis, Takamaka

Independence: 29 June 1976 (from UK)

National holiday: Constitution Day (National Day), 18 June (1993)

Constitution: 18 June 1993

Legal system: based on English common law, French civil law, and customary law

Suffrage: 17 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President France Albert RENE (since 5 June 1977); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 31 August-2 September 2001 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: France Albert RENE reelected president; percent of vote - France Albert RENE (SPPF) 54.19%, Wavel RAMKALAWAN (UO) 44.95%, Philippe BOULLE 0.86%; note - the first time that presidential elections have been held separately from legislative elections cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president head of government: President France Albert RENE (since 5 June 1977); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (34 seats - 25 elected by popular vote, 9 allocated on a proportional basis to parties winning at least 10 % of the vote; members serve five-year terms) elections: percent of vote by party - SPPF 61.7%, UO 26.1%, DP 12.1%; seats by party - SPPF 30, UO 3, DP 1 note: the 9 awarded seats are apportioned according to the percentage that each party won of the total vote

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal; Supreme Court; judges for both courts are appointed by the president

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party or DP [James MANCHAM]; Seychelles National Party or SNP (formerly the United Opposition or UO) [Wavel RAMKALAWAN]; Seychelles People's Progressive Front or SPPF [France Albert RENE] - the governing party

Political pressure groups and leaders: Roman Catholic Church; trade unions

International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Claude Sylvestre MOREL chancery: 800 Second [1] (212) 972-1786 telephone: Diplomatic representation from the US: the US does not have an embassy in Seychelles; the ambassador to Mauritius is accredited to the Seychelles

Flag description: five oblique bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, red, white, and green (bottom) radiating from the bottom of the hoist side

Economy Seychelles

Economy - overview: Since independence in 1976, per capita output in this Indian Ocean archipelago has expanded to roughly seven times the old near-subsistence level. Growth has been led by the tourist sector, which employs about 30% of the labor force and provides more than 70% of hard currency earnings, and by tuna fishing. 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 dependence on tourism by promoting the development of farming, fishing, and small-scale manufacturing. The vulnerability of the tourist sector was illustrated by the sharp drop in 1991-92 due largely to the Gulf war and once again following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the US. Other issues facing the government are the curbing of the budget deficit, including the containment of social welfare costs, and further privatization of public enterprises. Growth slowed in 1998-2001, due to sluggish tourist and tuna sectors. Also, tight controls on exchange rates and the scarcity of foreign exchange have impaired short-term economic prospects. The black market value of the Seychelles rupee is half the official exchange rate; without a devaluation of the currency the tourist sector should remain sluggish as vacationers seek cheaper destinations such as Comoros, Mauritius, and Madagascar.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $605 million (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1.5% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $7,600 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 3.1% industry: 26.3% services: 70.6% (1999)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.1% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 30,900 (1996)

Labor force - by occupation: industry 19%, services 71%, agriculture 10% (1989)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues: $249 million expenditures: $262 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998 est.)

Industries: fishing; tourism; processing of coconuts and vanilla, coir (coconut fiber) rope, boat building, printing, furniture; beverages

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 160 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 148.8 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: coconuts, cinnamon, vanilla, sweet potatoes, cassava (tapioca), bananas; broiler chickens; tuna fish

Exports: $182.6 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Exports - commodities: canned tuna, cinnamon bark, copra, petroleum products (reexports)

Exports - partners: UK 48.1%, Italy 23.1%, France 14.8%, Netherlands 2.7% (1999)

Imports: $360.2 million (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals

Imports - partners: Italy 13.3%, South Africa 10.7%, France 9.9%, UK 8.0%, Singapore 7.7% (1999)

Debt - external: $240 million (1999 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $16.4 million (1995)

Currency: Seychelles rupee (SCR)

Currency code: SCR

Exchange rates: Seychelles rupees per US dollar - 5.7458 (January 2002), 5.8575 (2001), 5.7138 (2000), 5.3426 (1999), 5.2622 (1998), 5.0263 (1997)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Seychelles

Telephones - main lines in use: 19,635 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 16,316 (1999)

Telephone system: general assessment: effective system domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands in the archipelago international: direct radiotelephone communications with adjacent island countries and African coastal countries; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 2 (1998)

Radios: 42,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 2 (plus 9 repeaters) (1997)

Televisions: 11,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .sc

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)

Internet users: 6,000 (2001)

Transportation Seychelles

Railways: 0 km

Highways: total: 280 km paved: 176 km unpaved: 104 km (1997)

Waterways: none

Ports and harbors: Victoria

Merchant marine: total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 7,086 GRT/10,192 DWT ships by type: cargo 2 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: South Africa 2 (2002 est.)

Airports: 14 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 4 (2001)

Military Seychelles

Military branches: Army, Coast Guard (includes Air Wing), Presidential Protection Unit (includes Presidential Guard), Police Force (includes Police Mobile Unit, a special weapons and tactics unit capable of assisting the Army in maintaining internal stability)

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 23,210 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 11,554 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $11 million (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.8% (FY01)

Transnational Issues Seychelles

Disputes - international: claims the Chagos Archipelago (UK-administered British Indian Ocean Territory)

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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South Africa

Introduction South Africa

Background: After the British seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British encroachments, but were defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902). The resulting Union of South Africa operated under a policy of apartheid - the separate development of the races. The 1990s brought an end to apartheid politically and ushered in black majority rule.

