Chapter V (40)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio OYARZABAL MARCHESI
chancery: 2375 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037
consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami,
New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico)

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Edward L. ROMERO
embassy: Serrano 75, 28006 Madrid
mailing address: APO AE 09642
consulate(s) general: Barcelona

Flag description: three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow
(double width), and red with the national coat of arms on the hoist
side of the yellow band; the coat of arms includes the royal seal
framed by the Pillars of Hercules, which are the two promontories
(Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the
Strait of Gibraltar

Economy

Economy--overview: Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP
that on a per capita basis is three-fourths that of the four leading
West European economies. Its center-right government successfully
worked to gain admission to the first group of countries launching
the European single currency on 1 January 1999. The deficit-to-GDP
ratio is 2.1%, the debt-to-GDP ratio is around 68%, and inflation is
approximately 2%. Moreover, the AZNAR administration has continued
to advocate liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the
economy and has introduced some tax reforms to that end.
Unemployment, nonetheless, remains the highest in the EU at 20%. The
government, for political reasons, has made only limited progress in
changing labor laws or reforming pension schemes, which are key to
the sustainability of both Spain's internal economic advances and
its competitiveness in a single currency area. Adjustment to the
monetary and other economic policies of an integrated Europe will
pose difficult challenges to Spain in the next few years.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$645.6 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 3.5% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$16,500 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.4%
industry: 33.3%
services: 63.3% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.8%
highest 10%: 25.2% (1990)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2% (1998 est.)

Labor force: 16.2 million

Labor force--by occupation: services 64%, manufacturing, mining,
and construction 28%, agriculture 8% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate: 20% (1998 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $113 billion
expenditures: $139 billion, including capital expenditures of $15
billion (1995)

Industries: textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and
beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding,
automobiles, machine tools, tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 5.8% (1998)

Electricity--production: 163.468 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 43.17%
hydro: 23.92%
nuclear: 32.74%
other: 0.17% (1996)

Electricity--consumption: 164.568 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 5.7 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 6.8 billion kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes,
sugar beets, citrus; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish

Exports: $111.1 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

Exports--commodities: cars and trucks, other machinery and
manufactured goods, foodstuffs, and other consumer goods

Exports--partners: EU 70% (France 20%, Germany 18%, Italy 10%,
Portugal 9%, UK 8%), US 4.4% (1997)

Imports: $132.3 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

Imports--commodities: machinery, transport equipment, fuels,
semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, chemicals (1997)

Imports--partners: EU 65% (France 17%, Germany 15%, Italy 9%, UK
8%, Benelux 7%), US 6%, Japan 3% (1997)

Debt--external: $90 billion (1993 est.)

Economic aid--donor: ODA, $1.3 billion (1995)

Currency: 1 peseta (Pta) = 100 centimos

Exchange rates: pesetas (Ptas) per US$1--143.39 (January 1999),
149.40 (1998), 146.41 (1997), 126.66 (1996), 124.69 (1995), 133.96
(1994)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Union introduced a common
currency that is now being used by financial institutions in some
member countries at the rate of 0.8597 euros per US$ and a fixed
rate of 166.386 pesetas per euro; the euro will replace the local
currency in consenting countries for all transactions in 2002

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones: 12.6 million (1990 est.)

Telephone system: generally adequate, modern facilities
domestic: NA
international: 22 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth
stations--2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA
Eutelsat, NA Inmarsat, and NA Marecs; tropospheric scatter to
adjacent countries

Radio broadcast stations: AM 190, FM 406 (repeaters 134),
shortwave 0

Radios: 12 million (1992 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 542 (382 network stations, 160
low-power stations, and one US Air Force Europe station) (1997)

Televisions: 15.7 million (1992 est.)

Transportation

Railways:
total: 15,079 km
broad gauge: 12,781 km 1.668-m gauge (6,355 km electrified; 2,295 km
double track)
standard gauge: 525 km 1.435-m gauge (480 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 1,773 km 1.000-m gauge (594 km electrified) (1996)

Highways:
total: 346,858 km
paved: 343,389 km (including 9,063 km of expressways)
unpaved: 3,469 km (1997 est.)

Waterways: 1,045 km, but of minor economic importance

Pipelines: crude oil 265 km; petroleum products 1,794 km; natural
gas 1,666 km

Ports and harbors: Aviles, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cadiz, Cartagena,
Castellon de la Plana, Ceuta, Huelva, La Coruna, Las Palmas (Canary
Islands), Malaga, Melilla, Pasajes, Gijon, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
(Canary Islands), Santander, Tarragona, Valencia, Vigo

Merchant marine:
total: 137 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,094,408
GRT/1,695,708 DWT
ships by type: bulk 11, cargo 29, chemical tanker 10, container 10,
liquefied gas tanker 3, oil tanker 25, passenger 1, refrigerated
cargo 6, roll-on/roll-off cargo 35, short-sea passenger 6,
specialized tanker 1 (1998 est.)

Airports: 99 (1998 est.)

Airports--with paved runways:
total: 66
over 3,047 m: 15
2,438 to 3,047 m: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m: 16
914 to 1,523 m: 15
under 914 m: 9 (1998 est.)

Airports--with unpaved runways:
total: 33
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 11
under 914 m: 21 (1998 est.)

Heliports: 2 (1998 est.)

Military

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Civil Guard,
National Police, Coastal Civil Guard

Military manpower--military age: 20 years of age

Military manpower--availability:
males age 15-49: 10,374,314 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 8,346,155 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--reaching military age annually:
males: 311,350 (1999 est.)

Military expenditures--dollar figure: $6.3 billion (1995)

Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 1.4% (1995)

Transnational Issues

Disputes--international: Gibraltar issue with UK; Spain controls
five places of sovereignty (plazas de soberania) on and off the
coast of Morocco--the coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which
Morocco contests, as well as the islands of Penon de Alhucemas,
Penon de Velez de la Gomera, and Islas Chafarinas

Illicit drugs: key European gateway country for Latin American
cocaine and North African hashish entering the European market;
transshipment point for and consumer of Southwest Asian heroin

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

@Spratly Islands ---------------

Geography

Location: Southeastern Asia, group of reefs and islands in the
South China Sea, about two-thirds of the way from southern Vietnam
to the southern Philippines

Geographic coordinates: 8 38 N, 111 55 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area:
total: less than 5 sq km
land: less than 5 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes 100 or so islets, coral reefs, and sea mounts
scattered over an area of nearly 410,000 sq km of the central South
China Sea

Area--comparative: NA

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 926 km

Maritime claims: NA

Climate: tropical

Terrain: flat

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Southwest Cay 4 m

Natural resources: fish, guano, undetermined oil and natural gas
potential

Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 100%

Irrigated land: 0 sq km (1993)

Natural hazards: typhoons; serious maritime hazard because of
numerous reefs and shoals

Environment--current issues: NA

Environment--international agreements:
party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography--note: strategically located near several primary
shipping lanes in the central South China Sea; includes numerous
small islands, atolls, shoals, and coral reefs

People

Population: no indigenous inhabitants
note: there are scattered garrisons occupied by personnel of several
claimant states

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Spratly Islands

Data code: PG

Economy

Economy--overview: Economic activity is limited to commercial
fishing. The proximity to nearby oil- and gas-producing sedimentary
basins suggests the potential for oil and gas deposits, but the
region is largely unexplored, and there are no reliable estimates of
potential reserves; commercial exploitation has yet to be developed.

Transportation

Ports and harbors: none

Airports: 4 (1998 est.)

Airports--with paved runways:
total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (1998 est.)

Airports--with unpaved runways:
total: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 2 (1998 est.)

Military

Military--note: Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small
islands or reefs, of which about 45 are claimed and occupied by
China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam

Transnational Issues

Disputes--international: all of the Spratly Islands are claimed by
China, Taiwan, and Vietnam; parts of them are claimed by Malaysia
and the Philippines; in 1984, Brunei established an exclusive
fishing zone, which encompasses Louisa Reef in the southern Spratly
Islands, but has not publicly claimed the island

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

@Sri Lanka ---------

Geography

Location: Southern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of
India

Geographic coordinates: 7 00 N, 81 00 E

Map references: Asia

Area:
total: 65,610 sq km
land: 64,740 sq km
water: 870 sq km

Area--comparative: slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 1,340 km

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

Climate: tropical monsoon; northeast monsoon (December to March);
southwest monsoon (June to October)

Terrain: mostly low, flat to rolling plain; mountains in
south-central interior

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pidurutalagala 2,524 m

Natural resources: limestone, graphite, mineral sands, gems,
phosphates, clay

Land use:
arable land: 14%
permanent crops: 15%
permanent pastures: 7%
forests and woodland: 32%
other: 32% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 5,500 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: occasional cyclones and tornadoes

Environment--current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife
populations threatened by poaching; coastal degradation from mining
activities and increased pollution; freshwater resources being
polluted by industrial wastes and sewage runoff

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

Geography--note: strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea
lanes

People

Population: 19,144,875 (July 1999 est.)
note: since the outbreak of hostilities between the government and
armed Tamil separatists in the mid-1980s, several hundred thousand
Tamil civilians have fled the island; as of late 1996, 63,068 were
housed in refugee camps in south India, another 30,000-40,000 lived
outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought
political asylum in the West

Age structure:
0-14 years: 27% (male 2,650,135; female 2,535,092)
15-64 years: 67% (male 6,231,987; female 6,500,782)
65 years and over: 6% (male 592,539; female 634,340) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.1% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 18.16 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 6.02 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.13 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.93 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 16.12 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 72.67 years
male: 69.89 years
female: 75.59 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.1 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Sri Lankan(s)
adjective: Sri Lankan

Ethnic groups: Sinhalese 74%, Tamil 18%, Moor 7%, Burgher, Malay,
and Vedda 1%

Religions: Buddhist 69%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, Muslim 8%

Languages: Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil
(national language) 18%
note: English is commonly used in government and is spoken by about
10% of the population

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90.2%
male: 93.4%
female: 87.2% (1995 est.)

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
conventional short form: Sri Lanka
former: Ceylon

Data code: CE

Government type: republic

Capital: Colombo

Administrative divisions: 8 provinces; Central, North Central,
North Eastern, North Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western

Independence: 4 February 1948 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence and National Day, 4 February (1948)

Constitution: adopted 16 August 1978

Legal system: a highly complex mixture of English common law,
Roman-Dutch, Muslim, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA (since
12 November 1994); note--Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE is the prime minister;
in Sri Lanka the president is considered to be both the chief of
state and the head of the government, this is in contrast to the
more common practice of dividing the roles between the president and
the prime minister when both offices exist
head of government: President Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA
(since 12 November 1994); note--Sirimavo BANDARANAIKE is the prime
minister; in Sri Lanka the president is considered to be both the
chief of state and the head of the government, this is in contrast
to the more common practice of dividing the roles between the
president and the prime minister when both offices exist
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president in consultation with the
prime minister
elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term;
election last held 9 November 1994 (next to be held NA November 2000)
election results: Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA elected
president; percent of vote--Chandrika Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA
(People's Alliance) 62%, Srima DISSANAYAKE (United National Party)
37%, other 1%

Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (225 seats; members
elected by popular vote on the basis of a modified proportional
representation system to serve six-year terms)
elections: last held 16 August 1994 (next to be held by August 2000)
election results: percent of vote by party--PA 49.0%, UNP 44.0%, SLMC
1.8%, TULF 1.7%, SLPF 1.1%, EPDP 0.3%, UPF 0.3%, PLOTE 0.1%, other
1.7%; seats by party--PA 105, UNP 94, EPDP 9, SLMC 7, TULF 5, PLOTE
3, SLPF 1, UPF 1

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the
Judicial Service Commission; Court of Appeals

