_#_Climate: tropical marine; little seasonal temperature variation
_#_Terrain: mostly low-lying limestone and coral islands with some
higher volcanic areas
_#_Natural resources: negligible; pleasant climate fosters
tourism
_#_Land use: arable land 18%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and
pastures 7%; forest and woodland 16%; other 59%
_#_Environment: subject to hurricanes and tropical storms (July to
October); insufficient freshwater resources; deeply indented coastline
provides many natural harbors
_#_Note: 420 km east-southeast of Puerto Rico
_*_People
_#_Population: 63,917 (July 1991), growth rate 0.4% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 18 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: - 9 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 22 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 70 years male, 74 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 1.7 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Antiguan(s); adjective--Antiguan
_#_Ethnic divisions: almost entirely of black African origin; some of
British, Portuguese, Lebanese, and Syrian origin
_#_Religion: Anglican (predominant), other Protestant sects, some
Roman Catholic
_#_Language: English (official), local dialects
_#_Literacy: 89% (male 90%, female 88%) age 15 and over having
completed 5 or more years of schooling (1960)
_#_Labor force: 30,000; commerce and services 82%, agriculture 11%,
industry 7% (1983)
_#_Organized labor: Antigua and Barbuda Public Service Association
(ABPSA), membership 500; Antigua Trades and Labor Union (ATLU), 10,000
members; Antigua Workers Union (AWU), 10,000 members (1986 est.)
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: none
_#_Type: parliamentary democracy
_#_Capital: Saint John's
_#_Administrative divisions: 6 parishes and 2 dependencies*; Barbuda*,
Redonda*, Saint George, Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Paul, Saint Peter,
Saint Philip
_#_Independence: 1 November 1981 (from UK)
_#_Constitution: 1 November 1981
_#_Legal system: based on English common law
_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 1 November (1981)
_#_Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime
minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet
_#_Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house
or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives
_#_Judicial branch: Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952),
represented by Governor General Sir Wilfred Ebenezer JACOBS (since 1
November 1981, previously Governor since 1976);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Vere Cornwall BIRD, Sr. (since
NA 1976)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
Antigua Labor Party (ALP), Vere C. BIRD, Sr., Lester BIRD;
United National Democratic Party (UNDP), Dr. Ivor HEATH
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
House of Representatives--last held 9 March 1989 (next to be
held 1994);
results--percentage of vote by party NA;
seats--(17 total) ALP 15, UNDP 1, independent 1
_#_Communists: negligible
_#_Other political or pressure groups: Antigua Caribbean Liberation
Movement (ACLM), a small leftist nationalist group led by Leonard (Tim)
HECTOR; Antigua Trades and Labor Union (ATLU), headed by Noel THOMAS
_#_Member of: ACP, C, CARICOM, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD,
ICAO, ICFTU, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, NAM
(observer), OAS, OECS, OPANAL, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, WCL, WHO, WMO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Edmund Hawkins LAKE;
Chancery at Suite 2H, 3400 International Drive NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 362-5211 or 5166, 5122, 5225; there is an Antiguan
Consulate in Miami;
US--the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Antigua and
Barbuda, and in his absence, the Embassy is headed by Charge d'Affaires
Bryant SALTER; Embassy at Queen Elizabeth Highway, Saint John's
(mailing address is FPO Miami 34054); telephone (809) 462-3505 or 3506
_#_Flag: red with an inverted isosceles triangle based on the top edge
of the flag; the triangle contains three horizontal bands of black (top),
light blue, and white with a yellow rising sun in the black band
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: The economy is primarily service oriented, with tourism
the most important determinant of economic performance. During the period
1983-89, real GDP expanded at an annual average rate of about 7%.
Tourism's contribution to GDP, as measured by value added tax in hotels
and restaurants, rose from about 14% in 1983 to 16% in 1989, and
stimulated growth in other sectors--particularly in construction,
communications, and public utilities. Antigua and Barbuda is one of the
few areas in the Caribbean experiencing a labor shortage in some sectors
of the economy.
_#_GDP: $350 million, per capita $5,470 (1989); real growth rate 3.0%
(1991 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 est.);
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: $358.2 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
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 9% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 52,000 kW capacity; 95 million kWh produced, 1,490 kWh
per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: tourism, construction, light manufacturing (clothing,
alcohol, household appliances)
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 4% of GDP; expanding output of cotton,
fruits, vegetables, and livestock sector; 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 (1970-88), $45
million
_#_Currency: East Caribbean dollar (plural--dollars); 1 EC dollar
(EC$) = 100 cents
_#_Exchange rates: East Caribbean dollars (EC$) per US$1--2.70 (fixed
rate since 1976)
_#_Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
_*_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: 86 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 319,477
GRT/497,194 DWT; includes 61 cargo, 5 refrigerated cargo, 6 container,
4 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 multifunction large load carrier, 3
petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 6 chemical tanker; note--a
flag of convenience registry
_#_Civil air: 10 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;
stations--4 AM, 2 FM, 2 TV, 2 shortwave; 1 coaxial submarine cable;
1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Royal Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force, Royal Antigua
and Barbuda Police Force (includes the Coast Guard)
_#_Manpower availability: NA
_#_Defense expenditures: $1.4 million, less than 1% of GDP (FY91)
_%_
_@_Arctic Ocean
_*_Geography
_#_Total 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
_#_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 which 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 (USSR) 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 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 the USSR; shortest marine link between the extremes of
eastern and western USSR; floating research stations operated by the US
and USSR
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of
natural resources, including crude oil, natural gas, fishing, and
sealing.
_*_Communications
_#_Ports: Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (USSR), 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 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;
Territorial sea: 200 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)
_*_People
_#_Population: 32,663,983 (July 1991), growth rate 1.1% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 20 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 31 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 74 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 2.7 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Argentine(s); adjective--Argentine
_#_Ethnic divisions: white 85%; mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite
groups 15%
_#_Religion: nominally Roman Catholic 90% (less than 20% practicing),
Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 6%
_#_Language: 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
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Argentine Republic
_#_Type: republic
_#_Capital: Buenos Aires (tentative plans to move to Viedma by
1990 indefinitely postponed)
_#_Administrative divisions: 22 provinces (provincias,
singular--provincia), 1 national territory* (territorio nacional), 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,
Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur*, 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 Eduardo DUHALDE (since 8 July
1989)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
Justicialist Party (JP), Carlos Saul MENEM, Peronist umbrella political
organization;
Radical Civic Union (UCR), Raul ALFONSIN, moderately left of center;
Union of the Democratic Center (UCD), Alvaro ALSOGARAY, conservative
party;
Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar ALENDE, leftist party;
several provincial parties
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
President--last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held May 1995);
results--Carlos Saul MENEM was elected;
Chamber of Deputies--last held 14 May 1989 (next to be
held October 1991); results--JP 47%, UCR 30%, UCD 7%, other 16%;
seats--(254 total); JP 122, UCR 93, UCD 11, other 28
_#_Communists: some 70,000 members in various party organizations,
including a small nucleus of activists
_#_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-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, NAM, OAS, PCA, RG, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador 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 Miami 34034);
telephone [54] (1) 774-7611 or 8811, 9911
_#_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
_*_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 in 1988-90. A widening public-sector deficit and a
multidigit inflation rate have dominated the economy over the past
three years; retail prices rose nearly 5,000% in 1989 and another
1,345% in 1990. Since 1978, Argentina's external debt has nearly doubled
to $60 billion, creating severe debt-servicing difficulties and hurting
the country's creditworthiness with international lenders.
_#_GNP: $82.7 billion, per capita $2,560; real growth rate - 3.5%
(1990 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1,350% (1990)
_#_Unemployment rate: 8.6% (May 1990)
_#_Budget: revenues $12.2 billion; expenditures $17.3 billion,
including capital expenditures of $2.8 billion (1989)
_#_Exports: $12.4 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, hides, wool;
partners--US 12%, USSR, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Netherlands
_#_Imports: $4.1 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
commodities--machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, fuels and
lubricants, agricultural products;
partners--US 22%, Brazil, FRG, Bolivia, Japan, Italy, Netherlands
_#_External debt: $60 billion (December 1990)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 5% (1991 est.); accounts for
30% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 16,749,000 kW capacity; 45,580 million kWh produced,
1,410 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_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; 1987 fish catch estimated at 500,000 tons
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $1.0
billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $4.0 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $718 million
_#_Currency: austral (plural--australes); 1 austral (2) = 100
centavos
_#_Exchange rates: australes (2) per US$1--9,900 (April 1991),
4,707 (1990), 423 (1989), 8.7526 (1988), 2.1443 (1987), 0.9430 (1986),
0.6018 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications
_#_Railroads: 34,172 km total (includes 169 km electrified); includes
a mixture of 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1.676-meter broad gauge,
1.000-meter gauge, and 0.750-meter 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: 4,090 km crude oil; 2,900 km refined products; 9,918 km
natural gas
_#_Ports: Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Necochea, Rio Gallegos, Rosario,
Santa Fe
_#_Merchant marine: 129 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,663,884
GRT/2,689,645 DWT; includes 42 cargo, 7 refrigerated cargo, 6 container,
1 railcar carrier, 47 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker,
4 chemical tanker, 4 liquefied gas, 18 bulk; additionally, 2 naval
tankers and 1 military transport are sometimes used commercially
_#_Civil air: 54 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 1,763 total, 1,575 usable; 135 with permanent-surface
runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 31 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 336
with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: extensive modern system; 2,650,000 telephones
(12,000 public telephones); radio relay widely used; stations--171 AM,
no FM, 231 TV, 13 shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations;
domestic satellite network has 40 stations
_*_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, 7,992,140; 6,478,730 fit for
military service; 285,047 reach military age (20) annually
_#_Defense expenditures: $700 million, 1% of GNP (1990)
_%_
_@_Aruba
(part of the Dutch realm)
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 193 km2; land area: 193 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly larger than Washington, DC
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 68.5 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm;