Part 7 out of 39




partners--US, Japan, UK, FRG, other EC, USSR


_#_Imports: $116.3 billion (c.i.f., 1990);

commodities--processed foods, beverages, crude petroleum,
chemicals, industrial machinery, motor vehicles and parts, durable
consumer goods, electronic computers;

partners--US, Japan, UK, FRG, other EC, Taiwan, South Korea, Mexico


_#_External debt: $247 billion (1987)


_#_Industrial production: growth rate - 2.7% (1990); accounts for 34%
of GDP


_#_Electricity: 105,000,000 kW capacity; 500,000 million kWh produced,
18,840 kWh per capita (1990)


_#_Industries: processed and unprocessed minerals, food products,
wood and paper products, transportation equipment, chemicals, fish
products, petroleum and natural gas


_#_Agriculture: accounts for about 3% of GDP; one of the world's major
producers and exporters of grain (wheat and barley); key source of US
agricultural imports; large forest resources cover 35% of total land
area; commercial fisheries provide annual catch of 1.5 million metric
tons, of which 75% is exported


_#_Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic
drug market; use of hydroponics technology permits growers to plant
large quantities of high-quality marijuana indoors


_#_Economic aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $7.2
billion


_#_Currency: Canadian dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Canadian dollar
(Can$) = 100 cents


_#_Exchange rates: Canadian dollars (Can$) per US$1--1.1559
(January 1991), 1.1668 (1990), 1.1840 (1989), 1.2307 (1988), 1.3260
(1987), 1.3895 (1986), 1.3655 (1985)


_#_Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March


_*_Communications
_#_Railroads: 93,544 km total; two major transcontinental freight
railway systems--Canadian National (government owned) and Canadian
Pacific Railway; passenger service--VIA (government operated)


_#_Highways: 884,272 km total; 712,936 km surfaced (250,023 km paved),
171,336 km earth


_#_Inland waterways: 3,000 km, including Saint Lawrence Seaway


_#_Pipelines: oil, 23,564 km total crude and refined; natural gas,
74,980 km


_#_Ports: Halifax, Montreal, Quebec, Saint John (New Brunswick),
Saint John's (Newfoundland), Toronto, Vancouver


_#_Merchant marine: 75 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 532,062
GRT/727,118 DWT; includes 1 passenger, 5 short-sea passenger, 2
passenger-cargo, 13 cargo, 2 railcar carrier, 1 refrigerated cargo, 8
roll-on/roll-off, 1 container, 27 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL)
tanker, 6 chemical tanker, 1 specialized tanker, 8 bulk; note--does not
include ships used exclusively in the Great Lakes


_#_Civil air: 636 major transport aircraft; Air Canada is the major
carrier


_#_Airports: 1,397 total, 1,154 usable; 443 with permanent-surface
runways; 4 with runways over 3,659 m; 30 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 328
with runways 1,220-2,439 m


_#_Telecommunications: excellent service provided by modern media;
18.0 million telephones; stations--900 AM, 29 FM, 53 (1,400 repeaters)
TV; 5 coaxial submarine cables; over 300 earth stations operating in
INTELSAT (including 4 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean) and domestic
systems


_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Canadian Armed Forces (including Mobile Command,
Maritime Command, Air Command, Communications Command, Canadian Forces
Europe, Training Commands), Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)


_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 7,243,909; 6,297,520 fit for
military service; 188,996 reach military age (17) annually


_#_Defense expenditures: $11.3 billion, 2% of GDP (FY90)
_%_
_@_Cape Verde
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 4,030 km2; land area: 4,030 km2


_#_Comparative area: slightly larger than Rhode Island


_#_Land boundaries: none


_#_Coastline: 965 km


_#_Maritime claims: (measured from claimed archipelagic baselines);

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm


_#_Climate: temperate; warm, dry, summer precipitation very erratic


_#_Terrain: steep, rugged, rocky, volcanic


_#_Natural resources: salt, basalt rock, pozzolana, limestone, kaolin,
fish


_#_Land use: arable land 9%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 6%; forest and woodland NEGL%; other 85%; includes irrigated
1%


_#_Environment: subject to prolonged droughts; harmattan wind can
obscure visibility; volcanically and seismically active; deforestation;
overgrazing


_#_Note: strategic location 500 km from African coast near major
north-south sea routes; important communications station; important sea
and air refueling site


_*_People
_#_Population: 386,501 (July 1991), growth rate 3.0% (1991)


_#_Birth rate: 48 births/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Net migration rate: - 8 migrants/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Infant mortality rate: 63 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)


_#_Life expectancy at birth: 60 years male, 63 years female (1991)


_#_Total fertility rate: 6.6 children born/woman (1991)


_#_Nationality: noun--Cape Verdean(s); adjective--Cape Verdean


_#_Ethnic divisions: Creole (mulatto) about 71%, African 28%, European
1%


_#_Religion: Roman Catholicism fused with indigenous beliefs


_#_Language: Portuguese and Crioulo, a blend of Portuguese and West
African words


_#_Literacy: 66% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1989 est.)


_#_Labor force: 102,000 (1985 est.); agriculture (mostly subsistence)
57%, services 29%, industry 14% (1981); 51% of population of working age
(1985)


_#_Organized labor: Trade Unions of Cape Verde Unity Center (UNTC-CS)


_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Republic of Cape Verde


_#_Type: republic


_#_Capital: Praia


_#_Administrative divisions: 14 districts (concelhos,
singular--concelho); Boa Vista, Brava, Fogo, Maio, Paul, Praia, Porto
Novo, Ribeira Grande, Sal, Santa Catarina, Santa Cruz, Sao Nicolau,
Sao Vicente, Tarrafal


_#_Independence: 5 July 1975 (from Portugal)


_#_Constitution: 7 September 1980; amended 12 February 1981,
NA December 1988, and 28 September 1990 (legalized opposition parties)


_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 5 July (1975)


_#_Executive branch: president, prime minister, deputy minister,
secretaries of state, Council of Ministers (cabinet)


_#_Legislative branch: unicameral People's National Assembly
(Assembleia Nacional Popular)