Political parties and leaders: All Ceylon Tamil Congress or ACTC
Bandaranaike KUMARATUNGA]; People's Liberation Organization of Tamil
APPUHAMY]; several ethnic Tamil and Muslim parties, represented in
either parliament or provincial councils

Political pressure groups and leaders: Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam or LTTE; other radical chauvinist Sinhalese groups; Buddhist
clergy; Sinhalese Buddhist lay groups; labor unions

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

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Warnasena RASAPUTRAM
chancery: 2148 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
consulate(s): New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Shaun E. DONNELLY
embassy: 210 Galle Road, Colombo 3
mailing address: P. O. Box 106, Colombo

Flag description: yellow with two panels; the smaller hoist-side
panel has two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and orange;
the other panel is a large dark red rectangle with a yellow lion
holding a sword, and there is a yellow bo leaf in each corner; the
yellow field appears as a border that goes around the entire flag
and extends between the two panels

Economy

Economy--overview: In 1977, Colombo abandoned statist economic
policies and its import substitution trade policy for
market-oriented policies and export-oriented trade. Sri Lanka's most
dynamic industries now are food processing, textiles and apparel,
food and beverages, telecommunications, and insurance and banking.
By 1996 plantation crops made up only 20% of exports (compared with
93% in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for 63%. GDP
grew at an annual average rate of 5.5% throughout the 1990s until a
drought and a deteriorating security situation lowered growth to
3.8% in 1996. The economy rebounded in 1997-98 with growth of 6.4%
and 4.7%. For the next round of reforms, the central bank of Sri
Lanka recommends that Colombo expand market mechanisms in
nonplantation agriculture, dismantle the government's monopoly on
wheat imports, and promote more competition in the financial sector.
A continuing cloud over the economy is the fighting between the
Sinhalese and the minority Tamils, which has cost 50,000 lives in
the past 15 years. The global slowdown will temper growth in 1999.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$48.1 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 4.7% (1998 est.)

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

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 18%
industry: 31%
services: 51% (1997)

Population below poverty line: 35.3% (1990-91 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.8%
highest 10%: 25.2% (1990)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.3% (1998)

Labor force: 6.2 million (1997)

Labor force--by occupation: services 46%, agriculture 37%,
industry 17% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate: 11% (1997 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $3 billion
expenditures: $4.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $1
billion (1997 est.)

Industries: processing of rubber, tea, coconuts, and other
agricultural commodities; clothing, cement, petroleum refining,
textiles, tobacco

Industrial production growth rate: 6.5% (1996 est.)

Electricity--production: 5.05 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 4.95%
hydro: 95.05%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity--consumption: 5.05 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 0 kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 0 kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: rice, sugarcane, grains, pulses, oilseed,
spices, tea, rubber, coconuts; milk, eggs, hides, beef

Exports: $4.5 billion (f.o.b., 1998)

Exports--commodities: textiles and apparel, tea, diamonds and
other gems, coconut products, rubber products, petroleum products
(1997)

Exports--partners: US 36%, UK 11%, Japan 6%, Germany 5%,
Belgium-Luxembourg 4% (1997)

Imports: $5.3 billion (f.o.b., 1998)

Imports--commodities: machinery and equipment, textiles,
petroleum, building materials, sugar (1997)

Imports--partners: India 10%, Japan 9%, South Korea 8%, Hong Kong
7%, Taiwan 7% (1997)

Debt--external: $8.8 billion (1998)

Economic aid--recipient: $559.3 million (1995)

Currency: 1 Sri Lankan rupee (SLRe) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Sri Lankan rupees (SLRes) per US$1--67.948
(January 1999), 64.593 (1998), 58.995 (1997), 55.271 (1996), 51.252
(1995), 49.415 (1994)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones: 352,681 (1997 est.); 114,888 cellular telephone
subscribers (1997 est.)

Telephone system: very inadequate domestic service, but expanding
with the entry of two wireless loop operators and privatization of
national telephone company; good international service
domestic: NA
international: submarine cables to Indonesia and Djibouti; satellite
earth stations--2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 12, FM 5, shortwave 0

Radios: 3.6 million (1996 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 21 (19 network stations, two
low-power stations) (1997)

Televisions: 1.6 million (1996 est.)

Transportation

Railways:
total: 1,501 km
broad gauge: 1,442 km 1.676-m gauge
narrow gauge: 59 km 0.762-m gauge (1995)

Highways:
total: 99,200 km
paved: 39,680 km
unpaved: 59,520 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: 430 km; navigable by shallow-draft craft

Pipelines: crude oil and petroleum products 62 km (1987)

Ports and harbors: Colombo, Galle, Jaffna, Trincomalee

Merchant marine:
total: 22 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 178,867 GRT/276,363 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 14, container 1, oil tanker 1,
refrigerated cargo 5 (1998 est.)

Airports: 13 (1998 est.)

Airports--with paved runways:
total: 12
over 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 6 (1998 est.)

Airports--with unpaved runways:
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (1998 est.)

Military

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Police Force

Military manpower--military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower--availability:
males age 15-49: 5,223,590 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 4,062,758 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--reaching military age annually:
males: 199,196 (1999 est.)

Military expenditures--dollar figure: $719 million (1998)

Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 4.2% (1998)

Transnational Issues

Disputes--international: none

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

@Sudan -----

Geography

Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt
and Eritrea

Geographic coordinates: 15 00 N, 30 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area:
total: 2,505,810 sq km
land: 2.376 million sq km
water: 129,810 sq km

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

Land boundaries:
total: 7,687 km
border countries: Central African Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km,
Democratic Republic of the Congo 628 km, Egypt 1,273 km, Eritrea 605
km, Ethiopia 1,606 km, Kenya 232 km, Libya 383 km, Uganda 435 km

Coastline: 853 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 18 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season
(April to October)

Terrain: generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in east and
west

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Red Sea 0 m
highest point: Kinyeti 3,187 m

Natural resources: petroleum; small reserves of iron ore, copper,
chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold

Land use:
arable land: 5%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 46%
forests and woodland: 19%
other: 30% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 19,460 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: dust storms

Environment--current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water;
wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion;
desertification

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

Geography--note: largest country in Africa; dominated by the Nile
and its tributaries

People

Population: 34,475,690 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (male 7,941,909; female 7,614,225)
15-64 years: 53% (male 9,094,712; female 9,061,194)
65 years and over: 2% (male 423,389; female 340,261) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.71% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 39.34 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 10.6 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.68 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.24 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 70.94 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 56.4 years
male: 55.41 years
female: 57.44 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.58 children born/woman (1999 est.)

