Iquique, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, San Antonio, San Vicente,
Talcahuano, Valparaiso
Merchant marine:
total: 42 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 527,201 GRT/787,719 DWT
ships by type: bulk 11, cargo 10, chemical tanker 5, container 2,
liquefied gas tanker 1, oil tanker 4, passenger 3, roll-on/roll-off
cargo 4, vehicle carrier 2 (1998 est.)
Airports: 378 (1998 est.)
Airports--with paved runways:
total: 58
over 3,047 m: 5
2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 19
914 to 1,523 m: 19
under 914 m: 9 (1998 est.)
Airports--with unpaved runways:
total: 320
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 13
914 to 1,523 m: 73
under 914 m: 229 (1998 est.)
Military
Military branches: Army of the Nation, National Navy (includes
Naval Air, Coast Guard, and Marines), Air Force of the Nation,
Carabineros of Chile (National Police), Investigations Police
Military manpower--military age: 19 years of age
Military manpower--availability:
males age 15-49: 3,968,176 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 2,943,206 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--reaching military age annually:
males: 132,202 (1999 est.)
Military expenditures--dollar figure: $2.12 billion (1998);
note--includes earnings from CODELCO Company and costs of pensions;
does not include funding for the National Police (Carabineros) and
Investigations Police
Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 2.79% (1998)
Transnational Issues
Disputes--international: short section of the southwestern
boundary with Argentina is indefinite--process to resolve boundary
issues is underway; Bolivia has wanted a sovereign corridor to the
South Pacific Ocean since the Atacama area was lost to Chile in
1884; dispute with Bolivia over Rio Lauca water rights; territorial
claim in Antarctica (Chilean Antarctic Territory) partially overlaps
Argentine and British claims
Illicit drugs: a growing transshipment country for cocaine
destined for the US and Europe; economic prosperity has made Chile
more attractive to traffickers seeking to launder drug profits;
imported precursors pass on to Bolivia
======================================================================
@China
-----
Introduction
Background: For most of its 3,500 years of history, China led the
world in agriculture, crafts, and science, then fell behind in the
19th century when the Industrial Revolution gave the West clear
superiority in military and economic affairs. In the first half of
the 20th century, China continued to suffer from major famines,
civil unrest, military defeat, and foreign occupation. After World
War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship
that, while ensuring China's autonomy, imposed strict controls over
all aspects of life and cost the lives of tens of millions of
people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping decentralized
economic decision making; output quadrupled in the next 20 years.
Political controls remain tight at the same time economic controls
have been weakening. Present issues are: incorporating Hong Kong
into the Chinese system; closing down inefficient state-owned
enterprises; modernizing the military; fighting corruption; and
providing support to tens of millions of displaced workers.
Geography
Location: Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay,
Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam
Geographic coordinates: 35 00 N, 105 00 E
Map references: Asia
Area:
total: 9,596,960 sq km
land: 9,326,410 sq km
water: 270,550 sq km
Area--comparative: slightly smaller than the US
Land boundaries:
total: 22,143.34 km
border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km,
Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea
1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia
4,673 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605
km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km
Coastline: 14,500 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in
north
Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west;
plains, deltas, and hills in east
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,848 m
Natural resources: coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas,
mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium,
magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential
(world's largest)
Land use:
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 43%
forests and woodland: 14%
other: 33% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 498,720 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: frequent typhoons (about five per year along
southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis;
earthquakes; droughts
Environment--current issues: air pollution (greenhouse gases,
sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal, produces acid
rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution
from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of
agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic
development; desertification; trade in endangered species
Environment--international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Nuclear
Test Ban
Geography--note: world's fourth-largest country (after Russia,
Canada, and US)
People
Population: 1,246,871,951 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 26% (male 169,206,275; female 149,115,216)
15-64 years: 68% (male 435,047,915; female 408,663,265)
65 years and over: 6% (male 39,824,361; female 45,014,919) (1999
est.)
Population growth rate: 0.77% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 15.1 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 6.98 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.15 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.13 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (1999 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 43.31 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 69.92 years
male: 68.57 years
female: 71.48 years (1999 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
adjective: Chinese
Ethnic groups: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi,
Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities
8.1%
Religions: Daoism (Taoism), Buddhism, Muslim 2%-3%, Christian 1%
(est.)
note: officially atheist, but traditionally pragmatic and eclectic
Languages: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the
Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei
(Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects,
minority languages (see Ethnic divisions entry)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.5%
male: 89.9%
female: 72.7% (1995 est.)
Government
Country name:
conventional long form: People's Republic of China
conventional short form: China
local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo
local short form: Zhong Guo
abbreviation: PRC
Data code: CH
Government type: Communist state
Capital: Beijing
Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (sheng, singular and
plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4
municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**,
Chongqing**, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan,
Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin,
Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong,
Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**, Xinjiang*, Xizang* (Tibet),
Yunnan, Zhejiang
note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entry
for the special administrative region of Hong Kong
Independence: 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty
221 BC; Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12
February 1912; People's Republic established 1 October 1949)
National holiday: National Day, 1 October (1949)
Constitution: most recent promulgation 4 December 1982
Legal system: a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely
criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987;
new legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts
are being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and
commercial law
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993) and Vice
President HU Jintao (since 16 March 1998)
head of government: Premier ZHU Rongji (since 18 March 1998); Vice
Premiers QIAN Qichen (since 29 March 1993), LI Lanqing (29 March
1993), WU Bangguo (since 17 March 1995), and WEN Jiabao (since 18
March 1998)
cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress
(NPC)
elections: president and vice president elected by the National
People's Congress for five-year terms; elections last held 16-18
March 1998 (next to be held NA March 2003); premier nominated by the
president, confirmed by the National People's Congress
election results: JIANG Zemin reelected president by the Ninth
National People's Congress with a total of 2,882 votes (36 delegates
voted against him, 29 abstained, and 32 did not vote); HU Jintao
elected vice president by the Ninth National People's Congress with
a total of 2,841 votes (67 delegates voted against him, 39
abstained, and 32 did not vote)
Legislative branch: unicameral National People's Congress or
Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,979 seats; members elected by
municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve
five-year terms)
elections: last held NA December-NA February 1998 (next to be held
late 2002-NA March 2003)
election results: percent of vote--NA; seats--NA
Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court, judges appointed by the
National People's Congress
Political parties and leaders: Chinese Communist Party or CCP
registered small parties controlled by CCP
Political pressure groups and leaders: no meaningful political
opposition groups exist
International organization participation: AfDB, APEC, AsDB, BIS,
CCC, CDB (non-regional), ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat,
Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, NAM
(observer), OPCW, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNOMSIL, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador LI Zhaoxing
chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and
San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador James R. SASSER
embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing
mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002
consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang
Flag description: red with a large yellow five-pointed star and
four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc
toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner
Economy
Economy--overview: Beginning in late 1978 the Chinese leadership
has been trying to move the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style
centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented economy but
still within a rigid political framework of Communist Party control.
To this end the authorities switched to a system of household
responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization,
increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in
industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in
services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to
increased foreign trade and investment. The result has been a
quadrupling of GDP since 1978. Agricultural output doubled in the
1980s, and industry also posted major gains, especially in coastal
areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment
helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. On the darker
side, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the
worst results of socialism (bureaucracy, lassitude, corruption) and
of capitalism (windfall gains and stepped-up inflation). Beijing
thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at
intervals. In late 1993 China's leadership approved additional
long-term reforms aimed at giving still more play to market-oriented
institutions and at strengthening the center's control over the
financial system; state enterprises would continue to dominate many
key industries in what was now termed "a socialist market economy".
In 1995-97 inflation dropped sharply, reflecting tighter monetary
policies and stronger measures to control food prices. At the same
time, the government struggled to (a) collect revenues due from
provinces, businesses, and individuals; (b) reduce corruption and
other economic crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large state-owned
enterprises, most of which had not participated in the vigorous
expansion of the economy and many of which had been losing the
ability to pay full wages and pensions. From 60 to 100 million
surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the
cities, many subsisting through part-time low-paying jobs. Popular
resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority by
rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which
is essential to maintaining growth in living standards. Another
long-term threat to continued rapid economic growth is the
deterioration in the environment, notably air pollution, soil
erosion, and the steady fall of the water table especially in the
north. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and
economic development. The next few years may witness increasing
tensions between a highly centralized political system and an
increasingly decentralized economic system. Economic growth probably
will slow to more moderate levels in 1999-2000.
GDP: purchasing power parity--$4.42 trillion (1998 est.)
GDP--real growth rate: 7.8% (1998 est.) (official figures may
substantially overstate growth)
GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$3,600 (1998 est.)
GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 19%
industry: 49%
services: 32% (1997 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.2%
highest 10%: 30.9% (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): -0.8% (1998 est.)
Labor force: 696 million (1997 est.)
Labor force--by occupation: agriculture 50%, industry 24%,
services 26% (1997)
Unemployment rate: officially 3% in urban areas; probably 8%-10%;
substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (1998
est.)
Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Industries: iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments,
textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers,
footwear, toys, food processing, autos, consumer electronics,
telecommunications
Industrial production growth rate: 8.8% (1998 est.)
Electricity--production: 1.16 trillion kWh (1998)
Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 93%
hydro: 6%
nuclear: 1%
other: 0% (1996 est.)
Electricity--consumption: 994.921 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--exports: 6.025 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--imports: 755 million kWh (1996)
Agriculture--products: rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts,
tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish
Exports: $183.8 billion (f.o.b., 1998)
Exports--commodities: electrical machinery and equipment,
machinery and mechanical appliances, woven apparel, knit apparel,
footwear, toys and sporting goods (1998)
Exports--partners: Hong Kong 21%, US 21%, Japan 14%, Germany,
South Korea, Netherlands, UK, Singapore, Taiwan (1997)
Imports: $140.17 billion (c.i.f., 1998)
Imports--commodities: electrical machinery and equipment,
machinery and mechanical appliances, plastics, iron and steel,
scientific and photograph equipment, paper and paper board (1998)
Imports--partners: Japan 20%, US 12%, Taiwan 12%, South Korea 11%,
Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, Russia (1997)
Debt--external: $159 billion (1998 est.)
Economic aid--recipient: $6.222 billion (1995)
Currency: 1 yuan (Y) = 10 jiao
Exchange rates: yuan (Y) per US$1--8.28 (February 1999), 8.2779
(December 1998), 8.2790 (1998), 8.2898 (1997), 8.3142 (1996), 8.3514
(1995), 8.6187 (1994)
note: beginning 1 January 1994, the People's Bank of China quotes
the midpoint rate against the US dollar based on the previous day's
prevailing rate in the interbank foreign exchange market
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones: 105 million (1998 est.)
Telephone system: domestic and international services are
increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed
domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and all
townships
domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular
telephone systems have been installed; a domestic satellite system
with 55 earth stations is in place
international: satellite earth stations--5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean
and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean Region) and 1
Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean Regions); several international
fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and
Germany
Radio broadcast stations: AM 569, FM NA, shortwave 173
Radios: 216.5 million (1992 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 209 (China Central Television,
government-owned; in addition there are 31 provincial TV stations
and nearly 3,000 city TV stations) (1997)
Televisions: 300 million
Transportation
Railways:
total: 64,900 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails)
standard gauge: 61,300 km 1.435-m gauge (12,000 km electrified;
20,000 km double track)
narrow gauge: 3,600 km 0.750-m gauge local industrial lines (1998
est.)
note: a new total of 68,000 km has been estimated for early 1999
Highways:
total: 1.21 million km
paved: 271,300 km (with at least 24,474 km of motorways)
unpaved: 938,700 km (1998 est.)
Waterways: 109,800 km navigable (1997)
Pipelines: crude oil 9,070 km; petroleum products 560 km; natural
gas 9,383 km (1998)
Ports and harbors: Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu,
Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao,
Shanghai, Shantou, Tianjin, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang
Merchant marine:
total: 1,759 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,828,349
GRT/24,801,291 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 330, cargo 855, chemical tanker
21, combination bulk 10, combination ore/oil 1, container 121,
liquefied gas tanker 20, multifunction large-load carrier 6, oil
tanker 245, passenger 8, passenger-cargo 47, refrigerated cargo 25,
roll-on/roll-off cargo 24, short-sea passenger 43, vehicle carrier 1
(1998 est.)
Airports: 206 (1996 est.)
Airports--with paved runways:
total: 192
over 3,047 m: 18
2,438 to 3,047 m: 65
1,524 to 2,437 m: 90
914 to 1,523 m: 13
under 914 m: 6 (1996 est.)
Airports--with unpaved runways:
total: 14
1,524 to 2,437 m: 8
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 1 (1996 est.)
Military
Military branches: People's Liberation Army (PLA), which includes
the Ground Forces, Navy (includes Marines and Naval Aviation), Air
Force, Second Artillery Corps (the strategic missile force),
People's Armed Police (internal security troops, nominally
subordinate to Ministry of Public Security, but included by the
Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an
adjunct to the PLA in wartime)
Military manpower--military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower--availability:
males age 15-49: 361,267,706 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 198,398,601 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--reaching military age annually:
males: 10,273,696 (1999 est.)
Military expenditures--dollar figure: $12.608 billion (FY99);
note-Western analysts believe that China's real defense spending is
several times higher than the official figure because several
significant items are funded elsewhere
Military expenditures--percent of GDP: NA%
Transnational Issues
Disputes--international: boundary with India in dispute; dispute
over at least two small sections of the boundary with Russia remain
to be settled, despite 1997 boundary agreement; most of the boundary
with Tajikistan in dispute; 33-km section of boundary with North
Korea in the Paektu-san (mountain) area is indefinite; involved in a
complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines,
Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary dispute with
Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China,
but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered
Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan; sections
of land border with Vietnam are indefinite
Illicit drugs: major transshipment point for heroin produced in
the Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem
======================================================================
@Christmas Island
----------------
Geography
Location: Southeastern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of
Indonesia
Geographic coordinates: 10 30 S, 105 40 E
Map references: Southeast Asia
Area:
total: 135 sq km
land: 135 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area--comparative: about 0.7 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 138.9 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 3 nm
Climate: tropical; heat and humidity moderated by trade winds
Terrain: steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Murray Hill 361 m
Natural resources: phosphate
Land use:
arable land: NA%
permanent crops: NA%
permanent pastures: NA%
forests and woodland: NA%
other: 100% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: the narrow fringing reef surrounding the island
can be a maritime hazard
Environment--current issues: NA
Environment--international agreements:
party to: NA
signed, but not ratified: NA
Geography--note: located along major sea lanes of Indian Ocean
People
Population: 2,373 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA
65 years and over: NA
Population growth rate: 7.77% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: NA births/1,000 population
Death rate: NA deaths/1,000 population
Net migration rate: NA migrant(s)/1,000 population
Infant mortality rate: NA deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: NA
male: NA
female: NA
Total fertility rate: NA children born/woman
Nationality:
noun: Christmas Islander(s)
adjective: Christmas Island
Ethnic groups: Chinese 61%, Malay 25%, European 11%, other 3%, no
indigenous population
Religions: Buddhist 55%, Christian 15%, Muslim 10%, other 20%
(1991)
Languages: English
Government
Country name:
conventional long form: Territory of Christmas Island
conventional short form: Christmas Island
Data code: KT
Dependency status: territory of Australia; administered from
Canberra by the Australian Department of the Environment, Sport and
Territories