In addition to the updating of information, the following changes
have been made in this edition of The World Factbook. There
is a new country profile on East Timor and there is a new entry
on Distribution of family income - Gini index. Revision
of some individual country maps, first introduced in the 2001 edition,
is continued in this edition. The revised maps include elevation
extremes and a partial geographic grid.
Abbreviations
|
This information is included
in Appendix A: Abbreviations, which includes all abbreviations
and acronyms used in the Factbook, with their expansions.
|
Acronyms
|
An acronym is an abbreviation
coined from the initial letter of each successive word in a term
or phrase. In general, an acronym made up solely from the first
letter of the major words in the expanded form is rendered in all
capital letters (NATO from North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an
exception would be ASEAN for Association of Southeast Asian Nations).
In general, an acronym made up of more than the first letter of
the major words in the expanded form is rendered with only an initial
capital letter (Comsat from Communications Satellite Corporation;
an exception would be NAM from Nonaligned Movement). Hybrid forms
are sometimes used to distinguish between initially identical terms
(WTO: WTrO for World Trade Organization and WToO for World Tourism
Organization.) |
Administrative
divisions |
This entry generally gives
the numbers, designatory terms, and first-order administrative divisions
as approved by the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN). Changes that
have been reported but not yet acted on by BGN are noted. |
Age structure
|
This entry provides the
distribution of the population according to age. Information is
included by sex and age group (0-14 years, 15-64 years, 65 years
and over). The age structure of a population affects a nation’s
key socioeconomic issues. Countries with young populations (high
percentage under age 15) need to invest more in schools, while countries
with older populations (high percentage ages 65 and over) need to
invest more in the health sector. The age structure can also be
used to help predict potential political issues. For example, the
rapid growth of a young adult population unable to find employment
can lead to unrest. |
Agriculture
- products |
This entry is a rank ordering
of major crops and products starting with the most important. |
Airports
|
This entry gives the total
number of airports. The runway(s) may be paved (concrete or asphalt
surfaces) or unpaved (grass, dirt, sand, or gravel surfaces), but
must be usable. Not all airports have facilities for refueling,
maintenance, or air traffic control. |
Airports
- with paved runways |
This entry gives the total
number of airports with paved runways (concrete or asphalt surfaces).
For airports with more than one runway, only the longest runway
is included according to the following five groups - (1) over 3,047
m, (2) 2,438 to 3,047 m, (3) 1,524 to 2,437 m, (4) 914 to 1,523
m, and (5) under 914 m. Only airports with usable runways are included
in this listing. Not all airports have facilities for refueling,
maintenance, or air traffic control. |
Airports
- with unpaved runways |
This entry gives the total
number of airports with unpaved runways (grass, dirt, sand, or gravel
surfaces). For airports with more than one runway, only the longest
runway is included according to the following five groups - (1)
over 3,047 m, (2) 2,438 to 3,047 m, (3) 1,524 to 2,437 m, (4) 914
to 1,523 m, and (5) under 914 m. Only airports with usable runways
are included in this listing. Not all airports have facilities for
refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control |
Appendixes
|
This section includes Factbook-related
material by topic. |
Area
|
This entry includes three
subfields. Total area is the sum of all land and water areas
delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines. Land
area is the aggregate of all surfaces delimited by international
boundaries and/or coastlines, excluding inland water bodies (lakes,
reservoirs, rivers). Water area is the sum of all water surfaces
delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, including
inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers). |
Area
- comparative |
This entry provides an
area comparison based on total area equivalents. Most entities are
compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states based on area
measurements (1990 revised) provided by the US Bureau of the Census.
The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 sq km,
69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi,
146 acres). |
Background
|
This entry usually highlights
major historic events and current issues and may include a statement
about one or two key future trends. |
Birth
rate |
This entry gives the average
annual number of births during a year per 1,000 persons in the population
at midyear; also known as crude birth rate. The birth rate is usually
the dominant factor in determining the rate of population growth.
It depends on both the level of fertility and the age structure
of the population. |
Budget
|
This entry includes revenues,
total expenditures, and capital expenditures. These figures are
calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in purchasing
power parity (PPP) terms |
Capital
|
This entry gives the location
of the seat of government. |
Climate
|
This entry includes a brief
description of typical weather regimes throughout the year. |
Coastline
|
This entry gives the total
length of the boundary between the land area (including islands)
and the sea. |
Communications
|
This category deals with
the means of exchanging information and includes the telephone,
radio, television, and Internet service provider entries. |
Communications
- note |
This entry includes miscellaneous
communications information of significance not included elsewhere.
|
Constitution
|
This entry includes the
dates of adoption, revisions, and major amendments. |
Country
data codes |
see Data codes |
Country
map |
Most versions of the Factbook
provide a country map in color. The maps were produced from
the best information available at the time of preparation. Names
and/or boundaries may have changed subsequently. |
Country
name |
This entry includes all
forms of the country's name approved by the US Board on Geographic
Names (Italy is used as an example): conventional long form
(Italian Republic), conventional short form (Italy), local
long form (Repubblica Italiana), local short form (Italia),
former (Kingdom of Italy), as well as the abbreviation.
Also see the Terminology note. |
Currency
|
This entry identifies the
national medium of exchange and its basic subunit. |
Currency
code |
This entry gives the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) 4217 alphabetic currency
code for each country. |
Data
codes |
This information is presented
in Appendix D: Cross-Reference List of Country Data Codes and
Appendix E: Cross-Reference List of Hydrographic Data Codes.
This appendix includes the US Government approved Federal Information
Processing Standards (FIPS) codes, the International Organization
for Standardization (ISO) codes, and Internet codes for land entities.
The appendix also includes the International Hydrographic Organization
(IHO) codes, Aeronautical Chart and Information Center (ACIC; now
a part of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency or NIMA) codes,
and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) codes for hydrographic entities.
The US Government has not yet approved a standard for hydrographic
data codes similar to the FIPS 10-4 standard for country data codes.
|
Date
of information |
In general, information
available as of 1 January 2001, was used in the preparation of this
edition. |
Death
rate |
This entry gives the average
annual number of deaths during a year per 1,000 population at midyear;
also known as crude death rate. The death rate, while only a rough
indicator of the mortality situation in a country, accurately indicates
the current mortality impact on population growth. This indicator
is significantly affected by age distribution, and most countries
will eventually show a rise in the overall death rate, in spite
of continued decline in mortality at all ages, as declining fertility
results in an aging population. |
Debt
- external |
This entry gives the total
public and private debt owed to nonresidents repayable in foreign
currency, goods, or services. |
Dependency
status |
This entry describes the
formal relationship between a particular nonindependent entity and
an independent state. |
Dependent
areas |
This entry contains an
alphabetical listing of all nonindependent entities associated in
some way with a particular independent state. |
Diplomatic
representation |
The US Government has diplomatic
relations with 185 independent states, including 183 of the 189
UN members (excluded UN members are Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North
Korea, and the US itself). In addition, the US has diplomatic relations
with 3 independent states that are not in the UN - East Timor, Holy
See, and Switzerland. |
Diplomatic
representation in the US |
This entry includes the
chief of mission, chancery, telephone, FAX, consulate general
locations, and consulate locations. |
Diplomatic
representation from the US |
This entry includes the
chief of mission, embassy address, mailing address,
telephone number, FAX number, branch office
locations, consulate general locations, and consulate
locations. |
Disputes
- international |
This entry includes a wide
variety of situations that range from traditional bilateral boundary
disputes to unilateral claims of one sort or another. Information
regarding disputes over international terrestrial and maritime boundaries
has been reviewed by the US Department of State. References to other
situations involving borders or frontiers may also be included,
such as resource disputes, geopolitical questions, or irredentist
issues; however, inclusion does not necessarily constitute official
acceptance or recognition by the US Government. |
Distribution
of family income - Gini index |
This index measures the
degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country.
The index is calculated from the Lorenz curve, in which cumulative
family income is plotted against the number of families arranged
from the poorest to the richest. The index is the ratio of (a) the
area between a country's Lorenz curve and the 45 degree helping
line to (b) the entire triangular area under the 45 degree line.
The more nearly equal a country's income distribution, the closer
its Lorenz curve to the 45 degree line and the lower its Gini index,
e.g., a Scandinavian country with an index of 25. The more unequal
a country's income distribution, the farther its Lorenz curve from
the 45 degree line and the higher its Gini index, e.g., a Sub-Saharan
country with an index of 50. If income were distributed with perfect
equality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the 45 degree line
and the index would be zero; if income were distributed with perfect
inequality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the horizontal
axis and the right vertical axis and the index would be 100. |
Economic
aid - donor |
This entry refers to net
official development assistance (ODA) from Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations to developing countries
and multilateral organizations. ODA is defined as financial assistance
that is concessional in character, has the main objective to promote
economic development and welfare of the less developed countries
(LDCs), and contains a grant element of at least 25%. The entry
does not cover other official flows (OOF) or private flows. |
Economic
aid - recipient |
This entry, which is subject
to major problems of definition and statistical coverage, refers
to the net inflow of Official Development Finance (ODF) to recipient
countries. The figure includes assistance from the World Bank, the
IMF, and other international organizations and from individual nation
donors. Formal commitments of aid are included in the data. Omitted
from the data are grants by private organizations. Aid comes in
various forms including outright grants and loans. The entry thus
is the difference between new inflows and repayments. |
Economy
|
This category includes
the entries dealing with the size, development, and management of
productive resources, i.e., land, labor, and capital. |
Economy
- overview |
This entry briefly describes
the type of economy, including the degree of market orientation,
the level of economic development, the most important natural resources,
and the unique areas of specialization. It also characterizes major
economic events and policy changes in the most recent 12 months
and may include a statement about one or two key future macroeconomic
trends. |
Electricity
- consumption |
This entry consists of
total electricity generated annually plus imports and minus exports,
expressed in kilowatt-hours. The discrepancy between the amount
of electricity generated and/or imported and the amount consumed
and/or exported is accounted for as loss in transmission and distribution.
|
Electricity
- exports |
This entry is the total
exported electricity in kilowatt-hours. |
Electricity
- imports |
This entry is the total
imported electricity in kilowatt-hours. |
Electricity
- production |
This entry is the annual
electricity generated expressed in kilowatt-hours. The discrepancy
between the amount of electricity generated and/or imported and
the amount consumed and/or exported is accounted for as loss in
transmission and distribution. |
Electricity
- production by source |
This entry states the percentage
share of electricity generated from each energy source. These are
fossil fuel, hydro, nuclear, and other (solar, geothermal, and wind).
|
Elevation
extremes |
This entry includes both
the highest point and the lowest point. |
Entities
|
Some of the independent
states, dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and governments
included in this publication are not independent, and others are
not officially recognized by the US Government. "Independent
state" refers to a people politically organized into a sovereign
state with a definite territory. "Dependencies" and
"areas of special sovereignty" refer to a broad category
of political entities that are associated in some way with an
independent state. "Country" names used in the table
of contents or for page headings are usually the short-form names
as approved by the US Board on Geographic Names and may include
independent states, dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty,
or other geographic entities. There are a total of 268 separate
geographic entities in The World Factbook that may be categorized
as follows:
INDEPENDENT STATES
192 Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua
and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan,
The Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium,
Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana,
Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia,
Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad,
Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Republic of the Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial
Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon,
The Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala,
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy,
Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, North Korea,
South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho,
Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia,
Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius,
Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia,
Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, NZ,
Nicaragua,
Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua
New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar,
Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia,
Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe,
Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Seychelles, Sierra
Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia,
South Africa, Spain, Sri
Lanka,
Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan,
Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia,
Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, UAE, UK, US, Uruguay,
Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia,
Zimbabwe
OTHER
1 Taiwan
DEPENDENCIES AND AREAS OF SPECIAL SOVEREIGNTY
6 Australia - Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island,
Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald
Islands, Norfolk Island
2 China - Hong Kong, Macau
2 Denmark - Faroe Islands, Greenland
16 France - Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Europa Island,
French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic
Lands, Glorioso Islands, Guadeloupe, Juan de Nova Island, Martinique,
Mayotte, New Caledonia, Reunion, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Tromelin
Island, Wallis and Futuna
2 Netherlands - Aruba, Netherlands Antilles
3 New Zealand - Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau
3 Norway - Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard
15 UK - Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory,
British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar,
Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint
Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and
Caicos Islands
14 US - American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island,
Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa
Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico,
Virgin Islands, Wake Island
MISCELLANEOUS
6 Antarctica, Gaza Strip, Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands,
West Bank, Western Sahara
OTHER ENTITIES
5 oceans - Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific
Ocean, Southern Ocean
1 World
268 total |
Environment
- current issues |
This entry lists the
most pressing and important environmental problems. The following
terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entry:
acidification - the lowering of soil and water pH due to acid
precipitation and deposition usually through precipitation; this
process disrupts ecosystem nutrient flows and may kill freshwater
fish and plants dependent on more neutral or alkaline conditions
(see acid rain).
acid rain - characterized as containing harmful levels of
sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxide; acid rain is damaging and potentially
deadly to the earth's fragile ecosystems; acidity is measured
using the pH scale where 7 is neutral, values greater than 7 are
considered alkaline, and values below 5.6 are considered acid
precipitation; note - a pH of 2.4 (the acidity of vinegar) has
been measured in rainfall in New England.
aerosol - a collection of airborne particles dispersed in
a gas, smoke, or fog.
afforestation - converting a bare or agricultural space by
planting trees and plants; reforestation involves replanting trees
on areas that have been cut or destroyed by fire.
asbestos - a naturally occurring soft fibrous mineral commonly
used in fireproofing materials and considered to be highly carcinogenic
in particulate form.
biodiversity - also biological diversity; the relative number
of species, diverse in form and function, at the genetic, organism,
community, and ecosystem level; loss of biodiversity reduces an
ecosystem’s ability to recover from natural or man-induced disruption.
bio-indicators - a plant or animal species whose presence,
abundance, and health reveal the general condition of its habitat.
biomass - the total weight or volume of living matter in
a given area or volume.
carbon cycle - the term used to describe the exchange of
carbon (in various forms, e.g., as carbon dioxide) between the
atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial biosphere, and geological deposits.
catchments - assemblages used to capture and retain rainwater
and runoff; an important water management technique in areas with
limited freshwater resources, such as Gibraltar.
DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane) - a colorless, odorless
insecticide that has toxic effects on most animals; the use of
DDT was banned in the US in 1972.
defoliants - chemicals which cause plants to lose their leaves
artificially; often used in agricultural practices for weed control,
and may have detrimental impacts on human and ecosystem health.
deforestation - the destruction of vast areas of forest (e.g.,
unsustainable forestry practices, agricultural and range land
clearing, and the over exploitation of wood products for use as
fuel) without planting new growth.
desertification - the spread of desert-like conditions in
arid or semi-arid areas, due to overgrazing, loss of agriculturally
productive soils, or climate change.
dredging - the practice of deepening an existing waterway;
also, a technique used for collecting bottom-dwelling marine organisms
(e.g., shellfish) or harvesting coral, often causing significant
destruction of reef and ocean-floor ecosystems.
drift-net fishing - done with a net, miles in extent, that
is generally anchored to a boat and left to float with the tide;
often results in an over harvesting and waste of large populations
of non-commercial marine species (by-catch) by its effect of “sweeping
the ocean clean”.
ecosystems - ecological units comprised of complex communities
of organisms and their specific environments.
effluents - waste materials, such as smoke, sewage, or industrial
waste which are released into the environment, subsequently polluting
it.
endangered species - a species that is threatened with extinction
either by direct hunting or habitat destruction.
freshwater - water with very low soluble mineral content;
sources include lakes, streams, rivers, glaciers, and underground
aquifers.
greenhouse gas - a gas that “traps” infrared radiation in
the lower atmosphere causing surface warming; water vapor, carbon
dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, hydrofluorocarbons, and ozone
are the primary greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.
groundwater - water sources found below the surface of the
earth often in naturally occurring reservoirs in permeable rock
strata; the source for wells and natural springs.
Highlands Water Project - a series of dams constructed jointly
by Lesotho and South Africa to redirect Lesotho's abundant water
supply into a rapidly growing area in South Africa; while it is
the largest infrastructure project in southern Africa, it is also
the most costly and controversial; objections to the project include
claims that it forces people from their homes, submerges farmlands,
and squanders economic resources.
Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) - represents the 125,000
Inuits of Russia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland in international
environmental issues; a panel convenes every three years to determine
the focus of the ICC; the most current concerns are long-range
transport of pollutants, sustainable development, and climate
change.
metallurgical plants - industries which specialize in the
science, technology, and processing of metals; these plants produce
highly concentrated and toxic wastes which can contribute to pollution
of ground water and air when not properly disposed.
noxious substances - injurious, very harmful to living beings.
overgrazing - the grazing of animals on plant material faster
than it can naturally regrow leading to the permanent loss of
plant cover, a common effect of too many animals grazing limited
range land.
ozone shield - a layer of the atmosphere composed of ozone
gas (O3) that resides approximately 25 miles above
the Earth's surface and absorbs solar ultraviolet radiation that
can be harmful to living organisms.
poaching - the illegal killing of animals or fish, a great
concern with respect to endangered or threatened species.
pollution - the contamination of a healthy environment by
man-made waste.
potable water - water that is drinkable, safe to be consumed.
salination - the process through which fresh (drinkable)
water becomes salt (undrinkable) water; hence, desalination is
the reverse process; also involves the accumulation of salts in
topsoil caused by evaporation of excessive irrigation water, a
process that can eventually render soil incapable of supporting
crops.
siltation - occurs when water channels and reservoirs become
clotted with silt and mud, a side effect of deforestation and
soil erosion.
slash-and-burn agriculture - a rotating cultivation technique
in which trees are cut down and burned in order to clear land
for temporary agriculture; the land is used until its productivity
declines at which point a new plot is selected and the process
repeats; this practice is sustainable while population levels
are low and time is permitted for regrowth of natural vegetation;
conversely, where these conditions do not exist, the practice
can have disastrous consequences for the environment.
soil degradation - damage to the land's productive capacity
because of poor agricultural practices such as the excessive use
of pesticides or fertilizers, soil compaction from heavy equipment,
or erosion of topsoil, eventually resulting in reduced ability
to produce agricultural products.
soil erosion - the removal of soil by the action of water
or wind, compounded by poor agricultural practices, deforestation,
overgrazing, and desertification.
ultraviolet (UV) radiation - a portion of the electromagnetic
energy emitted by the sun and naturally filtered in the upper
atmosphere by the ozone layer; UV radiation can be harmful to
living organisms and has been linked to increasing rates of skin
cancer in humans.
water-born diseases - those in which the bacteria survive
in, and is transmitted through, water; always a serious threat
in areas with an untreated water supply.
|
Environment
- international agreements |
This entry separates country
participation in international environmental agreements into two
levels - party to and signed but not ratified. Agreements
are listed in alphabetical order by the abbreviated form of the
full name. |
Environmental
agreements |
This information is presented
in Appendix C: Selected International Environmental Agreements,
which includes the name, abbreviation, date opened for signature,
date entered into force, objective, and parties by category.
|
Ethnic
groups |
This entry provides a rank
ordering of ethnic groups starting with the largest and normally
includes the percent of total population. |
Exchange
rates |
This entry provides the
official value of a country's monetary unit at a given date or over
a given period of time, as expressed in units of local currency
per US dollar and as determined by international market forces or
official fiat. |
Executive
branch |
This entry includes several
subfields. Chief of state includes the name and title of
the titular leader of the country who represents the state at official
and ceremonial functions but may not be involved with the day-to-day
activities of the government. Head of government includes
the name and title of the top administrative leader who is designated
to manage the day-to-day activities of the government. For example,
in the UK, the monarch is the chief of state, and the prime minister
is the head of government. In the US, the president is both the
chief of state and the head of government. Cabinet includes
the official name for this body of high-ranking advisers and the
method for selection of members. Elections includes the nature
of election process or accession to power, date of the last election,
and date of the next election. Election results includes
the percent of vote for each candidate in the last election. |
Exports
|
This entry provides the
total US dollar amount of exports on an f.o.b. (free on board) basis.
|
Exports
- commodities |
This entry provides a rank
ordering of exported products starting with the most important;
it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value. |
Exports
- partners |
This entry provides a rank
ordering of trading partners starting with the most important; it
sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value. |
Fiscal
year |
This entry identifies the
beginning and ending months for a country's accounting period of
12 months, which often is the calendar year but which may begin
in any month. All yearly references are for the calendar year (CY)
unless indicated as a noncalendar fiscal year (FY). |
Flag
description |
This entry provides a written
flag description produced from actual flags or the best information
available at the time the entry was written. The flags of independent
states are used by their dependencies unless there is an officially
recognized local flag. Some disputed and other areas do not have
flags. |
Flag
graphic |
Most versions of the Factbook
include a color flag at the beginning of the country profile.
The flag graphics were produced from actual flags or the best information
available at the time of preparation. The flags of independent states
are used by their dependencies unless there is an officially recognized
local flag. Some disputed and other areas do not have flags. |
GDP |
This entry gives the gross
domestic product (GDP) or value of all final goods and services
produced within a nation in a given year. GDP dollar estimates in
the Factbook are derived from purchasing power parity (PPP)
calculations. See the note on GDP methodology for more information.
|
GDP methodology
|
In the Economy section,
GDP dollar estimates for all countries are derived from purchasing
power parity (PPP) calculations rather than from conversions at
official currency exchange rates. The PPP method involves the use
of standardized international dollar price weights, which are applied
to the quantities of final goods and services produced in a given
economy. The data derived from the PPP method provide the best
available starting point for comparisons of economic strength and
well-being between countries. The division of a GDP estimate in
domestic currency by the corresponding PPP estimate in dollars gives
the PPP conversion rate. Whereas PPP estimates for OECD countries
are quite reliable, PPP estimates for developing countries are often
rough approximations. Most of the GDP estimates are based on extrapolation
of PPP numbers published by the UN International Comparison Program
(UNICP) and by Professors Robert Summers and Alan Heston of the
University of Pennsylvania and their colleagues. In contrast, the
currency exchange rate method involves a variety of international
and domestic financial forces that often have little relation to
domestic output. In developing countries with weak currencies the
exchange rate estimate of GDP in dollars is typically one-fourth
to one-half the PPP estimate. Furthermore, exchange rates may suddenly
go up or down by 10% or more because of market forces or official
fiat whereas real output has remained unchanged. On 12 January 1994,
for example, the 14 countries of the African Financial Community
(whose currencies are tied to the French franc) devalued their currencies
by 50%. This move, of course, did not cut the real output of these
countries by half. One important caution: the proportion of, say,
defense expenditures as a percentage of GDP in local currency accounts
may differ substantially from the proportion when GDP accounts are
expressed in PPP terms, as, for example, when an observer tries
to estimate the dollar level of Russian or Japanese military expenditures.
Note: the numbers for GDP and other economic data can not be
chained together from successive volumes of the Factbook
because of changes in the US dollar measuring rod, revisions of
data by statistical agencies, use of new or different sources of
information, and changes in national statistical methods and practices.
|
GDP -
composition by sector |
This entry gives the percentage
contribution of agriculture, industry, and services
to total GDP. |
GDP -
per capita |
This entry shows GDP on
a purchasing power parity basis divided by population as of 1 July
for the same year. |
GDP -
real growth rate |
This entry gives GDP growth
on an annual basis adjusted for inflation and expressed as a percent.
|
Geographic
coordinates |
This entry includes rounded
latitude and longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate
geographic center of an entity and is based on the Gazetteer
of Conventional Names, Third Edition, August 1988, US Board
on Geographic Names and on other sources. |
Geographic
names |
This information is presented
in Appendix F: Cross-Reference List of Geographic Names.
It includes a listing of various alternate names, former names,
local names, and regional names referenced to one or more related
Factbook entries. Spellings are normally, but not always,
those approved by the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN). Alternate
names and additional information are included in parentheses.
|
Geography
|
This category includes
the entries dealing with the natural environment and the effects
of human activity. |
Geography
- note |
This entry includes miscellaneous
geographic information of significance not included elsewhere. |
GNP |
Gross national product
(GNP) is the value of all final goods and services produced within
a nation in a given year, plus income earned by its citizens abroad,
minus income earned by foreigners from domestic production. The
Factbook, following current practice, uses GDP rather
than GNP to measure national production. However, the user must
realize that in certain countries net remittances from citizens
working abroad may be important to national well-being. |
Government
|
This category includes
the entries dealing with the system for the adoption and administration
of public policy. |
Government
type |
This entry gives the basic
form of government (e.g., republic, constitutional monarchy, federal
republic, parliamentary democracy, military dictatorship). |
Government
- note |
This entry includes miscellaneous
government information of significance not included elsewhere. |
Gross
domestic product |
see GDP |
Gross
national product |
see GNP |
Gross
world product |
see GWP |
GWP |
This entry gives the gross
world product (GWP) or aggregate value of all final goods and services
produced worldwide in a given year. |
Heliports
|
This entry gives the total
number of established helicopter takeoff and landing sites (which
may or may not have fuel or other services). |
Highways
|
This entry states the total
length of the highway system and the length of the paved
and unpaved parts. |
HIV/AIDS
– adult prevalence rate |
This entry gives an estimate
of the percentage of adults (aged 15-49) living with HIV/AIDS. The
adult prevalence rate is calculated by dividing the estimated number
of adults living with HIV/AIDS at yearend by the total adult population
at yearend. |
HIV/AIDS
– deaths |
This entry gives an estimate
of the number of adults and children who died of AIDS during a given
calendar year. |
HIV/AIDS
– people living with HIV/AIDS |
This entry gives an estimate
of all people (adults and children) alive at yearend with HIV infection,
whether or not they have developed symptoms of AIDS. |
Household
income or consumption by percentage share |
Data on household income
or consumption come from household surveys, the results adjusted
for household size. Nations use different standards and procedures
in collecting and adjusting the data. Surveys based on income will
normally show a more unequal distribution than surveys based on
consumption. The quality of surveys is improving with time, yet
caution is still necessary in making inter-country comparisons.
|
Hydrographic
data codes |
see Data codes |
Illicit
drugs |
This entry gives information
on the five categories of illicit drugs - narcotics, stimulants,
depressants (sedatives), hallucinogens, and cannabis. These categories
include many drugs legally produced and prescribed by doctors as
well as those illegally produced and sold outside of medical channels.
Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) is the common hemp plant, which
provides hallucinogens with some sedative properties, and includes
marijuana (pot, Acapulco gold, grass, reefer), tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC, Marinol), hashish (hash), and hashish oil (hash oil).
Coca (mostly Erythroxylum coca) is a bush with leaves that
contain the stimulant used to make cocaine. Coca is not to be confused
with cocoa, which comes from cacao seeds and is used in making chocolate,
cocoa, and cocoa butter.
Cocaine is a stimulant derived from the leaves of the coca
bush.
Depressants (sedatives) are drugs that reduce tension and anxiety
and include chloral hydrate, barbiturates (Amytal, Nembutal, Seconal,
phenobarbital), benzodiazepines (Librium, Valium), methaqualone
(Quaalude), glutethimide (Doriden), and others (Equanil, Placidyl,
Valmid).
Drugs are any chemical substances that effect a physical, mental,
emotional, or behavioral change in an individual.
Drug abuse is the use of any licit or illicit chemical substance
that results in physical, mental, emotional, or behavioral impairment
in an individual.
Hallucinogens are drugs that affect sensation, thinking, self-awareness,
and emotion. Hallucinogens include LSD (acid, microdot), mescaline
and peyote (mexc, buttons, cactus), amphetamine variants (PMA, STP,
DOB), phencyclidine (PCP, angel dust, hog), phencyclidine analogues
(PCE, PCPy, TCP), and others (psilocybin, psilocyn).
Hashish is the resinous exudate of the cannabis or hemp plant
(Cannabis sativa).
Heroin is a semisynthetic derivative of morphine.
Mandrax is a trade name for methaqualone, a pharmaceutical
depressant.
Marijuana is the dried leaf of the cannabis or hemp plant (Cannabis
sativa).
Methaqualone is a pharmaceutical depressant, referred to as
mandrax in Southwest Asia and Africa.
Narcotics are drugs that relieve pain, often induce sleep,
and refer to opium, opium derivatives, and synthetic substitutes.
Natural narcotics include opium (paregoric, parepectolin), morphine
(MS-Contin, Roxanol), codeine (Tylenol with codeine, Empirin with
codeine, Robitussan AC), and thebaine. Semisynthetic narcotics include
heroin (horse, smack), and hydromorphone (Dilaudid). Synthetic narcotics
include meperidine or Pethidine (Demerol, Mepergan), methadone (Dolophine,
Methadose), and others (Darvon, Lomotil).
Opium is the brown, gummy exudate of the incised, unripe seedpod
of the opium poppy.
Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is the source for the natural
and semisynthetic narcotics.
Poppy straw concentrate is the alkaloid derived from the mature,
dried opium poppy.
Qat (kat, khat) is a stimulant from the buds or leaves of Catha
edulis that is chewed or drunk as tea.
Quaaludes is the North American slang term for methaqualone,
a pharmaceutical depressant.
Stimulants are drugs that relieve mild depression, increase
energy and activity, and include cocaine (coke, snow, crack), amphetamines
(Desoxyn, Dexedrine), ephedrine, ecstasy (clarity, essence, doctor,
Adam), phenmetrazine (Preludin), methylphenidate (Ritalin), and
others (Cylert, Sanorex, Tenuate). |
Imports
|
This entry provides the
total US dollar amount of imports on a c.i.f. (cost, insurance,
and freight) or f.o.b. (free on board) basis. |
Imports
- commodities |
This entry provides a rank
ordering of imported products starting with the most important;
it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value. |
Imports
- partners |
This entry provides a rank
ordering of trading partners starting with the most important; it
sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value. |
Independence
|
For most countries, this
entry gives the date that sovereignty was achieved and from which
nation, empire, or trusteeship. For the other countries, the date
given may not represent "independence" in the strict sense,
but rather some significant nationhood event such as the traditional
founding date or the date of unification, federation, confederation,
establishment, fundamental change in the form of government, or
state succession. Dependent areas include the notation "none"
followed by the nature of their dependency status. Also see the
Terminology note. |
Industrial
production growth rate |
This entry gives the annual
percentage increase in industrial production (includes manufacturing,
mining, and construction). |
Industries
|
This entry provides a rank
ordering of industries starting with the largest by value of annual
output. |
Infant
mortality rate |
This entry gives the number
of deaths of infants under one year old in a given year per 1,000
live births in the same year. This rate is often used as an indicator
of the level of health in a country. |
Inflation
rate (consumer prices) |
This entry furnishes the
annual percent change in consumer prices compared with the previous
year’s consumer prices. |
Internet
country code |
This entry includes the
two-letter codes maintained by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) in the ISO 3166 Alpha-2 list and used by the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to establish country-coded
top-level domains (ccTLDs). |
Internet
Service Providers (ISPs) |
This entry supplies
the number of Internet Service Providers within a country. An ISP
is defined as a company that provides access to the Internet. |
Internet
users |
This entry gives the number
of users within a country that access the Internet. Statistics
vary from country to country and may include users who access the
Internet at least several times a week to those who access it only
once within a period of several months. |
International
disputes |
see Disputes - international
|
International
organization participation |
This entry lists in alphabetical
order by abbreviation those international organizations in which
the subject country is a member or participates in some other way.
|
International
organizations |
This information is presented
in Appendix B: International Organizations and Groups which
includes the name, abbreviation, date established, aim, and members
by category. |
Introduction
|
This category includes
one entry, Background. |
Irrigated
land |
This entry gives the number
of square kilometers of land area that is artificially supplied
with water. |
Judicial
branch |
This entry contains the
name(s) of the highest court(s) and a brief description of the selection
process for members. |
Labor
force |
This entry contains the
total labor force figure. |
Labor
force - by occupation |
This entry contains a rank
ordering of component parts of the labor force by occupation. |
Land
boundaries |
This entry contains the
total length of all land boundaries and the individual lengths for
each of the contiguous border countries. |
Land
use |
This entry contains the
percentage shares of total land area for three different types of
land use: arable land - land cultivated for crops that are
replanted after each harvest like wheat, maize, and rice; permanent
crops - land cultivated for crops that are not replanted after
each harvest like citrus, coffee, and rubber; includes land under
flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees, and vines, but excludes
land under trees grown for wood or timber; other - any land
not arable or under permanent crops; includes permanent meadows
and pastures, forests and woodlands, built-on areas, roads, barren
land, etc. |
Languages
|
This entry provides a rank
ordering of languages starting with the largest and sometimes includes
the percent of total population speaking that language. |
Legal
system |
This entry contains a brief
description of the legal system's historical roots, role in government,
and acceptance of International Court of Justice (ICJ) jurisdiction.
|
Legislative
branch |
This entry contains information
on the structure (unicameral, bicameral, tricameral), formal name,
number of seats, and term of office. Elections includes the
nature of election process or accession to power, date of the last
election, and date of the next election. Election results
includes the percent of vote and/or number of seats held by each
party in the last election. |
Life
expectancy at birth |
This entry contains the
average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in
the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the
future. The entry includes total population as well as the male
and female components. Life expectancy at birth is also a measure
of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes the mortality
at all ages. It can also be thought of as indicating the potential
return on investment in human capital and is necessary for the calculation
of various actuarial measures. |
Literacy
|
This entry includes a definition
of literacy and Census Bureau percentages for the total population,
males, and females. There are no universal definitions and standards
of literacy. Unless otherwise specified, all rates are based on
the most common definition - the ability to read and write at a
specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries
use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope
of the Factbook. Information on literacy, while not a perfect
measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available
and valid for international comparisons. Low levels of literacy,
and education in general, can impede the economic development of
a country in the current rapidly changing, technology-driven world.