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

Ethnic groups: black 52%, Arab 39%, Beja 6%, foreigners 2%, other
1%

Religions: Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), indigenous beliefs 25%,
Christian 5% (mostly in south and Khartoum)

Languages: Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse
dialects of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English
note: program of Arabization in process

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 46.1%
male: 57.7%
female: 34.6% (1995 est.)

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of the Sudan
conventional short form: Sudan
local long form: Jumhuriyat as-Sudan
local short form: As-Sudan
former: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

Data code: SU

Government type: transitional--previously ruling military junta;
presidential and National Assembly elections held in March 1996; new
constitution drafted by Presidential Committee, went into effect on
30 June 1998 after being approved in nationwide referendum

Capital: Khartoum

Administrative divisions: 26 states (wilayat, singular--wilayah);
A'ali an Nil, Al Bahr al Ahmar, Al Buhayrat, Al Jazirah, Al Khartum,
Al Qadarif, Al Wahdah, An Nil al Abyad, An Nil al Azraq, Ash
Shamaliyah, Bahr al Jabal, Gharb al Istiwa'iyah, Gharb Bahr al
Ghazal, Gharb Darfur, Gharb Kurdufan, Janub Darfur, Janub Kurdufan,
Junqali, Kassala, Nahr an Nil, Shamal Bahr al Ghazal, Shamal Darfur,
Shamal Kurdufan, Sharq al Istiwa'iyah, Sinnar, Warab

Independence: 1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 1 January (1956)

Constitution: 12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April
1985; interim constitution of 10 October 1985 suspended following
coup of 30 June 1989; new constitution implemented on 30 June 1998

Legal system: based on English common law and Islamic law; as of
20 January 1991, the now defunct Revolutionary Command Council
imposed Islamic law in the northern states; Islamic law applies to
all residents of the northern states regardless of their religion;
some separate religious courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction,
with reservations

Suffrage: NA years of age; universal, but noncompulsory

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Lt. General Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR
(since 16 October 1993); First Vice President Ali Uthman Muhammad
TAHA (since 17 February 1998), Second Vice President (Police) Maj.
General George KONGOR AROP (since NA February 1994); note--the
president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Lt. General Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR
(since 16 October 1993); First Vice President Ali Uthman Muhammad
TAHA (since 17 February 1998), Second Vice President (Police) Maj.
General George KONGOR AROP (since NA February 1994); note--the
president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note--President
al-BASHIR's government is dominated by members of Sudan's National
Islamic Front (NIF), a fundamentalist political organization formed
from the Muslim Brotherhood in 1986; in 1998, the NIF created the
National Congress as its legal front; the National Congress/NIF
dominates much of Khartoum's overall domestic and foreign policies;
President al-BASHIR named a new cabinet on 20 April 1996 which
includes members of the National Islamic Front, serving and retired
military officers, and civilian technocrats; on 8 March 1998, he
reshuffled the cabinet and brought in several former rebel and
opposition members as ministers
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term;
election last held 6-17 March 1996 (next to be held NA 2001)
election results: Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR elected president;
percent of vote--Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR 75.7%; note--about forty
other candidates ran for president
note: al-BASHIR, as chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council
for National Salvation (RCC), assumed power on 30 June 1989 and
served concurrently as chief of state, chairman of the RCC, prime
minister, and minister of defense until 16 October 1993 when he was
appointed president by the RCC; upon its dissolution on 16 October
1993, the RCC's executive and legislative powers were devolved to
the president and the Transitional National Assembly (TNA), Sudan's
appointed legislative body, which has since been replaced by the
National Assembly which was elected in March 1996

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (400 seats; 275
elected by popular vote, 125 elected by a supraassembly of interest
groups known as the National Congress)
elections: last held 6-17 March 1996 (next to be held NA 2001)
election results: NA; the March 1996 elections were held on a
nonparty basis; parties are banned in the new National Assembly

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Special Revolutionary Courts

Political parties and leaders: political parties were banned
following 30 June 1989 coup, however, political "associations" are
allowed under a new law drafted in 1998 and implemented on 1 January

Political pressure groups and leaders: National Islamic Front or
its legal front)

International organization participation: ABEDA, ACP, AfDB,
AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM,
IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol,
IOC, IOM (observer), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNHCR, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Mahdi Ibrahim MAHAMMAD (recalled to
Khartoum in August 1998)
chancery: 2210 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

Diplomatic representation from the US: US officials at the US
Embassy in Khartoum were moved for security reasons in February 1996
and have been relocated to the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and
Cairo, Egypt; they visit Khartoum monthly, but the Sudanese
Government has not allowed such visits since August 1998; the US
Embassy in Khartoum (located on Sharia Abdul Latif Avenue; mailing
employees; the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya is located temporarily
in the USAID Building at The Crescent, Parkland, Nairobi; mailing
address--P.O. Box 30137, Box 21A, Unit 64100, APO AE 09831;
Cairo, Egypt is located at (North Gate) 8, Kamel El-Din Salah
Street, Garden City, Cairo; mailing address--Unit 64900, APO AE

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top),
white, and black with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist
side

Economy

Economy--overview: Sudan is buffeted by civil war, chronic
political instability, adverse weather, high inflation, a drop in
remittances from abroad, and counterproductive economic policies.
The private sector's main areas of activity are agriculture and
trading, with most private industrial investment predating 1980.
Agriculture employs 80% of the work force. Industry mainly processes
agricultural items. Sluggish economic performance over the past
decade, attributable largely to declining annual rainfall, has kept
per capita income at low levels. A large foreign debt and huge
arrears continue to cause difficulties. In 1990 the International
Monetary Fund took the unusual step of declaring Sudan
noncooperative because of its nonpayment of arrears to the Fund.
After Sudan backtracked on promised reforms in 1992-93, the IMF
threatened to expel Sudan from the Fund. To avoid expulsion,
Khartoum agreed to make payments on its arrears to the Fund,
liberalize exchange rates, and reduce subsidies, measures it has
partially implemented. The government's continued prosecution of the
civil war and its growing international isolation continued to
inhibit growth in the nonagricultural sectors of the economy during
1998. Hyperinflation has raised consumer prices above the reach of
most. In 1998, a top priority was to develop potentially lucrative
oilfields in southcentral Sudan; the government is working with
foreign partners to exploit the oil sector.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$31.2 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 6.1% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$930 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 33%
industry: 17%
services: 50% (1992 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 27% (mid-1997 est.)

Labor force: 11 million (1996 est.)
note: labor shortages for almost all categories of skilled
employment (1983 est.)

Labor force--by occupation: agriculture 80%, industry and commerce
10%, government 6%

Unemployment rate: 30% (FY92/93 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $482 million
expenditures: $1.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $30
million (1996)

Industries: cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar,
soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining

Industrial production growth rate: 5% (1996 est.)

Electricity--production: 1.315 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 27.76%
hydro: 72.24%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity--consumption: 1.315 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 0 kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 0 kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: cotton, groundnuts (peanuts), sorghum,
millet, wheat, gum arabic, sesame; sheep

Exports: $594 million (f.o.b., 1997)

Exports--commodities: cotton 23%, sesame 22%, livestock/meat 13%,
gum arabic 5% (1996)

Exports--partners: Saudi Arabia 20%, UK 14%, China 11%, Italy 8%
(1996)

Imports: $1.42 billion (f.o.b., 1997)

Imports--commodities: foodstuffs, petroleum products, manufactured
goods, machinery and equipment, medicines and chemicals, textiles
(1996)

Imports--partners: Saudi Arabia 10%, South Korea 7%, Germany 6%,
Egypt 6% (1996)

Debt--external: $20.3 billion (1996 est.)

Economic aid--recipient: $254.4 million (1995)

Currency: 1 Sudanese pound (LSd) = 100 piastres

Exchange rates: Sudanese pounds (LSd) per US$1--1,819.70 (April
1998), 1,873.53 (2d Qtr 1998), 1,575.74 (1997), 1,250.79 (1996),
580.87 (1995), 289.61 (1994), 159.31 (1993)

Fiscal year: calendar year
note: prior to July 1995, Sudan had a fiscal year that began on 1
July and ended on 30 June; as a transition to their new fiscal year,
a six-month budget was implemented for 1 July-31 December 1995; the
new calendar year (1 January-31 December) fiscal year became
effective 1 January 1996

Communications

Telephones: 77,215 (1983 est.)

Telephone system: large, well-equipped system by African
standards, but barely adequate and poorly maintained by modern
standards
domestic: consists of microwave radio relay, cable, radiotelephone
communications, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite
system with 14 earth stations
international: satellite earth stations--1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
and 1 Arabsat

Radio broadcast stations: AM 11, FM 1, shortwave 1 (1998 est.)

Radios: 5.75 million (1998 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 3 (1997)

Televisions: 250,000 (1998 est.)

Transportation

Railways:
total: 5,516 km
narrow gauge: 4,800 km 1.067-m gauge; 716 km 1.6096-m gauge
plantation line

Highways:
total: 11,900 km
paved: 4,320 km
unpaved: 7,580 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: 5,310 km navigable

Pipelines: refined products 815 km

Ports and harbors: Juba, Khartoum, Kusti, Malakal, Nimule, Port
Sudan, Sawakin

Merchant marine:
total: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 38,093 GRT/49,727 DWT
ships by type: cargo 2, roll-on/roll-off cargo 2 (1998 est.)

Airports: 63 (1998 est.)

Airports--with paved runways:
total: 12
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 8
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 (1998 est.)

Airports--with unpaved runways:
total: 51
1,524 to 2,437 m: 14
914 to 1,523 m: 26
under 914 m: 11 (1998 est.)

Heliports: 1 (1998 est.)

Military

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Popular Defense Force
Militia

Military manpower--military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower--availability:
males age 15-49: 7,942,139 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 4,889,557 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--reaching military age annually:
males: 379,174 (1999 est.)

Military expenditures--dollar figure: $550 million (FY98/99)

Military expenditures--percent of GDP: NA%

Transnational Issues

Disputes--international: administrative boundary with Kenya does
not coincide with international boundary; Egypt asserts its claim to
the "Hala'ib Triangle," a barren area of 20,580 sq km under partial
Sudanese administration that is defined by an administrative
boundary which supersedes the treaty boundary of 1899

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

@Suriname --------

Geography

Location: Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic
Ocean, between French Guiana and Guyana

Geographic coordinates: 4 00 N, 56 00 W

Map references: South America

Area:
total: 163,270 sq km
land: 161,470 sq km
water: 1,800 sq km

Area--comparative: slightly larger than Georgia

Land boundaries:
total: 1,707 km
border countries: Brazil 597 km, French Guiana 510 km, Guyana 600 km

Coastline: 386 km

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

Climate: tropical; moderated by trade winds

Terrain: mostly rolling hills; narrow coastal plain with swamps

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: unnamed location in the coastal plain -2 m
highest point: Wilhelmina Gebergte 1,286 m

Natural resources: timber, hydropower, fish, kaolin, shrimp,
bauxite, gold, and small amounts of nickel, copper, platinum, iron
ore

Land use:
arable land: NA%
permanent crops: NA%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 96%
other: 4% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 600 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment--current issues: deforestation as timber is cut for
export; pollution of inland waterways by small-scale mining
activities

Environment--international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Law of
the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography--note: mostly tropical rain forest; great diversity of
flora and fauna that, for the most part, is increasingly threatened
by new development; relatively small population, most of which lives
along the coast

People

Population: 431,156 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 33% (male 72,673; female 69,212)
15-64 years: 62% (male 135,573; female 130,700)
65 years and over: 5% (male 10,585; female 12,413) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.71% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 21.75 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 5.75 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -8.92 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 26.52 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.89 years
male: 68.32 years
female: 73.59 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.55 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Surinamer(s)
adjective: Surinamese

Ethnic groups: Hindustani (also known locally as "East Indians";
their ancestors emigrated from northern India in the latter part of
the 19th century) 37%, Creole (mixed white and black) 31%, Javanese
15.3%, "Maroons" (their African ancestors were brought to the
country in the 17th and 18th centuries as slaves and escaped to the
interior) 10.3%, Amerindian 2.6%, Chinese 1.7%, white 1%, other 1.1%

Religions: Hindu 27.4%, Muslim 19.6%, Roman Catholic 22.8%,
Protestant 25.2% (predominantly Moravian), indigenous beliefs 5%

Languages: Dutch (official), English (widely spoken), Sranang
Tongo (Surinamese, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of
Creoles and much of the younger population and is lingua franca
among others), Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi), Javanese

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 93%
male: 95%
female: 91% (1995 est.)

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Suriname
conventional short form: Suriname
local long form: Republiek Suriname
local short form: Suriname
former: Netherlands Guiana, Dutch Guiana

Data code: NS

Government type: republic

Capital: Paramaribo

Administrative divisions: 10 districts (distrikten,
singular--distrikt); Brokopondo, Commewijne, Coronie, Marowijne,
Nickerie, Para, Paramaribo, Saramacca, Sipaliwini, Wanica

Independence: 25 November 1975 (from Netherlands)

National holiday: Independence Day, 25 November (1975)

Constitution: ratified 30 September 1987

Legal system: based on Dutch legal system incorporating French
penal theory

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Jules WIJDENBOSCH (since 14 September
1996); Vice President Pretaapnarian RADHAKISHUN (since 14 September
1996); note--the president is both the chief of state and head of
government
head of government: President Jules WIJDENBOSCH (since 14 September
1996); Vice President Pretaapnarian RADHAKISHUN (since 14 September
1996); note--the president is both the chief of state and head of
government
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president from among
the members of the National Assembly
note: First Advisor of State maintains significant power
elections: president and vice president elected by the National
Assembly or, if no presidential or vice presidential candidate
receives a constitutional majority vote in the National Assembly
after two votes, by the larger People's Assembly (869
representatives from the national, local, and regional councils),
for five-year terms; election last held 23 May 1996; runoff election
held 5 September 1996 (next to be held NA May 2001)
election results: Jules WIJDENBOSCH elected president; percent of
legislative vote--NA; National Assembly failed to elect president;
results reflect votes cast by the People's Assembly--Jules
WIJDENBOSCH (NDP) received 438 votes, Ronald VENETIAAN (NF) received
407 votes

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or National
Assemblee (51 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve
five-year terms)
elections: last held 23 May 1996 (next to be held NA May 2001)
election results: percent of vote by party--NA; seats by party--NDP
16, NF 14, BVD 5, KTPI 5, Pertjaja Luhur 4, The Progressive
Development Alliance 3, DA '91 2, OPDA 2

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (justices nominated for life)

Political parties and leaders: The New Front or NF (a coalition
Democratic Alternative '91 or DA '91 (a coalition of the AF and BEP,
Development Alliance (a combination of two parties, HPP and PVF)

Political pressure groups and leaders: Union for Liberation and

International organization participation: ACP, Caricom, ECLAC,
FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent),
ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OIC, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Arnold Theodoor HALFHIDE
chancery: Suite 460, 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
consulate(s) general: Miami

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Dennis K. HAYS
embassy: Dr. Sophie Redmondstraat 129, Paramaribo
mailing address: P. O. Box 1821, American Embassy Paramaribo,
Department of State, Washington, DC, 20521-3390

Flag description: five horizontal bands of green (top, double
width), white, red (quadruple width), white, and green (double
width); there is a large, yellow, five-pointed star centered in the
red band

Economy

Economy--overview: The economy is dominated by the bauxite
industry, which accounts for more than 15% of GDP and 70% of export
earnings. After assuming power in the fall of 1996, the WIJDENBOSCH
government ended the structural adjustment program of the previous
government, claiming it was unfair to the poorer elements of
society. Tax revenues fell as old taxes lapsed and the government
failed to implement new tax alternatives. By the end of 1997, the
allocation of new Dutch development funds was frozen as Surinamese
Government relations with the Netherlands deteriorated. Economic
growth slowed in 1998, with decline in the mining, construction, and
utility sectors. Suriname's economic prospects for the medium term
will depend on renewed commitment to responsible monetary and fiscal
policies and to the introduction of structural reforms to liberalize
markets and promote competition.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$1.48 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 2% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$3,500 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 10%
industry: 32%
services: 58% (1996)

Population below poverty line: NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 20% (1998 est.)

Labor force: NA

Labor force--by occupation: agriculture NA%, industry NA%,
services NA%

Unemployment rate: 20% (1997)

Budget:
revenues: $393 million
expenditures: $403 million, including capital expenditures of $34
million (1997 est.)

Industries: bauxite and gold mining, alumina and aluminum
production, lumbering, food processing, fishing

Industrial production growth rate: 6.5% (1994 est.)

