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SOURCE: 2000 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK See also ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations: This information is included in Appendix A: Abbreviations,
which includes all abbreviations and acronyms used in the Factbook, with their
expansions.
Acronyms: An acronym is an abbreviation coined from the initial letter
of each successive word in a term or phrase. In general, an acronym made up solely
from the first letter of the major words in the expanded form is rendered in all
capital letters (NATO from North Atlantic Treaty Organization; an exception would be
ASEAN for Association of Southeast Asian Nations). In general, an acronym made up of
more than the first letter of the major words in the expanded form is rendered with
only an initial capital letter (Comsat from Communications Satellite Corporation; an
exception would be NAM from Nonaligned Movement). Hybrid forms are sometimes used to d
istinguish between initially identical terms (WTO: for World Trade Organization and
WToO for World Tourism Organization.)
Administrative divisions: This entry generally gives the numbers,
designatory terms, and first-order administrative divisions as approved by the
US Board on Geographic Names (BGN). Changes that have been reported but not yet
acted on by BGN are noted.
Age structure: This entry provides the distribution of the population according to age. Information is included by sex and age group as follows: 0-14 years (children), 15-24 years (early working age), 25-54 years (prime working age), 55-64 years (mature working age), 65 years and over (elderly). The age structure of a population affects a nation's key socioeconomic issues. Countries with young populations (high percentage under age 15) need to invest more in schools, while countries with older populations (high percentage ages 65 and over) need to invest more in the health sector. The age structure can also be used to help predict potential political issues. For example, the rapid growth of a young adult population unable to find employment can lead to unrest.
Agriculture - products: This entry is a rank ordering of major crops
and products starting with the most important.
Airports: This entry gives the total number of airports. The runway(s)
may be paved (concrete or asphalt surfaces) or unpaved (grass, dirt, sand, or
gravel surfaces), but must be usable. Not all airports have facilities for
refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control.
Airports - with paved runways: This entry gives the total number of
airports with paved runways (concrete or asphalt surfaces). For airports with
more than one runway, only the longest runway is included according to the
following five groups - (1) over 3,047 m, (2) 2,438 to 3,047 m, (3) 1,524 to
2,437 m, (4) 914 to 1,523 m, and (5) under 914 m. Only airports with usable
runways are included in this listing. Not all airports have facilities for
refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control.
Airports - with unpaved runways: This entry gives the total number of
airports with unpaved runways (grass, dirt, sand, or gravel surfaces). For
airports with more than one runway, only the longest runway is included
according to the following five groups - (1) over 3,047 m, (2) 2,438 to 3,047 m,
(3) 1,524 to 2,437 m, (4) 914 to 1,523 m, and (5) under 914 m. Only airports
with usable runways are included in this listing. Not all airports have
facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control.
Appendixes: This section includes Factbook-related material by
topic.
Area: This entry includes three subfields. Total area is the
sum of all land and water areas delimited by international boundaries and/or
coastlines. Land area is the aggregate of all surfaces delimited by
international boundaries and/or coastlines, excluding inland water bodies
(lakes, reservoirs, rivers). Water area is the sum of all water surfaces
delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, including inland water
bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers).
Area - comparative: This entry provides an area comparison based on
total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of
the 50 states based on area measurements (1990 revised) provided by the US
Bureau of the Census. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178
sq km, 69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi, 146
acres).
Background: This entry usually highlights major historic events and
current issues and may include a statement about one or two key future trends.
Birth rate: This entry gives the average annual number of births
during a year per 1,000 persons in the population at midyear; also known as
crude birth rate. The birth rate is usually the dominant factor in determining
the rate of population growth. It depends on both the level of fertility and the
age structure of the population.
Broadband - fixed subscriptions: This entry gives the total number of fixed-broadband subscriptions, as well as the number of subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. Fixed broadband is a physical wired connection to the Internet (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber) at speeds equal to or greater than 256 kilobits/second (256 kbit/s).
Broadcast media: This entry provides information on the approximate number of public and private TV and radio stations in a country,
as well as basic information on the availability of satellite and cable TV services.
Budget: This entry includes revenues, total expenditures, and capital
expenditures. These figures are calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e.,
not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-): This entry records the difference between national government revenues and expenditures, expressed as a percent of GDP.
A positive (+) number indicates that revenues exceeded expenditures (a budget surplus), while a negative (-) number indicates the reverse (a budget deficit).
Normalizing the data, by dividing the budget balance by GDP, enables easy comparisons across countries and indicates whether a national government saves or borrows money.
Countries with high budget deficits (relative to their GDPs) generally have more difficulty raising funds to finance expenditures, than those with lower deficits.
Capital: This entry gives the location of the seat of government.
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy: This entry is the total amount of carbon dioxide, measured in metric tons,
released by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy.
Central bank discount rate: This entry provides the annualized interest
rate a country's central bank charges commercial, depository banks for loans
to meet temporary shortages of funds.
Child labor - children ages 5-14: This entry gives the percent of children aged 5-14 (or the age range specified) engaged in child labor.
We define "child labor" as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.
It refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially, or morally dangerous and harmful to children.
Such labor may deprive them of the opportunity to attend school, oblige them to leave school prematurely, or require them to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.
In its most extreme forms, child labor involves children being enslaved, separated from their families,
exposed to serious hazards and illnesses, and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities - often a very early age.
Children under the age of 5 years underweight: This entry gives the percent of children under five considered to be underweight.
Underweight means weight-for-age is approximately 2 kg below for standard at age one, 3 kg below standard for ages two and three, and 4 kg below standard for ages four and five.
This statistic is an indicator of the nutritional status of a community.
Children who suffer from growth retardation as a result of poor diets and/or recurrent infections tend to have a greater risk of suffering illness and death.
Citizenship: This entry provides information related to the acquisition and exercise of citizenship; it includes four subfields:
Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: This entry provides the one- or two-character alphanumeric code indicating the nationality of civil aircraft. Article 20 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention), signed in 1944, requires that all aircraft engaged in international air navigation bear appropriate nationality marks. The aircraft registration number consists of two parts: a prefix consisting of a one- or two-character alphanumeric code indicating nationality and a registration suffix of one to five characters for the specific aircraft. The prefix codes are based upon radio call-signs allocated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to each country. Since 1947, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has managed code standards and their allocation.
Climate: This entry includes a brief description of typical weather regimes throughout the year.
Coastline: This entry gives the total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea.
Commercial bank prime lending rate: This entry provides a simple average of annualized interest rates commercial banks charge on new loans, denominated in the national currency, to their most credit-worthy customers.
Communications: This category deals with the means of exchanging information and includes the telephone, radio, television, and Internet service provider entries.
Communications - note: This entry includes miscellaneous communications information of significance not included elsewhere.
Constitution: This entry includes the dates of adoption, revisions, and major amendments.
Contraceptive prevalence rate: This field gives the percent of women of reproductive age (15-49) who are married or in union and are using, or whose sexual partner is using, a method of contraception according to the date of the most recent available data. The contraceptive prevalence rate is an indicator of health services, development, and women's empowerment. It is also useful in understanding, past, present, and future fertility trends, especially in developing countries.
Country map: Most versions of the Factbook provide a country map in color. The maps were produced from the best information available at the time of preparation. Names and/or boundaries may have changed subsequently.
Country name: This entry includes all forms of the country's name
approved by the US Board on Geographic Names (Italy is used as an example):
conventional long form (Italian Republic), conventional short form
(Italy), local long form (Repubblica Italiana), local short form
(Italia), former (Kingdom of Italy), as well as the abbreviation.
Also see the Terminology note.
Crude Oil - consumption: This entry is the total oil consumed in barrels per
day (bbl/day). The discrepancy between the amount of oil produced and/or imported
and the amount consumed and/or exported is due to the omission of stock changes,
refinery gains, and other complicating factors.
Crude Oil - exports: This entry is the total oil exported in barrels per day (bbl/day),
including both crude oil and oil products.
Crude Oil - imports: This entry is the total oil imported in barrels per day (bbl/day),
including both crude oil and oil products.
Crude Oil - production: This entry is the total oil produced in barrels per day
(bbl/day). The discrepancy between the amount of oil produced and/or imported and
the amount consumed and/or exported is due to the omission of stock changes, refinery
gains, and other complicating factors.
Crude Oil - proved reserves: This entry is the stock of proved reserves of crude
oil in barrels (bbl). Proved reserves are those quantities of petroleum which,
by analysis of geological and engineering data, can be estimated with a high degree
of confidence to be commercially recoverable from a given date forward, from known
reservoirs and under current economic conditions.
Oil Terms: Barrel (bbl) and barrels per day (b/d) are used to express volume of crude oil and refined products; a barrel equals 42.00
gallons, 158.99 liters, 5.61 cubic feet, or 0.16 cubic meters.
Currency: This entry identifies the national medium of exchange and
its basic subunit.
Current account balance: This entry records a country's net trade in
goods and services, plus net earnings from rents, interest, profits, and dividends,
and net transfer payments (such as pension funds and worker remittances) to and from
the rest of the world during the period specified. These figures are calculated on
an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
Data code: This entry gives the official US Government digraph that
precisely identifies every land entity without overlap, duplication, or
omission. AF, for example, is the data code for Afghanistan. This two-letter
country code is a standardized geopolitical data element promulgated in the
Federal Information Processing Standards Publication (FIPS) 10-4 by the
National Institute of Standards and Technology at the US Department of Commerce
and maintained by the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues at the US
Department of State. The data code is used to eliminate confusion and
incompatibility in the collection, processing, and dissemination of
area-specific data and is particularly useful for interchanging data between
databases. CODES cross-references various country data codes and
Appendix E: Cross-references various hydrographic data codes.
Data codes - country: This information is presented in Appendix D:
Cross-Reference List of Country Data Codes which includes the US
Government approved Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) codes, the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) codes, and Internet codes
for land entities.
Data codes - hydrographic: This information is presented in Appendix E:
Cross-Reference List of Hydrographic Data Codes which includes the
International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) codes, Aeronautical Chart and
Information Center (ACIC; now a part of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency
or NIMA) codes, and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) codes for hydrographic
entities. The US Government has not yet approved a standard for hydrographic
data codes similar to the FIPS 10-4 standard for country data codes.
Date of information: In general, information available as of 1 January
2000, was used in the preparation of this edition.
Death rate: This entry gives the average annual number of deaths
during a year per 1,000 population at midyear; also known as crude death rate.
The death rate, while only a rough indicator of the mortality situation in a
country, accurately indicates the current mortality impact on population growth.
This indicator is significantly affected by age distribution, and most countries
will eventually show a rise in the overall death rate, in spite of continued
decline in mortality at all ages, as declining fertility results in an aging
population.
Debt - external: This entry gives the total amount of public foreign
financial obligations.
Demographic profile: This entry describes a country's key demographic features and trends and how they vary among regional, ethnic, and socioeconomic sub-populations. Some of the topics addressed are population age structure, fertility, health, mortality, poverty, education, and migration.
Dependency ratios: Dependency ratios are a measure of the age structure of a population. They relate the number of individuals that are likely to be economically "dependent" on the support of others. Dependency ratios contrast the ratio of youths (ages 0-14) and the elderly (ages 65+) to the number of those in the working-age group (ages 15-64). Changes in the dependency ratio provide an indication of potential social support requirements resulting from changes in population age structures. As fertility levels decline, the dependency ratio initially falls because the proportion of youths decreases while the proportion of the population of working age increases. As fertility levels continue to decline, dependency ratios eventually increase because the proportion of the population of working age starts to decline and the proportion of elderly persons continues to increase.
Dependency status: This entry describes the formal relationship
between a particular nonindependent entity and an independent state.
Dependent areas: This entry contains an alphabetical listing of all
nonindependent entities associated in some way with a particular independent
state.
Diplomatic representation: The US Government has diplomatic relations
with 184 independent states, including 181 of the 188 UN members (excluded UN
members are Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, former Yugoslavia, and the US
itself). In addition, the US has diplomatic relations with 3 independent states
that are not in the UN - Holy See, Switzerland, and Tuvalu.
Diplomatic representation from the US: This entry includes the
chief of mission, embassy address, mailing address,
telephone number, FAX number, branch office locations,
consulate general locations, and consulate locations.
Diplomatic representation in the US: This entry includes the chief
of the foreign mission, chancery address, telephone
number, FAX number, consulate general locations, consulate
locations, honorary consulate general locations, and honorary
consulate locations.
Disputes - international: This entry includes a wide variety of
situations that range from traditional bilateral boundary disputes to unilateral
claims of one sort or another. Information regarding disputes over international
terrestrial and maritime boundaries has been reviewed by the US Department of
State. References to other situations involving borders or frontiers may also be
included, such as resource disputes, geopolitical questions, or irredentist
issues; however, inclusion does not necessarily constitute official acceptance
or recognition by the US Government.
Distribution of Family Income - Gini index: This index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country.
The index is calculated from the Lorenz curve, in which cumulative family income is plotted against the number of families arranged from the poorest to the richest.
The index is the ratio of (a) the area between a country's Lorenz curve and the 45 degree helping line to (b) the entire triangular area under the 45 degree line.
The more nearly equal a country's income distribution, the closer its Lorenz curve to the 45 degree line and the lower its Gini index, e.g., a Scandinavian country with an index of 25.
The more unequal a country's income distribution, the farther its Lorenz curve from the 45 degree line and the higher its Gini index, e.g., a Sub-Saharan country with an index of 50.
If income were distributed with perfect equality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the 45 degree line and the index would be zero;
if income were distributed with perfect inequality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the horizontal axis and the right vertical axis and the index would be 100.
Drinking water source: This entry provides information about access to improved or unimproved drinking water sources available to segments of the population of a country.
Improved drinking water - use of any of the following sources: piped water into dwelling, yard, or plot; public tap or standpipe; tubewell or borehole; protected dug well; protected spring;
or rainwater collection. unimproved drinking water - use of any of the following sources: unprotected dug well; unprotected spring; cart with small tank or drum; tanker truck;
surface water, which includes rivers, dams, lakes, ponds, streams, canals or irrigation channels; or bottled water.
Economic aid - donor: This entry refers to net official development
assistance (ODA) from OECD nations to developing countries and multilateral
organizations. ODA is defined as financial assistance that is concessional in
character, has the main objective to promote economic development and welfare of
the less developed countries (LDCs), and contains a grant element of at least
25%. The entry does not cover other official flows (OOF) or private flows.
Economic aid - recipient: This entry, which is subject to major
problems of definition and statistical coverage, refers to the net inflow of
Official Development Finance (ODF) to recipient countries. The figure includes
assistance from the World Bank, the IMF, and other international organizations
and from individual nation donors. Formal commitments of aid are included in the
data. Omitted from the data are grants by private organizations. Aid comes in
various forms including outright grants and loans. The entry thus is the
difference between new inflows and repayments.
Economy: This category includes the entries dealing with the size,
development, and management of productive resources, i.e., land, labor, and
capital.
Economy - overview: This entry briefly describes the type of economy,
including the degree of market orientation, the level of economic development,
the most important natural resources, and the unique areas of specialization. It
also characterizes major economic events and policy changes in the most recent
12 months and may include a statement about one or two key future macroeconomic
trends.
Education expenditures: This entry provides the public expenditure on education as a percent of GDP.
Electricity - access: This entry provides information on access to electricity. Electrification data - collected from industry reports, national surveys, and international sources - consists of four subfields. Population without electricity provides an estimate of the number of citizens that do not have access to electricity. Electrification - total population is the percent of a country's total population with access to electricity, electrification - urban areas is the percent of a country's urban population with access to electricity, while electrification - rural areas is the percent of a country's rural population with access to electricity. Due to differences in definitions and methodology from different sources, data quality may vary from country to country.
Electricity - consumption: This entry consists of total electricity
generated annually plus imports and minus exports, expressed in kilowatt hours.
The discrepancy between the amount of electricity generated and/or imported and
the amount consumed and/or exported is accounted for as loss in transmission and
distribution.
Electricity - exports: This entry is the total exported electricity in kilowatt hours.
Electricity - from fossil fuels: This entry measures the capacity of plants that generate electricity by burning fossil fuels (such as coal, petroleum products, and natural gas),
expressed as a share of the country's total generating capacity.
Electricity - from hydroelectric plants: This entry measures the capacity of plants that generate electricity by water-driven turbines,
expressed as a share of the country's total generating capacity.
Electricity - from nuclear fuels: This entry measures the capacity of plants that generate electricity through radioactive decay of nuclear fuel,
expressed as a share of the country's total generating capacity.
Electricity - from other renewable sources: This entry measures the capacity of plants that generate electricity by using renewable energy sources other than hydroelectric
(including, for example, wind, waves, solar, and geothermal), expressed as a share of the country's total generating capacity.
Electricity - imports: This entry is the total imported electricity in
kilowatt hours.
Electricity - installed generating capacity: This entry is the total capacity of currently installed generators, expressed in kilowatts (kW), to produce electricity.
A 10-kilowatt (kW) generator will produce 10 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, if it runs continuously for one hour.
Electricity - production: This entry is the annual electricity
generated expressed in kilowatt hours. The discrepancy between the amount of
electricity generated and/or imported and the amount consumed and/or exported is
accounted for as loss in transmission and distribution.
Elevation: This entry includes both the mean elevation and the elevation extremes.
Electricity - production by source: This entry indicates the
percentage share of annual electricity production of each energy source. These
are fossil fuel, hydro, nuclear, and other (solar, geothermal, and wind).
Elevation extremes: This entry includes both the highest point
and the lowest point.
Entities: Some of the independent states, dependencies, areas of
special sovereignty, and governments included in this publication are not
independent, and others are not officially recognized by the US Government.
"Independent state" refers to a people politically organized into a sovereign
state with a definite territory. "Dependencies" and "areas of special
sovereignty" refer to a broad category of political entities that are associated
in some way with an independent state. "Country" names used in the table of
contents or for page headings are usually the short-form names as approved by
the US Board on Geographic Names and may include independent states,
dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty, or other geographic entities.
There are a total of 267 separate geographic entities in The World
Factbook that may be categorized as follows: INDEPENDENT STATES
OTHER DEPENDENCIES AND AREAS OF
SPECIAL SOVEREIGNTY
2 China - Hong Kong, Macau 2 Denmark - Faroe Islands, Greenland
2 Netherlands - Aruba, Netherlands Antilles 3 New Zealand - Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau 3 Norway - Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard
MISCELLANEOUS
OTHER ENTITIES
1 World 267 total
Environment - current issues: This entry lists the most pressing and
important environmental problems. The following terms and abbreviations are used
throughout the entry: acidification - the lowering of soil and water pH due to acid precipitation and deposition; this process disrupts ecosystem nutrient flows and may kill freshwater fish and plants dependent on more neutral or alkaline conditions (see acid rain). acid rain characterized as containing harmful levels of sulfur dioxide; acid rain is damaging and potentially deadly to the earth's fragile ecosystems; acidity is measured using the pH scale where 7 is neutral, values greater that 7 are considered alkaline, and anything measured below 5.6 is considered acid precipitation; note - a pH of 2.4 (the acidity of vinegar) has been measured in rainfall in New England. asbestos a naturally occurring soft fibrous mineral commonly used in fireproofing materials and considered to be highly carcinogenic. biodiversity - also biological diversity; many species, diverse in form and function, at the genetic, organism, community, and ecosystem level; loss of biodiversity reduces an ecosystem's ability to recover from natural or man-induced disruption. catchments assemblages used to capture and retain rainwater and runoff; an important water management technique in areas with limited freshwater resources, such as Gibraltar. DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) a colorless, odorless insecticide that has toxic effects on most animals; the use of DDT was banned in the US in 1972. defoliants chemicals which cause plants to lose their leaves artificially; often used in agricultural practices for weed control, and may have detrimental impacts on human and ecosystem health. deforestation the destruction of vast areas of forest (e.g., unsustainable forestry practices, agricultural and range land clearing, and the over exploitation of wood products for use as fuel) without planting new growth. desertification - the spread of desert-like conditions in arid or semi-arid areas, due to overgrazing, loss of agriculturally productive soils, or climate change. dredging - in general, the practice of deepening an existing waterway; more specifically, a technique used for collecting bottom-dwelling marine organisms (e.g., shellfish) or harvesting coral, often causing significant destruction of reef and ocean-floor ecosystems. driftnet fishing done with a net, miles in extent, that is generally anchored to a boat and left to float with the tide; often results in an over harvesting and waste of large populations of non-commercial marine species (by-catch) by its effect of "sweeping the ocean clean". ecosystems ecological units comprised of complex communities of organisms and their specific environments. effluents waste materials, such as smoke or sewage, which are released into the environment, subsequently polluting it. endangered species a species that is threatened with extinction either by direct hunting or habitat destruction. freshwater - water with very low soluble mineral content; sources include lakes, streams, rivers, glaciers, and underground aquifers. groundwater - water sources found below the surface of the earth often in naturally occurring reservoirs in permeable rock strata; the source for wells and natural springs. Highlands Water Project a series of dams constructed jointly by Lesotho and South Africa to redirect Lesotho's abundant water supply into a rapidly growing area in South Africa; while it is the largest infrastructure project in southern Africa, it is also the most costly and controversial; objections to the project include claims that it forces people from their homes, submerges farmlands, and squanders economic resources. Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) represents the 125,000 Inuits of Russia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland in international environmental issues; a panel convenes every three years to determine the focus of the ICC; the most current concerns are longrange transport of pollutants, sustainable development, and climate change. metallurgical plants industries which specialize in the science, technology, and processing of metals; these plants produce highly concentrated and toxic wastes which can contribute to pollution of ground water and air when not properly disposed. noxious substances injurious, very harmful to living beings. overgrazing the grazing of animals on plant material faster than it can naturally regrow leading to the permanent loss of plant cover, a common effect of too many animals grazing limited range land. ozone shield a layer of the atmosphere composed of ozone gas (O3) that resides approximately 25 miles above the Earth's surface and absorbs solar ultraviolet radiation that can be harmful to living organisms. poaching the illegal killing of animals or fish, a great concern with respect to endangered or threatened species. pollution the contamination of a healthy environment by manmade waste. potable water water that is drinkable, safe to be consumed. salination - the process through which fresh (drinkable) water becomes salt (undrinkable) water; hence, desalination is the reverse process. siltation occurs when water channels and reservoirs become clotted with silt and mud, a side effect of deforestation and soil erosion. slashandburn agriculture - a rotating cultivation technique in which trees are cut down and burned in order to clear land for temporary agriculture; the land is used until its productivity declines at which point a new plot is selected and the process repeats; this practice is sustainable while population levels are low and time is permitted for regrowth of natural vegetation; conversely, where these conditions do not exist, the practice can have disastrous consequences for the environment . soil degradation damage to the land's productive capacity because of poor agricultural practices such as the excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers, soil compaction from heavy equipment, or erosion of top soil, eventually resulting in reduced ability to produce agricultural products. soil erosion - the removal of soil by the action of water or wind, compounded by poor agricultural practices, deforestation, overgrazing, and desertification. ultraviolet (UV) radiation - a portion of the electromagnetic energy emitted by the sun and naturally filtered in the upper atmosphere by the ozone layer; UV radiation can be harmful to living organisms and has been linked to increasing rates of skin cancer in humans. water-born diseases those in which the bacteria survive in, and
is transmitted through, water; always a serious threat in areas with an
untreated water supply.
Environment - international agreements: This entry separates country
participation in international environmental agreements into two levels -
party to and signed but not ratified. Agreements are listed in
alphabetical order by the abbreviated form of the full name.
Environmental agreements: This information is presented in Appendix C:
Selected International Environmental Agreements, which includes the
name, abbreviation, date opened for signature, date entered into force,
objective, and parties by category.
Ethnic groups: This entry provides a rank ordering of ethnic groups
starting with the largest and normally includes the percent of total population.
Exchange rates: This entry provides the official value of a country's
monetary unit at a given date or over a given period of time, as expressed in
units of local currency per US dollar and as determined by international market
forces or official fiat.
Executive branch: This entry includes several subfields. Chief of
state includes the name and title of the titular leader of the country who
represents the state at official and ceremonial functions but may not be
involved with the day-to-day activities of the government. Head of
government includes the name and title of the top administrative leader who
is designated to manage the day-to-day activities of the government.
Cabinet includes the official name for this body of high-ranking advisers
and the method for selection of members. Elections includes the nature of
election process or accession to power, date of the last election, and date of
the next election. Election results includes the percent of vote for each
candidate in the last election. In the UK, the monarch is the chief of state,
and the prime minister is the head of government. In the US, the president is
both the chief of state and the head of government.
