of the most politically and economically stable post-Communist states.
Its key macroeconomic indicators are, in the aggregate, the best in
the region, and public opinion polls show strong support for reform.
The country emerged from recession in 1994 with 2.6% growth and
reached about 5% growth in both 1995 and 1996 while keeping a balanced
budget and reorienting exports to the EU. Inflation and unemployment
of 8.7% and 3.3% respectively in 1996 are among the lowest in the
region. Prague's mass privatization program, including its innovative
distribution of ownership shares to Czech citizens via "coupon
vouchers," has made the most rapid progress in Eastern Europe. About
80% of the economy is in private hands or is partially privatized. The
Czech Republic appears to be the East European frontrunner in economic
integration with the West; for example, in 1996 it began to strengthen
its bankruptcy law and to improve the transparency of stock market
operations. It was the first post-Communist member of the OECD and is
expected to be in the next group of new EU members. Its solid economic
performance has led Standard and Poor's to upgrade the country's
sovereign credit rating to "A" and has attracted over $6.7 billion in
direct foreign investment to Czech industry between 1990 and September
1996 - one quarter from the US. Prague's biggest macroeconomic
concerns now are mounting trade and current account deficits. In
addition, the Czech economy still faces transition problems. The
government continues to exert too much direct and indirect influence
on the privatized economy, and the management of privatized firms
sometimes is ineffective. Insufficient regulation and lack of public
information in the capital markets and the banking system, combined
with a shortage of experienced financial analysts, limit the ability
to distribute new credit efficiently. The judicial system also has
trouble speedily processing bankruptcy cases. Prague has promised to
overhaul its bankruptcy law and improve stock market and bank
operations, but it will take years to ensure compliance. Prague
forecasts a balanced budget, 4.5% GDP growth, 3.3% unemployment and
7.5% to 8% inflation for 1997.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $114.3 billion (1996 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $11,100 (1996 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 4%
industry: 43%
services : 53% (1996 est.)
Inflation rate - consumer price index: 8.7% (1996 est.)
Labor force:
total: 5.107 million (1996)
by occupation: industry 33.1%, agriculture 6.9%, construction 9.1%,
transport and communications 7.2%, services 43.7% (1994)
Unemployment rate: 3.3% (1996 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $18.4 billion
expenditures: $18.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1996 est.)
Industries: fuels, ferrous metallurgy, machinery and equipment, coal,
motor vehicles, glass, armaments
Industrial production growth rate: 6.4% (1996 est.)
Electricity - capacity: 13.85 million kW (1994)
Electricity - production: 55.38 billion kWh (1994)
Electricity - consumption per capita: 4,712 kWh (1995 est.)
Agriculture - products: grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit;
pigs, cattle, poultry; forest products
Exports:
total value: $21.9 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities: manufactured goods 32.4%, machinery and transport
equipment 26.3%, chemicals 10.4%, raw materials and fuel 11.3% (1995)
partners : EU 55.1%, Eastern Europe, excluding Slovakia, and CIS
countries 16.9%, Slovakia 16.2%, developing countries 6.6%, EFTA 1.8%
(1995)
Imports:
total value: $27.8 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities: machinery and transport equipment 35.6%, manufactured
goods 17.9%, chemicals 13.2%, raw materials and fuels 14.4% (1994)
partners : EU 56.4%, Eastern Europe, excluding Slovakia, and CIS
countries 15.7%, Slovakia 13.1%, developing countries 6.0%, EFTA 2.5%
(1995)
Debt - external: $17.1 billion (1996 est.)
Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $27 million (1993)
Currency: 1 koruna (Kc) = 100 haleru
Exchange rates: koruny (Kcs) per US$1 - 27.516 (January 1997), 27.145
(1996), 26.541 (1995), 28.785 (1994), 29.153 (1993), 28.26 (1992)
note: values before 1993 reflect Czechoslovak exchange rates
Fiscal year: calendar year
@Czech Republic:Communications
Telephones: 3,349,539 (1993 est.)
Telephone system:
domestic: NA
international : satellite earth stations - 2 Intersputnik (Atlantic
and Indian Ocean Regions)
Radio broadcast stations: AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
Radios: NA
Television broadcast stations: NA
Televisions: NA
@Czech Republic:Transportation
Railways:
total: 9,441 km
standard gauge : 9,345 km 1.435-m standard gauge (2641 km electrified
at three voltages)
narrow gauge: 96 km two narrow gauges (1995)
Highways:
total: 124,770 km
paved: 16,719 km (including 414 km of expressways)
unpaved : 108,051 km (1995 est.)
Waterways: NA km; the Elbe (Labe) is the principal river
Pipelines: natural gas 5,400 km
Ports and harbors: Decin, Prague, Usti nad Labem
Merchant marine:
total: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 80,117 GRT/134,890 DWT
ships by type: bulk 3, cargo 1 (1996 est.)
Airports: 116 (1994 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total : 29
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 9
1,524 to 2,437 m: 13
under 914 m: 5 (1994 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 87
over 3,047 m : 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 10
914 to 1,523 m: 32
under 914 m : 41 (1994 est.)
Military
Military branches: Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense,
Railroad Units
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 2,715,759 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males: 2,068,143 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males : 84,516 (1997 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $1.22 billion (1996)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.2% (1996)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: Liechtenstein claims restitution for 1,600
sq km of Czech territory confiscated from its royal family in 1918;
the Czech Republic insists that restitution does not go back before
February 1948, when the communists seized power; individual Sudeten
German claims for restitution of property confiscated in connection
with their expulsion after World War II; unresolved property issues
with Slovakia over redistribution of property of the former
Czechoslovak federal government
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and
hashish and Latin American cocaine to Western Europe; domestic
consumption - especially of locally produced synthetic drugs - on the
rise
______________________________________________________________________
DENMARK
@Denmark:Geography
Location: Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea,
on a peninsula north of Germany
Geographic coordinates: 56 00 N, 10 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area:
total: 43,094 sq km
land: 42,394 sq km
water: 700 sq km
note: includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest
of metropolitan Denmark, but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland
Area - comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Massachusetts
Land boundaries:
total: 68 km
border countries : Germany 68 km
Coastline: 7,314 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 4 nm
continental shelf : 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea : 3 nm
Climate: temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool
summers
Terrain: low and flat to gently rolling plains
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Lammefjord -7 m
highest point: Ejer Bavnehoj 173 m
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone,
stone, gravel and sand
Land use:
arable land: 60%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures : 5%
forests and woodland: 10%
other: 25% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 4,350 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: flooding is a threat in some areas of the country
(e.g., parts of Jutland, along the southern coast of the island of
Lolland) that are protected from the sea by a system of dikes
Environment - current issues: air pollution, principally from vehicle
and power plant emissions; nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of the
North Sea; drinking and surface water becoming polluted from animal
wastes and pesticides
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber
94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea
Geography - note: controls Danish Straits (Skagerrak and Kattegat)
linking Baltic and North Seas; about one-quarter of the population
lives in Copenhagen
@Denmark:People
Population: 5,305,048 (July 1997 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years : 18% (male 487,731; female 463,444)
15-64 years: 67% (male 1,801,904; female 1,754,435)
65 years and over: 15% (male 330,143; female 467,391) (July 1997 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.59% (1997 est.)
Birth rate: 12.78 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Death rate: 11.22 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Net migration rate: 4.32 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (1997 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 5.2 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 76.1 years
male: 73.44 years
female: 78.9 years (1997 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.75 children born/woman (1997 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Dane(s)
adjective: Danish
Ethnic groups: Scandinavian, Eskimo, Faroese, German
Religions: Evangelical Lutheran 91%, other Protestant and Roman
Catholic 2%, other 7% (1988)
Languages: Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Eskimo dialect), German
(small minority)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1980 est.)
