Cuba (2008) | World (2001) | |
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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 | 267 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 18.8% (male 1,100,672/female 1,042,327)
15-64 years: 70.5% (male 4,019,648/female 4,016,429) 65 years and over: 10.7% (male 554,043/female 660,924) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years:
29.6% (male 933,647,850; female 886,681,514) 15-64 years: 63.4% (male 1,975,418,386; female 1,931,021,694) 65 years and over: 7% (male 188,760,223; female 241,449,691) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugar, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice, potatoes, beans; livestock | - |
Airports | 165 (2007) | - |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 70
over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 18 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 31 (2007) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 95
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 23 under 914 m: 71 (2007) |
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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, marked initially by neglect, became increasingly repressive, provoking an independence movement and occasional rebellions that 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 downturn 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. The US Coast Guard intercepted 2,864 individuals attempting to cross the Straits of Florida in fiscal year 2006. | 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 drop 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 | 11.44 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 21.37 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $35.01 billion
expenditures: $36.73 billion (2007 est.) |
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Capital | name: Havana
geographic coordinates: 23 07 N, 82 21 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
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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 from 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 |
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Death rate | 7.14 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $16.79 billion (convertible currency); another $15-20 billion owed to Russia (31 December 2007 est.) | $2 trillion for less developed countries (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none; note - the US has an Interests Section in the Swiss Embassy, headed by Principal Officer Michael E. PARMLY; 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 Jorge BOLANOS Suarez; address: Cuban Interests Section, Swiss Embassy, 2630 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009; telephone: [1] (202) 797-8518; FAX: [1] (202) 797-8521 | - |
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 | - |
Economic aid - recipient | $87.8 million (2005 est.) | traditional worldwide foreign aid $50 billion (1997 est.) |
Economy - overview | The government continues to balance the need for economic loosening against a desire for firm political control. It has rolled back limited reforms undertaken in the 1990s to increase enterprise efficiency and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. The average Cuban's standard of living remains at a lower level than before the downturn of the 1990s, which was caused by the loss of Soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. Since late 2000, Venezuela has been providing oil on preferential terms, and it currently supplies about 100,000 barrels per day of petroleum products. Cuba has been paying for the oil, in part, with the services of Cuban personnel in Venezuela, including some 20,000 medical professionals. In 2007, high metals prices continued to boost Cuban earnings from nickel and cobalt production. Havana continued to invest in the country's energy sector to mitigate electrical blackouts that had plagued the country since 2004. | Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) rose to 4.8% in 2000 from 3.5% in 1999, despite continued low growth in Japan, severe financial difficulties in other East Asian countries, and widespread dislocations in several transition economies. The US economy continued its remarkable sustained prosperity, growing at 5% in 2000, although growth slowed in fourth quarter 2000; the US accounted for 23% of GWP. The EU economies grew at 3.3% and produced 20% of GWP. China, the second largest economy in the world, continued its strong growth and accounted for 10% of GWP. Japan grew at only 1.3% in 2000; its share in GWP is 7%. As usual, the 15 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations experienced widely different rates of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that eat up 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, and in Canada. 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. Continued financial difficulties in East Asia, Russia, and many African nations, as well as the slowdown in US economic growth, cast a shadow over short-term global economic prospects; GWP probably will grow at 3-4% in 2001. 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 serious economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2000, see the individual country entries.) |
Electricity - consumption | 13.87 billion kWh (2006) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2006) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2006) | - |
Electricity - production | 16.45 billion kWh (2006) | - |
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 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 |
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Ethnic groups | mulatto 51%, white 37%, black 11%, Chinese 1% | - |
Exchange rates | Convertible pesos per US dollar - 0.9259 (2007), 0.9231 (2006)
note: Cuba has two currencies in circulation: the Cuban peso (CUP) and the convertible peso (CUC); in April 2005 the official exchange rate changed from $1 per CUC to $1.08 per CUC (0.93 CUC per $1), both for individuals and enterprises; individuals can buy 24 Cuban pesos (CUP) for each CUC sold, or sell 25 Cuban pesos for each CUC bought; enterprises, however, must exchange CUP and CUC at a 1:1 ratio. |
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Executive branch | chief of state: President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (president since 24 February 2008); First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Jose Ramon MACHADO Ventura (since 24 February 2008); 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 Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (president since 24 February 2008); First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Jose Ramon MACHADO Ventura (since 24 February 2008) 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 24 February 2008 (next to be held in 2013) election results: Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz elected president; percent of legislative vote - 100%; Gen. Jose Ramon MACHADO Ventura elected vice president; percent of legislative vote - 100% |
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Exports | 0 bbl/day (2006) | $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 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 21.6%, China 18.7%, Spain 5.9% (2006) | in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries |
Fiscal year | calendar year | - |
Flag description | five equal horizontal bands of blue (top, center, and bottom) alternating with white; a red equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bears a white, five-pointed star in the center | - |
GDP | - | GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $43.6 trillion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 4.6%
industry: 26.1% services: 69.3% (2007 est.) |
agriculture:
4% industry: 32% services: 64% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $7,200 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 7% (2007 est.) | 4.8% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 21 30 N, 80 00 W | - |
Geography - note | largest country in Caribbean and westernmost island of the Greater Antilles | - |
Highways | - | 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 US- and European-bound drugs; established the death penalty for certain drug-related crimes in 1999 | - |
Imports | 98,100 bbl/day (2005) | $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | petroleum, food, machinery and equipment, chemicals | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Imports - partners | Venezuela 26.6%, China 15.6%, Spain 9.8%, Germany 6.4%, Canada 5.6%, Italy 4.4%, US 4.3%, Brazil 4.2% (2006) | in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries |
Independence | 20 May 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered by the US from 1898 to 1902); not acknowledged by the Cuban Government as a day of independence | - |
Industrial production growth rate | 8% (2007 est.) | 6% (2000 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: 6.04 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 6.76 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.26 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
52.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.6% (2007 est.) | all countries 25%; developed countries 1% to 3% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically (2000 est.)
note: national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from stable prices in Japan to hyperinflation in a number of Third World countries |
International organization participation | ACP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM, OAS (excluded from formal participation since 1962), OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 10,350 (2000 est.) |
Irrigated land | 8,700 sq km (2003) | 2,481,250 sq km (1993 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 | 4.853 million
note: state sector 78%, non-state sector 22% (2007 est.) |
NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 20%
industry: 19.4% services: 60.6% (2005) |
agricultue 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 remains part of Cuba |
the land boundaries in the world total 251,480.24 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) |
Land use | arable land: 27.63%
permanent crops: 6.54% other: 65.83% (2005) |
arable land:
10% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 26% forests and woodland: 32% other: 31% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Spanish | - |
Legal system | based on Spanish civil law and influenced by American legal concepts, 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 (number of seats in the National Assembly is based on population; 614 seats; members elected directly from slates approved by special candidacy commissions to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 20 January 2008 (next to be held in January 2013) election results: Cuba's Communist Party is the only legal party, and officially sanctioned candidates run unopposed |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population: 77.08 years
male: 74.85 years female: 79.43 years (2007 est.) |
total population:
63.79 years male: 62.15 years female: 65.51 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.8% male: 99.8% female: 99.8% (2002 census) |
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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 | World, Time Zones |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
contiguous zone:
24 NM claimed by most, but can vary continental shelf: 200-m depth claimed by most or to depth of exploitation; others claim 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM claimed by most, but can vary exclusive economic zone: 200 NM claimed by most, but can vary territorial sea: 12 NM claimed by most, but can vary note: 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 |
Merchant marine | total: 12 ships (1000 GRT or over) 35,030 GRT/51,388 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 3, chemical tanker 1, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 3, refrigerated cargo 2 foreign-owned: 1 (Spain 1) registered in other countries: 16 (Bahamas 1, Cyprus 2, Netherlands Antilles 1, Panama 11, Spain 1) (2007) |
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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 (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias, FAR): Revolutionary Army (ER; includes Territorial Militia Troops, MTT), Revolutionary Navy (Marina de Guerra Revolucionaria, MGR; includes Marine Corps), Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force (DAAFAR), Youth Labor Army (EJT) (2008) | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | 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 | 3.8% (2006 est.) | roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) |
National holiday | Triumph of the Revolution, 1 January (1959) | - |
Nationality | noun: Cuban(s)
adjective: Cuban |
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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 using up 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 | -1.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | - |
People - note | illicit emigration is a continuing problem; Cubans attempt to depart the island and enter the US using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, direct flights, or falsified visas; Cubans also use non-maritime routes to enter the US including direct flights to Miami and over-land via the southwest border | - |
Pipelines | gas 49 km; oil 230 km (2007) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Cuban Communist Party or PCC [Fidel CASTRO Ruz, first secretary] | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
Population | 11,394,043 (July 2007 est.) | 6,157,400,560 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | - |
Population growth rate | 0.273% (2007 est.) | 1.25% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | 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 |
Radios | - | 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 (2006) |
total:
1,201,337 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 | - |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.056 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.001 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.838 male(s)/female total population: 0.992 male(s)/female (2007 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: 1.05 male(s)/female (2001 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; wireless service is expensive and must be paid in convertible pesos which effectively limits mobile cellular subscribership
domestic: national fiber-optic system under development; 95% of switches digitized by end of 2006; fixed telephone line density remains low, at less than 10 per 100 inhabitants; domestic cellular service expanding but remains at only about 2 per 100 persons 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 | 972,900 (2006) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 152,700 (2006) | 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 | 1.6 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 2.73 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 1.9% (2007 est.) | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2000 est.) |
Waterways | 240 km (2007) | - |