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Compare Cuba (2004) - World (2003)

Compare Cuba (2004) z World (2003)

 Cuba (2004)World (2003)
 CubaWorld
Administrative divisions 14 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 special municipality* (municipio especial); Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Cienfuegos, Ciudad de La Habana, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Isla de la Juventud*, La Habana, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Pinar del Rio, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba, Villa Clara 268 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries
Age structure 0-14 years: 20% (male 1,163,741; female 1,102,391)


15-64 years: 69.8% (male 3,949,197; female 3,948,196)


65 years and over: 10.1% (male 528,162; female 617,077) (2004 est.)
0-14 years: 29.2% (male 932,581,592; female 885,688,851)


15-64 years: 63.7% (male 2,009,997,089; female 1,964,938,201)


65 years and over: 7.1% (male 193,549,180; female 247,067,032) (2003 est.)


note: some countries do not maintain age structure information, thus a slight discrepancy exists between the total world population and the total for world age structure
Agriculture - products sugar, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice, potatoes, beans; livestock -
Airports 170 (2003 est.) -
Airports - with paved runways total: 79


over 3,047 m: 7


2,438 to 3,047 m: 9


1,524 to 2,437 m: 20


914 to 1,523 m: 6


under 914 m: 37 (2004 est.)
-
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 91


914 to 1,523 m: 29


under 914 m: 62 (2004 est.)
-
Area total: 110,860 sq km


land: 110,860 sq km


water: 0 sq km
total: 510.072 million sq km


land: 148.94 million sq km


water: 361.132 million sq km


note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land
Area - comparative slightly smaller than Pennsylvania land area about 16 times the size of the US
Background The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the European discovery of the island by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule was severe and exploitative and occasional rebellions were harshly suppressed. It was US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 that finally overthrew Spanish rule. The subsequent Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence, which was granted in 1902 after a three-year transition period. Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule has held the regime together since then. Cuba's Communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The country is now slowly recovering from a severe economic recession in 1990, following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies, worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually. Cuba portrays its difficulties as the result of the US embargo in place since 1961. Illicit migration to the US - using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, air flights, or via the southwest border - is a continuing problem. Some 2,500 Cubans attempted the crossing of the Straits of Florida in 2003; the US Coast Guard apprehended about 60% of the individuals. Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war).
Birth rate 12.18 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) 20.43 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Budget revenues: $17.21 billion


expenditures: $18.28 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.)
-
Capital Havana -
Climate tropical; moderated by trade winds; dry season (November to April); rainy season (May to October) two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones form a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates
Coastline 3,735 km 356,000 km
Constitution 24 February 1976, amended July 1992 and June 2002 -
Country name conventional long form: Republic of Cuba


conventional short form: Cuba


local long form: Republica de Cuba


local short form: Cuba
-
Currency Cuban peso (CUP) -
Death rate 7.17 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) 8.83 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Debt - external $12.52 billion (convertible currency); another $15 billion -$20 billion owed to Russia (2003 est.) $2 trillion for less developed countries (2002 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US none; note - the US has an Interests Section in the Swiss Embassy, headed by Principal Officer James C. CASON; address: USINT, Swiss Embassy, Calzada between L and M Streets, Vedado, Havana; telephone: [53] (7) 833-3551 through 3559 (operator assistance required); FAX: [53] (7) 833-3700; protecting power in Cuba is Switzerland -
Diplomatic representation in the US none; note - Cuba has an Interests Section in the Swiss Embassy, headed by Principal Officer Dagoberto RODRIGUEZ Barrera; address: Cuban Interests Section, Swiss Embassy, 2630 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009; telephone: [1] (202) 797-8518 -
Disputes - international US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased to US and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease Globally, there are over 250,000 km of international land boundaries that separate the world's 192 independent states, along with 70 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities. Maritime states have claimed limits and have so far established over 130 maritime boundaries and joint development zones to allocate ocean resources and to provide for their national security at sea. On land, ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries. All of these factors have contributed to a wide array of boundary, borderland, and territorial disagreements that vary in intensity from unresolved or dormant to outright war. Territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural animosities, or they may be brought on by resource competition. Ethnic clashes continue to be responsible for territorial fragmentation around the world. Undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and political confrontation over boundary allocations. Other sources of contention include the use of water and mineral (especially petroleum) resources, fisheries, dams, and nuclear power plants. Many islands or island groups are also disputed, including those at sea and in streams. Nonetheless, many nations are actively cooperating to clarify, delineate, and demarcate their international borders. The tragic aspect of international discord is the impact on the sustenance and welfare of populations caught in the conflict. It is frequently left to members of the world community to cope with enormous refugee situations, and the resultant hunger, disease, and impoverishment that they create.
Economic aid - recipient $68.2 million (1997 est.) official development assistance (ODA) $50 billion
Economy - overview The government continues to balance the need for economic loosening against a desire for firm political control. It has undertaken limited reforms to increase enterprise efficiency and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. A major feature of the economy is the dichotomy between relatively efficient export enclaves and inefficient domestic sectors. The average Cuban's standard of living remains at a lower level than before the depression of the 1990s, which was caused by the loss of Soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. The government reluctantly allows a large dollar market sector, fueled by tourism and remittances from Cubans abroad. Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) fell from 4.8% in 2000 to 2.2% in 2001 and 2.7% in 2002. The causes: sluggishness in the US economy (21% of GWP) and in the 15 EU economies (19% of GWP); continued stagnation in the Japanese economy (7.2% of GWP); and spillover effects in the less developed regions of the world. China, the second-largest economy in the world (12% of GWP), proved an exception, continuing its rapid annual growth, officially announced as 8% but estimated by many observers as perhaps two percentage points lower. Russia (2.6% of GWP), with 4% growth, continued to make uneven progress, its GDP per capita still only one-third that of the leading industrial nations. The other 14 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations continued as strong performers, in the 5% range of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that erode gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decision-making powers to international bodies. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuate a further growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic prospects. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2002, see the individual country entries.)
Electricity - consumption 13.38 billion kWh (2001) 13.93 trillion kWh (2001 est.)
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (2001) -
Electricity - imports 0 kWh (2001) -
Electricity - production 14.38 billion kWh (2001) 14.85 trillion kWh (2001 est.)
Electricity - production by source - fossil fuel: NA%


hydro: NA%


nuclear: NA%


other: NA%
Elevation extremes lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m


highest point: Pico Turquino 2,005 m
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m


note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean


highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.)
Environment - current issues air and water pollution; biodiversity loss; deforestation large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion
Environment - international agreements party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands


signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
-
Ethnic groups mulatto 51%, white 37%, black 11%, Chinese 1% -
Exchange rates Cuban pesos per US dollar - 1.0000 (nonconvertible, official rate, for international transactions, pegged to the US dollar); convertible peso sold for domestic use at a rate of 27 pesos per US dollar by the Government of Cuba (2002) -
Executive branch chief of state: President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Fidel CASTRO Ruz (prime minister from February 1959 until 24 February 1976 when office was abolished; president since 2 December 1976); First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (since 2 December 1976); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government


head of government: President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Fidel CASTRO Ruz (prime minister from February 1959 until 24 February 1976 when office was abolished; president since 2 December 1976); First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (since 2 December 1976); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government


cabinet: Council of Ministers proposed by the president of the Council of State and appointed by the National Assembly or the 31-member Council of State, elected by the Assembly to act on its behalf when it is not in session


elections: president and vice presidents elected by the National Assembly for a term of five years; election last held 6 March 2003 (next to be held in 2008)


election results: Fidel CASTRO Ruz reelected president; percent of legislative vote - 100%; Raul CASTRO Ruz elected vice president; percent of legislative vote - 100%
-
Exports NA (2001) 703.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Exports - commodities sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, coffee the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Exports - partners Netherlands 21.8%, Canada 16.2%, Russia 10.7%, Spain 8.7%, China 7.3% (2003) US 17.4%, Germany 7.6%, UK 5.4%, France 5.1%, Japan 4.8%, China 4% (2002)
Fiscal year calendar year -
Flag description five equal horizontal bands of blue (top and bottom) alternating with white; a red equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bears a white, five-pointed star in the center; design influenced by the US flag -
GDP purchasing power parity - $32.13 billion (2003 est.) GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $49 trillion (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 5.5%


industry: 26.9%


services: 67.6% (2003 est.)
agriculture: 4%


industry: 32%


services: 64% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $2,900 (2003 est.) purchasing power parity - $7,900 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 2.6% (2003 est.) 2.7% (2001 est.)
Geographic coordinates 21 30 N, 80 00 W -
Geography - note largest country in Caribbean and westernmost island of the Greater Antilles the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13-billion-year age estimated for the universe
Highways total: 60,858 km


paved: 29,820 km (including 638 km of expressway)


unpaved: 31,038 km (1999 est.)
total: NA km


paved: NA km


unpaved: NA km
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: NA


highest 10%: NA
lowest 10%: NA%


highest 10%: NA%
Illicit drugs territorial waters and air space serve as transshipment zone for cocaine and heroin bound for the US and Europe; established the death penalty for certain drug-related crimes in 1999 cocaine: worldwide, coca is grown on an estimated 205,450 hectares - almost exclusively in South America with 70% in Colombia; potential cocaine production during 2002 is estimated at 938 metric tons (or 1,200 metric tons of export quality cocaine at an average of 78% purity); coca eradication programs continue in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru, and 292 metric tons of export quality cocaine are documented to have been seized in 2002; consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been 875 metric tons


opiates: cultivation of opium poppy occurred on an estimated 141,213 hectares in 2002 and potentially produced 2,183 metric tons of opium - which conceivably could be converted to the equivalent of 238 metric tons of pure heroin; opium eradication programs have been undertaken in Afghanistan, Burma, Colombia, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam, and the annual average for opiates seized worldwide over the past five years (1998-2002) has been 45 metric tons of pure heroin equivalent; estimates for average annual consumption over this time period are 315 metric tons pure heroin equivalent
Imports NA (2001) 697.5 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Imports - commodities petroleum, food, machinery and equipment, chemicals the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Imports - partners Spain 16.6%, Venezuela 12.5%, Italy 8.6%, US 8.5%, China 7.7%, Canada 5.4%, Mexico 5.3%, France 4.9% (2003) US 11.2%, Germany 9.2%, China 7%, Japan 6.8%, France 4.7%, UK 4% (2002)
Independence 20 May 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered by the US from 1898 to 1902) -
Industrial production growth rate 2.4% (2003 est.) 3% (2002 est.)
Industries sugar, petroleum, tobacco, construction, nickel, steel, cement, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems
Infant mortality rate total: 6.45 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 7.25 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 5.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
total: 51.38 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 53.81 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 48.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 4.1% (2003 est.) developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in several Third World countries
International organization participation ACP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM, OAS (excluded from formal participation since 1962), OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO -
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) - 10,350 (2000 est.)
Irrigated land 870 sq km (1998 est.) 2,714,320 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch People's Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo Popular (president, vice president, and other judges are elected by the National Assembly) -
Labor force 4.58 million


note: state sector 78%, non-state sector 22% (2003 est.)
NA
Labor force - by occupation agriculture 24%, industry 25%, services 51% (1999) agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Land boundaries total: 29 km


border countries: US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay 29 km


note: Guantanamo Naval Base is leased by the US and thus remains part of Cuba
the land boundaries in the world total 250,472 km (not counting shared boundaries twice)
Land use arable land: 33.05%


permanent crops: 7.6%


other: 59.35% (2001)
arable land: 10.58%


permanent crops: 1%


other: 88.42% (1998 est.)
Languages Spanish Chinese, Mandarin 14.37%, Hindi 6.02%, English 5.61%, Spanish 5.59%, Bengali 3.4%, Portuguese 2.63%, Russian 2.75%, Japanese 2.06%, German, Standard 1.64%, Korean 1.28%, French 1.27% (2000 est.)


note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Legal system based on Spanish and American law, with large elements of Communist legal theory; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court
Legislative branch unicameral National Assembly of People's Power or Asemblea Nacional del Poder Popular (609 seats, elected directly from slates approved by special candidacy commissions; members serve five-year terms)


elections: last held 19 January 2003 (next to be held in NA 2008)


election results: percent of vote - PCC 97.6%; seats - PCC 609
-
Life expectancy at birth total population: 77.04 years


male: 74.77 years


female: 79.44 years (2004 est.)
total population: 63.95 years


male: 62 years


female: 70.23 years (2003 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 97%


male: 97.2%


female: 96.9% (2003 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 77%


male: 83%


female: 71% (1995 est.)
Location Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, 150 km south of Key West, Florida -
Map references Central America and the Caribbean Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World
Maritime claims territorial sea: 12 nm


exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims: contiguous zone - 24 NM; continental shelf - 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation, or 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin; exclusive fishing zone - 200 NM; exclusive economic zone - 200 NM; territorial sea - 12 NM; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked
Merchant marine total: 13 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 54,818 GRT/81,850 DWT


by type: bulk 3, cargo 4, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 3, refrigerated cargo 2


registered in other countries: 35 (2004 est.)
-
Military - note Moscow, for decades the key military supporter and supplier of Cuba, cut off almost all military aid by 1993 -
Military branches Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR): Revolutionary Army (ER), Revolutionary Navy (MGR), Air and Air Defense Force (DAAFAR), Territorial Militia Troops (MTT), Youth Labor Army (EJT) -
Military expenditures - dollar figure $572.3 million (2003) aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 1.8% (2003) roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.)
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49: 3,134,622


females age 15-49: 3,075,534 (2004 est.)
-
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49: 1,929,370


females age 15-49: 1,888,498 (2004 est.)
-
Military manpower - reaching military age annually males: 83,992


females: 91,901 (2004 est.)
-
National holiday Independence Day, 10 December (1898); note - 10 December 1898 is the date of independence from Spain, 20 May 1902 is the date of independence from US administration; Rebellion Day, 26 July (1953) -
Nationality noun: Cuban(s)


adjective: Cuban
-
Natural hazards the east coast is subject to hurricanes from August to November (in general, the country averages about one hurricane every other year); droughts are common large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)
Natural resources cobalt, nickel, iron ore, chromium, copper, salt, timber, silica, petroleum, arable land the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address
Net migration rate -1.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) -
People - note illicit migration is a continuing problem; Cubans attempt to depart the island and enter the US using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, direct flights, or falsified visas; some 2,500 Cubans took to the Straits of Florida in 2002; the US Coast Guard interdicted about 60% of these migrants; Cubans also use non-maritime routes to enter the US; some 1,500 Cubans arrived overland via the southwest border and direct flights to Miami in 2002 -
Pipelines gas 49 km; oil 230 km (2004) -
Political parties and leaders only party - Cuban Communist Party or PCC [Fidel CASTRO Ruz, first secretary] -
Political pressure groups and leaders NA -
Population 11,308,764 (July 2004 est.) 6,302,309,691 (July 2003 est.)
Population below poverty line NA -
Population growth rate 0.34% (2004 est.) 1.17% (2003 est.)
Ports and harbors Cienfuegos, Havana, Manzanillo, Mariel, Matanzas, Nuevitas, Santiago de Cuba Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama
Radio broadcast stations AM 169, FM 55, shortwave 1 (1998) AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
Railways total: 4,226 km


standard gauge: 4,226 km 1.435-m gauge (140 km electrified)


note: an additional 7,742 km of track is used by sugar plantations; about 65% of this track is standard gauge; the rest is narrow gauge (2003)
total: 1,122,650 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line


broad gauge: 251,153 km


standard gauge: 710,754 km


narrow gauge: 239,430 km
Religions nominally 85% Roman Catholic prior to CASTRO assuming power; Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, and Santeria are also represented Christians 32.79% (of which Roman Catholics 17.33%, Protestants 5.62%, Orthodox 3.51%, Anglicans 1.31%), Muslims 19.6%, Hindus 13.31%, Buddhists 5.88%, Sikhs 0.38%, Jews 0.24%, other religions 12.83%, non-religious 12.53%, atheists 2.44% (2001 est.)
Sex ratio at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.86 male(s)/female


total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
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: 0.78 male(s)/female


total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Suffrage 16 years of age; universal -
Telephone system general assessment: greater investment beginning in 1994 and the establishment of a new Ministry of Information Technology and Communications in 2000 has resulted in improvements in the system; cellular service, initially restricted, was opened to public access in 2003


domestic: national fiber-optic system scheduled to be completed by end of 2003; 85% of switches digitized by end of 2002 with entire system by end 2003; telephone line density remains low; cellular service expanding


international: country code - 53; fiber-optic cable laid to but not linked to US network; satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)
general assessment: NA


domestic: NA


international: NA
Telephones - main lines in use 574,400 (2002) NA
Telephones - mobile cellular 17,900 (2002) NA
Television broadcast stations 58 (1997) NA
Terrain mostly flat to rolling plains, with rugged hills and mountains in the southeast the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean
Total fertility rate 1.66 children born/woman (2004 est.) 2.65 children born/woman (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate 2.6% (2003 est.) 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment
Waterways 240 km (2004) -
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