Angola (2003) | Russia (2002) | |
Administrative divisions | 18 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Bengo, Benguela, Bie, Cabinda, Cuando Cubango, Cuanza Norte, Cuanza Sul, Cunene, Huambo, Huila, Luanda, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Malanje, Moxico, Namibe, Uige, Zaire | 49 oblasts (oblastey, singular - oblast), 21 republics* (respublik, singular - respublika), 10 autonomous okrugs**(avtonomnykh okrugov, singular - avtonomnyy okrug), 6 krays*** (krayev, singular - kray), 2 federal cities (singular - gorod)****, and 1 autonomous oblast*****(avtonomnaya oblast'); Adygeya (Maykop)*, Aginskiy Buryatskiy (Aginskoye)**, Altay (Gorno-Altaysk)*, Altayskiy (Barnaul)***, Amurskaya (Blagoveshchensk), Arkhangel'skaya, Astrakhanskaya, Bashkortostan (Ufa)*, Belgorodskaya, Bryanskaya, Buryatiya (Ulan-Ude)*, Chechnya (Groznyy)*, Chelyabinskaya, Chitinskaya, Chukotskiy (Anadyr')**, Chuvashiya (Cheboksary)*, Dagestan (Makhachkala)*, Evenkiyskiy (Tura)**, Ingushetiya (Nazran')*, Irkutskaya, Ivanovskaya, Kabardino-Balkariya (Nal'chik)*, Kaliningradskaya, Kalmykiya (Elista)*, Kaluzhskaya, Kamchatskaya (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy), Karachayevo-Cherkesiya (Cherkessk)*, Kareliya (Petrozavodsk)*, Kemerovskaya, Khabarovskiy***, Khakasiya (Abakan)*, Khanty-Mansiyskiy (Khanty-Mansiysk)**, Kirovskaya, Komi (Syktyvkar)*, Koryakskiy (Palana)**, Kostromskaya, Krasnodarskiy***, Krasnoyarskiy***, Kurganskaya, Kurskaya, Leningradskaya, Lipetskaya, Magadanskaya, Mariy-El (Yoshkar-Ola)*, Mordoviya (Saransk)*, Moskovskaya, Moskva (Moscow)****, Murmanskaya, Nenetskiy (Nar'yan-Mar)**, Nizhegorodskaya, Novgorodskaya, Novosibirskaya, Omskaya, Orenburgskaya, Orlovskaya (Orel), Penzenskaya, Permskaya, Komi-Permyatskiy (Kudymkar)**, Primorskiy (Vladivostok)***, Pskovskaya, Rostovskaya, Ryazanskaya, Sakha (Yakutiya)*, Sakhalinskaya (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), Samarskaya, Sankt-Peterburg (Saint Petersburg)****, Saratovskaya, Severnaya Osetiya-Alaniya [North Ossetia] (Vladikavkaz)*, Smolenskaya, Stavropol'skiy***, Sverdlovskaya (Yekaterinburg), Tambovskaya, Tatarstan (Kazan')*, Taymyrskiy (Dudinka)**, Tomskaya, Tul'skaya, Tverskaya, Tyumenskaya, Tyva (Kyzyl)*, Udmurtiya (Izhevsk)*, Ul'yanovskaya, Ust'-Ordynskiy Buryatskiy (Ust'-Ordynskiy)**, Vladimirskaya, Volgogradskaya, Vologodskaya, Voronezhskaya, Yamalo-Nenetskiy (Salekhard)**, Yaroslavskaya, Yevreyskaya*****; note - when using a place name with an adjectival ending 'skaya' or 'skiy,' the word Oblast' or Avonomnyy Okrug or Kray should be added to the place name
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 43.5% (male 2,363,829; female 2,317,610)
15-64 years: 53.7% (male 2,941,999; female 2,842,923) 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 134,330; female 165,780) (2003 est.) |
0-14 years: 16.7% (male 12,334,659; female 11,840,058)
15-64 years: 70.2% (male 49,330,660; female 52,402,610) 65 years and over: 13.1% (male 6,150,775; female 12,919,811) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | bananas, sugarcane, coffee, sisal, corn, cotton, manioc (tapioca), tobacco, vegetables, plantains; livestock; forest products; fish | grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk |
Airports | 243 (2002) | 2,743 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 32
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 14 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 471
over 3,047 m: 56 2,438 to 3,047 m: 178 1,524 to 2,437 m: 76 914 to 1,523 m: 69 under 914 m: 92 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 211
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 30 914 to 1,523 m: 95 under 914 m: 80 (2002) |
total: 2,272
over 3,047 m: 28 2,438 to 3,047 m: 118 1,524 to 2,437 m: 204 914 to 1,523 m: 324 under 914 m: 1,598 (2002) |
Area | total: 1,246,700 sq km
land: 1,246,700 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 17,075,200 sq km
land: 16,995,800 sq km water: 79,400 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of Texas | slightly less than 1.8 times the size of the US |
Background | Civil war has been the norm in Angola since independence from Portugal in 1975. A 1994 peace accord between the government and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) provided for the integration of former UNITA insurgents into the government and armed forces. A national unity government was installed in April of 1997, but serious fighting resumed in late 1998, rendering hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Up to 1.5 million lives may have been lost in fighting over the past quarter century. The death of insurgent leader Jonas SAVIMBI in 2002 and a subsequent cease-fire with UNITA may bode well for the country. | The defeat of the Russian Empire in World War I led to the seizure of power by the Communists and the formation of the USSR. The brutal rule of Josef STALIN (1924-53) strengthened Russian dominance of the Soviet Union at a cost of tens of millions of lives. The Soviet economy and society stagnated in the following decades until General Secretary Mikhail GORBACHEV (1985-91) introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize Communism, but his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December 1991 splintered the USSR into 15 independent republics. Since then, Russia has struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political system and market economy to replace the strict social, political, and economic controls of the Communist period. A determined guerrilla conflict still plagues Russia in Chechnya. |
Birth rate | 45.57 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 9.71 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $928 million
expenditures: $2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $963 million (1992 est.) |
revenues: $45 billion
expenditures: $43 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
Capital | Luanda | Moscow |
Climate | semiarid in south and along coast to Luanda; north has cool, dry season (May to October) and hot, rainy season (November to April) | ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast |
Coastline | 1,600 km | 37,653 km |
Constitution | 11 November 1975; revised 7 January 1978, 11 August 1980, 6 March 1991, and 26 August 1992 | adopted 12 December 1993 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Angola
conventional short form: Angola local long form: Republica de Angola local short form: Angola former: People's Republic of Angola |
conventional long form: Russian Federation
conventional short form: Russia local long form: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya local short form: Rossiya former: Russian Empire, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic |
Currency | kwanza (AOA) | Russian ruble (RUR) |
Death rate | 25.83 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 13.91 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $9.9 billion (2002 est.) | $149 billion (2001 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Christopher William DELL
embassy: number 32 Rua Houari Boumedienne (in the Miramar area of Luanda), Luanda mailing address: international mail: Caixa Postal 6468, Luanda; pouch: American Embassy Luanda, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2550 telephone: [244] (2) 445-481, 447-028, 446-224 FAX: [244] (2) 446-924 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Alexander VERSHBOW
embassy: Bolshoy Devyatinskiy Pereulok No. 8, 121099 Moscow mailing address: APO AE 09721 telephone: [7] (095) 728-5000 FAX: [7] (095) 728-5203 consulate(s) general: Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Josefina Perpetua Pitra DIAKIDI
chancery: 2108 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 785-1156 FAX: [1] (202) 785-1258 consulate(s) general: Houston and New York |
chief of mission: Ambassador Yuriy Viktorovich USHAKOV
chancery: 2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 298-5700, 5701, 5704, 5708 FAX: [1] (202) 298-5735 consulate(s) general: New York, San Francisco, and Seattle |
Disputes - international | gives shelter to thousands of refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo while thousands of Angolan refugees still remain in neighboring states as a consequence of the protracted civil wars in both states | 2001 Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation commits Russia and China to seek peaceable unanimity over disputed alluvial islands at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers and a small island on the Argun; Russia hastens to delimit and demarcate boundary with Kazakhstan to limit illegal border activities; in 2002, Russia is the first state to submit data to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to extend its continental shelf by claiming two undersea ridges in the Arctic; Russia signed bilateral agreements with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan delimiting the Caspian seabed, but littoral states are far from multilateral agreement on dividing the waters and seabed regimes - Iran insists on division of Caspian Sea into five equal sectors while Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan have generally agreed upon equidistant seabed boundaries; despite recent discussions, Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits in the Barents Sea and Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial limits within the Svalbard Treaty zone; Russia continues to reject signing and ratifying the joint December 1996 technical border agreement with Estonia; the Russian Duma refuses to ratify boundary treaties signed with Latvia and Lithuania; Russia and Ukraine have successfully delimited land boundary in 2001, but disagree on delimitation of maritime boundary in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea; boundary with Georgia has been largely delimited, but not demarcated; several small, strategic segments remain in dispute; islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan |
Economic aid - recipient | $383.5 million (1999) | ODA $5.6 billion (2000 est.) |
Economy - overview | Angola has been an economy in disarray because of a quarter century of nearly continuous warfare. An apparently durable peace was established after the death of rebel leader Jonas SAVIMBI on February 22, 2002, but consequences from the conflict continue including the impact of wide-spread land mines. Subsistence agriculture provides the main livelihood for 85% of the population. Oil production and the supporting activities are vital to the economy, contributing about 45% to GDP and more than half of exports. Much of the country's food must still be imported. To fully take advantage of its rich natural resources - gold, diamonds, extensive forests, Atlantic fisheries, and large oil deposits - Angola will need to continue reforming government policies. While Angola made progress in bringing inflation down further, from 325% in 2000 to about 106% in 2002, the government has failed to make sufficient progress on reforms recommended by the IMF such as increasing foreign exchange reserves and promoting greater transparency in government spending. Increased oil production should bring about 6% GDP growth in 2003. | A decade after the implosion of the centrally planned Soviet Union in December 1991, Russia is still struggling to establish a modern market economy, modernize its industrial base, and maintain strong economic growth. The period 1992-98 was marked by a poor business climate, a deterioration in already threadbare living standards, and failure to institute modern market reforms. Conditions improved markedly in 1999-2002, with annual output growing by an average 6% and with progress in structural reforms. Yet serious problems persist. Russia remains heavily dependent on exports of commodities, particularly oil, natural gas, metals, and timber, which account for over 80% of exports, leaving the country vulnerable to swings in world prices. Russia's industrial base is increasingly dilapidated and must be replaced or modernized if the country is to maintain strong economic growth. Other problems include widespread corruption, lack of a strong legal system, capital flight, and brain drain. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.348 billion kWh (2001) | 767.08 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 18 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 8 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 1.45 billion kWh (2001) | 835.57 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 36.4%
hydro: 63.6% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
fossil fuel: 66%
hydro: 19% nuclear: 15% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Morro de Moco 2,620 m |
lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
highest point: Gora El'brus 5,633 m |
Environment - current issues | overuse of pastures and subsequent soil erosion attributable to population pressures; desertification; deforestation of tropical rain forest, in response to both international demand for tropical timber and to domestic use as fuel, resulting in loss of biodiversity; soil erosion contributing to water pollution and siltation of rivers and dams; inadequate supplies of potable water | air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities; industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of inland waterways and seacoasts; deforestation; soil erosion; soil contamination from improper application of agricultural chemicals; scattered areas of sometimes intense radioactive contamination; groundwater contamination from toxic waste; urban solid waste management; abandoned stocks of obsolete pesticides |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Persistent Organic Pollutants |
Ethnic groups | Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, Bakongo 13%, mestico (mixed European and Native African) 2%, European 1%, other 22% | Russian 81.5%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 3%, Chuvash 1.2%, Bashkir 0.9%, Belarusian 0.8%, Moldavian 0.7%, other 8.1% |
Exchange rates | kwanza per US dollar - 43.53 (2002), 22.06 (2001), 10.04 (2000), 2.79 (1999), 0.39 (1998); note - in December 1999 the kwanza was revalued with six zeroes dropped off the old value | Russian rubles per US dollar - 30.4669 (January 2002), 29.1685 (2001), 28.1292 (2000), 24.6199 (1999), 9.7051 (1998), 5,785 (1997)
note: the post-1 January 1998 ruble is equal to 1,000 of the pre-1 January 1998 rubles |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS (since 21 September 1979); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS (since 21 September 1979); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government; Fernando de Piedade Dias DOS SANTOS was appointed Prime Minister on 6 December 2002, but this is not a position of real power cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by universal ballot for a NA-year term; President DOS SANTOS originally elected (in 1979) without opposition under a one-party system and stood for reelection in Angola's first multiparty elections 29-30 September 1992 (next to be held NA) election results: DOS SANTOS 49.6%, Jonas SAVIMBI 40.1%, making a run-off election necessary; the run-off was not held and SAVIMBI's National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) repudiated the results of the first election; the civil war resumed |
chief of state: President Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN (acting president since 31 December 1999, president since 7 May 2000)
head of government: Premier Mikhail Mikhaylovich KASYANOV (since 7 May 2000); Deputy Premiers Aleksey Leonidovich KUDRIN (since 18 May 2000), Aleksey Vasilyevich GORDEYEV (since 20 May 2000), Viktor Borisovich KHRISTENKO (since 31 May 1999) cabinet: Ministries of the Government or "Government" composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and other agency heads; all are appointed by the president note: there is also a Presidential Administration (PA) that provides staff and policy support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies; a Security Council also reports directly to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 26 March 2000 (next to be held NA 2004); note - no vice president; if the president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers because of ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier succeeds him; the premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election is held, which must be within three months; premier appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma election results: Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN elected president; percent of vote - Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN 52.9%, Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV 29.2%, Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY 5.8% |
Exports | NA (2001) | $104.6 billion (2002 est.) |
Exports - commodities | crude oil, diamonds, refined petroleum products, gas, coffee, sisal, fish and fish products, timber, cotton | petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures |
Exports - partners | US 41.2%, China 13.7%, France 8%, Belgium 6.3%, Taiwan 6.3%, Japan 4.9%, Spain 4.3% (2002) | Germany 9.3%, US 8.3%, Italy 7.5%, China 5.6%, Belarus 5.2%, Ukraine 5.2% (2001) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and black with a centered yellow emblem consisting of a five-pointed star within half a cogwheel crossed by a machete (in the style of a hammer and sickle) | three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $18.36 billion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1.27 trillion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 8%
industry: 67% services: 25% (2001 est.) |
agriculture: 7%
industry: 39% services: 53% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $8,800 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 9.4% (2002 est.) | 4% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 12 30 S, 18 30 E | 60 00 N, 100 00 E |
Geography - note | the province of Cabinda is an exclave, separated from the rest of the country by the Democratic Republic of the Congo | largest country in the world in terms of area but unfavorably located in relation to major sea lanes of the world; despite its size, much of the country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for agriculture; Mount Elbrus is Europe's tallest peak |
Highways | total: 51,429 km
paved: 5,349 km unpaved: 46,080 km (1999) |
total: 952,000 km
paved: 752,000 km (including about 336,000 km of conventionally paved roads, and about 416,000 km of roads with all-weather gravel surfaces) unpaved: 200,000 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1998) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 34% (2001 est.) |
Illicit drugs | used as a transshipment point for cocaine destined for Western Europe and other African states | limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer of methamphetamine, mostly for domestic consumption; government has active illicit crop eradication program; used as transshipment point for Asian opiates, cannabis, and Latin American cocaine bound for growing domestic markets, to a lesser extent Western and Central Europe, and occasionally to the US; major source of heroin precursor chemicals; corruption and organized crime are key concerns; heroin increasingly popular in domestic market |
Imports | NA (2001) | $60.7 billion (2001 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and electrical equipment, vehicles and spare parts; medicines, food, textiles, military goods | machinery and equipment, consumer goods, medicines, meat, grain, sugar, semifinished metal products |
Imports - partners | Portugal 20.2%, US 13.9%, South Africa 12.4%, France 6.7%, Brazil 5.8%, Belgium 5.3%, Netherlands 4% (2002) | Germany 13.2%, Belarus 9.6%, Ukraine 9.3%, US 7.6%, Kazakhstan 4.8%, Italy 4.1% (2001) |
Independence | 11 November 1975 (from Portugal) | 24 August 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | 1% | 3.7% (2002 est.) |
Industries | petroleum; diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, feldspar, bauxite, uranium, and gold; cement; basic metal products; fish processing; food processing; brewing; tobacco products; sugar; textiles | complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; shipbuilding; road and rail transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery, tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer durables, textiles, foodstuffs, handicrafts |
Infant mortality rate | total: 193.82 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 206.26 deaths/1,000 live births female: 180.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
19.78 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 106% (2002 est.) | 16.2% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OAU, SADC, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, BSEC, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN (observer), CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ESCAP, G- 8, GEF, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 35 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 750 sq km (1998 est.) | 46,630 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Tribunal da Relacao (judges are appointed by the president) | Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Superior Court of Arbitration; judges for all courts are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president |
Labor force | 5 million (1997 est.) | 71.3 million (2001 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 85%, industry and services 15% (1997 est.) | agriculture 11%, industry 28%, services 61% (2001 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 5,198 km
border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 2,511 km (of which 225 km is the boundary of discontiguous Cabinda Province), Republic of the Congo 201 km, Namibia 1,376 km, Zambia 1,110 km |
total: 19,990 km
border countries: Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China (southeast) 3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 294 km, Finland 1,313 km, Georgia 723 km, Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 19 km, Latvia 217 km, Lithuania (Kaliningrad Oblast) 227 km, Mongolia 3,485 km, Norway 196 km, Poland (Kaliningrad Oblast) 206 km, Ukraine 1,576 km |
Land use | arable land: 2.41%
permanent crops: 0.4% other: 97.19% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 7.46%
permanent crops: 0.11% other: 92.43% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Portuguese (official), Bantu and other African languages | Russian, other |
Legal system | based on Portuguese civil law system and customary law; recently modified to accommodate political pluralism and increased use of free markets | based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Assembleia Nacional (220 seats; members elected by proportional vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 29-30 September 1992 (next to be held NA) election results: percent of vote by party - MPLA 54%, UNITA 34%, others 12%; seats by party - MPLA 129, UNITA 70, PRS 6, FNLA 5, PLD 3, others 7 |
bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (178 seats; as of July 2000, members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 89 federal administrative units - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; members serve four-year terms) and the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats; 225 seats elected by proportional representation from party lists winning at least 5% of the vote, and 225 seats from single-member constituencies; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: State Duma - last held 19 December 1999 (next to be held NA December 2003) election results: State Duma - percent of vote received by parties clearing the 5% threshold entitling them to a proportional share of the 225 party list seats - KPRF 24.29%, Unity 23.32%, OVR 13.33%, Union of Right Forces 8.52%, LDPR 5.98%, Yabloko 5.93%; seats by party - KPRF 113, Unity 72, OVR 67, Union of Rightist Forces 29, LDPR 17, Yabloko 21, other 16, independents 106, repeat election required 8, vacant 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 36.96 years
male: 36.13 years female: 37.83 years (2003 est.) |
total population: 67.5 years
male: 62.29 years female: 72.97 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 42% male: 56% female: 28% (1998 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 100% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
Location | Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Namibia and Democratic Republic of the Congo | Northern Asia (that part west of the Urals is sometimes included with Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean |
Map references | Africa | Asia |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 30,311 GRT/48,924 DWT
ships by type: cargo 7, petroleum tanker 1 (2002 est.) |
total: 888 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,390,745 GRT/5,357,436 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 1, bulk 21, cargo 556, chemical tanker 7, combination bulk 21, combination ore/oil 6, container 29, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger 41, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 153, refrigerated cargo 22, roll on/roll off 20, short-sea passenger 7 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Belize 1, Cambodia 1, Cyprus 9, Denmark 1, Estonia 4, Greece 3, Honduras 1, Latvia 4, Lithuania 3, Moldova 3, Netherlands 1, South Korea 1, Turkey 18, Turkmenistan 2, Ukraine 10, United Kingdom 5, United States 1 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, National Police Force | Ground Forces, Navy, Air Forces, Space Forces, Airborne Forces, Strategic Rocket Forces |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $222.7 million (FY02) | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 5.4% (FY02) | NA% |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 2,568,082 (2003 est.) | males age 15-49: 38,906,796 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 1,290,884 (2003 est.) | males age 15-49: 30,392,946 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2003 est.) | 18 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 109,752 (2003 est.) | males: 1,242,778 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 11 November (1975) | Russia Day, 12 June (1990) |
Nationality | noun: Angolan(s)
adjective: Angolan |
noun: Russian(s)
adjective: Russian |
Natural hazards | locally heavy rainfall causes periodic flooding on the plateau | permafrost over much of Siberia is a major impediment to development; volcanic activity in the Kuril Islands; volcanoes and earthquakes on the Kamchatka Peninsula; spring floods and summer/autumn forest fires throughout Siberia and parts of European Russia |
Natural resources | petroleum, diamonds, iron ore, phosphates, copper, feldspar, gold, bauxite, uranium | wide natural resource base including major deposits of oil, natural gas, coal, and many strategic minerals, timber
note: formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder exploitation of natural resources |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 0.94 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 214 km; liquid natural gas 14 km; liquid petroleum gas 30 km; oil 845 km; refined products 56 km (2003) | crude oil 48,000 km; petroleum products 15,000 km; natural gas 140,000 km (June 1993 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Liberal Democratic Party or PLD [Analia de Victoria PEREIRA]; National Front for the Liberation of Angola or FNLA [disputed leadership: Lucas NGONDA, Holden ROBERTO]; National Union for the Total Independence of Angola or UNITA [interim leader: PAULO Lukamba "Gato"], largest opposition party has engaged in years of armed resistance; Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola or MPLA [Jose Eduardo DOS SANTOS], ruling party in power since 1975; Social Renewal Party or PRS [disputed leadership: Eduardo KUANGANA, Antonio MUACHICUNGO]
note: about a dozen minor parties participated in the 1992 elections but only won a few seats and have little influence in the National Assembly |
Agrarian Party [Mikhail Ivanovich LAPSHIN]; Communist Party of the Russian Federation or KPRF [Gennadiy Andreyevich ZYUGANOV]; Fatherland-All Russia or OVR [Yuriy Mikhaylovich LUZHKOV]; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia or LDPR [Vladimir Volfovich ZHIRINOVSKIY]; Union of Rightist Forces [Anatoliy Borisovich CHUBAYS, Yegor Timurovich GAYDAR, Irina Mutsuovna KHAKAMADA, Boris Yefimovich NEMTSOV]; Unity [Sergey Kuzhugetovich SHOYGU]; Yabloko Bloc [Grigoriy Alekseyevich YAVLINSKIY]
note: some 150 political parties, blocs, and movements registered with the Justice Ministry as of the 19 December 1998 deadline to be eligible to participate in the 19 December 1999 Duma elections; of these, 36 political organizations actually qualified to run slates of candidates on the Duma party list ballot, 6 parties cleared the 5% threshold to win a proportional share of the 225 party seats in the Duma, 9 other organizations hold seats in the Duma: Bloc of Nikolayev and Academician Fedorov, Congress of Russian Communities, Movement in Support of the Army, Our Home Is Russia, Party of Pensioners, Power to the People, Russian All-People's Union, Russian Socialist Party, and Spiritual Heritage; primary political blocs include pro-market democrats - (Yabloko Bloc and Union of Right Forces), anti-market and/or ultranationalist (Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia) |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda or FLEC [N'zita Henriques TIAGO; Antonio Bento BEMBE]
note: FLEC is waging a small-scale, highly factionalized, armed struggle for the independence of Cabinda Province |
NA |
Population | 10,766,471 (July 2003 est.) | 144,978,573 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 40% (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.97% (2003 est.) | -0.33% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Ambriz, Cabinda, Lobito, Luanda, Malongo, Mocamedes, Namibe, Porto Amboim, Soyo | Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky, Arkhangel'sk, Astrakhan', De-Kastri, Indigirskiy, Kaliningrad, Kandalaksha, Kazan', Khabarovsk, Kholmsk, Krasnoyarsk, Lazarev, Mago, Mezen', Moscow, Murmansk, Nakhodka, Nevel'sk, Novorossiysk, Onega, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Rostov, Shakhtersk, Saint Petersburg, Sochi, Taganrog, Tuapse, Uglegorsk, Vanino, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Vostochnyy, Vyborg |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 21, FM 6, shortwave 7 (2000) | AM 420, FM 447, shortwave 56 (1998) |
Radios | - | 61.5 million (1997) |
Railways | total: 2,761 km
narrow gauge: 2,638 km 1.067-m gauge; 123 km 0.600-m gauge (2002) |
total: 87,157 km
broad gauge: 86,200 km 1.520-m gauge (40,300 km are electrified) narrow gauge: 957 km 1.067-m gauge (installed on Sakhalin Island) note: an additional 63,000 km of broad gauge routes serve specific industries and are not available for common carrier use (2002) |
Religions | indigenous beliefs 47%, Roman Catholic 38%, Protestant 15% (1998 est.) | Russian Orthodox, Muslim, other |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.48 male(s)/female total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: telephone service limited mostly to government and business use; HF radiotelephone used extensively for military links
domestic: limited system of wire, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: the telephone system has undergone significant changes in the 1990s; there are more than 1,000 companies licensed to offer communication services; access to digital lines has improved, particularly in urban centers; Internet and e-mail services are improving; Russia has made progress toward building the telecommunications infrastructure necessary for a market economy; however, a large demand for main line service remains unsatisfied
domestic: cross-country digital trunk lines run from Saint Petersburg to Khabarovsk, and from Moscow to Novorossiysk; the telephone systems in 60 regional capitals have modern digital infrastructures; cellular services, both analog and digital, are available in many areas; in rural areas, the telephone services are still outdated, inadequate, and low density international: Russia is connected internationally by three undersea fiber-optic cables; digital switches in several cities provide more than 50,000 lines for international calls; satellite earth stations provide access to Intelsat, Intersputnik, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Orbita systems |
Telephones - main lines in use | 72,000 (1998) | 30 million (1998) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 25,800 (2000) | 2.5 million (October 2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 6 (2000) | 7,306 (1998) |
Terrain | narrow coastal plain rises abruptly to vast interior plateau | broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous forest and tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions |
Total fertility rate | 6.38 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 1.3 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | extensive unemployment and underemployment affecting more than half the population (2001 est.) | 8% (2001 est.), plus considerable underemployment (2002 est.) |
Waterways | 1,295 km | 95,900 km (total routes in general use)
note: routes with navigation guides serving the Russian River Fleet - 95,900 km; routes with night navigational aids - 60,400 km; man-made navigable routes - 16,900 km (Jan 1994) |