Introductory material (continued 35)

Geography - note: landlocked; the western and central low-lying, desolate portions of the country make up the great Garagum (Kara-Kum) desert, which occupies over 80% of the country; eastern part is plateau

People Turkmenistan

Population: 5,042,920 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 35.2% (male 913,988/female 863,503) 15-64 years: 60.7% (male 1,501,486/female 1,557,155) 65 years and over: 4.1% (male 79,227/female 127,561) (2006 est.)

Median age: total: 21.8 years male: 20.9 years female: 22.7 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.83% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 27.61 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 8.6 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.75 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 72.56 deaths/1,000 live births male: 76.9 deaths/1,000 live births female: 68 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 61.83 years male: 58.43 years female: 65.41 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.37 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2004 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: less than 200 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2004 est.)

Nationality: noun: Turkmen(s) adjective: Turkmen

Ethnic groups: Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003)

Religions: Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%

Languages: Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98.8% male: 99.3% female: 98.3% (1999 est.)

Government Turkmenistan

Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: Turkmenistan local long form: none local short form: Turkmenistan former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic

Government type: republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch

Capital: name: Ashgabat (Ashkhabad) geographic coordinates: 37 57 N, 58 23 E time difference: UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions: 5 provinces (welayatlar, singular - welayat): Ahal Welayaty (Ashgabat), Balkan Welayaty (Balkanabat), Dashoguz Welayaty, Lebap Welayaty (Turkmenabat), Mary Welayaty note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Independence: 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day, 27 October (1991)

Constitution: adopted 18 May 1992

Legal system: based on civil law system

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president note: NIYAZOV's term in office was extended indefinitely on 28 December 1999 during a session of the People's Council (Halk Maslahaty); in November 2005, the People's Council voted down NIYAZOV's suggestion to hold presidential elections in 2009 elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 June 1992; note - President NIYAZOV was unanimously approved as president for life by the People's Council on 28 December 1999; deputy chairmen of the Cabinet of Ministers are appointed by the president election results: Saparmurat NIYAZOV elected president without opposition; percent of vote - Saparmurat NIYAZOV 99.5%

Legislative branch: under the 1992 constitution, there are two parliamentary bodies, a unicameral People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (supreme legislative body of up to 2,500 delegates, some of whom are elected by popular vote and some of whom are appointed; meets at least yearly) and a unicameral Parliament or Mejlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms); membership is scheduled to be increased to 65 seats elections: People's Council - last held in April 2003 (next to be held December 2008); Mejlis - last held 19 December 2004 (next to be held December 2008) election results: Mejlis - DPT 100%; seats by party - DPT 50; note - all 50 elected officials are members of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan and are preapproved by President NIYAZOV note: in late 2003, a new law was adopted, reducing the powers of the Mejlis and making the Halk Maslahaty the supreme legislative organ; the Halk Maslahaty can now legally dissolve the Mejlis, and the president is now able to participate in the Mejlis as its supreme leader; the Mejlis can no longer adopt or amend the constitution, or announce referendums or its elections; since the president is both the "Chairman for Life" of the Halk Maslahaty and the supreme leader of the Mejlis, the 2003 law has the effect of making him the sole authority of both the executive and legislative branches of government

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Saparmurat NIYAZOV] note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements exist underground or in foreign countries; the two most prominent opposition groups-in-exile have been National Democratic Movement of Turkmenistan (NDMT) and the United Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (UDPT); NDMT was led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHMURADOV until his arrest and imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 assassination attempt on President NIYAZOV; UDPT is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV and is based out of Moscow

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Meret Bairamovich ORAZOV chancery: 2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 588-1500 FAX: [1] (202) 588-0697

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Jennifer L. BRUSH embassy: No. 9 1984 Street (formerly Pushkin Street), Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 774000 mailing address: 7070 Ashgabat Place, Washington, DC 20521-7070 telephone: [9] (9312) 35-00-45 FAX: [9] (9312) 39-26-14

Flag description: green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five tribal guls (designs used in producing carpets) stacked above two crossed olive branches similar to the olive branches on the UN flag; a white crescent moon representing Islam with five white stars representing the regions or velayats of Turkmenistan appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe

Economy Turkmenistan

Economy - overview: Turkmenistan is a largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton; formerly it was the world's tenth-largest producer. Poor harvests in recent years have led to an almost 50% decline in cotton exports. With an authoritarian ex-Communist regime in power and a tribally based social structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient economy. Privatization goals remain limited. In 1998-2005, Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time, however, total exports rose by 20% to 30% per year in 2003-2005, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. In 2005, Ashgabat sought to raise natural gas export prices to its main customers, Russia and Ukraine, from $44 per thousand cubic meters (tcm) to $66 per tcm. Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty, the burden of foreign debt, the government's irrational use of oil and gas revenues, and its unwillingness to adopt market-oriented reforms. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state secrets, and GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of error. In particular, the rate of GDP growth is uncertain.

GDP (purchasing power parity): $39.14 billion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate): $13.99 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: IMF estimate: 6% note: official government statistics show 21.4% growth, but these estimates are widely regarded as unreliable (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP): $7,900 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 20.9% industry: 38% services: 41.1% (2005 est.)

Labor force: 2.32 million (2003 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 48.2% industry: 13.8% services: 37% (2003 est.)

Unemployment rate: 60% (2004 est.)

Population below poverty line: 58% (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.6% highest 10%: 31.7% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 40.8 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10.5% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed): 35.6% of GDP (2005 est.)

Budget: revenues: $1.401 billion expenditures: $1.542 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)

Agriculture - products: cotton, grain; livestock

Industries: natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing

Industrial production growth rate: 22% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production: 11.41 billion kWh (2004 est.)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 99.9% hydro: 0.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption: 8.847 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports: 1.136 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)

Oil - production: 203,400 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption: 80,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

Oil - proved reserves: 273 million bbl (1 January 2002)

Natural gas - production: 54.6 billion cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 15.5 billion cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - exports: 38.6 billion cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves: 2.01 trillion cu m (1 January 2002)

Current account balance: $236 million (2005 est.)

Exports: $4.7 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities: gas, crude oil, petrochemicals, cotton fiber, textiles

Exports - partners: Ukraine 43.5%, Iran 15%, Hungary 5.4% (2005)

Imports: $4.175 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs

Imports - partners: UAE 12.4%, Azerbaijan 10.9%, US 9.4%, Russia 8.9%, Ukraine 7.4%, Turkey 7.2%, Iran 6.1%, Germany 5.3%, Kazakhstan 4.2% (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $2.963 billion (2005 est.)

Debt - external: $2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $16 million from the US (2001)

Currency (code): Turkmen manat (TMM)

Currency code: TMM

Exchange rates: in recent years the unofficial rate has hovered around 24,000 to 25,000 Turkmen manats to the dollar; the official rate has consistently been 5,200 manat to the dollar

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Turkmenistan

Telephones - main lines in use: 376,100 (2003)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 52,000 (2004)

Telephone system: general assessment: poorly developed domestic: NA international: country code - 993; linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; a new telephone link from Ashgabat to Iran has been established; a new exchange in Ashgabat switches international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat

Radio broadcast stations: AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998)

Radios: 1.225 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 4 (government owned and programmed) (2004)

Televisions: 820,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .tm

Internet hosts: 585 (2006)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1

Internet users: 36,000 (2005)

Transportation Turkmenistan

Airports: 29 (2006)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 22 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 11 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2006)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 4 (2006)

Heliports: 1 (2006)

Pipelines: gas 6,441 km; oil 1,361 km (2006)

Railways: total: 2,440 km broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2005)

Roadways: total: 24,000 km paved: 19,488 km unpaved: 4,512 km (1999)

Waterways: 1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland waterways) (2006)

Merchant marine: total: 8 ships (1000 GRT or over) 22,870 GRT/25,801 DWT by type: cargo 4, combination ore/oil 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 1 (2006)

Ports and terminals: Turkmenbasy

Military Turkmenistan

Military branches: Ground Forces, Artillery and Rocket Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces (2006)

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - two years (2004)

Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 1,132,833 females age 18-49: 1,162,569 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 759,978 females age 18-49: 940,179 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually: males age 18-49: 56,532 females age 18-49: 55,413 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $90 million (FY99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3.4% (FY99)

Transnational Issues Turkmenistan

Disputes - international: cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; bilateral talks continue with Azerbaijan on dividing the seabed and contested oilfields in the middle of the Caspian; demarcation of land boundary with Kazakhstan has started but Caspian seabed delimitation remains stalled

Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 12,085 (Tajikistan) (2005)

Illicit drugs: transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and Western European markets; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan

This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006

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@Turks and Caicos Islands

Introduction Turks and Caicos Islands

Background: The islands were part of the UK's Jamaican colony until 1962, when they assumed the status of a separate crown colony upon Jamaica's independence. The governor of The Bahamas oversaw affairs from 1965 to 1973. With Bahamian independence, the islands received a separate governor in 1973. Although independence was agreed upon for 1982, the policy was reversed and the islands remain a British overseas territory.

Geography Turks and Caicos Islands

Location: Caribbean, two island groups in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of The Bahamas, north of Haiti

Geographic coordinates: 21 45 N, 71 35 W

Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

Area: total: 430 sq km land: 430 sq km water: 0 sq km

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

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 389 km

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

Climate: tropical; marine; moderated by trade winds; sunny and relatively dry

Terrain: low, flat limestone; extensive marshes and mangrove swamps

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Blue Hills 49 m

Natural resources: spiny lobster, conch

Land use: arable land: 2.33% permanent crops: 0% other: 97.67% (2005)

Irrigated land: NA

Natural hazards: frequent hurricanes

Environment - current issues: limited natural fresh water resources, private cisterns collect rainwater

Geography - note: about 40 islands (eight inhabited)

People Turks and Caicos Islands

Population: 21,152 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 31.9% (male 3,432/female 3,312) 15-64 years: 64.4% (male 7,155/female 6,457) 65 years and over: 3.8% (male 362/female 434) (2006 est.)

Median age: total: 27.5 years male: 28.3 years female: 26.8 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.82% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 21.84 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 4.21 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: 10.54 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: 1.11 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 15.18 deaths/1,000 live births male: 17.55 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 74.73 years male: 72.48 years female: 77.08 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.05 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: none adjective: none

Ethnic groups: black 90%, mixed, European, or North American 10%

Religions: Baptist 40%, Anglican 18%, Methodist 16%, Church of God 12%, other 14% (1990)

Languages: English (official)

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 98% male: 99% female: 98% (1970 est.)

People - note: destination and transit point for illegal Haitian immigrants bound for the Turks and Caicos Islands, The Bahamas, and US

Government Turks and Caicos Islands

Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: Turks and Caicos Islands abbreviation: TCI

Dependency status: overseas territory of the UK

Government type: NA

Capital: name: Grand Turk (Cockburn Town) geographic coordinates: 21 28 N, 71 08 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins first Sunday in April; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions: none (overseas territory of the UK)

Independence: none (overseas territory of the UK)

National holiday: Constitution Day, 30 August (1976)

Constitution: Turks and Caicos Islands Constitution Order 2006 (effective 9 August 2006)

Legal system: based on laws of England and Wales, with a few adopted from Jamaica and The Bahamas

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor Richard TAUWHARE (since 11 July 2005) head of government: Premier Michael Eugene MISICK (since 15 August 2003); note - the office of premier was created in the new constitution cabinet: Cabinet consists of the governor, the premier, six ministers appointed by the governor from among the members of the Legislative Council, and the attorney general elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is appointed premier by the governor

Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council (21 seats of which 15 are popularly elected; members serve four-year terms) elections: last held 24 April 2003 (next to be held in 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - PDM 53.8%, PNP 46.2%; seats by party - PDM 7, PNP 6; note - in by-elections held 7 August 2003, the PNP gained two seats for a majority of 8 seats; PDM now has 5

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Court of Appeal

Political parties and leaders: People's Democratic Movement or PDM [Derek H. TAYLOR]; Progressive National Party or PNP [Michael Eugene MISICK]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), UPU

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

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

Flag description: blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the colonial shield centered on the outer half of the flag; the shield is yellow and contains a conch shell, lobster, and cactus

Economy Turks and Caicos Islands

Economy - overview: The Turks and Caicos economy is based on tourism, fishing, and offshore financial services. Most capital goods and food for domestic consumption are imported. The US is the leading source of tourists, accounting for more than half of the annual 93,000 visitors in the late 1990s. Major sources of government revenue also include fees from offshore financial activities and customs receipts.

GDP (purchasing power parity): $216 million (2002 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate): NA

GDP - real growth rate: 4.9% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP): $11,500 (2002 est.)

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

Labor force: 4,848 (1990 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: note: about 33% in government and 20% in agriculture and fishing; significant numbers in tourism, financial, and other services

Unemployment rate: 10% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4% (1995)

Budget: revenues: $47 million expenditures: $33.6 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (1997-98 est.)

Agriculture - products: corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), citrus fruits; fish

Industries: tourism, offshore financial services

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 5 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption: 4.65 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2003)

Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption: 80 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2003 est.)

Exports: $169.2 million (2000)

Exports - commodities: lobster, dried and fresh conch, conch shells

Exports - partners: US, UK (2004)

Imports: $175.6 million (2000)

Imports - commodities: food and beverages, tobacco, clothing, manufactures, construction materials

Imports - partners: US, UK (2004)

Debt - external: $NA

Economic aid - recipient: $4.1 million (1997)

Currency (code): US dollar (USD)

Currency code: USD

Exchange rates: the US dollar is used

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Turks and Caicos Islands

Telephones - main lines in use: 5,700 (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 1,700 (1999)

Telephone system: general assessment: fully digital system with international direct dialing domestic: full range of services available; GSM wireless service available international: country code - 1-649; 2 submarine cables; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 7, shortwave 0 (2004)

Radios: 8,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 0 (broadcasts from The Bahamas are received; 2 cable television networks) (2004)

Televisions: NA

Internet country code: .tc

Internet hosts: 2,735 (2006)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 14 (2000)

Internet users: NA

Transportation Turks and Caicos Islands

Airports: 8 (2006)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2006)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 2 under 914 m: 2 (2006)

Roadways: total: 121 km paved: 24 km unpaved: 97 km (2003)

Ports and terminals: Grand Turk, Providenciales

Military Turks and Caicos Islands

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $192.8 million

Military - note: defense is the responsibility of the UK

Transnational Issues Turks and Caicos Islands

Disputes - international: have received Haitians fleeing economic and civil disorder

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

This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006

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@Tuvalu

Introduction Tuvalu

Background: In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over a 12-year period.

Geography Tuvalu

Location: Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia

Geographic coordinates: 8 00 S, 178 00 E

Map references: Oceania

Area: total: 26 sq km land: 26 sq km water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative: 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 24 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate: tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)

Terrain: very low-lying and narrow coral atolls

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location 5 m

Natural resources: fish

Land use: arable land: 0% permanent crops: 66.67% other: 33.33% (2005)

Irrigated land: NA

Natural hazards: severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones; low level of islands make them sensitive to changes in sea level

Environment - current issues: since there are no streams or rivers and groundwater is not potable, most water needs must be met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other); beachhead erosion because of the use of sand for building materials; excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel; damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish; Tuvalu is concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country's underground water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon

People Tuvalu

Population: 11,810 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 30.2% (male 1,819/female 1,752) 15-64 years: 64.7% (male 3,715/female 3,923) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 228/female 373) (2006 est.)

Median age: total: 24.6 years male: 23.6 years female: 26 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.51% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 22.18 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 7.11 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: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.61 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 19.47 deaths/1,000 live births male: 22.27 deaths/1,000 live births female: 16.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 68.32 years male: 66.08 years female: 70.66 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.98 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: Tuvaluan(s) adjective: Tuvaluan

Ethnic groups: Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4%

Religions: Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6%

Languages: Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui)

Literacy: NA

Government Tuvalu

Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: Tuvalu local long form: none local short form: Tuvalu former: Ellice Islands note: "Tuvalu" means "group of eight," referring to the country's eight traditionally inhabited islands

Government type: constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy

Capital: name: Funafuti geographic coordinates: 8 30 S, 179 12 E time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: administrative offices are located in Vaiaku Village on Fongafale Islet

Administrative divisions: none

Independence: 1 October 1978 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 1 October (1978)

Constitution: 1 October 1978

Legal system: NA

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Filoimea TELITO (since 15 April 2005) head of government: Prime Minister Apisai IELEMIA (since 14 August 2006) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by and from the members of Parliament; election last held 14 August 2006 (next to be held following parliamentary elections in 2010) election results: Apisai IELEMIA elected Prime Minister in a Parliamentary election on 14 August 2006

Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament or Fale I Fono, also called House of Assembly (15 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 3 August 2006 (next to be held in 2010) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 15

Judicial branch: High Court (a chief justice visits twice a year to preside over its sessions; its rulings can be appealed to the Court of Appeal in Fiji); eight Island Courts (with limited jurisdiction)

Political parties and leaders: there are no political parties but members of Parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings

Political pressure groups and leaders: none

International organization participation: ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, IFRCS (observer), IMO, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO

Diplomatic representation in the US: Tuvalu does not have an embassy in the US - the country's only diplomatic post is in Fiji - Tuvalu does, however, have a UN office located at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400D, New York, NY 10017, telephone: [1] (212) 490-0534

Diplomatic representation from the US: the US does not have an embassy in Tuvalu; the US ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tuvalu

Flag description: light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands

Economy Tuvalu

Economy - overview: Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average, visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and remittances from seamen on merchant ships abroad. About 1,000 Tuvaluans are being repatriated from Nauru, with the decline of phosphate resources there. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this fund has grown from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US Government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts of up to 7%. Tuvalu derives around $1.5 million per year from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and income from overseas investments.

GDP (purchasing power parity): $14.94 million (2002 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate): $14.94 million

GDP - real growth rate: 1.2% (2002 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,600 (2002 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 16.6% NA% industry: 27.2% NA% services: 56.2% NA%

Labor force: 3,615 (2004 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: note: people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly workers in the phosphate industry and sailors)

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): 3.7% (2003 est.)

Budget: revenues: $22.78 million expenditures: $14.23 million; including capital expenditures of $4.2 million (2000 est.)

Agriculture - products: coconuts; fish

Industries: fishing, tourism, copra

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

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

Current account balance: $2.323 million

Exports: $1 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities: copra, fish

Exports - partners: Germany 60.5%, Italy 20.1%, Fiji 6.9% (2005)

Imports: $9.186 million c.i.f. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities: food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods

Imports - partners: Fiji 46.1%, Japan 18.9%, China 18.2%, Australia 7.7%, NZ 4.1% (2005)

Debt - external: $NA

Economic aid - recipient: $13 million; note - major donors are Australia, Japan, and the US (1999 est.)

Currency (code): Australian dollar (AUD); note - there is also a Tuvaluan dollar

Currency code: AUD

Exchange rates: Tuvaluan dollars or Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Tuvalu

Telephones - main lines in use: 700 (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 0 (2004)

Telephone system: general assessment: serves particular needs for internal communications domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands international: country code - 688; international calls can be made by satellite

Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004)

Radios: 4,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 0 (2004)

Televisions: 800

Internet country code: .tv

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)

Internet users: 1,300 (2002)

Transportation Tuvalu

Airports: 1 (2006)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2006)

Roadways: total: 8 km paved: 8 km (2002)

Merchant marine: total: 52 ships (1000 GRT or over) 196,790 GRT/256,436 DWT by type: bulk carrier 3, cargo 37, chemical tanker 1, container 2, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 4, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 43 (China 23, Hong Kong 8, Kenya 1, Russia 2, Singapore 6, Thailand 1, Turkey 2) (2006)

Ports and terminals: Funafuti

Military Tuvalu

Military branches: no regular military forces; Police Force

Military expenditures - dollar figure: NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: NA

Transnational Issues Tuvalu

Disputes - international: none

This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006

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@Uganda

Introduction Uganda

Background: The colonial boundaries created by Britain to delimit Uganda grouped together a wide range of ethnic groups with different political systems and cultures. These differences prevented the establishment of a working political community after independence was achieved in 1962. The dictatorial regime of Idi AMIN (1971-79) was responsible for the deaths of some 300,000 opponents; guerrilla war and human rights abuses under Milton OBOTE (1980-85) claimed at least another 100,000 lives. The rule of Yoweri MUSEVENI since 1986 has brought relative stability and economic growth to Uganda. During the 1990s, the government promulgated non-party presidential and legislative elections.

Geography Uganda

Location: Eastern Africa, west of Kenya

Geographic coordinates: 1 00 N, 32 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area: total: 236,040 sq km land: 199,710 sq km water: 36,330 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Oregon

Land boundaries: total: 2,698 km border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 765 km, Kenya 933 km, Rwanda 169 km, Sudan 435 km, Tanzania 396 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: tropical; generally rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to August); semiarid in northeast

Terrain: mostly plateau with rim of mountains

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Lake Albert 621 m highest point: Margherita Peak on Mount Stanley 5,110 m

Natural resources: copper, cobalt, hydropower, limestone, salt, arable land

Land use: arable land: 21.57% permanent crops: 8.92% other: 69.51% (2005)

Irrigated land: 90 sq km (2003)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues: draining of wetlands for agricultural use; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; poaching is widespread

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

Geography - note: landlocked; fertile, well-watered country with many lakes and rivers

People Uganda

Population: 28,195,754 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: 50% (male 7,091,763/female 6,996,385) 15-64 years: 47.8% (male 6,762,071/female 6,727,230) 65 years and over: 2.2% (male 266,931/female 351,374) (2006 est.)

Median age: total: 15 years male: 14.9 years female: 15.1 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.37% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 47.35 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 12.24 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.4 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: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 66.15 deaths/1,000 live births male: 69.51 deaths/1,000 live births female: 62.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 52.67 years male: 51.68 years female: 53.69 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.71 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 4.1% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 530,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 78,000 (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 African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) are high risks in some locations water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2005)

Nationality: noun: Ugandan(s) adjective: Ugandan

Ethnic groups: Baganda 17%, Ankole 8%, Basoga 8%, Iteso 8%, Bakiga 7%, Langi 6%, Rwanda 6%, Bagisu 5%, Acholi 4%, Lugbara 4%, Batoro 3%, Bunyoro 3%, Alur 2%, Bagwere 2%, Bakonjo 2%, Jopodhola 2%, Karamojong 2%, Rundi 2%, non-African (European, Asian, Arab) 1%, other 8%

Religions: Roman Catholic 33%, Protestant 33%, Muslim 16%, indigenous beliefs 18%

Languages: English (official national language, taught in grade schools, used in courts of law and by most newspapers and some radio broadcasts), Ganda or Luganda (most widely used of the Niger-Congo languages, preferred for native language publications in the capital and may be taught in school), other Niger-Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages, Swahili, Arabic

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 69.9% male: 79.5% female: 60.4% (2003 est.)

Government Uganda

Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Uganda conventional short form: Uganda

Government type: republic

Capital: name: Kampala geographic coordinates: 0 19 N, 32 25 E time difference: UTC+3 (8 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions: 56 districts; Adjumani, Apac, Arua, Bugiri, Bundibugyo, Bushenyi, Busia, Gulu, Hoima, Iganga, Jinja, Kabale, Kabarole, Kaberamaido, Kalangala, Kampala, Kamuli, Kamwenge, Kanungu, Kapchorwa, Kasese, Katakwi, Kayunga, Kibale, Kiboga, Kisoro, Kitgum, Kotido, Kumi, Kyenjojo, Lira, Luwero, Masaka, Masindi, Mayuge, Mbale, Mbarara, Moroto, Moyo, Mpigi, Mubende, Mukono, Nakapiripirit, Nakasongola, Nebbi, Ntungamo, Pader, Pallisa, Rakai, Rukungiri, Sembabule, Sironko, Soroti, Tororo, Wakiso, Yumbe note: as of a July 2005, 13 new districts were reportedly added bringing the total up to 69; the new districts are Amolatar, Amuria, Budaka, Butaleja, Ibanda, Kaabong, Kabingo, Kaliro, Kiruhura, Koboko, Manafwa, Mityana, Nakaseke; a total of nine more districts are in the process of being added

Independence: 9 October 1962 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 9 October (1962)

Constitution: 8 October 1995; in 2005 the constitution was amended removing presidential term limits and legalizing a multiparty political system

Legal system: in 1995, the government restored the legal system to one based on English common law and customary law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power 26 January 1986); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government head of government: President Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI (since seizing power 29 January 1986); Prime Minister Apollo NSIBAMBI (since 5 April 1999); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government; the prime minister assists the president in the supervision of the cabinet cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among elected legislators elections: president reelected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 23 February 2006 (next to be held in 2011) election results: Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI elected president; percent of vote - Lt. Gen. Yoweri Kaguta MUSEVENI 59.3%, Kizza BESIGYE 37.4%, other 3.3%

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (303 members - 214 directly elected by popular vote, 81 nominated by legally established special interest groups [women 56, army 10, disabled 5, youth 5, labor 5], 8 ex officio members; members serve five-year terms) elections: last held 23 February 2006 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; note - election results had not been posted as of March 2006

Judicial branch: Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the president and approved by the legislature); High Court (judges are appointed by the president)

Political parties and leaders: Conservative Party or CP [Ken LUKYAMUZI]; Democratic Party or DP [Kizito SSEBAANA]; Forum for Democratic Change or FDC [Kizza BESIGYE]; Justice Forum or JEEMA [Muhammad Kibirige MAYANJA]; National Democrats Forum [Chapaa KARUHANGA]; National Resistance Movement or NRM [Yoweri MUSEVENI]; Ugandan People's Congress or UPC [Miria OBOTE] note: a national referendum in July 2005 opened the way for Uganda's transition to a multi-party political system

Political pressure groups and leaders: Popular Resistance Against a Life President or PRALP

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, EADB, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIS, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Edith G. SSEMPALA chancery: 5911 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011 telephone: [1] (202) 726-7100 through 7102, 0416 FAX: [1] (202) 726-1727

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires William FITZGERALD embassy: 1577 Ggaba Rd., Kampala mailing address: P. O. Box 7007, Kampala telephone: [256] (41) 234-142 FAX: [256] (41) 258-451

Flag description: six equal horizontal bands of black (top), yellow, red, black, yellow, and red; a white disk is superimposed at the center and depicts a red-crested crane (the national symbol) facing the hoist side

Economy Uganda

Economy - overview: Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force. Coffee accounts for the bulk of export revenues. Since 1986, the government - with the support of foreign countries and international agencies - has acted to rehabilitate and stabilize the economy by undertaking currency reform, raising producer prices on export crops, increasing prices of petroleum products, and improving civil service wages. The policy changes are especially aimed at dampening inflation and boosting production and export earnings. During 1990-2001, the economy turned in a solid performance based on continued investment in the rehabilitation of infrastructure, improved incentives for production and exports, reduced inflation, gradually improved domestic security, and the return of exiled Indian-Ugandan entrepreneurs. In 2000, Uganda qualified for enhanced Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief worth $1.3 billion and Paris Club debt relief worth $145 million. These amounts combined with the original HIPC debt relief added up to about $2 billion. Growth for 2001-02 was solid despite continued decline in the price of coffee, Uganda's principal export. Growth in 2003-05 reflected an upturn in Uganda's export markets.

GDP (purchasing power parity): $47.76 billion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate): $7.909 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,800 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 31.1% industry: 22.2% services: 46.9% (2004 est.)

Labor force: 13.17 million (2005 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 82% industry: 5% services: 13% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Population below poverty line: 35% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 4% highest 10%: 21% (2000)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 43 (1999)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.1% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed): 23.4% of GDP (2005 est.)

Budget: revenues: $1.845 billion expenditures: $1.904 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)

Public debt: 64.3% of GDP (2005 est.)

Agriculture - products: coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), potatoes, corn, millet, pulses, cut flowers; beef, goat meat, milk, poultry

Industries: sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles; cement, steel production

Industrial production growth rate: 9% (2005 est.)

Electricity - production: 1.729 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 0.9% hydro: 99.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption: 1.448 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports: 160 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2003)

Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption: 10,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2003 est.)

Current account balance: $-355 million (2005 est.)

Exports: $768 million f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities: coffee, fish and fish products, tea, cotton, flowers, horticultural products; gold

Exports - partners: Kenya 15.1%, Belgium 9.9%, Netherlands 9.7%, France 7.1%, Germany 5.1%, Rwanda 4% (2005)

Imports: $1.608 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities: capital equipment, vehicles, petroleum, medical supplies; cereals

Imports - partners: Kenya 32%, UAE 8.6%, South Africa 6.4%, India 5.7%, China 5.2%, UK 4.4%, US 4.1%, Japan 4% (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.286 billion (2005 est.)

Debt - external: $4.973 billion (2005 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $959 million (2003)

Currency (code): Ugandan shilling (UGX)

Currency code: UGX

Exchange rates: Ugandan shillings per US dollar - 1,780.7 (2005), 1,810.3 (2004), 1,963.7 (2003), 1,797.6 (2002), 1,755.7 (2001)

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Communications Uganda

Telephones - main lines in use: 100,800 (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 1.525 million (2005)

Telephone system: general assessment: seriously inadequate; two cellular systems have been introduced, but a sharp increase in the number of main lines is essential; e-mail and Internet services are available domestic: intercity traffic by wire, microwave radio relay, and radiotelephone communication stations, fixed and mobile cellular systems for short-range traffic international: country code - 256; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat; analog links to Kenya and Tanzania

Radio broadcast stations: AM 7, FM 33, shortwave 2 (2001)

Radios: 5 million (2001)

Television broadcast stations: 8 (plus one low-power repeater) (2001)

Televisions: 500,000 (2001)

Internet country code: .ug

Internet hosts: 1,365 (2006)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 2 (2000)

Internet users: 500,000 (2005)

Transportation Uganda

Airports: 31 (2006)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 5 over 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2006)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 26 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 8 (2006)

Railways: total: 1,244 km narrow gauge: 1,244 km 1.000-m gauge (2005)

Roadways: total: 70,746 km paved: 16,272 km unpaved: 54,474 km (2003)

Waterways: on Lake Victoria, 200 km on Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, and parts of Albert Nile (2005)

Ports and terminals: Entebbe, Jinja, Port Bell

Military Uganda

Military branches: Ugandan Peoples' Defense Force (UPDF): Army, Marine Unit, Air Wing

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military duty; the government has stated that recruitment below that age could occur with proper consent and that "no person under the apparent age of 13 years shall be enrolled in the armed forces"

Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 5,012,620 females age 18-49: 4,855,858 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 2,889,808 females age 18-49: 2,780,135 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $192.8 million (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.2% (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues Uganda

Disputes - international: Uganda is subject to armed fighting among hostile ethnic groups, rebels, armed gangs, militias, and various government forces; Ugandan refugees have fled the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) into the southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; LRA forces have attacked Kenyan villages across the border

Refugees and internally displaced persons: refugees (country of origin): 214,673 (Sudan) 18,902 (Rwanda) 14,982 (Democratic Republic of Congo) IDPs: 1,330,000-2,000,000 note - ongoing Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebellion, mainly in the north; LRA frequently attacks IDP camps (2005)

This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006

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@Ukraine

Introduction Ukraine

Background: Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine was able to bring about a short-lived period of independence (1917-20), but was reconquered and forced to endure a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although final independence for Ukraine was achieved in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy remained elusive as the legacy of state control and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties. A peaceful mass protest "Orange Revolution" in the closing months of 2004 forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO. Subsequent internal squabbles in the YUSHCHENKO camp allowed his rival Viktor YANUKOVYCH to stage a comeback in parliamentary elections and become prime minister in August of 2006.

Geography Ukraine

Location: Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east

Geographic coordinates: 49 00 N, 32 00 E

Map references: Asia, Europe

Area: total: 603,700 sq km land: 603,700 sq km water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Texas

Land boundaries: total: 4,663 km border countries: Belarus 891 km, Hungary 103 km, Moldova 939 km, Poland 526 km, Romania (south) 169 km, Romania (west) 362 km, Russia 1,576 km, Slovakia 97 km

Coastline: 2,782 km

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

Climate: temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; summers are warm across the greater part of the country, hot in the south

Terrain: most of Ukraine consists of fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, mountains being found only in the west (the Carpathians), and in the Crimean Peninsula in the extreme south

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Black Sea 0 m highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m

Natural resources: iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land

Land use: arable land: 53.8% permanent crops: 1.5% other: 44.7% (2005)

Irrigated land: 22,080 sq km (2003)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; air and water pollution; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant

Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds

Geography - note: strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe

People Ukraine

Population: 46,710,816 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 14.1% (male 3,377,868/female 3,203,738) 15-64 years: 69.3% (male 15,559,998/female 16,831,486) 65 years and over: 16.6% (male 2,635,651/female 5,102,075) (2006 est.)

Median age: total: 39.2 years male: 35.9 years female: 42.2 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.6% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 8.82 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 14.39 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.52 male(s)/female total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 9.9 deaths/1,000 live births male: 11.48 deaths/1,000 live births female: 8.22 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 69.98 years male: 64.71 years female: 75.59 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.17 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 1.4% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 360,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 20,000 (2003 est.)

Nationality: noun: Ukrainian(s) adjective: Ukrainian

Ethnic groups: Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001 census)

Religions: Ukrainian Orthodox - Kyiv Patriarchate 19%, Orthodox (no particular jurisdiction) 16%, Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate 9%, Ukrainian Greek Catholic 6%, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox 1.7%, Protestant, Jewish, none 38% (2004 est.)

Languages: Ukrainian (official) 67%, Russian 24%, small Romanian-, Polish-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.7% male: 99.8% female: 99.6% (2003 est.)

Government Ukraine

Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: Ukraine local long form: none local short form: Ukrayina former: Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

Government type: republic

Capital: name: Kyiv (Kiev) geographic coordinates: 50 26 N, 30 31 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions: 24 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtonomna respublika), and 2 municipalities (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status**; Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Crimea or Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol'), Dnipropetrovs'k, Donets'k, Ivano-Frankivs'k, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmel'nyts'kyy, Kirovohrad, Kyiv**, Kyiv, Luhans'k, L'viv, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol'**, Sumy, Ternopil', Vinnytsya, Volyn' (Luts'k), Zakarpattya (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhya, Zhytomyr note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)

Independence: 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day, 24 August (1991); 22 January (1918), the day Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet Russia) and the day the short-lived Western and Central Ukrainian republics united (1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day

Constitution: adopted 28 June 1996

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

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Viktor A. YUSHCHENKO (since 23 January 2005) head of government: Prime Minister Viktor YANUKOVYCH (since 4 August 2006); First Deputy Prime Minister - Mykola AZAROV (since 5 August 2006) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers selected by the prime minister; the only exceptions are the foreign and defense ministers, who are chosen by the president note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a Presidential Secretariat helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); note - a special repeat runoff presidential election between Viktor YUSHCHENKO and Viktor YANUKOVYCH took place on 26 December 2004 after the earlier 21 November 2004 contest - won by Mr. YANUKOVYCH - was invalidated by the Ukrainian Supreme Court because of widespread and significant violations; under constitutional reforms that went into effect 1 January 2006, the majority in parliament takes the lead in naming the prime minister election results: Viktor YUSHCHENKO elected president; percent of vote - Viktor YUSHCHENKO 51.99%, Viktor YANUKOVYCH 44.2%

Legislative branch: unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 3% or more of the national electoral vote; members serve five-year terms) elections: last held 26 March 2006 (next to be held March 2011) election results: percent of vote by party/bloc in 2002 - Party of Regions 32.1%, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 22.3%, Our Ukraine 13.9%, SPU 5.7%, CPU 3.7%; seats by party/bloc - Party of Regions 186, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 129, Our Ukraine 81, SPU 33, CPU 21

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Constitutional Court

Political parties and leaders: Communist Party of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; Fatherland Party (Batkivshchyna) [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO]; Lytyvn-led People's Bloc group [Ihor SHAROV]; Our Ukraine [Viktor YUSHCHENKO]; Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy KINAKH]; People's Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) [Borys TARASYUK]; People's Party [Volodymyr LYTVYN]; People's Trust group [Anton KISSE]; PORA! (It's Time!) party [Vladyslav KASKIV]; Progressive Socialist Party [Natalya VITRENKO]; Reforms and Order Party [Viktor PYNZENYK]; Party of Regions [Viktor YANUKOVYCH]; Republican Party [Yuriy BOYKO]; Social Democratic Party (United) or SDPU(o) [Viktor MEDVEDCHUK]; Socialist Party of Ukraine or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ, chairman]; Ukrainian People's Party [Yuriy KOSTENKO]; United Ukraine [Bohdan HUBSKYY]; Vidrodzhennya (Revival) [Anton KISSE]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Committee of Voters of Ukraine [Ihor POPOV]

International organization participation: Australia Group, BSEC, CBSS (observer), CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer), ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Oleh V. SHAMSHUR chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 333-0606 FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817 consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York, San Francisco

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador William B. TAYLOR embassy: 10 Yurii Kotsiubynsky Street, 04053 Kyiv mailing address: 5850 Kiev Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850 telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000 FAX: [380] (44) 490-4085

Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow represent grain fields under a blue sky

Economy Ukraine

Economy - overview: After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union, producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise, its diversified heavy industry supplied the unique equipment (for example, large diameter pipes) and raw materials to industrial and mining sites (vertical drilling apparatus) in other regions of the former USSR. Ukraine depends on imports of energy, especially natural gas, to meet some 85% of its annual energy requirements. Shortly after independence was ratified in December 1991, the Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatization, but widespread resistance to reform within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to less than 40% of the 1991 level. Loose monetary policies pushed inflation to hyperinflationary levels in late 1993. Ukraine's dependence on Russia for energy supplies and the lack of significant structural reform have made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. A dispute with Russia over pricing led to a temporary gas cut-off; Ukraine concluded a deal with Russia in January 2006, which almost doubled the price Ukraine pays for Russian gas, and could cost the Ukrainian economy $1.4-2.2 billion and cause GDP growth to fall 3-4%. Ukrainian government officials eliminated most tax and customs privileges in a March 2005 budget law, bringing more economic activity out of Ukraine's large shadow economy, but more improvements are needed, including fighting corruption, developing capital markets, and improving the legislative framework for businesses. Reforms in the more politically sensitive areas of structural reform and land privatization are still lagging. Outside institutions - particularly the IMF - have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms. GDP growth was 2.4% in 2005, down from 12.4% in 2004. The current account surplus reached $2.2 billion in 2005. The privatization of the Kryvoryzhstal steelworks in late 2005 produced $4.8 billion in windfall revenue for the government. Some of the proceeds were used to finance the budget deficit, some to recapitalize two state banks, some to retire public debt, and the rest may be used to finance future deficits.

GDP (purchasing power parity): $329.1 billion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate): $75.14 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.6% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP): $7,000 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 18.7% industry: 45.2% services: 36.1% (2005 est.)

Labor force: 22.67 million (2005 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 24% industry: 32% services: 44% (1996)

Unemployment rate: 3.1% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers; the International Labor Organization calculates that Ukraine's real unemployment level is around 9-10% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line: 29% (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.4% highest 10%: 24.8% (2005)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 29 (1999)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 13.5% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed): 20.9% of GDP (2005 est.)

Budget: revenues: $23.59 billion expenditures: $22.98 billion; note - this is the consolidated budget (January-September 2005)

Public debt: 17% of GDP (2005 est.)

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

Industries: coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food processing (especially sugar)

Industrial production growth rate: 3.2% (2005 est.)

Electricity - production: 181.3 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 48.6% hydro: 7.9% nuclear: 43.5% other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption: 176 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - exports: 1 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - imports: 255 million kWh (2004)

Oil - production: 85,660 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - consumption: 491,700 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - exports: 8,891 bbl/day NA bbl/day

Oil - imports: 444,600 bbl/day NA bbl/day

Oil - proved reserves: 395 million bbl (9 November 2004)

Natural gas - production: 20.3 billion cu m (2004)

Natural gas - consumption: 75.8 billion cu m (2004)

Natural gas - exports: 3.9 billion cu m (2004)

Natural gas - imports: 59.8 billion cu m (2004)

Natural gas - proved reserves: 1.121 trillion cu m (9 November 2004)

Current account balance: $2.531 billion (2005 est.)

Exports: $38.22 billion (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities: ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, food products

Exports - partners: Russia 22.1%, Turkey 6%, Italy 5.6% (2005)

Imports: $37.18 billion (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities: energy, machinery and equipment, chemicals

Imports - partners: Russia 35.5%, Germany 9.4%, Turkmenistan 7.4%, China 5% (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $19.39 billion (2005 est.)

Debt - external: $23.93 billion (2005 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $637.7 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion (1998)

Currency (code): hryvnia (UAH)

Currency code: UAH

Exchange rates: hryvnia per US dollar - 5.1247 (2005), 5.3192 (2004), 5.3327 (2003), 5.3266 (2002), 5.3722 (2001)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications Ukraine

Telephones - main lines in use: 12.142 million (2004)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 17.214 million (2005)

Telephone system: general assessment: Ukraine's telecommunication development plan, running through 2005, emphasizes improving domestic trunk lines, international connections, and the mobile cellular system domestic: at independence in December 1991, Ukraine inherited a telephone system that was antiquated, inefficient, and in disrepair; more than 3.5 million applications for telephones could not be satisfied; telephone density is rising slowly and the domestic trunk system is being improved; the mobile cellular telephone system is expanding at a high rate international: country code - 380; two new domestic trunk lines are a part of the fiber-optic Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) system and three Ukrainian links have been installed in the fiber-optic Trans-European Lines (TEL) project that connects 18 countries; additional international service is provided by the Italy-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia (ITUR) fiber-optic submarine cable and by earth stations in the Intelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems

Radio broadcast stations: AM 134, FM 289, shortwave 4 (1998)

Radios: 45.05 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: at least 33 (plus 21 repeaters that relay broadcasts from Russia) (1997)

Televisions: 18.05 million (1997)

Internet country code: .ua

Internet hosts: 229,110 (2006)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 260 (2001)

Internet users: 5,278,100 (2005)

Transportation Ukraine

Airports: 499 (2006)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 193 over 3,047 m: 13 2,438 to 3,047 m: 55 1,524 to 2,437 m: 27 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 93 (2006)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 306 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11 914 to 1,523 m: 18 under 914 m: 274 (2006)

Heliports: 10 (2006)

Pipelines: gas 19,951 km; oil 4,514 km; refined products 4,211 km (2006)

Railways: total: 22,473 km broad gauge: 22,473 km 1.524-m gauge (9,250 km electrified) (2005)

Roadways: total: 169,447 km paved: 164,772 km (including 15 km of expressways) unpaved: 4,675 km (2004)

Waterways: 2,253 km (most on Dnieper River) (2006)

Merchant marine: total: 202 ships (1000 GRT or over) 782,456 GRT/911,201 DWT by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 151, container 4, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 6, petroleum tanker 9, refrigerated cargo 11, roll on/roll off 7, specialized tanker 2 foreign-owned: 1 (Russia 1) registered in other countries: 160 (Belize 7, Cambodia 17, Comoros 14, Cyprus 4, Dominica 2, Georgia 22, Liberia 16, Malta 24, Moldova 3, Mongolia 1, Panama 8, Russia 11, Saint Kitts and Nevis 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 12, Sierra Leone 4, Slovakia 8, unknown 4) (2006)

Ports and terminals: Feodosiya, Kerch, Kherson, Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Reni, Yuzhnyy

Military Ukraine

Military branches: Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air Forces (Viyskovo-Povitryani Syly), Air Defense Forces (2002)

Military service age and obligation: 18-25 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 18 months for Army and Air Force, 24 months for Navy (2004)

Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 11,020,222 females age 18-49: 11,370,687 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 7,376,050 females age 18-49: 9,313,385 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually: males age 18-49: 382,751 females age 18-49: 365,599 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $617.9 million (FY02)

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

Transnational Issues Ukraine

Disputes - international: 1997 boundary treaty with Belarus remains un-ratified due to unresolved financial claims, stalling demarcation and reducing border security; delimitation of land boundary with Russia is complete and parties have renewed discussions on demarcation; the dispute over the maritime boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a December 2003 framework agreement and ongoing expert-level discussions; Moldova and Ukraine have established joint customs posts to monitor transit through Moldova's break-away Transnistria Region, which remains under OSCE supervision; in 2004 Ukraine and Romania took their dispute over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary to the ICJ for adjudication; Romania opposes Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea

Illicit drugs: limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; some synthetic drug production for export to the West; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Africa, Latin America, and Turkey to Europe and Russia; Ukraine has improved anti-money-laundering controls, resulting in its removal from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) Noncooperative Countries and Territories List in February 2004; Ukraine's anti-money-laundering regime continues to be monitored by FATF

This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006

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@United Arab Emirates

Introduction United Arab Emirates

Background: The Trucial States of the Persian Gulf coast granted the UK control of their defense and foreign affairs in 19th century treaties. In 1971, six of these states - Abu Zaby, 'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash Shariqah, Dubayy, and Umm al Qaywayn - merged to form the United Arab Emirates (UAE). They were joined in 1972 by Ra's al Khaymah. The UAE's per capita GDP is on par with those of leading West European nations. Its generosity with oil revenues and its moderate foreign policy stance have allowed the UAE to play a vital role in the affairs of the region.

Geography United Arab Emirates

Location: Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi Arabia

Geographic coordinates: 24 00 N, 54 00 E

Map references: Middle East

Area: total: 82,880 sq km land: 82,880 sq km water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Maine

Land boundaries: total: 867 km border countries: Oman 410 km, Saudi Arabia 457 km

Coastline: 1,318 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: desert; cooler in eastern mountains

Terrain: flat, barren coastal plain merging into rolling sand dunes of vast desert wasteland; mountains in east

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m highest point: Jabal Yibir 1,527 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas

Land use: arable land: 0.77% permanent crops: 2.27% other: 96.96% (2005)

Irrigated land: 760 sq km (2003)

Natural hazards: frequent sand and dust storms

Environment - current issues: lack of natural freshwater resources compensated by desalination plants; desertification; beach pollution from oil spills

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note: strategic location along southern approaches to Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil

People United Arab Emirates

Population: 2,602,713 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 24.9% (male 331,012/female 317,643) 15-64 years: 71.2% (male 1,125,286/female 726,689) 65 years and over: 3.9% (male 74,700/female 27,383) note: 73.9% of the population in the 15-64 age group is non-national (2006 est.)

Median age: total: 28.1 years male: 34.8 years female: 23.3 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.52% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 18.96 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 4.4 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.66 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: 1.55 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 2.73 male(s)/female total population: 1.43 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 14.09 deaths/1,000 live births male: 16.57 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 75.44 years male: 72.92 years female: 78.08 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.88 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.18% (2001 est.)

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

HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA

Nationality: noun: Emirati(s) adjective: Emirati

Ethnic groups: Emirati 19%, other Arab and Iranian 23%, South Asian 50%, other expatriates (includes Westerners and East Asians) 8% (1982) note: less than 20% are UAE citizens (1982)

Religions: Muslim 96% (Shi'a 16%), Christian, Hindu, and other 4%

Languages: Arabic (official), Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 77.9% male: 76.1% female: 81.7% (2003 est.)

Government United Arab Emirates

Country name: conventional long form: United Arab Emirates conventional short form: none local long form: Al Imarat al Arabiyah al Muttahidah local short form: none former: Trucial Oman, Trucial States abbreviation: UAE

Government type: federation with specified powers delegated to the UAE federal government and other powers reserved to member emirates

Capital: name: Abu Dhabi geographic coordinates: 24 28 N, 54 22 E time difference: UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions: 7 emirates (imarat, singular - imarah); Abu Zaby (Abu Dhabi), 'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash Shariqah (Sharjah), Dubayy (Dubai), Ra's al Khaymah, Umm al Qaywayn (Quwayn)

Independence: 2 December 1971 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 2 December (1971)

Constitution: 2 December 1971; made permanent in 1996

Legal system: federal court system introduced in 1971; applies to all emirates except Dubayy (Dubai) and Ra's al Khaymah, which are not fully integrated into the federal judicial system; all emirates have secular courts to adjudicate criminal, civil, and commercial matters and Islamic courts to review family and religious disputes

Suffrage: none

Executive branch: chief of state: President KHALIFA bin Zayid al-Nuhayyan (since 3 November 2004), ruler of Abu Zaby (Abu Dhabi) (since 4 November 2004); Vice President and Prime Minister MUHAMMAD bin Rashid al-Maktum (since 5 January 2006) head of government: Prime Minister and Vice President MUHAMMAD bin Rashid al-Maktum (since 5 January 2006); Deputy Prime Ministers SULTAN bin Zayid al-Nuhayyan (since 20 November 1990) and HAMDAN bin Zayid al-Nuhayyan (since 20 October 2003) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president note: there is also a Federal Supreme Council (FSC) composed of the seven emirate rulers; the FSC is the highest constitutional authority in the UAE; establishes general policies and sanctions federal legislation; meets four times a year; Abu Zaby (Abu Dhabi) and Dubayy (Dubai) rulers have effective veto power elections: president and vice president elected by the FSC for five-year terms (no term limits); election last held 3 November 2004 upon the death of the UAE's Founding Father and first President ZAYID bin Sultan Al Nuhayyan (next to be held 2009); prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president election results: KHALIFA bin Zayid al-Nuhayyan elected president by a unanimous vote of the FSC; MUHAMMAD bin Rashid al-Maktum unanimously reaffirmed vice president

Legislative branch: unicameral Federal National Council (FNC) or Majlis al-Ittihad al-Watani (40 seats; members appointed by the rulers of the constituent states to serve two-year terms) elections: President KHALIFA in December 2005 announced that indirect elections would be held in early 2006 for half of the seats in the FNC; the other half would be filled by appointment note: reviews legislation, but cannot change or veto

Judicial branch: Union Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)

Political parties and leaders: none

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, FAO, G-77, GCC, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Saqr Ghobash Said GHOBASH chancery: 3522 International Court NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 243-2400 FAX: [1] (202) 243-2432 consulate(s): New York, Houston

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Michele J. SISON embassy: Embassies District, Plot 38 Sector W59-02, Street No. 4, Abu Dhabi mailing address: P. O. Box 4009, Abu Dhabi telephone: [971] (2) 414-2200 FAX: [971] (2) 414-2603 consulate(s) general: Dubai

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black with a wider vertical red band on the hoist side

Economy United Arab Emirates

Economy - overview: The UAE has an open economy with a high per capita income and a sizable annual trade surplus. Its wealth is based on oil and gas output (about 30% of GDP), and the fortunes of the economy fluctuate with the prices of those commodities. Since the discovery of oil in the UAE more than 30 years ago, the UAE has undergone a profound transformation from an impoverished region of small desert principalities to a modern state with a high standard of living. At present levels of production, oil and gas reserves should last for more than 100 years. The government has increased spending on job creation and infrastructure expansion and is opening up its utilities to greater private sector involvement. Higher oil revenue, strong liquidity, and cheap credit in 2005 led to a surge in asset prices (shares and real estate) and consumer inflation. Any sharp correction to the UAE's equity markets could damage investor and consumer sentiment and affect bank asset quality. In April 2004, the UAE signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with Washington and in November 2004 agreed to undertake negotiations toward a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US.

GDP (purchasing power parity): $115.8 billion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate): $98.1 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 8.8% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP): $45,200 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4% industry: 58.5% services: 37.5% (2002 est.)

Labor force: 2.8 million (2005 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 7% industry: 15% services: 78% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate: 2.4% (2001)

Population below poverty line: NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10.5% (2005 est.)

Investment (gross fixed): 20.7% of GDP (2005 est.)

Budget: revenues: $34.93 billion expenditures: $29.41 billion; including capital expenditures of $3.4 billion (2005 est.)

Public debt: 17.5% of GDP (2005 est.)

Agriculture - products: dates, vegetables, watermelons; poultry, eggs, dairy products; fish

Industries: petroleum and petrochemicals; fishing, aluminum, cement, fertilizers, commercial ship repair, construction materials, some boat building, handicrafts, textiles

Industrial production growth rate: 4% (2000)

Electricity - production: 45.12 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption: 38.32 billion kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004)

Oil - production: 2.396 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption: 310,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - exports: 2.5 million bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - imports: 0 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves: 97.8 billion bbl (2005 est.)

Natural gas - production: 44.79 billion cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 37.88 billion cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - exports: 7.19 billion cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2003 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves: 6.006 trillion cu m (2005)

Current account balance: $18.54 billion (2005 est.)

Exports: $103.1 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities: crude oil 45%, natural gas, reexports, dried fish, dates

Exports - partners: Japan 24.6%, South Korea 9.8%, Thailand 5.6%, India 4.3% (2005)

Imports: $60.15 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food

Imports - partners: UK 10%, China 9.7%, US 9.4%, India 9.2%, Germany 5.9%, Japan 5.4%, France 4.7%, Singapore 4.1% (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $23.53 billion (2005 est.)

Debt - external: $34.47 billion (2005 est.)

Economic aid - donor: since its founding in 1971, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has given about $5.2 billion in aid to 56 countries (2004)

Currency (code): Emirati dirham (AED)

Currency code: AED

Exchange rates: Emirati dirhams per US dollar - 3.6725 (2005), 3.6725 (2004), 3.6725 (2003), 3.6725 (2002), 3.6725 (2001) note: officially pegged to the US dollar since February 2002

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications United Arab Emirates

Telephones - main lines in use: 1.237 million (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 4.535 million (2005)

Telephone system: general assessment: modern fiber-optic integrated services; digital network with rapidly growing use of mobile cellular telephones; key centers are Abu Dhabi and Dubai domestic: microwave radio relay, fiber optic and coaxial cable international: country code - 971; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat; submarine cables to Qatar, Bahrain, India, and Pakistan; tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia

Radio broadcast stations: AM 13, FM 8, shortwave 2 (2004)

Radios: 820,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 15 (2004)

Televisions: 310,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .ae

Internet hosts: 337,092 (2006)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)

Internet users: 1,397,200 (2005)

Transportation United Arab Emirates

Airports: 37 (2006)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 23 over 3,047 m: 10 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2006)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 14 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 4 (2006)

Heliports: 4 (2006)

Pipelines: condensate 520 km; gas 2,580 km; liquid petroleum gas 300 km; oil 2,950 km; oil/gas/water 5 km; refined products 156 km (2006)

Roadways: total: 1,088 km paved: 1,088 km (including 253 km of expressways) (1999)

Merchant marine: total: 58 ships (1000 GRT or over) 656,003 GRT/891,837 DWT by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 7, chemical tanker 5, container 6, liquefied gas 1, passenger/cargo 6, petroleum tanker 20, roll on/roll off 6, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 10 (Greece 2, Kuwait 8) registered in other countries: 259 (Bahamas 16, Barbados 1, Belize 5, Cambodia 1, Comoros 6, Cyprus 11, Dominica 2, Georgia 1, Hong Kong 2, India 6, Iran 1, Jordan 11, Kiribati 1, North Korea 6, Liberia 18, Malta 5, Marshall Islands 3, Mexico 1, Mongolia 5, Norway 1, Panama 105, Philippines 1, Saint Kitts and Nevis 19, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 11, Saudi Arabia 1, Sierra Leone 3, Singapore 7, Somalia 1, Sri Lanka 2, Syria 1, unknown 5) (2006)

Ports and terminals: Al Fujayrah, Khawr Fakkan, Mina' Jabal 'Ali, Mina' Rashid, Mina' Saqr, Mina' Zayid, Sharjan

Military United Arab Emirates

Military branches: Army, Navy (includes Marines and Coast Guard), Air and Air Defense Force, paramilitary forces (includes Federal Police Force)

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001)

Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 653,181 females age 18-49: 497,394 (includes non-nationals; 2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 526,671 females age 18-49: 419,975 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 30,706 females age 18-49: 29,617 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $1.6 billion (FY00)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3.1% (FY00)

Transnational Issues United Arab Emirates

Disputes - international: the United Arab Emirate 2006 Yearbook published a map and text rescinding the 1974 boundary with Saudi Arabia, as stipulated in a treaty filed with the UN in 1993, on the grounds that the agreement was not formally ratified; boundary agreement was signed and ratified with Oman in 2003 for entire border, including Oman's Musandam Peninsula and Al Madhah enclaves, but contents of the agreement and maps showing the alignment have not been published; Iran and UAE dispute Tunb Islands and Abu Musa Island, which Iran occupies

Trafficking in persons: current situation: the United Arab Emirates is a destination country for men, women, and children trafficked from South and East Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East for involuntary servitude and for sexual exploitation; an estimated 10,000 women from sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, South and East Asia, Iraq, Iran, and Morocco may be victims of sex trafficking in the UAE; women also migrate from Africa, and South and Southeast Asia to work as domestic servants, but may have their passports confiscated, be denied permission to leave the place of employment in the home, or face sexual or physical abuse by their employers; men from South Asia come to the UAE to work in the construction industry, but may be subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude as they are coerced to pay off recruitment and travel costs, sometimes having their wages denied for months at a time; victims of child camel jockey trafficking may still remain in the UAE, despite a July 2005 law banning the practice; while all identified victims were repatriated at the government's expense to their home countries, questions persist as to the effectiveness of the ban and the true number of victims tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - UAE is placed on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to show increased efforts to combat trafficking in 2005, particularly in its efforts to address the large-scale trafficking of foreign girls and women for commercial sexual exploitation

Illicit drugs: the UAE is a drug transshipment point for traffickers given its proximity to Southwest Asian drug producing countries; the UAE's position as a major financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering; anti-money-laundering controls improving, but informal banking remains unregulated

This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006

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@United Kingdom

Introduction United Kingdom

Background: As the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars and the Irish republic withdraw from the union. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU, it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union for the time being. Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999, but the latter is suspended due to wrangling over the peace process.

Geography United Kingdom

Location: Western Europe, islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France

Geographic coordinates: 54 00 N, 2 00 W

Map references: Europe

Area: total: 244,820 sq km land: 241,590 sq km water: 3,230 sq km note: includes Rockall and Shetland Islands

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Oregon

Land boundaries: total: 360 km border countries: Ireland 360 km

Coastline: 12,429 km

Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries

Climate: temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast

Terrain: mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast

Elevation extremes: lowest point: The Fens -4 m highest point: Ben Nevis 1,343 m

Natural resources: coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, potash, silica sand, slate, arable land

Land use: arable land: 23.23% permanent crops: 0.2% other: 76.57% (2005)

Irrigated land: 1,700 sq km (2003)

Natural hazards: winter windstorms; floods

Environment - current issues: continues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (has met Kyoto Protocol target of a 12.5% reduction from 1990 levels and intends to meet the legally binding target and move toward a domestic goal of a 20% cut in emissions by 2010); by 2005 the government aims to reduce the amount of industrial and commercial waste disposed of in landfill sites to 85% of 1998 levels and to recycle or compost at least 25% of household waste, increasing to 33% by 2015; between 1998-99 and 1999-2000, household recycling increased from 8.8% to 10.3%

Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants

Geography - note: lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and linked by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters

People United Kingdom

Population: 60,609,153 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 17.5% (male 5,417,663/female 5,161,714) 15-64 years: 66.8% (male 20,476,571/female 19,988,959) 65 years and over: 15.8% (male 4,087,020/female 5,477,226) (2006 est.)

Median age: total: 39.3 years male: 38.2 years female: 40.4 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.28% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 10.71 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 10.13 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: 2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 5.08 deaths/1,000 live births male: 5.67 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 78.54 years male: 76.09 years female: 81.13 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.66 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 51,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 500 (2003 est.)

Nationality: noun: Briton(s), British (collective plural) adjective: British

Ethnic groups: white (of which English 83.6%, Scottish 8.6%, Welsh 4.9%, Northern Irish 2.9%) 92.1%, black 2%, Indian 1.8%, Pakistani 1.3%, mixed 1.2%, other 1.6% (2001 census)

Religions: Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%, Muslim 2.7%, Hindu 1%, other 1.6%, unspecified or none 23.1% (2001 census)

Languages: English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.)

Government United Kingdom

Country name: conventional long form: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; note - Great Britain includes England, Scotland, and Wales conventional short form: United Kingdom abbreviation: UK

Government type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: name: London geographic coordinates: 51 30 N, 0 10 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions: England: 47 boroughs, 36 counties, 29 London boroughs, 12 cities and boroughs, 10 districts, 12 cities, 3 royal boroughs boroughs: Barnsley, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bolton, Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Brighton and Hove, Bury, Calderdale, Darlington, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Halton, Hartlepool, Kirklees, Knowsley, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, North Tyneside, Oldham, Poole, Reading, Redcar and Cleveland, Rochdale, Rotherham, Sandwell, Sefton, Slough, Solihull, Southend-on-Sea, South Tyneside, St. Helens, Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees, Swindon, Tameside, Thurrock, Torbay, Trafford, Walsall, Warrington, Wigan, Wirral, Wolverhampton counties (or unitary authorities): Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex, Wiltshire, Worcestershire London boroughs: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth cities and boroughs: Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Salford, Sheffield, Sunderland, Wakefield, Westminster districts: Bath and North East Somerset, East Riding of Yorkshire, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North Somerset, Rutland, South Gloucestershire, Telford and Wrekin, West Berkshire, Wokingham cities: City of Bristol, Derby, City of Kingston upon Hull, Leicester, City of London, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, York royal boroughs: Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Windsor and Maidenhead Northern Ireland: 24 districts, 2 cities, 6 counties districts: Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane cities: Belfast, Londonderry (Derry) counties: County Antrim, County Armagh, County Down, County Fermanagh, County Londonderry, County Tyrone Scotland: 32 council areas: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, Eilean Siar (Western Isles), Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, The Scottish Borders, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian; Wales: 11 county boroughs, 9 counties, 2 cities and counties county boroughs: Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Conwy, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Torfaen, Wrexham counties: Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Isle of Anglesey, Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire, Powys, The Vale of Glamorgan cities and counties: Cardiff, Swansea

Dependent areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena and Ascension, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands

Independence: England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanently join as Great Britain; the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927

National holiday: the UK does not celebrate one particular national holiday

Constitution: unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

Legal system: common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948) head of government: Prime Minister Anthony (Tony) BLAIR (since 2 May 1997) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually the prime minister

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament comprised of House of Lords (consists of approximately 500 life peers, 92 hereditary peers and 26 clergy) and House of Commons (646 seats since 2005 elections; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms unless the House is dissolved earlier) elections: House of Lords - no elections (note - in 1999, as provided by the House of Lords Act, elections were held in the House of Lords to determine the 92 hereditary peers who would remain there; elections are held only as vacancies in the hereditary peerage arise); House of Commons - last held 5 May 2005 (next to be held by May 2010) election results: House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Labor 35.2%, Conservative 32.3%, Liberal Democrats 22%, other 10.5%; seats by party - Labor 356, Conservative 197, Liberal Democrat 62, other 31; note - as of 10 February 2006 party by seat in the House of Commons: Labor 353, Conservative 196, Liberal Democrat 63, Scottish National Party/Plaid Cymru 9, Democratic Unionist 9, Sinn Fein 5 (but cannot vote), other 11 note: in 1998 elections were held for a Northern Ireland Assembly (because of unresolved disputes among existing parties, the transfer of power from London to Northern Ireland came only at the end of 1999 and has been suspended four times the latest occurring in October 2002); in 1999 there were elections for a new Scottish Parliament and a new Welsh Assembly

Judicial branch: House of Lords (highest court of appeal; several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life); Supreme Courts of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (comprising the Courts of Appeal, the High Courts of Justice, and the Crown Courts); Scotland's Court of Session and Court of the Justiciary

Political parties and leaders: Conservative and Unionist Party [David CAMERON]; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Rev. Ian PAISLEY]; Labor Party [Anthony (Tony) BLAIR]; Liberal Democrats [Sir Menzies CAMPBELL]; Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru) [Dafydd IWAN]; Scottish National Party or SNP [Alex SALMOND]; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]; Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [Mark DURKAN]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Sir Reg EMPEY]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; Confederation of British Industry; National Farmers' Union; Trades Union Congress

International organization participation: AfDB, Arctic Council (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, C, CBSS (observer), CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), SECI (observer), UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, WToO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador David G. MANNING chancery: 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 588-6500 FAX: [1] (202) 588-7870 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco consulate(s): Dallas, Denver, Miami, Orlando