French Polynesia (2002) | Japan (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | none (overseas territory of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 5 archipelagic divisions named Archipel des Marquises, Archipel des Tuamotu, Archipel des Tubuai, Iles du Vent, and Iles Sous-le-Vent
note: Clipperton Island is administered by France from French Polynesia |
47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gumma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 29% (male 38,184; female 36,631)
15-64 years: 65.7% (male 88,250; female 81,165) 65 years and over: 5.3% (male 6,850; female 6,767) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 14.3% (male 9,328,584/female 8,866,772)
15-64 years: 66.2% (male 42,462,533/female 41,942,835) 65 years and over: 19.5% (male 10,435,284/female 14,381,236) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coconuts, vanilla, vegetables, fruits; poultry, beef, dairy products | rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit, pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs, fish |
Airports | 45 (2001) | 174 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 37
over 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 22 under 914 m: 8 (2002) |
total: 143
over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 37 1,524 to 2,437 m: 39 914 to 1,523 m: 28 under 914 m: 32 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 8
914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 5 (2002) |
total: 31
over 3047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 26 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 4,167 sq km (118 islands and atolls)
land: 3,660 sq km water: 507 sq km |
total: 377,835 sq km
land: 374,744 sq km water: 3,091 sq km note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto, Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto) |
Area - comparative | slightly less than one-third the size of Connecticut | slightly smaller than California |
Background | The French annexed various Polynesian island groups during the 19th century. In September 1995, France stirred up widespread protests by resuming nuclear testing on the Mururoa atoll after a three-year moratorium. The tests were suspended in January 1996. | In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Following the Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States in 1854, Japan opened its ports and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1933 Japan occupied Manchuria and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth, but Japan still remains a major economic power, both in Asia and globally. In 2005, Japan began a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. |
Birth rate | 18.17 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 9.47 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $1 billion
expenditures: $900 million, including capital expenditures of $185 million (1996) (1996) |
revenues: $1.401 trillion
expenditures: $1.748 trillion, including capital expenditures (public works only) of about $71 billion (2004 est.) |
Capital | Papeete | Tokyo |
Climate | tropical, but moderate | varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north |
Coastline | 2,525 km | 29,751 km |
Constitution | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) | 3 May 1947 |
Country name | conventional long form: Territory of French Polynesia
conventional short form: French Polynesia local long form: Territoire de la Polynesie Francaise local short form: Polynesie Francaise former: French Colony of Oceania |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Japan |
Currency | Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (XPF); note - may adopt the euro in 2003 | - |
Death rate | 4.49 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 8.95 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | NA (2002 est.) |
Dependency status | overseas territory of France since 1946 | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of France) | chief of mission: Ambassador J. Thomas SCHIEFFER
embassy: 10-5 Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420 mailing address: Unit 45004, Box 258, APO AP 96337-5004 telephone: [81] (03) 3224-5000 FAX: [81] (03) 3505-1862 consulate(s) general: Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo consulate(s): Fukuoka, Nagoya |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of France) | chief of mission: Ambassador Ryozo KATO
chancery: 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 238-6700 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187 consulate(s) general: Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Agana (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, and Seattle consulate(s): Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands) |
Disputes - international | none | the sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kuril Islands", occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia and claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; Japan and South Korea claim Liancourt Rocks (Take-shima/Tok-do), occupied by South Korea since 1954; China and Taiwan dispute both Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of the Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared exclusive economic zone in the East China Sea, the site of intensive hydrocarbon prospecting |
Economic aid - donor | - | ODA, $7.9 billion (FY03/04) |
Economic aid - recipient | $367 million (1997) (1997) | - |
Economy - overview | Since 1962, when France stationed military personnel in the region, French Polynesia has changed from a subsistence economy to one in which a high proportion of the work force is either employed by the military or supports the tourist industry. With the halt of French nuclear testing in 1996, the military contribution to the economy fell sharply. Tourism accounts for about one-fourth of GDP and is a primary source of hard currency earnings. Other sources of income are pearl farming and deep-sea commercial fishing. The small manufacturing sector primarily processes agricultural products. The territory substantially benefits from development agreements with France aimed principally at creating new businesses and strengthening social services. | Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically-powerful economy in the world after the US and third-largest economy after the US and China, measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis. (Using market exhange rates rather than PPP rates, Japan's economy is larger than China's.) One notable characteristic of the economy is the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in closely-knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding. Industry, the most important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The tiny agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth had been spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s, averaging just 1.7%, largely because of the after effects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. From 2000 to 2003, government efforts to revive economic growth met with little success and were further hampered by the slowing of the US, European, and Asian economies. In 2004, growth improved and the lingering fears of deflation in prices and economic activity lessened. Japan's huge government debt, which totals more than 160% of GDP, and the aging of the population are two major long-run problems. A rise in taxes could be viewed as endangering the revival of growth. Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength with Japan possessing 410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots." Internal conflict over the proper way to reform the ailing banking system continues. |
Electricity - consumption | 379.44 million kWh (2000) | 971 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 408 million kWh (2000) | 1.044 trillion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 54%
hydro: 46% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mont Orohena 2,241 m |
lowest point: Hachiro-gata -4 m
highest point: Mount Fuji 3,776 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | air pollution from power plant emissions results in acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of the largest consumers of fish and tropical timber, contributing to the depletion of these resources in Asia and elsewhere |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, 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, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling |
Ethnic groups | Polynesian 78%, Chinese 12%, local French 6%, metropolitan French 4% | Japanese 99%, others 1% (Korean 511,262, Chinese 244,241, Brazilian 182,232, Filipino 89,851, other 237,914)
note: up to 230,000 Brazilians of Japanese origin migrated to Japan in the 1990s to work in industries; some have returned to Brazil (2004) |
Exchange rates | Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique francs (XPF) per US dollar - 135.04 (January 2002), 133.26 (2001), 129.44 (2000), 111.93 (1999), 107.25 (1998), 106.11 (1997); note - pegged at the rate of 119.25 XPF to the euro | yen per US dollar - 108.19 (2004), 115.93 (2003), 125.39 (2002), 121.53 (2001), 107.77 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by High Commissioner of the Republic Michel MATHIEU (since 24 October 2001)
head of government: President of the Territorial Government of French Polynesia Gaston FLOSSE (since 4 April 1991); President of the Territorial Assembly Lucette TAERO (since 17 May 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers; president submits a list of members of the Territorial Assembly for approval by them to serve as ministers elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; high commissioner appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; president of the Territorial Government and the president of the Territorial Assembly are elected by the members of the assembly |
chief of state: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989)
head of government: Prime Minister Junichiro KOIZUMI (since 26 April 2001) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister elections: Diet designates prime minister; constitution requires that prime minister commands parliamentary majority; following legislative elections, leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition in House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister; KOIZUMI's term as leader of the LDP is scheduled to end in September 2006; a new prime minister may be chosen at that time; monarch is hereditary |
Exports | $205 million f.o.b. (1999) | 93,360 bbl/day (2001) |
Exports - commodities | cultured pearls 50%, coconut products, mother-of-pearl, vanilla, shark meat (1997) | transport equipment, motor vehicles, semiconductors, electrical machinery, chemicals |
Exports - partners | Japan 62%, US 21% (1999) | US 22.7%, China 13.1%, South Korea 7.8%, Taiwan 7.4%, Hong Kong 6.3% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | two narrow red horizontal bands encase a wide white band; centered on the white band is a disk with blue and white wave pattern on the lower half and gold and white ray pattern on the upper half; a stylized red, blue and white ship rides on the wave pattern; the French flag is used for official occasions | white with a large red disk (representing the sun without rays) in the center |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.3 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 6%
industry: 18% services: 76% (1997) |
agriculture: 1.3%
industry: 24.7% services: 74.1% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $29,400 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2001 est.) | 2.9% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 15 00 S, 140 00 W | 36 00 N, 138 00 E |
Geography - note | includes five archipelagoes (4 volcanic, 1 coral); Makatea in French Polynesia is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Nauru | strategic location in northeast Asia |
Heliports | - | 15 (2004 est.) |
Highways | total: 792 km
paved: 264 km unpaved: 528 km (2000) |
total: 1,171,647 km
paved: 903,340 km (including 6,851 km of expressways) unpaved: 268,307 km (2001) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 4.8%
highest 10%: 21.7% (1993) |
Imports | $749 million f.o.b. (1999) | 5.449 million bbl/day (2001) |
Imports - commodities | fuels, foodstuffs, equipment | machinery and equipment, fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, raw materials (2001) |
Imports - partners | France 53%, US 13%, Australia 10% (1999) | China 20.7%, US 14%, South Korea 4.9%, Australia 4.3%, Indonesia 4.1%, Saudi Arabia 4.1%, UAE 4% (2004) |
Independence | none (overseas territory of France) | 660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor JIMMU) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 6.6% (2004 est.) |
Industries | tourism, pearls, agricultural processing, handicrafts | among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods |
Infant mortality rate | 8.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 3.26 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 3.52 deaths/1,000 live births female: 2.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.5% (1994) | -0.1% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | ESCAP (associate), FZ, ICFTU, SPC, WMO | AfDB, APEC, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EBRD, FAO, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA, MIGA, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), Paris Club, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UNRWA, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 2 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 26,790 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; Court of the First Instance or Tribunal de Premiere Instance; Court of Administrative Law or Tribunal Administratif | Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the monarch after designation by the cabinet; all other justices are appointed by the cabinet) |
Labor force | 70,000 (1996) (1996) | 66.97 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 13%, industry 19%, services 68% (1997) (1997) | agriculture 5%, industry 25%, services 70% (2002 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 1.64%
permanent crops: 6.01% other: 92.35% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 12.19%
permanent crops: 0.96% other: 86.85% (2001) |
Languages | French (official), Tahitian (official) | Japanese |
Legal system | based on French system | modeled after European civil law system with English-American influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations |
Legislative branch | unicameral Territorial Assembly or Assemblee Territoriale (49 seats - changed from 41 seats for May 2001 election; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 6 May 2001 (next to be held NA May 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - People's Rally for the Republic (Gaullist) 28, Independent Front for the Liberation of Polynesia 13, New Fatherland Party 7, other 1 note: one seat was elected to the French Senate on NA September 1998 (next to be held NA September 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; two seats were elected to the French National Assembly on 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP/RPR 1, UMP 1 |
bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in (242 seats - members elected for six-year terms; half reelected every three years; 144 members in multi-seat constituencies and 98 by proportional representation) and the House of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - members elected for four-year terms; 300 in single-seat constituencies; 180 members by proportional representation in 11 regional blocs)
elections: House of Councillors - last held 11 July 2004 (next to be held in July 2007); House of Representatives - last held 11 September 2005 (next election by September 2009) election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LDP 115, DPJ 82, Komeito 24, JCP 9, SDP 5, others 7; distribution of seats as of October 2004 - LDP 114, DPJ 84, Komeito 24, JCP 9, SDP 5, others 6 House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - LDP 47.8%, DPJ 36.4%, others 15.8%; seats by party - LDP 296, DPJ 113, Komeito 31, JCP 9, SDP 7, others 24 (2005) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 75.23 years
male: 72.88 years female: 77.69 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 81.15 years
male: 77.86 years female: 84.61 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 14 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 98% female: 98% (1977 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2002) |
Location | Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from South America to Australia | Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula |
Map references | Oceania | Asia |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm; between 3 nm and 12 nm in the international straits - La Perouse or Soya, Tsugaru, Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,240 GRT/7,765 DWT
ships by type: cargo 1, passenger/cargo 2, refrigerated cargo 1 (2002 est.) |
total: 702 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 10,149,196 GRT/12,680,544 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 136, cargo 29, chemical tanker 23, container 13, liquefied gas 53, passenger 16, passenger/cargo 157, petroleum tanker 160, refrigerated cargo 4, roll on/roll off 52, vehicle carrier 59 registered in other countries: 2,233 (2005) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of France | - |
Military branches | no regular indigenous military forces; French Forces (including Army, Navy, Air Force), Gendarmerie | Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $45.841 billion (2004) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1% (2004) |
National holiday | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) | Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23 December (1933) |
Nationality | noun: French Polynesian(s)
adjective: French Polynesian |
noun: Japanese (singular and plural)
adjective: Japanese |
Natural hazards | occasional cyclonic storms in January | many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis; typhoons |
Natural resources | timber, fish, cobalt, hydropower | negligible mineral resources, fish |
Net migration rate | 3.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 2,719 km; oil 170 km; oil/gas/water 60 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Independent Front for the Liberation of Polynesia (Tavini Huiraatira) [Oscar TEMARU]; New Fatherland Party (Ai'a Api) [Emile VERNAUDON]; People's Rally for the Republic of Polynesia or RPR (Tahoeraa Huiraatira) [Gaston FLOSSE]; The New Star (Te Fetia Api) [Boris LEONTIEFF] | Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Seiji MAEHARA, leader; Yukio HATOYAMA, secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII, chairman; Tadayoshi ICHIDA, secretary general]; Komeito [Takenori KANZAKI, president; Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Junichiro KOIZUMI, president; Tsutomu TAKEBE, secretary general]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Mizuho FUKUSHIMA, chairperson; Seiji MATAICHI, secretary general] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 257,847 (July 2002 est.) | 127,417,244 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.67% (2002 est.) | 0.05% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Mataura, Papeete, Rikitea, Uturoa | Chiba, Kawasaki, Kiire, Kisarazu, Kobe, Mizushima, Nagoya, Osaka, Tokyo, Yohohama |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 14, shortwave 2 (1998) | AM 215 plus 370 repeaters, FM 89 plus 485 repeaters, shortwave 21 (2001) |
Radios | 128,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | total: 23,577 km (16,519 km electrified)
standard gauge: 3,204 km 1.435-m gauge (3,204 km electrified) narrow gauge: 77 km 1.372-m gauge (77 km electrified); 20,265 km 1.067-m gauge (13,227 km electrified); 11 km 0.762-m gauge (11 km electrified) (2004) |
Religions | Protestant 54%, Roman Catholic 30%, other 10%, no religion 6% | observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.09 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 20 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
general assessment: excellent domestic and international service
domestic: high level of modern technology and excellent service of every kind international: country code - 81; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); submarine cables to China, Philippines, Russia, and US (via Guam) (1999) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 52,000 (1997) | 71.149 million (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 5,427 (1997) | 86,658,600 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 7 (plus 17 low-power repeaters) (1997) | 211 plus 7,341 repeaters
note: in addition, US Forces are served by 3 TV stations and 2 TV cable services (1999) |
Terrain | mixture of rugged high islands and low islands with reefs | mostly rugged and mountainous |
Total fertility rate | 2.18 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 1.39 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 4.7% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | none | 1,770 km (seagoing vessels use inland seas) (2004) |