_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Supremo Tribunal de
Justia)


_#_Leaders:

Chief of State--President Antonio Mascarenhas MONTEIRO (since
22 March 1991);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Carlos VEIGA (since
13 January 1991)


_#_Political parties and leaders:
Movement for Democracy (MPD), Prime Minister Carlos VEIGA, founder and
chairman;
African Party for Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), Pedro
Verona Rodrigues PIRES, chairman


_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18


_#_Elections:

President--last held 17 February 1991 (next to be held
February 1996);
results--Antonio Mascarenhas MONTEIRO (MPD) received 72.6% of vote;

People's National Assembly--last held 13 January 1991 (next
to be held January 1996);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(79 total) MPD 56, PAICV 23; note--this multiparty Assembly
election ended 15 years of single-party rule


_#_Communists: no Communist party


_#_Member of: ACP, AfDB, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA,
IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOM (observer), ITU, LORCS,
NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WMO


_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Luis de Matos Monteiro da
FONSECA; Chancery at 3415 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20007;
telephone (202) 965-6820; there is a Cape Verdean Consulate General in
Boston;

US--Ambassador Francis T. (Terry) McNAMARA; Embassy at Rua Hojl Ya
Yenna 81, Praia (mailing address is C. P. 201, Praia); telephone
[238] 614-363 or 614-253


_#_Flag: two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and green with
a vertical red band on the hoist side; in the upper portion of the red
band is a black five-pointed star framed by two corn stalks and a
yellow clam shell; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia;
similar to the flag of Guinea-Bissau which is longer and has an
unadorned black star centered in the red band


_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Cape Verde's low per capita GDP reflects a poor natural
resource base, a 17-year drought, and a high birthrate. The economy is
service oriented, with commerce, transport, and public services
accounting for 65% of GDP during the period 1985-88. Although nearly
70% of the population lives in rural areas, agriculture's share of GDP is
only 16%; the fishing sector accounts for 4%. About 90% of food must be
imported. The fishing potential, mostly lobster and tuna, is not fully
exploited. In 1988 fishing represented only 3.5% of GDP. Cape Verde
annually runs a high trade deficit, financed by remittances from
emigrants and foreign aid.


_#_GDP: $262 million, per capita $740; real growth rate 3.2%
(1988 est.)


_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.2% (1988 est.)


_#_Unemployment rate: 25% (1988)


_#_Budget: revenues $98.3 million; expenditures $138.4
million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1988 est.)


_#_Exports: $10.9 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);

commodities--fish, bananas, salt;

partners--Portugal, Angola, Algeria, France, Italy


_#_Imports: $107.8 million (c.i.f., 1989);

commodities--petroleum, foodstuffs, consumer goods, industrial
products;

partners--Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, France, Brazil, FRG


_#_External debt: $150 million (December 1990 est.)


_#_Industrial production: growth rate 18% (1988 est.); accounts for
7% of GDP


_#_Electricity: 13,000 kW capacity; 15 million kWh produced,
40 kWh per capita (1990)


_#_Industry: fish processing, salt mining, clothing factories, ship
repair, construction materials, food and beverage production


_#_Agriculture: accounts for 16% of GDP; largely subsistence farming;
bananas are the only export crop; other crops--corn, beans, sweet
potatoes, coffee; growth potential of agricultural sector limited by
poor soils and limited rainfall; annual food imports required; fish catch
provides for both domestic consumption and small exports


_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY75-89), $88
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $590 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $12 million;
Communist countries (1970-88), $36 million


_#_Currency: Cape Verdean escudo (plural--escudos); 1 Cape Verdean
escudo (CVEsc) = 100 centavos


_#_Exchange rates: Cape Verdean escudos (CVEsc) per
US$1--64.10 (November 1990), 74.86 (December 1989), 72.01 (1988), 72.5
(1987), 76.56 (1986), 85.38 (1985)


_#_Fiscal year: calendar year


_*_Communications
_#_Ports: Mindelo and Praia


_#_Merchant marine: 7 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 11,708
GRT/19,000 DWT


_#_Civil air: 5 major transport aircraft (4 owned, 1 leased)


_#_Airports: 6 total, 6 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 1 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m


_#_Telecommunications: interisland radio relay system, high-frequency
radio to mainland Portugal and Guinea-Bissau; 1,740 telephones;
stations--5 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV; 2 coaxial submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean
INTELSAT earth station


_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARP)--Army and
Navy are separate components of FARP; Militia, Security Service


_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 70,771; 41,844 fit for military
service


_#_Defense expenditures: $15 million, 11% of GDP (1981)
_%_
_@_Cayman Islands
(dependent territory of the UK)
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 260 km2; land area: 260 km2


_#_Comparative area: slightly less than 1.5 times the size of
Washington, DC


_#_Land boundaries: none


_#_Coastline: 160 km


_#_Maritime claims:

Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 3 nm


_#_Climate: tropical marine; warm, rainy summers (May to October) and
cool, relatively dry winters (November to April)


_#_Terrain: low-lying limestone base surrounded by coral reefs


_#_Natural resources: fish, climate and beaches that foster tourism


_#_Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
8%; forest and woodland 23%; other 69%


_#_Environment: within the Caribbean hurricane belt


_#_Note: important location between Cuba and Central America


_*_People
_#_Population: 27,489 (July 1991), growth rate 4.2% (1991)


_#_Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Net migration rate: 33 migrants/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Infant mortality rate: 10 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)


_#_Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 80 years female (1991)


_#_Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1991)


_#_Nationality: noun--Caymanian(s); adjective--Caymanian


_#_Ethnic divisions: 40% mixed, 20% white, 20% black, 20% expatriates
of various ethnic groups


_#_Religion: United Church (Presbyterian and Congregational),
Anglican, Baptist, Roman Catholic, Church of God, other Protestant
denominations


_#_Language: English


_#_Literacy: 98% (male 98%, female 98%) age 15 and over having ever
attended school (1970)


_#_Labor force: 8,061; service workers 18.7%, clerical 18.6%,
construction 12.5%, finance and investment 6.7%, directors and business
managers 5.9% (1979)