|
Location
|
This entry identifies the
country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent
bodies of water. |
Map references
|
This entry includes the
name of the Factbook reference map on which a country may
be found. The entry on Geographic coordinates may be helpful
in finding some smaller countries. |
Maritime
claims |
This entry includes the
following claims, the definitions of which are excerpted from the
Law of the Sea (LOS) Convention, which alone contains the full and
definitive descriptions:
contiguous zone - according to the LOS Convention (Article
33), this is a zone contiguous to a coastal State’s territorial
sea, over which it may exercise the control necessary to: prevent
infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration, or sanitary laws
and regulations within its territory or territorial sea; punish
infringement of the above laws and regulations committed within
its territory or territorial sea; the contiguous zone may not extend
beyond 24 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth
of the territorial sea is measured (e.g. the US has claimed a 12-mile
contiguous zone in addition to its 12-mile territorial sea)
continental shelf - the LOS Convention (Article 76) defines
the continental shelf of a coastal State as comprising the seabed
and subsoil of the submarine areas that extend beyond its territorial
sea throughout the natural prolongation of its land territory to
the outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200
nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the
territorial sea is measured where the outer edge of the continental
margin does not extend up to that distance; the continental margin
comprises the submerged prolongation of the landmass of the coastal
State, and consists of the seabed and subsoil of the shelf, the
slope and the rise; it does not include the deep ocean floor with
its oceanic ridges or the subsoil thereof
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) - the LOS Convention (Part V)
defines the EEZ as a zone beyond and adjacent to the territorial
sea in which a coastal State has: sovereign rights for the purpose
of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural
resources, whether living or non-living, of the waters superjacent
to the seabed and of the seabed and its subsoil, and with regard
to other activities for the economic exploitation and exploration
of the zone, such as the production of energy from the water, currents,
and winds; jurisdiction with regard to the establishment and use
of artificial islands, installations, and structures; marine scientific
research; the protection and preservation of the marine environment;
the outer limit of the exclusive economic zone shall not exceed
200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of
the territorial sea is measured
exclusive fishing zone - while this term is not used in the
LOS Convention, some States (e.g. the United Kingdom) have chosen
not to claim an EEZ, but rather to claim jurisdiction over the living
resources off their coast; in such cases, the term exclusive fishing
zone is often used
territorial sea - the sovereignty of a coastal State extends
beyond its land territory and internal waters to an adjacent belt
of sea, described as the territorial sea in the LOS Convention (Part
II); this sovereignty extends to the air space over the territorial
sea as well as its underlying seabed and subsoil; every State has
the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to
a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles |
Merchant
marine |
Merchant marine may be
defined as all ships engaged in the carriage of goods; or all commercial
vessels (as opposed to all nonmilitary ships), which excludes tugs,
fishing vessels, offshore oil rigs, etc.; or a grouping of merchant
ships by nationality or register. This entry contains information
in two subfields - total and ships by type. Total
includes the total number of ships (1,000 GRT or over), total DWT
for those ships, and total GRT for those ships. DWT or dead weight
tonnage is the total weight of cargo, plus bunkers, stores, etc.
that a ship can carry when immersed to the appropriate load line.
GRT or gross register tonnage is a figure obtained by measuring
the entire sheltered volume of the ship available for cargo and
passengers and converting it to tons on the basis of 100 cubic feet
per ton; there is no stable relationship between GRT and DWT. Ships
by type includes a listing of barge carriers, bulk cargo ships,
cargo ships, chemical tankers, combination bulk carriers, combination
ore/oil carriers, container ships, liquefied gas tankers, livestock
carriers, multifunctional large-load carriers, petroleum tankers,
passenger ships, passenger/cargo ships, railcar carriers, refrigerated
cargo ships, roll-on/roll-off cargo ships, short-sea passenger ships,
specialized tankers, and vehicle carriers.
A captive register is a register of ships maintained by a
territory, possession, or colony primarily or exclusively for the
use of ships owned in the parent country; it is also referred to
as an offshore register, the offshore equivalent of an internal
register. Ships on a captive register will fly the same flag as
the parent country, or a local variant of it, but will be subject
to the maritime laws and taxation rules of the offshore territory.
Although the nature of a captive register makes it especially desirable
for ships owned in the parent country, just as in the internal register,
the ships may also be owned abroad. The captive register then acts
as a flag of convenience register, except that it is not the register
of an independent state.
A flag of convenience register is a national register offering
registration to a merchant ship not owned in the flag state. The
major flags of convenience (FOC) attract ships to their registers
by virtue of low fees, low or nonexistent taxation of profits, and
liberal manning requirements. True FOC registers are characterized
by having relatively few of the registered ships actually owned
in the flag state. Thus, while virtually any flag can be used for
ships under a given set of circumstances, an FOC register is one
where the majority of the merchant fleet is owned abroad. It is
also referred to as an open register.
A flag state is the nation in which a ship is registered and
which holds legal jurisdiction over operation of the ship, whether
at home or abroad. Maritime legislation of the flag state determines
how a ship is crewed and taxed and whether a foreign-owned ship
may be placed on the register.
An internal register is a register of ships maintained as a
subset of a national register. Ships on the internal register fly
the national flag and have that nationality but are subject to a
separate set of maritime rules from those on the main national register.
These differences usually include lower taxation of profits, use
of foreign nationals as crewmembers, and, usually, ownership outside
the flag state (when it functions as an FOC register). The Norwegian
International Ship Register and Danish International Ship Register
are the most notable examples of an internal register. Both have
been instrumental in stemming flight from the national flag to flags
of convenience and in attracting foreign-owned ships to the Norwegian
and Danish flags.
A merchant ship is a vessel that carries goods against payment
of freight; it is commonly used to denote any nonmilitary ship but
accurately restricted to commercial vessels only.
A register is the record of a ship's ownership and nationality
as listed with the maritime authorities of a country; also, it is
the compendium of such individual ships' registrations. Registration
of a ship provides it with a nationality and makes it subject to
the laws of the country in which registered (the flag state) regardless
of the nationality of the ship's ultimate owner. |
Military
|
This category includes
the entries dealing with a country's military structure, manpower,
and expenditures. |
Military
branches |
This entry lists the names
of the ground, naval, air, marine, and other defense or security
forces. |
Military
expenditures - dollar figure |
This entry gives current
military expenditures in US dollars; the figure is calculated by
multiplying the estimated defense spending in percentage terms by
the gross domestic product (GDP) calculated on an exchange rate
basis not purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. Dollar
figures for military expenditures should be treated with caution
because of different price patterns and accounting methods among
nations, as well as wide variations in the strength of their currencies.
|
Military
expenditures - percent of GDP |
This entry gives current
military expenditures as an estimated percent of gross domestic
product (GDP). |
Military
manpower - availability |
This entry gives the total
numbers of males and females age 15-49 and assumes that every individual
is fit to serve. |
Military
manpower - fit for military service |
This entry gives the number
of males and females age 15-49 fit for military service. This is
a more refined measure of potential military manpower availability
which tries to correct for the health situation in the country and
reduces the maximum potential number to a more realistic estimate
of the actual number fit to serve. |
Military
manpower - military age |
This entry gives the minimum
age at which an individual may volunteer for military service or
be subject to conscription. |
Military
manpower - reaching military age annually |
This entry gives the number
of draft-age males and females entering the military manpower pool
in any given year and is a measure of the availability of draft-age
young adults. |
Military
- note |
This entry includes miscellaneous
military information of significance not included elsewhere. |
Money
figures |
All money figures are expressed
in contemporaneous US dollars unless otherwise indicated. |
National
holiday |
This entry gives the primary
national day of celebration - usually independence day. |
Nationality
|
This entry provides the
identifying terms for citizens - noun and adjective.
