Botswana (2001) | Honduras (2008) | |
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Administrative divisions | 10 districts and four town councils*; Central, Chobe, Francistown*, Gaborone*, Ghanzi, Kgalagadi, Kgatleng, Kweneng, Lobatse*, Ngamiland, North-East, Selebi-Pikwe*, South-East, Southern | 18 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Atlantida, Choluteca, Colon, Comayagua, Copan, Cortes, El Paraiso, Francisco Morazan, Gracias a Dios, Intibuca, Islas de la Bahia, La Paz, Lempira, Ocotepeque, Olancho, Santa Barbara, Valle, Yoro |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
40.3% (male 321,164; female 318,007) 15-64 years: 55.56% (male 423,954; female 457,227) 65 years and over: 4.14% (male 26,691; female 39,076) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 39.3% (male 1,500,949/female 1,439,084)
15-64 years: 57.2% (male 2,142,953/female 2,140,432) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 117,774/female 142,571) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sorghum, corn, millet, pulses, groundnuts (peanuts), beans, cowpeas, sunflower seed; livestock | bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp, tilapia, lobster; corn, African palm |
Airports | 92 (2000 est.) | 112 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 12
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
81 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 56 under 914 m: 22 (2000 est.) |
total: 100
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 83 (2007) |
Area | total:
600,370 sq km land: 585,370 sq km water: 15,000 sq km |
total: 112,090 sq km
land: 111,890 sq km water: 200 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Texas | slightly larger than Tennessee |
Background | Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name upon independence in 1966. The economy, one of the most robust on the continent, is dominated by diamond mining. | Once part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an independent nation in 1821. After two and a half decades of mostly military rule, a freely elected civilian government came to power in 1982. During the 1980s, Honduras proved a haven for anti-Sandinista contras fighting the Marxist Nicaraguan Government and an ally to Salvadoran Government forces fighting leftist guerrillas. The country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which killed about 5,600 people and caused approximately $2 billion in damage. |
Birth rate | 28.85 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 27.59 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$1.6 billion expenditures: $1.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $560 million (FY96) |
revenues: $2.089 billion
expenditures: $2.357 billion; including capital expenditures of $106 million (2007 est.) |
Capital | Gaborone | name: Tegucigalpa
geographic coordinates: 14 06 N, 87 13 W time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November; note - these dates become effective in 2007 |
Climate | semiarid; warm winters and hot summers | subtropical in lowlands, temperate in mountains |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 820 km |
Constitution | March 1965, effective 30 September 1966 | 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982; amended many times |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Botswana conventional short form: Botswana former: Bechuanaland |
conventional long form: Republic of Honduras
conventional short form: Honduras local long form: Republica de Honduras local short form: Honduras |
Currency | pula (BWP) | - |
Death rate | 24.18 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 5.32 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $455 million (2000) | $3.871 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador John E. LANGE embassy: address NA, Gaborone mailing address: P. O. Box 90, Gaborone telephone: [267] 353982 FAX: [267] 356947 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Charles A. FORD
embassy: Avenida La Paz, Apartado Postal No. 3453, Tegucigalpa mailing address: American Embassy, APO AA 34022, Tegucigalpa telephone: [504] 236-9320, 238-5114 FAX: [504] 236-9037 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Kgosi SEEPAPITSO IV chancery: 1531-1533 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 244-4990 FAX: [1] (202) 244-4164 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Roberto FLORES BERMUDEZ
chancery: Suite 4-M, 3007 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 966-7702 FAX: [1] (202) 966-9751 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco honorary consulate(s): Boston, Detroit, Jacksonville |
Disputes - international | none | International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on the delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras border in 1992 with final settlement by the parties in 2006 after an Organization of American States (OAS) survey and a further ICJ ruling in 2003; the 1992 ICJ ruling advised a tripartite resolution to a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Fonseca with consideration of Honduran access to the Pacific; El Salvador continues to claim tiny Conejo Island, not mentioned in the ICJ ruling, off Honduras in the Gulf of Fonseca; Honduras claims the Belizean-administered Sapodilla Cays off the coast of Belize in its constitution, but agreed to a joint ecological park around the cays should Guatemala consent to a maritime corridor in the Caribbean under the OAS-sponsored 2002 Belize-Guatemala Differendum; memorials and countermemorials were filed by the parties in Nicaragua's 1999 and 2001 proceedings against Honduras and Colombia at the ICJ over the maritime boundary and territorial claims in the western Caribbean Sea - final public hearings are scheduled for 2007 |
Economic aid - recipient | $73 million (1995) | $680.8 million (2005) |
Economy - overview | Botswana has maintained one of the world's highest growth rates since independence in 1966. Through fiscal discipline and sound management, Botswana has transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle-income country with a per capita GDP of $6,600 in 2000. Diamond mining has fueled much of Botswana's economic expansion and currently accounts for more than one-third of GDP and for three-fourths of export earnings. Tourism, subsistence farming, and cattle raising are other key sectors. The government must deal with high rates of unemployment and poverty. Unemployment officially is 19%, but unofficial estimates place it closer to 40%. HIV/AIDS infection rates are the highest in the world and threaten Botswana's impressive economic gains. | Honduras, the second poorest country in Central America and one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, with an extraordinarily unequal distribution of income and massive unemployment, is banking on expanded trade under the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and on debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Despite improvements in tax collections, the government's fiscal deficit is growing due to increases in current expenditures and financial losses from the state energy and telephone companies. Honduras is the fastest growing remittance destination in the region with inflows representing over a quarter of GDP, equivalent to nearly three-quarters of exports. The economy relies heavily on a narrow range of exports, notably bananas and coffee, making it vulnerable to natural disasters and shifts in commodity prices, however, investments in the maquila and non-traditional export sectors are slowly diversifying the economy. Growth remains dependent on the economy of the US, its largest trading partner, and on reduction of the high crime rate, as a means of attracting and maintaining investment. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.517 billion kWh (1999) | 4.036 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 950 million kWh (1999) | 57 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 610 million kWh (1999) | 5.339 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
junction of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers 513 m highest point: Tsodilo Hills 1,489 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870 m |
Environment - current issues | overgrazing; desertification; limited fresh water resources | urban population expanding; deforestation results from logging and the clearing of land for agricultural purposes; further land degradation and soil erosion hastened by uncontrolled development and improper land use practices such as farming of marginal lands; mining activities polluting Lago de Yojoa (the country's largest source of fresh water), as well as several rivers and streams, with heavy metals |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Tswana (or Setswana) 79%, Kalanga 11%, Basarwa 3%, other, including Kgalagadi and white 7% | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1% |
Exchange rates | pulas per US dollar - 5.4585 (January 2001), 5.1018 (2000), 4.6244 (1999), 4.2259 (1998), 3.6508 (1997), 3.3242 (1996) | lempiras per US dollar - 18.9 (2007), 18.895 (2006), 18.92 (2005), 18.206 (2004), 17.345 (2003) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Festus MOGAE (since 1 April 1998) and Vice President Seretse Ian KHAMA (since 13 July 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Festus MOGAE (since 1 April 1998) and Vice President Seretse Ian KHAMA (since 13 July 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term; election last held 16 October 1999 (next to be held NA October 2004); vice president appointed by the president election results: Festus MOGAE elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 54.3% |
chief of state: President Manuel ZELAYA Rosales (since 27 January 2006); Vice President Elvin Ernesto SANTOS Ordonez (since 27 January 2006); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Manuel ZELAYA Rosales (since 27 January 2006); Vice President Elvin Ernesto SANTOS Ordonez (since 27 January 2006) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by president elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 27 November 2005 (next to be held in November 2009) election results: Manuel ZELAYA Rosales elected president - 49.8%, Porfirio "Pepe" LOBO Sosa 46.1%, other 4.1% |
Exports | $2.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 765.4 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | diamonds 72%, vehicles, copper, nickel, meat (1998) | coffee, shrimp, bananas, gold, palm oil, fruit, lobster, lumber |
Exports - partners | EU 77%, Southern African Customs Union (SACU) 18%, Zimbabwe 3% (1998) | US 70.6%, Guatemala 3.5%, El Salvador 3.4% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | light blue with a horizontal white-edged black stripe in the center | three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue with five blue, five-pointed stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band; the stars represent the members of the former Federal Republic of Central America - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua; similar to the flag of El Salvador, which features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Nicaragua, which features a triangle encircled by the word REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom, centered in the white band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $10.4 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
4% industry: 46% (including 36% mining) services: 50% (1998 est.) |
agriculture: 13.5%
industry: 31% services: 55.6% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $6,600 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 6% (2000 est.) | 6% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 22 00 S, 24 00 E | 15 00 N, 86 30 W |
Geography - note | landlocked; population concentrated in eastern part of the country | has only a short Pacific coast but a long Caribbean shoreline, including the virtually uninhabited eastern Mosquito Coast |
Highways | total:
18,482 km paved: 4,343 km unpaved: 14,139 km (1996) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 1.2%
highest 10%: 42.2% (2003) |
Illicit drugs | - | transshipment point for drugs and narcotics; illicit producer of cannabis, cultivated on small plots and used principally for local consumption; corruption is a major problem; some money-laundering activity |
Imports | $2.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 42,620 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, textiles, petroleum products | machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | Southern African Customs Union (SACU) 76%, Europe 10%, South Korea 5% (1998) | US 53%, Guatemala 7%, El Salvador 4.5%, Costa Rica 4.1%, Mexico 4.1% (2006) |
Independence | 30 September 1966 (from UK) | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 6.2% (2000 est.) | 5.3% (2007 est.) |
Industries | diamonds, copper, nickel, coal, salt, soda ash, potash; livestock processing | sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products |
Infant mortality rate | 63.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 25.21 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 28.3 deaths/1,000 live births female: 21.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 8.6% (2000 est.) | 6.4% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 3 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 20 sq km (1993 est.) | 800 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | High Court; Court of Appeal; Magistrates' Courts (one in each district) | Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (15 judges are elected for seven-year terms by the National Congress) |
Labor force | 235,000 formal sector employees (1995) | 2.812 million (2007 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | 100,000 public sector; 135,000 private sector, including 14,300 who are employed in various mines in South Africa; most others engaged in cattle raising and subsistence agriculture (1995 est.) | agriculture: 34%
industry: 23% services: 43% (2003 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
4,013 km border countries: Namibia 1,360 km, South Africa 1,840 km, Zimbabwe 813 km |
total: 1,520 km
border countries: Guatemala 256 km, El Salvador 342 km, Nicaragua 922 km |
Land use | arable land:
1% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 46% forests and woodland: 47% other: 6% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 9.53%
permanent crops: 3.21% other: 87.26% (2005) |
Languages | English (official), Setswana | Spanish, Amerindian dialects |
Legal system | based on Roman-Dutch law and local customary law; judicial review limited to matters of interpretation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | rooted in Roman and Spanish civil law with increasing influence of English common law; recent judicial reforms include abandoning Napoleonic legal codes in favor of the oral adversarial system; accepts ICJ jurisdiction with reservations |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament consists of the House of Chiefs (a largely advisory 15-member body consisting of the chiefs of the eight principal tribes, four elected subchiefs, and three members selected by the other 12) and the National Assembly (44 seats, 40 members are directly elected by popular vote and 4 appointed by the majority party; members serve five-year terms)
elections: National Assembly elections last held 16 October 1999 (next to be held NA October 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - BDP 57.2%, BNF 26%, other 16.8%; seats by party - BDP 33, BNF 6, other 1 |
unicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional (128 seats; members are elected proportionally to the number of votes their party's presidential candidate receives to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 27 November 2005 (next to be held in November 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PL 62, PN 55, PUD 5, PDC 4, PINU 2 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
37.13 years male: 36.77 years female: 37.51 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 69.35 years
male: 67.78 years female: 70.99 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 69.8% male: 80.5% female: 59.9% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 80% male: 79.8% female: 80.2% (2001 census) |
Location | Southern Africa, north of South Africa | Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), between El Salvador and Nicaragua |
Map references | Africa | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: natural extension of territory or to 200 nm |
Merchant marine | - | total: 126 ships (1000 GRT or over) 352,534 GRT/481,217 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 9, cargo 58, chemical tanker 5, container 1, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 1, passenger 4, passenger/cargo 7, petroleum tanker 27, refrigerated cargo 8, roll on/roll off 4, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 40 (Bangladesh 1, Canada 1, China 3, Egypt 4, Greece 1, Hong Kong 1, Israel 1, Japan 4, South Korea 6, Lebanon 2, Mexico 1, Singapore 10, Taiwan 2, Tanzania 1, US 1, Vietnam 1) (2007) |
Military branches | Botswana Defense Force (includes Army and Air Wing), Botswana National Police | Army, Navy (includes Naval Infantry), Honduran Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Hondurena, FAH) (2007) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $61 million (FY99) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.2% (FY99) | 0.6% (2006 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
380,152 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
199,995 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
19,479 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 30 September (1966) | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
Nationality | noun:
Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural) adjective: Motswana (singular), Batswana (plural) |
noun: Honduran(s)
adjective: Honduran |
Natural hazards | periodic droughts; seasonal August winds blow from the west, carrying sand and dust across the country, which can obscure visibility | frequent, but generally mild, earthquakes; extremely susceptible to damaging hurricanes and floods along the Caribbean coast |
Natural resources | diamonds, copper, nickel, salt, soda ash, potash, coal, iron ore, silver | timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -1.36 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Botswana Democratic Party or BDP [Festus MOGAE]; Botswana National Front or BNF [Kenneth KOMA]; Botswana Congress Party or BCP [Michael DINGAKE]; Botswana Alliance Movement or BAM [Ephraim Lepetu SETSHWAELO]
note: main parties are: BDP, BNF, BCP; other minor parties joined forces in 1999 to form the Botswana Alliance Movement or BAM [Ephraim SETSHWAELO, chairman] but did not capture any parliamentary seats; the BAM parties are: the United Action Party [Ephraim Lepetu SETSHWAELO], the Botswana Peoples Party, the Independence Freedom Party [Motsamai MPHO], and the Botswana Progressive Union [D. K. KWELE] |
Christian Democratic Party or PDC [Felicito AVILA]; Democratic Unification Party or PUD [Cesar HAM]; Liberal Party or PL [Patricia RODAS]; National Innovation and Unity Party or PINU [Jorge AQUILAR Paredes]; National Party of Honduras or PN [Porfirio LOBO] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras or CODEH; Confederation of Honduran Workers or CTH; Coordinating Committee of Popular Organizations or CCOP; General Workers Confederation or CGT; Honduran Council of Private Enterprise or COHEP; National Association of Honduran Campesinos or ANACH; National Union of Campesinos or UNC; Popular Bloc or BP; United Confederation of Honduran Workers or CUTH |
Population | 1,586,119
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 2001 est.) |
7,483,763
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 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 47% (2000 est.) | 50.7% (2004) |
Population growth rate | 0.47% (2001 est.) | 2.091% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 7, FM 15, shortwave 5 (1998) | AM 241, FM 53, shortwave 12 (1998) |
Radios | 237,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
888 km narrow gauge: 888 km 1.067-m gauge (2000) |
total: 699 km
narrow gauge: 279 km 1.067-m gauge; 420 km 0.914-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 50% | Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant 3% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.043 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.001 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.826 male(s)/female total population: 1.011 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory |
Telephone system | general assessment:
sparse system domestic: small system of open-wire lines, microwave radio relay links, and a few radiotelephone communication stations international: two international exchanges; digital microwave radio relay links to Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
general assessment: inadequate system
domestic: beginning in 2003, private sub-operators allowed to provide fixed-lines in order to expand telephone coverage; fixed-line teledensity has increased to about 10 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone service has been increasing rapidly and subscribership in 2006 exceeded 30 per 100 persons international: country code - 504; landing point for both the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) and the MAYA-1 fiber optic submarine cable system that together provide connectivity to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); connected to Central American Microwave System |
Telephones - main lines in use | 86,000 (1997) | 708,400 (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 2.241 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 0 (1997) | 11 (plus 17 repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | predominantly flat to gently rolling tableland; Kalahari Desert in southwest | mostly mountains in interior, narrow coastal plains |
Total fertility rate | 3.7 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 3.48 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 40% (2000 est.) | 27.8% (2007 est.) |
Waterways | none | 465 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2007) |