_#_Organized labor: Global Seaman's Union; Cayman All Trade Union


_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: none


_#_Type: dependent territory of the UK


_#_Capital: George Town


_#_Administrative divisions: 8 districts; Creek, Eastern, Midland,
South Town, Spot Bay, Stake Bay, West End, Western


_#_Independence: none (dependent territory of the UK)


_#_Legal system: British common law and local statutes


_#_Constitution: 1959, revised 1972


_#_National holiday: Constitution Day (first Monday in July), 1 July
1991


_#_Executive branch: British monarch, governor, Executive Council
(cabinet)


_#_Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Assembly


_#_Judicial branch: Grand Court, Cayman Islands Court of Appeal


_#_Leaders:

Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952),
represented by Governor Alan James SCOTT (since NA 1987);

Head of Government--Governor and President of the Executive Council
Alan James SCOTT (since NA 1987)


_#_Political parties and leaders: no formal political parties


_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18


_#_Elections:

Legislative Assembly--last held NA November 1988 (next to be held
November 1992); results--percent of vote NA;
seats--(15 total, 12 elected)


_#_Communists: none


_#_Member of: CDB, IOC


_#_Diplomatic representation: as a dependent territory of the UK,
Caymanian interests in the US are represented by the UK;

US--none


_#_Flag: blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant
and the Caymanian coat of arms on a white disk centered on the outer half
of the flag; the coat of arms includes a pineapple and turtle above a
shield with three stars (representing the three islands) and a scroll at
the bottom bearing the motto HE HATH FOUNDED IT UPON THE SEAS


_*_Economy
_#_Overview: The economy depends heavily on tourism (70% of GDP
and 75% of export earnings) and offshore financial services, with
the tourist industry aimed at the luxury market and catering
mainly to visitors from North America. About 90% of the islands' food and
consumer goods needs must be imported. The Caymanians enjoy one of the
highest standards of living in the region.


_#_GDP: $342 million, per capita $13,670 (1989); real growth
rate 15% (1988)


_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.2% (1988)


_#_Unemployment rate: NA%


_#_Budget: revenues $76 million; expenditures $56 million,
including capital expenditures of $NA (1988)


_#_Exports: $1.5 million (f.o.b., 1987 est.);

commodities--turtle products, manufactured consumer goods;

partners--mostly US


_#_Imports: $136 million (c.i.f., 1987 est.);

commodities--foodstuffs, manufactured goods;

partners--US, Trinidad and Tobago, UK, Netherlands Antilles, Japan


_#_External debt: $15 million (1986)


_#_Industrial production: growth rate NA%


_#_Electricity: 74,000 kW capacity; 256 million kWh produced,
9,710 kWh per capita (1990)


_#_Industries: tourism, banking, insurance and finance, construction,
building materials, furniture making


_#_Agriculture: minor production of vegetables, fruit, livestock;
turtle farming


_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $26.7
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $35.0 million


_#_Currency: Caymanian dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Caymanian dollar
(CI$) = 100 cents


_#_Exchange rates: Caymanian dollars (CI$) per US$1--1.20 (fixed
rate)


_#_Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March


_*_Communications
_#_Highways: 160 km of main roads


_#_Ports: George Town, Cayman Brac


_#_Merchant marine: 33 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 372,732
GRT/604,395 DWT; includes 1 passenger-cargo, 6 cargo, 7 roll-on/roll-off
cargo, 6 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker,
2 specialized tanker, 1 liquefied gas carrier, 9 bulk; note--a flag of
convenience registry


_#_Airports: 3 total; 3 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 2,439 m; 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m


_#_Telecommunications: 35,000 telephones; telephone system uses 1
submarine coaxial cable and 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station to
link islands and access international services; stations--2 AM, 1 FM,
no TV


_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Royal Cayman Islands Police Force (RCIPF)


_#_Note: defense is the responsibility of the UK
_%_
_@_Central African Republic
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 622,980 km2; land area: 622,980 km2


_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than Texas


_#_Land boundaries: 5,203 km total; Cameroon 797 km, Chad 1,197 km,
Congo 467 km, Sudan 1,165 km, Zaire 1,577 km


_#_Coastline: none--landlocked


_#_Maritime claims: none--landlocked


_#_Climate: tropical; hot, dry winters; mild to hot, wet summers


_#_Terrain: vast, flat to rolling, monotonous plateau; scattered hills
in northeast and southwest


_#_Natural resources: diamonds, uranium, timber, gold, oil


_#_Land use: arable land 3%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 5%; forest and woodland 64%; other 28%


_#_Environment: hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds affect northern areas;
poaching has diminished reputation as one of last great wildlife refuges;
desertification


_#_Note: landlocked; almost the precise center of Africa


_*_People
_#_Population: 2,952,382 (July 1991), growth rate 2.6% (1991)


_#_Birth rate: 44 births/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Death rate: 18 deaths/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Infant mortality rate: 138 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)


_#_Life expectancy at birth: 45 years male, 49 years female (1991)


_#_Total fertility rate: 5.6 children born/woman (1991)


_#_Nationality: noun--Central African(s); adjective--Central African


_#_Ethnic divisions: about 80 ethnic groups, the majority of which
have related ethnic and linguistic characteristics; Baya 34%, Banda 27%,
Sara 10%, Mandjia 21%, Mboum 4%, M'Baka 4%; 6,500 Europeans, of whom
3,600 are French


_#_Religion: indigenous beliefs 24%, Protestant 25%, Roman Catholic
25%, Muslim 15%, other 11%; animistic beliefs and practices strongly
influence the Christian majority


_#_Language: French (official); Sangho (lingua franca and national
language); Arabic, Hunsa, Swahili


_#_Literacy: 27% (male 33%, female 15%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)


_#_Labor force: 775,413 (1986 est.); agriculture 85%, commerce and
services 9%, industry 3%, government 3%; about 64,000 salaried workers;
55% of population of working age (1985)


_#_Organized labor: 1% of labor force


_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Central African Republic (no short-form name);
abbreviated CAR


_#_Type: republic, one-party presidential regime since 1986


_#_Capital: Bangui


_#_Administrative divisions: 14 prefectures (prefectures,
singular--prefecture) and 2 economic prefectures* (prefectures
economiques, singular--prefecture economique); Bamingui-Bangoran,
Basse-Kotto, Gribingui*, Haute-Kotto, Haute-Sangha, Haut-Mbomou,
Kemo-Gribingui, Lobaye, Mbomou, Nana-Mambere, Ombella-Mpoko, Ouaka,
Ouham, Ouham-Pende, Sangha*, Vakaga; note--there may be a new
autonomous commune of Bangui


_#_Independence: 13 August 1960 (from France; formerly Central African
Empire)


_#_Constitution: 21 November 1986


_#_Legal system: based on French law


_#_National holiday: National Day (proclamation of the republic),
1 December (1958)


_#_Executive branch: president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)


_#_Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee
Nationale) advised by the Economic and Regional Council (Conseil
Economique et Regional); when they sit together this is known
as the Congress (Congres)


_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)


_#_Leaders:

Chief of State and Head of Government--President
Andre-Dieudonne KOLINGBA (since 1 September 1981)


_#_Political parties and leaders: only party--Centrafrican Democrtic
Rally Party (RDC), Andre-Dieudonne KOLINGBA


_#_Suffrage: universal at age 21


_#_Elections:

President--last held 21 November 1986 (next to be held November
1993);
results--President KOLINGBA was reelected without opposition;

National Assembly--last held 31 July 1987 (next to be
held July 1992);
results--RDC is the only party;
seats--(52 total) RDC 52


_#_Communists: small number of Communist sympathizers


_#_Member of: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CCC, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ,
G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, UDEAC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO


_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jean-Pierre SOHAHONG-KOMBET;
Chancery at 1618 22nd Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)
483-7800 or 7801;

US--Ambassador Daniel H. SIMPSON; Embassy at Avenue du President
David Dacko, Bangui (mailing address is B. P. 924, Bangui);
telephone 61-02-00 or 61-25-78, 61-43-33


_#_Flag: four equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, green, and
yellow with a vertical red band in center; there is a yellow five-pointed
star on the hoist side of the blue band


_*_Economy
_#_Overview: The Central African Republic (CAR) had a per capita
income of roughly $440 in 1990. Subsistence agriculture, including
forestry, is the backbone of the economy, with over 70% of the population
living in the countryside. In 1988 the agricultural sector generated
about 40% of GDP. Agricultural products accounted for about 60% of export
earnings and the diamond industry for 30%. Important constraints to
economic development include the CAR's landlocked position, a poor
transportation infrastructure, and a weak human resource base.
Multilateral and bilateral development assistance plays a major role in
providing capital for new investment.


_#_GDP: $1.3 billion, per capita $440; real growth rate 2.0%
(1990 est.)


_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): - 4.2% (1988 est.)


_#_Unemployment rate: 30% in Bangui (1988 est.)


_#_Budget: revenues $132 million; current expenditures $305 million,
including capital expenditures of $NA million (1989 est.)


_#_Exports: $148 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);

commodities--diamonds, cotton, coffee, timber, tobacco;

partners--France, Belgium, Italy, Japan, US


_#_Imports: $239 million (c.i.f., 1989 est.);

commodities--food, textiles, petroleum products, machinery,
electrical equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals,
consumer goods, industrial products;

partners--France, other EC, Japan, Algeria, Yugoslavia


_#_External debt: $671 million (December 1989)


_#_Industrial production: 0.8% (1988); accounts for 12% of GDP


_#_Electricity: 35,000 kW capacity; 84 million kWh produced,
30 kWh per capita (1989)


_#_Industries: diamond mining, sawmills, breweries, textiles,
footwear, assembly of bicycles and motorcycles


_#_Agriculture: accounts for 40% of GDP; self-sufficient in food
production except for grain; commercial crops--cotton, coffee, tobacco,
timber; food crops--manioc, yams, millet, corn, bananas


_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $49
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $1.4 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $6 million;
Communist countries (1970-88), $38 million


_#_Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc
(plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes


_#_Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF)
per US$1--256.54 (January 1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85
(1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)


_#_Fiscal year: calendar year


_*_Communications
_#_Highways: 22,000 km total; 458 km bituminous, 10,542 km improved
earth, 11,000 unimproved earth


_#_Inland waterways: 800 km; traditional trade carried on by means of
shallow-draft dugouts; Oubangui is the most important river


_#_Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft


_#_Airports: 66 total, 49 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 22 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m


_#_Telecommunications: fair system; network relies primarily on radio
relay links, with low-capacity, low-powered radiocommunication also used;
6,000 telephones; stations--1 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT
earth station


_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Central African Armed Forces, Air Force, National
Gendarmerie, Police Force


_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 659,802; 345,049 fit for
military service


_#_Defense expenditures: $23 million, 1.8% of GDP (1989 est.)
_%_
_@_Chad
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 1,284,000 km2; land area: 1,259,200 km2


_#_Comparative area: slightly more than three times the size of
California


_#_Land boundaries: 5,968 km total; Cameroon 1,094 km, Central African
Republic 1,197 km, Libya 1,055 km, Niger 1,175 km, Nigeria 87 km, Sudan
1,360 km


_#_Coastline: none--landlocked


_#_Maritime claims: none--landlocked


_#_Disputes: Libya claims and occupies the 100,000 km2 Aozou
Strip in the far north; demarcation of international boundaries in
Lake Chad, the lack of which has led to border incidents in the past,
is completed and awaiting ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and
Nigeria


_#_Climate: tropical in south, desert in north


_#_Terrain: broad, arid plains in center, desert in north, mountains
in northwest, lowlands in south


_#_Natural resources: crude oil (unexploited but exploration
beginning), uranium, natron, kaolin, fish (Lake Chad)


_#_Land use: arable land 2%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 36%; forest and woodland 11%; other 51%; includes irrigated
NEGL%


_#_Environment: hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds occur in north;
drought and desertification adversely affecting south; subject to plagues
of locusts


_#_Note: landlocked; Lake Chad is the most significant water body
in the Sahel


_*_People
_#_Population: 5,122,467 (July 1991), growth rate 2.1% (1991)