male : NA%
female: NA%
@Denmark:Government
Country name:
conventional long form : Kingdom of Denmark
conventional short form: Denmark
local long form: Kongeriget Danmark
local short form: Danmark
Data code: DA
Government type: constitutional monarchy
National capital: Copenhagen
Administrative divisions: metropolitan Denmark - 14 counties (amter,
singular - amt) and 1 city* (stad); Arhus, Bornholms, Frederiksborg,
Fyns, Kobenhavns, Nordjyllands, Ribe, Ringkobing, Roskilde,
Sonderjyllands, Staden Kobenhavn*, Storstroms, Vejle, Vestsjaellands,
Viborg
note : there is one other city, Fredericksberg, mentioned by some
sources, but the US government has not recognized it as a first-order
administrative division; see separate entries for the Faroe Islands
and Greenland, which are part of the Danish realm and self-governing
administrative divisions
Independence: 10th century first organized as a unified state; in 1849
became a constitutional monarchy
National holiday: Birthday of the Queen, 16 April (1940)
Constitution: 1849 was the original constitution; there was a major
overhaul 5 June 1953, allowing for a unicameral legislature and a
female chief of state
Legal system: civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts;
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: Queen MARGRETHE II (since 14 January 1972); Heir
Apparent Crown Prince FREDERIK, elder son of the queen (born 26 May
1968)
head of government: Prime Minister Poul Nyrup RASMUSSEN (since 25
January 1993)
cabinet : Cabinet appointed by the queen
elections: none; the queen is a constitutional monarch; prime minister
appointed by the queen
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament or Folketing (179 seats;
members are elected on the basis of proportional representation to
serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 21 September 1994 (next to be held not later than
September 1998)
election results: percent of vote by party - Social Democrats 34.6%,
Liberals 23.3%, Conservatives 15.0%, Socialist People's Party 7.3%,
Progress Party 6.4%, Social Liberals 4.6%, Unity List 3.1%, Center
Democrats 2.8%, Christian People's Party 1.8%; seats by party - Social
Democrats 63, Liberals 44, Conservatives 28, Socialist People's Party
13, Progress Party 11, Social Liberals 8, Unity List 6, Center
Democrats 5, independent 1; note - Progress Party split up in spring
of 1995: Progress Party retained 7 seats, Danish People's Party 4
seats
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the monarch
for life
Political parties and leaders: Social Democratic Party [Poul Nyrup
RASMUSSEN]; Conservative Party [Hans ENGELL]; Liberal Party [Uffe
ELLEMANN-JENSEN]; Socialist People's Party [Holger K. NIELSEN];
Progress Party [Kirsten JAKOBSEN]; Center Democratic Party [Mimi
JAKOBSEN]; Social Liberal Party [Marianne JELVED]; Unity Party [none];
Danish People's Party [Pia KJAERSGAARD]
International organization participation: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB,
Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN, EBRD, ECE, EIB, ESA, EU,
FAO, G- 9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD,
IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC,
IOM, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NACC, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OECD, OSCE, PCA,
UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMOGIP, UNMOP,
UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNTAES, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (observer), WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission : Ambassador Knud-Erik TYGESEN
chancery: 3200 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 234-4300
FAX: [1] (202) 328-1470
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission : Ambassador Edward E. ELSON
embassy: Dag Hammarskjolds Alle 24, 2100 Copenhagen
mailing address: PSC 73, APO AE 09716
telephone: [45] (31) 42 31 44
FAX : [45] (35) 43 02 23
Flag description: red with a white cross that extends to the edges of
the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side,
and that design element of the Dannebrog (Danish flag) was
subsequently adopted by the other Nordic countries of Finland,
Iceland, Norway, and Sweden
Economy
Economy - overview: This thoroughly modern market economy features
high-tech agriculture, up-to-date small-scale and corporate industry,
extensive government welfare measures, comfortable living standards,
and high dependence on foreign trade. Denmark is a net exporter of
food. The center-left coalition government will concentrate on
reducing the persistently high unemployment rate and the budget
deficit as well as following the previous government's policies of
maintaining low inflation and a current account surplus. The coalition
also vows to maintain a stable currency. The coalition has lowered
marginal income taxes while maintaining overall tax revenues; boosted
industrial competitiveness through labor market and tax reforms and
increased research and development funds; and improved welfare
services for the neediest while cutting paperwork and delays. Prime
Minister RASMUSSEN's reforms focus on adapting Denmark to the criteria
for European integration by 1999; Copenhagen has won from the European
Union (EU) the right to opt out of the European Monetary Union (EMU).
