The 1990 CIA World Factbook E-Book

United States. Central Intelligence Agency

• Herausgeber: DigiCat
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

The 1990 CIA World Factbook is a comprehensive reference guide that provides an extensive compilation of demographic, geographical, and political information on countries around the globe. Within its pages, the Factbook employs a precise and informative style, utilizing tables, charts, and textual summaries that deliver data efficiently. Set against the backdrop of the geopolitical shifts of the late 20th century—particularly the end of the Cold War—the Factbook serves as a vital resource for understanding the evolving international landscape during this transformative period. Authored by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States, this Factbook reflects the agency's mission to inform national security and policy decisions through accurate intelligence assessments. The CIA's expansive network and expertise enable it to curate a wealth of data, shedding light on global dynamics that influenced U.S. foreign policy. The year 1990 was pivotal, marked by the reunification of Germany and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, greatly affecting the geopolitical context captured in this volume. The 1990 CIA World Factbook is invaluable for scholars, students, and policymakers alike. Its robust data serves as a foundational reference for understanding historical and contemporary global relations, making it a must-read for anyone interested in international studies, geopolitics, and intelligence analysis. In this enriched edition, we have carefully created added value for your reading experience: - A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions. - The Author Biography highlights personal milestones and literary influences that shape the entire body of writing. - A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation. - A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists. - A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths. - Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts. - Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.

Leseprobe

United States. Central Intelligence Agency

The 1990 CIA World Factbook

Enriched edition.

Introduction, Studies and Commentaries by Gabriel Fox

EAN 8596547346883

Edited and published by DigiCat, 2022

Table of Contents

Introduction

Author Biography

Historical Context

Synopsis (Selection)

The 1990 CIA World Factbook

Analysis

Reflection

Memorable Quotes

Introduction

Table of Contents

This collection presents the complete text of The 1990 CIA World Factbook by the United States. Central Intelligence Agency, gathered here as an authoritative, single-volume reference. The purpose of assembling the edition in full is to preserve and make accessible a comprehensive snapshot of global information as organized by a major governmental producer of open-source reference data. Rather than excerpting or summarizing, this collection retains the work’s integrity as a continuous text, allowing readers to consult it as it was issued. In doing so, it provides a stable historical resource for understanding how countries and selected territories were profiled at that time.

The Central Intelligence Agency produces The World Factbook as an annual reference for United States government use, and it has long been made available to the public. The publication is in the public domain, which has enabled widespread citation and redistribution. The 1990 edition reflects the CIA’s institutional approach to presenting concise, standardized country information for quick consultation by policymakers, analysts, educators, and interested readers. Its publication context is practical and utilitarian: to supply consistent baseline facts about the world’s political units, presented without advocacy and organized to facilitate comparison across entries.

The genres and text types represented are those of governmental reference: country and territory profiles, concise narrative summaries, tabular statistics, lists, and catalog-like overviews. The Factbook’s prose is designed for clarity and brevity, foregrounding definitional precision rather than literary flourish. It also incorporates reference aids typical of almanacs—such as standardized headings and comparative notes—to guide interpretation. While it does not include creative works, its disciplined presentation, factual orientation, and controlled terminology exemplify the craft of technical and informational writing at scale, where structure and consistency are the primary carriers of meaning.

The work is organized into entries for individual countries and selected dependencies, typically arranged alphabetically for rapid access. Each entry follows a common template, presenting information in parallel categories so that readers can locate comparable facts in predictable places. The style emphasizes economy: short sections, key figures, and succinct descriptions that privilege definitional clarity over narrative exposition. This standardized architecture supports both linear reading and targeted consultation, enabling users to scan for specific data or to compare several entries efficiently without learning a new format for each profile.

The geographic scope centers on sovereign states and certain territories that warrant distinct treatment for informational purposes. By adopting a uniform entry structure across diverse political entities, the Factbook advances cross-national comparability while acknowledging that not all data are available or comparable in every case. Its approach is deliberately state-centric, presenting each entity as a discrete unit with identifiable characteristics. This arrangement helps readers survey the world systematically, while the selection of entities reflects the publication’s function as an operational reference intended for consistent, practical use.

The 1990 edition profiles core domains that are foundational to country knowledge: geography and environment; population characteristics; government and administrative organization; economy and resources; communications and media; transportation infrastructure; and defense forces. The headings provide a conceptual grid through which the world is described. Within each domain, the text privileges definitional statements, key figures, and brief contextual notes. The result is a compact portrait of each entity’s physical setting, social composition, institutional framework, productive activity, connective systems, and security posture as understood for reference purposes.

A hallmark of The World Factbook is methodological consistency. The entries adopt standard definitions, measurement conventions, and categorical labels to reduce ambiguity across profiles. Where data are subject to change or uncertainty, the presentation favors cautious wording and clear scoping so that readers can understand the limits of precision. The work functions as a snapshot: a synthesis of information available for the edition year, not a continuously updated feed. This snapshot character enhances interpretability, allowing the 1990 volume to serve as a fixed baseline for historical comparison with later or earlier editions.

As a document anchored in 1990, the volume captures a pivotal moment in late twentieth-century international affairs without asserting interpretive theses. It registers how states and territories were described in that year’s official reference framing, making it valuable as a time capsule of global classification, nomenclature, and statistical baselines. Researchers interested in the period can consult it to see how the world was organized and labeled for policy reference at that time. The fact that it abstains from analysis heightens its utility as a primary source for studying contemporaneous institutional perspectives.

The Factbook’s intended and actual audiences extend beyond government to educators, journalists, students, librarians, and general readers seeking reliable overviews. Its compact structure supports many uses: orienting oneself to basic facts about an unfamiliar country, scanning for comparative indicators across multiple entries, and assembling contextual profiles for further research. Because the work is designed for reference rather than argument, it can serve as a neutral starting point, after which users can consult specialized sources for deeper or more recent information as their questions require.

Several unifying features run through the 1990 edition. The prose is intentionally neutral, the categories are uniform, and the presentation is concise. These hallmarks encourage a disciplined reading practice: attending to definitions, noting scope conditions, and respecting the distinction between summary description and interpretation. The Factbook’s structure foregrounds the state as the primary unit of analysis, an organizational choice that shapes how information is encountered and compared. The overall effect is a coherent atlas of succinct country portraits, made interoperable by design and mindful of the limits of summary data.

The lasting significance of The World Factbook lies in its role as a public-domain reference that has shaped how baseline country information is gathered, formatted, and circulated. The 1990 edition contributes to that legacy by offering a stable record of the world as officially summarized for that year. Scholars and practitioners use it to reconstruct historical baselines, trace changes in terminology, and compare institutional framing over time. Its influence can be seen in the many reference works and datasets that emulate its standardized headings and concise summaries, demonstrating the enduring value of clear, consistent informational design.

Readers approaching this collection are encouraged to treat it as both a practical handbook and a historical artifact. Begin with the overview notes and headings of any entry to learn the categories in play; attend carefully to definitions and qualifiers that shape interpretation; and use the standardized format to compare across entries methodically. Because the text captures a specific moment, it is best paired with additional sources for updates or specialized detail. Read as intended—a compact, carefully structured reference—The 1990 CIA World Factbook remains a dependable foundation for orientation, teaching, and longitudinal analysis.

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Introduction

The United States. Central Intelligence Agency is an authorial presence unlike any other, shaping a public record through intelligence assessments, declassifications, and reference works that document world affairs. Formally established in the late 1940s, the Agency writes primarily for policymakers, yet its published and declassified materials have reached scholars, journalists, and general readers. Signature works include The World Factbook, the professional journal Studies in Intelligence, and selections of declassified Presidential Daily Briefs and National Intelligence Estimates. Across these outputs, the CIA’s prose combines analytic restraint, sourcing discipline, and cautious probabilistic judgment, leaving a durable imprint on how modern intelligence is written, edited, and read.

The CIA’s literary identity is defined by tradecraft: clear key judgments, explicit caveats, and the careful separation of reporting from evaluation. Its analytical voice tends toward measured phrasing and structured argumentation, reflecting institutional commitments to evidentiary transparency within the limits of classification. Even when the audience is general, as in The World Factbook, the tone remains dispassionate and encyclopedic. This stylistic signature has influenced how other governmental and nongovernmental analytic producers present uncertainty and risk, making CIA-authored texts a template for concise synthesis of complex, often ambiguous international realities.

A paradox animates the Agency’s bibliography: most writing begins in secrecy but accrues public meaning through selective, principled declassification and contextualization. The FOIA Electronic Reading Room and archival releases have steadily broadened access to historical assessments, operational histories, and methodological essays. These materials, often curated by the Center for the Study of Intelligence, now underpin university syllabi, documentary films, and journalistic investigations. As a result, CIA texts function both as contemporary policy instruments and as primary sources for understanding U.S. foreign relations, analytic methodology, and the institutional evolution of intelligence in the modern state.

Education and Literary Influences

The CIA’s education as an author is institutional rather than biographical, rooted in analytic tradecraft codified over decades. Foundational is the influence of Sherman Kent, whose work on strategic intelligence emphasized objectivity, estimative language, and the disciplined use of evidence—principles that still shape Agency writing. Internal schools and training programs, formalized in the early twenty-first century, reinforced rigorous sourcing, alternative analysis, and peer review. The result is a house style that prizes clarity, structured argument, and explicit confidence levels—features readily observable across declassified assessments and professional publications associated with the Agency’s analytic community.

Intellectually, the Agency’s prose draws from social science methodology, diplomatic history, and area studies. The professional journal Studies in Intelligence has long convened practitioners and scholars to debate tradecraft, case study method, and the psychology of analysis, embedding academic cross-pollination into the Agency’s literary culture. Influences also include cognitive research associated with intelligence analysis, which encouraged techniques to surface assumptions and mitigate bias. Editorially, CIA texts reflect collaborative production: collection reviews, source validation, and red-teaming contribute to a layered narrative voice that balances competing hypotheses while preserving readability for senior decision-makers.

Literary Career

The Agency’s early literary career emerged from Cold War imperatives, producing estimates and thematic studies designed to inform strategy. National Intelligence Estimates, often collaborative across agencies, exemplified a formal analytic architecture: key judgments, evidentiary discussion, and explicit uncertainty. While many remained classified for years, subsequent declassifications revealed a consistent approach to argumentation and a careful calibration of confidence, setting enduring expectations for how national-security analysis should be written and consumed by policymakers.

The World Factbook represents the CIA’s most visible public text, a living reference work that distills geographic, demographic, economic, and political data into concise country profiles. Its style is spare and standardized, emphasizing comparability and neutral description over narrative flourish. Updated periodically to reflect current information, it has become a ubiquitous citation in classrooms, newsrooms, and research projects. The Factbook’s editorial discipline—consistency of categories, succinct definitions, and transparent sourcing practices—illustrates the Agency’s capacity to translate complex global data into accessible, reliable prose for non-specialist audiences.

Studies in Intelligence, the Agency’s professional journal, documents tradecraft debates, historical case studies, and methodological innovations. Articles, often released in unclassified form after review, reveal an introspective literature of lessons learned: why certain assessments succeeded or failed, how analytic techniques evolved, and what ethical and organizational pressures shape judgment. This forum has helped standardize vocabulary across the field—terms like warning, deception, and denial—while inviting external critique. Its cumulative effect has been to codify best practices and foster a community of practice that connects governmental analysts with academic and private-sector researchers.

Declassification programs have yielded notable documentary collections, including selections from the President’s Daily Brief and compilations like the Family Jewels that illuminate past activities and oversight dynamics. These releases, often contextualized with historical essays, show the Agency’s narrative range—from concise executive summaries to detailed chronologies and after-action reflections. Critical reception has mixed scrutiny with appreciation: scholars value the primary-source richness; critics probe omissions and classification judgments. Together, these texts have broadened public understanding of intelligence processes and embedded the CIA’s documentary voice in the historical record.

Beliefs and Advocacy

Across its published and declassified writings, the CIA consistently advocates an ethos of analytic objectivity, careful sourcing, and clarity about uncertainty. The architecture of key judgments, confidence levels, and alternative hypotheses reflects a belief that decision-quality intelligence must be transparent about what is known, unknown, and contested. This stance, traceable to mid-twentieth-century tradecraft, positions the authorial CIA as a guardian of method rather than ideology. Even when addressing contentious topics, the prose seeks to minimize rhetorical flourish in favor of structured reasoning, thereby modeling standards that have influenced allied services and independent analytic organizations.

The Agency’s public communications and historical programs also reflect an institutional commitment to lawful transparency within security constraints. The FOIA Electronic Reading Room, partnerships with archives, and the work of the Center for the Study of Intelligence signal a belief that retrospective openness strengthens public understanding and professional practice. Educational outreach—explanations of tradecraft, curated document sets, and historical monographs—positions the Agency as both participant in and chronicler of U.S. national security. This dual role complicates reception but sustains a documentary ecosystem where official texts can be studied, contested, and integrated into broader civic discourse.

Final Years & Legacy

In recent decades, the Agency’s textual output has adapted to new domains—terrorism, cyber operations, proliferations risks, and open-source information—while maintaining core stylistic commitments. Post–Cold War and post–9/11 releases, including case studies and selective declassifications, have offered self-assessment and methodological refinement. Digital publication has expanded access to The World Factbook and archival materials, embedding CIA texts in everyday research and teaching. The legacy is a paradoxical authorship: a writer whose most influential works were crafted for closed rooms yet now inform public scholarship. Through method, editorial discipline, and measured transparency, the CIA has helped define the literature of modern intelligence.

Historical Context

Table of Contents

The 1990 CIA World Factbook stands at the cusp of the Cold War’s end, a moment shaped by decades of bipolar rivalry and intelligence-driven statecraft. The Central Intelligence Agency, created in 1947, developed global reference tools to brief policymakers on geography, demographics, economies, and military capabilities. By the late 1980s it issued unclassified annual Factbooks used beyond government. The 1990 volume, compiled as revolutions swept Eastern Europe and détente deepened, offers a standardized snapshot of states and territories just before a cascade of border changes and regime transitions. It reflects a long-standing institutional practice: concise, comparable country profiles to inform strategic understanding across administrations.

As a compendium, the Factbook organizes entries by common rubrics—geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, and military—providing comparable baselines across nations. Its data are drawn from US government reporting and open sources, vetted for consistency. The 1990 edition presents figures current to early that year, acknowledging lags inherent in collation and publication. It functions less as narrative and more as a statistical and institutional map of the world order. Cartographic aids, standardized terminology, and short historical notes situate each state within recognized borders and international affiliations, allowing readers to gauge capabilities, vulnerabilities, and interdependencies at a glance.

The work’s timing is crucial. Compiled around January 1990, it captures the world amid rapid change: the Berlin Wall had fallen in November 1989; Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania were shedding communist structures; and the Soviet Union was loosening its grip while remaining intact. Because the Factbook is a static annual volume, it necessarily records some entities as they formally existed at that moment, even as negotiations and transitional governments were underway. Its value lies partly in that frozen view: an authoritative register of states, economies, and alliances immediately before accelerated diplomatic, constitutional, and territorial transformations.

Eastern Europe’s upheaval is mirrored across several entries. Poland’s profile follows the semi-free elections of June 1989 and the formation of a non-communist-led government, reflecting movement toward market reforms and political pluralism. Hungary’s transition from a socialist republic to the Republic of Hungary in late 1989 frames its government and economic entries. Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution informs the depiction of new leadership and reoriented foreign policy. Romania’s December 1989 revolution underpins a more fluid account of institutions in flux. The Factbook abstracts these revolutions into indicators—party systems, cabinet structures, trading partners—signaling dramatic realignments without editorializing.

Germany’s division still structures the 1990 volume. Separate entries for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) reflect four decades of geopolitical demarcation. Yet the fall of the Berlin Wall and accelerating diplomatic efforts toward unification in 1990 give contextual weight to their profiles. Economic contrasts—industrial output, infrastructure, and trade orientation—highlight longstanding disparities, while military and alliance data situate the FRG within NATO and the GDR within the Warsaw Pact. The Factbook thus preserves the last formal snapshot of “two Germanies” before the October 1990 unification transformed Europe’s strategic and institutional landscape.

The Soviet Union’s entry sits at the center of late–Cold War analysis. Under Mikhail Gorbachev, perestroika and glasnost altered political and economic life, but the USSR remained a single state with vast demographic, industrial, and military resources. The Factbook quantifies these features—territory, population, resource endowments, and force structure—while noting federal composition across union republics. Nationalist currents in the Baltics and Caucasus, economic contraction, and shifting foreign relations are legible through trade patterns and institutional references. In hindsight, the 1990 profile is a ledger of a superpower still formally unified, months before secessionist momentum gathered irreversible speed.

Yugoslavia’s profile exemplifies the book’s capacity to register federal complexity without predicting disintegration. The 1990 entry outlines a multi-republic, multi-ethnic federation and a self-management socialist economy facing inflation and debt. Indicators of uneven development and contested constitutional authority appear in economic and administrative data. Although war and breakup would come in 1991–1992, the Factbook captures Yugoslavia as a recognized state whose internal strains were quantifiable: divergent republic-level performance, high unemployment, and eroding central mechanisms. It is a neutral record of a balancing act between decentralization and federal cohesion at a critical late stage.

In the Middle East, the Factbook reflects a landscape reshaped by the end of the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), the ongoing First Intifada in the Israeli–Palestinian arena (since 1987), and Lebanon’s transition after the 1989 Taif Agreement. Iraq’s and Iran’s entries show war recovery, military establishments, and economic pressures, including reconstruction and debt. Kuwait’s profile, along with those of other Gulf monarchies, highlights oil reserves, small citizen populations, and strategic maritime positions. Compiled before the 1990–1991 Gulf crisis, these entries serve as baseline measures of capabilities and dependencies immediately preceding a regional realignment centered on energy security and collective defense.

South Asia’s entries record unsettled post-intervention dynamics. Afghanistan appears after the 1989 Soviet withdrawal, with the Najibullah government and ongoing civil conflict shaping demographic displacement and infrastructure degradation. Pakistan’s political volatility and security apparatus are tabulated alongside economic indicators constrained by debt and development needs. India’s profile shows a large mixed economy, incremental reform debates, and regional tensions, including Kashmir. Sri Lanka’s entry addresses a protracted insurgency. These country snapshots use standardized economic, military, and communications data to depict states managing internal conflicts and cross-border frictions amid late–Cold War realignments and aid flows.

East and Southeast Asia are portrayed through reform and division. China’s entry follows the political crackdown of June 1989 while still registering the structural shifts of post-1978 economic opening: expanding coastal industry, special zones, and significant demographic scale. The Korean Peninsula remains bifurcated, with the DPRK’s centralized command economy contrasted against the ROK’s export-driven growth. Vietnam’s Doi Moi reforms are captured through changing trade orientation and agricultural output. Cambodia’s profile precedes the 1991 peace accords but notes a contested polity and limited infrastructure. Across ASEAN states, the Factbook maps uneven industrialization, urbanization, and communications networks characteristic of the late 1980s.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s transitions and conflicts figure prominently. Namibia’s 1990 independence marks the final phase of decolonization in southern Africa, while South Africa remains under apartheid structures even as negotiations begin that year. Angola and Mozambique continue civil wars destabilizing production and transport corridors. Zaire’s chronic governance and infrastructure challenges are reflected in economic and communications statistics. The Factbook’s neutral categories—railway kilometers, port capacity, export baskets—show how resource endowments and conflict shaped state capacity. It delivers a ledger of constraints and potentials amid the winding down of superpower competition that had long fueled regional proxy dynamics.

The Horn of Africa and the Sahel illustrate the intersection of state fragility and environmental stress. Ethiopia, under a socialist regime facing insurgencies, appears with food security vulnerabilities and constrained transport. Eritrean and Tigrayan advances would crest in 1991, but the 1990 profile emphasizes existing institutional frameworks and demographic pressures. Somalia’s weakening central authority is evident in sparse infrastructure and limited revenue bases. Sudan’s civil war and drought add to a pattern of humanitarian risk. The Factbook’s sections on communications, health, and transport make visible the material underpinnings of governance challenges across arid and conflict-affected zones.

In the Americas, the 1990 volume records a hemisphere emerging from authoritarian waves and debt crisis. The US invasion of Panama in December 1989 frames Panama’s entry under a transitional government. Nicaragua’s early 1990 elections and demobilization efforts shape a profile of economic contraction and reconstruction. Chile’s return to democracy in March 1990 follows negotiated institutional change. Brazil’s 1989 presidential election and inflation control efforts appear in economic indicators. Across the Andean region, the Factbook captures the drug trade’s impact on security and public finances. Standardized fiscal and infrastructure metrics trace the arc from crisis management to tentative liberalization.

North American and Caribbean entries register integration and constraint. The United States and Canada show deep trade linkages after the 1989 bilateral Free Trade Agreement, with industrial capacity and energy interdependence quantified in production and transport data. Mexico’s reform and debt management context is evident in growth and inflation figures. In the Caribbean, small island economies display high openness and vulnerability to external shocks, with tourism and remittances prominent. Cuba appears isolated within the Western Hemisphere, its economy closely tied to Soviet support still in place in early 1990. Communications and shipping statistics underline the region’s reliance on maritime access and external markets.

Global economic governance frames the 1990 edition. The GATT Uruguay Round, launched in 1986, was ongoing, signaling tariff cuts, intellectual property debates, and agricultural reform pressures that appear indirectly through trade composition and subsidy references. The “Washington Consensus” influenced fiscal and structural policies across Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia, with privatization and deregulation efforts reflected in sectoral output and state-enterprise listings. Debt overhang and rescheduling negotiations appear in balance-of-payments constraints. The Factbook’s standardized economic categories make these abstract policy currents legible through country-level trade partners, export concentrations, and external financing needs.

Technological and informational infrastructures are a recurring theme. Entries detail telephones in use, radio and television sets, merchant marine tonnage, road and rail networks, and airports, revealing uneven modernization. The late 1980s saw the spread of satellite communications and the first transatlantic fiber-optic cables, while personal computing expanded in advanced economies. The internet existed largely within academic and defense spheres. By reporting telecommunications density and transport capacity, the 1990 Factbook registers both the backbone of globalization and the gaps limiting participation. Such metrics would become crucial as supply chains and financial flows accelerated in the 1990s.

International organizations and alliance systems provide crucial context. NATO and the Warsaw Pact remained operative in early 1990, even as Eastern European members reoriented. The European Community’s 1992 single-market project shaped regulatory convergence across its twelve members. The Non-Aligned Movement persisted as a forum for developing states adjusting to post–Cold War realities. The United Nations continued peacekeeping and decolonization work, visible in references to trusteeship conclusions and observer missions. The Factbook’s inclusion of dependencies, overseas territories, and maritime claims situates states within a legal order influenced by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, then shaping boundary negotiations and resource rights.

Synopsis (Selection)

Table of Contents

Text

A comprehensive reference snapshot of the world in 1990, this work compiles concise, standardized country and territory profiles that synthesize geographic, demographic, political, and economic information. Its structure favors quick comparison and factual clarity, presenting an organized global overview without extended analysis.

The tone is terse, neutral, and data-forward, prioritizing definitions, statistics, and brief narrative summaries. Recurring concerns include borders and administrative organization, population and resources, and infrastructure and institutional capacity, reflecting a methodical approach to describing the international system.

The 1990 CIA World Factbook

Main Table of Contents

Cover

Titlepage

Text

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There have been some significant changes in this edition. In the Government section the former Branches entry has been replaced by three entries—Executive branch, Legislative branch, and Judicial branch. The Leaders entry now has subentries for Chief of State, Head of Government, and their deputies. The Elections entry has been completely redone with information for each branch of the national government, including the date for the last election, the date for the next election, results (percent of vote by candidate or party), and current distribution of seats by party. In the Economy section there is a new entry on Illicit drugs.

Abbreviations: (see Appendix B for international organizations)

avdp. avoirdupois c.i.f. cost, insurance, and freight CY calendar year DWT deadweight ton est. estimate Ex-Im Export-Import Bank of the United States f.o.b. free on board FRG Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) FY fiscal year GDP gross domestic product GDR German Democratic Republic (East Germany) GNP gross national product GRT gross register ton km kilometer km2 square kilometer kW kilowatt kWh kilowatt-hour m meter NA not available NEGL negligible nm nautical mile NZ New Zealand ODA official development assistance OOF other official flows PDRY People's Democratic Republic of Yemen {Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen} UAE United Arab Emirates UK United Kingdom US United States USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union) YAR Yemen Arab Republic {Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen}

Administrative divisions: The numbers, designatory terms, and first-order administrative divisions are generally those approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) as of 5 April 1990. Changes that have been reported but not yet acted upon by BGN are noted.

Area: 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). Comparative areas are based on total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 km2, 69 miles2) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 km2, 0.23 miles2, 146 acres).

Birth rate: The average annual number of births during a year per 1,000 population at midyear. Also known as crude birth rate.

Contributors: Information was provided by the Bureau of the Census (Department of Commerce), Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Defense Nuclear Agency, Department of State, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Navy Operational Intelligence Center and Maritime Administration (merchant marine data), Office of Territorial and International Affairs (Department of the Interior), United States Board on Geographic Names, United States Coast Guard, and others.

Dates of information: In general, information available as of 1 January 1990 was used in the preparation of this edition. Population figures are estimates for 1 July 1990, with population growth rates estimated for mid-1990 through mid-1991. Major political events have been updated through 30 March 1990. Military age figures are average annual estimates for 1990-94.

Death rate: The average annual number of deaths during a year per l,000 population at midyear. Also known as crude death rate.

Diplomatic representation: The US Government has diplomatic relations with 162 nations. There are only 144 US embassies, since some nations have US ambassadors accredited to them, but no physical US mission exists. The US has diplomatic relations with 149 of the 159 UN members—the exceptions are Albania, Angola, Byelorussia (constituent republic of the Soviet Union), Cambodia, Cuba, Iran, Vietnam, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen {Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen}, Ukraine (constituent republic of the Soviet Union) and, obviously, the US itself. In addition, the US has diplomatic relations with 13 nations that are not in the UN—Andorra, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Nauru, San Marino, South Korea, Switzerland, Tonga, Tuvalu, and the Vatican City. North Korea is not in the UN and the US does not have diplomatic relations with that nation. The US has not recognized the incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into the Soviet Union and continues to accredit the diplomatic representatives of their last free governments.

Disputes: This category includes a wide variety of situations that range from traditional bilateral boundary disputes to unilateral claims of one sort or another. Every international land boundary dispute in the "Guide to International Boundaries," a map published by the Department of State, is included. References to other situations may also be included that are border- or frontier-relevant, such as maritime disputes, geopolitical questions, or irredentist issues. However, inclusion does not necessarily constitute official acceptance or recognition by the US Government.

Entities: Some of the nations, dependent areas, areas of special sovereignty, and governments included in this publication are not independent, and others are not officially recognized by the US Government. Nation refers to a people politically organized into a sovereign state with a definite territory. Dependent area refers to a broad category of political entities that are associated in some way with a nation. Names used for page headings are usually the short-form names as approved by the US Board on Geographic Names. The long-form name is included in the Government section and an entry of "none" indicates a long-form name does not exist. In some instances, no short-form name exists—then the long-form name must serve for all usages.

There are 249 entities in the Factbook that may be categorized as follows:

NATIONS 157 UN members (there are 159 members in the UN, but only 157 are included in The World Factbook because Byelorussia and Ukraine are constituent republics of the Soviet Union) 15 nations that are not members of the UN—Andorra, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Namibia, Nauru, North Korea, San Marino, South Korea, Switzerland, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vatican City

OTHER 1 Taiwan

DEPENDENT AREAS 6 Australia—Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Norfolk Island 2 Denmark—Faroe Islands, Greenland 16 France—Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Europa Island, French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Glorioso Islands, Guadeloupe, Juan de Nova Island, Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Reunion, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Tromelin Island, Wallis and Futuna 2 Netherlands—Aruba, Netherlands Antilles 3 New Zealand—Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau 3 Norway—Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard 1 Portugal—Macau 16 United Kingdom—Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Jersey, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, St. Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands 15 United States—American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (Palau), Virgin Islands, Wake Island

MISCELLANEOUS 7 Antarctica, Gaza Strip, Iraq-Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone, Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands, West Bank, Western Sahara

OTHER ENTITIES 4 oceans—Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean 1 World === 249 total

Notes: The US Government has not recognized the incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into the Soviet Union as constituent republics during World War II. Those Baltic states are not members of the UN and are not included in the list of nations. The US Government does not recognize the four so-called "independent" homelands of Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei, and Venda in South Africa.

Gross domestic product (GDP): The value of all goods and services produced domestically.

Gross national product (GNP): The value of all goods and services produced domestically, plus income earned abroad, minus income earned by foreigners from domestic production.

GNP/GDP methodology: GNP/GDP dollar estimates for the OECD countries, the USSR, Eastern Europe, and a portion of the developing countries, are derived from purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations rather than from conversions at official currency exchange rates. The PPP methods involve the use of average price weights, which lie between the weights of the domestic and foreign price systems; using these weights, US $100 converted into German marks by a PPP method will buy an equal amount of goods and services in both the US and Germany. One caution: the proportion of, say, military expenditures as a percent of GNP/GDP in local currency accounts may differ substantially from the proportion when GNP/GDP is expressed in PPP dollar terms, as, for example, when an observer estimates the dollar level of Soviet or Japanese military expenditures. Similarly, dollar figures for exports and imports reflect the price patterns of international markets rather than PPP price patterns.

Growth rate (population): The 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.

Illicit drugs: There are 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 medical channels.

Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) is the common hemp plant, 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 (Erythroxylon coca) is a bush and the leaves contain the stimulant 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.

Marijuana is the dried leaves of the cannabis or hemp plant (Cannabis sativa).

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 w/codeine, Empirin w/codeine, Robitussan A-C), 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 milky exudate of the incised, unripe seedpod of the opium poppy.

Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is the source for many 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.

Stimulants are drugs that relieve mild depression, increase energy and activity, and include cocaine (coke, snow, crack), amphetamines (Desoxyn, Dexedrine), phenmetrazine (Preludin), methylphenidate (Ritalin), and others (Cylert, Sanorex, Tenuate).

Infant mortality rate: The number of deaths to infants under one year of age in a given year per l,000 live births occurring in the same year.

Land use: Human use of the land surface is categorized as arable land—land cultivated for crops that are replanted after each harvest (wheat, maize, rice); permanent crops—land cultivated for crops that are not replanted after each harvest (citrus, coffee, rubber); meadows and pastures—land permanently used for herbaceous forage crops; forest and woodland—land under dense or open stands of trees; and other—any land type not specifically mentioned above (urban areas, roads, desert). The percentage figure for irrigated refers to the portion of the entire amount of land area that is artificially supplied with water.

Leaders: The chief of state is the titular leader of the country who represents the state at official and ceremonial funcions but is not involved with the day-to-day activities of the government. The head of government is the administrative leader who manages the day-to-day activities of the government. 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.

Life expectancy at birth: The average number of years to be lived by a group of people all born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future.

Maritime claims: The proximity of neighboring states may prevent some national claims from being fully extended.

Merchant marine: All ships engaged in the carriage of goods. All commercial vessels (as opposed to all nonmilitary ships), which excludes tugs, fishing vessels, offshore oil rigs, etc. Also, a grouping of merchant ships by nationality or register.

Captive register—A register of ships maintained by a territory, possession, or colony primarily or exclusively for the use of ships owned in the parent country. 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.

Flag of convenience register—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 register 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 ships registered 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.

Flag state—The nation in which a ship is registered and which holds legal jurisdiction over operation of the ship, whether at home or abroad. Differences in flag state maritime legislation determine how a ship is manned and taxed and whether a foreign-owned ship may be placed on the register.

Internal register—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, manning by foreign nationals, 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.

Merchant ship—A vessel that carries goods against payment of freight. Commonly used to denote any nonmilitary ship but accurately restricted to commercial vessels only.

Register—The record of a ship's ownership and nationality as listed with the maritime authorities of a country. Also, 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.

Money figures: All are expressed in contemporaneous US dollars unless otherwise indicated.

Net migration rate: The balance 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 (3.56 migrants/1,000 population); an excess of persons leaving the country as net emigration (-9.26 migrants/1,000 population).

Population: Figures are estimates from the Bureau of the Census based on statistics from population censuses, vital registration systems, or sample surveys pertaining to the recent past, and on assumptions about future trends.

Total fertility rate: 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.

Years: All year references are for the calendar year (CY) unless indicated as fiscal year (FY).

—————————————————————————————————- THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1990 —————————————————————————————————-

Country: Afghanistan - Geography Total area: 647,500 km2; land area: 647,500 km2

Comparative area: slightly smaller than Texas

Land boundaries: 5,826 km total; China 76 km, Iran 936 km, Pakistan 2,430 km, USSR 2,384 km

Coastline: none—landlocked

Maritime claims: none—landlocked

Disputes: Pashtun question with Pakistan; Baloch question with Iran and Pakistan; periodic disputes with Iran over Helmand water rights; insurgency with Iranian and Pakistani involvement; traditional tribal rivalries

Climate: arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers

Terrain: mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest

Natural resources: natural gas, crude oil, coal, copper, talc, barites, sulphur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semiprecious stones

Land use: 12% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 46% meadows and pastures; 3% forest and woodland; 39% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Environment: damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; soil degradation, desertification, overgrazing, deforestation, pollution

Note: landlocked

- People Population: 15,862,293 (July 1990), growth rate 7.7% (1990)

Birth rate: 44 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 18 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 51 migrants/1,000 population (1990); note—there are flows across the border in both directions, but data are fragmentary and unreliable

Infant mortality rate: 154 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 47 years male, 46 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 6.4 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—Afghan(s); adjective—Afghan

Ethnic divisions: 50% Pashtun, 25% Tajik, 9% Uzbek, 12-15% Hazara; minor ethnic groups include Chahar Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, and others

Religion: 74% Sunni Muslim, 15% Shia Muslim, 11% other

Language: 50% Pashtu, 35% Afghan Persian (Dari), 11% Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen), 4% thirty minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai); much bilingualism

Literacy: 12%

Labor force: 4,980,000; 67.8% agriculture and animal husbandry, 10.2% industry, 6.3% construction, 5.0% commerce, 10.7% services and other (1980 est.)

Organized labor: some small government-controlled unions

- Government Long-form name: Republic of Afghanistan

Type: authoritarian

Capital: Kabul

Administrative divisions: 30 provinces (velayat, singular—velayat); Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamian, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghowr, Helmand, Herat, Jowzjan, Kabol, Kandahar, Kapisa, Konar, Kondoz, Laghman, Lowgar, Nangarhar, Nimruz, Oruzgan, Paktia, Paktika, Parvan, Samangan, Sar-e Pol, Takhar, Vardak, Zabol; note—there may be a new province of Nurestan (Nuristan)

Independence: 19 August 1919 (from UK)

Constitution: adopted 30 November 1987

Legal system: has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Anniversary of the Saur Revolution, 27 April (1978)

Executive branch: president, four vice presidents, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly (Meli Shura) consists of an upper house or Senate (Sena) and a lower house or House of Representatives (Wolasi Jirgah)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government—President (Mohammad) NAJIBULLAH (Ahmadzai) (since 30 November 1987); Chairman of the Council of Ministers Executive Committee Soltan Ali KESHTMAND (since 21 February 1989); Prime Minister Fazil Haq KHALIQYAR (since 21 May 1990)

Political parties and leaders: only party—the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) has two factions—the Parchami faction has been in power since December 1979 and members of the deposed Khalqi faction continue to hold some important posts mostly in the military and Ministry of Interior; nonparty figures hold some posts

Suffrage: universal, male ages 15-50

Elections: Senate—last held NA April 1988 (next to be held April 1991); results—PDPA is the only party; seats—(192 total, 115 elected) PDPA 115;

House of Representatives—last held NA April 1988 (next to be held April 1993); results—PDPA is the only party; seats—(234 total) PDPA 184, 50 seats reserved for opposition

Communists: the PDPA claims 200,000 members (1988)

Other political or pressure groups: the military and other branches of internal security have been rebuilt by the USSR; insurgency continues throughout the country; widespread anti-Soviet and antiregime sentiment and opposition on religious and political grounds

Member of: ADB, CCC, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB—Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, ITU, NAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO, WSG; suspended from OIC in January 1980

Diplomatic representation: Minister-Counselor, Charge d'Affaires MIAGOL; Chancery at 2341 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone [phone] or 3771; US—Charge d'Affaires (vacant); Embassy at Ansari Wat, Wazir Akbar Khan Mina, Kabul; telephone 62230 through 62235 or 62436; note—US Embassy in Kabul was closed in January 1989

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green with the national coat of arms superimposed on the hoist side of the black and red bands; similar to the flag of Malawi which is shorter and bears a radiant, rising, red sun centered in the black band

- Economy Overview: Fundamentally, Afghanistan is an extremely poor, landlocked country, highly dependent on farming (wheat especially) and livestock raising (sheep and goats). Economic considerations, however, have played second fiddle to political and military upheavals, including the nine-year Soviet military occupation (ended 15 February 1989) and the continuing bloody civil war. Over the past decade, one-third of the population has fled the country, with Pakistan sheltering some 3 million refugees and Iran perhaps 2 million. Another 1 million have probably moved into and around urban areas within Afghanistan. Large numbers of bridges, buildings, and factories have been destroyed or damaged by military action or sabotage. Government claims to the contrary, gross domestic product almost certainly is lower than 10 years ago because of the loss of labor and capital and the disruption of trade and transport. Official claims indicate that agriculture grew by 0.7% and industry by 3.5% in 1988.

GDP: $3 billion, per capita $200; real growth rate 0% (1989 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): over 50% (1989 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues NA; expenditures $646.7 million, including capital expenditures of $370.2 million (FY87 est.)

Exports: $512 million (f.o.b., FY88); commodities—natural gas 55%, fruits and nuts 24%, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides, and pelts; partners—mostly USSR and Eastern Europe

Imports: $996 million (c.i.f., FY88); commodities—food and petroleum products; partners—mostly USSR and Eastern Europe

External debt: $1.8 billion (December 1989 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 6.2% (FY89 plan)

Electricity: 480,000 kW capacity; 1,470 million kWh produced, 100 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, and cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, oil, coal, copper

Agriculture: largely subsistence farming and nomadic animal husbandry; cash products—wheat, fruits, nuts, karakul pelts, wool, mutton

Illicit drugs: an illicit producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade; world's second largest opium producer (after Burma) and a major source of hashish

Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $265 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $419 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $57 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $4.1 billion

Exchange rates: afghanis (Af) per US$1—50.6 (fixed rate since 1982)

Fiscal year: 21 March-20 March

- Communications Railroads: 9.6 km (single track) 1.524-meter gauge from Kushka (USSR) to Towraghondi and 15.0 km from Termez (USSR) to Kheyrabad transshipment point on south bank of Amu Darya

Highways: 21,000 km total (1984); 2,800 km hard surface, 1,650 km bituminous-treated gravel and improved earth, 16,550 km unimproved earth and tracks

Inland waterways: total navigability 1,200 km; chiefly Amu Darya, which handles steamers up to about 500 metric tons

Pipelines: petroleum, oil, and lubricants pipelines—USSR to Bagram and USSR to Shindand; natural gas, 180 km

Ports: Shir Khan and Kheyrabad (river ports)

Civil air: 2 TU-154, 2 Boeing 727, assorted smaller transports

Airports: 38 total, 34 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 10 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 15 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: limited telephone, telegraph, and radiobroadcast services; television introduced in 1980; 31,200 telephones; stations—5 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 satellite earth station

- Defense Forces Branches: Armed Forces (Army; Air and Air Defense Forces); Border Guard Forces; National Police Force (Sarandoi); Ministry of State Security (WAD); Tribal Militia

Military manpower: males 15-49, 3,880,124; 2,080,725 fit for military service; 168,021 reach military age (22) annually

Defense expenditures: 9.1% of GDP (1984) —————————————————————————— Country: Albania - Geography Total area: 28,750 km2; land area: 27,400 km2

Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland

Land boundaries: 768 km total; Greece 282 km, Yugoslavia 486 km

Coastline: 362 km

Maritime claims:

Continental shelf: not specified;

Territorial sea: 15 nm

Disputes: Kosovo question with Yugoslavia; Northern Epirus question with Greece

Climate: mild temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear, dry summers; interior is cooler and wetter

Terrain: mostly mountains and hills; small plains along coast

Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, timber, nickel

Land use: 21% arable land; 4% permanent crops; 15% meadows and pastures; 38% forest and woodland; 22% other; includes 1% irrigated

Environment: subject to destructive earthquakes; tsunami occur along southwestern coast; deforestation seems to be slowing

Note: strategic location along Strait of Otranto (links Adriatic Sea to Ionian Sea and Mediterranean Sea)

- People Population: 3,273,131 (July 1990), growth rate 1.9% (1990)

Birth rate: 25 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 52 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 78 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 3.0 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—Albanian(s); adjective—Albanian

Ethnic divisions: Albanian 90%, Greeks 8%, other 2% (Vlachs, Gypsies, Serbs, and Bulgarians) (1989 est.)

Religion: Albania claims to be the world's first atheist state; all churches and mosques were closed in 1967 and religious observances prohibited; pre-1967 estimates of religious affiliation—70% Muslim, 20% Albanian Orthodox, 10% Roman Catholic

Language: Albanian (Tosk is official dialect), Greek

Literacy: 75%

Labor force: 1,500,000 (1987); about 60% agriculture, 40% industry and commerce (1986)

Organized labor: Central Council of Albanian Trade Unions, 610,000 members

- Government Long-form name: People's Socialist Republic of Albania

Type: Communist state (Stalinist)

Capital: Tirane

Administrative divisions: 26 districts (rrethe, singular—rreth); Berat, Dibre, Durres, Elbasan, Fier, Gjirokaster, Gramsh, Kolonje, Korce, Kruje, Kukes, Lezhe, Librazhd, Lushnje, Mat, Mirdite, Permet, Pogradec, Puke, Sarande, Shkoder, Skrapar, Tepelene, Tirane, Tropoje, Vlore

Independence: 28 November 1912 (from Turkey); People's Socialist Republic of Albania declared 11 January 1946

Constitution: 27 December 1976

Legal system: judicial review of legislative acts only in the Presidium of the People's Assembly, which is not a true court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Liberation Day, 29 November (1944)

Executive branch: president of the Presidium of the People's Assembly, three vice presidents, Presidium of the People's Assembly; chairman of the Council of Ministers, three deputy chairmen, Council of Ministers

Legislative branch: unicameral People's Assembly (Kuvendi Popullor)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Leaders: Chief of State—President of the Presidium of the People's Assembly Ramiz ALIA (since 22 November 1982);

Head of Government—Chairman of the Council of Ministers Adil CARCANI (since 14 January 1982)

Political parties and leaders: only party—Albanian Workers Party, Ramiz Alia, first secretary

Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18

Elections: President—last held 19 February 1987 (next to be held February 1991); results—President Ramiz Alia was reelected without opposition;

People's Assembly—last held 1 February 1987 (next to be held February 1991); results—Albanian Workers Party is the only party; seats—(250 total) Albanian Workers Party 250

Communists: 147,000 party members (November 1986)

Member of: CCC, CEMA (has not participated since rift with USSR in 1961), FAO, IAEA, IPU, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO

Diplomatic representation: none—the US does not recognize the Albanian Government and has no diplomatic or consular relations with Albania; there is no third-power representation of Albanian interests in the US or of US interests in Albania

Flag: red with a black two-headed eagle in the center below a red five-pointed star outlined in yellow

- Economy Overview: As the poorest country in Europe, Albania's development lags behind even the least favored areas of the Yugoslav economy. The Stalinist-type economy operates on the principles of central planning and state ownership of the means of production. In recent years Albania has implemented limited economic reforms to stimulate its lagging economy, although they do not go nearly so far as current reforms in the USSR and Eastern Europe. Attempts at self-reliance and a policy of not borrowing from international lenders—sometimes overlooked in recent years—have greatly hindered the development of a broad economic infrastructure. Albania, however, possesses considerable mineral resources and is largely self-sufficient in food. Numerical estimates of Albanian economic activity are subject to an especially wide margin of error because the government is isolated and closemouthed.

GNP: $3.8 billion, per capita $1,200; real growth rate NA% (1989 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $2.3 billion; expenditures $2.3 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1989)

Exports: $378 million (f.o.b., 1987 est.); commodities—asphalt, bitumen, petroleum products, metals and metallic ores, electricity, oil, vegetables, fruits, tobacco; partners—Italy, Yugoslavia, FRG, Greece, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary

Imports: $255 million (f.o.b., 1987 est.); commodities—machinery, machine tools, iron and steel products, textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals; partners—Italy, Yugoslavia, FRG, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, GDR

External debt: $NA

Industrial production: growth rate NA

Electricity: 1,630,000 kW capacity; 4,725 million kWh produced, 1,440 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: food processing, textiles and clothing, lumber, oil, cement, chemicals, basic metals, hydropower

Agriculture: arable land per capita among lowest in Europe; one-half of work force engaged in farming; produces wide range of temperate-zone crops and livestock; claims self-sufficiency in grain output

Aid: none

Exchange rates: leke (L) per US$1—8.00 (noncommercial fixed rate since 1986), 4.14 (commercial fixed rate since 1987)

Fiscal year: calendar year

- Communications Railroads: 543 km total; 509 1.435-meter standard gauge, single track and 34 km narrow gauge, single track (1988); line connecting Titograd (Yugoslavia) and Shkoder (Albania) completed August 1986

Highways: 16,700 km total; 6,700 km highway and roads, 10,000 km forest and agricultural

Inland waterways: 43 km plus Albanian sections of Lake Scutari, Lake Ohrid, and Lake Prespa

Pipelines: crude oil, 145 km; refined products, 55 km; natural gas, 64 km (1988)

Ports: Durres, Sarande, Vlore

Merchant marine: 11 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 52,886 GRT/75,993 DWT; includes 11 cargo

Airports: 12 total, 10 usable; more than 5 with permanent-surface runways; more than 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: stations—17 AM, 5 FM, 9 TV; 52,000 TV sets; 210,000 radios

- Defense Forces Branches: Albanian People's Army, Frontier Troops, Interior Troops, Albanian Coastal Defense Command, Air and Air Defense Force

Military manpower: males 15-49, 882,965; 729,635 fit for military service; 33,598 reach military age (19) annually

Defense expenditures: 1.1 billion leks, 11.3% of total budget (FY88); note—conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading results —————————————————————————— Country: Algeria - Geography Total area: 2,381,740 km2; land area: 2,381,740 km2

Comparative area: slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas

Land boundaries: 6,343 km total; Libya 982 km, Mali 1,376 km, Mauritania 463 km, Morocco 1,559 km, Niger 956 km, Tunisia 965 km, Western Sahara 42 km

Coastline: 998 km

Maritime claims:

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: Libya claims about 19,400 km2 in southeastern Algeria

Climate: arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers along coast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau; sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer

Terrain: mostly high plateau and desert; some mountains; narrow, discontinuous coastal plain

Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc

Land use: 3% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 13% meadows and pastures; 2% forest and woodland; 82% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Environment: mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; desertification

Note: second largest country in Africa (after Sudan)

- People Population: 25,566,507 (July 1990), growth rate 2.8% (1990)

Birth rate: 37 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 87 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 61 years male, 64 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 5.4 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—Algerian(s); adjective—Algerian

Ethnic divisions: 99% Arab-Berber, less than 1% European

Religion: 99% Sunni Muslim (state religion); 1% Christian and Jewish

Language: Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects

Literacy: 52%

Labor force: 3,700,000; 40% industry and commerce, 24% agriculture, 17% government, 10% services (1984)

Organized labor: 16-19% of labor force claimed; General Union of Algerian Workers (UGTA) is the only labor organization and is subordinate to the National Liberation Front

- Government Long-form name: Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria

Type: republic

Capital: Algiers

Administrative divisions: 31 provinces (wilayat, singular—wilaya); Adrar, Alger, Annaba, Batna, Bechar, Bejaia, Biskra, Blida, Bouira, Constantine, Djelfa, El Asnam, Guelma, Jijel, Laghouat, Mascara, Medea, Mostaganem, M'sila, Oran, Ouargla, Oum el Bouaghi, Saida, Setif, Sidi Bel Abbes, Skikda, Tamanrasset, Tebessa, Tiaret, Tizi Ouzou, Tlemcen; note—there may now be 48 provinces with El Asnam abolished, and the addition of 18 new provinces named Ain Delfa, Ain Temouchent, Bordjbou, Boumerdes, Chlef, El Bayadh, El Oued, El Tarf, Illizi, Jijel, Khenchela, Mila, Naama, Relizane, Souk Ahras, Tindouf, Tipaza, Tissemsilt

Independence: 5 July 1962 (from France)

Constitution: 19 November 1976, effective 22 November 1976

Legal system: socialist, based on French and Islamic law; judicial review of legislative acts in ad hoc Constitutional Council composed of various public officials, including several Supreme Court justices; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Anniversary of the Revolution, 1 November (1954)

Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Legislative branch: unicameral National People's Assembly (Assemblee Nationale Populaire)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)

Leaders: Chief of State—President Chadli BENDJEDID (since 7 February 1979);

Head of Government—Prime Minister Mouloud HAMROUCHE (since 9 September 1989)

Political parties and leaders: National Liberation Front (FLN), Col. Chadli Bendjedid, chairman; Abdelhamid Mehri, secretary general; the government established a multiparty system in September 1989 and as of 1 February 1990 19 legal parties existed

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections: President—last held on 22 December 1988 (next to be held December 1993); results—President Bendjedid was reelected without opposition;

People's National Assembly—last held on 26 February 1987 (next to be held by February 1992); results—FLN was the only party; seats—(281 total) FLN 281; note—the government has promised to hold multiparty elections (municipal and wilaya) in June 1990, the first in Algerian history

Communists: 400 (est.); Communist party banned 1962

Member of: AfDB, AIOEC, Arab League, ASSIMER, CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB—Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, ILZSG, INTERPOL, IOOC, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OAU, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abderrahmane BENSID; Chancery at 2118 Kalorama Road NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone [phone]; US—Ambassador Christopher W. S. ROSS; Embassy at 4 Chemin Cheich Bachir Brahimi, Algiers (mailing address is B. P. Box 549, Alger-Gare, 16000 Algiers); telephone p213o (2) 601-425 or 255, 186; there is a US Consulate in Oran

Flag: two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and white with a red five-pointed star within a red crescent; the crescent, star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam (the state religion)

- Economy Overview: The exploitation of oil and natural gas products forms the backbone of the economy. Algeria depends on hydrocarbons for nearly all of its export receipts, about 30% of government revenues, and nearly 25% of GDP. In 1973-74 the sharp increase in oil prices led to a booming economy that helped to finance an ambitious program of industrialization. Plunging oil and gas prices, combined with the mismanagement of Algeria's highly centralized economy, have brought the nation to its most serious social and economic crisis since independence. The government has promised far-reaching reforms, including giving public sector companies more autonomy, encouraging private-sector activity, boosting gas and nonhydrocarbon exports, and a major overhaul of the banking and financial systems. In 1988 the government started to implement a new economic policy to dismantle large state farms into privately operated units.

GDP: $54.1 billion, per capita $2,235; real growth rate - 1.8% (1988)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.9% (1988)

Unemployment rate: 19% (1988)

Budget: revenues $17.4 billion; expenditures $22.0 billion, including capital expenditures of $8.0 billion (1988)

Exports: $9.1 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities—petroleum and natural gas 98%; partners—Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Italy, France, US

Imports: $7.8 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities—capital goods 35%, consumer goods 36%, food 20%; partners—France 25%, Italy 8%, FRG 8%, US 6-7%

External debt: $26.2 billion (December 1989)

Industrial production: growth rate 5.4% (1986)

Electricity: 4,333,000 kW capacity; 14,370 million kWh produced, 580 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: petroleum, light industries, natural gas, mining, electrical, petrochemical, food processing

Agriculture: accounts for 8% of GDP and employs 24% of labor force; net importer of food—grain, vegetable oil, and sugar; farm production includes wheat, barley, oats, grapes, olives, citrus, fruits, sheep, and cattle

Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-85), $1.4 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $8.2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $1.8 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $2.7 billion

Exchange rates: Algerian dinars (DA) per US$1—8.0086 (January 1990), 7.6086 (1989), 5.9148 (1988), 4.8497 (1987), 4.7023 (1986), 5.0278 (1985)

Fiscal year: calendar year

- Communications Railroads: 4,146 km total; 2,632 km standard gauge (1.435 m), 1,258 km 1.055-meter gauge, 256 km 1.000-meter gauge; 300 km electrified; 215 km double track

Highways: 80,000 km total; 60,000 km concrete or bituminous, 20,000 km gravel, crushed stone, unimproved earth

Pipelines: crude oil, 6,612 km; refined products, 298 km; natural gas, 2,948 km

Ports: Algiers, Annaba, Arzew, Bejaia, Jijel, Mers el Kebir, Mostaganem, Oran, Skikda

Merchant marine: 75 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 900,957 GRT/1,063,994 DWT; includes 5 passenger, 27 cargo, 2 vehicle carrier, 10 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 5 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 9 liquefied gas, 7 chemical tanker, 9 bulk, 1 specialized liquid cargo

Civil air: 42 major transport aircraft