cultural relations with the people of Taiwan are maintained through
a private institution, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which
has offices in Taipei at #7, Lane 134, Hsin Yi Road, Section 3,
telephone [886] (2) 709-2000, FAX [886] (2) 702-7675, and in
Kao-hsiung at #2 Chung Cheng 3d Road, telephone [886] (7) 224-0154
through 0157, FAX [886] (7) 223-8237, and the American Trade Center
at Room 3207 International Trade Building, Taipei World Trade
Center, 333 Keelung Road Section 1, Taipei 10548, telephone [886]
(2) 720-1550
Flag: red with a dark blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side
corner bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays
Economy
-------
Economic overview: Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy with
considerable government guidance of investment and foreign trade and
partial government ownership of some large banks and industrial
firms. Real growth in GDP has averaged about 9% a year during the
past three decades. Export growth has been even faster and has
provided the impetus for industrialization. Inflation and
unemployment are low. Agriculture contributes about 4% to GDP, down
from 35% in 1952. Taiwan currently ranks as number 13 among major
trading countries. Traditional labor-intensive industries are
steadily being replaced with more capital- and technology-intensive
industries. Taiwan has become a major investor in China, Thailand,
Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The tightening of
labor markets has led to an influx of foreign workers, both legal
and illegal.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $290.5 billion (1995 est.)
GDP real growth rate: 6% (1995 est.)
GDP per capita: $13,510 (1995 est.)
GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.6%
industry: 37.3%
services: 59.1% (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4% (1995 est.)
Labor force: 8.874 million
by occupation: services 49%, industry 39%, agriculture 11% (1993
est.)
Unemployment rate: 1.6% (1995)
Budget:
revenues: $30.3 billion
expenditures: $30.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1991 est.)
Industries: electronics, textiles, chemicals, clothing, food
processing, plywood, sugar milling, cement, shipbuilding, petroleum
refining
Industrial production growth rate: 4.5% (1994 est.)
Electricity:
capacity: 21,460,000 kW
production: 108 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 4,789 kWh (1993)
Agriculture: rice, wheat, corn, soybeans, vegetables, fruit, tea;
pigs, poultry, beef, milk; fish catch increasing, reached 1.4
million metric tons in 1988
Illicit drugs: an important heroin transit point; also a drug
money laundering center
Exports: $93 billion (f.o.b., 1994)
commodities: electrical machinery 19.7%, electronic products 19.6%,
textiles 10.9%, footwear 3.3%, foodstuffs 1.0%, plywood and wood
products 0.9% (1993 est.)
partners: US 27.6%, Hong Kong 21.7%, EU countries 15.2%, Japan 10.5%
(1994 est.)
Imports: $85.1 billion (c.i.f., 1994)
commodities: machinery and equipment 15.7%, electronic products
15.6%, chemicals 9.8%, iron and steel 8.5%, crude oil 3.9%,
foodstuffs 2.1% (1993 est.)
partners: Japan 30.1%, US 21.7%, EU countries 17.6% (1993 est.)
External debt: $620 million (1992 est.)
Economic aid: $NA
Currency: 1 New Taiwan dollar (NT$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: New Taiwan dollars per US$1 - 27.4 (1995), 26.2
(1994), 26.6 (1993), 25.4 (1992), 25.748 (1991)
Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June
Transportation
--------------
Railways:
total: 4,600 km; note - 1,075 km in common carrier service and about
3,525 km is dedicated to industrial use
narrow gauge: 4,600 km 1.067-m
Highways:
total: 19,860 km
paved: 17,119 km (including 382 km of expressways)
unpaved: 2,741 km (1990 est.)
Pipelines: petroleum products 615 km; natural gas 97 km
Ports: Chi-lung (Keelung), Hua-lien, Kao-hsiung, Su-ao, T'ai-chung
Merchant marine:
total: 198 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,812,534
GRT/8,885,092 DWT
ships by type: bulk 50, cargo 29, combination bulk 3, combination
ore/oil 1, container 83, oil tanker 19, refrigerated cargo 11,
roll-on/roll-off cargo 2 (1995 est.)
Airports:
total: 38
with paved runways over 3 047 m: 8
with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 12
with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 4
with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 6
with paved runways under 914 m: 7
with unpaved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 1 (1995 est.)
Heliports: 1 (1995 est.)
Communications
--------------
Telephones: 10,253,773 (1993 est.)
Telephone system: best developed system in Asia outside of Japan
domestic: extensive microwave radio relay trunk system on east and
west coasts
international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Pacific
Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean); submarine cables to Japan (Okinawa),
Philippines, Guam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia,
Middle East, and Western Europe
Radio broadcast stations: AM 91, FM 23, shortwave 0
Radios: 8.62 million
Television broadcast stations: 15 (repeaters 13)
Televisions: 6.66 million (1993 est.)
Defense
-------
Branches: Army, Navy (includes Marines), Air Force, Coastal Patrol
and Defense Command, Armed Forces Reserve Command, Combined Service
Forces
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49: 6,278,159
males fit for military service: 4,849,057
males reach military age (19) annually: 204,313 (1996 est.)
Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $11.5 billion,
3.6% of GDP (FY96/97)
======================================================================
@Tajikistan
----------
Tajikistan has experienced three changes of government since it
gained independence in September 1991. The current president,
Emomali RAHMONOV, was elected in November 1994, yet has been in
power since 1992. The country is suffering through its third year of
a civil conflict, with no clear end in sight. Underlying the
conflict are deeply rooted regional and clan-based animosities that
pit a government consisting of people primarily from the Kulob
(Kulyab), Khujand (Leninabad), and Hisor (Hissar) regions against a
secular and Islamic-led opposition from the Gharm, Gorno-Badakhshan,
and Qurghonteppa (Kurgan-Tyube) regions. Government and opposition
representatives have held periodic rounds of UN-mediated peace talks
and agreed in September 1994 to a cease-fire which has been
periodically extended. Russian-led peacekeeping troops are deployed
throughout the country, and Russian-commanded border guards are
stationed along the Tajik-Afghan border.
Map
---
Location: 39 00 N, 71 00 E -- Central Asia, west of China
Flag
----
Description: three horizontal stripes of red (top), a wider stripe
of white, and green; a gold crown surmounted by seven five-pointed
gold stars is located in the center of the white stripe
Geography
---------
Location: Central Asia, west of China
Geographic coordinates: 39 00 N, 71 00 E
Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States
Area:
total area: 143,100 sq km
land area: 142,700 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than Wisconsin
Land boundaries:
total: 3,651 km
border countries: Afghanistan 1,206 km, China 414 km, Kyrgyzstan 870
km, Uzbekistan 1,161 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
International disputes: boundary with China in dispute;
territorial dispute with Kyrgyzstan on northern boundary in Isfara
Valley area; Afghanistan's and other foreign support to Islamic
fighters in Tajikistan's civil war based in northern Afghanistan
Climate: midlatitude continental, hot summers, mild winters;
semiarid to polar in Pamir Mountains
Terrain: Pamir and Altai Mountains dominate landscape; western
Fergana Valley in north, Kofarnihon and Vakhsh Valleys in southwest
lowest point: Syrdariya 300 m
highest point: Qullai Kommunizm 7,495 m
Natural resources: significant hydropower potential, some
petroleum, uranium, mercury, brown coal, lead, zinc, antimony,
tungsten
Land use:
arable land: 6%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 23%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 71%
Irrigated land: 6,940 sq km (1990)
Environment:
current issues: inadequate sanitation facilities; increasing levels
of soil salinity; industrial pollution; excessive pesticides; part
of the basin of the shrinking Aral Sea suffers from severe
overutilization of available water for irrigation and associated
pollution
natural hazards: NA
international agreements: NA
Geographic note: landlocked
People
------
Population: 5,916,373 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 43% (male 1,282,846; female 1,258,302)
15-64 years: 53% (male 1,546,264; female 1,566,365)
65 years and over: 4% (male 110,705; female 151,891) (July 1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.54% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 33.78 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Death rate: 8.43 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Net migration rate: -9.93 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.99 male(s)/female (1996 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 113.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 64.45 years
male: 60.84 years
female: 68.24 years (1996 est.)
