 |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)
Internet users: 900 (2002)
Transportation Wallis and Futuna
Airports: 2 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2006)
Merchant marine: total: 8 ships (1000 GRT or over) 110,428 GRT/56,830 DWT by type: chemical tanker 1, passenger 7 foreign-owned: 8 (France 5, French Polynesia 2, US 1) (2006)
Ports and terminals: Leava, Mata-Utu
Military Wallis and Futuna
Military - note: defense is the responsibility of France
Transnational Issues Wallis and Futuna
Disputes - international: none
This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007
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@West Bank
Background: The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington in September 1993, provided for a transitional period of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. A transfer of authority to the Palestinian Authority (PA) for the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and, in additional areas of the West Bank, pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and the West Bank began in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but were derailed by a second intifadah that broke out a year later. In April 2003, the Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) presented a roadmap to a final settlement of the conflict by 2005 based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to two states, Israel and a democratic Palestine. The proposed date for a permanent status agreement has been postponed indefinitely due to violence and accusations that both sides have not followed through on their commitments. Following Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT's death in late 2004, Mahmud ABBAS was elected PA president in January 2005. A month later, Israel and the PA agreed to the Sharm el-Sheikh Commitments in an effort to move the peace process forward. In September 2005, Israel withdrew all its settlers and soldiers and dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip and four northern West Bank settlements. Nonetheless, Israel controls maritime, airspace, and most access to the Gaza Strip. A November 2005 PA-Israeli agreement authorized the reopening of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt under joint PA and Egyptian control. In January 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS, won control of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The international community has refused to accept the HAMAS-led government because it does not recognize Israel, will not renounce violence, and refuses to honor previous peace agreements between Israel and the PA. Since March 2006, President Abbas has had little success negotiating with HAMAS to present a political platform acceptable to the international community so as to lift the economic siege on Palestinians. The PLC was unable to convene in late 2006 as a result of Israel's detention of many HAMAS PLC members and Israeli-imposed travel restrictions on other PLC members.
Geography West Bank
Location: Middle East, west of Jordan
Geographic coordinates: 32 00 N, 35 15 E
Map references: Middle East
Area: total: 5,860 sq km land: 5,640 sq km water: 220 sq km note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem No Man's Land are also included only as a means of depicting the entire area occupied by Israel in 1967
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Delaware
Land boundaries: total: 404 km border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters
Terrain: mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m
Natural resources: arable land
Land use: arable land: 16.9% permanent crops: 18.97% other: 64.13% (2001)
Irrigated land: 150 sq km; note - includes Gaza Strip (2003)
Natural hazards: droughts
Environment - current issues: adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment
Geography - note: landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 242 West Bank settlements and 29 East Jerusalem settlements in addition to at least 20 occupied outposts (August 2005 est.)
People West Bank
Population: 2,460,492 note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2004 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.9% (male 541,110/female 515,202) 15-64 years: 53.7% (male 676,427/female 644,347) 65 years and over: 3.4% (male 35,440/female 47,966) (2006 est.)
Median age: total: 18.3 years male: 18.2 years female: 18.5 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.06% (2006 est.)
Birth rate: 31.67 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 3.92 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate: 2.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 19.15 deaths/1,000 live births male: 21.12 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 73.27 years male: 71.5 years female: 75.15 years (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate: 4.28 children born/woman (2006 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun: NA adjective: NA
Ethnic groups: Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17%
Religions: Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8%
Languages: Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 91.9% male: 96.3% female: 87.4% (2003 est.)
Government West Bank
Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: West Bank
Economy West Bank
Economy - overview: The West Bank - the larger of the two areas under the Palestinian Authority (PA) - has experienced a general decline in economic conditions since the second intifadah began in September 2000. The downturn has been largely the result of Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border closures in response to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted labor and trading relationships. In 2001, and even more severely in 2002, Israeli military measures in PA areas resulted in the destruction of capital, the disruption of administrative structures, and widespread business closures. International aid of at least $1.14 billion to the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2004 prevented the complete collapse of the economy and allowed some reforms in the government's financial operations. In 2005, high unemployment and limited trade opportunities - due to continued closures both within the West Bank and externally - stymied growth. Israel's and the international community's financial embargo of the PA since HAMAS took office in March 2006 has interrupted the provision of PA social services and the payment of PA salaries.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $5.327 billion (2005 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $3.45 billion (2003)
GDP - real growth rate: 4.9% (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,500 (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 8% industry: 18.2% services: 73.9% note: includes Gaza Strip (2005 est.)
Labor force: 568,000 (2005)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 16% industry: 29% services: 55% (2005)
Unemployment rate: 20.3% (includes Gaza Strip) (2005)
Population below poverty line: 45.7% including Gaza Strip (2005)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.9% (includes Gaza Strip) (2005)
Budget: revenues: $1.23 billion expenditures: $1.64 billion; including capital expenditures of $44 million ; note - these budget data include Gaza Strip (2005)
Agriculture - products: olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products
Industries: generally small family businesses that produce cement, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some small-scale, modern industries in the settlements and industrial centers
Industrial production growth rate: 2.4%
Electricity - production: NA kWh; note - most electricity imported from Israel; East Jerusalem Electric Company buys and distributes electricity to Palestinians in East Jerusalem and its concession in the West Bank; the Israel Electric Company directly supplies electricity to most Jewish residents and military facilities; some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin, generate their own electricity from small power plants
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption: NA kWh
Electricity - imports: NA kWh
Exports: $313 million f.o.b.; note - includes Gaza Strip (2004)
Exports - commodities: olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone
Exports - partners: Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2004)
Imports: $2.37 billion c.i.f.; note - includes Gaza Strip (2004)
Imports - commodities: food, consumer goods, construction materials
Imports - partners: Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2004)
Debt - external: NA
Economic aid - recipient: $1.14 billion; note - includes Gaza Strip (2004)
Currency (code): new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD)
Currency code: ILS; JOD
Exchange rates: new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.4877 (2005), 4.482 (2004), 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications West Bank
Telephones - main lines in use: 357,300 (includes Gaza Strip) (2004)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 1.095 million (includes Gaza Strip) (2005)
Telephone system: general assessment: NA domestic: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for fixed line services in the Gaza Strip; the Palestinian JAWAL company provides cellular services international: country code - 970
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 20, shortwave 0 (2005)
Radios: NA; note - most Palestinian households have radios (1999)
Television broadcast stations: 8 (2005)
Televisions: NA; note - many Palestinian households have televisions (1999)
Internet country code: .ps
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 8 (1999)
Internet users: 243,000 (includes Gaza Strip) (2005)
Transportation West Bank
Airports: 3 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2006)
Roadways: total: 4,996 km paved: 4,996 km note: includes Gaza Strip (2004)
Military West Bank
Military expenditures - dollar figure: NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: NA
Transnational Issues West Bank
Disputes - international: West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel withdrew from four settlements in the northern West Bank in August 2005; since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), headquartered in Jerusalem, monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region
Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 705,207 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)) (2006)
This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007
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@Western Sahara
Background: Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed.