Geography South Africa

Location: Southern Africa, at the southern tip of the continent of Africa

Geographic coordinates: 29 00 S, 24 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area: total: 1,219,912 sq km land: 1,219,912 sq km note: includes Prince Edward Islands (Marion Island and Prince Edward Island) water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Land boundaries: total: 4,862 km border countries: Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 967 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km

Coastline: 2,798 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 NM territorial sea: 12 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

Climate: mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights

Terrain: vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Njesuthi 3,408 m

Natural resources: gold, chromium, antimony, coal, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gem diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt, natural gas

Land use: arable land: 12% permanent crops: 1% other: 87% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 13,500 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: prolonged droughts

Environment - current issues: lack of important arterial rivers or lakes requires extensive water conservation and control measures; growth in water usage outpacing supply; pollution of rivers from agricultural runoff and urban discharge; air pollution resulting in acid rain; soil erosion; desertification

Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: South Africa completely surrounds Lesotho and almost completely surrounds Swaziland

People South Africa

Population: 43,647,658 note: South Africa took a census October 1996 that showed a population of 40,583,611 (after an official adjustment for a 6.8% underenumeration based on a postenumeration survey); estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 31.6% (male 6,943,761; female 6,849,745) 15-64 years: 63.4% (male 13,377,011; female 14,300,850) 65 years and over: 5% (male 816,222; female 1,360,069) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.02% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 20.63 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 18.86 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.56 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 61.78 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 45.68 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 2.38 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 19.94% (2000 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 5.2 million (2000 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 300,000 (2000 est.)

Nationality: noun: South African(s) adjective: South African

Ethnic groups: black 75.2%, white 13.6%, Colored 8.6%, Indian 2.6%

Religions: Christian 68% (includes most whites and Coloreds, about 60% of blacks and about 40% of Indians), Muslim 2%, Hindu 1.5% (60% of Indians), indigenous beliefs and animist 28.5%

Languages: 11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 85% male: 86% female: 85% (2000 est.)

Government South Africa

Country name: Republic of South Africa conventional short form: Government type: republic

Capital: Pretoria; note - Cape Town is the legislative center and Bloemfontein the judicial center

Administrative divisions: 9 provinces; Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North-West, Northern Cape, Northern Province (may have become Limpopo), Western Cape

Independence: 31 May 1910 (from UK)

National holiday: Freedom Day, 27 April (1994)

Constitution: 10 December 1996; this new constitution was certified by the Constitutional Court on 4 December 1996, was signed by then President MANDELA on 10 December 1996, and entered into effect on 3 February 1997; it is being implemented in phases

Legal system: based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Thabo MBEKI (since 16 June 1999); Executive Deputy President Jacob ZUMA (since 17 June 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term; election last held 2 June 1999 (next scheduled for sometime between May and July 2004) head of government: President Thabo MBEKI (since 16 June 1999); Executive Deputy President Jacob ZUMA (since 17 June 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: president; percent of National Assembly vote - 100% (by acclamation) note: ANC-IFP is the governing coalition

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consisting of the National Assembly (400 seats; members are elected by popular vote under a system of proportional representation to serve five-year terms) and the National Council of Provinces (90 seats, 10 members elected by each of the nine provincial legislatures for five-year terms; has special powers to protect regional interests, including the safeguarding of cultural and linguistic traditions among ethnic minorities); note - following the implementation of the new constitution on 3 February 1997 the former Senate was disbanded and replaced by the National Council of Provinces with essentially no change in membership and party affiliations, although the new institution's responsibilities have been changed somewhat by the new constitution elections: National Assembly and National Council of Provinces - last held 2 June 1999 (next to be held by 2 August 2004) election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - ANC 66.4%, DP 9.6%, IFP 8.6%, NP 6.9%, UDM 3.4%, ACDP 1.4%, FF 0.8%, other 2.9%; seats by party - ANC 266, DP 38, IFP 34, NP 28, UDM 14, ACDP 6, FF 3, other 11; National Council of Provinces - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ANC 61, NP 17, FF 4, IFP 5, DP 3

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court; Supreme Court of Appeals; High Courts; Magistrate Courts

Political parties and leaders: African Christian Democratic Party or ACDP [Kenneth MESHOE, president]; African National Congress or ANC [Thabo MBEKI, president]; Democratic Alliance (formed from the merger of the Democratic Party or DP and the New National Party or NP; note - NP split from DP in 2001) [Anthony LEON]; Freedom Front or FF [Dr. Pieter MULDER, president]; Inkatha Freedom Party or IFP [Mangosuthu BUTHELEZI, president]; New National Party or NP [Marthinus VAN SCHALKWYK]; Pan-Africanist Congress or PAC [Stanley MOGOBA, president]; United Democratic Movement or UDM [Bantu HOLOMISA]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Congress of South African Trade Unions or COSATU [Zwelinzima VAVI, general secretary]; South African Communist Party or SACP [Blade NZIMANDE, general secretary]; South African National Civics Organization or SANCO [Mlungisi HLONGWANE, national president]; note - COSATU and SACP are in a formal alliance with the ANC

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, BIS, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM, NSG, OAU, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: Ambassador Makate Sheila SISULU consulate(s) general: [1] (202) 232-4400 chancery: 3051 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Cameron H. HUME embassy: 877 Pretorius P. O. Box 9536, Pretoria 0001 telephone: Town, Durban, Johannesburg

Flag description: two equal width horizontal bands of red (top) and blue separated by a central green band which splits into a horizontal Y, the arms of which end at the corners of the hoist side; the Y embraces a black isosceles triangle from which the arms are separated by narrow yellow bands; the red and blue bands are separated from the green band and its arms by narrow white stripes note: prior to 26 April 1994, the flag was actually four flags in one - three miniature flags reproduced in the center of the white band of the former flag of the Netherlands, which had three equal horizontal bands of orange (top), white, and blue; the miniature flags were 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 South Africa

Economy - overview: South Africa is a middle-income, developing country with an abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region. However, growth has not been strong enough to cut into high unemployment, and daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era, especially the problems of poverty and lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups. Other problems are crime, corruption, and HIV/AIDS. At the start of 2000, President MBEKI vowed to promote economic growth and foreign investment, and to reduce poverty by relaxing restrictive labor laws, stepping up the pace of privatization, and cutting unneeded governmental spending. The economy slowed in 2001, largely the result of the slowing of the international economy.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $412 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.6% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $9,400 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 3% industry: 31% services: 66% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line: 50% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.1% highest 10%: 45.9% (1994)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 59.3 (1993-94)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.8% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 17 million economically active (2000)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: 37% (2001 est.)

Budget: revenues: $22.6 billion expenditures: $24.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA billion (FY02/03)

Industries: mining (world's largest producer of platinum, gold, chromium), automobile assembly, metalworking, machinery, textile, iron and steel, chemicals, fertilizer, foodstuffs

Industrial production growth rate: 7% (2001 est.)

Electricity - production: 194.383 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 92.62% hydro: 0.69% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 6.69%

Electricity - consumption: 181.521 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 4.549 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 5.294 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: corn, wheat, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; beef, poultry, mutton, wool, dairy products

Exports: $32.3 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

Exports - commodities: gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment

Exports - partners: EU 33%, US 20%, Japan 6%, Mozambique 2.5% (2001 est.)

Imports: $28.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery, foodstuffs and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments

Imports - partners: EU 41%, US 11.4%, Saudi Arabia 7.3%, Japan 7% (2001 est.)

Debt - external: $25.5 billion (2001 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $539 million (1999)

Currency: rand (ZAR)

Currency code: ZAR

Exchange rates: rand per US dollar - 11.58786 (January 2002), 8.60918 (2001), 6.93983 (2000), 6.10948 (1999), 5.52828 (1998), 4.60796 (1997)

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Communications South Africa

Telephones - main lines in use: more than 5 million (2001)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 7.06 million (2001)

Telephone system: general assessment: the system is the best developed and most modern in Africa domestic: consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay links, fiber-optic cable, radiotelephone communication stations, and wireless local loops; key centers are Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, and Pretoria international: 2 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 14, FM 347 (plus 243 repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998)

Radios: 17 million (2001)

Television broadcast stations: 556 (plus 144 network repeaters) (1997)

Televisions: 6 million (2000)

Internet country code: .za

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 150 (2001)

Internet users: 2.4 million (2001)

Transportation South Africa

Railways: total: 20,384 km narrow gauge: 20,070 km 1.067-m gauge (9,090 km electrified); 314 km 0.610-m gauge note: in addition, South Africa has an electrified 1.065-m gauge commuter rail system, with a total length of 1,254 km, which serves Johannesburg-Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, East London, and Port Elizabeth (2001)

Highways: total: 358,596 km paved: 59,753 km (including 1,927 km of expressways) unpaved: 298,843 km (1996)

Waterways: NA

Pipelines: crude oil 931 km; petroleum products 1,748 km; natural gas 322 km

Ports and harbors: Cape Town, Durban, East London, Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha

Merchant marine: total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 271,650 GRT/268,604 DWT note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag Denmark 3, Netherlands 1 (2002 est.) ships by type: Airports: 740 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 144 over 3,047 m: 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 47 914 to 1,523 m: 72 under 914 m: 11 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 596 1,524 to 2,437 m: 34 914 to 1,523 m: 304 under 914 m: 258 (2001)

Military South Africa

Military branches: South African National Defense Force (including Army, Navy, Air Force, and Medical Services), South African Police Service

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age (2002 est.)

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 11,557,242 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 7,031,337 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 466,399 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $1.79 billion (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.6% (FY01)

Military - note: the National Defense Force continues to integrate former military, black homelands forces, and ex-opposition forces

Transnational Issues South Africa

Disputes - international: Swaziland continues to press South Africa into ceding ethnic Swazi lands in Kangwane region of KwaZulu-Natal province, that were long ago part of the Swazi Kingdom

Illicit drugs: transshipment center for heroin, hashish, marijuana, and possibly cocaine; cocaine consumption on the rise; world's largest market for illicit methaqualone, usually imported illegally from India through various east African countries; illicit cultivation of marijuana

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Senegal

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Introduction

Senegal

Background: Independent from France in 1960, Senegal joined with The Gambia to form the nominal confederation of Senegambia in 1982. However, the envisaged integration of the two countries was never carried out, and the union was dissolved in 1989. Despite peace talks, a southern separatist group sporadically has clashed with government forces since 1982. Senegal has a long history of participating in international peacekeeping.

Geography Senegal

Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania

Geographic coordinates: 14 00 N, 14 00 W

Map references: Africa

Area: total: 196,190 sq km land: 192,000 sq km water: 4,190 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than South Dakota

Land boundaries: total: 2,640 km border countries: The Gambia 740 km, Guinea 330 km, Guinea-Bissau 338 km, Mali 419 km, Mauritania 813 km

Coastline: 531 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 NM territorial sea: 12 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

Climate: tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind

Terrain: generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed feature near Nepen Diakha 581 m

Natural resources: fish, phosphates, iron ore

Land use: arable land: 12% permanent crops: 0% other: 88% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 710 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts

Environment - current issues: wildlife populations threatened by poaching; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; overfishing

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping

Geography - note: westernmost country on the African continent; The Gambia is almost an enclave of Senegal

People Senegal

Population: 10,589,571 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 43.5% (male 2,321,789; female 2,290,105) 15-64 years: 53.4% (male 2,710,178; female 2,943,554) 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 159,445; female 164,500) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.91% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 36.99 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 8.14 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 55.41 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 64.61 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 5.03 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 1.4% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 95,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 10,000 (2001 est.)

Nationality: noun: Senegalese (singular and plural) adjective: Senegalese

Ethnic groups: Wolof 43.3%, Pular 23.8%, Serer 14.7%, Jola 3.7%, Mandinka 3%, Soninke 1.1%, European and Lebanese 1%, other 9.4%

Religions: Muslim 94%, indigenous beliefs 1%, Christian 5% (mostly Roman Catholic)

Languages: French (official), Wolof, Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 39.1% male: 51.1% female: 28.9% (2001 est.)

Government Senegal

Country name: Republic of Senegal conventional short form: Government type: republic under multiparty democratic rule

Capital: Dakar

Administrative divisions: 10 regions (regions, singular - region); Dakar, Diourbel, Fatick, Kaolack, Kolda, Louga, Saint-Louis, Tambacounda, Thies, Ziguinchor note: there may be another region called Matam

Independence: 4 April 1960 (from France); complete independence was achieved upon dissolution of federation with Mali on 20 August 1960

National holiday: Independence Day, 4 April (1960)

Constitution: a new constitution was adopted 7 January 2001

Legal system: based on French civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; the Council of State audits the government's accounting office; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Abdoulaye WADE (since 1 April 2000) head of Prime Minister Madior BOYE (since 3 March 2001) cabinet: with the president election results: Abdoulaye WADE elected president; percent of vote in the second round of voting - Abdoulaye WADE (PDS) 58.49%, Abdou DIOUF (PS) 41.51% elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term under new constitution; election last held 27 February and 19 March 2000 (next to be held 27 February 2005); prime minister appointed by the president

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (120 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - SOPI Coalition 89, AFP 11, PS 10, other 10 note: the former National Assembly, dissolved in the spring of 2001, had 140 seats

Judicial branch: Constitutional Court; Council of State; Court of Final Appeals or Cour de Cassation; Court of Appeals; note-the judicial system was reformed in 1992

Political parties and leaders: African Party for Democracy and Socialism or And Jef (also known as PADS/AJ) [Landing SAVANE, secretary general]; African Party of Independence [Majhemout DIOP]; Alliance of Forces of Progress or AFP [Moustapha NIASSE]; Democratic and Patriotic Convention or CDP (also known as Garab-Gi) [Dr. Iba Der THIAM]; Democratic League-Labor Party Movement or LD-MPT [Dr. Abdoulaye BATHILY]; Front for Socialism and Democracy or FSD [Cheikh Abdoulaye DIEYE]; Gainde Centrist Bloc or BGC [Jean-Paul DIAS]; Independence and Labor Party or PIT [Amath DANSOKHO]; National Democratic Rally or RND [Madier DIOUF]; Senegalese Democratic Party or PDS [Abdoulaye WADE]; Socialist Party or PS [Ousmane Tanor DIENG]; SOPI Coalition (a coalition led by the PDS) [Abdoulaye WADE]; Union for Democratic Renewal or URD [Djibo Leyti KA]; other small parties

Political pressure groups and leaders: labor; Muslim brotherhoods; students; teachers

International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Mamadou Mansour SECK FAX: [1] (202) 332-6315 [1] (202) 234-0540 chancery: Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Harriet L. ELAM-THOMAS embassy: Avenue Jean XXIII at the corner of Rue Kleber, Dakar mailing address: B. P. 49, Dakar telephone: [221] 823-4296, 823-7384 FAX: [221] 822-2991

Flag description: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red with a small green five-pointed star centered in the yellow band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia

Economy Senegal

Economy - overview: In January 1994, Senegal undertook a bold and ambitious economic reform program with the support of the international donor community. This reform began with a 50% devaluation of Senegal's currency, the CFA franc, which is linked at a fixed rate to the French franc. Government price controls and subsidies have been steadily dismantled. After seeing its economy contract by 2.1% in 1993, Senegal made an important turnaround, thanks to the reform program, with real growth in GDP averaging 5% annually during 1995-2001. Annual inflation had been pushed down to less than 1%, but rose to an estimated 3.3% in 2001. Investment rose steadily from 13.8% of GDP in 1993 to 16.5% in 1997. As a member of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Senegal is working toward greater regional integration with a unified external tariff. Senegal also realized full Internet connectivity in 1996, creating a miniboom in information technology-based services. Private activity now accounts for 82% of GDP. On the negative side, Senegal faces deep-seated urban problems of chronic unemployment, trade union militancy, juvenile delinquency, and drug addiction.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $16.2 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 5.7% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,580 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 18.5% industry: 20.7% services: 60.8% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line: 54% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.4% highest 10%: 42.8% (1991)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 41.3 (1995)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.3% (2001 est.)

Labor force: NA

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 70%

Unemployment rate: 48% (urban youth 40%) (2001 est.)

Budget: revenues: $1.373 billion expenditures: $1.373 billion, including capital expenditures of $357 million (2002 est.)

Industries: agricultural and fish processing, phosphate mining, fertilizer production, petroleum refining, construction materials

Industrial production growth rate: 5.2% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production: 1.32 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 1.228 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: peanuts, millet, corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, tomatoes, green vegetables; cattle, poultry, pigs; fish

Exports: $1 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Exports - commodities: fish, groundnuts (peanuts), petroleum products, phosphates, cotton

Exports - partners: France 19%, Italy 12%, Spain 6%, Cote d'Ivoire 2% (2000)

Imports: $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports - commodities: foods and beverages, consumer goods, capital goods, petroleum products

Imports - partners: France 27%, Nigeria 19%, Germany 4%, US 4%, Italy 3% (2000)

Debt - external: $3.1 billion (2002 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $362.6 million (2002 est.)

Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States

Currency code: XOF

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 742.79 (January 2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Senegal

Telephones - main lines in use: 234,916 (2001)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 373,965 (2001)

Telephone system: general assessment: good system domestic: above-average urban system; microwave radio relay, coaxial cable and fiber-optic cable in trunk system international: 4 submarine cables; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 10, FM 14, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios: 1.24 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 1 (1997)

Televisions: 361,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .sn

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 15 (2002)

Internet users: 40,000 (2001)

Transportation Senegal

Railways: total: 906 km narrow gauge: 906 km 1.000-meter gauge (70 km double-tracked) (2001)

Highways: total: 14,576 km paved: 4,271 km unpaved: 10,305 km (1996)

Waterways: 897 km note: 785 km on the Senegal river, and 112 km on the Saloum river

Ports and harbors: Dakar, Kaolack, Matam, Podor, Richard Toll, Saint-Louis, Ziguinchor

Airports: 20 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 9 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 11 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2001)

Military Senegal

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Police (Surete Nationale)

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age (2002 est.)

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 2,406,337 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 1,257,423 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 114,189 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $68.6 million (FY02)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.4% (FY02)

Transnational Issues Senegal

Disputes - international: Senegalese separatists disrupt legal border trade with smuggling, cattle rustling, and other illegal activities in Guinea-Bissau

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian heroin moving to Europe and North America; illicit cultivator of cannabis

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Saint Helena

Introduction Saint Helena

Background: Uninhabited when first discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, Saint Helena was garrisoned by the British during the 17th century. It acquired fame as the place of Napoleon BONAPARTE's exile, from 1815 until his death in 1821, but its importance as a port of call declined after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Ascension Island is the site of a US Air Force auxiliary airfield; Gough Island has a meteorological station.

Geography Saint Helena

Location: islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, about midway between South America and Africa

Geographic coordinates: 15 56 S, 5 42 W

Map references: Africa

Area: total: 410 sq km note: includes St. Helena Island, Ascension, and the island group of Tristan da Cunha, which consists of Tristan da Cunha Island, Gough Island, Inaccessible Island, and the three Nightingale Islands water: 0 sq km land: 410 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 60 km

Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: Saint Helena - tropical; marine; mild, tempered by trade winds; Tristan da Cunha - temperate; marine, mild, tempered by trade winds (tends to be cooler than Saint Helena)

Terrain: Saint Helena - rugged, volcanic; small scattered plateaus and plains note: Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Queen Mary's Peak on Tristan da Cunha 2,060 m

Natural resources: fish

Land use: arable land: 13% permanent crops: 0% other: 87% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: active volcanism on Tristan da Cunha

Environment - current issues: NA

Geography - note: harbors at least 40 species of plants unknown anywhere else in the world; Ascension is a breeding ground for sea turtles and sooty terns

People Saint Helena

Population: 7,317 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 18.8% (male 698; female 678) 15-64 years: 71.9% (male 2,727; female 2,531) 65 years and over: 9.3% (male 296; female 387) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.7% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 13.26 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 6.29 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.08 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 21.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 80.23 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 1.53 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA%

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

Nationality: noun: Saint Helenian(s) adjective: Saint Helenian

Ethnic groups: African descent 50%, white 25%, Chinese 25%

Religions: Anglican (majority), Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic

Languages: English

Literacy: definition: age 20 and over can read and write total population: 97% male: 97% female: 98% (1987 est.)