Exports: This entry provides the total US dollar amount of exports on
an f.o.b. (free on board) basis.
Exports - commodities: This entry provides a rank ordering of exported
products starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of
total dollar value.
Exports - partners: This entry provides a rank ordering of trading
partners starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of
total dollar value.
Fiscal year: This entry identifies the beginning and ending months for
a country's accounting period of 12 months, which often is the calendar year but
which may begin in any month. All yearly references are for the calendar year
(CY) unless indicated as a noncalendar fiscal year (FY).
Flag description: This entry provides a written flag description
produced from actual flags or the best information available at the time the
entry was written. The flags of independent states are used by their
dependencies unless there is an officially recognized local flag. Some disputed
and other areas do not have flags.
Flag graphic: Most versions of the Factbook include a color
flag at the beginning of the country profile. The flag graphics were produced
from actual flags or the best information available at the time of preparation.
The flags of independent states are used by their dependencies unless there is
an officially recognized local flag. Some disputed and other areas do not have
flags.
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): This entry provides the annual quantity of water in cubic kilometers removed from available sources for use in any purpose.
Water drawn-off is not necessarily entirely consumed and some portion may be returned for further use downstream. Domestic sector use refers to water supplied by public distribution systems.
Note that some of this total may be used for small industrial and/or limited agricultural purposes.
Industrial sector use is the quantity of water used by self-supplied industries not connected to a public distribution system.
Agricultural sector use includes water used for irrigation and livestock watering, and does not account for agriculture directly dependent on rainfall.
Included are figures for total annual water withdrawal and per capita water withdrawal.
GDP: This entry gives the gross domestic product (GDP) or value of all
final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year. GDP dollar
estimates in the Factbook are derived from purchasing power parity (PPP)
calculations. See the note on GDP methodology for more information.
GDP - composition, by end use: This entry shows who does the spending in an economy: consumers, businesses, government, and foreigners.
The distribution gives the percentage contribution to total GDP of household consumption, government consumption, investment in fixed capital,
investment in inventories, exports of goods and services, and imports of goods and services, and will total 100 percent of GDP if the data are complete.
GDP - composition, by sector: This entry gives the percentage contribution of agriculture, industry, and services to total GDP. Agriculture includes farming, fishing, and forestry. Industry includes mining, manufacturing, energy production, and construction. Services cover government activities, communications, transportation, finance, and all other private economic activities that do not produce material goods. The distribution will total less than 100 percent if the data are incomplete.
GDP - composition, by sector of origin: This entry shows where production takes place in an economy.
The distribution gives the percentage contribution of agriculture, industry, and services to total GDP, and will total 100 percent of GDP if the data are complete.
Agriculture includes farming, fishing, and forestry.
Industry includes mining, manufacturing, energy production, and construction. Services cover government activities, communications, transportation, finance
and all other private economic activities that do not produce material goods.
GDP - per capita: This entry shows GDP on a purchasing power parity
basis divided by population as of 1 July for the same year.
GDP - real growth rate: This entry gives GDP growth on an annual basis
adjusted for inflation and expressed as a percent.
GDP (official exchange rate): This entry gives the gross domestic product (GDP)
or value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year.
A nation's GDP at offical exchange rates (OER) is the home-currency-denominated annual
GDP figure divided by the bilateral average US exchange rate with that country in that
year. The measure is simple to compute and gives a precise measure of the value of
output. Many economists prefer this measure when gauging the economic power an economy
maintains vis-a-vis its neighbors, judging that an exchange rate captures the
purchasing power a nation enjoys in the international marketplace. Official exchange
rates, however, can be artifically fixed and/or subject to manipulation - resulting
in claims of the country having an under- or over-valued currency - and are not
necessarily the equivalent of a market-determined exchange rate. Moreover, even
if the official exchange rate is market-determined, market exchange rates are
frequently established by a relatively small set of goods and services (the ones
the country trades) and may not capture the value of the larger set of goods the
country produces. Furthermore, OER-converted GDP is not well suited to comparing
domestic GDP over time, since appreciation/depreciation from one year to the next
will make the OER GDP value rise/fall regardless of whether home-currency-denominated
GDP changed.
GDP (purchasing power parity): This entry gives the gross domestic product
(GDP) or value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year.
A nation's GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates is the sum value of
all goods and services produced in the country valued at prices prevailing in the
United States. This is the measure most economists prefer when looking at per-capita
welfare and when comparing living conditions or use of resources across countries.
The measure is difficult to compute, as a US dollar value has to be assigned to all
goods and services in the country regardless of whether these goods and services have
a direct equivalent in the United States (for example, the value of an ox-cart or
non-US military equipment); as a result, PPP estimates for some countries are based on
a small and sometimes different set of goods and services. In addition, many countries
do not formally participate in the World Bank's PPP project that calculates these
measures, so the resulting GDP estimates for these countries may lack precision.
For many developing countries, PPP-based GDP measures are multiples of the official
exchange rate (OER) measure. The difference between the OER- and PPP-denominated
GDP values for most of the weathly industrialized countries are generally much
smaller.
GDP methodology: In the Economy section, GDP dollar estimates
for all countries are derived from purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations
rather than from conversions at official currency exchange rates. The PPP method
involves the use of standardized international dollar price weights, which are
applied to the quantities of final goods and services produced in a given
economy. The data derived from the PPP method provide the best available
starting point for comparisons of economic strength and well-being between
countries. The division of a GDP estimate in domestic currency by the
corresponding PPP estimate in dollars gives the PPP conversion rate. Whereas PPP
estimates for OECD countries are quite reliable, PPP estimates for developing
countries are often rough approximations. Most of the GDP estimates are based on
extrapolation of PPP numbers published by the UN International Comparison
Program (UNICP) and by Professors Robert Summers and Alan Heston of the
University of Pennsylvania and their colleagues. In contrast, the currency
exchange rate method involves a variety of international and domestic financial
forces that often have little relation to domestic output. In developing
countries with weak currencies the exchange rate estimate of GDP in dollars is
typically one-fourth to one-half the PPP estimate. Furthermore, exchange rates
may suddenly go up or down by 10% or more because of market forces or official
fiat whereas real output has remained unchanged. On 12 January 1994, for
example, the 14 countries of the African Financial Community (whose currencies
are tied to the French franc) devalued their currencies by 50%. This move, of
course, did not cut the real output of these countries by half. One important
caution: the proportion of, say, defense expenditures as a percentage of GDP in
local currency accounts may differ substantially from the proportion when GDP
accounts are expressed in PPP terms, as, for example, when an observer tries to
estimate the dollar level of Russian or Japanese military expenditures. Note:
the numbers for GDP and other economic data can not be chained together
from successive volumes of the Factbook because of changes in the US
dollar measuring rod, revisions of data by statistical agencies, use of new or
different sources of information, and changes in national statistical methods
and practices.
Geographic coordinates: This entry includes rounded latitude and
longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate geographic center
of an entity and is based on the Gazetteer of Conventional Names, Third
Edition, August 1988, US Board on Geographic Names and on other sources.
Geographic names: This information is presented in Appendix F:
Cross-Reference List of Geographic Names which indicates where various
geographic names - including alternate names, former names, political or
geographical portions of larger entities, and the location of all US Foreign
Service posts - can be found in The World Factbook. Spellings are
normally, but not always, those approved by the US Board on Geographic Names
(BGN). Alternate names are included in parentheses, while additional information
is included in brackets.
Geography: This category includes the entries dealing with the natural
environment and the effects of human activity.
Geography - note: This entry includes miscellaneous geographic
information of significance not included elsewhere.
Gini index: This index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country. The index is calculated from the Lorenz curve, in which cumulative family income is plotted against the number of families arranged from the poorest to the richest. The index is the ratio of (a) the area between a country's Lorenz curve and the 45 degree helping line to (b) the entire triangular area under the 45 degree line. The more nearly equal a country's income distribution, the closer its Lorenz curve to the 45 degree line and the lower its Gini index, e.g., a Scandinavian country with an index of 25. The more unequal a country's income distribution, the farther its Lorenz curve from the 45 degree line and the higher its Gini index, e.g., a Sub-Saharan country with an index of 50. If income were distributed with perfect equality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the 45 degree line and the index would be zero; if income were distributed with perfect inequality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the horizontal axis and the right vertical axis and the index would be 100.
GNP: Gross national product (GNP) is the value of all final goods and
services produced within a nation in a given year, plus income earned by its
citizens abroad, minus income earned by foreigners from domestic production. The
Factbook, following current practice, uses GDP rather than GNP to
measure national production. However, the user must realize that in certain
countries net remittances from citizens working abroad may be important to
national well-being.
Government: This category includes the entries dealing with the system
for the adoption and administration of public policy.
Government - note: This entry includes miscellaneous government
information of significance not included elsewhere.
Government type: This entry gives the basic form of government. Definitions of the major governmental terms are as follows:
Anarchy - a condition of lawlessness or political disorder brought about by the absence of governmental authority.
Commonwealth - a nation, state, or other political entity founded on law and united by a compact of the people for the common good.
Communism - a system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single - often authoritarian - party holds power;
state controls are imposed with the elimination of private ownership of property or capital while claiming to make progress toward a higher social order
in which all goods are equally shared by the people (i.e., a classless society).
Confederacy (Confederation) - a union by compact or treaty between states, provinces, or territories, that creates a central government with limited powers;
the constituent entities retain supreme authority over all matters except those delegated to the central government.
Constitutional - a government by or operating under an authoritative document (constitution) that sets forth the system of fundamental laws and principles that determines the nature,
functions, and limits of that government.
Constitutional democracy - a form of government in which the sovereign power of the people is spelled out in a governing constitution.
Constitutional monarchy - a system of government in which a monarch is guided by a constitution whereby his/her rights, duties,
and responsibilities are spelled out in written law or by custom.
Democracy - a form of government in which the supreme power is retained by the people, but which is usually exercised indirectly through a system of representation
and delegated authority periodically renewed.
Democratic republic - a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them.
Dictatorship - a form of government in which a ruler or small clique wield absolute power (not restricted by a constitution or laws).
Ecclesiastical - a government administrated by a church.
Federal (Federative) - a form of government in which sovereign power is formally divided - usually by means of a constitution - between a central authority
and a number of constituent regions (states, colonies, or provinces) so that each region retains some management of its internal affairs;
differs from a confederacy in that the central government exerts influence directly upon both individuals as well as upon the regional units.
Federal republic - a state in which the powers of the central government are restricted and in which the component parts (states, colonies, or provinces) retain a degree of self-government;
ultimate sovereign power rests with the voters who chose their governmental representatives.
Islamic republic - a particular form of government adoped by some Muslim states; although such a state is, in theory, a theocracy, it remains a republic,
but its laws are required to be compatible with the laws of Islam.
Maoism - the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism developed in China by Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung),
which states that a continuous revolution is necessary if the leaders of a communist state are to keep in touch with the people.
Marxism - the political, economic, and social principles espoused by 19th century economist Karl Marx;
he viewed the struggle of workers as a progression of historical forces that would proceed from a class struggle of the proletariat (workers) exploited by capitalists (business owners),
to a socialist "dictatorship of the proletariat," to, finally, a classless society - communism.
Marxism-Leninism - an expanded form of communism developed by Lenin from doctrines of Karl Marx;
Lenin saw imperialism as the final stage of capitalism and shifted the focus of workers' struggle from developed to underdeveloped countries.
Monarchy - a government in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of a monarch who reigns over a state or territory, usually for life and by hereditary right;
the monarch may be either a sole absolute ruler or a sovereign - such as a king, queen, or prince - with constitutionally limited authority.
Oligarchy - a government in which control is exercised by a small group of individuals whose authority generally is based on wealth or power.
Parliamentary democracy - a political system in which the legislature (parliament) selects the government - a prime minister, premier,
or chancellor along with the cabinet ministers - according to party strength as expressed in elections; by this system, the government acquires a dual responsibility:
to the people as well as to the parliament.
Parliamentary government (Cabinet-Parliamentary government) - a government in which members of an executive branch (the cabinet and its leader - a prime minister, premier, or chancellor)
are nominated to their positions by a legislature or parliament, and are directly responsible to it;
this type of government can be dissolved at will by the parliament (legislature) by means of a no confidence vote or the leader of the cabinet may dissolve the parliament
if it can no longer function.
Parliamentary monarchy - a state headed by a monarch who is not actively involved in policy formation or implementation (i.e., the exercise of sovereign powers by a monarch in a ceremonial capacity)
; true governmental leadership is carried out by a cabinet and its head - a prime minister, premier, or chancellor - who are drawn from a legislature (parliament).
Republic - a representative democracy in which the people's elected deputies (representatives), not the people themselves, vote on legislation.
Socialism - a government in which the means of planning, producing, and distributing goods is controlled by a central government that theoretically seeks a more just and
equitable distribution of property and labor; in actuality, most socialist governments have ended up being no more than dictatorships over workers by a ruling elite.
Sultanate - similar to a monarchy, but a government in which the supreme power is in the hands of a sultan (the head of a Muslim state); the sultan may be an absolute ruler or
a sovereign with constitutionally limited authority.
Theocracy - a form of government in which a Deity is recognized as the supreme civil ruler, but the Deity's laws are interpreted by ecclesiastical authorities (bishops, mullahs, etc.);
a government subject to religious authority.
Totalitarian - a government that seeks to subordinate the individual to the state by controlling not only all political and economic matters, but also the attitudes, values,
and beliefs of its population..
Gross domestic product: see GDP
Gross national product: see GNP
Gross national saving: Gross national saving is derived by deducting final consumption expenditure (household plus government) from Gross national disposable income,
and consists of personal saving, plus business saving (the sum of the capital consumption allowance and retained business profits),
plus government saving (the excess of tax revenues over expenditures), but excludes foreign saving (the excess of imports of goods and services over exports).
The figures are presented as a percent of GDP. A negative number indicates that the economy as a whole is spending more income than it produces, thus drawing down national wealth (dissaving).
Gross world product: see GWP
GWP: This entry gives the gross world product (GWP) or aggregate value
of all final goods and services produced worldwide in a given year.
Health expenditures: This entry provides the total expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP.
Health expenditures are broadly defined as activities performed either by institutions or individuals through the application of medical,
paramedical, and/or nursing knowledge and technology, the primary purpose of which is to promote, restore, or maintain health.
Heliports: This entry gives the total number of established helicopter
takeoff and landing sites (which may or may not have fuel or other services).
Highways: This entry includes the total length of the highway
system as well as the length of the paved and unpaved components.
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: This entry gives an estimate of the
percentage of adults (aged 15-49) living with HIV/AIDS. The adult prevalence rate
is calculated by dividing the estimated number of adults living with HIV/AIDS at
yearend by the total adult population at yearend.
HIV/AIDS - deaths: This entry gives an estimate of the number of adults
and children who died of AIDS during a given calendar year.
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: This entry gives an estimate of
all people (adults and children) alive at yearend with HIV infection, whether or
not they have developed symptoms of AIDS.
Hospital bed density: This entry provides the number of hospital beds per 1,000 people; it serves as a general measure of inpatient service availability.
Hospital beds include inpatient beds available in public, private, general, and specialized hospitals and rehabilitation centers.
In most cases, beds for both acute and chronic care are included.
Because the level of inpatient services required for individual countries depends on several factors - such as demographic issues and
the burden of disease - there is no global target for the number of hospital beds per country.
So, while 2 beds per 1,000 in one country may be sufficient, 2 beds per 1,000 in another may be woefully inadequate because of the amount of people hospitalized by disease.
Household income or consumption by percentage share: Data on household
income or consumption come from household surveys, the results adjusted for
household size. Nations use different standards and procedures in collecting and
adjusting the data. Surveys based on income will normally show a more unequal
distribution than surveys based on consumption. The quality of surveys is
improving with time, yet caution is still necessary in making inter-country
comparisons.
Hydrographic data codes: see Data codes. Illicit drugs: This entry gives information on the five categories of illicit drugs - narcotics, stimulants, depressants (sedatives), hallucinogens, and cannabis. These categories include many drugs legally produced and prescribed by doctors as well as those illegally produced and sold outside of medical channels. Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) is the common hemp plant, which provides hallucinogens with some sedative properties, and includes marijuana (pot, Acapulco gold, grass, reefer), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, Marinol), hashish (hash), and hashish oil (hash oil). Coca (mostly Erythroxylum coca) is a bush with leaves that contain the stimulant used to make cocaine. Coca is not to be confused with cocoa, which comes from cacao seeds and is used in making chocolate, cocoa, and cocoa butter. Cocaine is a stimulant derived from the leaves of the coca bush. Depressants (sedatives) are drugs that reduce tension and anxiety and include chloral hydrate, barbiturates (Amytal, Nembutal, Seconal, phenobarbital), benzodiazepines (Librium, Valium), methaqualone (Quaalude), glutethimide (Doriden), and others (Equanil, Placidyl, Valmid). Drugs are any chemical substances that effect a physical, mental, emotional, or behavioral change in an individual. Drug abuse is the use of any licit or illicit chemical substance that results in physical, mental, emotional, or behavioral impairment in an individual. Hallucinogens are drugs that affect sensation, thinking, self-awareness, and emotion. Hallucinogens include LSD (acid, microdot), mescaline and peyote (mexc, buttons, cactus), amphetamine variants (PMA, STP, DOB), phencyclidine (PCP, angel dust, hog), phencyclidine analogues (PCE, PCPy, TCP), and others (psilocybin, psilocyn). Hashish is the resinous exudate of the cannabis or hemp plant (Cannabis sativa). Heroin is a semisynthetic derivative of morphine. Mandrax is a trade name for methaqualone, a pharmaceutical depressant. Marijuana is the dried leaves of the cannabis or hemp plant (Cannabis sativa). Methaqualone is a pharmaceutical depressant, referred to as mandrax in Southwest Asia. Narcotics are drugs that relieve pain, often induce sleep, and refer to opium, opium derivatives, and synthetic substitutes. Natural narcotics include opium (paregoric, parepectolin), morphine (MS-Contin, Roxanol), codeine (Tylenol with codeine, Empirin with codeine, Robitussan AC), and thebaine. Semisynthetic narcotics include heroin (horse, smack), and hydromorphone (Dilaudid). Synthetic narcotics include meperidine or Pethidine (Demerol, Mepergan), methadone (Dolophine, Methadose), and others (Darvon, Lomotil). Opium is the brown, gummy exudate of the incised, unripe seedpod of the opium poppy. Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is the source for the natural and semisynthetic narcotics. Poppy straw concentrate is the alkaloid derived from the mature, dried opium poppy. Qat (kat, khat) is a stimulant from the buds or leaves of Catha edulis that is chewed or drunk as tea. Quaaludes is the North American slang term for methaqualone, a pharmaceutical depressant. Stimulants are drugs that relieve mild depression, increase energy and
activity, and include cocaine (coke, snow, crack), amphetamines (Desoxyn,
Dexedrine), ephedrine, ecstasy (clarity, essence, doctor, Adam), phenmetrazine
(Preludin), methylphenidate (Ritalin), and others (Cylert, Sanorex, Tenuate).
Imports: This entry provides the total US dollar amount of imports on
a c.i.f. (cost, insurance, and freight) or f.o.b. (free on board) basis.
Imports - commodities: This entry provides a rank ordering of imported
products starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of
total dollar value.
Imports - partners: This entry provides a rank ordering of trading
partners starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of
total dollar value.
Imports, Exports, and Aid: Standard abbreviations used in individual
entries throughout this factbook are c.i.f. (cost, insurance, and freight),
f.o.b. (free on board), ODA (official development assistance), and OOF
(other official flows).
Independence: For most countries, this entry gives the date that
sovereignty was achieved and from which nation, empire, or trusteeship. For the
other countries, the date given may not represent "independence" in the strict
sense, but rather some significant nationhood event such as the traditional
founding date or the date of unification, federation, confederation,
establishment, fundamental change in the form of government, or state
succession. Dependent areas include the notation "none" followed by the nature
of their dependency status. Also see the Terminology note.
Industrial production growth rate: This entry gives the annual
percentage increase in industrial production (includes manufacturing, mining,
and construction).
Industries: This entry provides a rank ordering of industries starting
with the largest by value of annual output.
Infant mortality rate: This entry gives the number of deaths of
infants under one year old in a given year per 1,000 live births in the same
year. This rate is often used an indicator of the level of health in a country.
Inflation rate (consumer prices): This entry furnishes the annual
percent change in consumer prices compared with the previous year's consumer
prices.
International disputes: see Disputes - international
International law organization participation: This entry includes information on a country's acceptance of jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
and of the International Criminal Court (ICCt); 55 countries have accepted ICJ jurisdiction with reservations and 11 have accepted ICJ jurisdiction without reservations;
114 countries have accepted ICCt jurisdiction. Appendix B:
International Organizations and Groups explains the differing mandates of the ICJ and ICCt.
International organization participation: This entry lists in
alphabetical order by abbreviation those international organizations in which
the subject country is a member or participates in some other way.
International organizations: This information is presented in Appendix B:
International Organizations and Groups which includes the name,
abbreviation, address, telephone, FAX, date established, aim, and members by
category.
Internet country code: This entry includes the two-letter codes maintained by the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in the ISO 3166 Alpha-2 list
and used by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to establish country-coded
top-level domains (ccTLDs).
Internet hosts: This entry lists the number of Internet hosts available
within a country. An Internet host is a computer connected directly to the Internet;
normally an Internet Service Provider's (ISP) computer is a host. Internet users
may use either a hard-wired terminal, at an institution with a mainframe computer
connected directly to the Internet, or may connect remotely by way of a modem via
telephone line, cable, or satellite to the Internet Service Provider's host computer.
The number of hosts is one indicator of the extent of Internet connectivity.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): This entry supplies the
number of Internet Service Providers within a country. An ISP is defined as a
company that provides access to the Internet.
Internet users: This entry gives the number of users within a country that
access the Internet. Statistics vary from country to country and may include users who
access the Internet at least several times a week to those who access it only once within
a period of several months.
Introduction: This category includes one entry, Background.
Investment (gross fixed): This entry records total business spending on fixed assets,
such as factories, machinery, equipment, dwellings, and inventories of raw materials, which provide
the basis for future production. It is measured gross of the depreciation of the assets, i.e., it includes
invesment that merely replaces worn-out or scrapped capital.
Irrigated land: This entry gives the number of square kilometers of
land area that is artificially supplied with water.
Judicial branch: This entry contains the name(s) of the highest
court(s) and a brief description of the selection process for members.
Labor force: This entry contains the total labor force figure.
Labor force - by occupation: This entry contains a rank ordering of
component parts of the labor force by occupation.
Land boundaries: This entry contains the total length of all land
boundaries and the individual lengths for each of the contiguous border
countries.
Land use: This entry contains the percentage shares of total land area
for five different types of land use: arable land - land cultivated for
crops that are replanted after each harvest like wheat, maize, and rice;
permanent crops - land cultivated for crops that are not replanted after
each harvest like citrus, coffee, and rubber; permanent pastures - land
permanently used for herbaceous forage crops; forests and woodland - land
under dense or open stands of trees; other - any land type not
specifically mentioned above, such as urban areas, roads, desert, etc.
Land Utilization: Most of the land utilization percentages are rough
estimates. Figures for "arable" land in some cases reflect the area under cultivation rather than the total cultivable area.
Languages: This entry provides a rank ordering of languages starting
with the largest and sometimes includes the percent of total population speaking
that language.
Legal system: This entry contains a brief description of the legal
system's historical roots, role in government, and acceptance of International
Court of Justice (ICJ) jurisdiction.
Legislative branch: This entry contains information on the structure
(unicameral, bicameral, tricameral), formal name, number of seats, and term of
office. Elections includes the nature of election process or accession to
power, date of the last election, and date of the next election. Election
results includes the percent of vote and/or number of seats held by each
party in the last election.
Life expectancy at birth: This entry contains the average number of
years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at
each age remains constant in the future. The entry includes total population as
well as the male and female components. Life expectancy at birth is also a
measure of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes the mortality at
all ages. It can also be thought of as indicating the potential return on
investment in human capital and is necessary for the calculation of various
actuarial measures.
Literacy: This entry includes a definition of literacy and Census
Bureau percentages for the total population, males, and females. There are no
universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise specified, all
rates are based on the most common definition - the ability to read and write at
a specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess
the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of the Factbook.
Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is
probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons. Low
levels of literacy, and education in general, can impede the economic
development of a country in the current rapidly changing, technology-driven
world.
Location: This entry identifies the country's regional location,
neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.
Major cities - population: This entry provides the population of the capital and up to four major cities defined as urban agglomerations with populations of at least 750,000 people.
An urban agglomeration is defined as comprising the city or town proper and also the suburban fringe or thickly settled territory lying outside of, but adjacent to, the boundaries of the city.
For smaller countries, lacking urban centers of 750,000 or more, only the population of the capital is presented.
Major infectious diseases: This entry lists major infectious diseases likely to be encountered in countries where the risk of such diseases is assessed to be very high
as compared to the United States. These infectious diseases represent risks to US government personnel traveling to the specified country for a period of less than three years.
The degree of risk is assessed by considering the foreign nature of these infectious diseases, their severity, and the probability of being affected by the diseases present.
The diseases listed do not necessarily represent the total disease burden experienced by the local population.
Major urban areas - population: This entry provides the population of the capital and up to five major cities defined as urban agglomerations with populations of at least 750,000 people.
An urban agglomeration is defined as comprising the city or town proper and also the suburban fringe or thickly settled territory lying outside of, but adjacent to, the boundaries of the city.
For smaller countries, lacking urban centers of 750,000 or more, only the population of the capital is presented.
Manpower available for military service: This entry gives the number
of males and females falling in the military age range for the country and assumes
that every individual is fit to serve.
Manpower fit for military service: This entry gives the number of males
and females falling in the military age range for the country and who are not otherwise
disqualified for health reasons; accounts for the health situation in the country and provides
a more realistic estimate of the actual number fit to serve.
Manpower reaching military service age annually: This entry gives the number of
draft-age males and females entering the military manpower pool in any given year and is a
measure of the availability of draft-age young adults.
Map references: This entry includes the name of the Factbook
reference map on which a country may be found. The entry on Geographic
coordinates may be helpful in finding some smaller countries.
Maritime claims: This entry includes the following claims, the definitions of which are excerpted from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),
which alone contains the full and definitive descriptions:
Market value of publicly traded shares: This entry gives the value of shares issued by publicly traded companies at a price determined in the national stock markets
on the final day of the period indicated. It is simply the latest price per share multiplied by the total number of outstanding shares,
cumulated over all companies listed on the particular exchange.
Market value of publicly traded shares: This entry gives the value of shares issued by publicly traded
companies at a price determined in the national stock markets on the
final day of the period indicated. It is simply the latest price per
share multiplied by the total number of outstanding shares, cumulated
over all companies listed on the particular exchange.
Maternal mortality rate: The maternal mortality rate (MMR) is the annual number of female deaths per 100,000 live births from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy
or its management (excluding accidental or incidental causes). The MMR includes deaths during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy,
irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, for a specified year.
Maternal mortality ratio: The maternal mortality ratio (MMRatio) is the annual number of female deaths per 100,000 live births from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management (excluding accidental or incidental causes). The MMRatio includes deaths during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, for a specified year.
Median age: This entry is the age that divides a population into two
numerically equal groups; that is, half the people are younger than this age
and half are older. It is a single index that summarizes the age distribution of a
population. Currently, the median age ranges from a low of about 15 in Uganda and
Gaza Strip to 40 or more in several European countries and Japan. See the entry for
"Age structure" for the importance of a young versus an older age structure and, by
implication, a low versus a higher median age. Merchant marine: Merchant marine may be defined as all ships engaged in the carriage of goods; or all commercial vessels (as opposed to all nonmilitary ships), which excludes tugs, fishing vessels, offshore oil rigs, etc.; or a grouping of merchant ships by nationality or register. This entry contains information in two subfields - total and ships by type. Total includes the total number of ships (1,000 GRT or over), total DWT for those ships, and total GRT for those ships. Ships by type includes a listing of barge carriers, bulk cargo ships, cargo ships, combination bulk carriers, combination ore/oil carriers, container ships, intermodal ships, liquefied gas tankers, livestock carriers, multifunction large-load carriers, oil tankers, passenger ships, passenger-cargo ships, railcar carriers, refrigerated cargo ships, roll-on/roll-off cargo ships, short-sea passenger ships, specialized tankers, tanker tug-barges, and vehicle carriers. A captive register is a register of ships maintained by a territory, possession, or colony primarily or exclusively for the use of ships owned in the parent country; it is also referred to as an offshore register, the offshore equivalent of an internal register. Ships on a captive register will fly the same flag as the parent country, or a local variant of it, but will be subject to the maritime laws and taxation rules of the offshore territory. Although the nature of a captive register makes it especially desirable for ships owned in the parent country, just as in the internal register, the ships may also be owned abroad. The captive register then acts as a flag of convenience register, except that it is not the register of an independent state. A flag of convenience register is a national register offering registration to a merchant ship not owned in the flag state. The major flags of convenience (FOC) attract ships to their registers by virtue of low fees, low or nonexistent taxation of profits, and liberal manning requirements. True FOC registers are characterized by having relatively few of the registered ships actually owned in the flag state. Thus, while virtually any flag can be used for ships under a given set of circumstances, an FOC register is one where the majority of the merchant fleet is owned abroad. It is also referred to as an open register. A flag state is the nation in which a ship is registered and which holds legal jurisdiction over operation of the ship, whether at home or abroad. Maritime legislation of the flag state determines how a ship is crewed and taxed and whether a foreign-owned ship may be placed on the register. An internal register is a register of ships maintained as a subset of a national register. Ships on the internal register fly the national flag and have that nationality but are subject to a separate set of maritime rules from those on the main national register. These differences usually include lower taxation of profits, use of foreign nationals as crew members, and, usually, ownership outside the flag state (when it functions as an FOC register). The Norwegian International Ship Register and Danish International Ship Register are the most notable examples of an internal register. Both have been instrumental in stemming flight from the national flag to flags of convenience and in attracting foreign-owned ships to the Norwegian and Danish flags. A merchant ship is a vessel that carries goods against payment of freight; it is commonly used to denote any nonmilitary ship but accurately restricted to commercial vessels only. A register is the record of a ship's ownership and nationality as listed with
the maritime authorities of a country; also, it is the compendium of such
individual ships' registrations. Registration of a ship provides it with a
nationality and makes it subject to the laws of the country in which registered
(the flag state) regardless of the nationality of the ship's ultimate owner.
Maritime Zones: Fishing and economic zones claimed by coastal
states are included only when they differ from territorial sea limits. Maritime claims do not necessarily represent the position of the United States Government.
Military: This category includes the entries dealing with a country's
military structure, manpower, and expenditures.
Military - note: This entry includes miscellaneous military
information of significance not included elsewhere.
Military branches: This entry lists the names of the ground, naval,
air, marine, and other defense or security forces.
Military and security forces: This entry lists the military and security forces subordinate to defense ministries or the equivalent (typically ground, naval, air, and marine forces), as well as those belonging to interior ministries or the equivalent (typically gendarmeries, border/coast guards, paramilitary police, and other internal security forces).
Military expenditures: This entry gives spending on defense programs for the most recent year
available as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP); the GDP is
calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in terms of purchasing
power parity (PPP).
Military expenditures - dollar figure: This entry gives current
military expenditures in US dollars; the figure is calculated by multiplying the
estimated defense spending in percentage terms by the gross domestic product
(GDP) calculated on an exchange rate basis not purchasing power
parity (PPP) terms. However, in the case of Russia, estimates of military
expenditures have been made using PPP. Dollar figures for military expenditures
should be treated with caution because of different price patterns and
accounting methods among nations, as well as wide variations in the strength of
their currencies.
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: This entry gives current
military expenditures as an estimated percent of gross domestic product
(GDP).
Military manpower - availability: This entry gives the total numbers
of males and females age 15-49 and assumes that every individual is fit to
serve.
Military manpower - fit for military service: This entry gives the
number of males and females age 15-49 fit for military service. This is a more
refined measure of potential military manpower availability which tries to
correct for the health situation in the country and reduces the maximum
potential number to a more realistic estimate of the actual number fit to
serve.
Military manpower - military age: This entry gives the minimum age at
which an individual may volunteer for military service or be subject to
conscription.
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: This entry gives
the number of draft-age males and females entering the military manpower pool in
any given year and is a measure of the availability of draft-age young
adults.
Military service age and obligation: This entry gives the required ages
for voluntary or conscript military service and the length of sevice obligation.
Money: Money: All money figures are in contemporaneous US dollars unless otherwise indicated.
Money figures: All money figures are expressed in contemporaneous US
dollars unless otherwise indicated.
Mother's mean age at first birth: This entry provides the mean (average) age of mothers at the birth of their first child. It is a useful indicator for gauging the success of family planning programs aiming to reduce maternal mortality, increase contraceptive use‚ particularly among married and unmarried adolescents, delay age at first marriage, and improve the health of newborns.
National air transport system: This entry includes four subfields describing the air transport system of a given country in terms of both structure and performance. The first subfield, number of registered air carriers, indicates the total number of air carriers registered with the country's national aviation authority and issued an air operator certificate as required by the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The second subfield, inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers, lists the total number of aircraft operated by all registered air carriers in the country. The last two subfields measure the performance of the air transport system in terms of both passengers and freight. The subfield, annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers, includes the total number of passengers carried by air carriers registered in the country, including both domestic and international passengers, in a given year. The last subfield, annual freight traffic on registered air carriers, includes the volume of freight, express, and diplomatic bags carried by registered air carriers and measured in metric tons times kilometers traveled. Freight ton-kilometers equal the sum of the products obtained by multiplying the number of tons of freight, express, and diplomatic bags carried on each flight stage by the stage distance (operation of an aircraft from takeoff to its next landing). For statistical purposes, freight includes express and diplomatic bags but not passenger baggage.
National anthem: A generally patriotic musical composition - usually in the form of
a song or hymn of praise - that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions,
or struggles of a nation or its people. National anthems can be officially recognized as a
national song by a country's constitution or by an enacted law, or simply by tradition.
Although most anthems contain lyrics, some do not.
National holiday: This entry gives the primary national day of
celebration - usually independence day.
National symbol(s): A national symbol is a faunal, floral, or other abstract representation - or some distinctive object - that over time has come to be closely identified
with a country or entity. Not all countries have national symbols; a few countries have more than one.
Nationality: This entry provides the identifying terms for citizens -
noun and adjective.
Natural gas - consumption: This entry is the total natural gas consumed
in cubic meters (cu m). The discrepancy between the amount of natural gas produced
and/or imported and the amount consumed and/or exported is due to the omission of
stock changes and other complicating factors.
Natural gas - exports: This entry is the total natural gas exported in cubic meters (cu m).
Natural gas - imports: This entry is the total natural gas imported in cubic meters (cu m).
Natural gas - production: This entry is the total natural gas produced
in cubic meters (cu m). The discrepancy between the amount of natural gas produced
and/or imported and the amount consumed and/or exported is due to the omission of
stock changes and other complicating factors.
Natural gas - proved reserves: This entry is the stock of proved reserves
of natural gas in cubic meters (cu m). Proved reserves are those quantities of natural gas,
which, by analysis of geological and engineering data, can be estimated with a high
degree of confidence to be commercially recoverable from a given date forward, from known
reservoirs and under current economic conditions.
Natural hazards: This entry lists potential natural disasters.
Natural resources: This entry lists a country's mineral, petroleum,
hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.
Net migration rate: This entry includes the figure for the difference
between the number of persons entering and leaving a country during the year per
1,000 persons (based on midyear population). An excess of persons entering the
country is referred to as net immigration (e.g., 3.56 migrants/1,000
population); an excess of persons leaving the country as net emigration (e.g.,
-9.26 migrants/1,000 population). The net migration rate indicates the
contribution of migration to the overall level of population change. High levels
of migration can cause problems such as increasing unemployment and potential
ethnic strife (if people are coming in) or a reduction in the labor force,
perhaps in certain key sectors (if people are leaving).
Obesity - adult prevalence rate: This entry gives the percent of a country's population considered to be obese.
Obesity is defined as an adult having a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater to or equal to 30.0. BMI is calculated by taking a person's weight in kg and
dividing it by the person's squared height in meters.
People: This category includes the entries dealing with the
characteristics of the people and their society.
People - note: This entry includes miscellaneous demographic
information of significance not included elsewhere.
Personal Names - Capitalization: The Factbook capitalizes the
surname or family name of individuals for the convenience of our users who are
faced with a world of different cultures and naming conventions. An example
would be President SADDAM Husayn of Iraq. Saddam is his name and Husayn
is his father's name. He may be referred to as President SADDAM Husayn or
President SADDAM, but not President Husayn. The need for capitalization,
bold type, underlining, italics, or some other indicator of the individual's
surname is apparent in the following examples: MAO Zedong, Fidel CASTRO Ruz,
William Jefferson CLINTON, and TUNKU SALAHUDDIN Abdul Aziz Shah ibni Al-Marhum
Sultan Hisammuddin Alam Shah. By knowing the surname, a short form without all
capital letters can be used with confidence as in President Saddam, President
Castro, Chairman Mao, President Clinton, or Sultan Tunku Salahuddin. The same
system of capitalization is extended to the names of leaders with surnames that
are not commonly used such as Queen ELIZABETH II.
Personal Names - Spelling: The romanization of personal names in the
Factbook normally follows the same transliteration system used by the US
Board on Geographic Names for spelling place names. At times, however, a foreign
leader expressly indicates a preference for, or the media or official documents
regularly use, a romanized spelling that differs from the transliteration
derived from the US Government standard. In such cases, the Factbook uses
the alternative spelling.
Personal Names - Titles: The Factbook capitalizes any valid
title (or short form of it) immediately preceding a person's name. A title
standing alone is lowercased. Examples: President PUTIN and President CLINTON
are chiefs of state. In Russia, the president is chief of state and the premier
is the head of the government, while in the US, the president is both chief of
state and head of government. Petroleum: See entry for Crude oil. Petroleum products: See entry for Crude oil.
Physicians density: This entry gives the number of medical doctors (physicians), including generalist and specialist medical practitioners,
per 1,000 of the population. Medical doctors are defined as doctors that study, diagnose, treat, and prevent illness, disease, injury, and
other physical and mental impairments in humans through the application of modern medicine. They also plan, supervise, and evaluate care and treatment plans by other health care providers.
The World Health Organization estimates that fewer than 2.3 health workers (physicians, nurses, and midwives only) per 1,000 would be insufficient to achieve coverage of primary healthcare needs.
Pipelines: This entry gives the lengths and types of pipelines for
transporting products like natural gas, crude oil, or petroleum products.
Political parties and leaders: This entry includes a listing of
significant political organizations and their leaders.
Political pressure groups and leaders: This entry includes a listing
of organizations with leaders involved in politics, but not standing for
legislative election.
Population: This entry gives an estimate from the US Bureau of the
Census based on statistics from population censuses, vital statistics
registration systems, or sample surveys pertaining to the recent past and on
assumptions about future trends. The total population presents one overall
measure of the potential impact of the country on the world and within its
region. Note: starting with the 1993 Factbook, demographic estimates for
some countries (mostly African) have explicitly taken into account the effects
of the growing impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. These countries are currently:
The Bahamas, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia,
Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic
of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras,
Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa,
Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Population below poverty line: National estimates of the percentage of
the population lying below the poverty line are based on surveys of sub-groups,
with the results weighted by the number of people in each group. Definitions of
poverty vary considerably among nations. For example, rich nations generally
employ more generous standards of poverty than poor nations.
Population distribution: This entry provides a summary description of the population dispersion within a country. While it may suggest population density, it does not provide density figures.
Population growth rate: The average annual percent change in the
population, resulting from a surplus (or deficit) of births over deaths and the
balance of migrants entering and leaving a country. The rate may be positive or
negative. The growth rate is a factor in determining how great a burden would be
imposed on a country by the changing needs of its people for infrastructure
(e.g., schools, hospitals, housing, roads), resources (e.g., food, water,
electricity), and jobs. Rapid population growth can be seen as threatening by
neighboring countries.
Ports and harbors: This entry lists the major ports and harbors
selected on the basis of overall importance to each country. This is determined
by evaluating a number of factors (e.g., dollar value of goods handled, gross
tonnage, facilities, military significance).
Ports and terminals: This entry lists major ports and terminals primarily
on the basis of the amount of cargo tonnage shipped through the facilities on an annual
basis. In some instances, the number of containers handled or ship visits were also
considered.
Public debt: This entry records the cumulatiive total of all government borrowings
less repayments that are denominated in a country's home currency. Public debt should not
be confused with external debt, which reflects the foreign currency liabilities of both the
private and public sector and must be financed out of foreign exchange earnings.
Radio broadcast stations: This entry includes the total number of AM,
FM, and shortwave broadcast stations.
Radios: This entry gives the total number of radio receivers.
Railways: This entry includes the total route length of the
railway network and component parts by gauge: broad, dual,
narrow, standard, and other. Reference maps: This section includes world, regional, and special or
current interest maps.
Refined petroleum products - consumption: This entry is the country's total consumption of refined petroleum products, in barrels per day (bbl/day).
The discrepancy between the amount of refined petroleum products produced and/or imported and the amount consumed and/or exported is due to the omission of stock changes, refinery gains,
and other complicating factors.
Refined petroleum products - exports: This entry is the country's total exports of refined petroleum products, in barrels per day (bbl/day).
Refined petroleum products - imports: This entry is the country's total imports of refined petroleum products, in barrels per day (bbl/day).
Refined petroleum products - production: This entry is the country's total output of refined petroleum products, in barrels per day (bbl/day).
The discrepancy between the amount of refined petroleum products produced and/or imported and the amount consumed and/or exported is due to the omission of stock changes, refinery gains,
and other complicating factors.
Refugees and internally displaced persons: This entry includes those persons
residing in a country as refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs). The definition
of a refugee according to a United Nations Convention is "a person who is outside his/her
country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution because
of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political
opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that
country, or to return there, for fear of persecution." The UN established the Office of
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1950 to handle refugee matters worldwide.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has a
different, operational definition for a Palestinian refugee: "a person whose normal place
of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and who lost both
home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict." However, UNHCR also assists
some 400,000 Palestinian refugees not covered under the UNRWA definition. The term
"internally displaced person" is not specifically covered in the UN Convention; it is
used to describe people who have fled their homes for reasons similar to refugees, but
who remain within their own national territory and are subject to the laws of that state.
Religions: This entry is an ordered listing of religions by adherents starting with the largest group and sometimes includes the percent of total population. The core characteristics and beliefs of the world's major religions are described below.
Baha'i - Founded by Mirza Husayn-Ali (known as Baha'u'llah) in Iran in 1852, Baha'i faith emphasizes monotheism and believes in one eternal transcendent God. Its guiding focus is to encourage the unity of all peoples on the earth so that justice and peace may be achieved on earth. Baha'i revelation contends the prophets of major world religions reflect some truth or element of the divine, believes all were manifestations of God given to specific communities in specific times, and that Baha'u'llah is an additional prophet meant to call all humankind. Bahais are an open community, located worldwide, with the greatest concentration of believers in South Asia.
Buddhism - Religion or philosophy inspired by the 5th century B.C. teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (also known as Gautama Buddha "the enlightened one"). Buddhism focuses on the goal of spiritual enlightenment centered on an understanding of Gautama Buddha's Four Noble Truths on the nature of suffering, and on the Eightfold Path of spiritual and moral practice, to break the cycle of suffering of which we are a part. Buddhism ascribes to a karmic system of rebirth. Several schools and sects of Buddhism exist, differing often on the nature of the Buddha, the extent to which enlightenment can be achieved - for one or for all, and by whom - religious orders or laity.
Basic Groupings
Theravada Buddhism: The oldest Buddhist school, Theravada is practiced mostly in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, and Thailand, with minority representation elsewhere in Asia and the West. Theravadans follow the Pali Canon of Buddha's teachings, and believe that one may escape the cycle of rebirth, worldly attachment, and suffering for oneself; this process may take one or several lifetimes.
Mahayana Buddhism, including subsets Zen and Tibetan (Lamaistic) Buddhism: Forms of Mahayana Buddhism are common in East Asia and Tibet, and parts of the West. Mahayanas have additional scriptures beyond the Pali Canon and believe the Buddha is eternal and still teaching. Unlike Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana schools maintain the Buddha-nature is present in all beings and all will ultimately achieve enlightenment.
Hoa Hao: a minority tradition of Buddhism practiced in Vietnam that stresses lay participation, primarily by peasant farmers; it eschews expensive ceremonies and temples and relocates the primary practices into the home.
Christianity - Descending from Judaism, Christianity's central belief maintains Jesus of Nazareth is the promised messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures, and that his life, death, and resurrection are salvific for the world. Christianity is one of the three monotheistic Abrahamic faiths, along with Islam and Judaism, which traces its spiritual lineage to Abraham of the Hebrew Scriptures. Its sacred texts include the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament (or the Christian Gospels).
Basic Groupings
Catholicism (or Roman Catholicism): This is the oldest established western Christian church and the world's largest single religious body. It is supranational, and recognizes a hierarchical structure with the Pope, or Bishop of Rome, as its head, located at the Vatican. Catholics believe the Pope is the divinely ordered head of the Church from a direct spiritual legacy of Jesus' apostle Peter. Catholicism is comprised of 23 particular Churches, or Rites - one Western (Roman or Latin-Rite) and 22 Eastern. The Latin Rite is by far the largest, making up about 98% of Catholic membership. Eastern-Rite Churches, such as the Maronite Church and the Ukrainian Catholic Church, are in communion with Rome although they preserve their own worship traditions and their immediate hierarchy consists of clergy within their own rite. The Catholic Church has a comprehensive theological and moral doctrine specified for believers in its catechism, which makes it unique among most forms of Christianity.
Mormonism (including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints): Originating in 1830 in the United States under Joseph Smith, Mormonism is not characterized as a form of Protestant Christianity because it claims additional revealed Christian scriptures after the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. The Book of Mormon maintains there was an appearance of Jesus in the New World following the Christian account of his resurrection, and that the Americas are uniquely blessed continents. Mormonism believes earlier Christian traditions, such as the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant reform faiths, are apostasies and that Joseph Smith's revelation of the Book of Mormon is a restoration of true Christianity. Mormons have a hierarchical religious leadership structure, and actively proselytize their faith; they are located primarily in the Americas and in a number of other Western countries.
Jehovah's Witnesses structure their faith on the Christian Bible, but their rejection of the Trinity is distinct from mainstream Christianity. They believe that a Kingdom of God, the Theocracy, will emerge following Armageddon and usher in a new earthly society. Adherents are required to evangelize and to follow a strict moral code.
Orthodox Christianity: The oldest established eastern form of Christianity, the Holy Orthodox Church, has a ceremonial head in the Bishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), also known as a Patriarch, but its various regional forms (e.g., Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox) are autocephalous (independent of Constantinople's authority, and have their own Patriarchs). Orthodox churches are highly nationalist and ethnic. The Orthodox Christian faith shares many theological tenets with the Roman Catholic Church, but diverges on some key premises and does not recognize the governing authority of the Pope.
Protestant Christianity: Protestant Christianity originated in the 16th century as an attempt to reform Roman Catholicism's practices, dogma, and theology. It encompasses several forms or denominations which are extremely varied in structure, beliefs, relationship to state, clergy, and governance. Many protestant theologies emphasize the primary role of scripture in their faith, advocating individual interpretation of Christian texts without the mediation of a final religious authority such as the Roman Pope. The oldest Protestant Christianities include Lutheranism, Calvinism (Presbyterians), and Anglican Christianity (Episcopalians), which have established liturgies, governing structure, and formal clergy. Other variants on Protestant Christianity, including Pentecostal movements and independent churches, may lack one or more of these elements, and their leadership and beliefs are individualized and dynamic.
Hinduism - Originating in the Vedic civilization of India (second and first millennium B.C.), Hinduism is an extremely diverse set of beliefs and practices with no single founder or religious authority. Hinduism has many scriptures; the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad-Gita are among some of the most important. Hindus may worship one or many deities, usually with prayer rituals within their own home. The most common figures of devotion are the gods Vishnu, Shiva, and a mother goddess, Devi. Most Hindus believe the soul, or atman, is eternal, and goes through a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara) determined by one's positive or negative karma, or the consequences of one's actions. The goal of religious life is to learn to act so as to finally achieve liberation (moksha) of one's soul, escaping the rebirth cycle.
Islam - The third of the monotheistic Abrahamic faiths, Islam originated with the teachings of Muhammad in the 7th century. Muslims believe Muhammad is the final of all religious prophets (beginning with Abraham) and that the Qu'ran, which is the Islamic scripture, was revealed to him by God. Islam derives from the word submission, and obedience to God is a primary theme in this religion. In order to live an Islamic life, believers must follow the five pillars, or tenets, of Islam, which are the testimony of faith (shahada), daily prayer (salah), giving alms (zakah), fasting during Ramadan (sawm), and the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj).
Basic Groupings
The two primary branches of Islam are Sunni and Shia, which split from each other over a religio-political leadership dispute about the rightful successor to Muhammad. The Shia believe Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali, was the only divinely ordained Imam (religious leader), while the Sunni maintain the first three caliphs after Muhammad were also legitimate authorities. In modern Islam, Sunnis and Shia continue to have different views of acceptable schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and who is a proper Islamic religious authority. Islam also has an active mystical branch, Sufism, with various Sunni and Shia subsets.
Sunni Islam accounts for over 75% of the world's Muslim population. It recognizes the Abu Bakr as the first caliph after Muhammad. Sunni has four schools of Islamic doctrine and law - Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali - which uniquely interpret the Hadith, or recorded oral traditions of Muhammad. A Sunni Muslim may elect to follow any one of these schools, as all are considered equally valid.
Shia Islam represents 10-20% of Muslims worldwide, and its distinguishing feature is its reverence for Ali as an infallible, divinely inspired leader, and as the first Imam of the Muslim community after Muhammad. A majority of Shia are known as "Twelvers," because they believe that the 11 familial successor imams after Muhammad culminate in a 12th Imam (al-Mahdi) who is hidden in the world and will reappear at its end to redeem the righteous.
Variants
Ismaili faith: A sect of Shia Islam, its adherents are also known as "Seveners," because they believe that the rightful seventh Imam in Islamic leadership was Isma'il, the elder son of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq. Ismaili tradition awaits the return of the seventh Imam as the Mahdi, or Islamic messianic figure. Ismailis are located in various parts of the world, particularly South Asia and the Levant.
Alawi faith: Another Shia sect of Islam, the name reflects followers' devotion to the religious authority of Ali. Alawites are a closed, secretive religious group who assert they are Shia Muslims, although outside scholars speculate their beliefs may have a syncretic mix with other faiths originating in the Middle East. Alawis live mostly in Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey.
Druze faith: A highly secretive tradition and a closed community that derives from the Ismaili sect of Islam; its core beliefs are thought to emphasize a combination of Gnostic principles believing that the Fatimid caliph, al-Hakin, is the one who embodies the key aspects of goodness of the universe, which are, the intellect, the word, the soul, the preceder, and the follower. The Druze have a key presence in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.
Jainism - Originating in India, Jain spiritual philosophy believes in an eternal human soul, the eternal universe, and a principle of "the own nature of things." It emphasizes compassion for all living things, seeks liberation of the human soul from reincarnation through enlightenment, and values personal responsibility due to the belief in the immediate consequences of one's behavior. Jain philosophy teaches non-violence and prescribes vegetarianism for monks and laity alike; its adherents are a highly influential religious minority in Indian society.
Judaism - One of the first known monotheistic religions, likely dating to between 2000-1500 B.C., Judaism is the native faith of the Jewish people, based upon the belief in a covenant of responsibility between a sole omnipotent creator God and Abraham, the patriarch of Judaism's Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh. Divine revelation of principles and prohibitions in the Hebrew Scriptures form the basis of Jewish law, or halakhah, which is a key component of the faith. While there are extensive traditions of Jewish halakhic and theological discourse, there is no final dogmatic authority in the tradition. Local communities have their own religious leadership. Modern Judaism has three basic categories of faith: Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform/Liberal. These differ in their views and observance of Jewish law, with the Orthodox representing the most traditional practice, and Reform/Liberal communities the most accommodating of individualized interpretations of Jewish identity and faith.
Shintoism - A native animist tradition of Japan, Shinto practice is based upon the premise that every being and object has its own spirit or kami. Shinto practitioners worship several particular kamis, including the kamis of nature, and families often have shrines to their ancestors' kamis. Shintoism has no fixed tradition of prayers or prescribed dogma, but is characterized by individual ritual. Respect for the kamis in nature is a key Shinto value. Prior to the end of World War II, Shinto was the state religion of Japan, and bolstered the cult of the Japanese emperor.
Sikhism - Founded by the Guru Nanak (born 1469), Sikhism believes in a non-anthropomorphic, supreme, eternal, creator God; centering one's devotion to God is seen as a means of escaping the cycle of rebirth. Sikhs follow the teachings of Nanak and nine subsequent gurus. Their scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib - also known as the Adi Granth - is considered the living Guru, or final authority of Sikh faith and theology. Sikhism emphasizes equality of humankind and disavows caste, class, or gender discrimination.
Taoism - Chinese philosophy or religion based upon Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, which centers on belief in the Tao, or the way, as the flow of the universe and the nature of things. Taoism encourages a principle of non-force, or wu-wei, as the means to live harmoniously with the Tao. Taoists believe the esoteric world is made up of a perfect harmonious balance and nature, while in the manifest world - particularly in the body - balance is distorted. The Three Jewels of the Tao - compassion, simplicity, and humility - serve as the basis for Taoist ethics.
Zoroastrianism - Originating from the teachings of Zoroaster in about the 9th or 10th century B.C., Zoroastrianism may be the oldest continuing creedal religion. Its key beliefs center on a transcendent creator God, Ahura Mazda, and the concept of free will. The key ethical tenets of Zoroastrianism expressed in its scripture, the Avesta, are based on a dualistic worldview where one may prevent chaos if one chooses to serve God and exercises good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. Zoroastrianism is generally a closed religion and members are almost always born to Zoroastrian parents. Prior to the spread of Islam, Zoroastrianism dominated greater Iran. Today, though a minority, Zoroastrians remain primarily in Iran, India (where they are known as Parsi), and Pakistan.
Traditional beliefs
Animism: the belief that non-human entities contain souls or spirits.
Badimo: a form of ancestor worship of the Tswana people of Botswana.
Confucianism: an ideology that humans are perfectible through self-cultivation and self-creation; developed from teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. Confucianism has strongly influenced the culture and beliefs of East Asian countries, including China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Inuit beliefs are a form of shamanism (see below) based on animistic principles of the Inuit or Eskimo peoples.
Kirant: the belief system of the Kirat, a people who live mainly in the Himalayas of Nepal. It is primarily a form of polytheistic shamanism, but includes elements of animism and ancestor worship.
Pagan is a blanket term used to describe many unconnected belief practices throughout history, usually in reference to religions outside of the Abrahamic category (monotheistic faiths like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).
Shamanism: beliefs and practices promoting communication with the spiritual world. Shamanistic beliefs are organized around a shaman or medicine man who - as an intermediary between the human and spirit world - is believed to be able to heal the sick (by healing their souls), communicate with the spirit world, and help souls into the afterlife through the practice of entering a trance. In shaman-based religions, the shaman is also responsible for leading sacred rites.
Spiritualism: the belief that souls and spirits communicate with the living usually through intermediaries called mediums.
Syncretic (fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices)
Cao Dai: a nationalistic Vietnamese sect, officially established in 1926, that draws practices and precepts from Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Catholicism.
Chondogyo: or the religion of the Heavenly Way, is based on Korean shamanism, Buddhism, and Korean folk traditions, with some elements drawn from Christianity. Formulated in the 1860s, it holds that God lives in all of us and strives to convert society into a paradise on earth, populated by believers transformed into intelligent moral beings with a high social conscience.
Kimbanguist: a puritan form of the Baptist denomination founded by Simon Kimbangu in the 1920s in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Adherents believe that salvation comes through Jesus' death and resurrection, like Christianity, but additionally that living a spiritually pure life following strict codes of conduct is required for salvation.
Modekngei: a hybrid of Christianity and ancient Palauan culture and oral traditions founded around 1915 on the island of Babeldaob. Adherents simultaneously worship Jesus Christ and Palauan goddesses.
Rastafarian: an afro-centrist ideology and movement based on Christianity that arose in Jamaica in the 1930s; it believes that Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930-74, was the incarnation of the second coming of Jesus.
Santeria: practiced in Cuba, the merging of the Yoruba religion of Nigeria with Roman Catholicism and native Indian traditions. Its practitioners believe that each person has a destiny and eventually transcends to merge with the divine creator and source of all energy, Olorun.
Voodoo/Vodun: a form of spirit and ancestor worship combined with some Christian faiths, especially Catholicism. Haitian and Louisiana Voodoo, which have included more Catholic practices, are separate from West African Vodun, which has retained a focus on spirit worship.
Non-religious
Agnosticism: the belief that most things are unknowable. In regard to religion it is usually characterized as neither a belief nor non belief in a deity.
Atheism: the belief that there are no deities of any kind.
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: This entry gives the dollar value
for the stock of all financial assets that are available to the central monetary
authority for use in meeting a country's balance of payments needs as of the end-date
of the period specified. This category includes not only foreign currency and gold,
but also a country's holdings of Special Drawing Rights in the International Monetary
Fund, and its reserve position in the Fund.
Roadways: This entry gives the total length of the road network and includes
the length of the paved and unpaved portions.
Sanitation facility access: This entry provides information about access to improved or unimproved sanitation facilities available to segments of the population of a country.
Improved sanitation - use of any of the following facilities: flush or pour-flush to a piped sewer system, septic tank or pit latrine; ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrine;
pit latrine with slab; or a composting toilet. unimproved sanitation - use of any of the following facilities: flush or pour-flush not piped to a sewer system, septic tank or pit latrine;
pit latrine without a slab or open pit; bucket; hanging toilet or hanging latrine; shared facilities of any type; no facilities; or bush or field.
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): School life expectancy (SLE) is the total number of years of schooling
(primary to tertiary) that a child can expect to receive, assuming that
the probability of his or her being enrolled in school at any
particular future age is equal to the current enrollment ratio at that
age.
Caution must be maintained when utilizing this indicator in
international comparisons. For example, a year or grade completed in
one country is not necessarily the same in terms of educational content
or quality as a year or grade completed in another country. SLE
represents the expected number of years of schooling that will be
completed, including years spent repeating one or more grades.
Sex ratio: This entry includes the number of males for each female in five age groups - at birth, under 15 years, 15-64 years, 65 years and over, and for the total population. Sex ratio at birth has recently emerged as an indicator of certain kinds of sex discrimination in some countries. For instance, high sex ratios at birth in some Asian countries are now attributed to sex-selective abortion and infanticide due to a strong preference for sons. This will affect future marriage patterns and fertility patterns. Eventually, it could cause unrest among young adult males who are unable to find partners.
Stock of broad money: This entry covers all of "Narrow money," plus the total quantity of time and savings deposits, credit union deposits, institutional money market funds,
short-term repurchase agreements between the central bank and commercial deposit banks, and other large liquid assets held by nonbank financial institutions, state and local governments,
nonfinancial public enterprises, and the private sector of the economy. National currency units have been converted to US dollars at the closing exchange rate for the date of the information.
Because of exchange rate movements, changes in money stocks measured in national currency units may vary significantly from those shown in US dollars,
and caution is urged when making comparisons over time in US dollars. In addition to serving as a medium of exchange, broad money includes assets that are slightly less liquid than narrow money
and the assets tend to function as a "store of value" - a means of holding wealth.
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: This entry gives the cumulative US dollar value of all investments in foreign countries made directly by residents - primarily companies -
of the home country, as of the end of the time period indicated. Direct investment excludes investment through purchase of shares.
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: This entry gives the cumulative US dollar value of all investments in the home country made directly by residents -
primarily companies - of other countries as of the end of the time period indicated. Direct investment excludes investment through purchase of shares.
Stock of domestic credit: This entry is the total quantity of credit, denominated in the domestic
currency, provided by banks to nonbanking institutions. The national
currency units have been converted to US dollars at the closing
exchange rate on the date of the information.
Stock of money: This entry, also known as "M1," comprises the total quantity of
currency in circulation (notes and coins) plus demand deposits
denominated in the national currency, held by nonbank financial
institutions, state and local governments, nonfinancial public
enterprises, and the private sector of the economy. The national
currency units have been converted to US dollars at the closing
exchange rate on the date of the information.
Stock of narrow money: This entry, also know as "M1," comprises the total quantity of currency in circulation (notes and coins) plus demand deposits denominated
in the national currency held by nonbank financial institutions, state and local governments, nonfinancial public enterprises, and the private sector of the economy,
measured at a specific point in time. National currency units have been converted to US dollars at the closing exchange rate for the date of the information.
Because of exchange rate movements, changes in money stocks measured in national currency units may vary significantly from those shown in US dollars, and caution is urged
when making comparisons over time in US dollars. Narrow money consists of more liquid assets than broad money and the assets generally function as a "medium of exchange" for an economy.
Stock of quasi money: This entry comprises the total quantity of time and savings deposits
denominated in the national currency, held by nonbank financial
institutions, state and local governments, nonfinancial public
enterprises, and the private sector of the economy. When added together
with "M1" the total money supply is known as "M2." The national
currency units have been converted to US dollars at the closing
exchange rate on the date of the information.
Suffrage: This entry gives the age at enfranchisement and whether the
right to vote is universal or restricted.
Taxes and other revenues: This entry records total taxes and other revenues received by the national government during the time period indicated, expressed as a percent of GDP.
Taxes include personal and corporate income taxes, value added taxes, excise taxes, and tariffs. Other revenues include social contributions - such as payments for social security
and hospital insurance - grants, and net revenues from public enterprises. Normalizing the data, by dividing total revenues by GDP, enables easy comparisons across countries,
and provides an average rate at which all income (GDP) is paid to the national level government for the supply of public goods and services.
Telephone numbers: All telephone numbers in the Factbook
consist of the country code in brackets, the city or area code (where required)
in parentheses, and the local number. The one component that is not presented is
the international access code, which varies from country to country. For
example, an international direct dial telephone call placed from the US to
Madrid, Spain, would be as follows: 011 [34] (1) 577-xxxx, where 011 is the international access code for station-to-station calls (01 is for calls other than station-to-station calls), [34] is the country code for Spain, (1) is the city code for Madrid, 577 is the local exchange, and xxxx is the local telephone number. An international direct dial telephone call placed from another country to
the US would be as follows: international access code + [1] (202) 939-xxxx, where [1] is the country code for the US, (202) is the area code for Washington, DC, 939 is the local exchange, and xxxx is the local telephone number.
Telephone system: This entry includes a brief characterization of the
system with details on the domestic and international components.
The following terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entry: Africa ONE - a fiber-optic submarine cable link encircling the continent of Africa. Arabsat - Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). Autodin - Automatic Digital Network (US Department of Defense). CB - citizen's band mobile radio communications. cellular telephone system - the telephones in this system are radio transceivers, with each instrument having its own private radio frequency and sufficient radiated power to reach the booster station in its area (cell), from which the telephone signal is fed to a regular telephone exchange. Central American Microwave System - a trunk microwave radio relay system that links the countries of Central America and Mexico with each other. coaxial cable - a multichannel communication cable consisting of a central conducting wire, surrounded by and insulated from a cylindrical conducting shell; a large number of telephone channels can be made available within the insulated space by the use of a large number of carrier frequencies. Comsat - Communications Satellite Corporation (US). DSN - Defense Switched Network (formerly Automatic Voice Network or Autovon); basic general-purpose, switched voice network of the Defense Communications System (US Department of Defense). Eutelsat - European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Paris). fiber-optic cable - a multichannel communications cable using a thread of optical glass fibers as a transmission medium in which the signal (voice, video, etc.) is in the form of a coded pulse of light. GSM - a global system for mobile (cellular) communications devised by the Groupe Special Mobile of the pan-European standardization organization, Conference Europeanne des Posts et Telecommunications (CEPT) in 1982. HF - high-frequency; any radio frequency in the 3,000- to 30,000-kHz range. Inmarsat - International Mobile Satellite Organization (London); provider of global mobile satellite communications for commercial, distress, and safety applications at sea, in the air, and on land. Intelsat - International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Washington, DC). Intersputnik - International Organization of Space Communications (Moscow); first established in the former Soviet Union and the East European countries, it is now marketing its services worldwide with earth stations in North America, Africa, and East Asia. landline - communication wire or cable of any sort that is installed on poles or buried in the ground. Marecs - Maritime European Communications Satellite used in the Inmarsat system on lease from the European Space Agency. Marisat - satellites of the Comsat Corporation that participate in the Inmarsat system. Medarabtel - the Middle East Telecommunications Project of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) providing a modern telecommunications network, primarily by microwave radio relay, linking Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen; it was initially started in Morocco in 1970 by the Arab Telecommunications Union (ATU) and was known at that time as the Middle East Mediterranean Telecommunications Network. microwave radio relay - transmission of long distance telephone calls and television programs by highly directional radio microwaves that are received and sent on from one booster station to another on an optical path. NMT - Nordic Mobile Telephone; an analog cellular telephone system that was developed jointly by the national telecommunications authorities of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). Orbita - a Russian television service; also the trade name of a packet-switched digital telephone network. radiotelephone communications - the two-way transmission and reception of sounds by broadcast radio on authorized frequencies using telephone handsets. PanAmSat - PanAmSat Corporation (Greenwich, CT). satellite communication system - a communication system consisting of two or more earth stations and at least one satellite that provides long distance transmission of voice, data, and television; the system usually serves as a trunk connection between telephone exchanges; if the earth stations are in the same country, it is a domestic system. satellite earth station - a communications facility with a microwave radio transmitting and receiving antenna and required receiving and transmitting equipment for communicating with satellites. satellite link - a radio connection between a satellite and an earth station permitting communication between them, either one-way (down link from satellite to earth station - television receive-only transmission) or two-way (telephone channels). SHF - super-high-frequency; any radio frequency in the 3,000- to 30,000-MHz range. shortwave - radio frequencies (from 1.605 to 30 MHz) that fall above the commercial broadcast band and are used for communication over long distances. Solidaridad - geosynchronous satellites in Mexico's system of international telecommunications in the Western Hemisphere. Statsionar - Russia's geostationary system for satellite telecommunications. submarine cable - a cable designed for service under water. TAT - Trans-Atlantic Telephone; any of a number of high-capacity submarine coaxial telephone cables linking Europe with North America. telefax - facsimile service between subscriber stations via the public switched telephone network or the international Datel network. telegraph - a telecommunications system designed for unmodulated electric impulse transmission. telex - a communication service involving teletypewriters connected by wire through automatic exchanges. tropospheric scatter - a form of microwave radio transmission in which the troposphere is used to scatter and reflect a fraction of the incident radio waves back to earth; powerful, highly directional antennas are used to transmit and receive the microwave signals; reliable over-the-horizon communications are realized for distances up to 600 miles in a single hop; additional hops can extend the range of this system for very long distances. trunk network - a network of switching centers, connected by multichannel trunk lines. UHF - ultra-high-frequency; any radio frequency in the 300- to 3,000-MHz range. VHF - very-high-frequency; any radio frequency in the 30- to 300-MHz
range.
Telephones - fixed lines: This entry gives the total number of fixed telephone lines in use, as well as the number of subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
Telephones - main lines in use: This entry gives the total number of
main telephone lines in use.
Telephones - mobile cellular: This entry gives the total number of
mobile cellular telephones in use.
Television - broadcast stations: This entry gives the total number of
separate broadcast stations plus any repeater stations.
Televisions: This entry gives the total number of television sets.
Terminology: Due to the highly structured nature of the
Factbook database, some collective generic terms have to be used. For
example, the word Country in the Country name entry refers to a
wide variety of dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, uninhabited islands,
and other entities in addition to the traditional countries or independent
states. Military is also used as an umbrella term for various civil
defense, security, and defense activities in many entries. The
Independence entry includes the usual colonial independence dates and
former ruling states as well as other significant nationhood dates such as the
traditional founding date or the date of unification, federation, confederation,
establishment, or state succession that are not strictly independence dates.
Dependent areas have the nature of their dependency status noted in this same
entry.
Terrain: This entry contains a brief description of the
topography.
Terrorism: This category includes two fields: Terrorist groups - home based and Terrorist groups - foreign based. The category is by no means all inclusive; it only cites those terrorist organizations that appear on the US State Department's listing of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Terrorist groups - home based: This entry provides information on the US State Department's designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations headquartered in a specific country, which may or may not be a group's country of origin. Details on each organization's aim(s) and area(s) of operation are provided.
Terrorist groups - foreign based: This entry provides information on the US State Department's designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations operating in countries other than where a particular group is headquartered. Details on each organization's aim(s) and area(s) of operation are provided..
Total fertility rate: This entry gives a figure for the average number
of children that would be born per woman if all women lived to the end of their
childbearing years and bore children according to a given fertility rate at each
age. The total fertility rate is a more direct measure of the level of fertility
than the crude birth rate, since it refers to births per woman. This indicator
shows the potential for population growth in the country. High rates will also
place some limits on the labor force participation rates for women. Large
numbers of children born to women indicate large family sizes that might limit
the ability of the families to feed and educate their children.
Total renewable water resources: This entry provides the long-term average water availability for a country in cubic kilometers of precipitation, recharged ground water,
and surface inflows from surrounding countries. The values have been adjusted to account for overlap resulting from surface flow recharge of groundwater sources.
Total renewable water resources provides the water total available to a country but does not include water resource totals that have been reserved for upstream or downstream countries
through international agreements. Note that these values are averages and do not accurately reflect the total available in any given year.
Annual available resources can vary greatly due to short-term and long-term climatic and weather variations.
Trafficking in persons: Trafficking in persons is modern-day slavery, involving victims who are
forced, defrauded, or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. The
International Labor Organization (ILO), the UN agency charged with
addressing labor standards, employment, and social protection issues,
estimates that 12.3 million people worldwide are enslaved in forced
labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, sexual servitude, and
involuntary servitude at any given time. Human trafficking is a
multi-dimensional threat, depriving people of their human rights and
freedoms, risking global health, promoting social breakdown, inhibiting
development by depriving countries of their human capital, and helping
fuel the growth of organized crime. In 2000, the US Congress passed the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), reauthorized in 2003 and
2005, which provides tools for the US to combat trafficking in persons,
both domestically and abroad. One of the law's key components is the
creation of the US Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report, which assesses the government response (i.e., the current situation)
in some 150 countries with a significant number of victims trafficked
across their borders who are recruited, harbored, transported,
provided, or obtained for forced labor or sexual exploitation.
Countries in the annual report are rated in three tiers, based on
government efforts to combat trafficking. The countries identified in
this entry are those listed in the 2008 Trafficking in Persons Report as Tier 2 Watch List or Tier 3 based on the following tier rating definitions:
Transnational Issues: This category includes only two entries at the
present time - Disputes - international and Illicit drugs - that
deal with current issues going beyond national boundaries. Transportation: This category includes the entries dealing with the
means for movement of people and goods.
Transportation - note: This entry includes miscellaneous
transportation information of significance not included elsewhere.
Unemployment rate: This entry contains the percent of the labor force
that is without jobs. Substantial underemployment might be noted.
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24: This entry gives the percent of the total labor force ages 15-24 unemployed during a specified year. United Nations System: This information is presented in Appendix B:
United Nations System as a chart, table, or text (depending on the
version of the Factbook) that shows the organization of the UN in detail.
Urbanization: This entry provides two measures of the degree of urbanization of a population. The first, urban population, describes the percentage of the total population living in urban areas, as defined by the country. The second, rate of urbanization,
describes the projected average rate of change of the size of the urban
population over the given period of time. Additionally, the World entry
includes a list of the ten largest urban agglomerations. An urban agglomeration
is defined as comprising the city or town proper and also the suburban
fringe or thickly settled territory lying outside of, but adjacent to,
the boundaries of the city.
Waterways: This entry gives the total length and individual names of
navigable rivers, canals, and other inland bodies of water. Weights and measures: This information is presented in Appendix E:
Weights and Measures and includes mathematical notations (mathematical
powers and names), metric interrelationships (prefix; symbol; length, weight, or
capacity; area; volume), and standard conversion factors.
Years: All year references are for the calendar year (CY) unless
indicated as fiscal year (FY). The calendar year is an accounting period of 12
months from 1 January to 31 December. The fiscal year is an accounting period of
12 months other than 1 January to 31 December. Note: Information for the US and US dependencies was compiled from
material in the public domain and does not represent Intelligence Community
estimates. |
