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Compare Kiribati (2003) - Bulgaria (2008)
Compare Kiribati (2003) z Bulgaria (2008)
| Kiribati (2003) | Bulgaria (2008) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 3 units; Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands; note - in addition, there are 6 districts (Banaba, Central Gilberts, Line Islands, Northern Gilberts, Southern Gilberts, Tarawa) and 21 island councils - one for each of the inhabited islands (Abaiang, Abemama, Aranuka, Arorae, Banaba, Beru, Butaritari, Kanton, Kiritimati, Kuria, Maiana, Makin, Marakei, Nikunau, Nonouti, Onotoa, Tabiteuea, Tabuaeran, Tamana, Tarawa, Teraina) | 28 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast); Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Dobrich, Gabrovo, Khaskovo, Kurdzhali, Kyustendil, Lovech, Montana, Pazardzhik, Pernik, Pleven, Plovdiv, Razgrad, Ruse, Shumen, Silistra, Sliven, Smolyan, Sofiya, Sofiya-Grad, Stara Zagora, Turgovishte, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Vidin, Vratsa, Yambol |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 39.7% (male 19,839; female 19,333)
15-64 years: 57% (male 27,705; female 28,438) 65 years and over: 3.3% (male 1,385; female 1,849) (2003 est.) |
0-14 years: 13.9% (male 521,117/female 496,022)
15-64 years: 68.7% (male 2,472,424/female 2,556,102) 65 years and over: 17.4% (male 523,660/female 753,533) (2007 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish | vegetables, fruits, tobacco, wine, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sugar beets; livestock |
| Airports | 20 (2002) | 214 (2007) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2002) |
total: 131
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 18 1,524 to 2,437 m: 15 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 95 (2007) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 16
914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 4 (2002) |
total: 83
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 72 (2007) |
| Area | total: 811 sq km
land: 811 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands |
total: 110,910 sq km
land: 110,550 sq km water: 360 sq km |
| Area - comparative | four times the size of Washington, DC | slightly larger than Tennessee |
| Background | The Gilbert Islands were granted self-rule by the UK in 1971 and complete independence in 1979 under the new name of Kiribati. The US relinquished all claims to the sparsely inhabited Phoenix and Line Island groups in a 1979 treaty of friendship with Kiribati. | The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878 and all of Bulgaria became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. The country joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007. |
| Birth rate | 31.24 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 9.62 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $28.4 million
expenditures: $37.2 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $16.62 billion
expenditures: $15.18 billion (2007 est.) |
| Capital | Tarawa | name: Sofia
geographic coordinates: 42 41 N, 23 19 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
| Climate | tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds | temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers |
| Coastline | 1,143 km | 354 km |
| Constitution | 12 July 1979 | adopted 12 July 1991 |
| Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Kiribati
conventional short form: Kiribati note: pronounced keer-ree-bahss former: Gilbert Islands |
conventional long form: Republic of Bulgaria
conventional short form: Bulgaria local long form: Republika Balgariya local short form: Balgariya |
| Currency | Australian dollar (AUD) | - |
| Death rate | 8.63 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 14.28 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Debt - external | $10 million (1999 est.) | $29.29 billion (30 June 2007) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | the US does not have an embassy in Kiribati; the ambassador to the Marshall Islands is accredited to Kiribati | chief of mission: Ambassador John Ross BEYRLE
embassy: 16 Kozyak Street, Sofia 1407 mailing address: American Embassy Sofia, US Department of State, 5740 Sofia Place, Washington, DC 20521-5740 telephone: [359] (2) 937-5100 FAX: [359] (2) 937-5320 |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | Kiribati does not have an embassy in the US; there is an honorary consulate in Honolulu | chief of mission: Ambassador Elena B. POPTODOROVA
chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387-0174 FAX: [1] (202) 234-7973 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York |
| Disputes - international | none | none |
| Economic aid - recipient | $15.5 million largely from UK and Japan (1995) | $742 million (2005-06 est.) |
| Economy - overview | A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls, Kiribati has few natural resources. Commercially viable phosphate deposits were exhausted at the time of independence from the UK in 1979. Copra and fish now represent the bulk of production and exports. The economy has fluctuated widely in recent years. Economic development is constrained by a shortage of skilled workers, weak infrastructure, and remoteness from international markets. Tourism provides more than one-fifth of GDP. The financial sector is at an early stage of development as is the expansion of private sector initiatives. Foreign financial aid from UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and China is a critical supplement to GDP, equal to 25%-50% of GDP in recent years. Remittances from workers abroad account for more than $5 million each year. | Bulgaria, a former communist country that entered the EU on 1 January 2007, has experienced strong growth since a major economic downturn in 1996. Successive governments have demonstrated commitment to economic reforms and responsible fiscal planning, but have failed so far to rein in rising inflation and large current account deficits. Bulgaria has averaged more than 6% growth since 2004, attracting significant amounts of foreign direct investment, but corruption in the public administration, a weak judiciary, and the presence of organized crime remain significant challenges. |
| Electricity - consumption | 6.51 million kWh (2001) | 37.4 billion kWh (2006) |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 7.8 billion kWh (2006) |
| Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2006) |
| Electricity - production | 7 million kWh (2001) | 45.7 billion kWh (2006) |
| Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
- |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Banaba 81 m |
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Musala 2,925 m |
| Environment - current issues | heavy pollution in lagoon of south Tarawa atoll due to heavy migration mixed with traditional practices such as lagoon latrines and open-pit dumping; ground water at risk | air pollution from industrial emissions; rivers polluted from raw sewage, heavy metals, detergents; deforestation; forest damage from air pollution and resulting acid rain; soil contamination from heavy metals from metallurgical plants and industrial wastes |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, 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, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Ethnic groups | predominantly Micronesian with some Polynesian | Bulgarian 83.9%, Turk 9.4%, Roma 4.7%, other 2% (including Macedonian, Armenian, Tatar, Circassian) (2001 census) |
| Exchange rates | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.84 (2002), 1.93 (2001), 1.72 (2000), 1.55 (1999), 1.59 (1998) | leva per US dollar - 1.4366 (2007), 1.5576 (2006), 1.5741 (2005), 1.5751 (2004), 1.7327 (2003) |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President NA; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President NA; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: 12-member Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of the House of Parliament elections: the House of Parliament chooses the presidential candidates from among their members and then those candidates compete in a general election; president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 4 July 2003 (next to be held not later than July 2007); vice president appointed by the president election results: Anote TONG 47.4%, Harry TONG 43.5%, Banuera BERINA 9.1% |
chief of state: President Georgi PARVANOV (since 22 January 2002); Vice President Angel MARIN (since 22 January 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Sergei STANISHEV (since 16 August 2005); Deputy Prime Ministers Ivaylo KALFIN, Daniel VULCHEV, and Emel ETEM (since 16 August 2005) cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and elected by the National Assembly elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 22 and 29 October 2006 (next to be held in 2011); chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) nominated by the president and elected by the National Assembly; deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister and elected by the National Assembly election results: Georgi PARVANOV reelected president; percent of vote - Georgi PARVANOV 77.3%, Volen SIDEROV 22.7%; Sergei STANISHEV elected prime minister, result of legislative vote - 168 to 67 |
| Exports | NA (2001) | 51,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
| Exports - commodities | copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish | clothing, footwear, iron and steel, machinery and equipment, fuels |
| Exports - partners | Japan 56.7%, Thailand 16.6%, South Korea 16.3% (2002) | Turkey 12%, Italy 10.4%, Germany 10%, Greece 8.2%, Belgium 6.8%, France 4.3% (2006) |
| Fiscal year | NA | calendar year |
| Flag description | the upper half is red with a yellow frigate bird flying over a yellow rising sun, and the lower half is blue with three horizontal wavy white stripes to represent the ocean | three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red
note: the national emblem, formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe, has been removed |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $79 million - supplemented by a nearly equal amount from external sources (2001 est.) | - |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 30%
industry: 7% services: 63% (1998 est.) |
agriculture: 8.1%
industry: 31.3% services: 60.7% (2007 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $800 (2001 est.) | - |
| GDP - real growth rate | 1.5% (2001 est.) | 6.1% (2007 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 1 25 N, 173 00 E | 43 00 N, 25 00 E |
| Geography - note | 21 of the 33 islands are inhabited; Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Makatea in French Polynesia, and Nauru | strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia |
| Heliports | - | 4 (2007) |
| Highways | total: 670 km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km (1999 est.) |
- |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 2.9%
highest 10%: 25.4% (2005) |
| Illicit drugs | - | major European transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and, to a lesser degree, South American cocaine for the European market; limited producer of precursor chemicals; some money laundering of drug-related proceeds through financial institutions |
| Imports | NA (2001) | 138,800 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel | machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; fuels, minerals, and raw materials |
| Imports - partners | France 28.7%, Australia 26.3%, Fiji 12.5%, Japan 9.5%, Latvia 5.4%, US 4.6%, New Zealand 4% (2002) | Germany 15%, Italy 10.6%, Turkey 7.2%, Greece 6.3%, China 5%, France 4.9%, Romania 4.5% (2006) |
| Independence | 12 July 1979 (from UK) | 3 March 1878 (as an autonomous principality within the Ottoman Empire); 22 September 1908 (complete independence from the Ottoman Empire) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 0.7% (1991 est.) | 5.5% (2007 est.) |
| Industries | fishing, handicrafts | electricity, gas, water; food, beverages, tobacco; machinery and equipment, base metals, chemical products, coke, refined petroleum, nuclear fuel |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 51.26 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 56.45 deaths/1,000 live births female: 45.82 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
total: 19.16 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 22.75 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.5% (2001 est.) | 7.8% (2007 est.) |
| International organization participation | ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, ITU, OPCW, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WTrO (applicant) | ACCT, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU (new member), FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate affiliate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
| Irrigated land | NA sq km | 5,880 sq km (2003) |
| Judicial branch | Court of Appeal; High Court; 26 Magistrates' courts; judges at all levels are appointed by the president | Supreme Administrative Court; Supreme Court of Cassation; Constitutional Court (12 justices appointed or elected for nine-year terms); Supreme Judicial Council (consists of the chairmen of the two Supreme Courts, the Chief Prosecutor, and 22 other members; responsible for appointing the justices, prosecutors, and investigating magistrates in the justice system; members of the Supreme Judicial Council elected for five-year terms, 11 elected by the National Assembly and 11 by bodies of the judiciary) |
| Labor force | 7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers | 3.44 million (2007 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture: 8.5%
industry: 33.6% services: 57.9% (2nd qtr. 2006 est.) |
| Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 1,808 km
border countries: Greece 494 km, Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia 318 km, Turkey 240 km |
| Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 50.68% other: 49.32% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 29.94%
permanent crops: 1.9% other: 68.16% (2005) |
| Languages | I-Kiribati, English (official) | Bulgarian 84.5%, Turkish 9.6%, Roma 4.1%, other and unspecified 1.8% (2001 census) |
| Legal system | NA | civil law and criminal law based on Roman law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations |
| Legislative branch | unicameral House of Parliament or Maneaba Ni Maungatabu (42 seats; 39 elected by popular vote, one ex officio member - the attorney general, one appointed to represent Banaba, and one other; members serve four-year terms)
elections: first round elections last held 29 November 2002; second round elections held 6 December 2002 (next to be held by November 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - BTK 17, MTM 16, independents 7, other 2 (includes attorney general) note: new legislative elections were held in two rounds - the first round on 9 May 2003 and the second round on 14 May 2003 |
unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sobranie (240 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 25 June 2005 (next to be held in June 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - CfB 31.1%, NMS2 19.9%, MRF 12.7%, ATAKA 8.2%, UDF 7.7%, DSB 6.5%, BPU 5.2%, other 8.7%; seats by party - CfB 83, NMS2 53, MRF 33, UDF 20, ATAKA 17, DSB 17, BPU 13, independents 4; note - seats by party as of January 2008 - CfB 82, NMS2 36, MRF 34, UDF 16, DSB 16, Bulgarian New Democracy 16, BPU 13, ATAKA 11, independents 16 |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 60.93 years
male: 57.97 years female: 64.03 years (2003 est.) |
total population: 72.57 years
male: 68.95 years female: 76.4 years (2007 est.) |
| Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.2% male: 98.7% female: 97.7% (2001 census) |
| Location | Oceania, group of 33 coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the equator; the capital Tarawa is about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia; note - on 1 January 1995, Kiribati proclaimed that all of its territory lies in the same time zone as its Gilbert Islands group (GMT +12) even though the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands under its jurisdiction lie on the other side of the International Date Line | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey |
| Map references | Oceania | Europe |
| Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
| Merchant marine | total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) 1,291 GRT/1,295 DWT
ships by type: passenger/cargo 1 (2002 est.) |
total: 71 ships (1000 GRT or over) 833,153 GRT/1,194,660 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 37, cargo 14, chemical tanker 4, container 6, liquefied gas 1, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 3, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 3 (Germany 1, Ireland 1, Russia 1) registered in other countries: 39 (Comoros 1, Malta 15, Mongolia 2, Panama 1, Slovakia 7, St Vincent and The Grenadines 13) (2007) |
| Military - note | Kiribati does not have military forces; defense assistance is provided by Australia and NZ | - |
| Military branches | no regular military forces; Police Force (carries out law enforcement functions and paramilitary duties; small police posts are on all islands) | Bulgarian Armed Forces: Ground Forces, Naval Forces, Bulgarian Air Forces (Bulgarski Voennovazdyshni Sily, BVVS) (2008) |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $NA | - |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 2.6% (2005 est.) |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 12 July (1979) | Liberation Day, 3 March (1878) |
| Nationality | noun: I-Kiribati (singular and plural)
adjective: I-Kiribati |
noun: Bulgarian(s)
adjective: Bulgarian |
| Natural hazards | typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to March; occasional tornadoes; low level of some of the islands make them very sensitive to changes in sea level | earthquakes, landslides |
| Natural resources | phosphate (production discontinued in 1979) | bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land |
| Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | -3.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Pipelines | - | gas 2,500 km; oil 339 km; refined products 156 km (2007) |
| Political parties and leaders | Boutokaan Te Koaua Party or BTK [Taberannang TIMEON]; Maneaban Te Mauri Party or MTM [Teburoro TITO]; Maurin Kiribati Pati or MKP [leader NA]; National Progressive Party or NPP [Dr. Harry TONG]
note: there is no tradition of formally organized political parties in Kiribati; they more closely resemble factions or interest groups because they have no party headquarters, formal platforms, or party structures |
ATAKA (Attack Coalition) (coalition of parties headed by the Attack National Union); Attack National Union [Volen SIDEROV]; Bulgarian Agrarian National Union-People's Union or BANU [Anastasia MOZER]; Bulgarian New Democracy [Borislav RALCHEV]; Bulgarian People's Union or BPU (coalition of UFD, IMRO, and BANU); Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP [Sergei STANISHEV]; Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria or GERB [Boyko BORISOV]; Coalition for Bulgaria or CfB (coalition of parties dominated by BSP) [Sergei STANISHEV]; Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria or DSB [Ivan KOSTOV]; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization or IMRO [Krasimir KARAKACHANOV]; Movement for Rights and Freedoms or MRF [Ahmed DOGAN]; National Movement for Stability and Progress or NDSV [Simeon SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA]; New Time [Emil KOSHLUKOV]; Union of Democratic Forces or UDF [Petar STOYANOV]; Union of Free Democrats or UFD [Stefan SOFIYANSKI]; United Democratic Forces or UtDF (a coalition of center-right parties dominated by UDF) |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria or CITUB; Podkrepa Labor Confederation; numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas |
| Population | 98,549 (July 2003 est.) | 7,322,858 (July 2007 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | NA% | 14.1% (2003 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 2.26% (2003 est.) | -0.837% (2007 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Banaba, Betio, English Harbour, Kanton | - |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1
note: the shortwave station may be inactive (2002) |
AM 31, FM 63, shortwave 2 (2001) |
| Railways | 0 km | total: 4,294 km
standard gauge: 4,049 km 1.435-m gauge (2,710 km electrified) narrow gauge: 245 km 0.760-m gauge (2006) |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 52%, Protestant (Congregational) 40%, some Seventh-Day Adventist, Muslim, Baha'i, Latter-day Saints, and Church of God (1999) | Bulgarian Orthodox 82.6%, Muslim 12.2%, other Christian 1.2%, other 4% (2001 census) |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.051 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.967 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.695 male(s)/female total population: 0.924 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) note: Kiribati is being linked to the Pacific Ocean Cooperative Telecommunications Network, which should improve telephone service |
general assessment: an extensive but antiquated telecommunications network inherited from the Soviet era; quality has improved; the Bulgaria Telecommunications Company's fixed-line monopoly terminated in 2005 when alternative fixed-line operators were given access to its network; a drop in fixed-line connections in recent years has been offset by a sharp increase in mobile-cellular telephone use fostered by multiple service providers
domestic: a fairly modern digital cable trunk line now connects switching centers in most of the regions; the others are connected by digital microwave radio relay international: country code - 359; submarine cable provides connectivity to Ukraine and Russia; a combination submarine cable and land fiber-optic system provides connectivity to Italy, Albania, and Macedonia; satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); 2 Intelsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions) (2007) |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 3,800 (1999) | 2.399 million (2006) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 8.253 million (2006) |
| Television broadcast stations | 1 (not reported to be active) (2002) | 39 (plus 1,242 repeaters) (2001) |
| Terrain | mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs | mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast |
| Total fertility rate | 4.28 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 1.39 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 2%; underemployment 70% (1992 est.) | 8% (2007 est.) |
| Waterways | 5 km (small network of canals in Line Islands) | 470 km (2007) |
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