chief of mission: Ambassador James C. ROSAPEPE
embassy: Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest
mailing address: American Embassy Bucharest, Department of State,
Washington, DC 20521-5260 (pouch)
branch office: Cluj-Napoca
Flag description: three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist
side), yellow, and red; the national coat of arms that used to be
centered in the yellow band has been removed; now similar to the
flags of Andorra and Chad
Economy
Economy--overview: After the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in
1989-91, Romania was left with an obsolete industrial base and a
pattern of industrial capacity wholly unsuited to its needs. In
February 1997, Romania embarked on a comprehensive macroeconomic
stabilization and structural reform program, but reform subsequently
has been a stop-and-go process. Restructuring programs include
liquidating large energy-intensive industries and major agricultural
and financial sector reforms. Today, Romania is continuing its
difficult transition to a market-based economy. GDP contracted by an
estimated 7.3% in 1998 after a 6.6% decline in 1997. Tight monetary
policy and slower exchange rate depreciation earlier in 1998 helped
lower inflation to an estimated 41% from 152% in 1997. The large
current account deficit and concerns about meeting debt payments in
1999 contributed to increased pressure on the exchange rate towards
the end of 1998. Replacing the IMF standby agreement (suspended
because of lack of progress on structural reforms), servicing large
debt payments, and bringing the budget under control are key
priorities for 1999.
GDP: purchasing power parity--$90.6 billion (1998 est.)
GDP--real growth rate: -7.3% (1998 est.)
GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$4,050 (1998 est.)
GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 19%
industry: 41%
services: 40% (1997)
Population below poverty line: 21.5% (1994 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.8%
highest 10%: 20.2% (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 41% (1998 est.)
Labor force: 10.1 million (1996 est.)
Labor force--by occupation: NA%
Unemployment rate: 9% (1998 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $10 billion
expenditures: $11.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.3
billion (1997 est.)
Industries: mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy,
chemicals, machine building, food processing, petroleum production
and refining
Industrial production growth rate: -17% (1998 est.)
Electricity--production: 59.245 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 72.11%
hydro: 26.35%
nuclear: 1.54%
other: 0% (1996)
Electricity--consumption: 60.045 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--exports: 0 kWh (1996)
Electricity--imports: 800 million kWh (1996)
Agriculture--products: wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed,
potatoes, grapes; milk, eggs, beef
Exports: $8.2 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)
Exports--commodities: textiles and footwear 23%, metals and metal
products 18%, machinery and equipment 9%, chemicals 7% (1997)
Exports--partners: Italy 20%, Germany 17%, France 6%, Turkey 4%
(1997)
Imports: $10.8 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)
Imports--commodities: machinery and equipment 23%, fuels and
minerals 19%, chemicals 8%, foodstuffs (1997)
Imports--partners: Germany 16%, Italy 16%, Russia 12%, France 6%
(1997)
Debt--external: $10 billion (1998 est.)
Economic aid--recipient: $510.1 million (1995)
Currency: 1 leu (L) = 100 bani
Exchange rates: lei (L) per US$1--11,353.6 (January 1999), 8,875.6
(1998), 7,167.9 (1997), 3,084.2 (1996), 2,033.3 (1995), 1,655.1
(1994)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones: 2.6 million (1993 est.)
Telephone system:
domestic: poor service; 89% of telephone network is automatic; trunk
network is microwave radio relay; roughly 3,300 villages with no
service (February 1990 est.)
international: satellite earth station--1 Intelsat; new digital
international direct-dial exchanges are in Bucharest (1993 est.)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 12, FM 5, shortwave 0
note: in 1995, 135 local radio stations were registered
Radios: 4.64 million (1992 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 130 (in addition, there are about
400 low-power repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 4.58 million (1992 est.)
Transportation
Railways:
total: 11,376 km
broad gauge: 60 km 1.524-m gauge
standard gauge: 10,889 km 1.435-m gauge (3,723 km electrified; 3,060
km double track)
narrow gauge: 427 km 0.760-m gauge (1994)
Highways:
total: 153,358 km
paved: 78,213 km (including 113 km of expressways)
unpaved: 75,145 km (1996 est.)
Waterways: 1,724 km (1984)
Pipelines: crude oil 2,800 km; petroleum products 1,429 km;
natural gas 6,400 km (1992)
Ports and harbors: Braila, Constanta, Galati, Mangalia, Sulina,
Tulcea
Merchant marine:
total: 199 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,996,157
GRT/2,917,895 DWT
ships by type: bulk 35, cargo 141, container 2, oil tanker 7,
passenger 1, passenger-cargo 1, railcar carrier 2, roll-on/roll-off
cargo 9, specialized tanker 1 (1998 est.)
Airports: 27 (1998 est.)
Airports--with paved runways:
total: 21
over 3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 11 (1998 est.)
Airports--with unpaved runways:
total: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 2 (1998 est.)
Heliports: 2 (1998 est.)
Military
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces,
Paramilitary Forces, Civil Defense
Military manpower--military age: 20 years of age
Military manpower--availability:
males age 15-49: 5,876,912 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 4,938,953 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--reaching military age annually:
males: 193,264 (1999 est.)
Military expenditures--dollar figure: $650 million (1996)
Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 2.5% (1996)
Transnational Issues
Disputes--international: dispute with Ukraine over continental
shelf of the Black Sea under which significant gas and oil deposits
may exist; agreed in 1997 to two-year negotiating period, after
which either party can refer dispute to the International Court of
Justice
Illicit drugs: important transshipment point for Southwest Asian
heroin transiting the Balkan route and small amounts of Latin
American cocaine bound for Western Europe
======================================================================
@Russia
------
Introduction
Background: Russia, a vast Eurasian expanse of field, forest,
desert, and tundra, has endured many "times of trouble"--the Mongol
rule of the 13th to 15th century; czarist reigns of terror; massive
invasions by Swedes, French, and Germans; and the deadly communist
period (1917-91) in which Russia dominated an immense Soviet Union.
General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV, in charge during 1985-91,
introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an
attempt to modernize communism, but also inadvertently released
forces that shattered the USSR into 15 independent republics in
December 1991. Russia has struggled in its efforts to build a
democratic political system and market economy to replace the strict
social, political, and economic controls of the communist period.
These reform efforts have resulted in contradictory and confusing
economic and political regulations and practices. Industry,
agriculture, the military, the central government, and the ruble
have suffered, but Russia has successfully held one presidential,
two legislative, and numerous regional elections since 1991. The
severe illnesses of President Boris YEL'TSIN have contributed to a
lack of policy focus at the center.
Geography
Location: Northern Asia (that part west of the Urals is sometimes
included with Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe
and the North Pacific Ocean
Geographic coordinates: 60 00 N, 100 00 E
Map references: Asia
Area:
total: 17,075,200 sq km
land: 16,995,800 sq km
water: 79,400 sq km
Area--comparative: slightly less than 1.8 times the size of the US
Land boundaries:
total: 19,917 km
border countries: Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China
(southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 294 km, Finland
1,313 km, Georgia 723 km, Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 19 km,
Latvia 217 km, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 227 km, Mongolia 3,441
km, Norway 167 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 206 km, Ukraine 1,576
km
Coastline: 37,653 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: ranges from steppes in the south through humid
continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to
tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along
Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the
steppes to cool along Arctic coast
Terrain: broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast
coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along
southern border regions
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
highest point: Mount El'brus 5,633 m
Natural resources: wide natural resource base including major
deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, and many strategic minerals,
timber
note: formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder
exploitation of natural resources
Land use:
arable land: 8%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 4%
forests and woodland: 46%
other: 42% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 40,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: permafrost over much of Siberia is a major
impediment to development; volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands;
volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula
Environment--current issues: air pollution from heavy industry,
emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major
cities; industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of inland
waterways and sea coasts; deforestation; soil erosion; soil
contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals;
scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination
Environment--international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic
Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography--note: largest country in the world in terms of area but
unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of the world;
despite its size, much of the country lacks proper soils and
climates (either too cold or too dry) for agriculture
People
Population: 146,393,569 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 19% (male 14,224,033; female 13,666,440)
15-64 years: 68% (male 48,407,409; female 51,768,664)
65 years and over: 13% (male 5,698,356; female 12,628,667) (1999
est.)
Population growth rate: -0.33% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 9.64 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 14.96 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration rate: 2.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.45 male(s)/female
total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (1999 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 23 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 65.12 years
male: 58.83 years
female: 71.72 years (1999 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.34 children born/woman (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Russian(s)
adjective: Russian
Ethnic groups: Russian 81.5%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 3%, Chuvash
1.2%, Bashkir 0.9%, Byelorussian 0.8%, Moldavian 0.7%, other 8.1%
Religions: Russian Orthodox, Muslim, other
Languages: Russian, other
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: 100%
female: 97% (1989 est.)
Government
Country name:
conventional long form: Russian Federation
conventional short form: Russia
local long form: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
local short form: Rossiya
former: Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Data code: RS
Government type: federation
Capital: Moscow
Administrative divisions: oblasts (oblastey, singular--oblast'),
21 autonomous republics* (avtonomnyk respublik, singular--avtonomnaya
respublika), 10 autonomous okrugs**(avtonomnykh okrugov,
singular--avtonomnyy okrug), 6 krays*** (krayev, singular--kray), 2
federal cities (singular--gorod)****, and 1 autonomous
oblast*****(avtonomnaya oblast'); Adygeya (Maykop)*, Aginskiy
Buryatskiy (Aginskoye)**, Altay (Gorno-Altaysk)*, Altayskiy
(Barnaul)***, Amurskaya (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'skaya,
Astrakhanskaya, Bashkortostan (Ufa)*, Belgorodskaya, Bryanskaya,
Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude)*, Chechnya (Groznyy)*, Chelyabinskaya,
Chitinskaya, Chukotskiy (Anadyr')**, Chuvashiya (Cheboksary)*,
Dagestan (Makhachkala)*, Evenkiyskiy (Tura)**, Ingushetiya
(Nazran')*, Irkutskaya, Ivanovskaya, Kabardino-Balkariya
(Nal'chik)*, Kaliningradskaya, Kalmykiya (Elista)*, Kaluzkskaya,
Kamchatskaya (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya
(Cherkessk)*, Kareliya (Petrozavodsk)*, Kemerovskaya,
Khabarovskiy***, Khakasiya (Abakan)*, Khanty-Mansiyskiy
(Khanty-Mansiysk)**, Kirovskaya, Komi (Syktyvkar)*, Koryakskiy
(Palana)**, Kostromskaya, Krasnodarskiy***, Krasnoyarskiy***,
Kurganskaya, Kurskaya, Leningradskaya, Lipetskaya, Magadanskaya,
Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola)*, Mordoviya (Saransk)*, Moskovskaya, Moskva
(Moscow)****, Murmanskaya, Nenetskiy (Nar'yan-Mar)**,
Nizhegorodskaya, Novgorodskaya, Novosibirskaya, Omskaya,
Orenburgskaya, Orlovskaya (Orel), Penzenskaya, Permskaya,
Komi-Permyatskiy (Kudymkar)**, Primorskiy (Vladivostok)***,
Pskovskaya, Rostovskaya, Ryazanskaya, Sakha (Yakutsk)*,
Sakhalinskaya (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samarskaya, Sankt-Peterburg
(Saint Petersburg)****, Saratovskaya, Severnaya Osetiya-Alaniya
(Vladikavkaz)*, Smolenskaya, Stavropol'skiy***, Sverdlovskaya
(Yekaterinburg), Tambovskaya, Tatarstan (Kazan')*, Taymyrskiy
(Dudinka)**, Tomskaya, Tul'skaya, Tverskaya, Tyumenskaya, Tyva
(Kyzyl)*, Udmurtiya (Izhevsk)*, Ul'yanovskaya, Ust'-Ordynskiy
Buryatskiy (Ust'-Ordynskiy)**, Vladimirskaya, Volgogradskaya,
Vologodskaya, Voronezhskaya, Yamalo-Nenetskiy (Salekhard)**,
Yaroslavskaya, Yevreyskaya*****; note--when using a place name with
an adjectival ending 'skaya' or 'skiy,' the word Oblast' or
Avonomnyy Okrug or Kray should be added to the place name
note: the autonomous republics of Chechnya and Ingushetiya were
formerly the autonomous republic of Checheno-Ingushetia (the
boundary between Chechnya and Ingushetia has yet to be determined);
administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative
centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in
parentheses)
Independence: 24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
National holiday: Independence Day, June 12 (1990)
Constitution: adopted 12 December 1993
Legal system: based on civil law system; judicial review of
legislative acts
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Boris Nikolayevich YEL'TSIN (since 12 June
1991)
head of government: Premier Yevgeniy Maksimovich PRIMAKOV (since 11
September 1998), First Deputy Premiers Yuriy Dmitriyevich MASLYUKOV
(since 11 September 1998) and Vadim Anatol'yevich GUSTOV (since 11
September 1998); Deputy Premiers Vladimir Broisovich BULGAK (since
11 September 1998), Gennadiy Vasil'yevich KULIK (since 11 September
1998), and Valentin Ivanovna MATVIYENKO (since 11 September 1998)
cabinet: Ministries of the Government or "Government" composed of
the premier and his deputies, ministers, and other agency heads; all
are appointed by the president
note: there is also a Presidential Administration (PA) that provides
staff and policy support to the president, drafts presidential
decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies; a
Security Council also reports directly to the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term;
election last held 16 June 1996 with runoff election on 3 July 1996
(next to be held NA June 2000); note--no vice president; if the
president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers because of ill
health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier succeeds him; the
premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election
is held, which must be within three months; premier and deputy
premiers appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma
election results: Boris Nikolayevich YEL'TSIN elected president;
percent of vote in runoff--YEL'TSIN 54%, Gennadiy Andreyevich
ZYUGANOV 40%
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly or Federal'noye
Sobraniye consists of the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii
(178 seats, filled ex-officio by the top executive and legislative
officials in each of the 89 federal administrative units--oblasts,
krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the federal
cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg; members serve four-year terms)
and the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats, half elected
in single-member districts and half elected from national party
lists; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year
terms)
elections: State Duma--last held 17 December 1995 (next to be held NA
December 1999)
election results: State Duma--percent of vote received by parties
clearing the 5% threshold entitling them to a proportional share of
the 225 party list seats--Communist Party of the Russian Federation
22.3%, Liberal Democratic Party of Russia 11.2%, Our Home Is Russia
10.1%, Yabloko Bloc 6.9%; seats by party--Communist Party of the
Russian Federation 157, independents 78, Our Home Is Russia 55,
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia 51, Yabloko Bloc 45, Agrarian
Party of Russia 20, Russia's Democratic Choice 9, Power To the
People 9, Congress of Russian Communities 5, Forward, Russia! 3,
Women of Russia 3, other parties 15
Judicial branch: Constitutional Court, judges are appointed for
life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the
president; Supreme Court, judges are appointed for life by the
Federation Council on the recommendation of the president; Superior
Court of Arbitration, judges are appointed for life by the
Federation Council on the recommendation of the president
Political parties and leaders:
YAVLINSKIY]; Pravoye Delo (Just Cause), a coalition of reformist,
Borisovich CHUBAYS, Boris Yefimovich NEMTSOV, Sergey Vladlenovich
KIRIYENKO]
anti-market and/or ultranationalist: Communist Party of the Russian
BARKASHOV]
note: some 150 political parties, blocs, and movements registered
with the Justice Ministry as of the 19 December 1998 deadline to be
eligible to participate in the scheduled December 1999 Duma
elections; in 1995, 43 political organizations qualified to run
slates of candidates on the Duma party list ballot; among the
parties not listed above but holding seats in the Duma were Russia's
Democratic Choice, Power To the People, Congress of Russian
Communities, Forward, Russia!, and Women of Russia
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: APEC, BIS, BSEC, CBSS,
CCC, CE, CERN (observer), CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ESCAP, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat,
Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO,
MONUA, MTCR, NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UN
Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR,
UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNOMIG, UNOMSIL, UNPREDEP, UNTSO, UPU, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant), ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Yuliy Mikhaylovich VORONTSOV
chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007
consulate(s) general: New York, San Francisco, and Seattle
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador James F. COLLINS
embassy: Novinskiy Bul'var 19/23, Moscow
mailing address: APO AE 09721
consulate(s) general: St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of white (top),
blue, and red
Economy
Economy--overview: Seven years after the collapse of the USSR,
Russia is still struggling to establish a modern market economy and
achieve strong economic growth. Russian GDP has contracted an
estimated 43% since 1991, including a 5% drop in 1998, despite the
country's wealth of natural resources, its well-educated population,
and its diverse--although increasingly dilapidated--industrial base.
By the end of 1997, Russia had achieved some progress. Inflation had
been brought under control, the ruble was stabilized, and an
ambitious privatization program had transferred thousands of
enterprises to private ownership. Some important market-oriented
laws were also passed, including a commercial code governing
business relations and an arbitration court for resolving economic
disputes. But in 1998, the Asian financial crisis swept through the
country, contributing to a sharp decline in russia's earnings from
oil exports and resulting in an exodus of foreign investors. Matters
came to a head in August 1998 when the government allowed the ruble
to fall precipitously and stopped payment on $40 billion in ruble
bonds. Ongoing problems include an undeveloped legal and financial
system, poor progress on restructuring the military-industrial
complex, and persistently large budget deficits, largely reflecting
the inability of successive governments to collect sufficient taxes.
Russia's transition to a market economy has also been slowed by the
growing prevalence of payment arrears and barter and by widespread
corruption. The severity of Russia's economic problems is dramatized
by the large annual decline in population, estimated by some
observers at 800,000 people, caused by environmental hazards, the
decline in health care, and the unwillingness of people to have
children.
GDP: purchasing power parity--$593.4 billion (1998 est.)
GDP--real growth rate: -5% (1998 est.)
GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$4,000 (1998 est.)
GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 7%
industry: 39%
services: 54% (1997)
Population below poverty line: 28.6% (1998 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 22.2% (1993)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 84% (1998 est.)
Labor force: 66 million (1997)
Labor force--by occupation: NA
Unemployment rate: 11.5% (1998 est.) with considerable additional
underemployment
Budget:
revenues: $40 billion
expenditures: $63 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1998 est.)
Industries: complete range of mining and extractive industries
producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of
machine building from rolling mills to high-performance aircraft and
space vehicles; shipbuilding; road and rail transportation
equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery,
tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and
transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer
durables, textiles, foodstuffs, handicrafts
Industrial production growth rate: -5.5% (1998 est.)
Electricity--production: 834 billion kWh (1997)
Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 68.14%
hydro: 19%
nuclear: 12.82%
other: 0.04% (1997)
Electricity--consumption: 788.036 billion kWh (1996)