Total fertility rate: 4.38 children born/woman (1996 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Tajik(s)
adjective: Tajik
Ethnic divisions: Tajik 64.9%, Uzbek 25%, Russian 3.5% (declining
because of emigration), other 6.6%
Religions: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi'a Muslim 5%
Languages: Tajik (official), Russian widely used in government and
business
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1989 est.)
total population: 98%
male: 99%
female: 97%
Government
----------
Name of country:
conventional long form: Republic of Tajikistan
conventional short form: Tajikistan
local long form: Jumhurii Tojikistan
local short form: none
former: Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic
Data code: TI
Type of government: republic
Capital: Dushanbe
Administrative divisions: 2 oblasts (viloyatho, singular -
viloyat) and one autonomous oblast* (viloyati avtonomii); Viloyati
Avtonomii Badakhshoni Kuni* (Khorugh - formerly Khorog), Viloyati
Khatlon (Qurghonteppa - formerly Kurgan-Tyube), Viloyati Leninobod
(Khujand - formerly Leninabad)
note: the administrative center names are in parentheses
Independence: 9 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)
National holiday: National Day, 9 September (1991)
Constitution: new constitution adopted 6 November 1994
Legal system: based on civil law system; no judicial review of
legislative acts
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Emomali RAHMONOV (since 6 November 1994;
was Head of State and Assembly Chairman since NA November 1992) was
elected for a five-year term by universal suffrage; election last
held 6 November 1994 (next to be held NA 1999); results - Emomali
RAHMONOV 58%, Abdumalik ABDULLAJANOV 40%
head of government: Prime Minister Yahyo AZIMOV (since 8 February
1996) was appointed by the president
cabinet: Council of Ministers was appointed by the president who
proposes them to the Supreme Assembly for approval
Legislative branch: unicameral
National Assembly (Majlisi Oli): elections last held 26 February and
12 March 1995 (next to be held NA 2000); results - percent of vote
by party NA; estimated seats - (181 total) Communist Party and
affiliates 100, People's Party 10, Party of People's Unity 6, Party
of Economic and Political Renewal 1, other 64
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the
president
Political parties and leaders: People's Party of Tajikistan,
Abdumajid DOSTIYEV; Party of People's Unity, Abdumalik ABDULLOJONOR;
Tajik Communist Party, Shodi SHABDOLOV; Democratic Party, Jumaboy
NIYAZOV, chairman; Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP), Mohammed Sharif
HIMMATZODA, chairman; Rebirth (Rastokhez), Takhir ABDUZHABOROV; Lali
Badakhshan Society, Atobek AMIRBEK; Tajikistan Party of Economic and
Political Renewal (TPEPR); Citizenship, Patriotism, Unity Party,
Bobokhon MAHMADOV; Adolatho "Justices" Party, Abdurahmon KARIMOV,
chairman
Other political or pressure groups: Tajikistan Opposition Movement
based in northern Afghanistan, Seyed Abdullah NURI, chairman
International organization participation: CIS, EBRD, ECE, ECO,
ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, Intelsat
(nonsignatory user), IOC, IOM, ITU, NACC, OIC, OSCE, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in US: Tajikistan does not have an
embassy in the US, but has a mission at the UN: address - 136 East
67th Street, New York, NY 10021, telephone - [1] (212) 472-7645, FAX
- [1] (212) 628-0252
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador R. Grant SMITH
embassy: interim chancery, Oktyabrskaya Hotel, 105A Prospect Rudaki,
Dushanbe 734001
mailing address: Octyabrskaya Hotel, 105A Prospect Rudaki, Dushanbe,
Tajikistan 734001
telephone: [7] (3772) 21-03-56
FAX: Telex (787) 20116
Flag: three horizontal stripes of red (top), a wider stripe of
white, and green; a gold crown surmounted by seven five-pointed gold
stars is located in the center of the white stripe
Economy
-------
Economic overview: Tajikistan had the next-to-lowest per capita
GDP in the former USSR, the highest rate of population growth, and
an extremely low standard of living. Agriculture dominates the
economy, with cotton being the most important crop. Mineral
resources, varied but limited in amount, include silver, gold,
uranium, and tungsten. Industry is limited to a large aluminum
plant, hydropower facilities, and small obsolete factories mostly in
light industry and food processing. The Tajik economy has been
gravely weakened by four years of civil conflict and by the loss of
subsidies and markets for its products, which has left Tajikistan
dependent on Russia and Uzbekistan and on international humanitarian
assistance for much of its basic subsistence needs. Moreover,
constant political turmoil and the continued dominance by former
communist officials have impeded the introduction of meaningful
economic reforms. The regime has made only halfhearted efforts to
stabilize the economy and promote reform.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $6.4 billion (1995 estimate as
extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1994)
GDP real growth rate: -12.4% (1995 est.)
GDP per capita: $1,040 (1995 est.)
GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 28% monthly average (1995 est.)
Labor force: 1.95 million (1992)
by occupation: agriculture and forestry 43%, government and services
24%, industry 14%, trade and communications 11%, construction 8%
(1990)
Unemployment rate: 3.3% includes only officially registered
unemployed; also large numbers of underemployed workers and
unregistered unemployed people (December 1995)
Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Industries: aluminum, zinc, lead, chemicals and fertilizers,
cement, vegetable oil, metal-cutting machine tools, refrigerators
and freezers
Industrial production growth rate: -5% (1995)
Electricity:
capacity: 3,800,000 kW
production: 14.8 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 2,400 kWh (1995)
Agriculture: cotton, grain, fruits, grapes, vegetables; cattle,
sheep, goats
Illicit drugs: illicit cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy;
mostly for CIS consumption; used as transshipment point for illicit
drugs from Southwest Asia to Western Europe and North America
Exports: $707 million (1995)
commodities: cotton, aluminum, fruits, vegetable oil, textiles
partners: Russia, Kazakstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan
Imports: $690 million (1995)
commodities: fuel, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment,
textiles, foodstuffs
partners: Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakstan
External debt: $635 million (of which $250 million to Russia)
(1995 est.)
Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $22 million (1993)
note: commitments, $885 million (disbursements $115 million)
(1992-95)
Currency: introduced its own currency, the Tajik ruble, in May 1995
Exchange rates: Tajik rubles per US$1 - 284 (January 1996)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Transportation
--------------
Railways:
total: 480 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial
lines (1990)
Highways:
total: 32,752 km
paved: 21,119 km
unpaved: 11,633 km (1992 est.)
Pipelines: natural gas 400 km (1992)
Ports: none
Airports:
total: 59
with paved runways over 3 047 m: 1
with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 5
with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 7
with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 1
with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 9
with unpaved runways under 914 m: 36 (1994 est.)
Communications
--------------
Telephones: 303,000 (1991 est.)
Telephone system: poorly developed and not well maintained; many
towns are not reached by the national network
domestic: cable and microwave radio relay
international: linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other
CIS republics, and by leased connections to the Moscow international
gateway switch; Dushanbe linked by Intelsat to international gateway
switch in Ankara (Turkey); satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 2
Intelsat
Radio broadcast stations: AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA; note - there
is one state-owned radio broadcast station
Radios: NA
Television broadcast stations: 1
note: 1 Intelsat earth station provides TV receive-only service from
Turkey
Televisions: NA
Defense
-------
Branches: Army (being formed), Presidential National Guard,
Security Forces (internal and border troops)
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49: 1,358,106
males fit for military service: 1,115,149
males reach military age (18) annually: 58,691 (1996 est.)
