Akrotiri (2006) | Spain (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | - | 17 autonomous communities (comunidades autonomas, singular - comunidad autonoma); Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias, Baleares (Balearic Islands), Canarias (Canary Islands), Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Cataluna, Communidad Valencian, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, Pais Vasco (Basque Country)
note: there are five places of sovereignty on and off the coast of Morocco: Ceuta and Melilla are administered as autonomous communities; Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera are under direct Spanish administration |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years:
14.62% (male 3,015,851; female 2,835,763) 15-64 years: 68.2% (male 13,701,065; female 13,605,314) 65 years and over: 17.18% (male 2,881,334; female 3,998,668) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish |
Airports | - | 110 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | - | total:
75 over 3,047 m: 15 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 18 914 to 1,523 m: 19 under 914 m: 13 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total:
35 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 25 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 123 sq km
note: includes a salt lake and wetlands |
total:
504,782 sq km land: 499,542 sq km water: 5,240 sq km note: includes Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, and five places of sovereignty (plazas de soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco - Ceuta, Melilla, Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera |
Area - comparative | about 0.7 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly more than twice the size of Oregon |
Background | By terms of the 1960 Treaty of Establishment that created the independent Republic of Cyprus, the UK retained full sovereignty and jurisdiction over two areas of almost 254 square kilometers - Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The southernmost and smallest of these is the Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area, which is also referred to as the Western Sovereign Base Area. | Spain's powerful world empire of the 16th and 17th centuries ultimately yielded command of the seas to England. Subsequent failure to embrace the mercantile and industrial revolutions caused the country to fall behind Britain, France, and Germany in economic and political power. Spain remained neutral in World Wars I and II, but suffered through a devastating Civil War (1936-39). In the second half of the 20th century, it has played a catch-up role in the western international community. Continuing concerns are large-scale unemployment and the Basque separatist movement. |
Birth rate | - | 9.26 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues:
$105 billion expenditures: $109 billion, including capital expenditures of $12.8 billion (2000 est.) |
Capital | name: Episkopi Cantonment; also serves as capital of Dhekelia
geographic coordinates: 34 40 N, 32 51 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Madrid |
Climate | temperate; Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and cool winters | temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast |
Coastline | 56.3 km | 4,964 km |
Constitution | Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia Order in Council 1960, effective 16 August 1960 | 6 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978 |
Country name | conventional long form: Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area
conventional short form: Akrotiri |
conventional long form:
Kingdom of Spain conventional short form: Spain local short form: Espana |
Currency | - | Spanish peseta (ESP); euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced the euro as a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in Spain at a fixed rate of 166.386 Spanish pesetas per euro and will replace the local currency for all transactions in 2002 |
Death rate | - | 9.13 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $90 billion (1993 est.) |
Dependency status | overseas territory of UK; administered by an administrator who is also the Commander, British Forces Cyprus | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission:
Ambassador Edward L. ROMERO embassy: Serrano 75, 28006 Madrid mailing address: APO AE 09642 telephone: [34] (91) 587-2200 FAX: [34] (91) 587-2303 consulate(s) general: Barcelona |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission:
Ambassador Francisco Javier RUPEREZ chancery: 2375 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 452-0100, 728-2340 FAX: [1] (202) 833-5670 consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico) |
Disputes - international | - | Gibraltar issue with UK; Spain controls five places of sovereignty (plazas de soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco - the coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which Morocco contests, as well as the islands of Penon de Alhucemas, Penon de Velez de la Gomera, and Islas Chafarinas |
Economic aid - donor | - | ODA, $1.3 billion (1995) |
Economy - overview | Economic activity is limited to providing services to the military and their families located in Akrotiri. All food and manufactured goods must be imported. | Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is 80% that of the four leading West European economies. Its center-right government successfully worked to gain admission to the first group of countries launching the European single currency on 1 January 1999. The AZNAR administration has continued to advocate liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy and has introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment has been steadily falling under the AZNAR administration but remains the highest in the EU at 14%. The government intends to make further progress in changing labor laws and reforming pension schemes, which are key to the sustainability of both Spain's internal economic advances and its competitiveness in a single currency area. Adjusting to the monetary and other economic policies of an integrated Europe - and further reducing unemployment - will pose challenges to Spain in the next few years. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 189.57 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | - | 6.23 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | - | 11.945 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | - | 197.694 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
57.71% hydro: 12.1% nuclear: 28.28% other: 1.91% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | - | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Pico de Teide (Tenerife) on Canary Islands 3,718 m |
Environment - current issues | shooting around the salt lake; note - breeding place for loggerhead and green turtles; only remaining colony of griffon vultures is on the base | pollution of the Mediterranean Sea from raw sewage and effluents from the offshore production of oil and gas; water quality and quantity nationwide; air pollution; deforestation; desertification |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, 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-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification |
Ethnic groups | - | composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types |
Exchange rates | - | euros per US dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); pesetas per US dollar - 149.40 (1998), 146.41 (1997), 126.66 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Administrator Air Vice-Marshal Richard LACEY (since 26 April 2006); note - reports to the British Ministry of Defence elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the administrator is appointed by the monarch |
chief of state:
King JUAN CARLOS I (since 22 November 1975); Heir Apparent Prince FELIPE, son of the monarch, born 30 January 1968 head of government: President of the Government Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez (since 5 May 1996); First Vice President Juan Jose LUCAS (since 28 February 2000) and Second Vice President (and Minister of Economy) Rodrigo RATO Figaredo (since 5 May 1996) cabinet: Council of Ministers designated by the president note: there is also a Council of State that is the supreme consultative organ of the government elections: the monarch is hereditary; president proposed by the monarch and elected by the National Assembly following legislative elections; election last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004); vice presidents appointed by the monarch on proposal of the president election results: Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez (PP) elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 44% |
Exports | - | $120.5 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | - | machinery, motor vehicles; foodstuffs, other consumer goods |
Exports - partners | - | EU 71% (France 20%, Germany 12%, Italy 9%, Portugal 9%, UK 8%), Latin America 6%, US 5% (2000) |
Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
Flag description | the flag of the UK is used | three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width), and red with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band; the coat of arms includes the royal seal framed by the Pillars of Hercules, which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $720.8 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture:
4% industry: 31% services: 65% (1999) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $18,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 4% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 34 37 N, 32 58 E | 40 00 N, 4 00 W |
Geography - note | British extraterritorial rights also extended to several small off-post sites scattered across Cyprus | strategic location along approaches to Strait of Gibraltar |
Heliports | - | 2 (2000 est.) |
Highways | - | total:
346,858 km paved: 343,389 km (including 9,063 km of expressways) unpaved: 3,469 km (1997) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%:
2.8% highest 10%: 25.2% (1990) |
Illicit drugs | - | key European gateway country for Latin American cocaine and North African hashish entering the European market; transshipment point for and consumer of Southwest Asian heroin |
Imports | - | $153.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | - | machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods; foodstuffs, consumer goods (1997) |
Imports - partners | - | EU 68% (France 18%, Germany 16%, Italy 9%, UK 7%, Benelux 8%), US 8%, OPEC 5%, Latin America 4%, Japan 3% (1999) |
Independence | - | 1492 (expulsion of the Moors and unification) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 4.5% (2000 est.) |
Industries | - | textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | - | 4.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 3.4% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | - | AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 56 (2000) |
Irrigated land | - | 34,530 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo |
Labor force | - | 17 million (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | services 64%, manufacturing, mining, and construction 28%, agriculture 8% (1997 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 47.4 km
border countries: Cyprus 47.4 km |
total:
1,917.8 km border countries: Andorra 63.7 km, France 623 km, Gibraltar 1.2 km, Portugal 1,214 km, Morocco (Ceuta) 6.3 km, Morocco (Melilla) 9.6 km |
Land use | - | arable land:
30% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 21% forests and woodland: 32% other: 8% (1993 est.) |
Languages | English, Greek | Castilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2% |
Legal system | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply | civil law system, with regional applications; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | - | bicameral; General Courts or National Assembly or Las Cortes Generales consists of the Senate or Senado (259 seats - 208 members directly elected by popular vote and the other 51 appointed by the regional legislatures to serve four-year terms) and the Congress of Deputies or Congreso de los Diputados (350 seats; members are elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004); Congress of Deputies - last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PP 127, PSOE 61, CiU 8, PNV 6, CC 5, PIL 1; Congress of Deputies - percent of vote by party - PP 44.5%, PSOE 34%, CiU 4.2%, IU 5.4%, PNV 1.5%, CC 1%, BNG 1.3%; seats by party - PP 183, PSOE 125, CiU 15, IU 8, PNV 7, CC 4, BNG 3, other 5 |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population:
78.93 years male: 75.47 years female: 82.62 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | peninsula on the southwest coast of Cyprus | Southwestern Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and Pyrenees Mountains, southwest of France |
Map references | Middle East | Europe |
Maritime claims | - | contiguous zone:
24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM (applies only to the Atlantic Ocean) territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total:
135 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,208,730 GRT/1,773,378 DWT ships by type: bulk 10, cargo 26, chemical tanker 10, container 9, liquefied gas 2, livestock carrier 1, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 24, refrigerated cargo 5, roll on/roll off 35, short-sea passenger 8, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 3 (2000 est.) |
Military - note | Akrotiri has a full RAF base, Headquarters for British Forces on Cyprus, and Episkopi Support Unit | - |
Military branches | - | Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Civil Guard, National Police, Coastal Civil Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $6 billion (FY97) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.1% (FY97) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
10,551,945 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
8,448,150 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 20 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
281,043 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | - | Hispanic Day, 12 October |
Nationality | - | noun:
Spaniard(s) adjective: Spanish |
Natural hazards | - | periodic droughts |
Natural resources | - | coal, lignite, iron ore, uranium, mercury, pyrites, fluorspar, gypsum, zinc, lead, tungsten, copper, kaolin, potash, hydropower, arable land |
Net migration rate | - | 0.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 265 km; petroleum products 1,794 km; natural gas 1,666 km |
Political parties and leaders | - | Basque Nationalist Party or PNV [Xabier ARZALLUS Antia]; Canarian Coalition or CC (a coalition of five parties) [Paulino RIVERO]; Convergence and Union or CiU [Jordi PUJOL i Soley, secretary general] (a coalition of the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia or CDC [Jordi PUJOL i Soley] and the Democratic Union of Catalonia or UDC [Josep Antoni DURAN y LLEIDA]); Galician Nationalist Bloc or BNG [Xose Manuel BEIRAS]; Party of Independents from Lanzarote or PIL [Dimas MARTIN Martin]; Popular Party or PP [Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez]; Spanish Socialist Workers Party or PSOE [Jose Luis Rodriguez ZAPATERO]; United Left or IU (a coalition of parties including the PCE and other small parties) [Gaspar LLAMAZARES] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | business and landowning interests; Catholic Church; Euskal Herritarok or EH [Herri BATASUNA]; free labor unions (authorized in April 1977); on the extreme left, the Basque Fatherland and Liberty or ETA and the First of October Antifascist Resistance Group or GRAPO use terrorism to oppose the government; Opus Dei; Socialist General Union of Workers or UGT and the smaller independent Workers Syndical Union or USO; university students; Workers Confederation or CC.OO |
Population | no indigenous inhabitants
note: approximately 1,300 military personnel are on the base; there are another 5,000 British citizens who are families of military personnel or civilian staff on both Akrotiri and Dhekelia; Cyprus citizens work on the base, but do not live there |
40,037,995 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | NA% |
Population growth rate | - | 0.1% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Aviles, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cadiz, Cartagena, Castellon de la Plana, Ceuta, Huelva, La Coruna, Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Malaga, Melilla, Pasajes, Gijon, Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands), Santander, Tarragona, Valencia, Vigo |
Radio broadcast stations | FM 1
note: British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides Radio 1 and Radio 2 service to Akrotiri, Dhekelia, and Nicosia (2006) |
AM 208, FM 715, shortwave 1 (1998) |
Radios | - | 13.1 million (1997) |
Railways | - | total:
13,950 km broad gauge: 12,781 km 1.668-m gauge (6,358 km electrified; 2,295 km double track) standard gauge: 525 km 1.435-m gauge (525 km electrified) narrow gauge: 644 km 1.000-m gauge (438 km electrified) (1998) |
Religions | - | Roman Catholic 99%, other 1% |
Sex ratio | - | at birth:
1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | - | general assessment:
generally adequate, modern facilities; teledensity is 44 main lines for each 100 persons domestic: NA international: 22 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to adjacent countries |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | 17.336 million (1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 8.394 million (1999) |
Television broadcast stations | British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides multi-channel satellite service to Akrotiri, Dhekelia, and Nicosia (2006) | 224 (plus 2,105 repeaters)
note: these figures include 11 television broadcast stations and 88 repeaters in the Canary Islands (1995) |
Terrain | - | large, flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees in north |
Total fertility rate | - | 1.15 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | - | 14% (2000 est.) |
Waterways | - | 1,045 km (of minor economic importance) |