_#_Birth rate: 42 births/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Death rate: 22 deaths/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Infant mortality rate: 134 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)


_#_Life expectancy at birth: 39 years male, 41 years female (1991)


_#_Total fertility rate: 5.3 children born/woman (1991)


_#_Nationality: noun--Chadian(s); adjective--Chadian


_#_Ethnic divisions: some 200 distinct ethnic groups, most of whom are
Muslims (Arabs, Toubou, Hadjerai, Fulbe, Kotoko, Kanembou, Baguirmi,
Boulala, Zaghawa, and Maba) in the north and center and non-Muslims
(Sara, Ngambaye, Mbaye, Goulaye, Moundang, Moussei, Massa) in the south;
some 150,000 nonindigenous, of whom 1,000 are French


_#_Religion: Muslim 44%, Christian 33%, indigenous beliefs, animism
23%


_#_Language: French and Arabic (official); Sara and Sango in south;
more than 100 different languages and dialects are spoken


_#_Literacy: 30% (male 42%, female 18%) age 15 and over can
read and write French or Arabic (1990 est.)


_#_Labor force: NA; agriculture (engaged in unpaid subsistence
farming, herding, and fishing) 85%


_#_Organized labor: about 20% of wage labor force


_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Republic of Chad


_#_Type: republic


_#_Capital: N'Djamena


_#_Administrative divisions: 14 prefectures (prefectures,
singular--prefecture); Batha, Biltine, Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti,
Chari-Baguirmi, Guera, Kanem, Lac, Logone Occidental, Logone Oriental,
Mayo-Kebbi, Moyen-Chari, Ouaddai, Salamat, Tandjile


_#_Independence: 11 August 1960 (from France)


_#_Constitution: 22 December 1989, suspended 3 December 1990;
Provisional National Charter 1 March 1991


_#_Legal system: based on French civil law system and Chadian
customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction


_#_National holiday: NA


_#_Executive branch: president, Council of State (cabinet)


_#_Legislative branch: the National Consultative Council (Conseil
National Consultatif) was disbanded 3 December 1990 and replaced by
the Provisional Council of the Republic; 30 members appointed by
President DEBY on 8 March 1991


_#_Judicial branch: Court of Appeal


_#_Leaders:

Chief of State--Col. Idriss DEBY (since 4 December 1990);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Jean LINGUE Bawoyeu
(since 8 March 1991)


_#_Political parties and leaders: Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS;
former dissident group), Idriss DEBY, chairman; President DEBY has
promised political pluralism, a new constitution, and free elections by
September 1993; numerous dissident groups


_#_Suffrage: universal at age NA


_#_Elections:

President--last held 10 December 1989 (next to be held NA);
results--President Hissein HABRE was elected without opposition;
note--the government of then President HABRE fell on 1 December 1990
and Idriss DEBY seized power on 3 December 1990;

National Consultative Council--last held 8 July 1990;
disbanded 3 December 1990


_#_Communists: no front organizations or underground party; probably a
few Communists and some sympathizers


_#_Other political or pressure groups: NA


_#_Member of: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, BDEAC, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77,
GATT, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IFAD, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, UDEAC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO


_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Mahamat Ali ADOUM; Chancery
at 2002 R Steet NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 462-4009;

US--Ambassador Richard W. BOGOSIAN; Embassy at Avenue Felix
Eboue, N'Djamena (mailing address is B. P. 413, N'Djamena); telephone
[235] (51) 62-18, 40-09


_#_Flag: three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and
red; similar to the flag of Romania; also similar to the flag of
Andorra which has a national coat of arms featuring a quartered shield
centered in the yellow band; design was based on the flag of France


_*_Economy
_#_Overview: The climate, geographic location, and lack of
infrastructure and natural resources potential make Chad one of the most
underdeveloped countries in the world. Its economy is burdened by
the ravages of civil war, conflict with Libya, drought, and food
shortages. In 1986 real GDP returned to its 1977 level, with cotton,
the major cash crop, accounting for 48% of exports. Over 80%
of the work force is employed in subsistence farming and fishing.
Industry is based almost entirely on the processing of agricultural
products, including cotton, sugarcane, and cattle. Chad is highly
dependent on foreign aid, with its economy in trouble and many regions
suffering from shortages. Oil companies are exploring areas north of
Lake Chad and in the Doba basin in the south.


_#_GDP: $1,015 million, per capita $205; real growth rate 0.9% (1989
est.)


_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): - 4.9% (1989)


_#_Unemployment rate: NA


_#_Budget: revenues $78 million; expenditures $127 million, not
including capital expenditures that are mostly financed by foreign
aid donors (1989 est.)


_#_Exports: $174 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);

commodities--cotton 48%, cattle 35%, textiles 5%, fish;

partners--France, Nigeria, Cameroon


_#_Imports: $264 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.);

commodities--machinery and transportation equipment 39%,
industrial goods 20%, petroleum products 13%, foodstuffs 9%;
note--excludes military equipment;

partners--US, France, Nigeria, Cameroon



_#_External debt: $530 million (December 1990 est.)


_#_Industrial production: growth rate 12.9% (1989 est.); accounts for
nearly 15% of GDP


_#_Electricity: 38,000 kW capacity; 70 million kWh produced, 14 kWh
per capita (1989)


_#_Industries: cotton textile mills, slaughterhouses, brewery, natron
(sodium carbonate), soap, cigarettes


_#_Agriculture: accounts for about 45% of GDP; largely subsistence
farming; cotton most important cash crop; food crops include sorghum,
millet, peanuts, rice, potatoes, manioc; livestock--cattle, sheep, goats,
camels; self-sufficient in food in years of adequate rainfall


_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $198
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $1.3 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $28 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $80 million


_#_Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc
(plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes


_#_Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF)
per US$1--256.54 (January 1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85
(1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)


_#_Fiscal year: calendar year


_*_Communications
_#_Highways: 31,322 km total; 32 km bituminous; 7,300 km gravel and
laterite; remainder unimproved


_#_Inland waterways: 2,000 km navigable


_#_Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft


_#_Airports: 70 total, 54 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 23 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m


