to Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica,
Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines)
Political parties and leaders: National Alliance or NA [George ODLUM];
Saint Lucia Freedom Party or SFP [Martinus FRANCOIS]; Saint Lucia
Labor Party or SLP [Kenneth ANTHONY]; Sou Tout Apwe Fete Fini or STAFF
[Christopher HUNTE]; United Workers Party or UWP [Dr. Morella JOSEPH]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: ACCT, ACP, C, Caricom, CDB,
ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO,
IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAS, OECS, OPANAL,
OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Sonia Merlyn JOHNNY chancery: 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20016 telephone: [1] (202) 364-6792 through 6795 FAX: [1] (202)
364-6728 consulate(s) general: Miami and New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: the US does not have an embassy
in Saint Lucia; the US Ambassador in Barbados is accredited to Saint Lucia
Flag description: blue, with a gold isosceles triangle below a black
arrowhead; the upper edges of the arrowhead have a white border
Economy Saint Lucia
Economy - overview: The recent changes in the EU import preference
regime and the increased competition from Latin American bananas
have made economic diversification increasingly important in Saint
Lucia. The island nation has been able to attract foreign business and
investment, especially in its offshore banking and tourism industries. The
manufacturing sector is the most diverse in the Eastern Caribbean area,
and the government is trying to revitalize the banana industry. Despite
negative growth in 2001, economic fundamentals remain solid, and GDP
growth should recover in 2002.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $700 million (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: -2.5% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $4,400 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 7.9% industry: 19.6% services:
72.5% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 43,800
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 43.4%, services 38.9%, industry
and commerce 17.7% (1983 est.)
Unemployment rate: 15% (1996 est.)
Budget: revenues: $141.2 million expenditures: $146.7 million, including
capital expenditures of $25.1 million (FY97/98 est.)
Industries: clothing, assembly of electronic components, beverages,
corrugated cardboard boxes, tourism, lime processing, coconut processing
Industrial production growth rate: -8.9% (1997 est.)
Electricity - production: 115 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% other: 0%
(2000) nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: 106.95 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: bananas, coconuts, vegetables, citrus, root
crops, cocoa
Exports: $68.3 million (2000 est.)
Exports - commodities: bananas 41%, clothing, cocoa, vegetables, fruits,
coconut oil
Exports - partners: UK 50%, US 24%, Caricom countries 16% (1995)
Imports: $319.4 million (2000 est.)
Imports - commodities: food 23%, manufactured goods 21%, machinery and
transportation equipment 19%, chemicals, fuels
Imports - partners: US 36%, Caricom countries 22%, UK 11%, Japan 5%,
Canada 4% (1995)
Debt - external: $214 million (2000)
Economic aid - recipient: $51.8 million (1995)
Currency: East Caribbean dollar (XCD)
Currency code: XCD
Exchange rates: East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7000 (fixed
rate since 1976)
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
Communications Saint Lucia
Telephones - main lines in use: 37,000 (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 1,600 (1997)
Telephone system: general assessment: adequate system domestic: system
is automatically switched international: direct microwave radio relay
link with Martinique and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; tropospheric
scatter to Barbados; international calls beyond these countries are
carried by Intelsat from Martinique
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 7 (plus 3 repeaters), shortwave 0
(1998)
Radios: 111,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 3 (of which two are commercial stations
and one is a community antenna television or CATV channel) (1997)
Televisions: 32,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .lc
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 15 (2000)
Internet users: 5,000 (2000)
Transportation Saint Lucia
Railways: 0 km
Highways: total: 1,210 km paved: 63 km unpaved: 1,147 km (1996)
Waterways: none
Ports and harbors: Castries, Vieux Fort
Merchant marine: none (2002 est.)
Airports: 2 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to
2,437 m: 1 (2001)
Military Saint Lucia
Military branches: Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (includes Special
Service Unit and Coast Guard)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: $NA
Transnational Issues Saint Lucia
Disputes - international: none
Illicit drugs: transit point for South American drugs destined for the
US and Europe
This page was last updated on 1 January 2002
========================================================================
Sudan
Introduction
Sudan
Background: Military dictatorships favoring an Islamic-oriented
government have dominated national politics since independence from the
UK in 1956. Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war for all but 10 years
of this period (1972-82). Since 1983, the war and war- and famine-related
effects have led to more than 2 million deaths and over 4 million people
displaced. The war pits the Arab/Muslim majority in Khartoum against
the non-Muslim African rebels in the south. Since 1989, traditional
northern Muslim parties have made common cause with the southern rebels
and entered the war as a part of an anti-government alliance.