Electricity--production: 1.62 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 19.75%
hydro: 80.25%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)

Electricity--consumption: 1.62 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 0 kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 0 kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: paddy rice, bananas, palm kernels,
coconuts, plantains, peanuts; beef, chickens; forest products; shrimp

Exports: $548.84 million (1997)

Exports--commodities: alumina, aluminum, crude oil, lumber, shrimp
and fish, rice, bananas

Exports--partners: Norway 24%, Netherlands 22%, US 22%, France
9.5%, Japan 7.6%, UK 6.5% (1997)

Imports: $551.8 million (1997)

Imports--commodities: capital equipment, petroleum, foodstuffs,
cotton, consumer goods

Imports--partners: US 48%, Netherlands 21.2%, UK 5.1%, Japan 4%
(1997)

Debt--external: $216 million (1996 est.)

Economic aid--recipient: $76.4 million (1995); note?the
Netherlands provided a $127 million aid package to Aruba and
Suriname in 1996

Currency: 1 Surinamese guilder, gulden, or florin (Sf.) = 100
cents

Exchange rates: Surinamese guilders, gulden, or florins (Sf.) per
US$1--850 (January 1999); central bank midpoint rate: 401.00 (1998),
401.00 (1997), 401.26 (1996), 442.23 (1995), 134.12 (1994); parallel
rate: 800 (December 1998), 412 (December 1995), 510 (December 1994)
note: beginning July 1994, the central bank midpoint exchange rate
was unified and became market determined; during 1998, the exchange
rate splintered into four distinct rates; in January 1999 the
government floated the guilder

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones: 43,522 (1992 est.)

Telephone system: international facilities good
domestic: microwave radio relay network
international: satellite earth stations--2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 5, FM 32, shortwave 1

Radios: 290,256 (1993 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 3 (in addition, there are seven
repeaters) (1997)

Televisions: 59,598 (1993 est.)

Transportation

Railways:
total: 166 km (single track)
standard gauge: 80 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge: 86 km 1.000-m gauge

Highways:
total: 4,530 km
paved: 1,178 km
unpaved: 3,352 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: 1,200 km; most important means of transport;
oceangoing vessels with drafts ranging up to 7 m can navigate many
of the principal waterways

Ports and harbors: Albina, Moengo, New Nickerie, Paramaribo,
Paranam, Wageningen

Airports: 46 (1998 est.)

Airports--with paved runways:
total: 5
over 3,047 m: 1
under 914 m: 4 (1998 est.)

Airports--with unpaved runways:
total: 41
914 to 1,523 m: 7
under 914 m: 34 (1998 est.)

Military

Military branches: National Army (includes small Navy and Air
Force elements), Civil Police

Military manpower--availability:
males age 15-49: 118,686 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 69,842 (1999 est.)

Military expenditures--dollar figure: $8.5 million (1997 est.)

Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 1.6% (1997 est.)

Transnational Issues

Disputes--international: claims area in French Guiana between
Litani Rivier and Riviere Marouini (both headwaters of the Lawa
Rivier); claims area in Guyana between New (Upper Courantyne) and

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for South American drugs
destined mostly for Europe

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

@Svalbard --------

Geography

Location: Northern Europe, islands between the Arctic Ocean,
Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea, north of Norway

Geographic coordinates: 78 00 N, 20 00 E

Map references: Arctic Region

Area:
total: 62,049 sq km
land: 62,049 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island)

Area--comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 3,587 km

Maritime claims:
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm unilaterally claimed by Norway but
not recognized by Russia
territorial sea: 4 nm

Climate: arctic, tempered by warm North Atlantic Current; cool
summers, cold winters; North Atlantic Current flows along west and
north coasts of Spitsbergen, keeping water open and navigable most
of the year

Terrain: wild, rugged mountains; much of high land ice covered;
west coast clear of ice about one-half of the year; fjords along
west and north coasts

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Arctic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Newtontoppen 1,717 m

Natural resources: coal, copper, iron ore, phosphate, zinc,
wildlife, fish

Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 100% (no trees and the only bushes are crowberry and
cloudberry)

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: ice floes often block up the entrance to
Bellsund (a transit point for coal export) on the west coast and
occasionally make parts of the northeastern coast inaccessible to
maritime traffic

Environment--current issues: NA

Environment--international agreements:
party to: NA
signed, but not ratified: NA

Geography--note: northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway;
consists of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of
the total area

People

Population: 2,503 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA
65 years and over: NA

Population growth rate: -3.55% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: NA births/1,000 population

Death rate: NA deaths/1,000 population

Net migration rate: NA migrant(s)/1,000 population

Infant mortality rate: NA deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: NA years
male: NA years
female: NA years

Total fertility rate: NA children born/woman

Ethnic groups: Russian and Ukrainian 62%, Norwegian 38%, other
NEGL% (1994)

Languages: Russian, Norwegian

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Svalbard (sometimes referred to as
Spitzbergen)

Data code: SV

Dependency status: territory of Norway; administered by the
Ministry of Industry, Oslo, through a governor (sysselmann) residing
in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen; by treaty (9 February 1920)
sovereignty was given to Norway

Government type: NA

Capital: Longyearbyen

Independence: none (territory of Norway)

National holiday: NA

Legal system: NA

Executive branch:
chief of state: King HARALD V of Norway (since 17 January 1991)
head of government: Governor Ann-Kristin OLSEN (since NA) and
Assistant Governor Jan-Atle HANSEN (since NA September 1993)
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor and assistant
governor responsible to the Polar Department of the Ministry of
Justice

International organization participation: none

Flag description: the flag of Norway is used

Economy

Economy--overview: Coal mining is the major economic activity on
Svalbard. The treaty of 9 February 1920 gives the 41 signatories
equal rights to exploit mineral deposits, subject to Norwegian
regulation. Although US, UK, Dutch, and Swedish coal companies have
mined in the past, the only companies still mining are Norwegian and
Russian. The settlements on Svalbard are essentially company towns.
The Norwegian state-owned coal company employs nearly 60% of the
Norwegian population on the island, runs many of the local services,
and provides most of the local infrastructure. There is also some
trapping of seal, polar bear, fox, and walrus.

GDP: $NA

GDP--real growth rate: NA%

GDP--per capita: $NA

Population below poverty line: NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%

Labor force: NA

Budget:
revenues: $11.7 million
expenditures: $11.7 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1997 est.)

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity--production: NA kWh

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA%
nuclear: NA%
other: NA%

Electricity--consumption: NA kWh

Electricity--exports: NA kWh

Electricity--imports: NA kWh

Exports: $NA

Imports: $NA

Economic aid--recipient: $8.7 million from Norway (1997)

Currency: 1 Norwegian krone (NKr) = 100 oere

Exchange rates: Norwegian kroner (NKr) per US$1--7.4524 (January
1999), 7.5451 (1998), 7.0734 (1997), 6.4498 (1996), 6.3352 (1995),
7.0576 (1994)

Communications

Telephones: NA

Telephone system:
domestic: local telephone service
international: satellite earth station--1 of NA type (for
communication with Norwegian mainland only)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 1 (repeaters 2), shortwave 0
note: there are five meteorological/radio stations

Radios: NA

Television broadcast stations: NA

Televisions: NA

Transportation

Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: NA km
paved: NA km
unpaved: NA km

Ports and harbors: Barentsburg, Longyearbyen, Ny-Alesund,
Pyramiden

Merchant marine: none

Airports: 4 (1998 est.)

Airports--with paved runways:
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (1998 est.)

Airports--with unpaved runways:
total: 3
under 914 m: 3 (1998 est.)

Military

Military--note: demilitarized by treaty (9 February 1920)

Transnational Issues

Disputes--international: Svalbard is the focus of a maritime
boundary dispute in the Barents Sea between Norway and Russia

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

@Swaziland ---------

Geography

Location: Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa

Geographic coordinates: 26 30 S, 31 30 E

Map references: Africa

Area:
total: 17,360 sq km
land: 17,200 sq km
water: 160 sq km

Area--comparative: slightly smaller than New Jersey

Land boundaries:
total: 535 km
border countries: Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: varies from tropical to near temperate

Terrain: mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping
plains

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Great Usutu River 21 m
highest point: Emlembe 1,862 m

Natural resources: asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower,
forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc

Land use:
arable land: 11%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 62%
forests and woodland: 7%
other: 20% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 670 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment--current issues: limited supplies of potable water;
wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting;
overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion

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

Geography--note: landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South
Africa

People

Population: 985,335 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 46% (male 227,675; female 228,733)
15-64 years: 51% (male 243,853; female 259,950)
65 years and over: 3% (male 9,866; female 15,258) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.91% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 40.8 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 21.72 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.65 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 101.87 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 38.11 years
male: 36.86 years
female: 39.4 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.92 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Swazi(s)
adjective: Swazi

Ethnic groups: African 97%, European 3%

Religions: Christian 60%, indigenous beliefs 40%

Languages: English (official, government business conducted in
English), siSwati (official)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 76.7%
male: 78%
female: 75.6% (1995 est.)

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Kingdom of Swaziland
conventional short form: Swaziland

Data code: WZ

Government type: monarchy; independent member of Commonwealth

Capital: Mbabane; note--Lobamba is the royal and legislative
capital

Administrative divisions: 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini,
Shiselweni

Independence: 6 September 1968 (from UK)

National holiday: Somhlolo (Independence) Day, 6 September (1968)

Constitution: none; constitution of 6 September 1968 was
suspended 12 April 1973; a new constitution was promulgated 13
October 1978, but was not formally presented to the people; since
then a few more outlines for a constitution have been compiled but
so far none have been accepted

Legal system: based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory
courts and Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts;
has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: NA; note--no suffrage before September 1993; 55 of the
65 seats in the House of Assembly were filled by popular vote in the
elections of September and October 1993; of a population of less
than 1 million, the electorate numbered 283,693

Executive branch:
chief of state: King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986)
head of government: Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas DLAMINI (since
9 August 1996)
cabinet: Cabinet recommended by the prime minister and confirmed by
the monarch
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed
by the monarch

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Libandla, an advisory
body, consists of the Senate (20 seats--10 appointed by the House of
Assembly and 10 appointed by the monarch; members serve five-year
terms) and the House of Assembly (65 seats--10 appointed by the
monarch and 55 elected by popular vote; members serve five-year
terms)
elections: House of Assembly--last held NA September and NA October
1998 (next to be held NA 2003)
election results: House of Assembly--balloting is done on a nonparty
basis; candidates for election are nominated by the local council of
each constituency and for each constituency the three candidates
with the most votes in the first round of voting are narrowed to a
single winner by a second round

Judicial branch: High Court, judges are appointed by the monarch;
Court of Appeal, judges are appointed by the monarch

Political parties and leaders:
note: political parties are banned by the constitution promulgated
on 13 October 1978; illegal parties are prohibited from holding
large public gatherings
illegal parties: People's United Democratic Movement or PUDEMO

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA,
FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF,
Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Mary Madzandza KANYA
chancery: Suite 3M, 3400 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Alan R. McKEE
embassy: Central Bank Building, Warner Street, Mbabane
mailing address: P. O. Box 199, Mbabane

Flag description: three horizontal bands of blue (top), red
(triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in yellow; centered
in the red band is a large black and white shield covering two
spears and a staff decorated with feather tassels, all placed
horizontally

Economy

Economy--overview: In this small landlocked economy, subsistence
agriculture occupies more than 60% of the population. Manufacturing
features a number of agroprocessing factories. Mining has declined
in importance in recent years; high-grade iron ore deposits were
depleted by 1978, and health concerns have cut world demand for
asbestos. Exports of soft drink concentrate, sugar and wood pulp are
the main earners of hard currency. Surrounded by South Africa,
except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily
dependent on South Africa from which it receives nearly all of its
imports and to which it sends more than half of its exports.
Remittances from Swazi workers in South African mines supplement
domestically earned income by as much as 20%. The government is
trying to improve the atmosphere for foreign investment.
Overgrazing, soil depletion, and drought persist as problems for the
future.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$4 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 2.6% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$4,200 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 10%
industry: 42%
services: 48% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

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