_#_Disputes: Iraqi forces invaded and occupied Kuwait from
2 August 1990 until 27 February 1991; in April 1991 official Iraqi
acceptance of UN Security Council Resolution 687, which demands that Iraq
accept its internationally recognized border with Kuwait, ended earlier
claims to Bubiyan and Warbah Islands or to all of Kuwait; ownership
of Qaruh and Umm al Maradim Islands disputed by Saudi Arabia
_#_Climate: dry desert; intensely hot summers; short, cool winters
_#_Terrain: flat to slightly undulating desert plain
_#_Natural resources: petroleum, fish, shrimp, natural gas
_#_Land use: arable land NEGL%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and
pastures 8%; forest and woodland NEGL%; other 92%; includes irrigated
NEGL%
_#_Environment: some of world's largest and most sophisticated
desalination facilities provide most of water; air and water pollution;
desertification
_#_Note: strategic location at head of Persian Gulf
_*_People
_#_Population: 2,204,400 (July 1991), growth rate 3.6% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 29 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 2 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 10 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 15 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 76 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 3.7 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Kuwaiti(s); adjective--Kuwaiti
_#_Ethnic divisions: Kuwaiti 27.9%, other Arab 39%, South Asian 9%,
Iranian 4%, other 20.1%
_#_Religion:
Muslim 85% (Shia 30%, Sunni 45%, other 10%), Christian, Hindu, Parsi,
and other 15%
_#_Language: Arabic (official); English widely spoken
_#_Literacy: 74% (male 78%, female 69%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1985)
_#_Labor force: 566,000 (1986); services 45.0%, construction 20.0%,
trade 12.0%, manufacturing 8.6%, finance and real estate 2.6%,
agriculture 1.9%, power and water 1.7%, mining and quarrying 1.4%; 70% of
labor force was non-Kuwaiti
_#_Organized labor: labor unions exist in oil industry and among
government personnel
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: State of Kuwait
_#_Type: nominal constitutional monarchy
_#_Capital: Kuwait
_#_Administrative divisions: 4 governorates (muhafazat,
singular--muhafazah); Al Ahmadi, Al Jahrah, Al Kuwayt,
Hawalli; note--there may be a new governorate of Farwaniyyah
_#_Independence: 19 June 1961 (from UK)
_#_Constitution: 16 November 1962 (some provisions suspended since 29
August 1962)
_#_Legal system: civil law system with Islamic law significant in
personal matters; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
_#_National holiday: National Day, 25 February
_#_Executive branch: amir, prime minister, deputy prime minister,
Council of Ministers (cabinet)
_#_Legislative branch: National Assembly (Majlis al Umma) dissolved
3 July 1986
_#_Judicial branch: High Court of Appeal
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--Amir Shaykh Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-SABAH
(since 31 December 1977);
Head of Government--Prime Minister and Crown Prince Sad
al-Abdallah al-Salim al-SABAH (since 8 February 1978); Deputy
Prime Minister Salim al-Sabah al-Salim al-SABAH
_#_Political parties and leaders: none
_#_Suffrage: adult males who resided in Kuwait before 1920 and their
male descendants at age 21; note--out of all citizens, only 8.3% are
eligible to vote and only 3.5% actually vote
_#_Elections:
National Assembly--dissolved 3 July 1986; new elections are
scheduled for October 1992
_#_Communists: insignificant
_#_Other political or pressure groups: large (150,000) Palestinian
community; several small, clandestine leftist and Shia fundamentalist
groups are active; prodemocracy opposition
_#_Member of: ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, BDEAC, CAEU, ESCWA, FAO,
G-77, GATT, GCC, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU,
LORCS, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU,
WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Shaykh Saud Nasir al-SABAH;
Chancery at 2940 Tilden Street NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 966-0702;
US--Ambassador Edward (Skip) GNEHM; Embassy at Bneid al-Gar
(opposite the Hilton Hotel), Kuwait City (mailing address is P. O. Box 77
Safat, 13001 Safat, Kuwait City); telephone [965] 242-4151 through 4159
_#_Flag: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and
red with a black trapezoid based on the hoist side
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Up to the invasion by Iraq in August 1990, the oil
sector had dominated the economy. Kuwait has the third-largest
oil reserves in the world after Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Earnings from
hydrocarbons generated over 90% of both export and government revenues
and contributed about 40% to GDP. Most of the nonoil sector has
traditionally been dependent upon oil-derived government revenues.
Iraq's destruction of Kuwait's oil industry during the Gulf war
has devastated the economy. Iraq destroyed or damaged more than 80%
of Kuwait's 950 operating oil wells, as well as sabotaging key surface
facilities. Western firefighters had brought about 140 of the 600
oil well fires and blowouts under control as of early June 1991.
