Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2002) - Algeria (2006)

Compare British Indian Ocean Territory (2002) z Algeria (2006)

	British Indian Ocean Territory (2002)	Algeria (2006)

Administrative divisions	-	48 provinces (wilayat, singular - wilaya); Adrar, Ain Defla, Ain Temouchent, Alger, Annaba, Batna, Bechar, Bejaia, Biskra, Blida, Bordj Bou Arreridj, Bouira, Boumerdes, Chlef, Constantine, Djelfa, El Bayadh, El Oued, El Tarf, Ghardaia, Guelma, Illizi, Jijel, Khenchela, Laghouat, Mascara, Medea, Mila, Mostaganem, M'Sila, Naama, Oran, Ouargla, Oum el Bouaghi, Relizane, Saida, Setif, Sidi Bel Abbes, Skikda, Souk Ahras, Tamanghasset, Tebessa, Tiaret, Tindouf, Tipaza, Tissemsilt, Tizi Ouzou, Tlemcen
Age structure	-	0-14 years: 28.1% (male 4,722,076/female 4,539,713) 15-64 years: 67.1% (male 11,133,802/female 10,964,502) 65 years and over: 4.8% (male 735,444/female 834,554) (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	wheat, barley, oats, grapes, olives, citrus, fruits; sheep, cattle
Airports	1 (2001)	142 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2002)	total: 52 over 3,047 m: 10 2,438 to 3,047 m: 27 1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 90 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 26 914 to 1,523 m: 39 under 914 m: 23 (2006)
Area	total: 60 sq km land: 60 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago	total: 2,381,740 sq km land: 2,381,740 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC	slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas
Background	Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order which had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia.	After more than a century of rule by France, Algerians fought through much of the 1950s to achieve independence in 1962. Algeria's primary political party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), has dominated politics ever since. Many Algerians in the subsequent generation were not satisfied, however, and moved to counter the FLN's centrality in Algerian politics. The surprising first round success of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the December 1991 balloting spurred the Algerian army to intervene and postpone the second round of elections to prevent what the secular elite feared would be an extremist-led government from assuming power. The army began a crack down on the FIS that spurred FIS supporters to begin attacking government targets. The government later allowed elections featuring pro-government and moderate religious-based parties, but did not appease the activists who progressively widened their attacks. The fighting escalated into an insurgency, which saw intense fighting between 1992-98 and which resulted in over 100,000 deaths - many attributed to indiscriminate massacres of villagers by extremists. The government gained the upper hand by the late-1990s and FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, disbanded in January 2000. However, small numbers of armed militants persist in confronting government forces and conducting ambushes and occasional attacks on villages. The army placed Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA in the presidency in 1999 in a fraudulent election but claimed neutrality in his 2004 landslide reelection victory. Longstanding problems continue to face BOUTEFLIKA in his second term, including the ethnic minority Berbers' ongoing autonomy campaign, large-scale unemployment, a shortage of housing, unreliable electrical and water supplies, government inefficiencies and corruption, and the continuing - although significantly degraded - activities of extremist militants. Algeria must also diversify its petroleum-based economy, which has yielded a large cash reserve but which has not been used to redress Algeria's many social and infrastructure problems.
Birth rate	-	17.14 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Budget	-	revenues: $42.05 billion expenditures: $30.75 billion; including capital expenditures of $5.8 billion (2005 est.)
Capital	-	name: Algiers geographic coordinates: 36 47 N, 2 03 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate	tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds	arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers along coast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau; sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer
Coastline	698 km	998 km
Constitution	-	8 September 1963; revised 19 November 1976, effective 22 November 1976; revised 3 November 1988, 23 February 1989, and 28 November 1996
Country name	conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT	conventional long form: People's Democratic Republic of Algeria conventional short form: Algeria local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Jaza'iriyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Sha'biyah local short form: Al Jaza'ir
Death rate	-	4.61 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Debt - external	-	$19.45 billion (2005 est.)
Dependency status	overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London	-
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	chief of mission: Ambassador Robert S. FORD embassy: 04 Chemin Cheikh Bachir Ibrahimi El-Biar 16030, Algiers mailing address: B. P. 408, Alger-Gare, 16030 Algiers telephone: [213] (021) 69-12-55 FAX: [213] (021) 69-39-79
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	chief of mission: Ambassador Amine KHERBI chancery: 2118 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 265-2800 FAX: [1] (202) 667-2174
Disputes - international	Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, but in 2001 were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation since eviction in 1965; repatriation is complicated by the US military lease of Diego Garcia, the largest island in the chain	Algeria supports the exiled Sahrawi Polisario Front and rejects Moroccan administration of Western Sahara; most of the approximately 102,000 Western Saharan Sahrawi refugees are sheltered in camps in Tindouf, Algeria; Algeria's border with Morocco remains an irritant to bilateral relations, each nation accusing the other of harboring militants and arms smuggling; in an attempt to improve relations, Morocco, in mid-2004, unilaterally lifted the requirement that Algerians visiting Morocco possess entry visas - a gesture not reciprocated by Algeria; Algeria remains concerned about armed bandits operating throughout the Sahel who sometimes destabilize southern Algerian towns; dormant disputes include Libyan claims of about 32,000 sq km still reflected on its maps of southeastern Algeria and the FLN's assertions of a claim to Chirac Pastures in southeastern Morocco
Economic aid - recipient	-	$122.8 million (2002 est.)
Economy - overview	All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defense facilities are located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installations are done by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing.	The hydrocarbons sector is the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and over 95% of export earnings. Algeria has the seventh-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the second-largest gas exporter; it ranks 14th in oil reserves. Sustained high oil prices in recent years, along with macroeconomic policy reforms supported by the IMF, have helped improve Algeria's financial and macroeconomic indicators. Algeria is running substantial trade surpluses and building up record foreign exchange reserves. Real GDP has risen due to higher oil output and increased government spending. The government's continued efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and domestic investment outside the energy sector, however, has had little success in reducing high unemployment and improving living standards. The population is becoming increasingly restive due to the lack of jobs and housing and frequently stages protests, which have resulted in arrests and injuries, including some deaths as government forces intervened to restore order. Structural reform within the economy, such as development of the banking sector and the construction of infrastructure, moves ahead slowly hampered by corruption and bureaucratic resistance.
Electricity - consumption	NA kWh	24.9 billion kWh (2003 est.)
Electricity - exports	-	400 million kWh (2003 est.)
Electricity - imports	-	200 million kWh (2003 est.)
Electricity - production	NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military	26.99 billion kWh (2003 est.)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m	lowest point: Chott Melrhir -40 m highest point: Tahat 3,003 m
Environment - current issues	NA	soil erosion from overgrazing and other poor farming practices; desertification; dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in particular, becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff; inadequate supplies of potable water
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
Ethnic groups	-	Arab-Berber 99%, European less than 1% note: almost all Algerians are Berber in origin, not Arab; the minority who identify themselves as Berber live mostly in the mountainous region of Kabylie east of Algiers; the Berbers are also Muslim but identify with their Berber rather than Arab cultural heritage; Berbers have long agitated, sometimes violently, for autonomy; the government is unlikely to grant autonomy but has offered to begin sponsoring teaching Berber language in schools
Exchange rates	-	Algerian dinars per US dollar - 73.276 (2005), 72.061 (2004), 77.395 (2003), 79.682 (2002), 77.215 (2001)
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Commissioner Alan HUCKLE (since 2001); Administrator Louise SAVILL (since NA); note - both reside in the UK cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch	chief of state: President Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA (since 28 April 1999) head of government: Prime Minister Abdelaziz BELKHADEM cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 8 April 2004 (next to be held in April 2009); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA reelected president for second term; percent of vote - Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA 85%, Ali BENFLIS 6.4%, Abdellah DJABALLAH 5%
Exports	-	1.127 million bbl/day (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities	-	petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum products 97%
Exports - partners	-	US 22.8%, Italy 16.2%, Spain 10.4%, France 10%, Canada 8%, Brazil 6.1%, Belgium 4.4%, Germany 4.2% (2005)
Fiscal year	-	calendar year
Flag description	white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag	two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and white; a red, five-pointed star within a red crescent centered over the two-color boundary; the crescent, star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam (the state religion)
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: 10.1% industry: 60% services: 29.8% (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-	5.5% (2005 est.)
Geographic coordinates	6 00 S, 71 30 E	28 00 N, 3 00 E
Geography - note	archipelago of 2,300 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility	second-largest country in Africa (after Sudan)
Heliports	-	1 (2006)
Highways	total: NA km paved: short stretch of paved road of NA km between port and airfield on Diego Garcia unpaved: NA km	-
Household income or consumption by percentage share	-	lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 26.8% (1995)
Imports	-	0 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities	-	capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods
Imports - partners	-	France 28.2%, Italy 7.8%, Spain 7.1%, China 6.6%, Germany 6.3%, US 5.5% (2005)
Independence	-	5 July 1962 (from France)
Industrial production growth rate	-	8% (2005 est.)
Industries	-	petroleum, natural gas, light industries, mining, electrical, petrochemical, food processing
Infant mortality rate	-	total: 29.87 deaths/1,000 live births male: 33.62 deaths/1,000 live births female: 25.94 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-	1.9% (2005 est.)
International organization participation	-	ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AMU, AU, BIS, FAO, G-15, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer), OIC, ONUB, OPCW, OPEC, OSCE (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)	1 (2000)	-
Irrigated land	0 sq km (1998 est.)	5,690 sq km (2003)
Judicial branch	-	Supreme Court
Labor force	-	10.15 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	-	agriculture 14%, industry 13.4%, construction and public works 10%, trade 14.6%, government 32%, other 16% (2003 est.)
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 6,343 km border countries: Libya 982 km, Mali 1,376 km, Mauritania 463 km, Morocco 1,559 km, Niger 956 km, Tunisia 965 km, Western Sahara 42 km
Land use	arable land: NEGL permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.)	arable land: 3.17% permanent crops: 0.28% other: 96.55% (2005)
Languages	-	Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects
Legal system	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply	socialist, based on French and Islamic law; judicial review of legislative acts in ad hoc Constitutional Council composed of various public officials, including several Supreme Court justices; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch	-	bicameral Parliament consisting of the National People's Assembly or Al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi Al-Watani (389 seats - formerly 380 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and the Council of Nations (Senate) (144 seats; one-third of the members appointed by the president, two-thirds elected by indirect vote; members serve six-year terms; the constitution requires half the council to be renewed every three years) elections: National People's Assembly - last held 30 May 2002 (next to be held in 2007); Council of Nations (Senate) - last held 30 December 2003 (next to be held in 2006) election results: National People's Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FLN 199, RND 47, Islah 43, MSP 38, PT 21, FNA 8, EnNahda 1, PRA 1, MEN 1, independents 30; Council of Nations - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party NA
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: 73.26 years male: 71.68 years female: 74.92 years (2006 est.)
Literacy	-	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 70% male: 78.8% female: 61% (2003 est.)
Location	Southern Asia, archipelago in the Indian Ocean, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia	Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia
Map references	Political Map of the World	Africa
Maritime claims	exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 3 NM	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 32-52 nm
Merchant marine	-	total: 41 ships (1000 GRT or over) 744,406 GRT/766,764 DWT by type: bulk carrier 7, cargo 10, chemical tanker 2, liquefied gas 9, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 5, roll on/roll off 3, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 13 (UK 13) (2006)
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016	-
Military branches	-	National Popular Army (ANP; includes Land Forces), Algerian National Navy (MRA), Air Force (QJJ), Territorial Air Defense Force (2005)
Military expenditures - dollar figure	-	$3 billion (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	-	3.2% (2005 est.)
National holiday	-	Revolution Day, 1 November (1954)
Nationality	-	noun: Algerian(s) adjective: Algerian
Natural hazards	NA	mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; mudslides and floods in rainy season
Natural resources	coconuts, fish, sugarcane	petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc
Net migration rate	-	-0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Pipelines	-	condensate 1,344 km; gas 85,946 km; liquid petroleum gas 2,213 km; oil 6,496 km (2005)
Political parties and leaders	-	Algerian National Front or FNA [Moussa TOUATI]; National Democratic Rally (Rassemblement National Democratique) or RND [Ahmed OUYAHIA, secretary general]; Islamic Salvation Front or FIS (outlawed April 1992) [Ali BELHADJ, Dr. Abassi MADANI, Rabeh KEBIR]; National Entente Movement or MEN [Ali BOUKHAZNA]; National Liberation Front or FLN [Abdelaziz BELKHADEM, secretary general]; National Reform Movement or Islah (formerly MRN) [Abdellah DJABALLAH]; National Renewal Party or PRA [Yacine TERKMANE]; Progressive Republican Party [Khadir DRISS]; Rally for Culture and Democracy or RCD [Said SADI]; Renaissance Movement or EnNahda Movement [Fatah RABEI]; Socialist Forces Front or FFS [Hocine Ait AHMED, secretary general]; Social Liberal Party or PSL [Ahmed KHELIL]; Society of Peace Movement or MSP [Boudjerra SOLTANI]; Workers Party or PT [Louisa HANOUN] note: a law banning political parties based on religion was enacted in March 1997
Political pressure groups and leaders	-	The Algerian Human Rights League or LADH or LADDH [Yahia Ali ABDENOUR]; SOS Disparus [Nacera DUTOUR]; Somoud [Ali MERABET]
Population	no indigenous inhabitants note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles around the time of the construction of UK-US military facilities; in 2001, there were approximately 1,500 UK and US military personnel and 2,000 civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia (July 2002 est.)	32,930,091 (July 2006 est.)
Population below poverty line	-	25% (2005 est.)
Population growth rate	-	1.22% (2006 est.)
Ports and harbors	Diego Garcia	-
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)	AM 25, FM 1, shortwave 8 (1999)
Radios	NA	-
Railways	-	total: 3,973 km standard gauge: 2,888 km 1.435-m gauge (283 km electrified) narrow gauge: 1,085 km 1.055-m gauge (2005)
Religions	-	Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%, Christian and Jewish 1%
Sex ratio	-	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Suffrage	-	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: separate facilities for military and public needs are available domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000)	general assessment: telephone density in Algeria is very low, not exceeding five telephones per 100 persons; the number of fixed main lines increased in the last few years to nearly 2.6 million, but only about two-thirds of these have subscribers; much of the infrastructure is outdated and inefficient domestic: good service in north but sparse in south; domestic satellite system with 12 earth stations (20 additional domestic earth stations are planned) international: country code - 213; submarine cables - 5; microwave radio relay to Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia; coaxial cable to Morocco and Tunisia; participant in Medarabtel; satellite earth stations - 51 (Intelsat, Intersputnik, and Arabsat) (2005)
Telephones - main lines in use	NA	2.572 million (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	13.661 million (2005)
Television broadcast stations	1 (1997)	46 (plus 216 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain	flat and low (most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation)	mostly high plateau and desert; some mountains; narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
Total fertility rate	-	1.89 children born/woman (2006 est.)
Unemployment rate	-	17.1% (2005 est.)
Waterways	none	-

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