Geography Western Sahara
Location: Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco
Geographic coordinates: 24 30 N, 13 00 W
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 266,000 sq km land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative: about the size of Colorado
Land boundaries: total: 2,046 km border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km
Coastline: 1,110 km
Maritime claims: contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue
Climate: hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew
Terrain: mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m highest point: unnamed location 463 m
Natural resources: phosphates, iron ore
Land use: arable land: 0.02% permanent crops: 0% other: 99.98% (2005)
Irrigated land: NA
Natural hazards: hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility
Environment - current issues: sparse water and lack of arable land
Environment - international agreements: party to: none of the selected agreements signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas
People Western Sahara
Population: 273,008 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: NA 15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA (2006 est.)
Population growth rate: NA
Birth rate: NA births/1,000 population
Death rate: NA deaths/1,000 population
Sex ratio: NA
Infant mortality rate: total: NA male: NA female: NA
Life expectancy at birth: total population: NA years male: NA years female: NA years
Total fertility rate: NA children born/woman
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: may be a significant risk in some locations during the transmission season (typically April through November) (2007)
Nationality: noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s) adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian
Ethnic groups: Arab, Berber
Religions: Muslim
Languages: Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic
Literacy: NA
Government Western Sahara
Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara
Government type: legal status of territory and issue of sovereignty unresolved; territory contested by Morocco and Polisario Front (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro), which in February 1976 formally proclaimed a government-in-exile of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), led by President Mohamed ABDELAZIZ; territory partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania in April 1976, with Morocco acquiring northern two-thirds; Mauritania, under pressure from Polisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979; Morocco moved to occupy that sector shortly thereafter and has since asserted administrative control; the Polisario's government-in-exile was seated as an Organization of African Unity (OAU) member in 1984; guerrilla activities continued sporadically, until a UN-monitored cease-fire was implemented 6 September 1991
Capital: none time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions: none (under de facto control of Morocco)
Suffrage: none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed
Executive branch: none
Political pressure groups and leaders: none
International organization participation: none
Diplomatic representation in the US: none
Diplomatic representation from the US: none
Economy Western Sahara
Economy - overview: Western Sahara depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of income for the population. The territory lacks sufficient rainfall for sustainable agricultural production, and most of the food for the urban population must be imported. Incomes in Western Sahara are substantially below the Moroccan level. The Moroccan Government controls all trade and other economic activities in Western Sahara. Morocco and the European Union signed a four-year agreement in July 2006 allowing European vessels to fish off the coast of Morocco, including the disputed waters off the coast of Western Sahara. Moroccan energy interests in 2001 signed contracts to explore for oil off the coast of Western Sahara, which has angered the Polisario. However, in 2006, the Polisario awarded similar exploration licenses in the disputed territory, which would come into force if Morocco and the Polisario resolve their dispute over Western Sahara.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $NA
GDP (official exchange rate): NA
GDP - real growth rate: NA%
GDP - per capita (PPP): $NA
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: 40%
Labor force: 12,000
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 50% industry and services: 50%
Unemployment rate: NA%
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
Budget: revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA
Agriculture - products: fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads); fish
Industries: phosphate mining, handicrafts
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - production: 85 million kWh (2004)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption: 79.05 million kWh (2004)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption: 1,800 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports: NA bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: NA bbl/day (2001)
Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.)
Exports: $NA
Exports - commodities: phosphates 62%
Exports - partners: Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2006)
Imports: $NA
Imports - commodities: fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs
Imports - partners: Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2006)
Debt - external: $NA
Economic aid - recipient: $NA
Currency (code): Moroccan dirham (MAD)
Currency code: MAD
Exchange rates: Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 8.865 (2005), 8.868 (2004), 9.5744 (2003), 11.0206 (2002)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Western Sahara
Telephones - main lines in use: about 2,000 (1999 est.)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 0 (1999)
Telephone system: general assessment: sparse and limited system domestic: NA international: country code - 212; tied into Morocco's system by microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and satellite; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to Rabat, Morocco
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: 56,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: NA
Televisions: 6,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .eh
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)
Internet users: NA
Transportation Western Sahara
Airports: 11 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2006)
Ports and terminals: Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun)
Military Western Sahara
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $992.2 million
Transnational Issues Western Sahara
Disputes - international: Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, whose sovereignty remains unresolved; UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991, administered by the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected all brokered proposals
This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007
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@World
Background: Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war).
Geography World
Map references: Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area: total: 510.072 million sq km land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land
Area - comparative: land area about 16 times the size of the US
Land boundaries: the land boundaries in the world total 250,708 km (not counting shared boundaries twice); two nations, China and Russia, each border 14 other countries note: 44 nations and other areas are landlocked, these include: Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked
Coastline: 356,000 km note: 98 nations and other entities are islands that border no other countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Baker Island, Barbados, Bassas da India, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Europa Island, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Glorioso Islands, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland Island, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Juan de Nova Island, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tromelin Island, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Taiwan
Maritime claims: a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: territorial sea - 12 nm, contiguous zone - 24 nm, and exclusive economic zone - 200 nm; additional zones provide for exploitation of continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200nm
Climate: a wide equatorial band of hot and humid tropical climates - bordered north and south by subtropical temperate zones - that separate two large areas of cold and dry polar climates
Terrain: the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m
Natural resources: the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address
Land use: arable land: 13.31% permanent crops: 4.71% other: 81.98% (2005)
Irrigated land: 2,770,980 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards: large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)
Environment - current issues: large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion
Geography - note: the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13-billion-year age estimated for the universe
People World
Population: 6,525,170,264 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 27.4% (male 919,219,446/female 870,242,271) 15-64 years: 65.2% (male 2,152,066,888/female 2,100,334,722) 65 years and over: 7.4% (male 213,160,216/female 270,146,721) note: some countries do not maintain age structure information, thus a slight discrepancy exists between the total world population and the total for world age structure (2006 est.)
Median age: total: 27.6 years male: 27 years female: 28.2 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.14% (2006 est.)
Birth rate: 20.05 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 8.67 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 48.87 deaths/1,000 live births male: 50.98 deaths/1,000 live births female: 46.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 64.77 years male: 63.16 years female: 66.47 years (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.59 children born/woman (2006 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Religions: Christians 33.03% (of which Roman Catholics 17.33%, Protestants 5.8%, Orthodox 3.42%, Anglicans 1.23%), Muslims 20.12%, Hindus 13.34%, Buddhists 5.89%, Sikhs 0.39%, Jews 0.23%, other religions 12.61%, non-religious 12.03%, atheists 2.36% (2004 est.)
Languages: Mandarin Chinese 13.69%, Spanish 5.05%, English 4.84%, Hindi 2.82%, Portuguese 2.77%, Bengali 2.68%, Russian 2.27%, Japanese 1.99%, Standard German 1.49%, Wu Chinese 1.21% (2004 est.) note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 82% male: 87% female: 77% note: over two-thirds of the world's 785 million illiterate adults are found in only eight countries (India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Egypt); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, South and West Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Arab states, where around one-third of the men and half of all women are illiterate (2005 est.)
Government World
Administrative divisions: 268 nations, dependent areas, and other entities
Legal system: all members of the UN are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court
Economy World
Economy - overview: Global output rose by 4.4% in 2005, led by China (9.3%), India (7.6%), and Russia (5.9%). The other 14 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations continued as strong performers, in the 7% range of growth. Growth results posted by the major industrial countries varied from no gain for Italy to a strong gain by the United States (3.5%). The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that erode gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Iraq, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decisionmaking powers to international bodies, notably the EU. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from an economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuated a further growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic prospects. After the coalition victory, the complex political difficulties and the high economic cost of establishing domestic order in Iraq became major global problems that continued through 2006.