Government Saint Helena

Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: Saint Helena

Dependency status: overseas territory of the UK

Government type: NA

Capital: Jamestown

Administrative divisions: 1 administrative area and 2 dependencies*; Ascension*, Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha*

Independence: none (overseas territory of the UK)

National holiday: Birthday of Queen ELIZABETH II, second Saturday in June (1926)

Constitution: 1 January 1989

Legal system: NA

Suffrage: NA years of age

Executive branch: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) elections: of government: Governor and Commander in Chief David HOLLAMBY (since NA June 1999) cabinet: Executive Council consists of the governor, two ex officio officers, and six elected members of the Legislative Council

Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council (16 seats, including the speaker, 3 ex officio and 12 elected members; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 27 June 2001 (next to be held NA June 2005) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 15

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Magistrate's Court; Small Debts Court; Juvenile Court

Political parties and leaders: none

Political pressure groups and leaders: none

International organization participation: ICFTU

Diplomatic representation in the US: none (overseas territory of the UK)

Diplomatic representation from the US: none (overseas territory of the UK)

Flag description: blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Saint Helenian shield centered on the outer half of the flag; the shield features a rocky coastline and three-masted sailing ship

Economy Saint Helena

Economy - overview: The economy depends largely on financial assistance from the UK, which amounted to about $5 million in 1997 or almost one-half of annual budgetary revenues. The local population earns income from fishing, the raising of livestock, and sales of handicrafts. Because there are few jobs, 25% of the work force has left to seek employment on Ascension Island, on the Falklands, and in the UK.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $18 million (1998 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: NA%

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,500 (1998 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.2% (1997 est.)

Labor force: 3,500 (1998 est.) note: 1,200 work offshore

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture and fishing 6%, industry (mainly construction) 48%, services 46% (1987 est.)

Unemployment rate: 14% (1998 est.)

Budget: revenues: $11.2 million expenditures: $11 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY92)

Industries: construction, crafts (furniture, lacework, fancy woodwork), fishing

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 5 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption: 4.65 million kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: corn, potatoes, vegetables; timber; fish, crawfish (on Tristan da Cunha)

Exports: $704,000 (f.o.b., 1995)

Exports - commodities: fish (frozen, canned, and salt-dried skipjack, tuna), coffee, handicrafts

Exports - partners: South Africa, UK

Imports: $14.434 million (c.i.f., 1995)

Imports - commodities: food, beverages, tobacco, fuel oils, animal feed, building materials, motor vehicles and parts, machinery and parts

Imports - partners: UK, South Africa

Debt - external: $NA

Economic aid - recipient: $12.6 million (1995); note - $5.3 million from UK (1997)

Currency: Saint Helenian pound (SHP)

Currency code: SHP

Exchange rates: Saint Helenian pounds per US dollar - 0.6981 (January 2002), 0.6944 (2001), 0.6596 (2000), 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998), 0.6047 (1997); note - the Saint Helenian pound is at par with the British pound

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Communications Saint Helena

Telephones - main lines in use: 2,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 0 (1997)

Telephone system: general assessment: can communicate worldwide domestic: automatic network international: HF radiotelephone from Saint Helena to Ascension which is a major coaxial submarine cable relay point between South Africa, Portugal, and UK ; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios: 3,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 0 (1997)

Televisions: 2,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .sh

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)

Internet users: NA

Communications - note: Gough Island has a meteorological station

Transportation Saint Helena

Railways: 0 km

Highways: total: 158 km (Saint Helena 118 km, Ascension 40 km, Tristan da Cunha 0 km) paved: 138 km (Saint Helena 98km, Ascension 40 km, Tristan da Cunha 0 km) unpaved: 20 km (Saint Helena 20 km, Ascension 0 km, Tristan da Cunha 0 km)

Waterways: none

Ports and harbors: Georgetown (on Ascension), Jamestown

Merchant marine: none (2002 est.)

Airports: 1 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2001)

Military Saint Helena

Military - note: defense is the responsibility of the UK

Transnational Issues Saint Helena

Disputes - international: none

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Slovenia

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Introduction

Slovenia

Background: The Slovene lands were part of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria until 1918 when the Slovenes joined the Serbs and Croats in forming a new nation, renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. After World War II, Slovenia became a republic of the renewed Yugoslavia, which though Communist, distanced itself from Moscow's rule. Dissatisfied with the exercise of power of the majority Serbs, the Slovenes succeeded in establishing their independence in 1991. Historical ties to Western Europe, a strong economy, and a stable democracy make Slovenia a leading candidate for future membership in the EU and NATO.

Geography Slovenia

Location: Central Europe, eastern Alps bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Austria and Croatia

Geographic coordinates: 46 07 N, 14 49 E

Map references: Europe

Area: total: 20,273 sq km water: 122 sq km land: 20,151 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than New Jersey

Land boundaries: total: 1,334 km border countries: Austria 330 km, Croatia 670 km, Italy 232 km, Hungary 102 km

Coastline: 46.6 km

Maritime claims: NA

Climate: Mediterranean climate on the coast, continental climate with mild to hot summers and cold winters in the plateaus and valleys to the east

Terrain: a short coastal strip on the Adriatic, an alpine mountain region adjacent to Italy and Austria, mixed mountain and valleys with numerous rivers to the east

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m highest point: Triglav 2,864 m

Natural resources: lignite coal, lead, zinc, mercury, uranium, silver, hydropower, forests

Land use: arable land: 11% permanent crops: 3% other: 86% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 20 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: flooding and earthquakes

Environment - current issues: Sava River polluted with domestic and industrial waste; pollution of coastal waters with heavy metals and toxic chemicals; forest damage near Koper from air pollution (originating at metallurgical and chemical plants) and resulting acid rain

Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: despite its small size, this eastern Alpine country controls some of Europe's major transit routes