|
Natural
hazards |
This entry lists potential
natural disasters. |
Natural
resources |
This entry lists a country's
mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial
importance. |
Net migration
rate |
This entry includes the
figure for the difference between the number of persons entering
and leaving a country during the year per 1,000 persons (based on
midyear population). An excess of persons entering the country is
referred to as net immigration (e.g., 3.56 migrants/1,000 population);
an excess of persons leaving the country as net emigration (e.g.,
-9.26 migrants/1,000 population). The net migration rate indicates
the contribution of migration to the overall level of population
change. High levels of migration can cause problems such as increasing
unemployment and potential ethnic strife (if people are coming in)
or a reduction in the labor force, perhaps in certain key sectors
(if people are leaving). |
People
|
This category includes
the entries dealing with the characteristics of the people and their
society. |
People
- note |
This entry includes miscellaneous
demographic information of significance not included elsewhere.
|
Personal
Names - Capitalization |
The Factbook capitalizes
the surname or family name of individuals for the convenience of
our users who are faced with a world of different cultures and naming
conventions. An example would be President SADDAM Husayn of Iraq.
Saddam is his name and Husayn is his father's name. He may
be referred to as President SADDAM Husayn or President SADDAM, but
not President Husayn. The need for capitalization, bold type,
underlining, italics, or some other indicator of the individual's
surname is apparent in the following examples: MAO Zedong, Fidel
CASTRO Ruz, George W. BUSH, and TUNKU SALAHUDDIN Abdul Aziz Shah
ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Hisammuddin Alam Shah. By knowing the surname,
a short form without all capital letters can be used with confidence
as in President Saddam, President Castro, Chairman Mao, President
Bush, or Sultan Tunku Salahuddin. The same system of capitalization
is extended to the names of leaders with surnames that are not commonly
used such as Queen ELIZABETH II. |
Personal
Names - Spelling |
The romanization of personal
names in the Factbook normally follows the same transliteration
system used by the US Board on Geographic Names for spelling place
names. At times, however, a foreign leader expressly indicates
a preference for, or the media or official documents regularly use,
a romanized spelling that differs from the transliteration derived
from the US Government standard. In such cases, the Factbook
uses the alternative spelling. |
Personal
Names - Titles |
The Factbook capitalizes
any valid title (or short form of it) immediately preceding a person's
name. A title standing alone is lowercased. Examples: President
PUTIN and President BUSH are chiefs of state. In Russia, the president
is chief of state and the premier is the head of the government,
while in the US, the president is both chief of state and head of
government. |
Pipelines
|
This entry gives the lengths
and types of pipelines for transporting products like natural gas,
crude oil, or petroleum products. |
Political
parties and leaders |
This entry includes a listing
of significant political organizations and their leaders. |
Political
pressure groups and leaders |
This entry includes a listing
of organizations with leaders involved in politics, but not standing
for legislative election. |
Population
|
This entry gives an estimate
from the US Bureau of the Census based on statistics from population
censuses, vital statistics registration systems, or sample surveys
pertaining to the recent past and on assumptions about future trends.
The total population presents one overall measure of the potential
impact of the country on the world and within its region. Note:
starting with the 1993 Factbook, demographic estimates for
some countries (mostly African) have explicitly taken into account
the effects of the growing impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. These
countries are currently: The Bahamas, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina
Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire,
Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Lesotho,
Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland,
Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. |
Population
below poverty line |
National estimates of the
percentage of the population lying below the poverty line are based
on surveys of sub-groups, with the results weighted by the number
of people in each group. Definitions of poverty vary considerably
among nations. For example, rich nations generally employ more generous
standards of poverty than poor nations. |
Population
growth rate |
The average annual percent
change in the population, resulting from a surplus (or deficit)
of births over deaths and the balance of migrants entering and leaving
a country. The rate may be positive or negative. The growth rate
is a factor in determining how great a burden would be imposed on
a country by the changing needs of its people for infrastructure
(e.g., schools, hospitals, housing, roads), resources (e.g., food,
water, electricity), and jobs. Rapid population growth can be seen
as threatening by neighboring countries. |
Ports
and harbors |
This entry lists the major
ports and harbors selected on the basis of overall importance to
each country. This is determined by evaluating a number of factors
(e.g., dollar value of goods handled, gross tonnage, facilities,
military significance). |
Radio
broadcast stations |
This entry includes the
total number of AM, FM, and shortwave broadcast stations. |
Radios |
This entry gives the total
number of radio receivers. |
Railways
|
This entry states the total
route length of the railway network and of its component parts
by gauge: broad, dual, narrow, standard,
and other. |
Reference
maps |
This section includes world
and regional maps. |
Religions
|
This entry includes a rank
ordering of religions by adherents starting with the largest group
and sometimes includes the percent of total population. |
Sex ratio
|
This entry includes the
number of males for each female in five age groups - at birth,
under 15 years, 15-64 years, 65 years and over,
and for the total population. Sex ratio at birth has recently
emerged as an indicator of certain kinds of sex discrimination in
some countries. For instance, high sex ratios at birth in some Asian
countries are now attributed to sex-selective abortion and infanticide
due to a strong preference for sons. This will affect future marriage
patterns and fertility patterns. Eventually it could cause unrest
among young adult males who are unable to find partners. |
Suffrage
|
This entry gives the age
at enfranchisement and whether the right to vote is universal or
restricted. |
Telephone
numbers |
All telephone numbers in
the Factbook consist of the country code in brackets, the
city or area code (where required) in parentheses, and the local
number. The one component that is not presented is the international
access code, which varies from country to country. For example,
an international direct dial telephone call placed from the US to
Madrid, Spain, would be as follows: 011 [34] (1) 577-xxxx,
where 011 is the international access code for station-to-station
calls; 01 is for calls other than station-to-station calls,
[34] is the country code for Spain, (1) is the city
code for Madrid, 577 is the local exchange, and
xxxx is the local telephone number.
An international direct dial telephone call placed from another
country to the US would be as follows: international access
code + [1] (202) 939-xxxx, where [1] is the country code
for the US, (202) is the area code for Washington, DC,
939 is the local exchange, and xxxx is the local telephone
number. |
Telephone
system |
This entry includes a brief
characterization of the system with details on the domestic
and international components. The following terms and abbreviations
are used throughout the entry:
Africa ONE - a fiber-optic submarine cable link encircling
the continent of Africa.
Arabsat - Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia).
Autodin - Automatic Digital Network (US Department of Defense).
CB - citizen’s band mobile radio communications.
cellular telephone system - the telephones in this system are
radio transceivers, with each instrument having its own private
radio frequency and sufficient radiated power to reach the booster
station in its area (cell), from which the telephone signal is fed
to a telephone exchange.
Central American Microwave System - a trunk microwave radio
relay system that links the countries of Central America and Mexico
with each other.
coaxial cable - a multichannel communication cable consisting
of a central conducting wire, surrounded by and insulated from a
cylindrical conducting shell; a large number of telephone channels
can be made available within the insulated space by the use of a
large number of carrier frequencies.
Comsat - Communications Satellite Corporation (US).
DSN - Defense Switched Network (formerly Automatic Voice Network
or Autovon); basic general-purpose, switched voice network of the
Defense Communications System (US Department of Defense).
Eutelsat - European Telecommunications Satellite Organization
(Paris).
fiber-optic cable - a multichannel communications cable using
a thread of optical glass fibers as a transmission medium in which
the signal (voice, video, etc.) is in the form of a coded pulse
of light.
GSM - a global system for mobile (cellular) communications
devised by the Groupe Special Mobile of the pan-European standardization
organization, Conference Europeanne des Posts et Telecommunications
(CEPT) in 1982.
HF - high frequency; any radio frequency in the 3,000- to 30,000-kHz
range.
Inmarsat - International Mobile Satellite Organization (London);
provider of global mobile satellite communications for commercial,
distress, and safety applications at sea, in the air, and on land.
Intelsat - International Telecommunications Satellite Organization
(Washington, DC).
Intersputnik - International Organization of Space Communications
(Moscow); first established in the former Soviet Union and the East
European countries, it is now marketing its services worldwide with
earth stations in North America, Africa, and East Asia.
landline - communication wire or cable of any sort that is
installed on poles or buried in the ground.
Marecs - Maritime European Communications Satellite used in
the Inmarsat system on lease from the European Space Agency.
Marisat - satellites of the Comsat Corporation that participate
in the Inmarsat system.
Medarabtel - the Middle East Telecommunications Project of
the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) providing a modern
telecommunications network, primarily by microwave radio relay,
linking Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi
Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen; it was initially
started in Morocco in 1970 by the Arab Telecommunications Union
(ATU) and was known at that time as the Middle East Mediterranean
Telecommunications Network.
microwave radio relay - transmission of long distance telephone
calls and television programs by highly directional radio microwaves
that are received and sent on from one booster station to another
on an optical path.
NMT - Nordic Mobile Telephone; an analog cellular telephone
system that was developed jointly by the national telecommunications
authorities of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland,
Norway, and Sweden).
Orbita - a Russian television service; also the trade name
of a packet-switched digital telephone network.
radiotelephone communications - the two-way transmission and
reception of sounds by broadcast radio on authorized frequencies
using telephone handsets.
PanAmSat - PanAmSat Corporation (Greenwich, CT).
satellite communication system - a communication system consisting
of two or more earth stations and at least one satellite that provide
long distance transmission of voice, data, and television; the system
usually serves as a trunk connection between telephone exchanges;
if the earth stations are in the same country, it is a domestic
system.
satellite earth station - a communications facility with a
microwave radio transmitting and receiving antenna and required
receiving and transmitting equipment for communicating with satellites.
satellite link - a radio connection between a satellite and
an earth station permitting communication between them, either one-way
(down link from satellite to earth station - television receive-only
transmission) or two-way (telephone channels).
SHF – super high frequency; any radio frequency in the 3,000-
to 30,000-MHz range.
shortwave - radio frequencies (from 1.605 to 30 MHz) that fall
above the commercial broadcast band and are used for communication
over long distances.
Solidaridad - geosynchronous satellites in Mexico's system
of international telecommunications in the Western Hemisphere.
Statsionar - Russia's geostationary system for satellite telecommunications.
submarine cable - a cable designed for service under water.
TAT - Trans-Atlantic Telephone; any of a number of high-capacity
submarine coaxial telephone cables linking Europe with North America.
telefax - facsimile service between subscriber stations via
the public switched telephone network or the international Datel
network.
telegraph - a telecommunications system designed for unmodulated
electric impulse transmission.
telex - a communication service involving teletypewriters connected
by wire through automatic exchanges.
tropospheric scatter - a form of microwave radio transmission
in which the troposphere is used to scatter and reflect a fraction
of the incident radio waves back to earth; powerful, highly directional
antennas are used to transmit and receive the microwave signals;
reliable over-the-horizon communications are realized for distances
up to 600 miles in a single hop; additional hops can extend the
range of this system for very long distances.
trunk network - a network of switching centers, connected by
multichannel trunk lines.
UHF – ultra high frequency; any radio frequency in the 300-
to 3,000-MHz range.
VHF – very high frequency; any radio frequency in the 30- to
300-MHz range. |
Telephones
- main lines in use |
This entry gives the total
number of main telephone lines in use. |
Telephones
- mobile cellular |
This entry gives the total
number of mobile cellular telephones in use. |
Television
- broadcast stations |
This entry gives the total
number of separate broadcast stations plus any repeater stations.
|
Televisions |
This entry gives the total number of television
sets.
|
Terminology
|
Due to the highly structured
nature of the Factbook database, some collective generic
terms have to be used. For example, the word Country in the
Country name entry refers to a wide variety of dependencies,
areas of special sovereignty, uninhabited islands, and other entities
in addition to the traditional countries or independent states.
Military is also used as an umbrella term for various civil
defense, security, and defense activities in many entries. The Independence
entry includes the usual colonial independence dates and former
ruling states as well as other significant nationhood dates such
as the traditional founding date or the date of unification, federation,
confederation, establishment, or state succession that are not strictly
independence dates. Dependent areas have the nature of their dependency
status noted in this same entry. |
Terrain
|
This entry contains a brief
description of the topography. |
Total
fertility rate |
This entry gives a figure
for the average number of children that would be born per woman
if all women lived to the end of their childbearing years and bore
children according to a given fertility rate at each age. The total
fertility rate is a more direct measure of the level of fertility
than the crude birth rate, since it refers to births per woman.
This indicator shows the potential for population growth in the
country. High rates will also place some limits on the labor force
participation rates for women. Large numbers of children born to
women indicate large family sizes that might limit the ability of
the families to feed and educate their children. |
Transnational
Issues |
This category includes
only two entries at the present time - Disputes - international
and Illicit drugs - that deal with current issues going beyond
national boundaries. |
Transportation
|
This category includes
the entries dealing with the means for movement of people and goods.
|
Transportation
- note |
This entry includes miscellaneous
transportation information of significance not included elsewhere.
|
Unemployment
rate |
This entry contains the
percent of the labor force that is without jobs. Substantial underemployment
might be noted. |
Waterways
|
This entry gives the total
length and individual names of navigable rivers, canals, and other
inland bodies of water. |
Years
|
All year references are
for the calendar year (CY) unless indicated as fiscal year (FY).
The calendar year is an accounting period of 12 months from 1 January
to 31 December. The fiscal year is an accounting period of 12 months
other than 1 January to 31 December. |
Note: Information for the US and US dependencies was compiled from
material in the public domain and does not represent Intelligence
Community estimates. |
|