GDP (purchasing power parity): GWP (gross world product): $65 trillion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $46.66 trillion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5.1% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $10,000 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4% industry: 32% services: 64% (2004 est.)
Labor force: 3.001 billion (2005 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 41% industry: 20.7% services: 38.4% (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate: 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.5% highest 10%: 29.9% (2002 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 20% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in one Third World countries (Zimbabwe); inflation rates have declined for most countries for the last several years, held in check by increasing international competition from several low wage countries (2005 est.)
Industries: dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems
Industrial production growth rate: 3% (2003 est.)
Electricity - production: 17.15 trillion kWh (2004 est.)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: NA hydro: NA nuclear: NA other: NA
Electricity - consumption: 16.18 trillion kWh (2004 est.)
Electricity - exports: 562.2 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - imports: 568.5 billion kWh (2004)
Oil - production: 83 million bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption: 82.59 million bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - proved reserves: 1.326 trillion bbl (1 January 2002 est.)
Natural gas - production: 2.824 trillion cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 2.82 trillion cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 810.9 billion cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 828 billion cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 172.2 trillion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)
Exports: $12.45 trillion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Exports - partners: US 15.6%, Germany 7.4%, China 5.7%, France 4.9%, UK 4.7%, Japan 4.5% (2005)
Imports: $12.08 trillion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Imports - partners: China 9.3%, Germany 9%, US 9%, Japan 6.1%, France 4.2% (2005)
Debt - external: $44.62 trillion note: this figure is the sum total of all countries' external debt, both public and private (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $154 billion official development assistance (ODA) (2004)
Communications World
Telephones - main lines in use: 1,263,367,600 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 2,168,433,600 (2005)
Telephone system: general assessment: NA domestic: NA international: NA
Radio broadcast stations: AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
Radios: NA
Television broadcast stations: NA
Televisions: NA
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 10,350 (2000 est.)
Internet users: 1,018,057,389 (2005)
Transportation World
Airports: 49,024 (2006)
Heliports: 2,021 (2006)
Railways: total: 1,115,205 km broad gauge: 257,481 km standard gauge: 671,413 km narrow gauge: 186,311 km (2003)
Roadways: total: 32,345,165 km paved: 19,403,061 km unpaved: 12,942,104 km (2002)
Waterways: 671,886 km (2004)
Merchant marine: total: 33,222 ships (1000 GRT or over) (2006)
Military World
Military expenditures - dollar figure: aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide has increased in the beginning of the 21st century, with the largest increase in the US; a rough estimate for 2005 is $1.2 trillion (at puchasing power parity) (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: roughly 2% of gross world product (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues World
Disputes - international: stretching over 250,000 km, the world's 329 international land boundaries separate the 193 independent states and 73 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities; ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries; maritime states have claimed limits and have so far established over 130 maritime boundaries and joint development zones to allocate ocean resources and to provide for national security at sea; boundary, borderland/resource, and territorial disputes vary in intensity from managed or dormant to violent or militarized; most disputes over the alignment of political boundaries are confined to short segments and are today less common and less hostile than borderland, resource, and territorial disputes; undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries, however, encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and confrontation; territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural claims, or they may be brought on by resource competition; ethnic and cultural clashes continue to be responsible for much of the territorial fragmentation around the world; disputes over islands at sea or in rivers frequently form the source of territorial and boundary conflict; other sources of contention include access to water and mineral (especially petroleum) resources, fisheries, and arable land; nonetheless, most nations cooperate to clarify their international boundaries and to resolve territorial and resource disputes peacefully; regional discord today prevails not so much between the armed forces of independent states as between stateless armed entities that detract from the sustenance and welfare of local populations, leaving the community of nations to cope with resultant refugees, hunger, disease, impoverishment, and environmental degradation
Refugees and internally displaced persons: the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that in December 2005 there was a global population of 8.4 million registered refugees, the lowest number in 26 years, and as many as 23.7 million IDPs in more than 50 countries; the actual global population of refugees is probably closer to 10 million given the estimated 1.5 million Iraqi refugees displaced throughout the Middle East (2006)
Trafficking in persons: current situation: about 600,000 to 800,000 people, mostly women and children, are trafficked annually across national borders, not including millions trafficked within their own countries; at least 80% of the victims are female; 75% of all victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation; roughly two-thirds of the global victims are trafficked intra-regionally within East Asia and the Pacific (260,000 to 280,000 people) and Europe and Eurasia (170,000 to 210,000 people)
Illicit drugs: cocaine: worldwide coca cultivation in 2004 amounted to 166,200 hectares; Colombia produced slightly more than two-thirds of the worldwide crop, followed by Peru and Bolivia; potential pure cocaine production of 645 metric tons in 2004 marked the lowest level of Andean cocaine production in the past 10 years; Colombia conducts aggressive coca eradication campaign, but both Peruvian and Bolivian Governments are hesitant to eradicate coca in key growing areas; 376 metric tons of export-quality cocaine are documented to have been seized in 2003, and 26 metric tons disrupted (jettisoned or destroyed); consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been 800 metric tons opiates: worldwide illicit opium poppy cultivation reached 258,630 hectares in 2004; potential opium production of 5,444 metric tons was highest total recorded since estimates began in mid-1980s; Afghanistan is world's primary opium producer, accounting for 91% of the global supply; Southeast Asia - responsible for 7% of global opium - continued to diminish in importance in the world opium market; Latin America produced 2% of global opium, but most refined into heroin destined for United States; if all opium processed into pure heroin, the potential global production would be 632 metric tons of heroin in 2004
This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007
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@Yemen
Introduction Yemen
Background: North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. The British, who had set up a protectorate area around the southern port of Aden in the 19th century, withdrew in 1967 from what became South Yemen. Three years later, the southern government adopted a Marxist orientation. The massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis from the south to the north contributed to two decades of hostility between the states. The two countries were formally unified as the Republic of Yemen in 1990. A southern secessionist movement in 1994 was quickly subdued. In 2000, Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to a delimitation of their border.
Geography Yemen
Location: Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia
Geographic coordinates: 15 00 N, 48 00 E
Map references: Middle East
Area: total: 527,970 sq km land: 527,970 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Perim, Socotra, the former Yemen Arab Republic (YAR or North Yemen), and the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY or South Yemen)
Area - comparative: slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming
Land boundaries: total: 1,746 km border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km
Coastline: 1,906 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Climate: mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east
Terrain: narrow coastal plain backed by flat-topped hills and rugged mountains; dissected upland desert plains in center slope into the desert interior of the Arabian Peninsula
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Arabian Sea 0 m highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m
Natural resources: petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble; small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper; fertile soil in west
Land use: arable land: 2.91% permanent crops: 0.25% other: 96.84% (2005)
Irrigated land: 5,500 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards: sandstorms and dust storms in summer
Environment - current issues: very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: strategic location on Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes
People Yemen
Population: 21,456,188 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 46.4% (male 5,067,762/female 4,881,333) 15-64 years: 51% (male 5,568,078/female 5,375,263) 65 years and over: 2.6% (male 275,878/female 287,874) (2006 est.)