Geography Sudan
Location: Northern Africa, bordering the Red Sea, between Egypt and
Eritrea
Geographic coordinates: 15 00 N, 30 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 2,505,810 sq km water: 129,810 sq km land: 2.376 million
sq km
Area - comparative: slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US
Land boundaries: total: 7,687 km border countries: Central African
Republic 1,165 km, Chad 1,360 km, Democratic Republic of the Congo 628
km, Egypt 1,273 km, Eritrea 605 km, Ethiopia 1,606 km, Kenya 232 km,
Libya 383 km, Uganda 435 km
Coastline: 853 km
Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 18 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth
or to the depth of exploitation territorial sea: 12 NM
Climate: tropical in south; arid desert in north; rainy season (April
to October)
Terrain: generally flat, featureless plain; mountains in east and west
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Red Sea 0 m highest point: Kinyeti
3,187 m
Natural resources: petroleum; small reserves of iron ore, copper,
chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 7% permanent crops: 0% other: 93% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 19,500 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: dust storms and periodic persistent droughts
Environment - current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water;
wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting; soil erosion;
desertification; periodic drought
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: largest country in Africa; dominated by the Nile and
its tributaries
People Sudan
Population: 37,090,298 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 44.2% (male 8,385,554; female 8,023,847)
15-64 years: 53.6% (male 9,945,683; female 9,933,383) 65 years and over:
2.2% (male 447,214; female 354,617) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.73% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 37.21 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 9.81 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05
male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.26
male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 67.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: 58.5 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility
rate: 5.22 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.99% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 186,000 (1998)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun: Sudanese (singular and plural) adjective: Sudanese
Ethnic groups: black 52%, Arab 39%, Beja 6%, foreigners 2%, other 1%
Religions: Sunni Muslim 70% (in north), indigenous beliefs 25%, Christian
5% (mostly in south and Khartoum)
Languages: Arabic (official), Nubian, Ta Bedawie, diverse dialects
of Nilotic, Nilo-Hamitic, Sudanic languages, English note: program of
"Arabization" in process
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total
population: 46.1% male: 57.7% female: 34.6% (1995 est.)
Government Sudan
Country name: Republic of the Sudan conventional short form: former:
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Government type: authoritarian regime - ruling military junta took
power in 1989; government is run by an alliance of the military and the
National Congress Party (NCP), formerly the National Islamic Front (NIF),
which espouses an Islamist platform
Capital: Khartoum
Administrative divisions: 26 states (wilayat, singular - wilayah);
A'ali an Nil, Al Bahr al Ahmar, Al Buhayrat, Al Jazirah, Al Khartum,
Al Qadarif, Al Wahdah, An Nil al Abyad, An Nil al Azraq, Ash Shamaliyah,
Bahr al Jabal, Gharb al Istiwa'iyah, Gharb Bahr al Ghazal, Gharb Darfur,
Gharb Kurdufan, Janub Darfur, Janub Kurdufan, Junqali, Kassala, Nahr
an Nil, Shamal Bahr al Ghazal, Shamal Darfur, Shamal Kurdufan, Sharq al
Istiwa'iyah, Sinnar, Warab
Independence: 1 January 1956 (from Egypt and UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 1 January (1956)
Constitution: 12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April 1985;
interim constitution of 10 October 1985 suspended following coup of
30 June 1989; new constitution implemented on 30 June 1998 partially
suspended 12 December 1999 by President BASHIR
Legal system: based on English common law and Islamic law; as of 20
January 1991, the now defunct Revolutionary Command Council imposed
Islamic law in the northern states; Islamic law applies to all residents
of the northern states regardless of their religion; some separate
religious courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 17 years of age; universal, but noncompulsory
Executive branch: chief of state: President Lt. Gen. Umar Hasan Ahmad
al-BASHIR (since 16 October 1993); First Vice President Ali Uthman
Muhammad TAHA (since 17 February 1998), Second Vice President Moses
MACHAR (since 12 February 2001); note - the president is both the chief
of state and head of government elections: president elected by popular
vote for a five-year term; election last held 13-23 December 2000 (next
to be held NA 2005) note: BASHIR assumed supreme executive power in 1989
and retained it through several transitional governments in the early
and mid-90s before being popularly elected for the first time in March
1996 election results: Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR reelected president;
percent of vote - Umar Hasan Ahmad al-BASHIR 86.5%, Ja'afar Muhammed
NUMAYRI 9.6%, three other candidates received less than a combined 4%
of the vote; election widely viewed as rigged; all popular opposition
parties boycotted elections because of a lack of guarantees for a free
and fair poll cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president;
note - the National Congress Party or NCP (formerly the National Islamic
Front or NIF) dominates BASHIR's cabinet head of government: First Vice
President Ali Uthman Muhammad TAHA (since 17 February 1998), Second Vice
President Moses MACHAR (since 12 February 2001); note - the president
is both the chief of state and head of government
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (360 seats; 270
popularly elected, 90 elected by supra assembly of interest groups
known as National Congress; members serve four-year terms) elections:
last held 13-22 December 2000 (next to be held NA December 2004) note:
on 12 December 1999, BASHIR dismissed the National Assembly during an
internal power struggle between the president and the speaker of the
National Assembly Hassan al-TURABI election results: NCP 355, others 5
Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Special Revolutionary Courts
Political parties and leaders: the government allows political
"associations" under a 1998 law revised in 2000; to obtain government
approval parties must accept the constitution and refrain from advocating
or using violence against the regime; approved parties include the
National Congress Party or NCP [Ibrahim Ahmed UMAR], Popular National
Congress or PNC [Hassan al-TURABI], and over 20 minor, pro-government
parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: National Congress Party [Ibrahim
Ahmed UMAR]; Popular National Congress [Hassan al-TURABI]; Umma [Sadiq
al-MAHDI]; Democratic Unionist Party [Muhammed Uthman AL-MIRGHANI];
National Democratic Alliance [Muhammed Uthman AL-MIRGHANI, chairman];
Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army [Dr. John GARANG]
International organization participation: ABEDA, ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL,
AMF, CAEU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD,
IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent),
ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNU,
UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
(vacant); Charge D'Affairs, Ad Interim
[1] (202) 338-8565 FAX: DC 20008
Diplomatic representation from the US: For security reasons, US officials
at the US Embassy in Khartoum were relocated in February 1996 to the
US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Cairo, Egypt, from where they make
regular visits to Khartoum; the US Embassy in Khartoum is located on
Sharia Abdul Latif Avenue; mailing address - P. O. Box 699, Khartoum;
APO AE 09829; telephone - [249] (11) 774611 or 774700; FAX - [249] (11)
774137; the US Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya is located in the Interim Office
Building on Mombasa Road, Nairobi; mailing address - P. O. Box 30137,
Box 21A, Unit 64100, APO AE 09831; telephone - [254] (2) 751613; FAX -
[254] (2) 743204; the US Embassy in Cairo, Egypt is located at (North
Gate) 8, Kamel El-Din Salah Street, Garden City, Cairo; mailing address -
Unit 64900, APO AE 09839-4900; telephone - [20] (2) 3557371; FAX - [20]
(2) 3573200
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white,
and black with a green isosceles triangle based on the hoist side
Economy Sudan
Economy - overview: Sudan has turned around a struggling economy with
sound economic policies and infrastructure investments, but it still faces
formidable economic problems. Starting in 1997 Sudan began implementing
IMF macroeconomic reforms that have successfully stabilized inflation.
In 1999 Sudan began exporting crude oil and in the last quarter of
1999 recorded its first trade surplus, along with monetary policy, has
stabilized the exchange rate. Current oil production stands at 220,000
barrels per day, of which some 70% is exported and the rest refined
mostly for domestic consumption. Increased oil production, revived light
industry, and expanded export processing zones should maintain GDP growth
at 5% in 2002. Agriculture production remains Sudan's most important
sector, employing 80% of the work force and contributing 43% of GDP,
but most farms remain rain-fed and susceptible to drought. Sudan is also
constrained by its limited access to international credit; most of Sudan's
$24.9 billion debt remains in arrears. The civil war, chronic instability,
adverse weather, and weak world agricultural prices ensure that much of
the population will remain at or below the poverty line for years.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $49.3 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5.5% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,360 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 43% industry: 17% services:
40% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 11 million (1996 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 80%, industry and commerce 7%,
government 13% (1998 est.)
Unemployment rate: 18.7% (2002 est.)
Budget: revenues: $1.6 billion expenditures: $1.9 billion, including
capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
Industries: oil, cotton ginning, textiles, cement, edible oils, sugar,
soap distilling, shoes, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, armaments,
automobile/light truck assembly
Industrial production growth rate: 8.5% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production: 1.97 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 49.24% hydro: 50.76%
other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: 1,832.1 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: cotton, groundnuts (peanuts), sorghum, millet,
wheat, gum arabic, sugarcane, cassava (tapioca), mangos, papaya, bananas,
sweet potatoes, sesame; sheep, livestock
Exports: $2.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: oil and petroleum products, cotton, sesame,
livestock, groundnuts, gum arabic, sugar
Exports - partners: Japan 25%, China 19%, Saudi Arabia 14%, Germany 4%,
(2000)
Imports: $1.6 billion (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, manufactured goods, refinery and
transport equipment, medicines and chemicals, textiles, wheat
Imports - partners: China 12%, Saudi Arabia 10%, UK 10%, Germany 7%
(2000)
Debt - external: $24.9 billion (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $187 million (1997)
Currency: Sudanese dinar (SDD)
Currency code: SDD
Exchange rates: Sudanese dinars per US dollar - 261.44 (January 2002),
258.70 (2001), 257.12 (2000), 252.55 (1999), 200.80 (1998), 157.57 (1997)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Sudan
Telephones - main lines in use: 400,000 (2000)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 20,000 (2000)
Telephone system: general assessment: large, well-equipped system by
regional standards and being upgraded; cellular communications started
in 1996 and have expanded substantially domestic: consists of microwave
radio relay, cable, radiotelephone communications, tropospheric scatter,
and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations international:
satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) and 1 Arabsat
(2000)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios: 7.55 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 3 (1997)
Televisions: 2.38 million (1997)
Internet country code: .sd
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 2 (2002)
Internet users: 50,000 (2002)
Transportation Sudan
Railways: total: 5,995 km narrow gauge: 4,595 km 1.067-m gauge; 1,400
km 0.600-m gauge plantation line note: the 1.067-m line from Khartoum to
Port Sudan carries over two-thirds of Sudan's rail traffic; the 0.600-m
gauge system serves Sudan's cotton plantations with over 120 collecting
stations (2001)
Highways: total: 11,900 km paved: 4,320 km unpaved: 7,580 km (1996)
Waterways: 5,310 km
Pipelines: refined products 815 km
Ports and harbors: Juba, Khartoum, Kusti, Malakal, Nimule, Port Sudan,
Sawakin
Merchant marine: total: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 39,545
GRT/51,195 DWT ships by type: cargo 2, roll on/roll off 2 (2002 est.)
Airports: 65 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 12 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047
m: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 (2001)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 53 under 914 m: 11 (2001)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 16 914 to 1,523 m: 26
Heliports: 1 (2001)
Military Sudan
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Popular Defense Force Militia
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 8,739,982 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 5,380,917
(2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 398,294
(2002 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $581 million (2001 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.5% (1999)
Transnational Issues Sudan
Disputes - international: Sudan agrees in 2002 to demarcate whole
boundary with Ethiopia; Egypt and Sudan each claim to administer
triangular areas which extend north and south of the 1899 Treaty boundary
along the 22nd Parallel (the north "Hala'ib Triangle" is the largest
with 20,580 sq km); in 2001, the two states agreed to discuss an "area
of integration" and withdraw military forces in the overlapping areas;
since colonial times, Kenya's administrative boundary has extended beyond
its treaty boundary into Sudan creating the "Ilemi Triangle"
This page was last updated on 1 January 2002
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Svalbard
Introduction
Svalbard
Background: First discovered by the Norwegians in the 12th century,
the islands served as an international whaling base during the 17th and
18th centuries. Norway's sovereignty was recognized in 1920; five years
later it officially took over the territory.
Geography Svalbard
Location: Northern Europe, islands between the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea,
Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea, north of Norway
Geographic coordinates: 78 00 N, 20 00 E
Map references: Arctic Region
Area: total: 62,049 sq km note: includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya
(Bear Island) water: 0 sq km land: 62,049 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than West Virginia
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 3,587 km
Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM unilaterally claimed
by Norway but not recognized by Russia territorial sea: 4 NM
Climate: arctic, tempered by warm North Atlantic Current; cool summers,
cold winters; North Atlantic Current flows along west and north coasts
of Spitsbergen, keeping water open and navigable most of the year
Terrain: wild, rugged mountains; much of high land ice covered; west
coast clear of ice about one-half of the year; fjords along west and
north coasts
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Arctic Ocean 0 m highest point:
Newtontoppen 1,717 m
Natural resources: coal, copper, iron ore, phosphate, zinc, wildlife,
fish
Land use: arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (no trees,
and the only bushes are crowberry and cloudberry) (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: ice floes often block the entrance to Bellsund (a
transit point for coal export) on the west coast and occasionally make
parts of the northeastern coast inaccessible to maritime traffic
Environment - current issues: NA
Geography - note: northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists
of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area
People Svalbard
Population: 2,868 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: NA% 15-64 years: NA% 65 years and over: NA%
Population growth rate: -1.99% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: NA births/1,000 population
Death rate: NA deaths/1,000 population