It could take two to three years to restore Kuwait's oil production to
its prewar level of about 2.0 million barrels per day.
_#_GDP: $19.8 billion, per capita $9,700; real growth rate 3.5%
(1989)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.3% (1989)
_#_Unemployment rate: 0% (1989)
_#_Budget: revenues $7.1 billion; expenditures $10.5 billion,
including capital expenditures of $3.1 billion (FY88)
_#_Exports: $11.5 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--oil 90%;
partners--Japan, Italy, FRG, US
_#_Imports: $6.3 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--food, construction materials, vehicles and parts,
clothing;
partners--Japan, US, FRG, UK
_#_External debt: $7.2 billion (December 1989 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 3% (1988); accounts for
52% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 8,290,000 kW capacity; 10,000 million kWh produced,
5,000 kWh per capita (1989)
_#_Industries: petroleum, petrochemicals, desalination, food
processing, salt, construction
_#_Agriculture: virtually none; dependent on imports for food; about
75% of potable water must be distilled or imported
_#_Economic aid: donor--pledged $18.3 billion in bilateral aid to less
developed countries (1979-89)
_#_Currency: Kuwaiti dinar (plural--dinars);
1 Kuwaiti dinar (KD) = 1,000 fils
_#_Exchange rates: Kuwaiti dinars (KD) per US$1--0.2915 (January
1990), 0.2937 (1989), 0.2790 (1988), 0.2786 (1987), 0.2919 (1986), 0.3007
(1985)
_#_Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
_*_Communications
_#_Highways: 3,000 km total; 2,500 km bituminous; 500 km earth, sand,
light gravel
_#_Pipelines: crude oil, 877 km; refined products, 40 km; natural gas,
165 km
_#_Ports: Ash Shuaybah, Ash Shuwaykh, Mina al Ahmadi
_#_Merchant marine: 31 ships (1,000 GRT or over), totaling 1,332,159
GRT/2,099,303 DWT; includes 1 cargo, 4 livestock carrier,
20 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 5 liquefied gas, 1 bulk;
note--all Kuwaiti ships greater than 1,000 GRT were outside Kuwaiti
waters at the time of the Iraqi invasion; many of these ships transferred
to the Liberian flag or to the flags of other Persian Gulf states;
Kuwaiti tankers are currently managed from London and Kuwaiti cargo and
container ships are managed from Dubai
_#_Civil air: 19 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 7 total, 4 usable; 4 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
none with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: excellent international, adequate domestic
facilities; 258,000 telephones; stations--3 AM, 2 FM, 3 TV; satellite
earth stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, and 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT; 1
INMARSAT, 1 ARABSAT; coaxial cable and radio relay to Iraq and Saudi
Arabia
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Police Force, National
Guard
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 738,812; 441,611 fit for
military service; 19,452 reach military age (18) annually
_#_Defense expenditures: $1.1 billion, 4.8% of GDP (1990)
_%_
_@_Laos
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 236,800 km2; land area: 230,800 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly larger than Utah
_#_Land boundaries: 5,083 km total; Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541 km,
China 423 km, Thailand 1,754 km, Vietnam 2,130 km
_#_Coastline: none--landlocked
_#_Maritime claims: none--landlocked
_#_Disputes: boundary dispute with Thailand
_#_Climate: tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry
season (December to April)
_#_Terrain: mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus
_#_Natural resources: timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold,
gemstones
_#_Land use: arable land 4%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 3%; forest and woodland 58%; other 35%; includes irrigated 1%
_#_Environment: deforestation; soil erosion; subject to floods
_#_Note: landlocked
_*_People
_#_Population: 4,113,223 (July 1991), growth rate 2.2% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 37 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 15 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 124 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 49 years male, 52 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 5.0 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Lao (sing., Lao or Laotian); adjective--Lao
or Laotian
_#_Ethnic divisions: Lao 50%, Phoutheung (Kha) 15%, tribal Thai 20%,
Meo, Hmong, Yao, and other 15%
_#_Religion: Buddhist 85%, animist and other 15%
_#_Language: Lao (official), French, and English
_#_Literacy: 84% (male 92%, female 76%) age 15 to 45 can
read and write (1985 est.)
_#_Labor force: 1-1.5 million; 85-90% in agriculture (est.)
