Compare Czech Republic (2008) - Turkmenistan (2004)

Compare Czech Republic (2008) z Turkmenistan (2004)

	Czech Republic (2008)	Turkmenistan (2004)

Administrative divisions	13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto); Jihocesky Kraj, Jihomoravsky Kraj, Karlovarsky Kraj, Kralovehradecky Kraj, Liberecky Kraj, Moravskoslezsky Kraj, Olomoucky Kraj, Pardubicky Kraj, Plzensky Kraj, Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky Kraj, Ustecky Kraj, Vysocina, Zlinsky Kraj	5 provinces (welayatlar, singular - welayat): Ahal Welayaty (Ashgabat), Balkan Welayaty (Balkanabat), Dashoguz Welayaty, Lebap Welayaty (Turkmenabat), Mary Welayaty note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)
Age structure	0-14 years: 14.1% (male 738,391/female 698,999) 15-64 years: 71.2% (male 3,657,877/female 3,627,493) 65 years and over: 14.7% (male 588,531/female 917,453) (2007 est.)	0-14 years: 36.2% (male 904,627; female 857,601) 15-64 years: 59.7% (male 1,423,836; female 1,477,224) 65 years and over: 4.1% (male 76,670; female 123,211) (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products	wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, poultry	cotton, grain; livestock
Airports	122 (2007)	69 (2003 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 45 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 18 (2007)	total: 24 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 12 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2003 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 77 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 26 under 914 m: 50 (2007)	total: 45 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 36 (2003 est.)
Area	total: 78,866 sq km land: 77,276 sq km water: 1,590 sq km	total: 488,100 sq km land: 488,100 sq km water: negl.
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than South Carolina	slightly larger than California
Background	Following the First World War, the closely related Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years, the new country's leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the Sudeten Germans and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II, a truncated Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize Communist party rule and create "socialism with a human face." Anti-Soviet demonstrations the following year ushered in a period of harsh repression. With the collapse of Soviet authority in 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its freedom through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution." On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a "velvet divorce" into its two national components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.	Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1924. It achieved its independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President NIYAZOV retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects were to be expanded. The Turkmenistan Government is actively seeking to develop alternative petroleum transportation routes in order to break Russia's pipeline monopoly.
Birth rate	8.96 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	27.82 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Budget	revenues: $69.49 billion expenditures: $75.8 billion (2007 est.)	revenues: $3.477 billion expenditures: $3.908 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.)
Capital	name: Prague geographic coordinates: 50 05 N, 14 28 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October	Ashgabat
Climate	temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters	subtropical desert
Coastline	0 km (landlocked)	0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km)
Constitution	ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993	adopted 18 May 1992
Country name	conventional long form: Czech Republic conventional short form: Czech Republic local long form: Ceska Republika local short form: Cesko	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Turkmenistan local long form: none local short form: Turkmenistan former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
Currency	-	Turkmen manat (TMM)
Death rate	10.64 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	8.82 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Debt - external	$61.74 billion (30 June 2007)	$2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Richard W. GRABER embassy: Trziste 15, 11801 Prague 1 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [420] 257 022 000 FAX: [420] 257 022 809	chief of mission: Ambassador Tracey A. JACOBSON embassy: 9 Pushkin (1984) Street, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 774000 mailing address: 7070 Ashgabat Place, Washington, D.C. 20521-7070 telephone: [9] (9312) 35-00-45 FAX: [9] (9312) 39-26-14
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Petr KOLAR chancery: 3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 274-9100 FAX: [1] (202) 966-8540 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York	chief of mission: Ambassador Mered Bairamovich ORAZOV chancery: 2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 588-1500 FAX: [1] (202) 588-0697
Disputes - international	in 2006, Austrian public protests for the Czech Republic to close the Temelin nuclear power plant resulted in an Austrian parliamentary motion threatening international legal action	prolonged regional drought created water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan reached an agreement on improving water usage along the Amu Darya in 2004; delimitation of Caspian seabed remains unresolved
Economic aid - recipient	$278.7 million in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004)	$16 million from the US (2001)
Economy - overview	The Czech Republic is one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Growth in 2000-07 was supported by exports to the EU, primarily to Germany, and a strong recovery of foreign and domestic investment. Domestic demand is playing an ever more important role in underpinning growth as the availability of credit cards and mortgages increases. The current account deficit has declined to around 3.3% of GDP as demand for automotive and other products from the Czech Republic remains strong in the European Union. Rising inflation from higher food and energy prices are a risk to balanced economic growth. Significant increases in social spending in the run-up to June 2006 elections prevented, the government from meeting its goal of reducing its budget deficit to 3% of GDP in 2007. Negotiations on pension and additional healthcare reforms are continuing without clear prospects for agreement and implementation. Intensified restructuring among large enterprises, improvements in the financial sector, and effective use of available EU funds should strengthen output growth. The pro-business Civic Democratic Party-led government approved reforms in 2007 designed to cut spending on some social welfare benefits and reform the tax system with the aim of eventually reducing the budget deficit to 2.3% of GDP by 2010. Parliamentary approval for any additional reforms could prove difficult, however, because of the parliament's even split. The government withdrew a 2010 target date for euro adoption and instead aims to meet the eurozone criteria around 2012.	Turkmenistan is largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton, making it at one time the world's tenth-largest producer. Poor harvests in recent years have led to a nearly 46% decline in cotton exports. With an authoritarian ex-Communist regime in power and a tribally based social structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient economy. Privatization goals remain limited. In 1998-2003, Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time, however, total exports rose by 38% in 2003, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty, the burden of foreign debt, and the unwillingness of the government to adopt market-oriented reforms. However, Turkmenistan's cooperation with the international community in transporting humanitarian aid to Afghanistan may foreshadow a change in the atmosphere for foreign investment, aid, and technological support. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state secrets, and GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of error. In particular, the 20% rate of GDP growth is a guess.
Electricity - consumption	59.72 billion kWh (2005)	8.509 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports	24.99 billion kWh (2005)	980 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports	12.35 billion kWh (2005)	20 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - production	77.38 billion kWh (2005)	10.18 billion kWh (2001)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Elbe River 115 m highest point: Snezka 1,602 m	lowest point: Vpadina Akchanaya -81 m; note - Sarygamysh Koli is a lake in northern Turkmenistan with a water level that fluctuates above and below the elevation of Vpadina Akchanaya (the lake has dropped as low as -110 m) highest point: Gora Ayribaba 3,139 m
Environment - current issues	air and water pollution in areas of northwest Bohemia and in northern Moravia around Ostrava present health risks; acid rain damaging forests; efforts to bring industry up to EU code should improve domestic pollution	contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination, water-logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea; desertification
Environment - international agreements	party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups	Czech 90.4%, Moravian 3.7%, Slovak 1.9%, other 4% (2001 census)	Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003)
Exchange rates	koruny per US dollar - 20.53 (2007), 22.596 (2006), 23.957 (2005), 25.7 (2004), 28.209 (2003)	Turkmen manats per US dollar - 5,200 (2003), 5,200 (2002), 5,200 (2001), 5,200 (2000), 5,200 (1999);note - the official exchange rate has not varied for the last six years; the unofficial rate has fluctuated slightly, hovering around 21,000 manats to the dollar
Executive branch	chief of state: President Vaclav KLAUS (since 7 March 2003) head of government: Prime Minister Mirek TOPOLANEK (since 9 January 2007); Deputy Prime Ministers Petr NECAS (since 9 January 2007), Martin BURSIK (since 9 January 2007), and Alexandr VONDRA (since 9 January 2007) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); last successful election held 15 February 2008 (after earlier elections held 8 and 9 February 2008 were inconclusive; next election to be held in February 2013); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Vaclav KLAUS reelected president on 15 February 2008; Vaclav KLAUS 141 votes, Jan SVEJNAR 111 votes (third round; combined votes of both chambers of parliament)	chief of state: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president note: NIYAZOV's term in office was extended indefinitely on 28 December 1999 during a session of the People's Council (Halk Maslahaty) elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 June 1992 (next to be held in 2008 when NIYAZOV turns 70 and is constitutionally ineligible to run); note - President NIYAZOV was unanimously approved as president for life by the People's Council on 28 December 1999; deputy chairmen of the cabinet of ministers are appointed by the president election results: Saparmurat NIYAZOV elected president without opposition; percent of vote - Saparmurat NIYAZOV 99.5%
Exports	20,930 bbl/day (2004)	NA (2001)
Exports - commodities	machinery and transport equipment 52%, chemicals 5%, raw materials and fuel 9% (2003)	gas 57%, oil 26%, cotton fiber 3%, textiles 2% (2001)
Exports - partners	Germany 32%, Slovakia 8.5%, Poland 5.7%, France 5.5%, Austria 5.1%, UK 4.8%, Italy 4.6% (2006)	Ukraine 39.2%, Italy 18.1%, Iran 14.7%, Turkey 6.5% (2003)
Fiscal year	calendar year	calendar year
Flag description	two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side note: identical to the flag of the former Czechoslovakia	green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five carpet guls (designs used in producing rugs) stacked above two crossed olive branches similar to the olive branches on the UN flag; a white crescent moon and five white stars appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe
GDP	-	purchasing power parity - $27.88 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 2.4% industry: 39.7% services: 57.9% (2007 est.)	agriculture: 24.8% industry: 46.2% services: 28.9% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $5,800 (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	5.7% (2007 est.)	23.1% (2003 est.)
Geographic coordinates	49 45 N, 15 30 E	40 00 N, 60 00 E
Geography - note	landlocked; strategically located astride some of oldest and most significant land routes in Europe; Moravian Gate is a traditional military corridor between the North European Plain and the Danube in central Europe	landlocked; the western and central low-lying, desolate portions of the country make up the great Garagum (Kara-Kum) desert, which occupies over 80% of the country; eastern part is plateau
Heliports	1 (2007)	1 (2003 est.)
Highways	-	total: 24,000 km paved: 19,488 km unpaved: 4,512 km (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 4.3% highest 10%: 22.4% (1996)	lowest 10%: 2.6% highest 10%: 31.7% (1998)
Illicit drugs	transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and minor transit point for Latin American cocaine to Western Europe; producer of synthetic drugs for local and regional markets; susceptible to money laundering related to drug trafficking, organized crime; significant consumer of ecstasy	transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and Western European markets; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan
Imports	203,700 bbl/day (2004)	NA (2001)
Imports - commodities	machinery and transport equipment 46%, raw materials and fuels 15%, chemicals 10% (2003)	machinery and equipment 60%, foodstuffs 15% (1999)
Imports - partners	Germany 32.5%, Netherlands 6.8%, Slovakia 6.2%, Poland 6.1%, Russia 5.7%, Austria 5%, Italy 4.4%, France 4.3% (2006)	Russia 21.5%, Ukraine 15.3%, Turkey 9.4%, UAE 7.6%, Germany 4.2%, China 4.2% (2003)
Independence	1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia)	27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
Industrial production growth rate	9% (2007 est.)	14% (2003 est.)
Industries	metallurgy, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, glass, armaments	natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing
Infant mortality rate	total: 3.86 deaths/1,000 live births male: 4.21 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	total: 73.13 deaths/1,000 live births male: 76.9 deaths/1,000 live births female: 69.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	2.6% (2007 est.)	9.5% (2003 est.)
International organization participation	ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA (cooperating state), EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC	AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO
Irrigated land	240 sq km (2003)	17,500 sq km (2003 est.)
Judicial branch	Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; chairman and deputy chairmen are appointed by the president for a 10-year term	Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)
Labor force	5.35 million (2007 est.)	2.34 million (1996)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 4.1% industry: 37.6% services: 58.3% (2003)	agriculture 48%, industry 15%, services 37% (1998 est.)
Land boundaries	total: 2,290.2 km border countries: Austria 466.3 km, Germany 810.3 km, Poland 761.8 km, Slovakia 251.8 km	total: 3,736 km border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km
Land use	arable land: 38.82% permanent crops: 3% other: 58.18% (2005)	arable land: 3.72% permanent crops: 0.14% other: 96.14% (2001)
Languages	Czech 94.9%, Slovak 2%, other 2.3%, unidentified 0.8% (2001 census)	Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
Legal system	civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to bring it in line with Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) obligations and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory	based on civil law system
Legislative branch	bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (81 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms; one-third elected every two years) and the Chamber of Deputies or Poslanecka Snemovna (200 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: Senate - last held in two rounds 20-21 and 27-28 October 2006 (next to be held in October 2008); Chamber of Deputies - last held 2-3 June 2006 (next to be held by June 2010) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ODS 41, CSSD 12, KDU-CSL 11, others 15, independents 2; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - ODS 35.4%, CSSD 32.3%, KSCM 12.8%, KDU-CSL 7.2%, Greens 6.3%, other 6%; seats by party - ODS 81, CSSD 74, KSCM 26, KDU-CSL 13, Greens 6; note - seats by party as of December 2007 - ODS 81, CSSD 72, KSCM 26, KDU-CSL 13, Greens 6, unaffiliated 2 (former CSSD members)	under the 1992 constitution, there are two parliamentary bodies, a unicameral People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (supreme legislative body of up to 2,500 delegates, some of which are elected by popular vote and some of which are appointed; meets at least yearly) and a unicameral Parliament or Mejlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: People's Council - last held in April 2003; Mejlis - last held 19 December 2004 (next to be held December 2009) election results: Mejlis - DPT 100%; seats by party - DPT 50; note - all 50 elected officials are members of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan and are preapproved by President NIYAZOV note: in late 2003, a new law was adopted, reducing the powers of the Mejlis and making the Halk Maslahaty the supreme legislative organ; the Halk Maslahaty can now legally dissolve the Mejlis, and the president is now able to participate in the Mejlis as its supreme leader; the Mejlis can no longer adopt or amend the constitution, or announce referendums or its elections; since the president is both the "Chairman for Life" of the Halk Maslahaty and the supreme leader of the Mejlis, the 2003 law has the effect of making him the sole authority of both the executive and legislative branches of government
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 76.42 years male: 73.14 years female: 79.88 years (2007 est.)	total population: 61.29 years male: 57.87 years female: 64.88 years (2004 est.)
Literacy	definition: NA total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.)
Location	Central Europe, southeast of Germany	Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan
Map references	Europe	Asia
Maritime claims	none (landlocked)	-
Merchant marine	registered in other countries: 1 (St Vincent and The Grenadines 1) (2007)	total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,873 GRT/8,345 DWT by type: combination ore/oil 1, petroleum tanker 1 registered in other countries: 2 (2004 est.)
Military branches	Army of the Czech Republic (ACR): Joint Forces Command (includes Army and Air Forces), Support and Training Forces Command (2007)	Ministry of Defense (Army, Air and Air Defense, Navy, Border Troops, and Internal Troops), National Guard
Military expenditures - dollar figure	-	$90 million (FY99)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	1.46% (2007 est.)	3.4% (FY99)
Military manpower - availability	-	males age 15-49: 1,272,436 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service	-	males age 15-49: 1,031,806 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually	-	males: 55,866 (2004 est.)
National holiday	Czech Founding Day, 28 October (1918)	Independence Day, 27 October (1991)
Nationality	noun: Czech(s) adjective: Czech	noun: Turkmen(s) adjective: Turkmen
Natural hazards	flooding	NA
Natural resources	hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber	petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt
Net migration rate	0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)	-0.86 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Pipelines	gas 7,010 km; oil 547 km; refined products 94 km (2007)	gas 6,549 km; oil 1,395 km (2004)
Political parties and leaders	Association of Independent Candidates-European Democrats or SNK-ED [Helmut DOHNALEK]; Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Jiri CUNEK]; Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Mirek TOPOLANEK]; Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Vojtech FILIP]; Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Jiri PAROUBEK]; Union of Freedom-Democratic Union or US-DEU [Jan CERNY]; Green Party [Martin BURSIK]; Independent Democrats (NEZDEM) [Vladimir ZELEZNY]; Party of Open Society (SOS) [Pavel NOVACEK]; Path of Change [Jiri LOBKOWITZ]	Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Saparmurat NIYAZOV] note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements exist underground or in foreign countries; the two most prominent opposition groups-in-exile have been Gundogar and Erkin; Gundogar was led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHMURADOV until his arrest and imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 assassination attempt on President NIYAZOV; Erkin is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV and is based out of Moscow; the Union of Democratic Forces, a coalition of opposition-in-exile groups, is based in Europe
Political pressure groups and leaders	Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions or CMKOS [Milan STECH]	NA
Population	10,228,744 (July 2007 est.)	4,863,169 (July 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	34.4% (2001 est.)
Population growth rate	-0.071% (2007 est.)	1.81% (2004 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Turkmenbasy
Radio broadcast stations	AM 31, FM 304, shortwave 17 (2000)	AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998)
Railways	total: 9,597 km standard gauge: 9,597 km 1.435-m gauge (3,041 km electrified) (2006)	total: 2,440 km broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2003)
Religions	Roman Catholic 26.8%, Protestant 2.1%, other 3.3%, unspecified 8.8%, unaffiliated 59% (2001 census)	Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.056 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.008 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.641 male(s)/female total population: 0.951 male(s)/female (2007 est.)	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: privatization and modernization of the Czech telecommunication system got a late start but is advancing steadily; access to the fixed-line telephone network expanded throughout the 1990s; mobile telephone usage increased sharply beginning in the mid-1990s and there are now about 120 mobile telephones per 100 persons domestic: 93% of exchanges now digital; existing copper subscriber systems enhanced with Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) equipment to accommodate Internet and other digital signals; trunk systems include fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay international: country code - 420; satellite earth stations - 2 Intersputnik (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions), 1 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat, 1 Globalstar (2007)	general assessment: poorly developed domestic: NA international: country code - 993; linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; a new telephone link from Ashgabat to Iran has been established; a new exchange in Ashgabat switches international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat
Telephones - main lines in use	3,217,300 (2005)	374,000 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	12.15 million (2006)	52,000 (2004)
Television broadcast stations	150 (plus 1,434 repeaters) (2000)	4 (government owned and programmed) (2004)
Terrain	Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country	flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west
Total fertility rate	1.22 children born/woman (2007 est.)	3.45 children born/woman (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate	6.6% (2007 est.)	NA
Waterways	664 km (principally on Elbe, Vltava, Oder, and other navigable rivers, lakes, and canals) (2006)	1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland waterways) (2003)

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