The economy is primarily service oriented, with tourism the most important
determinant of economic performance. During the period 1987-90, real GDP
expanded at an annual average rate of about 6%. Tourism makes a direct
contribution to GDP of about 13% and also affects growth in other sectors -
particularly in construction, communications, and public utilities. Although
Antigua and Barbuda is one of the few areas in the Caribbean experiencing a
labor shortage in some sectors of the economy, it was hurt in 1991 by a
downturn in tourism caused by the Persian Gulf war and the US recession.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $418 million, per capita $6,500 (1989); real
growth rate 4.2% (1990 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
7% (1990 est.)
Unemployment rate:
5.0% (1988 est.)
Budget:
revenues $92.8 million; expenditures $101 million, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1990 est.)
Exports:
$33.2 million (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities:
petroleum products 48%, manufactures 23%, food and live animals 4%,
machinery and transport equipment 17%
partners:
OECS 26%, Barbados 15%, Guyana 4%, Trinidad and Tobago 2%, US 0.3%
Imports:
$325.9 million (c.i.f., 1990)
commodities:
food and live animals, machinery and transport equipment, manufactures,
chemicals, oil
partners:
US 27%, UK 16%, Canada 4%, OECS 3%, other 50%
External debt:
$250 million (1990 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 3% (1989 est.); accounts for 3% of GDP
Electricity:
52,100 kW capacity; 95 million kWh produced, 1,482 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
tourism, construction, light manufacturing (clothing, alcohol, household
appliances)
Agriculture:
accounts for 4% of GDP; expanding output of cotton, fruits, vegetables, and
livestock; other crops - bananas, coconuts, cucumbers, mangoes, sugarcane;
not self-sufficient in food
Economic aid:
US commitments, $10 million (1985-88); Western (non-US) countries, ODA and
OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $50 million
Currency:
East Caribbean dollar (plural - dollars); 1 EC dollar (EC$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates:
East Caribbean dollars (EC$) per US$1 - 2.70 (fixed rate since 1976)
Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March
:Antigua and Barbuda Communications
Railroads:
64 km 0.760-meter narrow gauge and 13 km 0.610-meter gauge used almost
exclusively for handling sugarcane
Highways:
240 km
Ports:
Saint John's
Merchant marine:
105 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 364,891 GRT/552,475 DWT; includes 71
cargo, 3 refrigerated cargo, 12 container, 3 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1
multifunction large load carrier, 1 oil tanker, 12 chemical tanker, 2 bulk;
note - a flag of convenience registry
Civil air:
11 major transport aircraft
Airports:
3 total, 3 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways
2,440-3,659 m; 2 with runways less than 1,220 m
Telecommunications:
good automatic telephone system; 6,700 telephones; tropospheric scatter
links with Saba and Guadeloupe; broadcast stations - 4 AM, 2 FM, 2 TV, 2
shortwave; 1 coaxial submarine cable; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth
station
:Antigua and Barbuda Defense Forces
Branches:
Royal Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force, Royal Antigua and Barbuda Police
Force (including the Coast Guard)
Manpower availability:
NA
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $1.4 million, 1% of GDP (FY91)
:Arctic Ocean Geography
Total area:
14,056,000 km2
Land area:
14,056,000 km2; includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea,
East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea,
Laptev Sea, and other tributary water bodies
Comparative area:
slightly more than 1.5 times the size of the US; smallest of the world's
four oceans (after Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean)
Coastline:
45,389 km
Disputes:
some maritime disputes (see littoral states)
Climate:
persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters
characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions,
and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and
foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow
Terrain:
central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that averages
about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times
that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly
straight line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark
Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the ice pack is surrounded by open
seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and
extends to the encircling land masses; the ocean floor is about 50%
continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a
central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera,
Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonsov Ridge); maximum depth is 4,665 meters in the
Fram Basin
Natural resources:
sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and
gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals, whales)
Environment:
endangered marine species include walruses and whales; ice islands
occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from
glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; maximum snow
cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean and
lasts about 10 months; permafrost in islands; virtually icelocked from
October to June; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from
disruptions or damage
Note:
major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific
Ocean via the Bering Strait); ships subject to superstructure icing from
October to May; strategic location between North America and Russia;
shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia,
floating research stations operated by the US and Russia
:Arctic Ocean Economy
Overview:
Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources,
including crude oil, natural gas, fish, and seals.
:Arctic Ocean Communications
Ports:
Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US)
Telecommunications:
no submarine cables
Note:
sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage
(North America) and Northern Sea Route (Asia) are important seasonal
waterways
:Argentina Geography
Total area:
2,766,890 km2
Land area:
2,736,690 km2
Comparative area:
slightly more than four times the size of Texas
Land boundaries:
9,665 km total; Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay
1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km
Coastline:
4,989 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf:
200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone:
nm limits unknown
Territorial sea:
12 nm (overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm)
Disputes:
short section of the boundary with Uruguay is in dispute; short section of
the boundary with Chile is indefinite; claims British-administered Falkland
Islands (Islas Malvinas); claims British- administered South Georgia and the
South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica
Climate:
mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest
Terrain:
rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of
Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border
Natural resources:
fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese,
crude oil, uranium
Land use:
arable land 9%; permanent crops 4%; meadows and pastures 52%; forest and
woodland 22%; other 13%; includes irrigated 1%
Environment:
Tucuman and Mendoza areas in Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are
violent windstorms that can strike Pampas and northeast; irrigated soil
degradation; desertification; air and water pollution in Buenos Aires
Note:
second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location
relative to sea lanes between South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans
(Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage)
:Argentina People
Population:
32,901,234 (July 1992), growth rate 1.1% (1992)
Birth rate:
20 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
9 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
34 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
67 years male, 74 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
2.8 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Argentine(s); adjective - Argentine
Ethnic divisions:
white 85%; mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups 15%
Religions:
nominally Roman Catholic 90% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%,
Jewish 2%, other 6%
Languages:
Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French
Literacy:
95% (male 96%, female 95%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
10,900,000; agriculture 12%, industry 31%, services 57% (1985 est.)
Organized labor:
3,000,000; 28% of labor force
:Argentina Government
Long-form name:
Argentine Republic
Type:
republic
Capital:
Buenos Aires
Administrative divisions:
23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia), and 1 district**
(distrito); Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba, Corrientes,
Distrito Federal**, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza,
Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa
Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego, Tucuman; note - the national
territory is in the process of becoming a province; the US does not
recognize claims to Antarctica
Independence:
9 July 1816 (from Spain)
Constitution:
1 May 1853
Legal system:
mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
Revolution Day, 25 May (1810)
Executive branch:
president, vice president, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber
or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camara de
Diputados)
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government:
President Carlos Saul MENEM (since 8 July 1989); Vice President (position
vacant)
Political parties and leaders:
Justicialist Party (JP), Carlos Saul MENEM, Peronist umbrella political
organization; Radical Civic Union (UCR), Mario LOSADA, moderately left of
center; Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), Jorge AGUADO, conservative
party; Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar ALENDE, leftist party; several
provincial parties
Suffrage:
universal at age 18
Elections:
Chamber of Deputies:
last held in three phases during late 1991 for half of 254 seats, total
current breakdown of seats - JP 122, UCR 85, UCD 10, other 37
President:
last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held NA May 1995); results - Carlos Saul
MENEM was elected
Senate:
last held May 1989, but provincial elections in late 1991 set the stage for
indirect elections by provincial senators for one-third of 46 seats in the
national senate in May 1992; total current breakdown of seats - JP 27, UCR
14, others 5
Communists:
some 70,000 members in various party organizations, including a small
nucleus of activists
:Argentina Government
Other political or pressure groups:
Peronist-dominated labor movement, General Confederation of Labor
(Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization), Argentine Industrial Union
(manufacturers' association), Argentine Rural Society (large landowners'
association), business organizations, students, the Roman Catholic Church,
the Armed Forces
Member of:
AfDB, AG (observer), CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-6, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77,
GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO,
INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, LORCS,
MERCOSUR, OAS, PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIIMOG,
UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador Carlos ORTIZ DE ROZAS; Chancery at 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20009; telephone (202) 939-6400 through 6403; there are
Argentine Consulates General in Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San
Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Consulates in Baltimore, Chicago,
and Los Angeles
US:
Ambassador Terence A. TODMAN; Embassy at 4300 Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires
(mailing address is APO AA 34034); telephone [54] (1) 774- 7611 or 8811,
9911; Telex 18156 AMEMBAR
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of light blue (top), white, and light blue;
centered in the white band is a radiant yellow sun with a human face known
as the Sun of May
:Argentina Economy
Overview:
Argentina is rich in natural resources and has a highly literate population,
an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base.
Nevertheless, following decades of mismanagement and statist policies, the
economy has encountered major problems in recent years, leading to
escalating inflation and a recession during 1988-90. Since 1978, Argentina's
external debt has nearly doubled to $58 billion, creating severe debt
servicing difficulties and hurting the country's creditworthiness with
international lenders. Elected in 1989, President Menem has implemented a
comprehensive economic restructuring program that shows signs of reversing
Argentina's economic decline and putting it on a path of stable, sustainable
growth.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $101.2 billion, per capita $3,100; real growth
rate 5.5% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
83.8% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
6.4% (October 1991)
Budget:
revenues $13.6 billion; expenditures $16.6 billion, including capital
expenditures of $2.5 billion (1991)
Exports:
$12 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, hides, wool
partners:
US 12%, USSR, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Netherlands
Imports:
$8 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, fuels and lubricants,
agricultural products
partners:
US 22%, Brazil, FRG, Bolivia, Japan, Italy, Netherlands
External debt:
$61 billion (January 1992)
Industrial production:
growth rate 20% (1991 est.); accounts for 30% of GDP
Electricity:
17,059,000 kW capacity; 47,357 million kWh produced, 1,450 kWh per capita
(1991)
Industries:
food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and
petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel
Agriculture:
accounts for 15% of GNP (including fishing); produces abundant food for both
domestic consumption and exports; among world's top five exporters of grain
and beef; principal crops - wheat, corn, sorghum, soybeans, sugar beets
Illicit drugs:
increasing use as a transshipment country for cocaine headed for the US and
Europe
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.0 billion; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $4.4 billion;
Communist countries (1970-89), $718 million
Currency:
peso (plural - pesos); 1 pesos = 100 centavos
:Argentina Economy
Exchange rates:
pesos per US$1 - 0.99076 (Feburary 1992), 0.95355 (1991), 0.48759 (1990),
0.04233 (1989), 0.00088 (1988), 0.00021 (1987)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
:Argentina Communications
Railroads:
34,172 km total (includes 209 km electrified); includes a mixture of
1.435-meter standard gauge, 1.676-meter broad gauge, 1.000-meter narrow
gauge, and 0.750-meter narrow gauge
Highways:
208,350 km total; 47,550 km paved, 39,500 km gravel, 101,000 km improved
earth, 20,300 km unimproved earth
Inland waterways:
11,000 km navigable
Pipelines:
crude oil 4,090 km; petroleum products 2,900 km; natural gas 9,918 km
Ports:
Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Necochea, Rio Gallegos, Rosario, Santa Fe
Merchant marine:
98 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,235,385 GRT/1,952,307 DWT; includes
35 cargo, 6 refrigerated cargo, 6 container, 1 railcar carrier, 33 oil
tanker, 4 chemical tanker, 3 liquefied gas, 10 bulk; in addition, 2 naval
tankers and 1 military transport are sometimes used commercially
Civil air:
56 major transport aircraft
Airports:
1,702 total, 1,473 usable; 137 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with
runways over 3,659 m; 31 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 326 with runways
1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
extensive modern system; 2,650,000 telephones (12,000 public telephones);
microwave widely used; broadcast stations - 171 AM, no FM, 231 TV, 13
shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations; domestic satellite
network has 40 earth stations
:Argentina Defense Forces
Branches:
Argentine Army, Navy of the Argentine Republic, Argentine Air Force,
National Gendarmerie, Argentine Naval Prefecture (Coast Guard only),
National Aeronautical Police Force
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, 8,101,856; 6,568,885 fit for military service; 276,457 reach
military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $700 million, 1.5% of GDP (1991)
:Armenia Geography
Total area:
29,800 km2
Land area:
28,400 km2
Comparative area:
slightly larger than Maryland
Land boundaries:
1,254 km total; Azerbaijan (east) 566 km, Azerbaijan (south) 221 km, Georgia
164 km, Iran 35 km, Turkey 268 km
Coastline:
none - landlocked
Maritime claims:
none - landlocked
Disputes:
violent and longstanding dispute with Azerbaijan over ethnically Armenian
exclave of Nagorno-Karabakh; some irredentism by Armenians living in
southern Georgia; traditional demands on former Armenian lands in Turkey
have greatly subsided
Climate:
continental, hot, and subject to drought
Terrain:
high Armenian Plateau with mountain; little forest land; fast flowing
rivers; good soil in Aras River valley
Natural resources:
small deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, alumina
Land use:
10% arable land; NA% permanent crops; NA% meadows and pastures; NA% forest
and woodland; NA% other; NA% irrigated
Environment:
pollution of Razdan and Aras Rivers; air pollution in Yerevan
:Armenia People
Population:
3,415,566 (July 1992), growth rate 0.8% (1992)
Birth rate:
22 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
7 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
--7 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
35 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
68 years male, 74 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
2.7 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Armenian(s); adjective - Armenian
Ethnic divisions:
Armenian 93.3%, Russian 1.5%, Kurd 1.7%, other 3.5%
Religions:
Armenian Orthodox 94%
Languages:
Armenian 93%, Russian 2%, other 5%
Literacy:
NA% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (NA)
Labor force:
1,630,000; industry and construction 42%, agriculture and forestry 18%,
other 40%(1990)
Organized labor:
NA
:Armenia Government
Long-form name:
Republic of Armenia
Type:
republic
Capital:
Yerevan
Administrative divisions:
none - all rayons are under direct republic jurisdiction
Independence:
Armenian Republic formed 29 November 1920 and became part of the Soviet
Union on 30 December 1922; on 23 September 1991, Armenia renamed itself the
Republic of Armenia
Constitution:
adopted NA April 1978, effective NA
Legal system:
based on civil law system
National holiday:
NA
Executive branch:
President, Council of Ministers, prime minister
Legislative branch:
unicameral body - Supreme Soviet
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State:
President Levon Akopovich TER-PETROSYAN (since 16 October 1991), Vice
President Gagik ARUTYUNYAN (since 16 October 1991)
Head of Government:
Prime Minister Gagik ARUTYUNYAN (since November 1991), First Deputy Prime
Minister Grant BAGRATYAN (since NA September 1990); Supreme Soviet Chairman
- Babken ARARKTSYAN
Political parties and leaders:
Armenian National Movement, Husik LAZARYAN, chairman; National
Self-Determination Association, Pakvyr HAYRIKIAN, chairman; National
Democratic Union, Vazgen MANUKYAN, chairman; Democratic Liberal Party,
Ramkavar AZATAKAN, chairman; Dashnatktsutyan Party, Rouben MIRZAKHANIN;
Chairman of Parliamentary opposition - Mekhak GABRIYELYAN
Suffrage:
universal at age 18
Elections:
President:
last held 16 October 1990 (next to be held NA); results - elected by the
Supreme Soviet, Levon Akopovich TER-PETROSYAN 86%; radical nationalists
about 7%
Supreme Soviet:
last held 20 May 1990 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote by
party NA; seats - (259 total); number of seats by party NA
Other political or pressure groups:
NA
Member of:
CSCE, NACC, UN, UNCTAD
Diplomatic representation:
Charge d'Affaires ad interim, Aleksandr ARZOUMANIAN
US:
Ambassador (vacant); Steven R. MANN, Charge d'Affaires; Embassy at Hotel
Hrazdan (telephone 8-011-7-8852-53-53-32); (mailing address is APO AE
09862); telephone 8-011-7-885-215-1122 (voice and FAX); 8-011-7-885-215-1144
(voice)
:Armenia Government
Flag:
NA
:Armenia Economy
Overview:
Armenia under the old centrally planned Soviet system had built up textile,
machine-building, and other industries and had become a key supplier to
sister republics. In turn, Armenia had depended on supplies of raw materials
and energy from the other republics. Most of these supplies enter the
republic by rail through Azerbaijan (85%) and Georgia (15%). The economy has
been severely hurt by ethnic strife with Azerbaijan over control of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, a mostly Armenian-populated enclave
within the national boundaries of Azerbaijan. In addition to outright
warfare, the strife has included interdiction of Armenian imports on the
Azerbaijani railroads and expensive airlifts of supplies to beleagured
Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. An earthquake in December 1988 destroyed
about one-tenth of industrial capacity and housing, the repair of which has
not been possible because the supply of funds and real resources has been
disrupted by the reorganization and subsequent dismantling of the central
USSR administrative apparatus. Among facilities made unserviceable by the
earthquake are the Yerevan nuclear power plant, which had supplied 40% of
Armenia's needs for electric power and a plant that produced one-quarter of
the output of elevators in the former USSR. Armenia has some deposits of
nonferrous metal ores (bauxite, copper, zinc, and molybdenum) that are
largely unexploited. For the mid-term, Armenia's economic prospects seem
particularly bleak because of ethnic strife and the unusually high
dependence on outside areas, themselves in a chaotic state of
transformation.
GDP:
$NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate --10% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
91%
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
$176 million (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities:
machinery and transport equipment, ferrous and nonferrous metals, and
chemicals (1991)
partners:
NA
Imports:
$1.5 billion (c.i.f., 1990)
commodities:
machinery, energy, consumer goods (1991)
partners:
NA
External debt:
$650 million (December 1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate --9.6% (1991)
Electricity:
NA kW capacity; 10,433 million kWh produced, about 3,000 kWh per capita
(1990)
Industries:
diverse, including (in percent of output of former USSR) metalcutting
machine tools (6.7%), forging-pressing machines (4.7%), electric motors
(8.7%), tires (2.1%), knitted wear (5.6%), hosiery (2.3%), shoes (2.2%),
silk fabric (5.3%), washing machines (2.0%); also chemicals, trucks,
watches, instruments, and microelectronics
:Armenia Economy
Agriculture:
only 10% of land area is arable; employs 18% of labor force; citrus, cotton,
and dairy farming; vineyards near Yerevan are famous for brandy and other
liqueurs
Illicit drugs:
illicit producer of cannabis mostly for domestic consumption; used as a
transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe
Economic aid:
NA
Currency:
as of May 1992, retaining ruble as currency
Exchange rates:
NA
Fiscal year:
calendar year
:Armenia Communications