China (2001) | Somalia (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**, Chongqing**, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**, Xinjiang*, Xizang* (Tibet), Yunnan, Zhejiang; note - China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau | 18 regions (plural - NA, singular - gobolka); Awdal, Bakool, Banaadir, Bari, Bay, Galguduud, Gedo, Hiiraan, Jubbada Dhexe, Jubbada Hoose, Mudug, Nugaal, Sanaag, Shabeellaha Dhexe, Shabeellaha Hoose, Sool, Togdheer, Woqooyi Galbeed |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
25.01% (male 166,754,893; female 151,598,117) 15-64 years: 67.88% (male 445,222,858; female 418,959,646) 65 years and over: 7.11% (male 42,547,296; female 48,028,480) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years:
44.54% (male 1,670,320; female 1,665,329) 15-64 years: 52.69% (male 1,993,750; female 1,952,437) 65 years and over: 2.77% (male 91,511; female 115,426) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish | cattle, sheep, goats; bananas, sorghum, corn, sugarcane, mangoes, sesame seeds, beans; fish |
Airports | 489 (2000 est.) | 62 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
324 over 3,047 m: 27 2,438 to 3,047 m: 88 1,524 to 2,437 m: 147 914 to 1,523 m: 30 under 914 m: 32 (2000 est.) |
total:
5 over 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
165 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 29 914 to 1,523 m: 56 under 914 m: 78 (2000 est.) |
total:
57 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 29 under 914 m: 11 (2000 est.) |
Area | total:
9,596,960 sq km land: 9,326,410 sq km water: 270,550 sq km |
total:
637,657 sq km land: 627,337 sq km water: 10,320 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than the US | slightly smaller than Texas |
Background | For centuries China has stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the first half of the 20th century, China was beset by major famines, civil unrest, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping gradually introduced market-oriented reforms and decentralized economic decision making. Output quadrupled in the next 20 years and China now has the world's second largest GDP. Political controls remain tight even while economic controls continue to weaken. | A SIAD BARRE regime was ousted in January 1991; turmoil, factional fighting, and anarchy followed for nine years. In May of 1991, northern clans declared an independent Republic of Somaliland which now includes the administrative regions of Awdal, Woqooyi Galbeed, Togdheer, Sanaag, and Sool. Although not recognized by any government, this entity has maintained a stable existence, aided by the overwhelming dominance of the ruling clan and economic infrastructure left behind by British, Russian, and American military assistance programs. The regions of Bari and Nugaal comprise a neighboring self-declared Republic of Puntland, which has also made strides towards reconstructing legitimate, representative government. Beginning in 1993, a two-year UN humanitarian effort (primarily in the south) was able to alleviate famine conditions, but when the UN withdrew in 1995, having suffered significant casualties, order still had not been restored. A Transitional National Government (TNG) was created in October 2000 in Arta, Djibouti which was attended by a broad representation of Somali clans. The TNG has a three-year mandate to create a permanent national Somali government. The TNG does not recognize Somaliland or Puntland as independent republics but so far has been unable to reunite them with the unstable regions in the south; numerous warlords and factions are still fighting for control of Mogadishu and the other southern regions. |
Birth rate | 15.95 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 47.23 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
revenues:
$NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
Capital | Beijing | Mogadishu |
Climate | extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north | principally desert; December to February - northeast monsoon, moderate temperatures in north and very hot in south; May to October - southwest monsoon, torrid in the north and hot in the south, irregular rainfall, hot and humid periods (tangambili) between monsoons |
Coastline | 14,500 km | 3,025 km |
Constitution | most recent promulgation 4 December 1982 | 25 August 1979, presidential approval 23 September 1979
note: the Transitional National Government formed in October 2000 has a mandate to create a new constitution and hold elections within three years |
Country name | conventional long form:
People's Republic of China conventional short form: China local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo local short form: Zhong Guo abbreviation: PRC |
conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Somalia former: Somali Republic, Somali Democratic Republic |
Currency | yuan (CNY) | Somali shilling (SOS) |
Death rate | 6.74 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 18.35 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $162 billion (2000 est.) | $2.6 billion (1999 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Joseph W. PRUEHER embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3431 FAX: [86] (10) 6532-6422 consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang |
the US does not have an embassy in Somalia; US interests are represented by the US Embassy in Nairobi at Moi Avenue and Haile Selassie Avenue; mail address: P. O. Box 30137, Unit 64100, Nairobi; APO AE 09831; telephone: [254] (2) 334141; FAX [254] (2) 340838 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador-designate YANG Jiechi chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco |
Somalia does not have an embassy in the US (ceased operations on 8 May 1991) |
Disputes - international | most of boundary with India in dispute; dispute over at least two small sections of the boundary with Russia remains to be settled, despite 1997 boundary agreement; portions of the boundary with Tajikistan are indefinite; 33-km section of boundary with North Korea in the Paektu-san (mountain) area is indefinite; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary agreement with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin awaits ratification; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan | most of the southern half of the boundary with Ethiopia is a Provisional Administrative Line; territorial dispute with Ethiopia over the Ogaden |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | $191.5 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic influence of non-state managers and enterprises has been steadily increasing. The authorities have switched to a system of household responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and investment. The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978. In 2000, with its 1.26 billion people but a GDP of just $3,600 per capita, China stood as the second largest economy in the world after the US (measured on a purchasing power parity basis). Agricultural output doubled in the 1980s, and industry also posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. On the darker side, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and of capitalism (windfall gains and stepped-up inflation). Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals. The government has struggled to (a) collect revenues due from provinces, businesses, and individuals; (b) reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large state-owned enterprises many of which had been shielded from competition by subsides and had been losing the ability to pay full wages and pensions. From 80 to 120 million surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the cities, many subsisting through part-time low-paying jobs. Popular resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which is essential to maintaining growth in living standards. Another long-term threat to continued rapid economic growth is the deterioration in the environment, notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table especially in the north. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. Weakness in the global economy in 2001 could hamper growth in exports. Beijing will intensify efforts to stimulate growth through spending on infrastructure--such as water control and power grids--and poverty relief and through rural tax reform aimed at eliminating arbitrary local levies on farmers. | One of the world's poorest and least developed countries, Somalia has few resources. Moreover, much of the economy has been devastated by the civil war. Agriculture is the most important sector, with livestock accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of export earnings. Nomads and semi-nomads, who are dependent upon livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population. Livestock and bananas are the principal exports; sugar, sorghum, corn, fish, and qat are products for the domestic market. The small industrial sector, based on the processing of agricultural products, accounts for 10% of GDP; most facilities have been shut down because of the civil strife. Moreover, ongoing civil disturbances in Mogadishu and outlying areas have interfered with any substantial economic advance and with international aid arrangements. Due to the civil strife, economic data is susceptible to an exceptionally wide margin of error. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.084 trillion kWh (1999) | 241.8 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 7.2 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 90 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 1.173 trillion kWh (1999) | 260 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
79.82% hydro: 18.98% nuclear: 1.2% other: 0.01% (1999) |
fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Turpan Pendi -154 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
lowest point:
Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Shimbiris 2,416 m |
Environment - current issues | air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal, produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species | famine; use of contaminated water contributes to human health problems; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life Conservation |
party to:
Endangered Species, Law of the Sea signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban |
Ethnic groups | Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1% | Somali 85%, Bantu, Arabs 30,000 |
Exchange rates | yuan per US dollar - 8.2776 (January 2001), 8.2785 (2000), 8.2783 (1999), 8.2790 (1998), 8.2898 (1997), 8.3142 (1996)
note: beginning 1 January 1994, the People's Bank of China quotes the midpoint rate against the US dollar based on the previous day's prevailing rate in the interbank foreign exchange market |
Somali shillings per US dollar - 11,000 (November 2000), 2,620 (January 1999), 7,500 (November 1997 est.), 7,000 (January 1996 est.), 5,000 (1 January 1995), 2,616 (1 July 1993)
note: the Republic of Somaliland, a self-declared independent country not recognized by any foreign government, issues its own currency, the Somaliland shilling |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993) and Vice President HU Jintao (since 16 March 1998) head of government: Premier ZHU Rongji (since 18 March 1998); Vice Premiers QIAN Qichen (since 29 March 1993), LI Lanqing (29 March 1993), WU Bangguo (since 17 March 1995), and WEN Jiabao (since 18 March 1998) cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC) elections: president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress for five-year terms; elections last held 16-18 March 1998 (next to be held NA March 2003); premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress election results: JIANG Zemin reelected president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,882 votes (36 delegates voted against him, 29 abstained, and 32 did not vote); HU Jintao elected vice president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,841 votes (67 delegates voted against him, 39 abstained, and 32 did not vote) |
chief of state:
ABDIKASSIM Salad Hassan (since 26 August 2000); note - Interim President ABDIKASSIM was chosen for a three-year term by a 245-member National Assembly serving as a transitional government; the present political situation is still unstable, particularly in the south, with interclan fighting and random banditry head of government: ALI Khalifa Galaydh, appointed by the president 8 October 2000 cabinet: appointed by the prime minister and sworn in on 20 October 2000 election results: ABDIKASSIM Salad Hassan was elected president of an interim government at the Djibouti-sponsored Arta Peace Conference on 26 August 2000 by a broad representation of Somali clans that comprised a transitional National Assembly. |
Exports | $232 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | $186 million (f.o.b., 1999 est.) |
Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment; textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods; mineral fuels | livestock, bananas, hides, fish (1999) |
Exports - partners | US 21%, Hong Kong 18%, Japan 17%, South Korea, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Singapore, Taiwan (2000) | Saudi Arabia 53%, Yemen 19%, UAE 14%, Italy 5%, Pakistan 2% (1999) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | NA |
Flag description | red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner | light blue with a large white five-pointed star in the center; design based on the flag of the UN (Italian Somaliland was a UN trust territory) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $4.5 trillion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $4.3 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
15% industry: 50% services: 35% (2000 est.) |
agriculture:
60% industry: 10% (largely shut down in 2000) services: 30% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,600 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $600 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 8% (2000 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 35 00 N, 105 00 E | 10 00 N, 49 00 E |
Geography - note | world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US) | strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern approaches to Bab el Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal |
Highways | total:
1.4 million km paved: 271,300 km (with at least 16,000 km of expressways) unpaved: 1,128,700 km (1999) |
total:
22,100 km paved: 2,608 km unpaved: 19,492 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
2.4% highest 10%: 30.4% (1998) |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem; source country for chemical precursors and methamphetamine | - |
Imports | $197 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | $314 million (f.o.b., 1999 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel, chemicals | manufactures, petroleum products, foodstuffs, construction materials (1995) |
Imports - partners | Japan 18%, Taiwan 11%, US 10%, South Korea 10%, Germany, Hong Kong, Russia, Malaysia (2000) | Djibouti 24%, Kenya 14%, Brazil 13%, Saudi Arabia 10%, India 9% (1999) |
Independence | 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty 221 BC; Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912; People's Republic established 1 October 1949) | 1 July 1960 (from a merger of British Somaliland, which became independent from the UK on 26 June 1960, and Italian Somaliland, which became independent from the Italian-administered UN trusteeship on 1 July 1960, to form the Somali Republic) |
Industrial production growth rate | 10% (2000 est.) | NA% |
Industries | iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications | a few small industries, including sugar refining, textiles, petroleum refining (mostly shut down), wireless communication |
Infant mortality rate | 28.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 123.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 0.4% (2000 est.) | over 100% (businesses print their own money) (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | AfDB, APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, NAM (observer), OPCW, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNTAET, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC | ACP, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 3 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 498,720 sq km (1993 est.) | 1,800 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local Peoples Courts (comprise higher, intermediate and local courts); Special Peoples Courts (primarily military, maritime, and railway transport courts) | following the breakdown of national government, most regions have reverted to Islamic (Shari'a) law with a provision for appeal of all sentences |
Labor force | 700 million (1998 est.) | 3.7 million (very few are skilled laborers) (1993 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 50%, industry 24%, services 26% (1998) | agriculture (mostly pastoral nomadism) 71%, industry and services 29% |
Land boundaries | total:
22,147.24 km border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,676.9 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km |
total:
2,366 km border countries: Djibouti 58 km, Ethiopia 1,626 km, Kenya 682 km |
Land use | arable land:
10% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 43% forests and woodland: 14% other: 33% (1993 est.) |
arable land:
2% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 69% forests and woodland: 26% other: 3% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry) | Somali (official), Arabic, Italian, English |
Legal system | a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law | NA |
Legislative branch | unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,979 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held NA December 1997-NA February 1998 (next to be held late 2002-NA March 2003) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - NA |
unicameral People's Assembly or Golaha Shacbiga
note: fledgling parliament; a transitional 245-member National Assembly began to meet on 13 August 2000 in the town of Arta, Djibouti and is now based in Mogadishu |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
71.62 years male: 69.81 years female: 73.59 years (2001 est.) |
total population:
46.6 years male: 44.99 years female: 48.25 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 81.5% male: 89.9% female: 72.7% (1995 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 24% male: 36% female: 14% (1990 est.) |
Location | Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam | Eastern Africa, bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, east of Ethiopia |
Map references | Asia | Africa |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea:
200 NM |
Merchant marine | total:
1,745 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,533,521 GRT/24,746,859 DWT ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 324, cargo 825, chemical tanker 21, combination bulk 11, combination ore/oil 1, container 132, liquefied gas 24, multi-functional large-load carrier 5, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 45, petroleum tanker 258, refrigerated cargo 22, roll on/roll off 23, short-sea passenger 41, specialized tanker 3, vehicle carrier 1 (2000 est.) |
none (2000 est.) |
Military branches | People's Liberation Army (PLA) - which includes Ground Forces, Navy (includes Marines and Naval Aviation), Air Force, Second Artillery Corps (the strategic missile force), People's Armed Police (internal security troops, nominally subordinate to Ministry of Public Security, but included by the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA in wartime) | A Somali National Army is being reformed under the interim government; numerous factions and clans maintain independent militias, and the Somaliland and Puntland regional governments maintain their own security and police forces |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $12.608 billion (FY99); note - China's real defense spending may be several times higher than the official figure because a number of significant items are funded elsewhere | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.2% (FY99) | NA% |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
366,306,353 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49:
1,825,302 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
200,886,946 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49:
1,011,400 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
10,089,458 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949) | Foundation of the Somali Republic, 1 July (1960) |
Nationality | noun:
Chinese (singular and plural) adjective: Chinese |
noun:
Somali(s) adjective: Somali |
Natural hazards | frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts | recurring droughts; frequent dust storms over eastern plains in summer; floods during rainy season |
Natural resources | coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest) | uranium and largely unexploited reserves of iron ore, tin, gypsum, bauxite, copper, salt |
Net migration rate | -0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 5.96 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 9,070 km; petroleum products 560 km; natural gas 9,383 km (1998) | crude oil 15 km |
Political parties and leaders | Chinese Communist Party or CCP [JIANG Zemin, General Secretary of the Central Committee]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP | none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | no substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the Falungong sect and the China Democracy Party as potential rivals | numerous clan and subclan factions are currently vying for power |
Population | 1,273,111,290 (July 2001 est.) | 7,488,773
note: this estimate was derived from an official census taken in 1975 by the Somali Government; population counting in Somalia is complicated by the large number of nomads and by refugee movements in response to famine and clan warfare (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 10% (1999 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0.88% (2001 est.) | 3.48% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Tianjin, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang | Bender Cassim (Boosaaso), Berbera, Chisimayu (Kismaayo), Merca, Mogadishu |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998) | AM 0, FM 0, shortwave 4 (1988) |
Radios | 417 million (1997) | 470,000 (1997) |
Railways | total:
67,524 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails) standard gauge: 63,924 km 1.435-m gauge (13,362 km electrified; 20,250 km double track) narrow gauge: 3,600 km 0.750-m and 1.000-m gauge local industrial lines (1998 est.) note: a new total of 68,000 km was estimated for early 1999 to take new construction programs into account (1999) |
0 km |
Religions | Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 2%-3%, Christian 1% (est.)
note: officially atheist |
Sunni Muslim |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.09 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place international: 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); several international fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany (2000) |
general assessment:
the public telecommunications system was completely destroyed or dismantled by the civil war factions; all relief organizations depend on their own private systems domestic: recently, local cellular telephone systems have been established in Mogadishu and in several other population centers international: international connections are available from Mogadishu by satellite |
Telephones - main lines in use | 135 million (2000) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 65 million (January 2001) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997) | 1 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east | mostly flat to undulating plateau rising to hills in north |
Total fertility rate | 1.82 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 7.11 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2000 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | 110,000 km (1999) | none |