Guernsey (2001) | Uruguay (2003) | |
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Administrative divisions | none (British crown dependency); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 10 parishes including St. Peter Port, St. Sampson, Vale, Castel, St. Saviour, St. Pierre du Bois, Torteval, Forest, St. Martin, St. Andrew | 19 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Artigas, Canelones, Cerro Largo, Colonia, Durazno, Flores, Florida, Lavalleja, Maldonado, Montevideo, Paysandu, Rio Negro, Rivera, Rocha, Salto, San Jose, Soriano, Tacuarembo, Treinta y Tres |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
16.22% (male 5,285; female 5,151) 15-64 years: 66.67% (male 21,264; female 21,630) 65 years and over: 17.11% (male 4,546; female 6,466) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 24.3% (male 425,642; female 404,987)
15-64 years: 62.6% (male 1,057,187; female 1,079,549) 65 years and over: 13.1% (male 182,696; female 263,268) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | tomatoes, greenhouse flowers, sweet peppers, eggplant, fruit; Guernsey cattle | rice, wheat, corn, barley; livestock; fish |
Airports | 2 (2000 est.) | 64 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 15
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 49
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 16 under 914 m: 31 (2002) |
Area | total:
194 sq km land: 194 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Alderney, Guernsey, Herm, Sark, and some other smaller islands |
total: 176,220 sq km
land: 173,620 sq km water: 2,600 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Washington, DC | slightly smaller than the state of Washington |
Background | The island of Guernsey and the other Channel Islands represent the last remnants of the medieval Dukedom of Normandy, which held sway in both France and England. The islands were the only British soil occupied by German troops in World War II. | A violent Marxist urban guerrilla movement, the Tupamaros, launched in the late 1960s, led Uruguay's president to agree to military control of his administration in 1973. By yearend, the rebels had been crushed, but the military continued to expand its hold throughout the government. Civilian rule was not restored until 1985. Uruguay's political and labor conditions are among the freest on the continent. |
Birth rate | 9.9 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 17.19 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$381.3 million expenditures: $368.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $3.7 billion
expenditures: $4.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $500 million (2000) |
Capital | Saint Peter Port | Montevideo |
Climate | temperate with mild winters and cool summers; about 50% of days are overcast | warm temperate; freezing temperatures almost unknown |
Coastline | 50 km | 660 km |
Constitution | unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice | 27 November 1966, effective February 1967, suspended 27 June 1973, new constitution rejected by referendum 30 November 1980; two constitutional reforms approved by plebiscite 26 November 1989 and 7 January 1997 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Bailiwick of Guernsey conventional short form: Guernsey |
conventional long form: Oriental Republic of Uruguay
conventional short form: Uruguay local long form: Republica Oriental del Uruguay local short form: Uruguay former: Banda Oriental, Cisplatine Province |
Currency | British pound (GBP); note - there is also a Guernsey pound | Uruguayan peso (UYU) |
Death rate | 9.87 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.97 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | $11.8 billion (2002 est.) |
Dependency status | British crown dependency | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (British crown dependency) | chief of mission: Ambassador Martin J. SILVERSTEIN
embassy: Lauro Muller 1776, Montevideo 11200 mailing address: APO AA 34035 telephone: [598] (2) 418-7777 FAX: [598] (2) 418-8611 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (British crown dependency) | chief of mission: Ambassador Hugo FERNANDEZ-FAINGOLD
chancery: 1913 I Street NW, Washington, DC 20006 telephone: [1] (202) 331-1313 through 1316 FAX: [1] (202) 331-8142 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York |
Disputes - international | none | uncontested dispute with Brazil over certain islands in the Quarai/Cuareim and Invernada streams and the resulting tripoint with Argentina |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | $NA |
Economy - overview | Financial services - banking, fund management, insurance, etc. - account for about 55% of total income in this tiny Channel Island economy. Tourism, manufacturing, and horticulture, mainly tomatoes and cut flowers, have been declining. Light tax and death duties make Guernsey a popular tax haven. The evolving economic integration of the EU nations is changing the rules of the game under which Guernsey operates. | Uruguay's economy is characterized by an export-oriented agricultural sector, a well-educated workforce, and high levels of social spending. After averaging growth of 5% annually during 1996-98, in 1999-2002 the economy suffered a major downturn, stemming largely from lower demand in Argentina and Brazil, which together account for nearly half of Uruguay's exports. Total GDP in these four years dropped by nearly 20%, with 2002 the worst year. Unemployment rose to nearly 20% in 2002, inflation surged, and the burden of external debt doubled. Cooperation with the IMF and the US has limited the damage, which is still extensive. Moves to reschedule debt and promote economic recovery may help limit a further decline in output in 2003. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | 6.152 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | NA kWh | 1.377 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | NA kWh | 123 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | NA kWh | 7.963 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
fossil fuel: 0.7%
hydro: 99.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0.3% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Sark 114 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro Catedral 514 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | water pollution from meat packing/tannery industry; inadequate solid/hazardous waste disposal |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, 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, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban |
Ethnic groups | UK and Norman-French descent | white 88%, mestizo 8%, black 4%, Amerindian, practically nonexistent |
Exchange rates | Guernsey pounds per US dollar - 0.6764 (January 2001), 0.6596 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998), 0.6106 (1997), 0.6403 (1996); note - the Guernsey pound is at par with the British pound | Uruguayan pesos per US dollar - 21.26 (2002), 13.32 (2001), 12.1 (2000), 11.34 (1999), 10.47 (1998) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief Lt. Gen. Sir John FOLEY (since NA 2000) and Bailiff De Vic G. CAREY (since NA) cabinet: Advisory and Finance Committee appointed by the Assembly of the States elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; lieutenant governor appointed by the monarch; bailiff appointed by the monarch |
chief of state: President Jorge BATLLE Ibanez (since 1 March 2000) and Vice President Luis HIERRO (since 1 March 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Jorge BATLLE Ibanez (since 1 March 2000) and Vice President Luis HIERRO (since 1 March 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president with parliamentary approval elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 31 October 1999, with runoff election on 28 November 1999 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: Jorge BATLLE Ibanez elected president; percent of vote - Jorge BATLLE Ibanez 52% in a runoff against Tabare VAZQUEZ 44% |
Exports | $NA | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | tomatoes, flowers and ferns, sweet peppers, eggplant, other vegetables | meat, rice, leather products, wool, vehicles, dairy products |
Exports - partners | UK (regarded as internal trade) | Brazil 21%, Argentina 15%, US 8.1%, Germany 5.1%, Italy 4% (2002) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | white with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) extending to the edges of the flag and a yellow equal-armed cross of William the Conqueror superimposed on the Saint George cross | nine equal horizontal stripes of white (top and bottom) alternating with blue; there is a white square in the upper hoist-side corner with a yellow sun bearing a human face known as the Sun of May and 16 rays alternately triangular and wavy |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.3 billion (1999 est.) | purchasing power parity - $26.82 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
3% industry: 10% services: 87% (2000) |
agriculture: 6%
industry: 27% services: 67% (2001) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $20,000 (1999 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,900 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.7% (1999 est.) | -10.8% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 49 28 N, 2 35 W | 33 00 S, 56 00 W |
Geography - note | large, deepwater harbor at Saint Peter Port | second-smallest South American country (after Suriname); most of the low-lying landscape (three-quarters of the country) is grassland, ideal for cattle and sheep raising |
Highways | total:
NA km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
total: 8,983 km
paved: 8,081 km unpaved: 902 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 3.7%
highest 10%: 25.8% (1997) |
Imports | $NA | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | coal, gasoline, oil, machinery and equipment | machinery, chemicals, road vehicles, crude petroleum |
Imports - partners | UK (regarded as internal trade) | Argentina 25.6%, Brazil 22.7%, US 7.7%, Venezuela 6.2% (2002) |
Independence | none (British crown dependency) | 25 August 1825 (from Brazil) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | -12% (2002 est.) |
Industries | tourism, banking | food processing, electrical machinery, transportation equipment, petroleum products, textiles, chemicals, beverages |
Infant mortality rate | 5 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 13.8 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 15.61 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.99% (2000 est.) | 14.1% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | none | ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMISET, UNMOGIP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | NA | 14 (2001) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 1,800 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Royal Court | Supreme Court (judges are nominated by the president and elected for 10-year terms by the General Assembly) |
Labor force | 31,322 (2000) | 1.2 million (2001) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture 14%, industry 16%, services 70% |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 1,564 km
border countries: Argentina 579 km, Brazil 985 km |
Land use | arable land:
NA% permanent crops: NA% permanent pastures: NA% forests and woodland: NA% other: NA% |
arable land: 7.21%
permanent crops: 0.27% other: 92.52% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English, French, Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts | Spanish, Portunol, or Brazilero (Portuguese-Spanish mix on the Brazilian frontier) |
Legal system | English law and local statute; justice is administered by the Royal Court | based on Spanish civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral Assembly of the States; consists of the Bailiff, 10 Douzaine (parish council) representatives, 45 People's Deputies elected by popular franchise, 2 Alderney representatives, HM Procureur (Attorney General), HM Comptroller (Solicitor General) and HM Greffier (Court Recorder and Registrar General)
elections: last held 12 April 2000 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - all independents |
bicameral General Assembly or Asamblea General consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (30 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Representatives or Camara de Representantes (99 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: Chamber of Senators - last held 31 October 1999 (next to be held NA 2004); Chamber of Representatives - last held 31 October 1999 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Encuentro Progresista 12, Colorado Party 10, Blanco 7, New Sector/Space Coalition 1; Chamber of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Encuentro Progresista 40, Colorado Party 33, Blanco 22, New Sector/Space Coalition 4 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
79.78 years male: 76.78 years female: 82.88 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 75.87 years
male: 72.54 years female: 79.38 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 97.6% female: 98.4% (2003 est.) |
Location | Western Europe, islands in the English Channel, northwest of France | Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Argentina and Brazil |
Map references | Europe | South America |
Maritime claims | exclusive fishing zone:
12 NM territorial sea: 3 NM |
contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | total: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 10,918 GRT/9,775 DWT
ships by type: chemical tanker 1, container 1, petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Argentina 4, Greece 1 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | - |
Military branches | - | Army, Navy (including Naval Air Arm, Coast Guard, Marines), Air Force, Police (Coracero Guard, Grenadier Guard) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $250 million (1999) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.1% (2000) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 831,297 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 672,030 (2003 est.) |
National holiday | Liberation Day, 9 May (1945) | Independence Day, 25 August (1825) |
Nationality | noun:
Channel Islander(s) adjective: Channel Islander |
noun: Uruguayan(s)
adjective: Uruguayan |
Natural hazards | NA | seasonally high winds (the pampero is a chilly and occasional violent wind which blows north from the Argentine pampas), droughts, floods; because of the absence of mountains, which act as weather barriers, all locations are particularly vulnerable to rapid changes from weather fronts |
Natural resources | cropland | arable land, hydropower, minor minerals, fisheries |
Net migration rate | 3.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -0.35 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 192 km (2003) |
Political parties and leaders | none; all independents | Colorado Party [Jorge BATLLE Ibanez]; National Party or Blanco [Luis Alberto LACALLE Herrera]; New Sector/Space Coalition or Nuevo Espacio [Rafael MICHELINI]; Progressive Encounter/Broad Front Coalition or Encuentro Progresista/Frente Amplio [Tabare VAZQUEZ] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | NA |
Population | 64,342 (July 2001 est.) | 3,413,329 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 6% (1997) |
Population growth rate | 0.39% (2001 est.) | 0.79% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Saint Peter Port, Saint Sampson | Colonia, Fray Bentos, Juan La Caze, La Paloma, Montevideo, Nueva Palmira, Paysandu, Punta del Este, Piriapolis |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 91, FM 149, shortwave 7 (2001) |
Radios | NA | - |
Railways | 0 km | total: 2,073 km
standard gauge: 2,073 km 1.435-m gauge note: 461 km have been taken out of service and 460 km are in partial use (2002) |
Religions | Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregational, Methodist | Roman Catholic 66% (less than half of the adult population attends church regularly), Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, nonprofessing or other 31% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory |
Telephone system | general assessment:
NA domestic: NA international: 1 submarine cable |
general assessment: fully digitalized
domestic: most modern facilities concentrated in Montevideo; new nationwide microwave radio relay network international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2002) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 44,000 (1996) | 929,141 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 12,000 (1997) | 350,000 (2001) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | 20 (2001) |
Terrain | mostly level with low hills in southwest | mostly rolling plains and low hills; fertile coastal lowland |
Total fertility rate | 1.36 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.35 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 0.5% (1999 est.) | 19.4% (2002) |
Waterways | none | 1,600 km (used by coastal and shallow-draft river craft) |