_#_Climate: equatorial; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun
_#_Terrain: low-lying, nearly level, sandy, coral island surrounded by
a narrow fringing reef; depressed central area
_#_Natural resources: guano (deposits worked until late 1800s)
_#_Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
0%; forest and woodland 5%; other 95%
_#_Environment: almost totally covered with grasses, prostrate vines,
and low-growing shrubs; small area of trees in the center; lacks fresh
water; primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds,
shorebirds, and marine wildlife; feral cats
_#_Note: remote location 2,575 km southwest of Honolulu in the North
Pacific Ocean, just north of the Equator, about halfway between Hawaii
and Australia
_*_People
_#_Population: uninhabited
_#_Note: American civilians evacuated in 1942 after Japanese air and
naval attacks during World War II; occupied by US military during World
War II, but abandoned after the war; public entry is by special-use
permit only and generally restricted to scientists and educators
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: none
_#_Type: unincorporated territory of the US administered by the Fish
and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the
National Wildlife Refuge System
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: no economic activity
_*_Communications
_#_Airports: airstrip constructed in 1937 for scheduled refueling
stop on the round-the-world flight of Amelia Earhart and Fred
Noonan--they left Lae, New Guinea, for Howland Island, but were never
seen again; the airstrip is no longer serviceable
_#_Ports: none; offshore anchorage only, one boat landing area along
the middle of the west coast
_#_Note: Earhart Light is a day beacon near the middle of the west
coast that was partially destroyed during World War II, but has since
been rebuilt in memory of famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Note: defense is the responsibility of the US; visited annually
by the US Coast Guard
_%_
_@_Hungary
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 93,030 km2; land area: 92,340 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than Indiana
_#_Land boundaries: 2,251 km total; Austria 366 km, Czechoslovakia 676
km, Romania 443 km, USSR 135 km, Yugoslavia 631 km
_#_Coastline: none--landlocked
_#_Maritime claims: none--landlocked
_#_Disputes: Nagymaros Dam dispute with Czechoslovakia
_#_Climate: temperate; cold, cloudy, humid winters; warm summers
_#_Terrain: mostly flat to rolling plains
_#_Natural resources: bauxite, coal, natural gas, fertile soils
_#_Land use: arable land 54%; permanent crops 3%; meadows and pastures
14%; forest and woodland 18%; other 11%; includes irrigated 2%
_#_Environment: levees are common along many streams, but flooding
occurs almost every year
_#_Note: landlocked; strategic location astride main land routes
between Western Europe and Balkan Peninsula as well as between USSR and
Mediterranean basin
_*_People
_#_Population: 10,558,001 (July 1991), growth rate - 0.1% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 12 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 13 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 14 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 76 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Hungarian(s); adjective--Hungarian
_#_Ethnic divisions: Hungarian 96.6%, German 1.6%, Slovak 1.1%,
Southern Slav 0.3%, Romanian 0.2%
_#_Religion: Roman Catholic 67.5%, Calvinist 20.0%, Lutheran 5.0%,
atheist and other 7.5%
_#_Language: Hungarian 98.2%, other 1.8%
_#_Literacy: 99% (male 99%, female 98%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1980)
_#_Labor force: 4,860,000; services, trade, government, and other
43.2%, industry 30.9%, agriculture 18.8%, construction 7.1% (1988)
_#_Organized labor: 96.5% of labor force; Central Council of Hungarian
Trade Unions (SZOT) includes 19 affiliated unions, all controlled by the
government; independent unions legal; may be as many as 12 small
independent unions in operation
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Republic of Hungary
_#_Type: republic
_#_Capital: Budapest
_#_Administrative divisions: 19 counties (megyek, singular--megye)
and 1 capital city* (fovaros); Bacs-Kiskun, Baranya, Bekes,
Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen, Budapest*, Csongrad, Fejer,
Gyor-Moson-Sopron, Hajdu-Bihar, Heves, Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok,
Komarom-Esztergom, Nograd, Pest, Somogy, Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg,
Tolna, Vas, Veszprem, Zala
_#_Independence: 1001, unification by King Stephen I
_#_Constitution: 18 August 1949, effective 20 August 1949, revised
19 April 1972; 18 October 1989 revision ensures legal rights for
individuals and constitutional checks on the authority of the prime
minister and established the principle of parliamentary oversight
_#_Legal system: in process of revision, moving toward rule of law
based on Western model
_#_National holiday: October 23 (1956); commemorates the Hungarian
uprising
_#_Executive branch: president, prime minister
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly
(Orszaggyules)
_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court, may be restructured as part of
ongoing government overhaul
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--President Arpad GONCZ (since 3 August 1990;
previously interim President from 2 May 1990);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Jozsef ANTALL
(since 23 May 1990)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Forum, Jozsef ANTALL, chairman;
Free Democrats, Janos KIS, chairman;
Independent Smallholders, Ferenc Jozsef NAGY, president;
Hungarian Socialist Party (MSP), Gyula HORN, chairman;
Young Democrats, Gabor FODOR, head;
Christian Democrats, Dr. Lazlo SURJAN, president;
note--the Hungarian Socialist (Communist) Workers' Party (MSZMP)
renounced Communism and became the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSP) in
October 1989
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
President last held 3 August 1990 (next to be held August 1995);
elected by the National Assembly with a total of 294 votes out of 304;
President GONCZ was elected by the National Assembly as interim President
from 2 May 1990 until elected President;
National Assembly--last held on 25 March 1990 (first round, with
the second round held 8 April 1990);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(394 total) Democratic Forum 165, Free Democrats 92,
Independent Smallholders 43, Hungarian Socialist Party (MSP) 33,
Young Democrats 21, Christian Democrats 21, independent candidates
or jointly sponsored candidates 19
_#_Communists: fewer than 100,000 (December 1989)
_#_Member of: BIS, CCC, CE, CSCE, ECE, FAO, G-9, GATT,
IAEA, IBEC, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFC, IIB, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO,
ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UPU, WFTU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador (vacant);
Chancery at 3910 Shoemaker Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone
(202) 362-6730; there is a Hungarian Consulate General in New York;
US--Ambassador Charles THOMAS; Embassy at V. Szabadsag
Ter 12, Budapest (mailing address is APO New York 09213); telephone [36]
(1) 112-6450
_#_Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and green
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Agriculture is an important sector, providing sizable
export earnings and meeting domestic food needs. Industry accounts for
about 40% of GNP and 30% of employment. About 40% of Hungary's foreign
trade is with the USSR and Eastern Europe and a third is with the EC.
Low rates of growth reflect the inability of the Soviet-style economy to
modernize capital plant and motivate workers. GNP declined by 1% in 1989
and by an estimated 6% in 1990. Since 1985 external debt has more than
doubled, to over $20 billion. In recent years Hungary has experimented
widely with decentralized and market-oriented enterprises. The newly
democratic government has renounced the Soviet economic growth model and
plans to open the economy to wider market forces and to much closer
economic relations with Western Europe. Prime Minister Antall has
declared his intention to move foward on privatization of state
enterprises, provision for bankruptcy, land reform, and marketization of
international trade, but concerns over acceptable levels of unemployment
and inflation may slow the reform process.
_#_GNP: $60.9 billion, per capita $5,800; real growth rate - 5.7%
(1990 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 30% (1990 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 1.7% (1990)
_#_Budget: revenues $18.2 billion; expenditures $18.3 billion,
including capital expenditures of $805 million (1989)
_#_Exports: $10.2 billion (f.o.b. 1989);
commodities--capital goods 33%, foods 25%, consumer goods 16%,
fuels 1.5%, other 24.5%;
partners USSR and Eastern Europe 42%, developed countries 37.4%,
less developed countries 20.6% (1989)
_#_Imports: $10.1 billion (c.i.f., 1989);
commodities--capital goods 15%, fuels 20%, manufactured
consumer goods 12.4%, agriculture 5%, other 47.6%;
partners--USSR and Eastern Europe 34.9%, developed countries 45.5%,
less developed countries 16.6%, US 3%
_#_External debt: $20.7 billion (1989)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate - 7.9% (1990 est.)
_#_Electricity: 7,800,000 kW capacity; 30,400 million kWh produced,
2,870 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: mining, metallurgy, engineering industries, processed
foods, textiles, chemicals (especially pharmaceuticals)
_#_Agriculture: including forestry, accounts for about 15% of GNP
and 19% of employment; highly diversified crop-livestock farming;
principal crops--wheat, corn, sunflowers, potatoes, sugar beets;
livestock--hogs, cattle, poultry, dairy products; self-sufficient in
food output
_#_Economic aid: donor--$2.0 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist
less developed countries (1962-89)
_#_Currency: forint (plural--forints); 1 forint (Ft) = 100 filler
_#_Exchange rates: forints (Ft) per US$1--60.95 (December 1990), 63.21
(1990), 59.07 (1989), 50.41 (1988), 46.97 (1987), 45.83 (1986), 50.12
(1985)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications
_#_Railroads: 7,765 km total; 7,508 km 1.435-meter standard gauge,
222 km narrow gauge (mostly 0.760-meter), 35 km 1.520-meter broad gauge;
1,147 km double track, 2,161 km electrified; all government owned (1988)
_#_Highways: 130,014 km total; 29,715 km national highway
system--26,834 km asphalt and bitumen, 142 km concrete, 51 km stone and
road brick, 2,276 km macadam, 412 km unpaved; 58,495 km country roads
(66% unpaved), and 41,804 km (est.) other roads (70% unpaved) (1988)
_#_Inland waterways: 1,622 km (1988)
_#_Pipelines: crude oil, 1,204 km; refined products, 630 km;
natural gas, 3,895 km (1986)
_#_Ports: Budapest and Dunaujvaros are river ports on the Danube;
maritime outlets are Rostock (Germany), Gdansk (Poland), Gdynia (Poland),
Szczecin (Poland), Galati (Romania), and Braila (Romania)
_#_Merchant marine: 16 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) and 1 bulk
totaling 94,393 GRT/131,946 DWT
_#_Civil air: 28 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 90 total, 90 usable; 20 with permanent-surface runways;
2 with runways over 3,659 m; 10 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 15 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: telephone density is at 17 per 100 inhabitants;
49% of all phones are in Budapest; 12-15 year wait for a phone; 16,000
telex lines (June 1990); stations--13 AM, 12 FM, 21 TV (8 Soviet
TV relays); 4.2 TVs (1990)
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Ground Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Frontier
Guard, Civil Defense
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 2,667,234; 2,130,749 fit for
military service; 88,851 reach military age (18) annually
_#_Defense expenditures: 43.7 billion forints, NA% of GDP (1989);
note--conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the
official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading
results
_%_
_@_Iceland
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 103,000 km2; land area: 100,250 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than Kentucky
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 4,988 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;