coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west
and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool
along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; summers are warm across
the greater part of the country, hot in the south
Terrain:
most of Ukraine consists of fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus,
mountains being found only in the west (the Carpathians), and in the
Crimean Peninsula in the extreme south
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Hora Hoverla 2,061 m
Natural resources:
iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite,
titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land
Land use:
arable land: 53.8%
permanent crops: 1.5%
other: 44.7% (2005)
Irrigated land:
22,080 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
139.5 cu km (1997)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 37.53 cu km/yr (12%/35%/52%)
per capita: 807 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
NA
Environment - current issues:
inadequate supplies of potable water; air and water pollution;
deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986
accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic
Compounds
Geography - note:
strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia;
second-largest country in Europe
People
Ukraine
Population:
45,994,288 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 13.9% (male 3,277,905/female 3,106,012)
15-64 years: 70% (male 15,443,818/female 16,767,931)
65 years and over: 16.1% (male 2,489,235/female 4,909,386) (2008
est.)
Median age:
total: 39.4 years
male: 36.1 years
female: 42.5 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
-0.651% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
9.55 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate:
15.93 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
-0.12 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.51 male(s)/female
total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 9.23 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 11.48 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 6.85 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 68.06 years
male: 62.24 years
female: 74.24 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.25 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
1.4% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
360,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
20,000 (2003 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Ukrainian(s)
adjective: Ukrainian
Ethnic groups:
Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%,
Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%,
Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001 census)
Religions:
Ukrainian Orthodox - Kyiv Patriarchate 50.4%, Ukrainian Orthodox -
Moscow Patriarchate 26.1%, Ukrainian Greek Catholic 8%, Ukrainian
Autocephalous Orthodox 7.2%, Roman Catholic 2.2%, Protestant 2.2%,
Jewish 0.6%, other 3.2% (2006 est.)
Languages:
Ukrainian (official) 67%, Russian 24%, other 9% (includes small
Romanian-, Polish-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.4%
male: 99.7%
female: 99.2% (2001 census)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 14 years
male: 14 years
female: 15 years (2006)
Education expenditures:
6.3% of GDP (2006)
Government
Ukraine
Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Ukraine
local long form: none
local short form: Ukrayina
former: Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian
Soviet Socialist Republic
Government type:
republic
Capital:
name: Kyiv (Kiev)
geographic coordinates: 50 26 N, 30 31 E
time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last
Sunday in October
Administrative divisions:
24 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic*
(avtonomna respublika), and 2 municipalities (mista, singular -
misto) with oblast status**; Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Crimea
or Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol'), Dnipropetrovs'k,
Donets'k, Ivano-Frankivs'k, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmel'nyts'kyy,
Kirovohrad, Kyiv**, Kyiv, Luhans'k, L'viv, Mykolayiv, Odesa,
Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol'**, Sumy, Ternopil', Vinnytsya, Volyn'
(Luts'k), Zakarpattya (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhya, Zhytomyr
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their
administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center
name following in parentheses)
Independence:
24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 24 August (1991); note - 22 January 1918, the day
Ukraine first declared its independence (from Soviet Russia) and the
day the short-lived Western and Central Ukrainian republics united
(1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day
Constitution:
adopted 28 June 1996
Legal system:
based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has
not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Viktor A. YUSHCHENKO (since 23 January
2005)
head of government: Prime Minister Yuliya TYMOSHENKO (since 18
December 2007); First Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr TURCHYNOV
(since 18 December 2007); Deputy Prime Ministers Hryhoriy NEMYRYA
and Ivan VASYUNYK (since 18 December 2007)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers selected by the prime minister; the
only exceptions are the foreign and defense ministers, who are
chosen by the president
note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC
originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council; the
NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on
domestic and international matters and advising the president; a
Presidential Secretariat helps draft presidential edicts and
provides policy support to the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term
(eligible for a second term); note - a special repeat runoff
presidential election between Viktor YUSHCHENKO and Viktor
YANUKOVYCH took place on 26 December 2004 after the earlier 21
November 2004 contest - won by YANUKOVYCH - was invalidated by the
Ukrainian Supreme Court because of widespread and significant
violations; under constitutional reforms that went into effect 1
January 2006, the majority in parliament takes the lead in naming
the prime minister
election results: Viktor YUSHCHENKO elected president; percent of
vote - Viktor YUSHCHENKO 52%, Viktor YANUKOVYCH 44.2%
Legislative branch:
unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; members
allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain 3% or
more of the national electoral vote; to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 30 September 2007 (next to be held in 2012)
election results: percent of vote by party/bloc - Party of Regions
34.4%, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 30.7%, Our Ukraine-People's Self
Defense 14.2%, CPU 5.4%, Lytvyn bloc 4%, other parties 11.3%; seats
by party/bloc - Party of Regions 175, Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc 156,
Our Ukraine-People's Self Defense 72, CPU 27, Lytvyn bloc 20
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court; Constitutional Court
Political parties and leaders:
Christian Democratic Union [Volodymyr STRETOVYCH]; Communist Party
of Ukraine or CPU [Petro SYMONENKO]; European Party of Ukraine
[Mykola KATERYNCHUK]; Fatherland Party (Batkivshchyna) [Yuliya
TYMOSHENKO]; Forward Ukraine! [Viktor MUSIYAKA]; Labor Party of
Ukraine [Mykola SYROTA]; People's Union Our Ukraine [Vyacheslav
KYRYLENKO]; Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs [Anatoliy
KINAKH]; Party of the Defenders of the Fatherland [Yuriy Karmazin];
People's Movement of Ukraine (Rukh) [Borys TARASYUK]; People's Party
[Volodymyr LYTVYN]; PORA! (It's Time!) party [Vladyslav KASKIV];
Progressive Socialist Party [Natalya VITRENKO]; Reforms and Order
Party [Viktor PYNZENYK]; Party of Regions [Viktor YANUKOVYCH];
Republican Party [Yuriy BOYKO]; Sobor [Anatoliy MATVIYENKO]; Social
Democratic Party [Yevhen KORNICHUK]; Social Democratic Party
(United) or SDPU(o) [Yuriy ZAHORODNIY]; Socialist Party of Ukraine
or SPU [Oleksandr MOROZ]; Ukrainian People's Party [Yuriy KOSTENKO];
Viche [Inna BOHOSLOVSKA]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Committee of Voters of Ukraine [Ihor POPOV]; Peoples' Self-Defense
[Yuriy LUTSENKO]
International organization participation:
Australia Group, BSEC, CBSS (observer), CE, CEI, CIS, EAEC
(observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt
(signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA,
MONUC, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW,
OSCE, PCA, PFP, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL,
UNMIS, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Oleh V. SHAMSHUR
chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007
telephone: [1] (202) 333-0606
FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817
consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York, San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador William B. TAYLOR Jr.
embassy: 10 Yurii Kotsiubynsky Street, 01901 Kyiv
mailing address: 5850 Kiev Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850
telephone: [380] (44) 490-4000
FAX: [380] (44) 490-4085
Flag description:
two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow
represent grain fields under a blue sky
Economy
Ukraine
Economy - overview:
After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the most
important economic component of the former Soviet Union, producing
about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its
fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet
agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities
of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise,
its diversified heavy industry supplied the unique equipment (for
example, large diameter pipes) and raw materials to industrial and
mining sites (vertical drilling apparatus) in other regions of the
former USSR. Shortly after independence was ratified in December
1991, the Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a
legal framework for privatization, but widespread resistance to
reform within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform
efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to
less than 40% of the 1991 level. Ukraine's dependence on Russia for
energy supplies and the lack of significant structural reform have
made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. Ukraine
depends on imports to meet about three-fourths of its annual oil and
natural gas requirements. A dispute with Russia over pricing in late
2005 and early 2006 led to a temporary gas cut-off; Ukraine
concluded a deal with Russia in January 2006 that almost doubled the
price Ukraine pays for Russian gas. Outside institutions -
particularly the IMF - have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace
and scope of reforms. Ukrainian Government officials eliminated most
tax and customs privileges in a March 2005 budget law, bringing more
economic activity out of Ukraine's large shadow economy, but more
improvements are needed, including fighting corruption, developing
capital markets, and improving the legislative framework. Ukraine's
economy remains buoyant despite political turmoil between the Prime
Minister and President. Real GDP growth reached about 7% in 2006-07,
fueled by high global prices for steel - Ukraine's top export - and
by strong domestic consumption, spurred by rising pensions and
wages. Although the economy is likely to expand in 2008, long-term
growth could be threatened by the government's plans to reinstate
tax, trade, and customs privileges and to maintain restrictive grain
export quotas.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$324.8 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$140.5 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
7.7% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$7,000 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 9%
industry: 32.2%
services: 58.8% (2007 est.)
Labor force:
21.58 million (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 25%
industry: 20%
services: 55% (1996)
Unemployment rate:
2.3% officially registered; large number of unregistered or
underemployed workers; the International Labor Organization
calculates that Ukraine's real unemployment level is nearly 7% (2007
est.)
Population below poverty line:
37.7% (2003)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.4%
highest 10%: 25.7% (2006)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
31 (2006)
Investment (gross fixed):
27.4% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $43.54 billion
expenditures: $45.06 billion; note - this is the planned,
consolidated budget (2007 est.)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Public debt:
11.7% of GDP (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
12.8% (2007 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
8% (31 December 2007)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
13.9% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:
$35.97 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money:
$41.51 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit:
$87.13 billion (31 December 2007)
Agriculture - products:
grain, sugar beets, sunflower seeds, vegetables; beef, milk
Industries:
coal, electric power, ferrous and nonferrous metals, machinery and
transport equipment, chemicals, food processing (especially sugar)
Industrial production growth rate:
6% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production:
182.4 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
148.1 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - exports:
12.52 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - imports:
2.082 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 48.6%
hydro: 7.9%
nuclear: 43.5%
other: 0% (2001)
Oil - production:
102,400 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption:
344,000 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - exports:
190,500 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - imports:
441,200 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - proved reserves:
395 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)
Natural gas - production:
19.5 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
84.9 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
4 billion cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
65.4 billion cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
1.104 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Current account balance:
-$5.918 billion (2007 est.)
Exports:
$49.84 billion (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities:
ferrous and nonferrous metals, fuel and petroleum products,
chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, food products
Exports - partners:
Russia 23.3%, Turkey 7.9%, Italy 5.8% (2007)
Imports:
$60.41 billion (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities:
energy, machinery and equipment, chemicals
Imports - partners:
Russia 23.9%, Germany 11.8%, China 8.5%, Poland 8.1%, Turkmenistan
5.4% (2007)
Economic aid - recipient:
$409.6 million (1995); IMF Extended Funds Facility $2.2 billion
(2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$32.48 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$69.04 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$31.08 billion (2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$895 million (2007 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$42.87 billion (2006)
Currency (code):
hryvnia (UAH)
Currency code:
UAH
Exchange rates:
hryvnia (UAH) per US dollar - 5.05 (2007), 5.05 (2006), 5.1247
(2005), 5.3192 (2004), 5.3327 (2003)
Communications
Ukraine
Telephones - main lines in use:
12.858 million (2007)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
55.24 million (2007)
Telephone system:
general assessment: Ukraine's telecommunication development plan
emphasizes improving domestic trunk lines, international
connections, and the mobile-cellular system
domestic: at independence in December 1991, Ukraine inherited a
telephone system that was antiquated, inefficient, and in disrepair;
more than 3.5 million applications for telephones could not be
satisfied; telephone density is rising and the domestic trunk system
is being improved; about one-third of Ukraine's networks are digital
and a majority of regional centers now have digital switching
stations; improvements in local networks and local exchanges
continue to lag; the mobile-cellular telephone system is expanding
rapidly
international: country code - 380; 2 new domestic trunk lines are a
part of the fiber-optic Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) system and 3
Ukrainian links have been installed in the fiber-optic
Trans-European Lines (TEL) project that connects 18 countries;
additional international service is provided by the
Italy-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia (ITUR) fiber-optic submarine cable and
by an unknown number of earth stations in the Intelsat, Inmarsat,
and Intersputnik satellite systems
Radio broadcast stations:
524 (station types NA) (2006)
Radios:
45.05 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
647 (2006)
Televisions:
18.05 million (1997)
Internet country code:
.ua
Internet hosts:
524,202 (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
260 (2001)
Internet users:
10 million (2007)
Transportation
Ukraine
Airports:
437 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 193
over 3,047 m: 13
2,438 to 3,047 m: 53
1,524 to 2,437 m: 27
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 95 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 244
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 11
914 to 1,523 m: 13
under 914 m: 217 (2007)
Heliports:
10 (2007)
Pipelines:
gas 33,721 km; oil 4,514 km; refined products 4,211 km (2007)
Railways:
total: 22,473 km
broad gauge: 22,473 km 1.524-m gauge (9,250 km electrified) (2006)
Roadways:
total: 169,422 km
paved: 165,611 km (includes 15 km of expressways)
unpaved: 3,811 km (2007)
Waterways:
2,253 km (most on Dnieper River) (2006)
Merchant marine:
total: 189
by type: bulk carrier 6, cargo 141, chemical tanker 1, container 3,
passenger 6, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 9, refrigerated
cargo 11, roll on/roll off 7, specialized tanker 2
foreign-owned: 2 (Luxembourg 1, Russia 1)
registered in other countries: 204 (Belize 7, Cambodia 34, Comoros
8, Cyprus 4, Dominica 4, Georgia 18, Liberia 25, Lithuania 1, Malta
30, Moldova 5, Mongolia 1, Panama 10, Russia 11, Saint Kitts and
Nevis 9, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 11, Sierra Leone 10,
Slovakia 12, Tuvalu 1, unknown 3) (2008)
Ports and terminals:
Feodosiya, Kerch, Kherson, Mariupol', Mykolayiv, Odesa, Yuzhnyy
Military
Ukraine
Military branches:
Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Air Forces (Viyskovo-Povitryani Syly),
Air Defense Forces (2002)
Military service age and obligation:
18-25 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service;
conscript service obligation - 18 months for Army and Air Force, 24
months for Navy (2004)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 11,457,562
females age 16-49: 11,767,357 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 7,141,814
females age 16-49: 9,428,876 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 288,605
female: 276,324 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures:
1.4% of GDP (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues
Ukraine
Disputes - international:
1997 boundary delimitation treaty with Belarus remains un-ratified
due to unresolved financial claims, stalling demarcation and
reducing border security; delimitation of land boundary with Russia
is complete with preparations for demarcation underway; the dispute
over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch
Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a December 2003
framework agreement and ongoing expert-level discussions; Moldova
and Ukraine operate joint customs posts to monitor transit of people
and commodities through Moldova's break-away Transnistria Region,
which remains under OSCE supervision; the ICJ gave Ukraine until
December 2006 to reply, and Romania until June 2007 to rejoin, in
their dispute submitted in 2004 over Ukrainian-administered
Zmiyinyy/Serpilor (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary;
Romania opposes Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the
Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea
Illicit drugs:
limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS
consumption; some synthetic drug production for export to the West;
limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point
for opiates and other illicit drugs from Africa, Latin America, and
Turkey to Europe and Russia; Ukraine has improved
anti-money-laundering controls, resulting in its removal from the
Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) Noncooperative Countries and
Territories List in February 2004; Ukraine's anti-money-laundering
regime continues to be monitored by FATF
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
======================================================================
@United Arab Emirates
Introduction
United Arab Emirates
Background:
The Trucial States of the Persian Gulf coast granted the UK control
of their defense and foreign affairs in 19th century treaties. In
1971, six of these states - Abu Zaby, 'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash
Shariqah, Dubayy, and Umm al Qaywayn - merged to form the United
Arab Emirates (UAE). They were joined in 1972 by Ra's al Khaymah.
The UAE's per capita GDP is on par with those of leading West
European nations. Its generosity with oil revenues and its moderate
foreign policy stance have allowed the UAE to play a vital role in
the affairs of the region.
Geography
United Arab Emirates
Location:
Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf,
between Oman and Saudi Arabia
Geographic coordinates:
24 00 N, 54 00 E
Map references:
Middle East
Area:
total: 83,600 sq km
land: 83,600 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Maine
Land boundaries:
total: 867 km
border countries: Oman 410 km, Saudi Arabia 457 km
Coastline:
1,318 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Climate:
desert; cooler in eastern mountains
Terrain:
flat, barren coastal plain merging into rolling sand dunes of vast
desert wasteland; mountains in east
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m
highest point: Jabal Yibir 1,527 m
Natural resources:
petroleum, natural gas
Land use:
arable land: 0.77%
permanent crops: 2.27%
other: 96.96% (2005)
Irrigated land:
760 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
0.2 cu km (1997)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 2.3 cu km/yr (23%/9%/68%)
per capita: 511 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
frequent sand and dust storms
Environment - current issues:
lack of natural freshwater resources compensated by desalination
plants; desertification; beach pollution from oil spills
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes,
Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note: