href = "../appendix/appendix-f.html"Appendix F: Cross Reference List
of Geographic Names. It includes a listing of various alternate
names, former names, local names, and regional names referenced to
one or more related Factbook entries. Spellings are normally, but
not always, those approved by the US Board on Geographic Names
(BGN). Alternate names and additional information are included in
parentheses.
Geography
This category includes the entries dealing with the natural
environment and the effects of human activity.
Geography - note
This entry includes miscellaneous geographic information of
significance not included elsewhere.
Gini index
See entry for Distribution of family income - Gini index
GNP
Gross national product (GNP) is the value of all final goods and
services produced within a nation in a given year, plus income
earned by its citizens abroad, minus income earned by foreigners
from domestic production. The Factbook, following current practice,
uses GDP rather than GNP to measure national production. However,
the user must realize that in certain countries net remittances from
citizens working abroad may be important to national well-being.
Government
This category includes the entries dealing with the system for the
adoption and administration of public policy.
Government - note
This entry includes miscellaneous government information of
significance not included elsewhere.
Government type
This entry gives the basic form of government. Definitions of the
major governmental terms are as follows. (Note that for some
countries more than one definition applies.):
Absolute monarchy - a form of government where the monarch rules
unhindered, i.e., without any laws, constitution, or legally
organized opposition.
Anarchy - a condition of lawlessness or political disorder brought
about by the absence of governmental authority.
Authoritarian - a form of government in which state authority is
imposed onto many aspects of citizens' lives.
Commonwealth - a nation, state, or other political entity founded on
law and united by a compact of the people for the common good.
Communist - a system of government in which the state plans and
controls the economy and a single - often authoritarian - party
holds power; state controls are imposed with the elimination of
private ownership of property or capital while claiming to make
progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally
shared by the people (i.e., a classless society).
Confederacy (Confederation) - a union by compact or treaty between
states, provinces, or territories, that creates a central government
with limited powers; the constituent entities retain supreme
authority over all matters except those delegated to the central
government.
Constitutional - a government by or operating under an authoritative
document (constitution) that sets forth the system of fundamental
laws and principles that determines the nature, functions, and
limits of that government.
Constitutional democracy - a form of government in which the
sovereign power of the people is spelled out in a governing
constitution.
Constitutional monarchy - a system of government in which a monarch
is guided by a constitution whereby his/her rights, duties, and
responsibilities are spelled out in written law or by custom.
Democracy - a form of government in which the supreme power is
retained by the people, but which is usually exercised indirectly
through a system of representation and delegated authority
periodically renewed.
Democratic republic - a state in which the supreme power rests in
the body of citizens entitled to vote for officers and
representatives responsible to them.
Dictatorship - a form of government in which a ruler or small clique
wield absolute power (not restricted by a constitution or laws).
Ecclesiastical - a government administrated by a church.
Emirate - similar to a monarchy or sultanate, but a government in
which the supreme power is in the hands of an emir (the ruler of a
Muslim state); the emir may be an absolute overlord or a sovereign
with constitutionally limited authority.
Federal (Federation) - a form of government in which sovereign power
is formally divided - usually by means of a constitution - between a
central authority and a number of constituent regions (states,
colonies, or provinces) so that each region retains some management
of its internal affairs; differs from a confederacy in that the
central government exerts influence directly upon both individuals
as well as upon the regional units.
Federal republic - a state in which the powers of the central
government are restricted and in which the component parts (states,
colonies, or provinces) retain a degree of self-government; ultimate
sovereign power rests with the voters who chose their governmental
representatives.
Islamic republic - a particular form of government adopted by some
Muslim states; although such a state is, in theory, a theocracy, it
remains a republic, but its laws are required to be compatible with
the laws of Islam.
Maoism - the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism developed in
China by Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung), which states that a continuous
revolution is necessary if the leaders of a communist state are to
keep in touch with the people.
Marxism - the political, economic, and social principles espoused by
19th century economist Karl Marx; he viewed the struggle of workers
as a progression of historical forces that would proceed from a
class struggle of the proletariat (workers) exploited by capitalists
(business owners), to a socialist "dictatorship of the proletariat,"
to, finally, a classless society - Communism.
Marxism-Leninism - an expanded form of communism developed by Lenin
from doctrines of Karl Marx; Lenin saw imperialism as the final
stage of capitalism and shifted the focus of workers' struggle from
developed to underdeveloped countries.
Monarchy - a government in which the supreme power is lodged in the
hands of a monarch who reigns over a state or territory, usually for
life and by hereditary right; the monarch may be either a sole
absolute ruler or a sovereign - such as a king, queen, or prince -
with constitutionally limited authority.
Oligarchy - a government in which control is exercised by a small
group of individuals whose authority generally is based on wealth or
power.
Parliamentary democracy - a political system in which the
legislature (parliament) selects the government - a prime minister,
premier, or chancellor along with the cabinet ministers - according
to party strength as expressed in elections; by this system, the
government acquires a dual responsibility: to the people as well as
to the parliament.
Parliamentary government (Cabinet-Parliamentary government) - a
government in which members of an executive branch (the cabinet and
its leader - a prime minister, premier, or chancellor) are nominated
to their positions by a legislature or parliament, and are directly
responsible to it; this type of government can be dissolved at will
by the parliament (legislature) by means of a no confidence vote or
the leader of the cabinet may dissolve the parliament if it can no
longer function.
Parliamentary monarchy - a state headed by a monarch who is not
actively involved in policy formation or implementation (i.e., the
exercise of sovereign powers by a monarch in a ceremonial capacity);
true governmental leadership is carried out by a cabinet and its
head - a prime minister, premier, or chancellor - who are drawn from
a legislature (parliament).
Presidential - a system of government where the executive branch
exists separately from a legislature (to which it is generally not
accountable).
Republic - a representative democracy in which the people's elected
deputies (representatives), not the people themselves, vote on
legislation.
Socialism - a government in which the means of planning, producing,
and distributing goods is controlled by a central government that
theoretically seeks a more just and equitable distribution of
property and labor; in actuality, most socialist governments have
ended up being no more than dictatorships over workers by a ruling
elite.
Sultanate - similar to a monarchy, but a government in which the
supreme power is in the hands of a sultan (the head of a Muslim
state); the sultan may be an absolute ruler or a sovereign with
constitutionally limited authority.
Theocracy - a form of government in which a Deity is recognized as
the supreme civil ruler, but the Deity's laws are interpreted by
ecclesiastical authorities (bishops, mullahs, etc.); a government
subject to religious authority.
Totalitarian - a government that seeks to subordinate the individual
to the state by controlling not only all political and economic
matters, but also the attitudes, values, and beliefs of its
population.
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
The mean solar time at the Greenwich Meridian, Greenwich, England,
with the hours and days, since 1925, reckoned from midnight. GMT is
now a historical term having been replaced by UTC on 1 January 1972.
See Coordinated Universal Time.
Gross domestic product
See GDP
Gross national product
See GNP
Gross world product
See GWP
GWP
This entry gives the gross world product (GWP) or aggregate value of
all final goods and services produced worldwide in a given year.
H
Heliports
This entry gives the total number of heliports with hard-surface
runways, helipads, or landing areas that support routine sustained
helicopter operations exclusively and have support facilities
including one or more of the following facilities: lighting, fuel,
passenger handling, or maintenance. It includes former airports used
exclusively for helicopter operations but excludes heliports limited
to day operations and natural clearings that could support
helicopter landings and takeoffs.
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate
This entry gives an estimate of the percentage of adults (aged
15-49) living with HIV/AIDS. The adult prevalence rate is calculated
by dividing the estimated number of adults living with HIV/AIDS at
yearend by the total adult population at yearend.
HIV/AIDS - deaths
This entry gives an estimate of the number of adults and children
who died of AIDS during a given calendar year.
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS
This entry gives an estimate of all people (adults and children)
alive at yearend with HIV infection, whether or not they have
developed symptoms of AIDS.
Household income or consumption by percentage share
Data on household income or consumption come from household surveys,
the results adjusted for household size. Nations use different
standards and procedures in collecting and adjusting the data.
Surveys based on income will normally show a more unequal
distribution than surveys based on consumption. The quality of
surveys is improving with time, yet caution is still necessary in
making inter-country comparisons.
Hydrographic data codes
See Data codes
I
Illicit drugs
This entry gives information on the five categories of illicit drugs
- narcotics, stimulants, depressants (sedatives), hallucinogens, and
cannabis. These categories include many drugs legally produced and
prescribed by doctors as well as those illegally produced and sold
outside of medical channels.
Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) is the common hemp plant, which provides
hallucinogens with some sedative properties, and includes marijuana
(pot, Acapulco gold, grass, reefer), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC,
Marinol), hashish (hash), and hashish oil (hash oil).
Coca (mostly Erythroxylum coca) is a bush with leaves that contain
the stimulant used to make cocaine. Coca is not to be confused with
cocoa, which comes from cacao seeds and is used in making chocolate,
cocoa, and cocoa butter.
Cocaine is a stimulant derived from the leaves of the coca bush.
Depressants (sedatives) are drugs that reduce tension and anxiety
and include chloral hydrate, barbiturates (Amytal, Nembutal,
Seconal, phenobarbital), benzodiazepines (Librium, Valium),
methaqualone (Quaalude), glutethimide (Doriden), and others
(Equanil, Placidyl, Valmid).
Drugs are any chemical substances that effect a physical, mental,
emotional, or behavioral change in an individual.
Drug abuse is the use of any licit or illicit chemical substance
that results in physical, mental, emotional, or behavioral
impairment in an individual.
Hallucinogens are drugs that affect sensation, thinking,
self-awareness, and emotion. Hallucinogens include LSD (acid,
microdot), mescaline and peyote (mexc, buttons, cactus), amphetamine
variants (PMA, STP, DOB), phencyclidine (PCP, angel dust, hog),
phencyclidine analogues (PCE, PCPy, TCP), and others (psilocybin,
psilocyn).
Hashish is the resinous exudate of the cannabis or hemp plant
(Cannabis sativa).
Heroin is a semisynthetic derivative of morphine.
Mandrax is a trade name for methaqualone, a pharmaceutical
depressant.
Marijuana is the dried leaf of the cannabis or hemp plant (Cannabis
sativa).
Methaqualone is a pharmaceutical depressant, referred to as mandrax
in Southwest Asia and Africa.
Narcotics are drugs that relieve pain, often induce sleep, and refer
to opium, opium derivatives, and synthetic substitutes. Natural
narcotics include opium (paregoric, parepectolin), morphine
(MS-Contin, Roxanol), codeine (Tylenol with codeine, Empirin with
codeine, Robitussin AC), and thebaine. Semisynthetic narcotics
include heroin (horse, smack), and hydromorphone (Dilaudid).
Synthetic narcotics include meperidine or Pethidine (Demerol,
Mepergan), methadone (Dolophine, Methadose), and others (Darvon,
Lomotil).
Opium is the brown, gummy exudate of the incised, unripe seedpod of
the opium poppy.
Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is the source for the natural and
semisynthetic narcotics.
Poppy straw is the entire cut and dried opium poppy-plant material,
other than the seeds. Opium is extracted from poppy straw in
commercial operations that produce the drug for medical use.
Qat (kat, khat) is a stimulant from the buds or leaves of Catha
edulis that is chewed or drunk as tea.
Quaaludes is the North American slang term for methaqualone, a
pharmaceutical depressant.
Stimulants are drugs that relieve mild depression, increase energy
and activity, and include cocaine (coke, snow, crack), amphetamines
(Desoxyn, Dexedrine), ephedrine, ecstasy (clarity, essence, doctor,
Adam), phenmetrazine (Preludin), methylphenidate (Ritalin), and
others (Cylert, Sanorex, Tenuate).
Imports
This entry provides the total US dollar amount of merchandise
imports on a c.i.f. (cost, insurance, and freight) or f.o.b. (free
on board) basis. These figures are calculated on an exchange rate
basis, i.e., not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
Imports - commodities
This entry provides a listing of the highest-valued imported
products; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
Imports - partners
This entry provides a rank ordering of trading partners starting
with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total
dollar value.
Independence
For most countries, this entry gives the date that sovereignty was
achieved and from which nation, empire, or trusteeship. For the
other countries, the date given may not represent "independence" in
the strict sense, but rather some significant nationhood event such
as the traditional founding date or the date of unification,
federation, confederation, establishment, fundamental change in the
form of government, or state succession. For a number of countries,
the establishment of statehood was a lengthy evolutionary process
occurring over decades or even centuries. In such cases, several
significant dates are cited. Dependent areas include the notation
"none" followed by the nature of their dependency status. Also see
the Terminology note.
Industrial production growth rate
This entry gives the annual percentage increase in industrial
production (includes manufacturing, mining, and construction).
Industries
This entry provides a rank ordering of industries starting with the
largest by value of annual output.
Infant mortality rate
This entry gives the number of deaths of infants under one year old
in a given year per 1,000 live births in the same year; included is
the total death rate, and deaths by sex, male and female. This rate
is often used as an indicator of the level of health in a country.
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
This entry furnishes the annual percent change in consumer prices
compared with the previous year's consumer prices.
International disputes
see Disputes - international
International organization participation
This entry lists in alphabetical order by abbreviation those
international organizations in which the subject country is a member
or participates in some other way.
International organizations
This information is presented in This information is presented in <a
href = "../appendix/appendix-b.html"Appendix B: International
Organizations and Groups which includes the name, abbreviation, date
established, aim, and members by category.
Internet country code
This entry includes the two-letter codes maintained by the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in the ISO 3166
Alpha-2 list and used by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
(IANA) to establish country-coded top-level domains (ccTLDs).
Internet hosts
This entry lists the number of Internet hosts available within a
country. An Internet host is a computer connected directly to the
Internet; normally an Internet Service Provider's (ISP) computer is
a host. Internet users may use either a hard-wired terminal, at an
institution with a mainframe computer connected directly to the
Internet, or may connect remotely by way of a modem via telephone
line, cable, or satellite to the Internet Service Provider's host
computer. The number of hosts is one indicator of the extent of
Internet connectivity.
Internet users
This entry gives the number of users within a country that access
the Internet. Statistics vary from country to country and may
include users who access the Internet at least several times a week
to those who access it only once within a period of several months.
Introduction
This category includes one entry, Background.
Investment (gross fixed)
This entry records total business spending on fixed assets, such as
factories, machinery, equipment, dwellings, and inventories of raw
materials, which provide the basis for future production. It is
measured gross of the depreciation of the assets, i.e., it includes
investment that merely replaces worn-out or scrapped capital.
Irrigated land
This entry gives the number of square kilometers of land area that
is artificially supplied with water.
J
Judicial branch
This entry contains the name(s) of the highest court(s) and a brief
description of the selection process for members.
L
Labor force
This entry contains the total labor force figure.
Labor force - by occupation
This entry lists the percentage distribution of the labor force by
occupation. The distribution will total less than 100 percent if the
data are incomplete and may range from 99-101 percent due to
rounding.
Land boundaries
This entry contains the total length of all land boundaries and the
individual lengths for each of the contiguous border countries. When
available, official lengths published by national statistical
agencies are used. Because surveying methods may differ, country
border lengths reported by contiguous countries may differ.
Land use
This entry contains the percentage shares of total land area for
three different types of land use: arable land - land cultivated for
crops like wheat, maize, and rice that are replanted after each
harvest; permanent crops - land cultivated for crops like citrus,
coffee, and rubber that are not replanted after each harvest;
includes land under flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees, and
vines, but excludes land under trees grown for wood or timber; other
- any land not arable or under permanent crops; includes permanent
meadows and pastures, forests and woodlands, built-on areas, roads,
barren land, etc.
Languages
This entry provides a rank ordering of languages starting with the
largest and sometimes includes the percent of total population
speaking that language.
Legal system