Denmark is, in fact, one of the few EU countries likely to fit into
the EMU on time.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $118.2 billion (1996 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $22,700 (1996 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 4%
industry: 27%
services: 69% (1995)
Inflation rate - consumer price index: 2.1% (1996 est.)
Labor force:
total: 2,895,950
by occupation: private services 40%, government services 30%,
manufacturing and mining 19%, construction 6%, agriculture, forestry,
and fishing 5% (1995)
Unemployment rate: 8.2% (November 1996)
Budget:
revenues: $62.1 billion
expenditures: $66.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1996 est.)
Industries: food processing, machinery and equipment, textiles and
clothing, chemical products, electronics, construction, furniture, and
other wood products, shipbuilding
Industrial production growth rate: 3.4% (1996)
Electricity - capacity: 9.458 million kW 000 kW
Electricity - production: 34.6 billion kWh
Electricity - consumption per capita: 6,411 kWh (1995)
Agriculture - products: grain, potatoes, rape, sugar beets; meat,
dairy products; fish
Exports:
total value: $47.6 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities: machinery and instruments 25%, meat and meat products,
fuels, dairy products, ships, fish, chemicals
partners : Germany 22.5%, Sweden 9.7%, UK 7.9%, Norway 5.9%, France
5.4%, Netherlands 4.4%, US 4.0% (1995)
Imports:
total value: $42.4 billion (c.i.f., 1996 est.)
commodities: machinery and equipment, petroleum 25%, chemicals, grain
and foodstuffs, textiles, paper
partners : Germany 21.7%, Sweden 11.7%, Netherlands 7.0%, UK 6.6%,
France 5.2%, Norway 4.9%, US 4.7%, Japan 3.5%, FSU 1.7% (1995)
Debt - external: $44 billion (1996 est.)
Economic aid:
donor: ODA, $1.34 billion (1993)
Currency: 1 Danish krone (DKr) = 100 oere
Exchange rates: Danish kroner (DKr) per US$1 - 6.117 (January 1997),
5.799 (1996), 5.602 (1995), 6.361 (1994), 6.484 (1993), 6.036 (1992)
Fiscal year: calendar year
@Denmark:Communications
Telephones: 4.025 million (1995 est.), of which 822,000 are mobile
telephones
Telephone system: excellent telephone and telegraph services
domestic: buried and submarine cables and microwave radio relay form
trunk network, four cellular radio communications systems
international: 18 submarine optical fiber cables linking Denmark with
Norway, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, UK, Faroe
Islands, Iceland, and Canada; satellite earth stations - 6 Intelsat;
10 Eutelsat; 1 Orion; 1 Inmarsat (Blaavand-Atlantic-East); note - the
Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) share
the Danish earth station and the Eik, Norway, station for world-wide
Inmarsat access
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 0
Radios: NA
Television broadcast stations: 50 (1996 est.)
Televisions: 3 million (1996 est.)
@Denmark:Transportation
Railways:
total: 2,848 km (499 km privately owned and operated)
standard gauge: 2,848 km 1.435-m gauge (326 km electrified; 760 km
double track) (1995)
Highways:
total : 71,420 km
paved: 71,420 km (including 830 km of expressways)
unpaved: 0 km (1995 est.)
Waterways: 417 km
Pipelines: crude oil 110 km; petroleum products 578 km; natural gas
700 km
Ports and harbors: Alborg, Arhus, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Fredericia,
Grenaa, Koge, Odense, Struer
Merchant marine:
total: 328 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,180,729 GRT/7,400,870
DWT
ships by type: bulk 15, cargo 114, chemical tanker 20, container 68,
liquefied gas tanker 25, livestock carrier 6, oil tanker 29, railcar
carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 16, roll-on/roll-off cargo 24, short-sea
passenger 9, specialized tanker 1
note: Denmark has created its own internal register, called the Danish
International Ship register (DIS); DIS ships do not have to meet
Danish manning regulations, and they amount to a flag of convenience
within the Danish register (1996 est.)
