French Polynesia (2004) | Japan (2002) | |
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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: 27.5% (male 37,372; female 35,818)
15-64 years: 66.9% (male 92,594; female 85,455) 65 years and over: 5.7% (male 7,616; female 7,484) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: 14.5% (male 9,465,282; female 8,999,888)
15-64 years: 67.5% (male 43,027,320; female 42,586,112) 65 years and over: 18% (male 9,664,112; female 13,231,914) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coconuts, vanilla, vegetables, fruits; poultry, beef, dairy products, coffee | rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; fish |
Airports | 49 (2003 est.) | 173 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 37
over 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 23 under 914 m: 7 (2004 est.) |
total: 141
over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 37 1,524 to 2,437 m: 38 914 to 1,523 m: 27 under 914 m: 32 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 13
914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 8 (2004 est.) |
total: 31 31
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 27 (2002) |
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. | While retaining its time-honored culture, Japan rapidly absorbed Western technology during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After its devastating defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become the second most powerful economy in the world 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 in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth. |
Birth rate | 17.34 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 10.03 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $1 billion
expenditures: $900 million, including capital expenditures of $185 million (1996) |
revenues: $441 billion
expenditures: $718 billion, including capital expenditures (public works only) of about $84 billion |
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) | yen (JPY) |
Death rate | 4.58 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 8.53 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | NA (2000 est.) | $NA |
Dependency status | overseas territory of France since 1946 | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of France) | chief of mission: Ambassador Howard H. BAKER, Jr.
embassy: 1-10-5 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420 mailing address: Unit 45004, Box 205, 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, Hagatna (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Kansas City (Missouri), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, and Seattle consulate(s): Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands) |
Disputes - international | none | islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan; Liancourt Rocks (Takeshima/Tokdo) disputed with South Korea; Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Tai) claimed by China and Taiwan |
Economic aid - donor | - | ODA, $9.1 billion (1999) (1999) |
Economic aid - recipient | $367 million (1997) | - |
Economy - overview | Since 1962, when France stationed military personnel in the region, French Polynesia has changed from a subsistence agricultural 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 benefits substantially 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) have 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 in the world after the US and China. 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 much smaller 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 largely because of the aftereffects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth have met with little success and were further hampered in 2000-02 by the slowing of the US and Asian economies. The crowding of habitable land area and the aging of the population are two major long-run problems. 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 means to reform the ailing banking system will continue in 2003. |
Electricity - consumption | 398.3 million kWh (2001) | 943.71 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 428.3 million kWh (2001) | 1.015 trillion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 61%
hydro: 9% nuclear: 29% other: 2% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mont Orohena 2,241 m |
lowest point: Hachiro-gata -4 m
highest point: Fujiyama 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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
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) (2000) |
Exchange rates | Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique francs (XPF) per US dollar - 105.73 (2003), 126.72 (2002), 133.26 (2001), 129.43 (2000), 111.93 (1999)
note: pegged at the rate of 119.25 XPF to the euro |
yen per US dollar - 132.66 (January 2002), 121.53 (2001), 107.77 (2000), 113.91 (1999), 130.91 (1998), 120.99 (1997) |
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 9 October 2004); 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 24 April 2001) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the Diet designates the prime minister; the constitution requires that the prime minister must command a parliamentary majority, therefore, following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition in the House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister note: following the resignation of Prime Minister Yoshiro MORI, Junichiro KOIZUMI was elected as the new president of the majority Liberal Democratic Party, and soon thereafter designated by the Diet to become the next prime minister |
Exports | NA (2001) | $383.8 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
Exports - commodities | cultured pearls, coconut products, mother-of-pearl, vanilla, shark meat | motor vehicles, semiconductors, office machinery, chemicals |
Exports - partners | France 66.3%, Japan 16.1%, US 9.1% (2003) | US 30.1%, China 7.7%, South Korea 6.3%, Taiwan 6.0%, Hong Kong 5.8% (2001) |
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 - $4.58 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $3.55 trillion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 6%
industry: 18% services: 76% (1997) |
agriculture: 1%
industry: 31% services: 68% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $17,500 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $28,000 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2001 est.) | -0.3% (2002 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 | 1 (2003 est.) | 15 (2002) |
Highways | total: 2,590 km
paved: 1,735 km unpaved: 855 km (1999) |
total: 1,152,207 km
paved: 863,003 km (including 6,114 km of expressways) unpaved: 289,204 km (1997 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: 5%
highest 10%: 22% (1993) |
Imports | NA (2001) | $292.1 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
Imports - commodities | fuels, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment | machinery and equipment, fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles (2001) |
Imports - partners | France 59.9%, Australia 11.9%, New Zealand 6%, US 6% (2003) | US 18.1%, China 16.6%, South Korea 4.9%, Taiwan 4.1%, Indonesia 4.3% (2001 est.) |
Independence | none (overseas territory of France) | 660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | -1.4% (2002 est.) |
Industries | tourism, pearls, agricultural processing, handicrafts, phosphates | 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 | total: 8.61 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 9.92 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
3.84 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.5% (2002 est.) | -0.9% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | FZ, ICFTU, PIF (observer), UPU, WMO | AfDB, APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EBRD, ESCAP, 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, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UNRWA, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 73 (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) | 67.7 million (December 2000 ) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 13%, industry 19%, services 68% (1997) | services 70%, industry 25%, agriculture 5% (2002 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 0.82%
permanent crops: 5.46% other: 93.72% (2001) |
arable land: 12.13%
permanent crops: 1.01% other: 86.86% (1998 est.) |
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 (57 seats - changed from 49 seats for May 2004 election; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 23 May 2004 (next to be held NA May 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - People's Rally for the Republic (Gaullist) 28, Union for Democracy 27, New Star 1, This Country is Yours 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 (247 seats - formerly 252; one-half of the members elected every three years - 73 seats of which are elected from the 47 multi-seat prefectural districts and 48 of which are elected from a single nationwide list; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - 180 of which are elected from 11 regional blocks on a proportional representation basis and 300 of which are elected from 300 single-seat districts; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: House of Councillors - last held 29 July 2001 (next to be held NA July 2004); House of Representatives - last held 25 June 2000 (next must be held by June 2004, but may occur sooner) election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LDP 110, DPJ 59, Komeito 23, JCP 20, SDP 8, Liberal Party 8, Conservative Party 5, independents 14; note - the distribution of seats as of January 2002 is: LDP 115, DPJ 60, Komeito 24, JCP 20, SDP 8, Liberal Party 8, independents 6, others 6; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - LDP 233, DPJ 127, Komeito 31, Liberal Party 22, JCP 20, SDP 19, other 28; note - the distribution of seats as of January 2002 is: LDP 242, DPJ 126, Komeito 31, Liberal Party 22, JCP 20, SDP 19, NCP 7, other 13 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 75.67 years
male: 73.29 years female: 78.18 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 80.91 years
male: 77.73 years female: 84.25 years (2002 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% (1970 est.) male: NA% female: NA% |
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 | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 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 |
Merchant marine | total: 10 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 17,537 GRT/15,150 DWT
by type: cargo 3, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 3, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 615 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 10,995,839 GRT/14,405,159 DWT
ships by type: bulk 133, cargo 48, chemical tanker 17, combination bulk 24, combination ore/oil 3, container 19, liquefied gas 50, passenger 9, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 189, refrigerated cargo 13, roll on/roll off 48, short-sea passenger 6, vehicle carrier 54 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: China 1, Panama 1, Singapore 1 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of France | - |
Military branches | no regular military forces; Gendarmerie and National Police Force | Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), Japan Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force), Japanese Coast Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $40,774.3 million (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1% (FY01) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 29,644,498 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 25,637,387 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 765,817 (2002 est.) |
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 | 2.94 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 84 km; petroleum products 322 km; natural gas 1,800 km |
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) [Philippe SHYLE]; This Country is Yours (No Oe E Te Nunaa) [Nicle BOUTEAU]; Union for Democracy or UPD [Oscar TEMARU] | Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Yukio HATOYAMA, leader, Naoto KAN, secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or JCP [Tetsuzo FUWA, chairman, Tadayeshi ICHIDA, secretary general]; Komeito [Takenori KANZAKI, president, Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Junichiro KOIZUMI, president, Taku YAMASAKI, secretary general]; Liberal Party [Ichiro OZAWA, president, Hirohisa FUJII, secretary general]; New Conservative Party or NCP [Takeshi NODA, president, Toshihiro NIKAI, secretary general]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Takako DOI, chairperson, Mizuho FUKUSHIMA, secretary general] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 266,339 (July 2004 est.) | 126,974,628 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.57% (2004 est.) | 0.15% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Mataura, Papeete, Rikitea, Uturoa | Akita, Amagasaki, Chiba, Hachinohe, Hakodate, Higashi-Harima, Himeji, Hiroshima, Kawasaki, Kinuura, Kobe, Kushiro, Mizushima, Moji, Nagoya, Osaka, Sakai, Sakaide, Shimizu, Tokyo, Tomakomai |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 14, shortwave 2 (1998) | AM 215 plus 370 repeaters, FM 89 plus 485 repeaters, shortwave 21 (2001) |
Radios | - | 120.5 million (1997) |
Railways | - | total: 23,654 km (15,895 km electrified)
standard gauge: 3,059 km 1.435-m gauge (entirely electrified) narrow gauge: 77 km 1.372-m gauge (entirely electrified); 20,491 km 1.067-m gauge (12,732 km electrified); 27 km 0.762-m gauge (entirely electrified) (2000) |
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: 1.08 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.02 male(s)/female total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2004 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 (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 20 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: country code - 689; 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: 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 | 52,500 (2002) | 60.381 million (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 90,000 (2002) | 63.88 million (2000) |
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 | 2.09 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 1.42 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 11.8% (1994) | 5.4% (2002) |
Waterways | - | 1,770 km approximately
note: seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas |