Costa Rica (2002) | Korea, North (2004) | |
![]() | ![]() | |
Administrative divisions | 7 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas, San Jose | 9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 4 municipalities (si, singular and plural)
provinces: Chagang-do (Chagang), Hamgyong-bukto (North Hamgyong), Hamgyong-namdo (South Hamgyong), Hwanghae-bukto (North Hwanghae), Hwanghae-namdo (South Hwanghae), Kangwon-do (Kangwon), P'yongan-bukto (North P'yongan), P'yongan-namdo (South P'yongan), Yanggang-do (Yanggang) municipalites: Kaesong-si (Kaesong), Najin Sonbong-si (Najin), Namp'o-si (Namp'o), P'yongyang-si (Pyongyang) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 30.8% (male 603,270; female 575,766)
15-64 years: 63.9% (male 1,239,618; female 1,211,641) 65 years and over: 5.3% (male 95,182; female 109,457) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 24.6% (male 2,836,991; female 2,755,127)
15-64 years: 67.8% (male 7,575,590; female 7,812,878) 65 years and over: 7.6% (male 583,463; female 1,133,504) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, pineapples, bananas, sugar, corn, rice, beans, potatoes; beef; timber | rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs |
Airports | 152 (2001) | 78 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 30
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 19 under 914 m: 8 (2002) |
total: 35
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 23 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 121
914 to 1,523 m: 28 under 914 m: 93 (2002) |
total: 43
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 20 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 8 (2003 est.) |
Area | total: 51,100 sq km
land: 50,660 sq km water: 440 sq km note: includes Isla del Coco |
total: 120,540 sq km
land: 120,410 sq km water: 130 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than West Virginia | slightly smaller than Mississippi |
Background | Costa Rica is a Central American success story: since the late 19th century, only two brief periods of violence have marred its democratic development. Although still a largely agricultural country, it has expanded its economy to include strong technology and tourism sectors. The standard of living is relatively high. Land ownership is widespread. | An independent kingdom under Chinese suzerainty for most of the past millennium, Korea was occupied by Japan in 1905 following the Russo-Japanese War; five years later, Japan formally annexed the entire peninsula. Following World War II, Korea was split, with the northern half coming under Soviet-sponsored Communist domination. After failing in the Korean War (1950-53) to conquer the US-backed republic in the southern portion by force, North Korea under its founder President KIM Il Sung adopted a policy of ostensible diplomatic and economic "self-reliance" as a check against excessive Soviet or Communist Chinese influence and molded political, economic, and military policies around the core ideological objective of eventual unification of Korea under Pyongyang's control. KIM's son, the current ruler KIM Jong Il, was officially designated as KIM's future successor in 1980 and assumed a growing political and managerial role until his father's death in 1994, when he assumed full power without opposition. After decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the North since the mid-1990s has relied heavily on international food aid to feed its population while continuing to expend resources to maintain an army of about 1 million. North Korea's long-range missile development and research into nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and massive conventional armed forces are of major concern to the international community. In December 2002, following revelations it was pursuing a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium in violation of a 1994 agreement with the United States to freeze and ultimately dismantle its existing plutonium-based program, North Korea expelled monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and in January 2003 declared its withdrawal from the international Non-Proliferation Treaty. In mid-2003 Pyongyang announced it had completed the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods (to extract weapons-grade plutonium) and was developing a "nuclear deterrent." Since August 2003 North Korea has participated in six-party talks with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia to resolve the stalemate over its nuclear programs. |
Birth rate | 19.83 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 16.77 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $1.91 billion
expenditures: $2.35 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) (2000 est.) |
revenues: NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA |
Capital | San Jose | Pyongyang |
Climate | tropical and subtropical; dry season (December to April); rainy season (May to November); cooler in highlands | temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer |
Coastline | 1,290 km | 2,495 km |
Constitution | 7 November 1949 | adopted 1948, completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992 and September 1998 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Costa Rica
conventional short form: Costa Rica local long form: Republica de Costa Rica local short form: Costa Rica |
conventional long form: Democratic People's Republic of Korea
conventional short form: North Korea local long form: Choson-minjujuui-inmin-konghwaguk local short form: none note: the North Koreans generally use the term "Choson" to refer to their country abbreviation: DPRK |
Currency | Costa Rican colon (CRC) | North Korean won (KPW) |
Death rate | 4.31 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 6.99 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $4.6 billion (2001 est.) | $12 billion (1996 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador John J. DANILOVICH
embassy: Calle 120 Avenida O, Pavas, San Jose mailing address: APO AA 34020 telephone: [506] 220-3939 FAX: [506] 220-2305 |
none (Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the US as consular protecting power) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Jaime DAREMBLUM Rosenstein
chancery: 2114 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 234-2945 FAX: [1] (202) 265-4795 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Francisco, St. Paul, and Tampa consulate(s): Austin |
none; North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York |
Disputes - international | legal dispute over navigational rights of Rio San Juan on border with Nicaragua | with China, certain islands in Yalu and Tumen rivers are in uncontested dispute; a section of boundary around Paektu-san (mountain) is indefinite; China has been attempting to stop mass illegal migration of North Koreans escaping famine, economic privation, and oppression into northern China; Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; periodic maritime disputes with South Korea |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $NA; note - over $133 million in food aid through the World Food Program in 2003 plus additional aid from bilateral donors and non-governmental organizations |
Economy - overview | Costa Rica's basically stable economy depends on tourism, agriculture, and electronics exports. Poverty has been substantially reduced over the past 15 years, and a strong social safety net has been put into place. Foreign investors remain attracted by the country's political stability and high education levels, and tourism continues to bring in foreign exchange. However, traditional export sectors have not kept pace. Low coffee prices and an overabundance of bananas have hurt the agricultural sector. The government continues to grapple with its large deficit and massive internal debt and with the need to modernize the state-owned electricity and telecommunications sector. | North Korea, one of the world's most centrally planned and isolated economies, faces desperate economic conditions. Industrial capital stock is nearly beyond repair as a result of years of underinvestment and spare parts shortages. Industrial and power output have declined in parallel. The nation has suffered its tenth year of food shortages because of a lack of arable land, collective farming, weather-related problems, and chronic shortages of fertilizer and fuel. Massive international food aid deliveries have allowed the regime to escape mass starvation since 1995-96, but the population remains the victim of prolonged malnutrition and deteriorating living conditions. Large-scale military spending eats up resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. In 2003, heightened political tensions with key donor countries and general donor fatigue threatened the flow of desperately needed food aid and fuel aid as well. Black market prices continued to rise following the increase in official prices and wages in the summer of 2002, leaving some vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and unemployed, less able to buy goods. The regime, however, relaxed restrictions on farmers' market activities in spring 2003, leading to an expansion of market activity. |
Electricity - consumption | 5.895 billion kWh (2000) | 27.91 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 532 million kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 22 million kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 6.887 billion kWh (2000) | 30.01 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 1%
hydro: 83% nuclear: 0% other: 16% (2000) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro Chirripo 3,810 m |
lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation and land use change, largely a result of the clearing of land for cattle ranching and agriculture; soil erosion; coastal marine pollution; fisheries protection; solid waste management; air pollution | water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; water-borne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life Conservation |
party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | white (including mestizo) 94%, black 3%, Amerindian 1%, Chinese 1%, other 1% | racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese |
Exchange rates | Costa Rican colones per US dollar - 343.08 (January 2002), 328.87 (2001), 308.19 (2000), 285.68 (1999), 257.23 (1998), 232.60 (1997) | official: North Korean won per US dollar - 150 (December 2002), 2.15 (December 2001), 2.15 (May 1994), 2.13 (May 1992), 2.14 (September 1991), 2.1 (January 1990); market: North Korean won per US dollar - 300-600 (December 2002), 200 (December 2001) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Abel PACHECO (since 8 May 2002); First Vice President Lineth SABORIO (since NA May 2002); Second Vice President Luis FISHMAN (since NA May 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Abel PACHECO (since 8 May 2002); First Vice President Lineth SABORIO (since NA May 2002); Second Vice President Luis FISHMAN (since NA May 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet selected by the president elections: president and vice presidents elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 3 February 2002; run-off election held 7 April 2002 (next to be held NA February 2006) election results: Abel PACHECO elected president; percent of vote - Abel PACHECO (PUSC) 58%; Rolando ARAYA (PLN) 42% |
chief of state: KIM Jong Il (since July 1994); note - on 3 September 2003, rubberstamp Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) reelected KIM Jong Il Chairman of the National Defense Commission, a position accorded nation's "highest administrative authority"; SPA reelected KIM Yong Nam President of its Presidium also with responsibility of representing state and receiving diplomatic credentials; SPA appointed PAK Pong Ju Premier
head of government: Premier PAK Pong Ju (since 3 September 2003); Vice Premiers KWAK Pom Gi (since 5 September 1998), JON Sung Hun (since 3 September 2003), RO Tu Chol (since 3 September 2003) cabinet: Cabinet (Naegak), members, except for the Minister of People's Armed Forces, are appointed by the SPA elections: election last held in September 2003 (next to be held in September 2008) election results: KIM Jong Il and KIM Yong Nam were only nominees for positions and ran unopposed |
Exports | $5 billion (2001) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | coffee, bananas, sugar; pineapples; textiles, electronic components, medical equipment | minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments); textiles and fishery products |
Exports - partners | US 51.8%, EU 20%, Central America 10.6%, Puerto Rico 2.8%, Mexico 1.7% (2000) | South Korea 28.5%, China 28.4%, Japan 24.7% (2002) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | five horizontal bands of blue (top), white, red (double width), white, and blue, with the coat of arms in a white disk on the hoist side of the red band | three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in white; on the hoist side of the red band is a white disk with a red five-pointed star |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $31.9 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $29.58 billion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 11%
industry: 37% services: 52% (2000) (2000) |
agriculture: 30.2%
industry: 33.8% services: 36% (2002 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $8,500 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 0.3% (2001 est.) | 1% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 10 00 N, 84 00 W | 40 00 N, 127 00 E |
Geography - note | four volcanoes, two of them active, rise near the capital of San Jose in the center of the country; one of the volcanoes, Irazu, erupted destructively in 1963-65 | strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated |
Heliports | - | 19 (2003 est.) |
Highways | total: 37,273 km
paved: 7,827 km unpaved: 29,446 km (1998 est.) |
total: 31,200 km
paved: 1,997 km unpaved: 29,203 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 35% (2001) (2001) |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Illicit drugs | transshipment country for cocaine and heroin from South America; illicit production of cannabis on small, scattered plots; domestic cocaine consumption is rising, particularly crack cocaine | for years, from the 1970's into the 2000's, citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea (DPRK), many of them diplomatic employees of the government, were apprehended abroad while trafficking in narcotics, including two in Turkey in December 2004; in recent years, police investigations in Taiwan and Japan have linked North Korea to large illicit shipments of heroin and methamphetamine, including an attempt by the North Korean merchant ship Pong Su to deliver 150 kg of heroin to Australia in April 2003; all indications point to North Korea emerging as an important regional source of illicit drugs targeting markets in Japan, Taiwan, the Russian Far East, and China |
Imports | $6.5 billion (2001) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | raw materials, consumer goods, capital equipment, petroleum | petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment; textiles, grain |
Imports - partners | US 53.2%, EU 10.3%, Mexico 6.2%, Venezuela 5.3%, Central America 4.9% (2000) | China 39.7%, Thailand 14.6%, Japan 11.2%, Germany 7.6%, South Korea 6.2% (2002) |
Independence | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) | 15 August 1945 (from Japan) |
Industrial production growth rate | -2.1% (2001 est.) | NA |
Industries | microprocessors, food processing, textiles and clothing, construction materials, fertilizer, plastic products | military products; machine building, electric power, chemicals; mining (coal, iron ore, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals), metallurgy; textiles, food processing; tourism |
Infant mortality rate | 10.87 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 24.84 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 26.59 deaths/1,000 live births female: 23 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 12.1% (2001 est.) | NA (2003 est.) |
International organization participation | BCIE, CACM, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA (observer), NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ARF, FAO, G-77, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, IMO, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 3 (of which only one is legal) (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 1,260 sq km (1998 est.) | 14,600 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (22 justices are elected for eight-year terms by the Legislative Assembly) | Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly) |
Labor force | 1.9 million (1999) (1999) | 9.6 million |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 20%, industry 22%, services 58% (1999 est.) | agricultural 36%, nonagricultural 64% |
Land boundaries | total: 639 km
border countries: Nicaragua 309 km, Panama 330 km |
total: 1,673 km
border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km |
Land use | arable land: 4.41%
permanent crops: 5.48% other: 90.11% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 20.76%
permanent crops: 2.49% other: 76.75% (2001) |
Languages | Spanish (official), English spoken around Puerto Limon | Korean |
Legal system | based on Spanish civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on German civil law system with Japanese influences and Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa (57 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 3 February 2002 (next to be held 3 February 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PUSC 19, PLN 17, PAC 14, PML 6, PRC 1 |
unicameral Supreme People's Assembly or Ch'oego Inmin Hoeui (687 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 3 August 2003 (next to be held in August 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; the KWP approves a list of candidates who are elected without opposition; some seats are held by minor parties |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 76.22 years
male: 73.68 years female: 78.89 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 71.08 years
male: 68.38 years female: 73.92 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 95.5% male: 95.5% female: 95.5% (1999 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% |
Location | Middle America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Nicaragua and Panama | Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Asia |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm note: military boundary line 50 nm in the Sea of Japan and the exclusive economic zone limit in the Yellow Sea where all foreign vessels and aircraft without permission are banned |
Merchant marine | total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,716 GRT/NA DWT
ships by type: passenger 1 (2002 est.) |
total: 203 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 921,577 GRT/1,339,929 DWT
by type: bulk 6, cargo 166, combination bulk 2, container 3, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 3, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 11, refrigerated cargo 6, roll on/roll off 2, short-sea/passenger 1 foreign-owned: Albania 1, Belize 1, Bolivia 1, Cambodia 3, Cyprus 1, Egypt 3, Germany 1, Greece 4, Italy 1, Lebanon 2, Marshall Islands 1, Pakistan 1, Portugal 1, Romania 8, Saint Kitts and Nevis 1, Syria 9, Tanzania 1, Tunisia 1, Turkey 5, Ukraine 2, United States 3 registered in other countries: 4 (2004 est.) |
Military branches | no regular indigenous military forces; Air Section, Ministry of Public Forces (Fuerza Publica) | Korean People's Army (includes Army, Navy, Air Force), Civil Security Forces |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $69 million (FY99) | $5,217.4 million (FY02) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.6% (FY99) | 22.9% (2003) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 1,058,283 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 6,181,038 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 707,927 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 3,694,855 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 39,411 (2002 est.) | males: 189,014 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) | Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 9 September (1948) |
Nationality | noun: Costa Rican(s)
adjective: Costa Rican |
noun: Korean(s)
adjective: Korean |
Natural hazards | occasional earthquakes, hurricanes along Atlantic coast; frequent flooding of lowlands at onset of rainy season and landslides; active volcanoes | late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall |
Natural resources | hydropower | coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 0.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | petroleum products 176 km | oil 154 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Agricultural Labor Action or PALA [Carlos Alberto SOLIS Blanco]; Citizen Action Party or PAC [Otton SOLIS]; Costa Rican Renovation Party or PRC [Justo OROZCO]; Democratic Force Party or PFD [Jose M. NUNEZ]; Libertarian Movement Party or PML [Otto GUEVARA Guth]; National Christian Alliance Party or ANC [Alejandro MADRIGAL]; National Independent Party or PNI [Jorge GONZALEZ Marten]; National Integration Party or PIN [Walter MUNOZ Cespedes]; National Liberation Party or PLN [Sonia PICADO]; Social Christian Unity Party or PUSC [Luis Manuel CHACON]
note: mainly a two-party system - PUSC and PLN - until the 3 February 2002 election in which the PAC captured a significant percentage, forcing a run-off in April 2002 |
major party - Korean Workers' Party or KWP [KIM Jong Il, general secretary]; minor parties - Chondoist Chongu Party [RYU Mi Yong, chairwoman] (under KWP control); Social Democratic Party [KIM Yong Dae, chairman] (under KWP control) |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Authentic Confederation of Democratic Workers or CATD (Communist Party affiliate); Chamber of Coffee Growers; Confederated Union of Workers or CUT (Communist Party affiliate); Costa Rican Confederation of Democratic Workers or CCTD (Liberation Party affiliate); Federation of Public Service Workers or FTSP; National Association for Economic Development or ANFE; National Association of Educators or ANDE; Rerum Novarum or CTRN (PLN affiliate) [Gilbert Brown] | none |
Population | 3,834,934 (July 2002 est.) | 22,697,553 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 21% (1999 est.) | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.61% (2002 est.) | 0.98% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Caldera, Golfito, Moin, Puerto Limon, Puerto Quepos, Puntarenas | Ch'ongjin, Haeju, Hungnam (Hamhung), Kimch'aek, Kosong, Najin, Namp'o, Sinuiju, Songnim, Sonbong (formerly Unggi), Ungsang, Wonsan |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 50, FM 43, shortwave 19 (1998) | AM 16, FM 14, shortwave 12 (1999) |
Radios | 980,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total: 950 km
narrow gauge: 950 km 1.067-m gauge (260 km electrified) (2000 est.) |
total: 5,214 km
standard gauge: 5,214 km 1.435-m gauge (3,500 km electrified) (2003) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 76.3%, Evangelical 13.7%, other Protestant 0.7%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.3%, other 4.8%, none 3.2% | traditionally Buddhist and Confucianist, some Christian and syncretic Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way)
note: autonomous religious activities now almost nonexistent; government-sponsored religious groups exist to provide illusion of religious freedom |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.52 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory | 17 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: very good domestic telephone service
domestic: point-to-point and point-to-multi-point microwave, fiber-optic, and coaxial cable link rural areas; Internet service is available international: connected to Central American Microwave System; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); two submarine cables (1999) |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: country code - 850; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Russian (Indian Ocean region); other international connections through Moscow and Beijing |
Telephones - main lines in use | 450,000 (1998)
note: 584,000 installed in 1997, but only about 450,000 were in use in 1998 |
1.1 million (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 143,000 (2000) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 6 (plus 11 repeaters) (1997) | 38 (1999) |
Terrain | coastal plains separated by rugged mountains including over 100 volcanic cones, of which several are major volcanoes | mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east |
Total fertility rate | 2.42 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 2.2 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 5.2% (2000 est.) | NA (2003) |
Waterways | 730 km (seasonally navigable) | 2,250 km
note: most navigable only by small craft (2004) |