Airports: 109 (1996 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 102
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m : 7
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 13
under 914 m: 77 (1996 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total : 7
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 6 (1996 est.)
Military
Military branches: Royal Danish Army, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Danish
Air Force, Home Guard
Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age
Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 1,333,279 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males : 1,146,099 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 33,532 (1997 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $2.9 billion (1997 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.6% (1997 est.)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: Rockall continental shelf dispute involving
Iceland, Ireland, and the UK (Ireland and the UK have signed a
boundary agreement in the Rockall area)
______________________________________________________________________
DJIBOUTI
@Djibouti:Geography
Location: Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea,
between Eritrea and Somalia
Geographic coordinates: 11 30 N, 43 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area:
total: 22,000 sq km
land: 21,980 sq km
water : 20 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Massachusetts
Land boundaries:
total: 508 km
border countries : Eritrea 113 km, Ethiopia 337 km, Somalia 58 km
Coastline: 314 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone : 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: desert; torrid, dry
Terrain: coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Asal -155 m
highest point : Mousa Alli 2,028 m
Natural resources: geothermal areas
Land use:
arable land : NA%
permanent crops: NA%
permanent pastures: 9%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 91% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic
disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods
Environment - current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water;
desertification
Environment - international agreements:
party to : Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Law of
the Sea, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Desertification
Geography - note: strategic location near world's busiest shipping
lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; terminus of rail traffic into
Ethiopia; mostly wasteland
@Djibouti:People
Population: 434,116 (July 1997 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 43% (male 92,920; female 92,584)
15-64 years: 55% (male 125,547; female 112,140)
65 years and over: 2% (male 5,624; female 5,301) (July 1997 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.51% (1997 est.)
Birth rate: 42.16 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Death rate: 14.98 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Net migration rate: -12.09 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.12 male(s)/female
65 years and over : 1.06 male(s)/female
total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (1997 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 104.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 50.61 years
male: 48.65 years
female: 52.63 years (1997 est.)
Total fertility rate: 6.01 children born/woman (1997 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Djiboutian(s)
adjective: Djiboutian
Ethnic groups: Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and
Italian 5%
Religions: Muslim 94%, Christian 6%
Languages: French (official), Arabic (official), Somali, Afar
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 46.2%
male : 60.3%
female: 32.7% (1995 est.)
@Djibouti:Government
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Djibouti
conventional short form: Djibouti
former: French Territory of the Afars and Issas, French Somaliland
Data code: DJ
Government type: republic
National capital: Djibouti
Administrative divisions: 5 districts (cercles, singular - cercle);
'Ali Sabih, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjoura
Independence: 27 June 1977 (from France)
National holiday: Independence Day, 27 June (1977)
Constitution: multiparty constitution approved in referendum 4
September 1992
Legal system: based on French civil law system, traditional practices,
and Islamic law
Suffrage: NA years of age; universal adult
Executive branch:
chief of state: President HASSAN GOULED Aptidon (since 24 June 1977)
head of government: Prime Minister BARKAT Gourad Hamadou (since 30
September 1978)
cabinet : Council of Ministers responsible to the president
elections: president elected by popular vote to a six-year term;
election last held 7 May 1993 (next to be held NA 1999)
election results: President HASSAN GOULED reelected; percent of vote -
NA
Legislative branch: unicameral Chamber of Deputies or Chambre des
Deputes (65 seats; members are elected to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 18 December 1992 (next to be held NA 1997)
election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - RPP 65; note - RPP
(the ruling party) dominated
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Political parties and leaders:
ruling party : People's Progress Assembly or RPP [Hassan GOULED
Aptidon]
other parties: Democratic Renewal Party or PRD [Mohamed Jama ELABE];
Democratic National Party or PND [ADEN Robleh Awaleh]
Political pressure groups and leaders: Front for the Restoration of
Unity and Democracy or FRUD, and affiliates; Movement for Unity and
Democracy or MUD
International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL,
ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
IGADD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC,
ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIH, UPU, WFTU, WHO,
WMO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador ROBLE Olhaye Oudine
chancery: Suite 515, 1156 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005
telephone: [1] (202) 331-0270
FAX : [1] (202) 331-0302