People Slovenia

Population: 1,932,917 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 15.7% (male 155,989; female 147,707) 15-64 years: 69.8% (male 684,354; female 663,884) 65 years and over: 14.5% (male 103,790; female 177,193) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.14% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 9.27 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 10.07 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 2.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 4.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 79.37 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 1.28 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.02% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 200 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Slovene(s) adjective: Slovenian

Ethnic groups: Slovene 88%, Croat 3%, Serb 2%, Bosniak 1%, Yugoslav 0.6%, Hungarian 0.4%, other 5% (1991)

Religions: Roman Catholic (Uniate 2%) 70.8%, Lutheran 1%, Muslim 1%, atheist 4.3%, other 22.9%

Languages: Slovenian 91%, Serbo-Croatian 6%, other 3%

Literacy: definition: NA total population: 99% male: NA% female: NA%

Government Slovenia

Country name: Republic of Slovenia conventional short form: Government type: parliamentary democratic republic

Capital: Ljubljana

Administrative divisions: 136 municipalities (obcine, singular - obcina) and 11 urban municipalities* (mestne obcine , singular - mestna obcina ) Ajdovscina, Beltinci, Bled, Bohinj, Borovnica, Bovec, Brda, Brezice, Brezovica, Cankova-Tisina, Celje*, Cerklje na Gorenjskem, Cerknica, Cerkno, Crensovci, Crna na Koroskem, Crnomelj, Destrnik-Trnovska Vas, Divaca, Dobrepolje, Dobrova-Horjul-Polhov Gradec, Dol pri Ljubljani, Domzale, Dornava, Dravograd, Duplek, Gorenja Vas-Poljane, Gorisnica, Gornja Radgona, Gornji Grad, Gornji Petrovci, Grosuplje, Hodos Salovci, Hrastnik, Hrpelje-Kozina, Idrija, Ig, Ilirska Bistrica, Ivancna Gorica, Izola, Jesenice, Jursinci, Kamnik, Kanal, Kidricevo, Kobarid, Kobilje, Kocevje, Komen, Koper*, Kozje, Kranj*, Kranjska Gora, Krsko, Kungota, Kuzma, Lasko, Lenart, Lendava, Litija, Ljubljana*, Ljubno, Ljutomer, Logatec, Loska Dolina, Loski Potok, Luce, Lukovica, Majsperk, Maribor*, Medvode, Menges, Metlika, Mezica, Miren-Kostanjevica, Mislinja, Moravce, Moravske Toplice, Mozirje, Murska Sobota*, Muta, Naklo, Nazarje, Nova Gorica*, Novo Mesto*, Odranci, Ormoz, Osilnica, Pesnica, Piran, Pivka, Podcetrtek, Podvelka-Ribnica, Postojna, Preddvor, Ptuj*, Puconci, Race-Fram, Radece, Radenci, Radlje ob Dravi, Radovljica, Ravne-Prevalje, Ribnica, Rogasevci, Rogaska Slatina, Rogatec, Ruse, Semic, Sencur, Sentilj, Sentjernej, Sentjur pri Celju, Sevnica, Sezana, Skocjan, Skofja Loka, Skofljica, Slovenj Gradec*, Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenske Konjice, Smarje pri Jelsah, Smartno ob Paki, Sostanj, Starse, Store, Sveti Jurij, Tolmin, Trbovlje, Trebnje, Trzic, Turnisce, Velenje*, Velike Lasce, Videm, Vipava, Vitanje, Vodice, Vojnik, Vrhnika, Vuzenica, Zagorje ob Savi, Zalec, Zavrc, Zelezniki, Ziri, Zrece note: there may be 45 more municipalities

Independence: 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia)

National holiday: Independence Day/Statehood Day, 25 June (1991)

Constitution: adopted 23 December 1991, effective 23 December 1991

Legal system: based on civil law system

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal (16 years of age, if employed)

Executive branch: chief of state: President Milan KUCAN (since 22 April 1990) head of government: Prime Minister Janez DRNOVSEK (since 15 October 2000) cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and elected by the National Assembly election results: Milan KUCAN elected president; percent of vote - Milan KUCAN 56.3%, Janez PODOBNIK 18%; Janez DRNOVSEK elected prime minister; percent of National Assembly vote - NA% elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 24 November 1997 (next to be held in the fall of 2002); following National Assembly elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually nominated to become prime minister by the president and elected by the National Assembly; election last held 15 October 2000 (next to be held NA October 2004)

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Drzavni Zbor (90 seats, 40 are directly elected and 50 are selected on a proportional basis; note - the numbers of directly elected and proportionally elected seats varies with each election; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) election results: percent of vote by party - LDS 36%, SDS 16%, ZLSD 12%, SLS/SKD 10%, NSi 9%, SMS 4%, SNS 4%, DeSUS 5%, other 4%; seats by party - LDS 34, SDS 14, ZLDS 11, SLS/SKD 9, NSi 8, SMS 4, SNS 4, DeSUS 4, other 2 note: the National Council or Drzavni Svet is an advisory body with limited legislative powers; it may propose laws and ask to review any National Assembly decisions; in the election of November 1997, 40 members were elected to represent local, professional, and socioeconomic interests (next election to be held in the fall of 2002) elections: National Assembly - last held 15 October 2000 (next to be held NA October 2004)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the Judicial Council); Constitutional Court (judges elected for nine-year terms by the National Assembly and nominated by the president)

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party of Retired (Persons) of Slovenia or DeSUS [Janko KUSAR]; Liberal Democratic or LDS [Janez DRNOVSEK, chairman]; New Slovenia or NSi [Andrej BAJUK, chairman]; Slovene National Party or SNS [Zmago JELINCIC, chairman]; Slovene People's Party or SLS (Slovenian People's Party or SLS and Slovenian Christian Democrats or SKD merged in April 2000) [Franc ZAGOZEN, chairman]; Slovene Youth Party or SMS [Peter LEVIC]; Social Democratic Party of Slovenia or SDS [Janez JANSA, chairman]; United List of Social Democrats (former Communists and allies) or ZLSD [Borut PAHOR, chairman]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: ABEDA, ACCT (observer), BIS, CCC, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (associate partner), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Davorin KRACUN FAX: [1] (202) 667-4563 consulate(s) general: New York and Cleveland telephone: [1] (202) 667-5363 chancery: 1525 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Johnny YOUNG embassy: Presernova 31, SI-1000 Ljubljana mailing address: P. O. Box 254, Presernova 31, 1000 Ljubljana; American Embassy Ljubljana, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-7140 telephone: [386] (1) 200-5500 FAX: [386] (1) 200-5555

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red, with the Slovenian seal (a shield with the image of Triglav, Slovenia's highest peak, in white against a blue background at the center; beneath it are two wavy blue lines depicting seas and rivers, and above it are three six-pointed stars arranged in an inverted triangle which are taken from the coat of arms of the Counts of Celje, the great Slovene dynastic house of the late 14th and early 15th centuries); the seal is located in the upper hoist side of the flag centered in the white and blue bands

Economy Slovenia

Economy - overview: Although Slovenia enjoys a GDP per capita substantially higher than that of the other transitioning economies of Central Europe, it needs to speed up the privatization process and the dismantling of restrictions on foreign investment. About 45% of the economy remains in state hands, and the level of foreign direct investment inflows as a percent of GDP is the lowest in the region. Despite the global slowdown in 2001, the economy turned in an excellent record on exports, which grew 5%. Inflation dropped slightly but at 8.4% remains a matter of concern.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $31 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $16,000 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4% industry: 35% services: 61% (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.9% highest 10%: 23% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 28.4 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.4% (2001 est.)

Labor force: 857,400

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%

Unemployment rate: 11.5% (2001 est.)

Budget: revenues: $8.11 billion expenditures: $8.32 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1997 est.)

Industries: ferrous metallurgy and rolling mill products, aluminum reduction and rolled products, lead and zinc smelting, electronics (including military electronics), trucks, electric power equipment, wood products, textiles, chemicals, machine tools

Industrial production growth rate: 3.3% (2001)

Electricity - production: 12.816 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 34.93% hydro: 29.42% other: 0.23% (2000) nuclear: 35.42%

Electricity - consumption: 10.619 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - exports: 2 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - imports: 700 million kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: potatoes, hops, wheat, sugar beets, corn, grapes; cattle, sheep, poultry

Exports: $9.2 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Exports - commodities: manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food

Exports - partners: Germany 27.2%, Italy 13.6%, Croatia 7.9%, Austria 7.5%, France 7.1% (2000)

Imports: $9.9 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, food

Imports - partners: Germany 19.0%, Italy 17.4%, France 10.3%, Austria 8.2%, Croatia 4.4%, Hungary, Russia (2000)

Debt - external: $6.6 billion (2001)

Economic aid - recipient: ODA, $5 million (1993)

Currency: tolar (SIT)

Currency code: SIT

Exchange rates: tolars per US dollar - 251.40 (January 2002), 242.75 (2001), 222.66 (2000), 181.77 (1999), 166.13 (1998), 159.69 (1997)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Slovenia

Telephones - main lines in use: 722,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 1 million (2000)

Telephone system: general assessment: NA domestic: 100% digital (2000) international: NA

Radio broadcast stations: AM 17, FM 160, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios: 805,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 48 (2001)

Televisions: 710,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .si

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 11 (2000)

Internet users: 600,000 (2001)

Transportation Slovenia

Railways: total: 1,201 km standard gauge: 1,201 km 1.435-m gauge (489 km electrified) (2001)

Highways: total: 19,586 km paved: 17,745 km (including 249 km of expressways) unpaved: 1,841 km (1998 est.)

Waterways: NA

Pipelines: crude oil 290 km; natural gas 305 km

Ports and harbors: Izola, Koper, Piran

Airports: 14 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 6 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 4 (2001)

Military Slovenia

Military branches: Slovenian Army (includes Air and Naval Forces)

Military manpower - military age: 19 years of age (2002 est.)

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 521,881 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 414,878 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 14,513 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $370 million (FY00)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.7% (FY00)

Transnational Issues Slovenia

Disputes - international: Slovenia and Croatia have not obtained parliamentary ratification of 2001 land and marine boundary treaty, which cedes villages on the Dragonja River and Sveta Gera (Trdinov Peak) to Croatia, and most of Pirin Bay to Slovenia but restricts Slovenian access to the open sea; Austria has minor dispute with Slovenia over nuclear power plants and post-World War II treatment of German-speaking minorities

Illicit drugs: minor transit point for cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin bound for Western Europe, and for precursor chemicals

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Sierra Leone

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