Finland (2001) | World (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 6 provinces (laanit, singular - laani); Aland, Etela-Suomen Laani, Ita-Suomen Laani, Lansi-Suomen Laani, Lappi, Oulun Laani | 267 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
18% (male 474,967; female 456,584) 15-64 years: 66.97% (male 1,750,660; female 1,715,358) 65 years and over: 15.03% (male 300,569; female 477,645) (2001 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 | cereals, sugar beets, potatoes; dairy cattle; fish | - |
Airports | 159 (2000 est.) | - |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
69 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 26 1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 20 under 914 m: 10 (2000 est.) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
90 914 to 1,523 m: 6 under 914 m: 84 (2000 est.) |
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Area | total:
337,030 sq km land: 305,470 sq km water: 31,560 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 Montana | land area about 16 times the size of the US |
Background | Ruled by Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries and by Russia from 1809, Finland finally won its independence in 1917. During World War II, it was able to successfully defend its freedom and fend off invasions by the Soviet Union and Germany. In the subsequent half century, the Finns have made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is now on par with Western Europe. As a member of the European Union, Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999. | 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 | 10.69 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 21.37 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$36.1 billion expenditures: $31 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
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Capital | Helsinki | - |
Climate | cold temperate; potentially subarctic, but comparatively mild because of moderating influence of the North Atlantic Current, Baltic Sea, and more than 60,000 lakes | two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates |
Coastline | 1,126 km (excludes islands and coastal indentations) | 356,000 km |
Constitution | 17 July 1919 | - |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Finland conventional short form: Finland local long form: Suomen Tasavalta local short form: Suomi |
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Currency | markka (FIM); euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced the euro as a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in Finland at a fixed rate of 5.94573 markkaa per euro and will replace the local currency for all transactions in 2002 |
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Death rate | 9.75 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $30 billion (December 1993) | $2 trillion for less developed countries (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Carol VAN VOORST embassy: Itainen Puistotie 14B, FIN-00140, Helsinki mailing address: APO AE 09723 telephone: [358] (9) 171931 FAX: [358] (9) 174681 |
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Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Jaakko Tapani LAAJAVA chancery: 3301 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 298-5800 FAX: [1] (202) 298-6030 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles and New York |
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Disputes - international | none | - |
Economic aid - donor | ODA, $379 million (1997) | - |
Economic aid - recipient | - | traditional worldwide foreign aid $50 billion (1997 est.) |
Economy - overview | Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free-market economy, with per capita output roughly that of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy. Its key economic sector is manufacturing - principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries. Trade is important, with exports equaling more than one-third of GDP. Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imports of raw materials, energy, and some components for manufactured goods. Because of the climate, agricultural development is limited to maintaining self-sufficiency in basic products. Forestry, an important export earner, provides a secondary occupation for the rural population. Rapidly increasing integration with Western Europe - Finland was one of the 11 countries joining the euro monetary system (EMU) on 1 January 1999 - will dominate the economic picture over the next several years. Growth in 2001 will be bolstered by strong private consumption, yet may be 1 or 2 points lower than in 2000, largely because of a weakening in export demand. | 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 | 81.611 billion kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - exports | 232 million kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - imports | 11.356 billion kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - production | 75.792 billion kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
41.88% hydro: 16.77% nuclear: 28.82% other: 12.53% (1999) |
fossil fuel:
NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Baltic Sea 0 m highest point: Haltiatunturi 1,328 m |
lowest point:
Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
Environment - current issues | air pollution from manufacturing and power plants contributing to acid rain; water pollution from industrial wastes, agricultural chemicals; habitat loss threatens wildlife populations | 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:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
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Ethnic groups | Finn 93%, Swede 6%, Sami 0.11%, Roma 0.12%, Tatar 0.02% | - |
Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); markkaa per US dollar - 5.3441 (1998), 5.1914 (1997), 4.5936 (1996) | - |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Tarja HALONEN (since 1 March 2000) head of government: Prime Minister Paavo LIPPONEN (since 13 April 1995) and Deputy Prime Minister Sauli NIINISTO (since 13 April 1995) cabinet: Council of State or Valtioneuvosto appointed by the president, responsible to Parliament elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 6 February 2000 (next to be held NA February 2006); prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed from the majority party by the president after parliamentary elections election results: Tarja HALONEN elected president; percent of vote - Tarja HALONEN (SDP) 51.6%, Esco AHO (Kesk) 48.4% note: government coalition - SDP, Kok, Leftist Alliance (People's Democratic Union and Democratic Alternative), SFP, and Green Union |
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Exports | $44.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals; timber, paper, pulp | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Exports - partners | EU 58% (Germany 13%, Sweden 10%, UK 9%, France 5%, Netherlands 4%), US 8%, Russia, Japan (1999) | in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries |
Fiscal year | calendar year | - |
Flag description | white with a blue cross that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag) | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $118.3 billion (2000 est.) | GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $43.6 trillion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
3.5% industry: 29% services: 67.5% (1999) |
agriculture:
4% industry: 32% services: 64% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $22,900 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,200 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.6% (2000 est.) | 4.8% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 64 00 N, 26 00 E | - |
Geography - note | long boundary with Russia; Helsinki is northernmost national capital on European continent; population concentrated on small southwestern coastal plain | - |
Highways | total:
77,796 km paved: 49,789 km (including 444 km of expressways) unpaved: 28,042 km (1999) |
total:
NA km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
4.2% highest 10%: 21.6% (1991) |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $32.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000) | $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, transport equipment, iron and steel, machinery, textile yarn and fabrics, grains | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Imports - partners | EU 60% (Germany 15%, Sweden 11%, UK 7%), US 8%, Russia 7%, Japan 6% (1999) | in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries |
Independence | 6 December 1917 (from Russia) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | 7.5% (2000) | 6% (2000 est.) |
Industries | metal products, shipbuilding, pulp and paper, copper refining, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, clothing | 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 | 3.79 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 52.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.4% (2000 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 | AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOGIP, UNMOP, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (observer), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 23 (2000) | 10,350 (2000 est.) |
Irrigated land | 640 sq km (1993 est.) | 2,481,250 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Korkein Oikeus (judges appointed by the president) | - |
Labor force | 2.6 million (2000 est.) | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | public services 32%, industry 22%, commerce 14%, finance, insurance, and business services 10%, agriculture and forestry 8%, transport and communications 8%, construction 6% | agricultue NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | total:
2,628 km border countries: Norway 729 km, Sweden 586 km, Russia 1,313 km |
the land boundaries in the world total 251,480.24 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) |
Land use | arable land:
8% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 76% other: 16% (1993 est.) |
arable land:
10% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 26% forests and woodland: 32% other: 31% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Finnish 93.4% (official), Swedish 5.9% (official), small Lapp- and Russian-speaking minorities | - |
Legal system | civil law system based on Swedish law; Supreme Court may request legislation interpreting or modifying laws; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | 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 Parliament or Eduskunta (200 seats; members are elected by popular vote on a proportional basis to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 21 March 1999 (next to be held NA March 2003) election results: percent of vote by party - SDP 22.9%, Kesk 22.5%, Kok 21.0%, Leftist Alliance (Communist) 10.9%, SFP 5.1%, Green Union 7.2%, SKL 4.2%; seats by party - SDP 51, Kesk 48, Kok 46, Leftist Alliance (Communist) 20, SFP 11, Green Union 11, SKL 10, other 3 |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population:
77.58 years male: 73.92 years female: 81.36 years (2001 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: 100% (1980 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
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Location | Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Sweden and Russia | - |
Map references | Europe | World, Time Zones |
Maritime claims | continental shelf:
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive fishing zone: 12 NM territorial sea: 12 NM (in the Gulf of Finland - 3 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:
98 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,172,808 GRT/1,138,175 DWT ships by type: bulk 9, cargo 23, chemical tanker 5, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 11, railcar carrier 1, roll on/roll off 37, short-sea passenger 11 (2000 est.) |
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Military branches | Army, Navy, Air Force, Frontier Guard (includes Sea Guard) | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $1.8 billion (FY98) | 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 | 2% (FY98) | roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
1,251,700 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
1,033,188 (2001 est.) |
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Military manpower - military age | 17 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
33,883 (2001 est.) |
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National holiday | Independence Day, 6 December (1917) | - |
Nationality | noun:
Finn(s) adjective: Finnish |
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Natural hazards | NA | large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) |
Natural resources | timber, copper, zinc, iron ore, silver | 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 | 0.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | - |
Pipelines | natural gas 580 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | Center Party or Kesk [Esko AHO]; Finnish Christian Union or SKL [C. P. Bjarne KALLIS]; Green Union [Satu HASSI]; Leftist Alliance (Communist) composed of People's Democratic League and Democratic Alternative [Suvi-Anne SIIMES]; National Coalition (conservative) Party or Kok [Sauli NIINISTO]; Reform Group [Risto KUISMA]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Paavo LIPPONEN]; Swedish People's Party or SFP [Jan-Erik ENESTAM]; True Finns [Timo SOINI] | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Communist Workers Party [Timo LAHDENMAKI]; Constitutional Rightist Party; Finnish Communist Party-Unity [Yrjo HAKANEN]; Finnish Pensioners Party | - |
Population | 5,175,783 (July 2001 est.) | 6,157,400,560 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | - |
Population growth rate | 0.16% (2001 est.) | 1.25% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Hamina, Helsinki, Kokkola, Kotka, Loviisa, Oulu, Pori, Rauma, Turku, Uusikaupunki, Varkaus | Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 186, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA |
Radios | 7.7 million (1997) | NA |
Railways | total:
5,865 km broad gauge: 5,865 km 1.524-m gauge (2,192 km electrified; 480 km double or multiple track) (1998) |
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 | Evangelical Lutheran 89%, Greek Orthodox 1%, none 9%, other 1% | - |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 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 | 18 years of age; universal | - |
Telephone system | general assessment:
modern system with excellent service domestic: cable, microwave radio relay, and an extensive cellular net provide domestic needs international: 1 submarine cable; satellite earth stations - access to Intelsat transmission service via a Swedish satellite earth station, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions); note - Finland shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) |
general assessment:
NA domestic: NA international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2.861 million (1997) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2,162,574 (1997) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 130 (plus 385 repeaters) (1995) | NA |
Terrain | mostly low, flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes and low hills | the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean |
Total fertility rate | 1.7 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.73 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 9.8% (2000 est.) | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2000 est.) |
Waterways | 6,675 km
note: includes Saimaa Canal; 3,700 km suitable for large ships |
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