Defense expenditures: 180 billion rubles, 3.4% of GDP (1995)
======================================================================
@Tanzania
--------
Map
---
Location: 6 00 S, 35 00 E -- Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian
Ocean, between Kenya and Mozambique
Flag
----
Description: divided diagonally by a yellow-edged black band from
the lower hoist-side corner; the upper triangle (hoist side) is
green and the lower triangle is blue
Geography
---------
Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between
Kenya and Mozambique
Geographic coordinates: 6 00 S, 35 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area:
total area: 945,090 sq km
land area: 886,040 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than twice the size of California
note: includes the islands of Mafia, Pemba, and Zanzibar
Land boundaries:
total: 3,402 km
border countries: Burundi 451 km, Kenya 769 km, Malawi 475 km,
Mozambique 756 km, Rwanda 217 km, Uganda 396 km, Zambia 338 km
Coastline: 1,424 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
International disputes: boundary dispute with Malawi in Lake
Nyasa; Tanzania-Zaire-Zambia tripoint in Lake Tanganyika may no
longer be indefinite since it has been informally reported that the
indefinite section of the Zaire-Zambia boundary has been settled
Climate: varies from tropical along coast to temperate in highlands
Terrain: plains along coast; central plateau; highlands in north,
south
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Kilimanjaro 5,895 m
Natural resources: hydropower potential, tin, phosphates, iron
ore, coal, diamonds, gemstones, gold, natural gas, nickel
Land use:
arable land: 5%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 40%
forest and woodland: 47%
other: 7%
Irrigated land: 1,530 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: soil degradation; deforestation; desertification;
destruction of coral reefs threatens marine habitats; recent
droughts affected marginal agriculture
natural hazards: the tsetse fly and lack of water limit agriculture;
flooding on the central plateau during the rainy season
international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification
Geographic note: Kilimanjaro is highest point in Africa
People
------
Population: 29,058,470 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (male 6,536,911; female 6,576,752)
15-64 years: 52% (male 7,360,370; female 7,739,500)
65 years and over: 3% (male 396,128; female 448,809) (July 1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.15% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 41.31 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Death rate: 19.47 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Net migration rate: -10.36 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
note: the total number of Rwandan and Burundian refugees in Tanzania
is about 750,000
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.97 male(s)/female (1996 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 105.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 42.34 years
male: 40.95 years
female: 43.78 years (1996 est.)
Total fertility rate: 5.67 children born/woman (1996 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Tanzanian(s)
adjective: Tanzanian
Ethnic divisions:
mainland: native African (95% Bantu, consisting of well over 100
tribes) 99%, Asian, European, and Arab 1%
Zanzibar: Arab, mixed Arab and native African, native African
Religions:
mainland: Christian 45%, Muslim 35%, indigenous beliefs 20%
Zanzibar: Muslim more than 99%
Languages: Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguju (name for
Swahili in Zanzibar), English (official, primary language of
commerce, administration, and higher education), Arabic (widely
spoken in Zanzibar), many local languages
note: Kiswahili (Swahili) is the mother tongue of Bantu people
living in Zanzibar and nearby coastal Tanzania; although Kiswahili
is Bantu in structure and origin, its vocabulary draws on a variety
of sources, including Arabic and English, and it has become the
lingua franca of central and eastern Africa; the first language of
most people is one of the local languages
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write Kiswahili (Swahili),
English, or Arabic (1995 est.)
total population: 67.8%
male: 79.4%
female: 56.8%
Government
----------
Name of country:
conventional long form: United Republic of Tanzania
conventional short form: Tanzania
former: United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar
Data code: TZ
Type of government: republic
Capital: Dar es Salaam
note: some government offices have been transferred to Dodoma, which
is planned as the new national capital by the end of the 1990s
Administrative divisions: 25 regions; Arusha, Dar es Salaam,
Dodoma, Iringa, Kigoma, Kilimanjaro, Lindi, Mara, Mbeya, Morogoro,
Mtwara, Mwanza, Pemba North, Pemba South, Pwani, Rukwa, Ruvuma,
Shinyanga, Singida, Tabora, Tanga, Zanzibar Central/South, Zanzibar
North, Zanzibar Urban/West, Ziwa Magharibi
Independence: 26 April 1964; Tanganyika became independent 9
December 1961 (from UK-administered UN trusteeship); Zanzibar became
independent 19 December 1963 (from UK); Tanganyika united with
Zanzibar 26 April 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and
Zanzibar; renamed United Republic of Tanzania 29 October 1964
National holiday: Union Day, 26 April (1964)
Constitution: 25 April 1977; major revisions October 1984
Legal system: based on English common law; judicial review of
legislative acts limited to matters of interpretation; has not
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal