product (GDP) or value of all final goods and services produced within
a nation in a given year. A nation's GDP at official exchange rates
(OER) is the home-currency-denominated annual GDP figure divided by the
bilateral average US exchange rate with that country in that year. The
measure is simple to compute and gives a precise measure of the value
of output. Many economists prefer this measure when gauging the
economic power an economy maintains vis-à-vis its neighbors, judging
that an exchange rate captures the purchasing power a nation enjoys in
the international marketplace. Official exchange rates, however, can be
artificially fixed and/or subject to manipulation - resulting in claims
of the country having an under- or over-valued currency - and are not
necessarily the equivalent of a market-determined exchange rate.
Moreover, even if the official exchange rate is market-determined,
market exchange rates are frequently established by a relatively small
set of goods and services (the ones the country trades) and may not
capture the value of the larger set of goods the country produces.
Furthermore, OER-converted GDP is not well suited to comparing domestic
GDP over time, since appreciation/depreciation from one year to the
next will make the OER GDP value rise/fall regardless of whether home-
currency-denominated GDP changed.
GDP (purchasing power parity): This entry gives the gross domestic
product (GDP) or value of all final goods and services produced within
a nation in a given year. A nation's GDP at purchasing power parity
(PPP) exchange rates is the sum value of all goods and services
produced in the country valued at prices prevailing in the United
States. This is the measure most economists prefer when looking at per-
capita welfare and when comparing living conditions or use of resources
across countries. The measure is difficult to compute, as a US dollar
value has to be assigned to all goods and services in the country
regardless of whether these goods and services have a direct equivalent
in the United States (for example, the value of an ox-cart or non-US
military equipment); as a result, PPP estimates for some countries are
based on a small and sometimes different set of goods and services. In
addition, many countries do not formally participate in the World
Bank's PPP project that calculates these measures, so the resulting GDP
estimates for these countries may lack precision. For many developing
countries, PPP-based GDP measures are multiples of the official
exchange rate (OER) measure. The difference between the OER- and PPP-
denominated GDP values for most of the wealthy industrialized countries
are generally much smaller.
GDP - composition by sector: This entry gives the percentage
contribution of agriculture, industry, and services to total GDP. The
distribution will total less than 100 percent if the data are
incomplete.
GDP - per capita (PPP): This entry shows GDP on a purchasing power
parity basis divided by population as of 1 July for the same year.
GDP - real growth rate: This entry gives GDP growth on an annual basis
adjusted for inflation and expressed as a percent.
GDP methodology: In the Economy category, GDP dollar estimates for
countries are reported both on an official exchange rate (OER) and a
purchasing power parity (PPP) basis. Both measures contain information
that is useful to the reader. The PPP method involves the use of
standardized international dollar price weights, which are applied to
the quantities of final goods and services produced in a given economy.
The data derived from the PPP method probably provide the best
available starting point for comparisons of economic strength and well-
being between countries. In contrast, the currency exchange rate method
involves a variety of international and domestic financial forces that
may not capture the value of domestic output. Whereas PPP estimates for
OECD countries are quite reliable, PPP estimates for developing
countries are often rough approximations. In developing countries with
weak currencies, the exchange rate estimate of GDP in dollars is
typically one-fourth to one-half the PPP estimate. Most of the GDP
estimates for developing countries are based on extrapolation of PPP
numbers published by the UN International Comparison Program (UNICP)
and by Professors Robert Summers and Alan Heston of the University of
Pennsylvania and their colleagues. GDP derived using the OER method
should be used for the purpose of calculating the share of items such
as exports, imports, military expenditures, external debt, or the
current account balance, because the dollar values presented in the
Factbook for these items have been converted at official exchange
rates, not at PPP. One should use the OER GDP figure to calculate the
proportion of, say, Chinese defense expenditures in GDP, because that
share will be the same as one calculated in local currency units.
Comparison of OER GDP with PPP GDP may also indicate whether a currency
is over- or under-valued. If OER GDP is smaller than PPP GDP, the
official exchange rate may be undervalued, and vice versa. However,
there is no strong historical evidence that market exchange rates move
in the direction implied by the PPP rate, at least not in the short- or
medium-term. Note: the numbers for GDP and other economic data should
not be chained together from successive volumes of the Factbook because
of changes in the US dollar measuring rod, revisions of data by
statistical agencies, use of new or different sources of information,
and changes in national statistical methods and practices.
GNP: Gross national product (GNP) is the value of all final goods and
services produced within a nation in a given year, plus income earned
by its citizens abroad, minus income earned by foreigners from domestic
production. The Factbook, following current practice, uses GDP rather
than GNP to measure national production. However, the user must realize
that in certain countries net remittances from citizens working abroad
may be important to national well-being.
GWP: This entry gives the gross world product (GWP) or aggregate value
of all final goods and services produced worldwide in a given year.
Geographic coordinates: This entry includes rounded latitude and
longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate geographic
center of an entity and is based on the locations provided in the
Geographic Names Server (GNS), maintained by the National Geospatial-
Intelligence Agency on behalf of the US Board on Geographic Names.
Geographic names: This information is presented in Appendix F: Cross-
Reference List of Geographic Names. It includes a listing of various
alternate names, former names, local names, and regional names
referenced to one or more related Factbook entries. Spellings are
normally, but not always, those approved by the US Board on Geographic
Names (BGN). Alternate names and additional information are included in
parentheses.
Geography: This category includes the entries dealing with the natural
environment and the effects of human activity.
Geography - note: This entry includes miscellaneous geographic
information of significance not included elsewhere.
Gini index: See entry for Distribution of family income - Gini index
Government: This category includes the entries dealing with the system
for the adoption and administration of public policy.
Government - note: This entry includes miscellaneous government
information of significance not included elsewhere.
Government type: This entry gives the basic form of government.
Definitions of the major governmental terms are as follows. (Note that
for some countries more than one definition applies.):
Absolute monarchy - a form of government where the monarch rules
unhindered, i.e., without any laws, constitution, or legally organized
opposition.
Anarchy - a condition of lawlessness or political disorder brought
about by the absence of governmental authority.
Authoritarian - a form of government in which state authority is
imposed onto many aspects of citizens' lives.
Commonwealth - a nation, state, or other political entity founded on
law and united by a compact of the people for the common good.
Communist - a system of government in which the state plans and
controls the economy and a single - often authoritarian - party holds
power; state controls are imposed with the elimination of private
ownership of property or capital while claiming to make progress toward
a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the
people (i.e., a classless society).
Confederacy (Confederation) - a union by compact or treaty between
states, provinces, or territories, that creates a central government
with limited powers; the constituent entities retain supreme authority
over all matters except those delegated to the central government.
Constitutional - a government by or operating under an authoritative
document (constitution) that sets forth the system of fundamental laws
and principles that determines the nature, functions, and limits of
that government.
Constitutional democracy - a form of government in which the sovereign
power of the people is spelled out in a governing constitution.
Constitutional monarchy - a system of government in which a monarch is
guided by a constitution whereby his/her rights, duties, and
responsibilities are spelled out in written law or by custom.
Democracy - a form of government in which the supreme power is retained
by the people, but which is usually exercised indirectly through a
system of representation and delegated authority periodically renewed.
Democratic republic - a state in which the supreme power rests in the
body of citizens entitled to vote for officers and representatives
responsible to them.
Dictatorship - a form of government in which a ruler or small clique
wield absolute power (not restricted by a constitution or laws).
Ecclesiastical - a government administrated by a church.
Emirate - similar to a monarchy or sultanate, but a government in which
the supreme power is in the hands of an emir (the ruler of a Muslim
state); the emir may be an absolute overlord or a sovereign with
constitutionally limited authority.
Federal (Federation) - a form of government in which sovereign power is
formally divided - usually by means of a constitution - between a
central authority and a number of constituent regions (states,
colonies, or provinces) so that each region retains some management of
its internal affairs; differs from a confederacy in that the central
government exerts influence directly upon both individuals as well as
upon the regional units.
Federal republic - a state in which the powers of the central
government are restricted and in which the component parts (states,
colonies, or provinces) retain a degree of self-government; ultimate
sovereign power rests with the voters who chose their governmental
representatives.
Islamic republic - a particular form of government adopted by some
Muslim states; although such a state is, in theory, a theocracy, it
remains a republic, but its laws are required to be compatible with the
laws of Islam.
Maoism - the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism developed in China
by Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung), which states that a continuous revolution
is necessary if the leaders of a communist state are to keep in touch
with the people.
Marxism - the political, economic, and social principles espoused by
19th century economist Karl Marx; he viewed the struggle of workers as
a progression of historical forces that would proceed from a class
struggle of the proletariat (workers) exploited by capitalists
(business owners), to a socialist "dictatorship of the proletariat,"
to, finally, a classless society - Communism.
Marxism-Leninism - an expanded form of communism developed by Lenin
from doctrines of Karl Marx; Lenin saw imperialism as the final stage
of capitalism and shifted the focus of workers' struggle from developed
to underdeveloped countries.
Monarchy - a government in which the supreme power is lodged in the
hands of a monarch who reigns over a state or territory, usually for
life and by hereditary right; the monarch may be either a sole absolute
ruler or a sovereign - such as a king, queen, or prince - with
constitutionally limited authority.
Oligarchy - a government in which control is exercised by a small group
of individuals whose authority generally is based on wealth or power.
Parliamentary democracy - a political system in which the legislature
(parliament) selects the government - a prime minister, premier, or
chancellor along with the cabinet ministers - according to party
strength as expressed in elections; by this system, the government
acquires a dual responsibility: to the people as well as to the
parliament.
Parliamentary government (Cabinet-Parliamentary government) - a
government in which members of an executive branch (the cabinet and its
leader - a prime minister, premier, or chancellor) are nominated to
their positions by a legislature or parliament, and are directly
responsible to it; this type of government can be dissolved at will by
the parliament (legislature) by means of a no confidence vote or the
leader of the cabinet may dissolve the parliament if it can no longer
function.
Parliamentary monarchy - a state headed by a monarch who is not
actively involved in policy formation or implementation (i.e., the
exercise of sovereign powers by a monarch in a ceremonial capacity);
true governmental leadership is carried out by a cabinet and its head -
a prime minister, premier, or chancellor - who are drawn from a
legislature (parliament).
Presidential - a system of government where the executive branch exists
separately from a legislature (to which it is generally not
accountable).
Republic - a representative democracy in which the people's elected
deputies (representatives), not the people themselves, vote on
legislation.
Socialism - a government in which the means of planning, producing, and
distributing goods is controlled by a central government that
theoretically seeks a more just and equitable distribution of property
and labor; in actuality, most socialist governments have ended up being
no more than dictatorships over workers by a ruling elite.
Sultanate - similar to a monarchy, but a government in which the
supreme power is in the hands of a sultan (the head of a Muslim state);
the sultan may be an absolute ruler or a sovereign with
constitutionally limited authority.
Theocracy - a form of government in which a Deity is recognized as the
supreme civil ruler, but the Deity's laws are interpreted by
ecclesiastical authorities (bishops, mullahs, etc.); a government
subject to religious authority.
Totalitarian - a government that seeks to subordinate the individual to
the state by controlling not only all political and economic matters,
but also the attitudes, values, and beliefs of its population.
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT): The mean solar time at the Greenwich
Meridian, Greenwich, England, with the hours and days, since 1925,
reckoned from midnight. GMT is now a historical term having been
replaced by UTC on 1 January 1972. See Coordinated Universal Time.
Gross domestic product: see GDP
Gross national product: see GNP
Gross world product: see GWP
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: This entry gives an estimate of the
percentage of adults (aged 15-49) living with HIV/AIDS. The adult
prevalence rate is calculated by dividing the estimated number of
adults living with HIV/AIDS at yearend by the total adult population at
yearend.
HIV/AIDS - deaths: This entry gives an estimate of the number of
adults and children who died of AIDS during a given calendar year.
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: This entry gives an estimate
of all people (adults and children) alive at yearend with HIV
infection, whether or not they have developed symptoms of AIDS.
Heliports: This entry gives the total number of heliports with hard-
surface runways, helipads, or landing areas that support routine
sustained helicopter operations exclusively and have support facilities
including one or more of the following facilities: lighting, fuel,
passenger handling, or maintenance. It includes former airports used
exclusively for helicopter operations but excludes heliports limited to
day operations and natural clearings that could support helicopter
landings and takeoffs.
Household income or consumption by percentage share: Data on household
income or consumption come from household surveys, the results adjusted
for household size. Nations use different standards and procedures in
collecting and adjusting the data. Surveys based on income will
normally show a more unequal distribution than surveys based on
consumption. The quality of surveys is improving with time, yet caution
is still necessary in making inter-country comparisons.
Hydrographic data codes: see Data codes
Illicit drugs: This entry gives information on the five categories of
illicit drugs - narcotics, stimulants, depressants (sedatives),
hallucinogens, and cannabis. These categories include many drugs
legally produced and prescribed by doctors as well as those illegally
produced and sold outside of medical channels.
Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) is the common hemp plant, which provides
hallucinogens with some sedative properties, and includes marijuana
(pot, Acapulco gold, grass, reefer), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC,
Marinol), hashish (hash), and hashish oil (hash oil).
Coca (mostly Erythroxylum coca) is a bush with leaves that contain the
stimulant used to make cocaine. Coca is not to be confused with cocoa,
which comes from cacao seeds and is used in making chocolate, cocoa,
and cocoa butter.
Cocaine is a stimulant derived from the leaves of the coca bush.
Depressants (sedatives) are drugs that reduce tension and anxiety and
include chloral hydrate, barbiturates (Amytal, Nembutal, Seconal,
phenobarbital), benzodiazepines (Librium, Valium), methaqualone
(Quaalude), glutethimide (Doriden), and others (Equanil, Placidyl,
Valmid).
Drugs are any chemical substances that effect a physical, mental,
emotional, or behavioral change in an individual.
Drug abuse is the use of any licit or illicit chemical substance that
results in physical, mental, emotional, or behavioral impairment in an
individual.
Hallucinogens are drugs that affect sensation, thinking, self-
awareness, and emotion. Hallucinogens include LSD (acid, microdot),
mescaline and peyote (mexc, buttons, cactus), amphetamine variants
(PMA, STP, DOB), phencyclidine (PCP, angel dust, hog), phencyclidine
analogues (PCE, PCPy, TCP), and others (psilocybin, psilocyn).
Hashish is the resinous exudate of the cannabis or hemp plant (Cannabis
sativa).
Heroin is a semisynthetic derivative of morphine.
Mandrax is a trade name for methaqualone, a pharmaceutical depressant.
Marijuana is the dried leaf of the cannabis or hemp plant (Cannabis
sativa).
Methaqualone is a pharmaceutical depressant, referred to as mandrax in
Southwest Asia and Africa.
Narcotics are drugs that relieve pain, often induce sleep, and refer to
opium, opium derivatives, and synthetic substitutes. Natural narcotics
include opium (paregoric, parepectolin), morphine (MS-Contin, Roxanol),
codeine (Tylenol with codeine, Empirin with codeine, Robitussin AC),
and thebaine. Semisynthetic narcotics include heroin (horse, smack),
and hydromorphone (Dilaudid). Synthetic narcotics include meperidine or
Pethidine (Demerol, Mepergan), methadone (Dolophine, Methadose), and
others (Darvon, Lomotil).
Opium is the brown, gummy exudate of the incised, unripe seedpod of the
opium poppy.
Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is the source for the natural and
semisynthetic narcotics.
Poppy straw is the entire cut and dried opium poppy-plant material,
other than the seeds. Opium is extracted from poppy straw in commercial
operations that produce the drug for medical use.
Qat (kat, khat) is a stimulant from the buds or leaves of Catha edulis
that is chewed or drunk as tea.
Quaaludes is the North American slang term for methaqualone, a
pharmaceutical depressant.
Stimulants are drugs that relieve mild depression, increase energy and
activity, and include cocaine (coke, snow, crack), amphetamines
(Desoxyn, Dexedrine), ephedrine, ecstasy (clarity, essence, doctor,
Adam), phenmetrazine (Preludin), methylphenidate (Ritalin), and others
(Cylert, Sanorex, Tenuate).
Imports: This entry provides the total US dollar amount of merchandise
imports on a c.i.f. (cost, insurance, and freight) or f.o.b. (free on
board) basis. These figures are calculated on an exchange rate basis,
i.e., not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
Imports - commodities: This entry provides a listing of the highest-
valued imported products; it sometimes includes the percent of total
dollar value.
Imports - partners: This entry provides a rank ordering of trading
partners starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the
percent of total dollar value.
Independence: For most countries, this entry gives the date that
sovereignty was achieved and from which nation, empire, or trusteeship.
For the other countries, the date given may not represent
"independence" in the strict sense, but rather some significant
nationhood event such as the traditional founding date or the date of
unification, federation, confederation, establishment, fundamental
change in the form of government, or state succession. Dependent areas
include the notation "none" followed by the nature of their dependency
status. Also see the Terminology note.
Industrial production growth rate: This entry gives the annual
percentage increase in industrial production (includes manufacturing,
mining, and construction).
Industries: This entry provides a rank ordering of industries starting
with the largest by value of annual output.
Infant mortality rate: This entry gives the number of deaths of
infants under one year old in a given year per 1,000 live births in the
same year; included is the total death rate, and deaths by sex, male
and female. This rate is often used as an indicator of the level of
health in a country.
Inflation rate (consumer prices): This entry furnishes the annual
percent change in consumer prices compared with the previous year's
consumer prices.
International disputes: see Disputes - international
International organization participation: This entry lists in
alphabetical order by abbreviation those international organizations in
which the subject country is a member or participates in some other
way.
International organizations: This information is presented in Appendix
B: International Organizations and Groups which includes the name,
abbreviation, date established, aim, and members by category.
Internet country code: This entry includes the two-letter codes
maintained by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
in the ISO 3166 Alpha-2 list and used by the Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA) to establish country-coded top-level domains (ccTLDs).
Internet hosts: This entry lists the number of Internet hosts
available within a country. An Internet host is a computer connected
directly to the Internet; normally an Internet Service Provider's (ISP)
computer is a host. Internet users may use either a hard-wired
terminal, at an institution with a mainframe computer connected
directly to the Internet, or may connect remotely by way of a modem via
telephone line, cable, or satellite to the Internet Service Provider's
host computer. The number of hosts is one indicator of the extent of
Internet connectivity.