_#_Telecommunications: fair system of radiocommunication stations for
intercity links; 5,000 telephones; stations--3 AM, 1 FM, limited TV
service; many facilities are inoperative; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth
station


_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Patriotic Salvation Force (FPS; Army, Air Force),
paramilitary Gendarmerie, National Police


_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,188,222; 616,932 fit for
military service; 51,713 reach military age (20) annually


_#_Defense expenditures: $39 million, 4.3% of GDP (1988)
_%_
_@_Chile
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 756,950 km2; land area: 748,800 km2; includes Isla de
Pascua (Easter Island) and Isla Sala y Gomez


_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than twice the size of Montana


_#_Land boundaries: 6,171 km total; Argentina 5,150 km, Bolivia
861 km, Peru 160 km


_#_Coastline: 6,435 km


_#_Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 24 nm;

Continental shelf: 200 nm;

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm


_#_Disputes: short section of the southern boundary with Argentina is
indefinite; Bolivia has wanted a sovereign corridor to the South
Pacific Ocean since the Atacama area was lost to Chile in 1884;
dispute with Bolivia over Rio Lauca water rights; territorial claim in
Antarctica (Chilean Antarctic Territory) partially overlaps Argentine
claim


_#_Climate: temperate; desert in north; cool and damp in south


_#_Terrain: low coastal mountains; fertile central valley; rugged
Andes in east


_#_Natural resources: copper, timber, iron ore, nitrates, precious
metals, molybdenum


_#_Land use: arable land 7%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 16%; forest and woodland 21%; other 56%; includes irrigated
2%


_#_Environment: subject to severe earthquakes, active volcanism,
tsunami; Atacama Desert one of world's driest regions; desertification


_#_Note: strategic location relative to sea lanes between
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake
Passage)


_*_People
_#_Population: 13,286,620 (July 1991), growth rate 1.5% (1991)


_#_Birth rate: 21 births/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Infant mortality rate: 18 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)


_#_Life expectancy at birth: 70 years male, 77 years female (1991)


_#_Total fertility rate: 2.5 children born/woman (1991)


_#_Nationality: noun--Chilean(s); adjective--Chilean


_#_Ethnic divisions: European and European-Indian 95%, Indian 3%,
other 2%


_#_Religion: Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 11%, and small Jewish
population


_#_Language: Spanish


_#_Literacy: 93% (male 94%, female 93%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)


_#_Labor force: 3,840,000; services 38.6% (includes government 12%)
38.6%; industry and commerce 31.3%; agriculture, forestry, and fishing
15.9%; mining 8.7%; construction 4.4% (1985)


_#_Organized labor: 11% of labor force (1990)


_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Republic of Chile


_#_Type: republic


_#_Capital: Santiago


_#_Administrative divisions: 13 regions (regiones,
singular--region); Aisen del General Carlos Ibanez del Campo,
Antofagasta, Araucania, Atacama, Bio-Bio, Coquimbo, Libertador
General Bernardo O'Higgins, Los Lagos, Magallanes y de la Antartica
Chilena, Maule, Region Metropolitana, Tarapaca, Valparaiso;
note--the US does not recognize claims to Antarctica


_#_Independence: 18 September 1810 (from Spain)


_#_Constitution: 11 September 1980, effective 11 March 1981;
amended 30 July 1989


_#_Legal system: based on Code of 1857 derived from Spanish law and
subsequent codes influenced by French and Austrian law; judicial review
of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction


_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 18 September (1810)


_#_Executive branch: president, Cabinet


_#_Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso
Nacional) consisting of an upper house or Senate (Senado) and a lower
house or Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados)


_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)


_#_Leaders:

Chief of State and Head of Government--President Patricio
AYLWIN (since 11 March 1990)


_#_Political parties and leaders:
Concertation of Parties for Democracy now consists mainly of six
parties--Christian Democratic Party (PDC), Andres ZALDIVAR;
Party for Democracy (PPD), Erich SCHNAKE;
Radical Party (PR), Mario ASTORGA;
Democratic Socialist Radical Party (PRSD), Jorge IBANEZ;
Social Democratic Party (PSD), Rene ABELIUK; and
Socialist Party, Jorge ARRATE;
National Renovation (RN), Andres ALLAMAND;
Independent Democratic Union (UDI), Joaquin LAVIN;
Communist Party of Chile (PCCh), Volodia TEITELBOIM;
Movement of Revolutionary Left (MIR) is splintered, no single
leader


_#_Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18


_#_Elections:

President--last held 14 December 1989 (next to be held December
1993 or January 1994);
results--Patricio AYLWIN (PDC) 55.2%, Hernan BUCHI 29.4%, other 15.4%;

Senate--last held 14 December 1989 (next to be held December
1993 or January 1994); seats--(46 total, 38 elected)
Concertation of Parties for Democracy 22 (PDC 13, PPD 5, PR 2, PSD 1,
PRSD 1), RN 6, UDI 2, independents 8;

Chamber of Deputies--last held 14 December 1989 (next to be held
December 1993 or January 1994); seats--(120 total)
Concertation of Parties for Democracy 72 (PDC 38, PPD 17, PR 5, other
12), RN 29, UDI 11, right-wing independents 8


_#_Communists: The PCCh is currently in the process of regaining
legal party status and has less than 60,000 members


_#_Other political or pressure groups: revitalized university student
federations at all major universities dominated by opposition political
groups; labor--United Labor Central (CUT) includes trade unionists from
the country's five-largest labor confederations; Roman Catholic Church


_#_Member of: CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, LORCS, OAS, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO


_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Patricio SILVA Echenique;
Chancery at 1732 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone
(202) 785-1746; there are Chilean Consulates General in Chicago, Houston,
Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco;

US--Ambassador Charles A. GILLESPIE, Jr.; Embassy at Codina
Building, 1343 Agustinas, Santiago (mailing address is APO Miami 34033);
telephone [56] (2) 710133 or 710190, 710326, 710375


_#_Flag: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; there is a
blue square the same height as the white band at the hoist-side end of
the white band; the square bears a white five-pointed star in the center;
design was based on the US flag


_*_Economy
_#_Overview: In 1990 economic growth slowed from an average of 6.2%
for the previous six years to about 1.5% as a result of tight monetary
policy aimed at reducing inflation. Monetary policy was not
successful at slowing price increases until the end of the year,
however, and inflation, stimulated by higher world oil prices,
increased to 27.3% in 1990 from 21.4% in 1989. Copper prices held strong
in 1990, helping to maintain a balance-of-payments surplus and increase
international reserves. Most observers expect that inflationary
pressures have run their course and price increases will slow during
1991, contributing to growth of 4-5%.


_#_GDP: $26 billion, per capita $2,000; real growth rate 2.0% (1990)


_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 27.3% (1990)


_#_Unemployment rate: 5.6% (1990)


_#_Budget: revenues $6.6 billion; expenditures $7.1 billion,
including capital expenditures of $575 million (1990 est.)


_#_Exports: $8.3 billion (f.o.b., 1990);

commodities--copper 48%, industrial products 33%, molybdenum,
iron ore, wood pulp, fishmeal, fruits;

partners--EC 34%, US 22%, Japan 10%, Brazil 7%


_#_Imports: $7.0 billion (f.o.b., 1990);

commodities--petroleum, wheat, capital goods, spare parts, raw
materials;

partners--EC 23%, US 20%, Japan 10%, Brazil 9%


_#_External debt: $18.4 billion (February 1991)


_#_Industrial production: growth rate 0% (1990);
accounts for 30% of GDP


_#_Electricity: 4,138,000 kW capacity; 17,784 million kWh produced,
1,360 kWh per capita (1990)


_#_Industries: copper, other minerals, foodstuffs, fish processing,
iron and steel, wood and wood products, transport equipment, cement,
textiles


_#_Agriculture: accounts for about 8% of GDP (including fishing and
forestry); major exporter of fruit, fish, and timber products; major
crops--wheat, corn, grapes, beans, sugar beets, potatoes, deciduous
fruit; livestock products--beef, poultry, wool; self-sufficient in most
foods; 1986 fish catch of 5.6 million metric tons net agricultural
importer


_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $521
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $1.4 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $386 million


_#_Currency: Chilean peso (plural--pesos);
1 Chilean peso (Ch$) = 100 centavos


_#_Exchange rates: Chilean pesos (Ch$) per US$1--337.24 (January
1991), 305.06 (1990), 267.16 (1989), 245.05 (1988), 219.54 (1987), 193.02
(1986), 161.08 (1985)


_#_Fiscal year: calendar year


_*_Communications
_#_Railroads: 8,613 km total; 4,257 km 1.676-meter gauge, 135 km
1.435-meter standard gauge, 4,221 km 1.000-meter gauge; electrification,
1,865 km 1.676-meter gauge, 80 km 1.000-meter gauge


_#_Highways: 79,025 km total; 9,913 km paved, 33,140 km gravel,
35,972 km improved and unimproved earth (1984)


_#_Inland waterways: 725 km


_#_Pipelines: crude oil, 755 km; refined products, 785 km;
natural gas, 320 km


_#_Ports: Antofagasta, Iquique, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas,
Valparaiso, San Antonio, Talcahuano, Arica


_#_Merchant marine: 35 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 485,935
GRT/800,969 DWT; includes 14 cargo, 1 refrigerated cargo, 3
roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1
chemical tanker, 2 liquefied gas, 3 combination ore/oil, 9 bulk;
note--in addition, 2 naval tanker and 2 military transport are sometimes
used commercially


_#_Civil air: 22 major transport aircraft


_#_Airports: 392 total, 353 usable; 50 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 12 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
55 with runways 1,220-2,439 m


_#_Telecommunications: modern telephone system based on extensive
radio relay facilities; 768,000 telephones; stations--159 AM, no FM,
131 TV, 11 shortwave; satellite stations--2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 3
domestic


_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Army of the Nation, National Navy (including Naval Air
and Marines), Air Force of the Nation, Carabineros of Chile (National
Police)


_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 3,544,962; 2,647,148 fit for
military service; 119,511 reach military age (19) annually


_#_Defense expenditures: $737 million, 3% of GNP (1991 est.)
_%_
_@_China
(also see separate Taiwan entry)
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 9,596,960 km2; land area: 9,326,410 km2


_#_Comparative area: slightly larger than the US


_#_Land boundaries: 23,213.34 km total; Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan
470 km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, North Korea
1,416 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,673 km, Nepal 1,236 km,
Pakistan 523 km, USSR 7,520 km, Vietnam 1,281 km


_#_Coastline: 14,500 km


_#_Maritime claims:

Continental shelf: claim to shallow areas of East China Sea
and Yellow Sea

Territorial sea: 12 nm


_#_Disputes: boundary with India; bilateral negotiations are under
way to resolve disputed sections of the boundary with the USSR; a short
section of the boundary with North Korea is indefinite; sporadic border
clashes with Vietnam; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly
Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam; maritime
boundary dispute with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands
occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims
Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands)


_#_Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north


_#_Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains,
deltas, and hills in east


_#_Natural resources: coal, iron ore, crude oil, mercury, tin,
tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum,
lead, zinc, uranium, world's largest hydropower potential


_#_Land use: arable land 10%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 31%; forest and woodland 14%; other 45%; includes irrigated 5%


_#_Environment: frequent typhoons (about five times per year along
southern and eastern coasts), damaging floods, tsunamis, earthquakes;
deforestation; soil erosion; industrial pollution; water pollution;
air pollution; desertification


_#_Note: world's third-largest country (after USSR and Canada)


_*_People
_#_Population: 1,151,486,981 (July 1991), growth rate 1.6% (1991)


_#_Birth rate: 22 births/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)


_#_Infant mortality rate: 33 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)


_#_Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 72 years female (1991)


_#_Total fertility rate: 2.3 children born/woman (1991)


_#_Nationality: noun--Chinese (sing., pl.); adjective--Chinese


_#_Ethnic divisions: Han Chinese 93.3%; Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi,
Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities
6.7%


_#_Religion: officially atheist, but traditionally pragmatic and
eclectic; most important elements of religion are Confucianism, Taoism,
and Buddhism; Muslim 2-3%, Christian 1% (est.)


_#_Language: Standard Chinese (Putonghua) or Mandarin (based on the
Beijing dialect); also Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei
(Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, and
minority languages (see ethnic divisions)


_#_Literacy: 73% (male 84%, female 62%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)


_#_Labor force: 553,000,000; agriculture and forestry 60%, industry
and commerce 25%, construction and mining 5%, social services 5%,
other 5% (1989 est.)


_#_Organized labor: All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU)
follows the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party; membership over 80
million or about 65% of the urban work force (1985)


_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: People's Republic of China; abbreviated PRC


_#_Type: Communist Party-led state


_#_Capital: Beijing


_#_Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (sheng, singular and
plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 3
municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**, Fujian,
Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan,
Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*,
Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**,
Xinjiang*, Xizang*, Yunnan, Zhejiang; note--China considers Taiwan its
23rd province


_#_Independence: unification under the Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty 221 BC,
Qing (Ch'ing or Manchu) Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February
1912, People's Republic established 1 October 1949


_#_Constitution: 4 December 1982


_#_Legal system: a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely
criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new
legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being
made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law


_#_National holiday: National Day, 1 October (1949)


_#_Executive branch: president, vice president, premier, five vice
premiers, State Council


_#_Legislative branch: unicameral National People's Congress (Quanguo
Renmin Daibiao Dahui)


_#_Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court


_#_Leaders:

Chief of State and Head of Government (de facto)--DENG
Xiaoping (since mid-1977);

Chief of State--President YANG Shangkun (since 8 April 1988);
Vice President WANG Zhen (since 8 April 1988);

Head of Government--Premier LI Peng (Acting Premier since
24 November 1987, Premier since 9 April 1988);
Vice Premier YAO Yilin (since 2 July 1979);
Vice Premier TIAN Jiyun (since 20 June 1983);
Vice Premier WU Xueqian (since 12 April 1988);
Vice Premier ZOU Jiahua (since 8 April 1991);
Vice Premier ZHU Rongji (since 8 April 1991)


_#_Political parties and leaders: only party--Chinese Communist Party
(CCP), JIANG Zemin, general secretary of the Central Committee (since
NA June 1989)


_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18


_#_Elections:

President--last held 8 April 1988 (next to be held March 1993);
YANG Shangkun was nominally elected by the Seventh National People's
Congress;

National People's Congress--last held NA March 1988 (next to
be held March 1993); results--CCP is the only party but there are
also independents;
seats--(2,976 total) CCP and independents 2,976 (indirectly elected
at county or xian level)


_#_Communists: 49,000,000 party members (1990 est.)


_#_Other political or pressure groups: such meaningful opposition as
exists consists of loose coalitions, usually within the party and
government organization, that vary by issue


_#_Member of: AfDB, AsDB, CCC, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO,
ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UN Security
Council, UN Trusteeship Council, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO


_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador ZHU Qizhen; Chancery at
2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 328-2500 through 2502; there are Chinese Consulates
General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco;

US--Ambassador James R. LILLEY; Embassy at Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3,
Beijing (mailing address is 100600, PRC Box 50, Beijing or FPO San
Francisco 96655-0001); telephone [86] (1) 532-3831; there are US
Consulates General in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang


_#_Flag: red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller
yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle
of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner


_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Beginning in late 1978 the Chinese leadership has been
trying to move the economy from the sluggish Soviet-style centrally
planned economy to a more productive and flexible economy with market
elements--but still within the framework of monolithic Communist control.
To this end the authorities have switched to a system of household
responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization,
increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in
industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services
and light manufacturing, and opened the foreign economic sector to
increased trade and joint ventures. The most gratifying result has been a
strong spurt in production, particularly in agriculture in the early
1980s. Otherwise, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid
system the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy, lassitude,
corruption) and of capitalism (windfall gains and stepped-up inflation).
Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls
at intervals and thereby undermining the credibility of the reform
process. Popular resistance and changes in central policy have
weakened China's population control program, which is essential to the
nation's long-term economic viability.


_#_GNP: $413 billion (1989 est.), per capita $370 (World Bank est.);
real growth rate 5% (1990)


_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.1% (1990)


_#_Unemployment rate: 2.6% in urban areas (1990)


_#_Budget: revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital
expenditures of $NA


_#_Exports: $62.1 billion (f.o.b., 1990);

commodities--textiles, garments, telecommunications and recording
equipment, petroleum, minerals;

partners--Hong Kong, US, Japan, USSR, Singapore, FRG (1989)


_#_Imports: $53.4 billion (c.i.f., 1990);

commodities--specialized industrial machinery, chemicals,
manufactured goods, steel, textile yarn, fertilizer;

partners--Hong Kong, Japan, US, FRG, USSR (1989)


_#_External debt: $51 billion (1990 est.)


_#_Industrial production: growth rate 7.6% (1990); accounts
for 45% of GNP


_#_Electricity: 117,580,000 kW capacity; 585,000 million kWh produced,
520 kWh per capita (1990)


_#_Industries: iron, steel, coal, machine building, armaments,
textiles, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, consumer durables,
food processing


_#_Agriculture: accounts for 26% of GNP; among the world's largest
producers of rice, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley,
and pork; commercial crops include cotton, other fibers, and oilseeds;
produces variety of livestock products; basically self-sufficient in
food; fish catch of 8 million metric tons in 1986


_#_Economic aid: donor--to less developed countries (1970-89) $7.0
billion; US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $220.7 million;
Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87),
$13.5 billion


_#_Currency: yuan (plural--yuan); 1 yuan (3) = 10 jiao


_#_Exchange rates: yuan (3) per US$1--5.31 (April 1991),
4.7832 (1990), 3.7651 (1989), 3.7221 (1988), 3.7221 (1987), 3.4528
(1986), 2.9367 (1985)


_#_Fiscal year: calendar year


_*_Communications
_#_Railroads: total about 54,000 km common carrier lines; 53,400 km
1.435-meter standard gauge; 600 km 1.000-meter gauge;


 


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