_#_Organized labor: Lao Federation of Trade Unions is subordinate to
the Communist party
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Lao People's Democratic Republic
_#_Type: Communist state
_#_Capital: Vientiane
_#_Administrative divisions: 16 provinces (khoueng, singular and
plural) and 1 municipality* (kampheng nakhon, singular and plural);
Attapu, Bokeo, Bolikhamsai, Champasak, Houaphan, Khammouan, Louang
Namtha, Louangphrabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Saravan, Savannakhet,
Sekong, Vientiane, Vientiane*, Xaignabouri, Xiangkhoang
_#_Independence: 19 July 1949 (from France)
_#_Constitution: draft constitution under discussion since 1976
_#_Legal system: based on civil law system; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
_#_National holiday: National Day (proclamation of the Lao People's
Democratic Republic), 2 December (1975)
_#_Executive branch: president, chairman and four vice chairmen of the
Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
_#_Legislative branch: Supreme People's Assembly
_#_Judicial branch: People's Supreme Court
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--President KAYSONE PHOMVIHAN (since 15
August 1991);
Head of Government--Chairman of the Council of Ministers General
Gen. KHAMTAI SIPHANDON (since 15 August 1991)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP), KAYSONE PHOMVIHAN, party
chairman;
includes Lao Patriotic Front and Alliance Committee of Patriotic
Neutralist Forces;
other parties moribund
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
Supreme People's Assembly--last held on 26 March 1989 (next to be
held NA); results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(79 total) number of seats by party NA
_#_Other political or pressure groups: non-Communist political groups
moribund; most leaders have fled the country
_#_Member of: ACCT (associate), AsDB, CP, ESCAP,
FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU,
LORCS, NAM, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Charge d'Affaires LINTHONG PHETSAVAN;
Chancery at 2222 S Street NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 332-6416 or 6417;
US--Charge d'Affaires Charles B. SALMON, Jr.; Embassy at Rue
Bartholonie, Vientiane (mailing address is B. P. 114, Vientiane, or
Box V, APO San Francisco 96346); telephone 2220, 2357, 2384
_#_Flag: three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and
red with a large white disk centered in the blue band
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: One of the world's poorest nations, Laos has had a
Communist centrally planned economy with government ownership and control
of productive enterprises of any size. Recently, however, the government
has been decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise.
Laos is a landlocked country with a primitive infrastructure, that is,
it has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, limited external and
internal telecommunications, and electricity available in only a
limited area. Subsistence agriculture is the main occupation,
accounting for over 60% of GDP and providing about 85-90% of
total employment. The predominant crop is rice. For the foreseeable
future the economy will continue to depend for its survival on foreign
aid from the IMF and other international sources; foreign aid from the
USSR and Eastern Europe is being cut sharply.
_#_GDP: $600 million, per capita $150; real growth rate 5% (1990 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 22% (1990 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 21% (1989 est.)
_#_Budget: revenues $83 million; expenditures $188.5 million,
including capital expenditures of $94 million (1990 est.)
_#_Exports: $72 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--electricity, wood products, coffee, tin;
partners--Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, USSR, US
_#_Imports: $238 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
commodities--food, fuel oil, consumer goods, manufactures;
partners--Thailand, USSR, Japan, France, Vietnam
_#_External debt: $1.1 billion (1990 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 8% (1989 est.); accounts
for about 20% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 176,000 kW capacity; 1,100 million kWh produced,
270 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: tin mining, timber, electric power, agricultural
processing, construction
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 60% of GDP and employs most of the
work force; subsistence farming predominates; normally self-sufficient
in non-drought years; principal crops--rice (80% of cultivated land),
sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, cotton;
livestock--buffaloes, hogs, cattle, chicken
_#_Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis and opium poppy for the
international drug trade
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-79), $276
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $546 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $995 million
_#_Currency: new kip (plural--kips); 1 new kip (NK) = 100 at
_#_Exchange rates: new kips (NK) per US$1--695 (April 1991),
700 (September 1990), 576 (1989), 385 (1988), 200 (1987), 108 (1986),
95 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
_*_Communications
_#_Highways: about 27,527 km total; 1,856 km bituminous or bituminous
treated; 7,451 km gravel, crushed stone, or improved earth; 18,220 km
unimproved earth and often impassable during rainy season mid-May to
mid-September
_#_Inland waterways: about 4,587 km, primarily Mekong and tributaries;
2,897 additional kilometers are sectionally navigable by craft drawing
less than 0.5 m
_#_Pipelines: 136 km, refined products
_#_Ports: none
_#_Airports: 65 total, 51 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
13 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: service to general public considered poor;
radio network provides generally erratic service to government users;
7,390 telephones (1986); stations--10 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 satellite earth
station
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Lao People's Army (LPA; including naval, aviation, and
militia elements), Air Force, National Police Department
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 991,864; 531,084 fit for
military service; 45,548 reach military age (18) annually;
conscription age NA
_#_Defense expenditures: $NA, 3.8% of GDP (1987)
_%_
_@_Lebanon
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 10,400 km2; land area: 10,230 km2
_#_Comparative area: about 0.8 times the size of Connecticut
_#_Land boundaries: 454 km total; Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km
_#_Coastline: 225 km
_#_Maritime claims: