China (2003) | 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: 23.1% (male 155,473,656; female 141,737,406)
15-64 years: 69.5% (male 461,223,219; female 433,154,970) 65 years and over: 7.4% (male 44,954,643; female 50,431,574) (2003 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 | 500 (2002) | 62 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 351
over 3,047 m: 32 2,438 to 3,047 m: 108 1,524 to 2,437 m: 143 914 to 1,523 m: 29 under 914 m: 39 (2002) |
total:
5 over 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 149
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 25 914 to 1,523 m: 48 under 914 m: 71 (2002) |
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 stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the 19th and early 20th centuries, China was beset by civil unrest, major famines, 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 by 2000. Political controls remain tight while economic controls continue to be relaxed. | 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 | 12.96 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 47.23 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $224.8 billion
expenditures: $267.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000) |
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)
note:: also referred to as the Renminbi (RMB) |
Somali shilling (SOS) |
Death rate | 6.74 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 18.35 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $149.4 billion (2002 est.) | $2.6 billion (1999 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Clark T. RANDT, Jr.
embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3831 FAX: [86] (10) 6532-6929 consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, 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 YANG Jiechi
chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2582 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 | involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; claimants in November 2002 signed the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea", a mechanism to ease tension but which fell short of a legally binding "code of conduct"; much of the rugged, militarized boundary with India is in dispute, but the two sides have participated in more than 13 rounds of joint working group sessions on this issue; India objects to Pakistan ceding lands to China in 1965 boundary agreement that India believes are part of disputed Kashmir; China, as well as Taiwan, claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) islands; negotiations with Tajikistan resolved the longstanding boundary dispute; China and Kazakhstan have resolved their border dispute and are working to delimit their large open borders to control population migration, illegal activities, and trade; Kyrgyzstan's constitutional court rules that 1,270 sq km ceded to China in 2000 delimitation agreement were legally transferred; certain islands in Yalu and Tumen rivers are in uncontested dispute with North Korea and a section of boundary around Mount Paektu is indefinite - China objects to illegal migration of North Koreans into northern China; China continues to seek a mutually acceptable solution to the disputed alluvial islands with Russia at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers and a small island on the Argun river as part of the 2001 Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation; boundary agreements signed in 2002 with Tajikistan cedes 1,000 sq km of Pamir Mountain range to China in return for China's relinquishing claims to 28,000 sq km; demarcation of land boundary with Vietnam continues but maritime boundary and joint fishing zone agreement remains unratified; China occupies Paracel Islands also claimed by Vietnam and 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 organizations and individual citizens has been steadily increasing. The authorities switched to a system of household and village 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 enterprises 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 2003, with its 1.3 billion people but a GDP of just $5,000 per capita, China stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US (measured on a purchasing power parity basis). Agriculture and industry have posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment has helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. The leadership, however, often has experienced - as a result of its hybrid system - the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and of capitalism (windfall gains and growing income disparities). China 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 subsidies 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 long-term growth in living standards. Another long-term threat to 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. Beijing says it 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. Accession to the World Trade Organization helps strengthen China's ability to maintain strong growth rates but at the same time puts additional pressure on the hybrid system of strong political controls and growing market influences. China has benefited from a huge expansion in computer internet use. Foreign investment remains a strong element in China's remarkable economic growth. | 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 | 1.312 trillion kWh (2001) | 241.8 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 10.3 billion kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 1.55 billion kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 1.42 trillion kWh (2001) | 260 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 80.2%
hydro: 18.5% nuclear: 1.2% other: 0.1% (2001) |
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 |
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 - 8.28 (2002), 8.28 (2001), 8.28 (2000), 8.28 (1999), 8.28 (1998) | 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 HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003) and Vice President ZENG Qinghong (since 15 March 2003)
head of government: Premier WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003); Vice Premiers HUANG Ju (since 17 March 2003), WU Yi (17 March 2003), ZENG Peiyan (since 17 March 2003), and HUI Liangyu (since 17 March 2003) 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 15-17 March 2003 (next to be held mid-March 2008); premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress election results: HU Jintao elected president by the Tenth National People's Congress with a total of 2,937 votes (4 delegates voted against him, 4 abstained, and 38 did not vote); ZENG Qinghong elected vice president by the Tenth National People's Congress with a total of 2,578 votes (177 delegates voted against him, 190 abstained, and 38 did not vote); 2 seats were vacant |
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 | NA (2001) | $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 21.5%, Hong Kong 18%, Japan 14.9%, South Korea 4.8% (2002) | 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 - $5.989 trillion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $4.3 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 15.2%
industry and construction: 51.2% services: 33.6% (2001) |
agriculture:
60% industry: 10% (largely shut down in 2000) services: 30% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $4,700 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $600 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 8% (official data) (2002 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); Mount Everest on the border with Nepal is the world's tallest peak; | strategic location on Horn of Africa along southern approaches to Bab el Mandeb and route through Red Sea and Suez Canal |
Highways | total: 1,402,698 km
paved: 314,204 km (with at least 16,314 km of expressways) unpaved: 1,088,494 km (2000) |
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 | NA (2001) | $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 18.1%, Taiwan 10.5%, South Korea 9.7%, US 9.2%, Germany 5.6% (2002) | 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 | 12.6% (2002 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 | total: 25.26 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 24.91 deaths/1,000 live births female: 25.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
123.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | -0.8% (2002 est.) | over 100% (businesses print their own money) (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CDB, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (observer), OPCW, PCA, SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, IFC, UNHCR, UNIDO, AfDB, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMOVIC, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | 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 | 525,800 sq km (1998 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 | 744 million (2001 est.) | 3.7 million (very few are skilled laborers) (1993 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 50%, industry 22%, services 28% (2001 est.) | agriculture (mostly pastoral nomadism) 71%, industry and services 29% |
Land boundaries | total: 22,147.34 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 4,677 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: 13.31%
permanent crops: 1.2% other: 85.49% (1998 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 (2,985 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held NA December 2002-NA February 2003 (next to be held late 2007-NA February 2008) 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: 72.22 years
male: 70.33 years female: 74.28 years (2003 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: 86% male: 92.9% female: 78.8% (2003 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 exclusive economic zone: 200 NM |
territorial sea:
200 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 1,817 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 18,047,962 GRT/27,035,740 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 348, cargo 824, chemical tanker 28, combination bulk 10, combination ore/oil 2, container 150, liquefied gas 28, multi-functional large-load carrier 6, passenger 6, passenger/cargo 47, petroleum tanker 267, refrigerated cargo 26, roll on/roll off 21, short-sea passenger 42, specialized tanker 8, vehicle carrier 2 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Croatia 1, Germany 1, Hong Kong 16, Japan 2, Panama 2, South Korea 1, Spain 1, Taiwan 9, Tanzania 1, Turkey 1 (2002 est.) |
none (2000 est.) |
Military branches | People's Liberation Army (PLA): comprises ground forces, Navy (including naval infantry and naval aviation), Air Force, and II Artillery Corps (strategic missile force), People's Armed Police Force (internal security troops, nominally a state security body but included by the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA), militia | 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 | $55.91 billion (FY02) | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.3% (FY02) | NA% |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 375,520,255 (2003 est.) | males age 15-49:
1,825,302 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 206 million (2003 est.) | males age 15-49:
1,011,400 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2003 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 10,973,761 (2003 est.) | - |
National holiday | Anniversary of the 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; land subsidence | 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 | -0.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 5.96 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 13,845 km; oil 15,143 km; refined products 3,280 km (2003) | crude oil 15 km |
Political parties and leaders | Chinese Communist Party or CCP [HU Jintao, 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 | 1,286,975,468 (July 2003 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% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0.6% (2003 est.) | 3.48% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wenzhou, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang (2001) | 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 | - | 470,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 71,600 km
standard gauge: 68,000 km 1.435-m gauge (14,600 km electrified) narrow gauge: 3,600 km 1.000-m and 0.750-m gauge local industrial lines (2002) |
0 km |
Religions | Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%
note: officially atheist (2002 est.) |
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 (2003 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 | 1.7 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 7.11 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2002 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | 110,000 km (1999) | none |