Compare Benin (2005) - Japan (2005)

Compare Benin (2005) z Japan (2005)

	Benin (2005)	Japan (2005)

Administrative divisions	12 departments; Alibori, Atakora, Atlantique, Borgou, Collines, Kouffo, Donga, Littoral, Mono, Oueme, Plateau, Zou	47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gumma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi
Age structure	0-14 years: 46.5% (male 1,752,243/female 1,719,458) 15-64 years: 51.2% (male 1,868,630/female 1,948,610) 65 years and over: 2.3% (male 70,367/female 100,717) (2005 est.)	0-14 years: 14.3% (male 9,328,584/female 8,866,772) 15-64 years: 66.2% (male 42,462,533/female 41,942,835) 65 years and over: 19.5% (male 10,435,284/female 14,381,236) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	cotton, corn, cassava (tapioca), yams, beans, palm oil, peanuts, livestock (2001)	rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit, pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs, fish
Airports	5 (2004 est.)	174 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.)	total: 143 over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 37 1,524 to 2,437 m: 39 914 to 1,523 m: 28 under 914 m: 32 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2004 est.)	total: 31 over 3047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 26 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 112,620 sq km land: 110,620 sq km water: 2,000 sq km	total: 377,835 sq km land: 374,744 sq km water: 3,091 sq km note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto, Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto)
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Pennsylvania	slightly smaller than California
Background	Present day Benin was the site of Dahomey, a prominent West African kingdom that rose in the 15th century. The territory became a French Colony in 1872 and achieved independence on 1 August 1960, as the Republic of Benin. A succession of military governments ended in 1972 with the rise to power of Mathieu KEREKOU and the establishment of a government based on Marxist-Leninist principles. A move to representative government began in 1989. Two years later, free elections ushered in former Prime Minister Nicephore SOGLO as president, marking the first successful transfer of power in Africa from a dictatorship to a democracy. KEREKOU was returned to power by elections held in 1996 and 2001, though some irregularities were alleged.	In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Following the Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States in 1854, Japan opened its ports and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1933 Japan occupied Manchuria and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth, but Japan still remains a major economic power, both in Asia and globally. In 2005, Japan began a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Birth rate	41.99 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)	9.47 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	revenues: $869.4 million expenditures: $720.4 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)	revenues: $1.401 trillion expenditures: $1.748 trillion, including capital expenditures (public works only) of about $71 billion (2004 est.)
Capital	Porto-Novo is the official capital; Cotonou is the seat of government	Tokyo
Climate	tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north	varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north
Coastline	121 km	29,751 km
Constitution	December 1990	3 May 1947
Country name	conventional long form: Republic of Benin conventional short form: Benin local long form: Republique du Benin local short form: Benin former: Dahomey	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Japan
Death rate	13.76 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)	8.95 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	$1.6 billion (2000)	NA (2002 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Wayne NEILL embassy: Rue Caporal Bernard Anani, Cotonou mailing address: 01 B. P. 2012, Cotonou telephone: [229] 30-06-50 FAX: [229] 30-06-70	chief of mission: Ambassador J. Thomas SCHIEFFER embassy: 10-5 Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420 mailing address: Unit 45004, Box 258, APO AP 96337-5004 telephone: [81] (03) 3224-5000 FAX: [81] (03) 3505-1862 consulate(s) general: Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo consulate(s): Fukuoka, Nagoya
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Cyrille Segbe OGUIN chancery: 2124 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 232-6656 FAX: [1] (202) 265-1996	chief of mission: Ambassador Ryozo KATO chancery: 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 238-6700 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187 consulate(s) general: Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Agana (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, and Seattle consulate(s): Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands)
Disputes - international	two villages remain in dispute along the border with Burkina Faso; accuses Burkina Faso of moving boundary pillars; much of Benin-Niger boundary, including tripoint with Nigeria, remains undemarcated, and the states expect a ruling in 2005 from the ICJ over the disputed Niger and Mekrou River islands; a joint task force was established in 2004 that resolved disputes over and redrew the maritime and the 870-km land boundary with Nigeria, including the sovereignty over seven villages along the Okpara River; a joint boundary commission continues to resurvey the boundary with Togo to verify Benin's claim that Togo moved boundary stones	the sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kuril Islands", occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia and claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; Japan and South Korea claim Liancourt Rocks (Take-shima/Tok-do), occupied by South Korea since 1954; China and Taiwan dispute both Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of the Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea, the site of intensive hydrocarbon prospecting
Economic aid - donor	-	ODA, $7.9 billion (FY03/04)
Economic aid - recipient	$342.6 million (2000)	-
Economy - overview	The economy of Benin remains underdeveloped and dependent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. Growth in real output has averaged around 5% in the past six years, but rapid population growth has offset much of this increase. Inflation has subsided over the past several years. In order to raise growth still further, Benin plans to attract more foreign investment, place more emphasis on tourism, facilitate the development of new food processing systems and agricultural products, and encourage new information and communication technology. The 2001 privatization policy should continue in telecommunications, water, electricity, and agriculture in spite of initial government reluctance. The Paris Club and bilateral creditors have eased the external debt situation, while pressing for more rapid structural reforms. Benin continues to be hurt by Nigerian trade protection that bans imports of a growing list of products from Benin and elsewhere. As a result, smuggling and criminality along the Benin-Nigeria border has been on the rise.	Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically-powerful economy in the world after the US and third-largest economy after the US and China, measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis. (Using market exhange rates rather than PPP rates, Japan's economy is larger than China's.) One notable characteristic of the economy is the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in closely-knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding. Industry, the most important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The tiny agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth had been spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s, averaging just 1.7%, largely because of the after effects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. From 2000 to 2003, government efforts to revive economic growth met with little success and were further hampered by the slowing of the US, European, and Asian economies. In 2004, growth improved and the lingering fears of deflation in prices and economic activity lessened. Japan's huge government debt, which totals more than 160% of GDP, and the aging of the population are two major long-run problems. A rise in taxes could be viewed as endangering the revival of growth. Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength with Japan possessing 410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots." Internal conflict over the proper way to reform the ailing banking system continues.
Electricity - consumption	565.2 million kWh (2002)	971 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2002)	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports	300 million kWh (2002)	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - production	285.2 million kWh (2002)	1.044 trillion kWh (2002)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Sokbaro 658 m	lowest point: Hachiro-gata -4 m highest point: Mount Fuji 3,776 m
Environment - current issues	inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching threatens wildlife populations; deforestation; desertification	air pollution from power plant emissions results in acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of the largest consumers of fish and tropical timber, contributing to the depletion of these resources in Asia and elsewhere
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
Ethnic groups	African 99% (42 ethnic groups, most important being Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba), Europeans 5,500	Japanese 99%, others 1% (Korean 511,262, Chinese 244,241, Brazilian 182,232, Filipino 89,851, other 237,914) note: up to 230,000 Brazilians of Japanese origin migrated to Japan in the 1990s to work in industries; some have returned to Brazil (2004)
Exchange rates	Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000)	yen per US dollar - 108.19 (2004), 115.93 (2003), 125.39 (2002), 121.53 (2001), 107.77 (2000)
Executive branch	chief of state: President Mathieu KEREKOU (since 4 April 1996); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Mathieu KEREKOU (since 4 April 1996); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president reelected by popular vote for a five-year term; runoff election held 22 March 2001 (next to be held March 2006) election results: Mathieu KEREKOU reelected president; percent of vote - Mathieu KEREKOU 84.1%, Bruno AMOUSSOU 15.9% note: the four top-ranking contenders following the first-round presidential elections were: Mathieu KEREKOU (incumbent) 45.4%, Nicephore SOGLO (former president) 27.1%, Adrien HOUNGBEDJI (National Assembly Speaker) 12.6%, and Bruno AMOUSSOU (Minister of State) 8.6%; the second-round balloting, originally scheduled for 18 March 2001, was postponed four days because both SOGLO and HOUNGBEDJI withdrew alleging electoral fraud; this left KEREKOU to run against his own Minister of State, AMOUSSOU, in what was termed a "friendly match"	chief of state: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989) head of government: Prime Minister Junichiro KOIZUMI (since 26 April 2001) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister elections: Diet designates prime minister; constitution requires that prime minister commands parliamentary majority; following legislative elections, leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition in House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister; KOIZUMI's term as leader of the LDP is scheduled to end in September 2006; a new prime minister may be chosen at that time; monarch is hereditary
Exports	NA	93,360 bbl/day (2001)
Exports - commodities	cotton, crude oil, palm products, cocoa	transport equipment, motor vehicles, semiconductors, electrical machinery, chemicals
Exports - partners	China 28.7%, India 18.4%, Ghana 6.3%, Thailand 6%, Niger 5.8%, Indonesia 4.2%, Nigeria 4.2% (2004)	US 22.7%, China 13.1%, South Korea 7.8%, Taiwan 7.4%, Hong Kong 6.3% (2004)
Fiscal year	calendar year	1 April - 31 March
Flag description	two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and red (bottom) with a vertical green band on the hoist side	white with a large red disk (representing the sun without rays) in the center
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 36.3% industry: 14.3% services: 49.4% (2004 est.)	agriculture: 1.3% industry: 24.7% services: 74.1% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $1,200 (2004 est.)	purchasing power parity - $29,400 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	5% (2004 est.)	2.9% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	9 30 N, 2 15 E	36 00 N, 138 00 E
Geography - note	sandbanks create difficult access to a coast with no natural harbors, river mouths, or islands	strategic location in northeast Asia
Heliports	-	15 (2004 est.)
Highways	total: 6,787 km paved: 1,357 km (including 10 km of expressways) unpaved: 5,430 km (1999 est.)	total: 1,171,647 km paved: 903,340 km (including 6,851 km of expressways) unpaved: 268,307 km (2001)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA	lowest 10%: 4.8% highest 10%: 21.7% (1993)
Illicit drugs	transshipment point for narcotics associated with Nigerian trafficking organizations and most commonly destined for Western Europe and the US; vulnerable to money laundering due to a poorly regulated financial infrastructure	-
Imports	NA	5.449 million bbl/day (2001)
Imports - commodities	foodstuffs, capital goods, petroleum products	machinery and equipment, fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, raw materials (2001)
Imports - partners	China 32.2%, France 13%, Thailand 6.7%, Cote d'Ivoire 5.3% (2004)	China 20.7%, US 14%, South Korea 4.9%, Australia 4.3%, Indonesia 4.1%, Saudi Arabia 4.1%, UAE 4% (2004)
Independence	1 August 1960 (from France)	660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor JIMMU)
Industrial production growth rate	8.3% (2001 est.)	6.6% (2004 est.)
Industries	textiles, food processing, construction materials, cement (2001)	among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods
Infant mortality rate	total: 85 deaths/1,000 live births male: 90 deaths/1,000 live births female: 79.86 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)	total: 3.26 deaths/1,000 live births male: 3.52 deaths/1,000 live births female: 2.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	2.8% (2004 est.)	-0.1% (2004 est.)
International organization participation	ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OIC, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNOCI, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO	AfDB, APEC, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EBRD, FAO, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA, MIGA, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), Paris Club, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UNRWA, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
Irrigated land	120 sq km (1998 est.)	26,790 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	Constitutional Court or Cour Constitutionnelle; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; High Court of Justice	Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the monarch after designation by the cabinet; all other justices are appointed by the cabinet)
Labor force	NA (1996)	66.97 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	-	agriculture 5%, industry 25%, services 70% (2002 est.)
Land boundaries	total: 1,989 km border countries: Burkina Faso 306 km, Niger 266 km, Nigeria 773 km, Togo 644 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 18.08% permanent crops: 2.4% other: 79.52% (2001)	arable land: 12.19% permanent crops: 0.96% other: 86.85% (2001)
Languages	French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)	Japanese
Legal system	based on French civil law and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction	modeled after European civil law system with English-American influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Legislative branch	unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (83 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 30 March 2003 (next to be held March 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Presidential Movement 52, opposition (PRB, PRD, E'toile, and 5 other small parties) 31	bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in (242 seats - members elected for six-year terms; half reelected every three years; 144 members in multi-seat constituencies and 98 by proportional representation) and the House of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - members elected for four-year terms; 300 in single-seat constituencies; 180 members by proportional representation in 11 regional blocs) elections: House of Councillors - last held 11 July 2004 (next to be held in July 2007); House of Representatives - last held 11 September 2005 (next election by September 2009) election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LDP 115, DPJ 82, Komeito 24, JCP 9, SDP 5, others 7; distribution of seats as of October 2004 - LDP 114, DPJ 84, Komeito 24, JCP 9, SDP 5, others 6 House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - LDP 47.8%, DPJ 36.4%, others 15.8%; seats by party - LDP 296, DPJ 113, Komeito 31, JCP 9, SDP 7, others 24 (2005)
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 52.66 years male: 51.53 years female: 53.82 years (2005 est.)	total population: 81.15 years male: 77.86 years female: 84.61 years (2005 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 33.6% male: 46.4% female: 22.6% (2002 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2002)
Location	Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and Togo	Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
Map references	Africa	Asia
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 200 nm	territorial sea: 12 nm; between 3 nm and 12 nm in the international straits - La Perouse or Soya, Tsugaru, Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	-	total: 702 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 10,149,196 GRT/12,680,544 DWT by type: bulk carrier 136, cargo 29, chemical tanker 23, container 13, liquefied gas 53, passenger 16, passenger/cargo 157, petroleum tanker 160, refrigerated cargo 4, roll on/roll off 52, vehicle carrier 59 registered in other countries: 2,233 (2005)
Military branches	Army, Navy, Air Force	Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force)
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$96.5 million (2004)	$45.841 billion (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	2.4% (2004)	1% (2004)
National holiday	National Day, 1 August (1960)	Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23 December (1933)
Nationality	noun: Beninese (singular and plural) adjective: Beninese	noun: Japanese (singular and plural) adjective: Japanese
Natural hazards	hot, dry, dusty harmattan wind may affect north from December to March	many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis; typhoons
Natural resources	small offshore oil deposits, limestone, marble, timber	negligible mineral resources, fish
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Pipelines	-	gas 2,719 km; oil 170 km; oil/gas/water 60 km (2004)
Political parties and leaders	African Congress for Renewal or DUNYA [Saka SALEY]; African Movement for Democracy and Progress or MADEP [Sefou FAGBOHOUN]; Alliance of the Social Democratic Party or PSD [Bruno AMOUSSOU]; Coalition of Democratic Forces [Gatien HOUNGBEDJI]; Democratic Renewal Party or PRD [Adrien HOUNGBEDJI]; Front for Renewal and Development or FARD-ALAFIA [Jerome Sakia KINA]; Impulse for Progress and Democracy or IPD [Bertin BORNA]; Key Force or FC [leader NA]; Presidential Movement (UBF, MADEP, FC, IDP, and four small parties); Renaissance Party du Benin or PRB [Nicephore SOGLO]; The Star Alliance (Alliance E'toile) [Sacca LAFIA]; Union of Tomorrow's Benin or UBF [Bruno AMOUSSOU] note: approximately 20 additional minor parties	Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Seiji MAEHARA, leader; Yukio HATOYAMA, secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII, chairman; Tadayoshi ICHIDA, secretary general]; Komeito [Takenori KANZAKI, president; Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Junichiro KOIZUMI, president; Tsutomu TAKEBE, secretary general]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Mizuho FUKUSHIMA, chairperson; Seiji MATAICHI, secretary general]
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	NA
Population	7,460,025 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.)	127,417,244 (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	33% (2001 est.)	NA
Population growth rate	2.82% (2005 est.)	0.05% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	Cotonou	Chiba, Kawasaki, Kiire, Kisarazu, Kobe, Mizushima, Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, Yohohama
Radio broadcast stations	AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 4 (2000)	AM 215 plus 370 repeaters, FM 89 plus 485 repeaters, shortwave 21 (2001)
Railways	total: 578 km narrow gauge: 578 km 1.000-m gauge (2004)	total: 23,577 km (16,519 km electrified) standard gauge: 3,204 km 1.435-m gauge (3,204 km electrified) narrow gauge: 77 km 1.372-m gauge (77 km electrified); 20,265 km 1.067-m gauge (13,227 km electrified); 11 km 0.762-m gauge (11 km electrified) (2004)
Religions	indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 30%, Muslim 20%	observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.)	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	20 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: NA domestic: fair system of open-wire, microwave radio relay, and cellular connections international: country code - 229; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia	general assessment: excellent domestic and international service domestic: high level of modern technology and excellent service of every kind international: country code - 81; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); submarine cables to China, Philippines, Russia, and US (via Guam) (1999)
Telephones - main lines in use	66,500 (2003)	71.149 million (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	236,200 (2003)	86,658,600 (2003)
Television broadcast stations	1 (2001)	211 plus 7,341 repeaters note: in addition, US Forces are served by 3 TV stations and 2 TV cable services (1999)
Terrain	mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains	mostly rugged and mountainous
Total fertility rate	5.86 children born/woman (2005 est.)	1.39 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	NA	4.7% (2004 est.)
Waterways	150 km (on River Niger along northern border) (2004)	1,770 km (seagoing vessels use inland seas) (2004)

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