_#_Climate: tropical; rainy season (October to March), dry season
(May to October)
_#_Terrain: narrow coastal plain with volcanic, rocky, rugged
mountains in interior
_#_Natural resources: hardwood forests, fish
_#_Land use: arable land 19%; permanent crops 24%; meadows and
pastures NEGL%; forest and woodland 47%; other 10%
_#_Environment: subject to occasional typhoons; active volcanism
_#_Note: located 4,300 km southwest of Honolulu in the South Pacific
Ocean about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand
_*_People
_#_Population: 190,346 (July 1991), growth rate 2.3% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 34 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: - 4 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 47 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 64 years male, 69 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 4.5 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Western Samoan(s); adjective--Western Samoan
_#_Ethnic divisions: Samoan; Euronesians (persons of European and
Polynesian blood) about 7%, Europeans 0.4%
_#_Religion: Christian 99.7% (about half of population associated with
the London Missionary Society; includes Congregational, Roman Catholic,
Methodist, Latter Day Saints, Seventh-Day Adventist)
_#_Language: Samoan (Polynesian), English
_#_Literacy: 97% (male 97%, female 97%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1971)
_#_Labor force: 38,000; 22,000 employed in agriculture (1987 est.)
_#_Organized labor: Public Service Association (PSA)
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Independent State of Western Samoa
_#_Type: constitutional monarchy under native chief
_#_Capital: Apia
_#_Administrative divisions: 11 districts; Aana, Aiga-i-le-Tai,
Atua, Faasaleleaga, Gagaemauga, Gagaifomauga, Palauli, Satupaitea,
Tuamasaga, Vaa-o-Fonoti, Vaisigano
_#_Independence: 1 January 1962 (from UN trusteeship administered
by New Zealand)
_#_Constitution: 1 January 1962
_#_Legal system: based on English common law and local customs;
judicial review of legislative acts with respect to fundamental rights of
the citizen; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
_#_National holiday: National Day, 1 June
_#_Executive branch: monarch, Executive Council, prime minister,
Cabinet
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Assembly (Fono)
_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Court of Appeal
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--Susuga Malietoa TANUMAFILI II (Co-Chief of State
from 1 January 1962 until becoming sole Chief of State on 5 April 1963);
Head of Government--Prime Minister TOFILAU Eti Alesana (since
7 April 1988)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), TOFILAU Eti, chairman;
Samoan National Development Party (SNDP), VA'AI Kolone,
chairman
_#_Suffrage: universal adult at age NA, but only matai (head of
family) are able to run for the Legislative Assembly
_#_Elections:
Legislative Assembly--last held NA February 1991
(next to be held by February 1994);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(47 total) HRPP 30, SNDP 14, independent 3
_#_Member of: ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD,
IFC, IMF, IOC, ITU, LORCS, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Fili (Felix) Tuaopepe
WENDT; Chancery (temporary) at the Western Samoan Mission to the UN,
820 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10017 (212) 599-6196;
US--the ambassador to New Zealand, Della Newman, is accredited to
Western Samoa (mailing address is P.O. Box 3430, Apia); telephone (685)
21-631
_#_Flag: red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side quadrant
bearing five white five-pointed stars representing the Southern Cross
constellation
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Agriculture employs more than half of the labor force,
contributes 50% to GDP, and furnishes 90% of exports. The bulk
of export earnings comes from the sale of coconut oil and copra. The
economy depends on emigrant remittances and foreign aid to support a
level of imports about five times export earnings. Tourism has become the
most important growth industry, and construction of the first
international hotel is under way.
_#_GDP: $115 million, per capita $620; real growth rate - 4.5%
(1990 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 17% (1990 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: NA%; shortage of skilled labor
_#_Budget: revenues $70 million; expenditures $73 million,
including capital expenditures of $41 million (1990)
_#_Exports: $9.4 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--coconut oil and cream 54%, taro 12%, copra 9%,
cocoa 3%;
partners--NZ 28%, EC 23%, American Samoa 23%, Australia 11%,
US 6% (1990)
_#_Imports: $87 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
commodities--intermediate goods 58%, food 17%, capital goods 12%;
partners--New Zealand 31%, Australia 20%, Japan 15%, Fiji 15%,
US 5%, EC 4% (1987)
_#_External debt: $83 million (December 1990 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate - 4.3% (1990 est.); accounts for
14% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 29,000 kW capacity; 45 million kWh produced,
240 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: timber, tourism, food processing, fishing
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 50% of GDP; coconuts, fruit (including
bananas, taro, yams)
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $18
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $291 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $4 million
_#_Currency: tala (plural--tala); 1 tala (WS$) = 100 sene
_#_Exchange rates: tala (WS$) per US$1--2.3170 (January 1991), 2.3095
(1990), 2.2686 (1989), 2.0790 (1988), 2.1204 (1987), 2.2351 (1986),
2.2437 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications
_#_Highways: 2,042 km total; 375 km sealed; remainder mostly gravel,
crushed stone, or earth
_#_Ports: Apia
_#_Merchant marine: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 24,930
GRT/34,135 DWT; includes 2 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo
_#_Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 3 total, 3 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
none with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: 7,500 telephones; 70,000 radios;
stations--1 AM, no FM, no TV; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT station
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Department of Police and Prisons
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 49,119; NA fit for military
service
_#_Defense expenditures: $NA, NA% of GDP
_%_
_@_World
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 510,072,000 km2; 361,132,000 km2 (70.8%) is water and
148,940,000 km2 (29.2%) is land
_#_Comparative area: land area about 16 times the size of the US
_#_Land boundaries: 442,000 km
_#_Coastline: 359,000 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: generally 24 nm, but varies from 4 nm to 25 nm;
Continental shelf: generally 200 nm, but some are 200 meters
in depth;
Exclusive fishing zone: most are 200 nm, but varies from
3 nm to 200 nm;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm; only the Maldives varies from
35-310 nm;
Territorial sea: generally 12 nm, but varies from 3 nm to 50 nm;
note--32 nations and miscellaneous areas are landlocked
and include Afghanistan, Andorra, Austria, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana,
Burkina, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Iraq-Saudi Arabia Neutral Zone, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda,
San Marino, Swaziland, Switzerland, Uganda, Vatican City, West Bank,
Zambia, Zimbabwe
_#_Disputes: major international land boundary
disputes--Argentina-Uruguay, Bangladesh-India, Brazil-Paraguay,
Brazil-Uruguay, Cambodia-Vietnam, Chad-Libya, China-India, China-USSR,
Ecuador-Peru, Egypt-Sudan, El Salvador-Honduras, Ethiopia-Somalia,
French Guiana-Suriname, Guyana-Suriname, Guyana-Venezuela,
Israel-Jordan, Israel-Syria, North Korea-South Korea, Oman-UAE,
Oman-Yemen, Qatar-UAE, Saudi Arabia-Yemen
_#_Climate: two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather
narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to
subtropical climates
_#_Terrain: highest elevation is Mt. Everest at 8,848 meters and
lowest depression is the Dead Sea at 392 meters below sea level; greatest
ocean depth is the Marianas Trench at 10,924 meters
_#_Natural resources: the oceans represent the last major frontier for
the discovery and development of natural resources
_#_Land use: arable land 10%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
24%; forest and woodland 31%; other 34%; includes irrigated 1.6%
_#_Environment: large areas subject to severe weather (tropical
cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic
eruptions), overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water,
acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing,
deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife resources, soil
degradation, soil depletion, erosion
_*_People
_#_Population: 5,419,643,132 (July 1991), growth rate 1.7% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 26 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 66 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 61 years male, 65 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 3.3 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Literacy: 74% (male 81%, female 67%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
_#_Labor force: 2.2 billion (1991)
_#_Organized labor: NA
_*_Government
_#_Administrative divisions: 170 sovereign nations plus 72 dependent,
other, and miscellaneous areas
_#_Legal system: varies among each of the entities; 162 are parties
to the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court
_#_Diplomatic representation: there are 159 members of the UN
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: In 1990 the world economy grew at an estimated 1.0%,
considerably lower than the estimated 3.0% for 1989 and the 3.4% for
1988. The technologically advanced areas--North America, Japan, and
Western Europe--together account for 67% of the gross world product (GWP)
of $20.9 trillion; these developed areas grew in the aggregate at 2.3%
in 1990. In contrast, output in the USSR and Eastern Europe fell an
average of 5.2%; these countries account for 15% of GWP. Experience
in the developing countries continued mixed, with the newly
industrializing economies generally maintaining their rapid growth,
and many others struggling with debt, rampant inflation, and inadequate
investment. This third group contributed 18% of GWP and grew on
average 2.3% in 1990; output in this group is probably understated
because of lack of data and the method of calculation used. The year 1990
witnessed continued political and economic upheavals in the USSR and
Eastern Europe, which are in between systems, lacking both the rough
discipline of the command economy and the institutions of the market
economy. As for prospects in the 1990s, the addition of nearly 100
million people a year to an already overcrowded globe will exacerbate the
problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics,
and famine.
_#_GWP (gross world product): $20.9 trillion, per capita $3,930;
real growth rate 1.0% (1990 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): developed countries 5%;
developing countries 100%, with wide variations (1990 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: NA%
_#_Exports: $3.33 trillion (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities--the whole range of industrial and agricultural
goods and services;
partners--in value, 74% of exports from industrial countries
_#_Imports: $3.45 trillion (c.i.f., 1990 est.);
commodities--the whole range of industrial and agricultural
goods and services;
partners--in value, about 75% of imports by the industrial
countries
_#_External debt: $1.0 trillion for less developed countries
(1990 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 3% (1990 est.)
_#_Electricity: 2,864,000,000 kW capacity; 11,450,000 million kWh
produced, 2,150 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: chemicals, energy, machinery, electronics, metals,
mining, textiles, food processing
_#_Agriculture: cereals (wheat, maize, rice), sugar, livestock
products, tropical crops, fruit, vegetables, fish
_#_Economic aid: NA
_*_Communications
_#_Ports: Mina al Ahmadi (Kuwait), Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe,
Marseille, New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: ground, maritime, and air forces at all levels of
technology
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,412,502,000; NA fit for
military service
_#_Defense expenditures: $1.1 trillion, 5.3% of GWP (1990 est.)
_%_
_@_Yemen
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 527,970 km2; land area: 527,970 km2; includes Perim,
Socotra, the former Yemen Arab Republic (YAR or North Yemen), and
the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY or South Yemen)
_#_Comparative area: slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming
_#_Land boundaries: 1,746 km total; Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km
_#_Coastline: 1,906 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: North--18 nm; South--24 nm;
Continental shelf: North--200 meters (depth); South--edge of
continental margin or 200 nm;
Exclusive economic zone: North--no claim; South 200 nm;