Median age: total: 16.6 years male: 16.6 years female: 16.6 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.46% (2006 est.)
Birth rate: 42.89 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 8.3 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 59.88 deaths/1,000 live births male: 64.55 deaths/1,000 live births female: 54.98 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 62.12 years male: 60.23 years female: 64.11 years (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate: 6.58 children born/woman (2006 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 12,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun: Yemeni(s) adjective: Yemeni
Ethnic groups: predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans
Religions: Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu
Languages: Arabic
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 50.2% male: 70.5% female: 30% (2003 est.)
Government Yemen
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Yemen conventional short form: Yemen local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah local short form: Al Yaman former: Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen]
Government type: republic
Capital: name: Sanaa geographic coordinates: 15 21 N, 44 12 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions: 19 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, 'Adan, Ad Dali', Al Bayda', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, 'Amran, Dhamar, Hadramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Sa'dah, San'a', Shabwah, Ta'izz note: for electoral and administrative purposes, the capital city of Sanaa is treated as an additional governorate
Independence: 22 May 1990 (Republic of Yemen established with the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and the Marxist-dominated People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen]); note - previously North Yemen had become independent in November of 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and South Yemen had become independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK)
National holiday: Unification Day, 22 May (1990)
Constitution: 16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001
Legal system: based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of North Yemen, assumed office upon the merger of North and South Yemen); Vice President Maj. Gen. Abd al-Rab Mansur al-HADI (since 3 October 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Abd al-Qadir BA JAMAL; Deputy Prime Ministers Rashid Muhammad al-ALIMI, Alawi Salah al-SALAMI, Ahmad Muhammad Abdallah al-SUFAN cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 20 September 2006 (next to be held September 2013); vice president appointed by the president; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of vote - Ali Abdallah SALIH 77.2%, Faysal BIN SHAMLAN 21.8%
Legislative branch: a new constitutional amendment ratified on 20 February 2001 created a bicameral legislature consisting of a Shura Council (111 seats; members appointed by the president) and a House of Representatives (301 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) elections: last held 27 April 2003 (next to be held in April 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - GPC 228, Islah 47, YSP 7, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Ba'th Party 2, independents 14
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders: there are more than 12 political parties active in Yemen, some of the more prominent are: General People's Congress or GPC [President Ali Abdallah SALIH]; Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah [Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR]; Nasserite Unionist Party [Abdal Malik al-MAKHLAFI]; National Arab Socialist Ba'th Party [Dr. Qasim SALAM]; Yemeni Socialist Party or YSP [Ali Salih MUQBIL]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Abd al-Wahab Abdallah al-HAJRI chancery: 2319 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 965-4760 FAX: [1] (202) 337-2017
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas C. KRAJESKI embassy: Sa'awan Street, Sanaa mailing address: P. O. Box 22347, Sanaa telephone: [967] (1) 755-2000 ext. 2153 or 2266 FAX: [967] (1) 303-182
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; similar to the flag of Syria, which has two green stars, and of Iraq, which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription), in a horizontal line centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Egypt, which has a heraldic eagle centered in the white band
Economy Yemen
Economy - overview: Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, reported average annual growth of 3.5% from 2000 through 2006. Its economic fortunes depend mostly on oil. Oil revenues probably increased in 2006 as a result of higher prices. Yemen was on an IMF-supported structural adjustment program designed to modernize and streamline the economy, which led to substantial foreign debt relief and restructuring. However, government dedication to the program waned in 2001 for political reasons. Yemen is struggling to control excessive spending and rampant corruption. Yemen is dependent on foreign aid to finance its budget deficits and development projects. In November, Yemen secured $4.7 billion in assistance from Arabian Gulf and Western donors.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $20.38 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $15.16 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 3.2% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $900 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 12.5% industry: 43.8% services: 43.7% (2006 est.)
Labor force: 5.759 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: note: most people are employed in agriculture and herding; services, construction, industry, and commerce account for less than one-fourth of the labor force
Unemployment rate: 35% (2003 est.)
Population below poverty line: 45.2% (2003)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3% highest 10%: 25.9% (2003)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 33.4 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 14.8% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 15.7% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget: revenues: $7.314 billion expenditures: $6.984 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)
Public debt: 30% of GDP (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products: grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat, coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish
Industries: crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement; commercial ship repair
Industrial production growth rate: 3% (2003 est.)
Electricity - production: 4.077 billion kWh (2004 est.)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption: 3.792 billion kWh (2004 est.)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004)
Oil - production: 387,500 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption: 85,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports: 370,300 bbl/day (2003)
Oil - imports: NA bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved reserves: 3.72 billion bbl (2006 est.)
Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 478.6 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)
Current account balance: $1.69 billion (2006 est.)
Exports: $8.214 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities: crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish
Exports - partners: China 35.3%, India 16.2%, Thailand 11.9%, Japan 6.3%, South Korea 6.3%, Switzerland 5.5% (2005)
Imports: $5.042 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities: food and live animals, machinery and equipment, chemicals
Imports - partners: UAE 18.9%, Saudi Arabia 8.9%, Switzerland 8.6%, Kuwait 6.7%, China 6.1%, US 4.5% (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $6.735 billion (2006 est.)
Debt - external: $5.469 billion (2006 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $2.3 billion (2003-07 disbursements)
Currency (code): Yemeni rial (YER)
Currency code: YER
Exchange rates: Yemeni rials per US dollar - 197.467 (2006), 192.67 (2005), 184.78 (2004), 183.45 (2003), 175.63 (2002)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Yemen
Telephones - main lines in use: 900,000 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 2,074,846 (2006)
Telephone system: general assessment: since unification in 1990, efforts have been made to create a national telecommunications network domestic: the national network consists of microwave radio relay, cable, tropospheric scatter, and GSM cellular mobile telephone systems international: country code - 967; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 2 Arabsat; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and Djibouti
Radio broadcast stations: AM 6, FM 1, shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios: 1.05 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 7 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 470,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .ye
Internet hosts: 171 (2006)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)
Internet users: 220,000 (2005)
Transportation Yemen
Airports: 46 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 16 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 30 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 4 (2006)
Pipelines: gas 71 km; liquid petroleum gas 22 km; oil 1,284 km (2006)
Roadways: total: 71,300 km paved: 6,200 km unpaved: 65,100 km (2005)
Merchant marine: total: 4 ships (1000 GRT or over) 15,400 GRT/18,072 DWT by type: cargo 1, chemical tanker 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 registered in other countries: 9 (Bolivia 1, Cambodia 3, North Korea 2, Panama 3) (2006)
Ports and terminals: Aden, Nishtun
Military Yemen
Military branches: Army (includes Special Forces), Navy (includes Marines), Unified Yemen Air Force (includes Air Defense Force) (2006)
Military service age and obligation: in May 2001, Yemen's National Defense Council abolished compulsory military service and authorized a voluntary program for military service (2004)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 4,058,223 females age 18-49: 3,868,112 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 2,790,705 females age 18-49: 2,792,406 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males age 18-49: 236,517 females age 18-49: 230,641 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $992.2 million (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 6.4% (2005 est.)
Military - note: a Coast Guard was established in 2002
Transnational Issues Yemen
Disputes - international: Yemen protests Eritrea fishing around the Hanish Islands awarded to Yemen by the ICJ in 1999; Saudi Arabia still maintains the concrete-filled pipe as a security barrier along sections of the border with Yemen in 2004 to stem illegal cross-border activities; Yemen protests Saudi erection of a concrete-filled pipe as a security barrier in 2004 to stem illegal cross-border activities in sections of the boundary
Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 78,582 (Somalia) (2006)
This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007
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@Zambia
Introduction Zambia
Background: The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the [British] South Africa Company from 1891 until it was taken over by the UK in 1923. During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining spurred development and immigration. The name was changed to Zambia upon independence in 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining copper prices and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. Elections in 1991 brought an end to one-party rule, but the subsequent vote in 1996 saw blatant harassment of opposition parties. The election in 2001 was marked by administrative problems with three parties filing a legal petition challenging the election of ruling party candidate Levy MWANAWASA. The new president launched an anticorruption task force in 2002, but the government has yet to make a prosecution. The Zambian leader was reelected in 2006 in an election that was deemed free and fair.
Geography Zambia
Location: Southern Africa, east of Angola
Geographic coordinates: 15 00 S, 30 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 752,614 sq km land: 740,724 sq km water: 11,890 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than Texas
Land boundaries: total: 5,664 km border countries: Angola 1,110 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,930 km, Malawi 837 km, Mozambique 419 km, Namibia 233 km, Tanzania 338 km, Zimbabwe 797 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: tropical; modified by altitude; rainy season (October to April)
Terrain: mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Zambezi river 329 m highest point: unnamed location in Mafinga Hills 2,301 m
Natural resources: copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 6.99% permanent crops: 0.04% other: 92.97% (2005)
Irrigated land: 1,560 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards: periodic drought, tropical storms (November to April)
Environment - current issues: air pollution and resulting acid rain in the mineral extraction and refining region; chemical runoff into watersheds; poaching seriously threatens rhinoceros, elephant, antelope, and large cat populations; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; lack of adequate water treatment presents human health risks
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note: landlocked; the Zambezi forms a natural riverine boundary with Zimbabwe
People Zambia
Population: 11,502,010 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 46.3% (male 2,673,891/female 2,656,268) 15-64 years: 51.3% (male 2,925,910/female 2,969,324) 65 years and over: 2.4% (male 117,877/female 158,740) (2006 est.)
Median age: total: 16.5 years male: 16.3 years female: 16.7 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.11% (2006 est.)
Birth rate: 41 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 19.93 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 86.84 deaths/1,000 live births male: 94.08 deaths/1,000 live births female: 79.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 40.03 years male: 39.76 years female: 40.31 years (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate: 5.39 children born/woman (2006 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 16.5% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 920,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 89,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: malaria and plague are high risks in some locations water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2007)
Nationality: noun: Zambian(s) adjective: Zambian
Ethnic groups: African 98.7%, European 1.1%, other 0.2%
Religions: Christian 50%-75%, Muslim and Hindu 24%-49%, indigenous beliefs 1%
Languages: English (official), major vernaculars - Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga, and about 70 other indigenous languages
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write English total population: 80.6% male: 86.8% female: 74.8% (2003 est.)
Government Zambia
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Zambia conventional short form: Zambia former: Northern Rhodesia
Government type: republic
Capital: name: Lusaka geographic coordinates: 15 25 S, 28 17 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions: 9 provinces; Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Northern, North-Western, Southern, Western
Independence: 24 October 1964 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 24 October (1964)
Constitution: 24 August 1991; amended in 1996 to establish presidential term limits
Legal system: based on English common law and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in an ad hoc constitutional council; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Levy MWANAWASA (since 2 January 2002); Vice President Rupiah BANDA (since 9 October 2006); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Levy MWANAWASA (since 2 January 2002); Vice President Rupiah BANDA (since 9 October 2006); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 28 September 2006 (next to be held 2011); vice president appointed by the president election results: Levy MWANAWASA reelected president; percent of vote - Levy MWANAWASA 43.0%, Michael SATA 29.4%, Hakainde HICHILEMA 25.3%, Godfrey MIYANDA 1.6%, Winright NGONDO 0.8%
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (158 seats; 150 members are elected by popular vote, eight members are appointed by the president, to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 28 September 2006 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MMD 72, PF 44, UDA 27, ULP 2, NDF 1, independents 2; seats not determined 2
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (the final court of appeal; justices are appointed by the president); High Court (has unlimited jurisdiction to hear civil and criminal cases)
Political parties and leaders: Agenda for Zambia or AZ [Inonge MBIKUSITA-LEWANIKA]; Forum for Democracy and Development or FDD [Christon TEMBO]; Heritage Party or HP [Godfrey MIYANDA]; Liberal Progressive Front or LPF [Roger CHONGWE, president]; Movement for Multiparty Democracy or MMD [Levy MWANAWASA, acting president]; National Leadership for Development or NLD [Yobert SHAMAPANDE]; National Party or NP [Dr. Sam CHIPUNGU]; Patriotic Front or PF [Michael SATA]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Gwendoline KONIE]; United National Independence Party or UNIP [Francis NKHOMA, president]; United Party for National Development or UPND [Anderson MAZOKA]; Zambian Republican Party or ZRP [Benjamin MWILA]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Inonge MBIKUSITA-LEWANIKA chancery: 2419 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 265-9717 through 9719 FAX: [1] (202) 332-0826
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Carmen M. MARTINEZ embassy: corner of Independence and United Nations Avenues, Lusaka mailing address: P. O. Box 31617, Lusaka telephone: [260] (1) 250-955 FAX: [260] (1) 252-225
Flag description: green with a panel of three vertical bands of red (hoist side), black, and orange below a soaring orange eagle, on the outer edge of the flag
Economy Zambia
Economy - overview: Despite progress in privatization and budgetary reform, Zambia's economic growth in 2005-06 remained somewhat below the 6%-7% per year needed to reduce poverty significantly. Privatization of government-owned copper mines relieved the government from covering mammoth losses generated by the industry and greatly improved the chances for copper mining to return to profitability and spur economic growth. Copper output has increased steadily since 2004, due to higher copper prices and the opening of new mines. The maize harvest was again good in 2005, helping boost GDP and agricultural exports. Cooperation continues with international bodies on programs to reduce poverty, including a new lending arrangement with the IMF in the second quarter of 2004. A tighter monetary policy will help cut inflation, but Zambia still has a serious problem with high public debt.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $11.51 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $5.806 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 6% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,000 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 19.9% industry: 28.9% services: 51.2% (2006 est.)
Labor force: 4.903 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 85% industry: 6% services: 9%
Unemployment rate: 50% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: 86% (1993)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.1% highest 10%: 41% (1998)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 52.6 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.8% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 26.5% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget: revenues: $2.674 billion expenditures: $2.99 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)
Public debt: 65.7% of GDP (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products: corn, sorghum, rice, peanuts, sunflower seed, vegetables, flowers, tobacco, cotton, sugarcane, cassava (tapioca), coffee; cattle, goats, pigs, poultry, milk, eggs, hides
Industries: copper mining and processing, construction, foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals, textiles, fertilizer, horticulture
Industrial production growth rate: 10.1% (2006 est.)
Electricity - production: 9.962 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 0.5% hydro: 99.5% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption: 6.692 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - exports: 2.975 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - imports: 403 million kWh (2004)
Oil - production: 140 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption: 13,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports: NA bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: NA bbl/day (2001)
Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.)
Current account balance: $-165.4 million (2006 est.)
Exports: $3.928 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities: copper/cobalt 64%, cobalt, electricity; tobacco, flowers, cotton
Exports - partners: Switzerland 28.7%, South Africa 18.6%, UK 14.4%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 5.4%, Tanzania 5.1%, Zimbabwe 4.1% (2005)
Imports: $3.092 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery, transportation equipment, petroleum products, electricity, fertilizer; foodstuffs, clothing
Imports - partners: South Africa 47.6%, UK 12.6%, Zimbabwe 4.3% (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.05 billion (2006 est.)
Debt - external: $4.397 billion (2006 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $640.6 million (2002)
Currency (code): Zambian kwacha (ZMK)
Currency code: ZMK
Exchange rates: Zambian kwacha per US dollar - 3,371.98 (2006), 4,463.5 (2005), 4,778.9 (2004), 4,733.3 (2003), 4,398.6 (2002)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Zambia
Telephones - main lines in use: 94,700 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 946,600 (2005)
Telephone system: general assessment: facilities are aging but still among the best in Sub-Saharan Africa domestic: high-capacity microwave radio relay connects most larger towns and cities; several cellular telephone services in operation; Internet service is widely available; very small aperture terminal (VSAT) networks are operated by private firms international: country code - 260; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 19, FM 5, shortwave 4 (2001)
Radios: 1.2 million (2001)
Television broadcast stations: 9 (2002)
Televisions: 277,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .zm
Internet hosts: 3,227 (2006)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 5 (2001)
Internet users: 231,000 (2005)
Transportation Zambia
Airports: 111 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 10 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 101 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 64 under 914 m: 32 (2006)
Pipelines: oil 771 km (2006)
Railways: total: 2,173 km narrow gauge: 2,173 km 1.067-m gauge note: includes 891 km of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) (2005)
Roadways: total: 91,440 km paved: 20,117 km unpaved: 71,323 km (2001)
Waterways: 2,250 km (includes Lake Tanganyika and the Zambezi and Luapula rivers) (2005)
Ports and terminals: Mpulungu
Military Zambia
Military branches: Zambian National Defense Force (ZNDF): Army, Air Force, Police, National Service
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age (est.) (2004)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 2,219,739 females age 18-49: 2,159,688 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 1,043,702 females age 18-49: 953,328 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $121.7 million (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.8% (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues Zambia
Disputes - international: in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections to plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly delimited, Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river
Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 75,468 (Angola), 61,243 (Democratic Republic of the Congo), 5,669 (Rwanda) (2006)
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for moderate amounts of methaqualone, small amounts of heroin, and cocaine bound for Southern Africa and possibly Europe; a poorly developed financial infrastructure coupled with a government commitment to combating money laundering make it an unattractive venue for money launderers
This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007
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@Zimbabwe
Introduction Zimbabwe
Background: The UK annexed Southern Rhodesia from the [British] South Africa Company in 1923. A 1961 constitution was formulated that favored whites in power. In 1965 the government unilaterally declared its independence, but the UK did not recognize the act and demanded more complete voting rights for the black African majority in the country (then called Rhodesia). UN sanctions and a guerrilla uprising finally led to free elections in 1979 and independence (as Zimbabwe) in 1980. Robert MUGABE, the nation's first prime minister, has been the country's only ruler (as president since 1987) and has dominated the country's political system since independence. His chaotic land redistribution campaign, which began in 2000, caused an exodus of white farmers, crippled the economy, and ushered in widespread shortages of basic commodities. Ignoring international condemnation, MUGABE rigged the 2002 presidential election to ensure his reelection. Opposition and labor strikes in 2003 were unsuccessful in pressuring MUGABE to retire early; security forces continued their brutal repression of regime opponents. The ruling ZANU-PF party used fraud and intimidation to win a two-thirds majority in the March 2005 parliamentary election, allowing it to amend the constitution at will and recreate the Senate, which had been abolished in the late 1980s. In April 2005, Harare embarked on Operation Restore Order, ostensibly an urban rationalization program, which resulted in the destruction of the homes or businesses of 700,000 mostly poor supporters of the opposition, according to UN estimates. ZANU-PF announced in December 2006 that they would combine presidential and parliamentary elections in 2010 to ensure MUGABE remains in office.
Geography Zimbabwe
Location: Southern Africa, between South Africa and Zambia
Geographic coordinates: 20 00 S, 30 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 390,580 sq km land: 386,670 sq km water: 3,910 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than Montana
Land boundaries: total: 3,066 km border countries: Botswana 813 km, Mozambique 1,231 km, South Africa 225 km, Zambia 797 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: tropical; moderated by altitude; rainy season (November to March)
Terrain: mostly high plateau with higher central plateau (high veld); mountains in east
Elevation extremes: lowest point: junction of the Runde and Save rivers 162 m highest point: Inyangani 2,592 m
Natural resources: coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals
Land use: arable land: 8.24% permanent crops: 0.33% other: 91.43% (2005)
Irrigated land: 1,740 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards: recurring droughts; floods and severe storms are rare
Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; land degradation; air and water pollution; the black rhinoceros herd - once the largest concentration of the species in the world - has been significantly reduced by poaching; poor mining practices have led to toxic waste and heavy metal pollution
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: landlocked; the Zambezi forms a natural riverine boundary with Zambia; in full flood (February-April) the massive Victoria Falls on the river forms the world's largest curtain of falling water
People Zimbabwe
Population: 12,236,805 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 37.4% (male 2,307,170/female 2,265,298) 15-64 years: 59.1% (male 3,616,528/female 3,621,190) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 199,468/female 227,151) (2006 est.)
Median age: total: 19.9 years male: 19.7 years female: 20 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.62% (2006 est.)
Birth rate: 28.01 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 21.84 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2006 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 51.71 deaths/1,000 live births male: 54.5 deaths/1,000 live births female: 48.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 39.29 years male: 40.39 years female: 38.16 years (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate: 3.13 children born/woman (2006 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 24.6% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.8 million (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 170,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid vectorborne disease: malaria water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2007)
Nationality: noun: Zimbabwean(s) adjective: Zimbabwean
Ethnic groups: African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1%
Religions: syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%, Christian 25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1%
Languages: English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write English total population: 90.7% male: 94.2% female: 87.2% (2003 est.)
Government Zimbabwe
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Zimbabwe conventional short form: Zimbabwe former: Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia
Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: name: Harare geographic coordinates: 17 50 S, 31 03 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions: 8 provinces and 2 cities* with provincial status; Bulawayo*, Harare*, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Midlands
Independence: 18 April 1980 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 18 April (1980)
Constitution: 21 December 1979
Legal system: mixture of Roman-Dutch and English common law
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Vice President Joseph MSIKA (since December 1999) and Vice President Joyce MUJURU (since 6 December 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Vice President Joseph MSIKA (since December 1999) and Vice President Joyce MUJURU (since 6 December 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; responsible to the House of Assembly elections: presidential candidates nominated with a nomination paper signed by at least 10 registered voters (at least one from each province) and elected by popular vote for a six-year term (no term limits); election last held 9-11 March 2002 (next to be held March 2008); co-vice presidents appointed by the president election results: Robert Gabriel MUGABE reelected president; percent of vote - Robert Gabriel MUGABE 56.2%, Morgan TSVANGIRAI 41.9%
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of a House of Assembly (150 seats - 120 elected by popular vote for five-year terms, 12 nominated by the president, 10 occupied by traditional chiefs chosen by their peers, and eight occupied by provincial governors appointed by the president) and a Senate (66 seats - 50 elected by popular vote for a five-year term, six nominated by the president, 10 nominated by the Council of Chiefs) elections: House of Assembly last held 31 March 2005 (next to be held in 2010), Senate last held 26 November 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - ZANU-PF 59.6%, MDC 39.5%, other 0.9%; seats by party - ZANU-PF 78, MDC 41, independents 1; Senate - percent of vote by party - ZANU-PF 73.7%, MDC 20.3%, other 4.4%, independents 1.6%; seats by party - ZANU-PF 43, MDC 7
Judicial branch: Supreme Court; High Court
Political parties and leaders: African National Party or ANP; Movement for Democratic Change or MDC [Morgan TSVANGIRAI]; Peace Action is Freedom for All or PAFA; United Parties [Abel MUZOREWA]; United People's Party [Daniel SHUMBA]; Zimbabwe African National Union-Ndonga or ZANU-Ndonga [Wilson KUMBULA]; Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front or ZANU-PF [Robert Gabriel MUGABE]; Zimbabwe African Peoples Union or ZAPU [Agrippa MADLELA]; Zimbabwe Youth in Alliance or ZIYA
Political pressure groups and leaders: Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition [Wellington CHIBEBE]; National Constitutional Assembly or NCA [Lovemore MADHUKU]; Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions or ZCTU [Lovemore MATOMBO]
International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, AU, COMESA, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Machivenyika T. MAPURANGA chancery: 1608 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 332-7100 FAX: [1] (202) 483-9326
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Christopher W. DELL embassy: 172 Herbert Chitepo Avenue, Harare mailing address: P. O. Box 3340, Harare telephone: [263] (4) 250-593 and 250-594 FAX: [263] (4) 796-488
Flag description: seven equal horizontal bands of green, yellow, red, black, red, yellow, and green with a white isosceles triangle edged in black with its base on the hoist side; a yellow Zimbabwe bird representing the long history of the country is superimposed on a red five-pointed star in the center of the triangle, which symbolizes peace; green symbolizes agriculture, yellow - mineral wealth, red - blood shed to achieve independence, and black stands for the native people
Economy Zimbabwe
Economy - overview: The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems as it struggles with an unsustainable fiscal deficit, an overvalued exchange rate, soaring inflation, and bare shelves. Its 1998-2002 involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy. The government's land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, has badly damaged the commercial farming sector, the traditional source of exports and foreign exchange and the provider of 400,000 jobs, turning Zimbabwe into a net importer of food products. Badly needed support from the IMF has been suspended because of the government's arrears on past loans, which it began repaying in 2005. The official annual inflation rate rose from 32% in 1998, to 133% in 2004, 585% in 2005, and approached 1000% in 2006, although private sector estimates put the figure much higher. Meanwhile, the official exchange rate fell from approximately 1 (revalued) Zimbabwean dollar per US dollar in 2003 to 250 per US dollar in August 2006.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $25.05 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $3.146 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: -4.4% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $2,000 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 17.7% industry: 22.9% services: 59.4% (2006 est.)
Labor force: 3.958 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 66% industry: 10% services: 24% (1996)
Unemployment rate: 80% (2005 est.)
Population below poverty line: 80% (2004 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2% highest 10%: 40.4% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 56.8 (2003)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 976.4% official data; private sector estimates are much higher (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 16.1% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget: revenues: $1.411 billion expenditures: $1.924 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)
Public debt: 108.4% of GDP (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products: corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs
Industries: mining (coal, gold, platinum, copper, nickel, tin, clay, numerous metallic and nonmetallic ores), steel; wood products, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, clothing and footwear, foodstuffs, beverages
Industrial production growth rate: -1.8% (2006 est.)
Electricity - production: 9.412 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 47% hydro: 53% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption: 11 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004)
Electricity - imports: 2.25 billion kWh (2004)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption: 22,500 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - imports: 23,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.)
Current account balance: $-264.6 million (2006 est.)
Exports: $1.766 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities: cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing
Exports - partners: South Africa 27%, China 7.9%, Japan 6.8%, Zambia 5.6%, Netherlands 5.4%, US 4.9%, Italy 4.5%, Germany 4.4% (2005)
Imports: $2.055 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels
Imports - partners: South Africa 52.5%, China 5.7%, Botswana 4.1% (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $140 million (2006 est.)
Debt - external: $5.26 billion (2006 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $178 million; note - the EU and the US provide food aid on humanitarian grounds (2000 est.)
Currency (code): Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD)
Currency code: ZWD
Exchange rates: Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar - 195.107 (2006), 77.965 (2005), 5.729 (2004), 0.824 (2003), 0.055 (2002), note, these are official exchange rates; non-official rates vary significantly
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Zimbabwe
Telephones - main lines in use: 328,000 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 699,000 (2005)
Telephone system: general assessment: system was once one of the best in Africa, but now suffers from poor maintenance; more than 100,000 outstanding requests for connection despite an equally large number of installed but unused main lines domestic: consists of microwave radio relay links, open-wire lines, radiotelephone communication stations, fixed wireless local loop installations, and a substantial mobile cellular network; Internet connection is available in Harare and planned for all major towns and for some of the smaller ones international: country code - 263; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat; two international digital gateway exchanges (in Harare and Gweru)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 7, FM 20 (plus 17 repeater stations), shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios: 1.14 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 16 (1997)
Televisions: 370,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .zw
Internet hosts: 7,954 (2006)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 6 (2000)
Internet users: 1 million (2005)
Transportation Zimbabwe
Airports: 403 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 17 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 8 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 386 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 187 under 914 m: 194 (2006)
Pipelines: refined products 261 km (2006)
Railways: total: 3,077 km narrow gauge: 3,077 km 1.067-m gauge (313 km electrified) (2005)
Roadways: total: 97,440 km paved: 18,514 km unpaved: 78,926 km (2002)
Waterways: on Lake Kariba, length small (2005)
Ports and terminals: Binga, Kariba
Military Zimbabwe
Military branches: Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF): Zimbabwe National Army, Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ), Zimbabwe Republic Police (2005)
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age (est.) (2004)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 2,778,404 females age 18-49: 2,681,531 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 1,304,424 females age 18-49: 1,115,096 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $124.7 million (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 4% (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues Zimbabwe
Disputes - international: Botswana has built electric fences and South Africa has placed military along the border to stem the flow of thousands of Zimbabweans fleeing to find work and escape political persecution; Namibia has supported and in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections to plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly delimited Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river
Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 6,536 (Democratic Republic of Congo) IDPs: 569,685 (MUGABE-led political violence, human rights violations, land reform, and economic collapse) (2006)
Trafficking in persons: current situation: Zimbabwe is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation; children may be trafficked internally for forced agricultural labor, domestic servitude, and sexual exploitation; women and girls are lured out of the country to South Africa, China, Egypt, and Zambia with false job or scholarship promises that result in domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation; there are reports of South African employers demanding sex from undocumented Zimbabwean workers under threat of deportation; women and children from Malawi, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo transit Zimbabwe en route to South Africa; small numbers of South African girls are trafficked to Zimbabwe for domestic labor tier rating: Tier 3 - Zimbabwe does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so
Illicit drugs: transit point for African cannabis and South Asian heroin, mandrax, and methamphetamines destined for the South African and European markets
This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007
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@2001 GDP (purchasing power parity)
Afghanistan $21.5 billion (2004 est.)
Albania $20.21 billion note: Albania has a large gray economy that may be as large as 50% of official GDP (2006 est.)
Algeria $253.4 billion (2006 est.)
American Samoa $510.1 million (2003 est.)
Andorra $1.84 billion (2004)
Angola $51.95 billion (2006 est.)
Anguilla $108.9 million (2004 est.)
Antigua and Barbuda $750 million (2002 est.)
Argentina $599.1 billion (2006 est.)
Armenia $15.99 billion (2006 est.)
Aruba $2.258 billion (2005 est.)
Australia $666.3 billion (2006 est.)
Austria $279.5 billion (2006 est.)
Azerbaijan $58.1 billion (2006 est.)
Bahamas, The $6.476 billion (2006 est.)
Bahrain $17.7 billion (2006 est.)
Bangladesh $330.8 billion (2006 est.)
Barbados $5.108 billion (2006 est.)
Belarus $80.74 billion (2006 est.)
Belgium $330.4 billion (2006 est.)
Belize $2.307 billion (2006 est.)
Benin $8.931 billion (2006 est.)
Bermuda $4.5 billion (2004 est.)
Bhutan $2.9 billion (2003 est.)
Bolivia $27.21 billion (2006 est.)
Bosnia and Herzegovina $24.8 billion note: Bosnia has a large informal sector that could also be as much as 50% of official GDP (2006 est.)
Botswana $18.72 billion (2006 est.)
Brazil $1.616 trillion (2006 est.)
British Virgin Islands $853.4 million (2004 est.)
Brunei $6.842 billion (2003 est.)
Bulgaria $77.13 billion (2006 est.)
Burkina Faso $17.87 billion (2006 est.)
Burma $83.84 billion (2006 est.)
Burundi $5.744 billion (2006 est.)
Cambodia $36.78 billion (2006 est.)
Cameroon $42.2 billion (2006 est.)
Canada $1.165 trillion (2006 est.)
Cape Verde $3.129 billion (2006 est.)
Cayman Islands $1.939 billion (2004 est.)
Central African Republic $4.913 billion (2006 est.)
Chad $15.26 billion (2006 est.)
Chile $203 billion (2006 est.)
China $10 trillion (2006 est.)
Christmas Island $NA
Cocos (Keeling) Islands $NA
Colombia $366.7 billion (2006 est.)
Comoros $441 million (2002 est.)
Congo, Democratic Republic of the $44.6 billion (2006 est.)
Congo, Republic of the $4.958 billion (2006 est.)
Cook Islands $183.2 million (2005 est.)
Costa Rica $48.77 billion (2006 est.)
Cote d'Ivoire $28.47 billion (2006 est.)
Croatia $59.41 billion (2006 est.)
Cuba $44.54 billion (2006 est.)
Cyprus Republic of Cyprus: $17.79 billion; north Cyprus: $4.54 billion (2006 est.)
Czech Republic $221.4 billion (2006 est.)
Denmark $198.5 billion (2006 est.)
Djibouti $619 million (2002 est.)
Dominica $384 million (2003 est.)
Dominican Republic $73.74 billion (2006 est.)
East Timor $370 million (2004 est.)
Ecuador $60.48 billion (2006 est.)
Egypt $328.1 billion (2006 est.)
El Salvador $33.2 billion (2006 est.)
Equatorial Guinea $25.69 billion (2005 est.)
Eritrea $4.471 billion (2005 est.)
Estonia $26 billion (2006 est.)
Ethiopia $71.63 billion (2006 est.)
European Union $12.82 trillion (2006 est.)
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) $75 million (2002 est.)
Faroe Islands $1 billion (2001 est.)
Fiji $5.504 billion (2006 est.)
Finland $171.7 billion (2006 est.)
France $1.871 trillion (2006 est.)
French Polynesia $4.58 billion (2003 est.)
Gabon $10.21 billion (2006 est.)
Gambia, The $3.25 billion (2006 est.)
Gaza Strip $5.327 billion (2005 est.)
Georgia $17.79 billion (2006 est.)
Germany $2.585 trillion (2006 est.)
Ghana $59.15 billion (2006 est.)
Gibraltar $769 million (2000 est.)
Greece $251.7 billion (2006 est.)
Greenland $1.1 billion (2001 est.)
Grenada $440 million (2002 est.)
Guam $2.5 billion (2005 est.)
Guatemala $60.57 billion (2006 est.)
Guernsey $2.742 billion (2005)
Guinea $19.4 billion (2006 est.)
Guinea-Bissau $1.244 billion (2006 est.)
Guyana $3.62 billion (2006 est.)
Haiti $14.56 billion (2006 est.)
Holy See (Vatican City) $NA
Honduras $22.13 billion (2006 est.)
Hong Kong $253.1 billion (2006 est.)
Hungary $172.7 billion (2006 est.)
Iceland $11.4 billion (2006 est.)
India $4.042 trillion (2006 est.)
Indonesia $935 billion (2006 est.)
Iran $610.4 billion (2006 est.)
Iraq $94.1 billion (2005 est.)
Ireland $177.2 billion (2006 est.)
Isle of Man $2.113 billion (2003 est.)
Israel $166.3 billion (2006 est.)
Italy $1.727 trillion (2006 est.)
Jamaica $12.71 billion (2006 est.)
Japan $4.22 trillion (2006 est.)
Jersey $3.6 billion (2003 est.)
Jordan $28.89 billion (2006 est.)
Kazakhstan $138.7 billion (2006 est.)
Kenya $40.77 billion (2006 est.)
Kiribati $206.4 million (2004 est.)
Korea, North $40 billion note: North Korea does not publish any reliable National Income Accounts data; the datum shown here is derived from purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP estimates for North Korea that were made by Angus Maddison in a study conducted for the OECD; his figure for 1999 was extrapolated to 2005 using estimated real growth rates for North Korea's GDP and an inflation factor based on the US GDP deflator; the result was rounded to the nearest $10 billion (2006 est.)
Korea, South $1.18 trillion (2006 est.)
Kuwait $52.17 billion (2006 est.)
Kyrgyzstan $10.49 billion (2006 est.)
Laos $13.43 billion (2006 est.)
Latvia $35.08 billion (2006 est.)
Lebanon $21.45 billion (2006 est.)
Lesotho $5.195 billion (2006 est.)
Liberia $2.911 billion (2006 est.)
Libya $74.97 billion (2006 est.)
Liechtenstein $1.786 billion (2001 est.)
Lithuania $54.03 billion (2006 est.)
Luxembourg $32.6 billion (2006 est.)
Macau $10 billion (2004)
Macedonia $16.91 billion note: Macedonia has a large informal sector (2006 est.)
Madagascar $17.27 billion (2006 est.)
Malawi $8.038 billion (2006 est.) |
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