Lesotho (2001) | Georgia (2007) | |
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Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka | 9 regions (mkharebi, singular - mkhare), 1 city (k'alak'i), and 2 autonomous republics (avtomnoy respubliki, singular - avtom respublika)
regions: Guria, Imereti, Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Samegrelo and Zemo Svaneti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Shida Kartli city: Tbilisi autonomous republics: Abkhazia or Ap'khazet'is Avtonomiuri Respublika (Sokhumi), Ajaria or Acharis Avtonomiuri Respublika (Bat'umi) note: the administrative centers of the two autonomous republics are shown in parentheses |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
39.28% (male 430,147; female 424,994) 15-64 years: 56.03% (male 588,440; female 631,404) 65 years and over: 4.69% (male 43,033; female 59,044) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 16.7% (male 413,506/female 364,407)
15-64 years: 66.6% (male 1,489,081/female 1,605,021) 65 years and over: 16.7% (male 311,098/female 462,890) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock | citrus, grapes, tea, hazelnuts, vegetables; livestock |
Airports | 29 (2000 est.) | 23 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
4 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 19
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
25 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 21 (2000 est.) |
total: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
Area | total:
30,355 sq km land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 69,700 sq km
land: 69,700 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | slightly smaller than South Carolina |
Background | Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after 23 years of military rule. | The region of present-day Georgia contained the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Kartli-Iberia. The area came under Roman influence in the first centuries A.D. and Christianity became the state religion in the 330s. Domination by Persians, Arabs, and Turks was followed by a Georgian golden age (11th-13th centuries) that was cut short by the Mongol invasion of 1236. Subsequently, the Ottoman and Persian empires competed for influence in the region. Georgia was absorbed into the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Independent for three years (1918-1921) following the Russian revolution, it was forcibly incorporated into the USSR until the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. An attempt by the incumbent Georgian government to manipulate national legislative elections in November 2003 touched off widespread protests that led to the resignation of Eduard SHEVARDNADZE, president since 1995. New elections in early 2004 swept Mikheil SAAKASHVILI into power along with his National Movement party. Progress on market reforms and democratization has been made in the years since independence, but this progress has been complicated by two civil conflicts in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. These two territories remain outside the control of the central government and are ruled by de facto, unrecognized governments, supported by Russia. Russian-led peacekeeping operations continue in both regions. The Georgian Government put forward a new peace initiative for the peaceful resolution of the status of South Ossetia in 2005. |
Birth rate | 31.24 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 10.54 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$76 million expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million (FY99/00 est.) |
revenues: $2.331 billion
expenditures: $2.507 billion (2006 est.) |
Capital | Maseru | name: T'bilisi
geographic coordinates: 41 43 N, 44 47 E time difference: UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers | warm and pleasant; Mediterranean-like on Black Sea coast |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 310 km |
Constitution | 2 April 1993 | adopted 24 August 1995 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Kingdom of Lesotho conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Georgia local long form: none local short form: Sak'art'velo former: Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic |
Currency | loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) | - |
Death rate | 15.7 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 9.37 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $720 million (2000 est.) | $2.04 billion (2004) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Katherine H. PETERSON embassy: 254 Kingsway, Maseru West (Consular Section) mailing address: P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho telephone: [266] 312666 FAX: [266] 310116 |
chief of mission: Ambassador John F. TEFFT
embassy: 11 George Balanchine Street, T'bilisi 0131 mailing address: 7060 T'bilisi Place, Washington, DC 20521-7060 telephone: [995] (32) 27-70-00 FAX: [995] (32) 53-23-10 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Lebohang Kenneth MOLEKO chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 797-5533 through 5536 FAX: [1] (202) 234-6815 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Vasil SIKHARULIDZE
chancery: 1101 15th Street NW, Suite 602, Washington, DC 20005 telephone: [1] (202) 387-2390 FAX: [1] (202) 393-4537 |
Disputes - international | none | Russia and Georgia agree on delimiting 80% of their common border, leaving certain small, strategic segments and the maritime boundary unresolved; OSCE observers monitor volatile areas such as the Pankisi Gorge in the Akhmeti region and the Argun Gorge in Abkhazia; UN Observer Mission in Georgia has maintained a peacekeeping force in Georgia since 1993; Meshkheti Turks scattered throughout the former Soviet Union seek to return to Georgia; boundary with Armenia remains undemarcated; ethnic Armenian groups in Javakheti region of Georgia seek greater autonomy from the Georgian government; Azerbaijan and Georgia continue to discuss the alignment of their boundary at certain crossing areas |
Economic aid - recipient | $123.7 million (1995) | ODA, $309.8 million (2005 est.) |
Economy - overview | Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho's primary natural resource is water. Its economy is based on subsistence agriculture, livestock, and remittances from miners employed in South Africa. The number of such mineworkers has declined steadily over the past several years. A small manufacturing base depends largely on farm products that support the milling, canning, leather, and jute industries. Agricultural products are exported primarily to South Africa. Proceeds from membership in a common customs union with South Africa form the majority of government revenue. Although drought has decreased agricultural activity over the past few years, completion of a major hydropower facility in January 1998 now permits the sale of water to South Africa, generating royalties for Lesotho. The pace of substantial privatization has increased in recent years. In December 1999, the government embarked on a nine-month IMF staff-monitored program aimed at structural adjustment and stabilization of macroeconomic fundamentals. The government is in the process of applying for a three-year successor program with the IMF under its Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility. | Georgia's main economic activities include the cultivation of agricultural products such as grapes, citrus fruits, and hazelnuts; mining of manganese and copper; and output of a small industrial sector producing alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, metals, machinery, and chemicals. The country imports the bulk of its energy needs, including natural gas and oil products. It has sizeable but underdeveloped hydropower capacity. Despite the severe damage the economy has suffered due to civil strife, Georgia, with the help of the IMF and World Bank, has made substantial economic gains since 2000, achieving positive GDP growth and curtailing inflation. Georgia had suffered from a chronic failure to collect tax revenues; however, the new government is making progress and has reformed the tax code, improved tax administration, increased tax enforcement, and cracked down on corruption. Due to concerted reform efforts, collection rates have improved considerably to roughly 60%, both in T'bilisi and throughout the regions. In addition, the reinvigorated privatization process has met with success, supplementing government expenditures on infrastructure, defense, and poverty reduction. Despite customs and financial (tax) enforcement improvements, smuggling remains a drain on the economy. Georgia also suffers from energy shortages due to aging and badly maintained infrastructure, as well as poor management. Continued reform in the management of state-owned power entities is essential to successful privatization and onward sustainability in this sector. The country is pinning its hopes for long-term growth on its role as a transit state for pipelines and trade. The construction on the Baku-T'bilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-T'bilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline have brought much-needed investment and job opportunities. Nevertheless, high energy prices have compounded the pressure on the country's inefficient energy sector. Restructuring the sector and finding energy supply alternatives to Russia remain major challenges. |
Electricity - consumption | 55 million kWh (1999) | 7.354 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 122 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 55 million kWh
note: electricity supplied by South Africa (1999) |
1.468 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (1999) | 7.142 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
0% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m |
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Mt'a Shkhara 5,201 m |
Environment - current issues | population pressure forcing settlement in marginal areas results in overgrazing, severe soil erosion, and soil exhaustion; desertification; Highlands Water Project controls, stores, and redirects water to South Africa | air pollution, particularly in Rust'avi; heavy pollution of Mtkvari River and the Black Sea; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil pollution from toxic chemicals |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping |
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, | Georgian 83.8%, Azeri 6.5%, Armenian 5.7%, Russian 1.5%, other 2.5% (2002 census) |
Exchange rates | maloti per US dollar - 7.78307 (January 2001), 6.93983 (2000), 6.10948 (1999), 5.52828 (1998), 4.60796 (1997), 4.29935 (1996); note - the Lesotho loti is at par with the South African rand which is also legal tender; maloti is the plural form of loti | lari per US dollar - 1.78 (2006), 1.8127 (2005), 1.9167 (2004), 2.1457 (2003), 2.1957 (2002) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
King LETSIE III (since 7 February 1996); note - King LETSIE III formerly occupied the throne from November 1990 to February 1995, while his father was in exile head of government: Prime Minister Pakalitha MOSISILI (since 23 May 1998) cabinet: Cabinet elections: none; according to the constitution, the leader of the majority party in the assembly automatically becomes prime minister; the monarch is hereditary, but, under the terms of the constitution which came into effect after the March 1993 election, the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law the college of chiefs has the power to determine who is next in the line of succession, who shall serve as regent in the event that the successor is not of mature age, and may even depose the monarch |
chief of state: Acting President Nino BURJANADZE (since 25 November 2007); note - Mikheil SAAKASHVILI, who had been president since 25 January 2004, resigned the presidency on 25 November 2007 in order to become a candidate in early presidential elections to be held 5 January 2008; the president is both the chief of state and head of government for the power ministries: state security (includes interior) and defense
head of government: Acting President Nino BURJANADZE (since 25 November 2007); Prime Minister Lado GURGENIDZE (since 19 November 2007); note - Mikheil SAAKASHVILI, who had been president since 25 January 2004, resigned the presidency on 25 November 2007 in order to become a candidate in early presidential elections to be held 5 January 2008; the president is both the chief of state and head of government for the power ministries: state security (includes interior) and defense cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 4 January 2004 (next to be held 5 January 2008) election results: Mikheil SAAKASHVILI elected president; percent of vote - Mikheil SAAKASHVILI 96.3%, Temur SHASHIASHVILI 1.9% |
Exports | $175 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (1998) | scrap metal, machinery, chemicals; fuel reexports; citrus fruits, tea, wine |
Exports - partners | South African Customs Union 65%, North America 34% (1998) | Turkey 12.7%, Azerbaijan 9.4%, Russia 7.7%, Armenia 7.5%, Turkmenistan 7.3%, Bulgaria 6.4%, US 6%, Ukraine 5.8%, Canada 5%, Germany 4.6% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | divided diagonally from the lower hoist side corner; the upper half is white, bearing the brown silhouette of a large shield with crossed spear and club; the lower half is a diagonal blue band with a green triangle in the corner | white rectangle, in its central portion a red cross connecting all four sides of the flag; in each of the four corners is a small red bolnur-katskhuri cross; the five-cross flag appears to date back to the 14th century |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $5.1 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
18% industry: 38% services: 44% (1999) |
agriculture: 15%
industry: 28.3% services: 56.7% (2006 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,400 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.5% (2000 est.) | 9.4% (2006 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E | 42 00 N, 43 30 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; surrounded by South Africa | strategically located east of the Black Sea; Georgia controls much of the Caucasus Mountains and the routes through them |
Heliports | - | 3 (2007) |
Highways | total:
4,955 km paved: 887 km unpaved: 4,068 km (1996) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
0.9% highest 10%: 43.4% (1986-87) |
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 30.3% (2003) |
Illicit drugs | - | limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for domestic consumption; used as transshipment point for opiates via Central Asia to Western Europe and Russia |
Imports | $700 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products (1995) | fuels, machinery and parts, transport equipment, grain and other foods, pharmaceuticals |
Imports - partners | South African Customs Union 90%, Asia 7% (1998) | Russia 15.2%, Turkey 14.2%, Germany 9.5%, Ukraine 8.7%, Azerbaijan 8.7% (2006) |
Independence | 4 October 1966 (from UK) | 9 April 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | 15.5% (1999 est.) | 3% (2000) |
Industries | food, beverages, textiles, handicrafts; construction; tourism | steel, aircraft, machine tools, electrical appliances, mining (manganese and copper), chemicals, wood products, wine |
Infant mortality rate | 82.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 17.36 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 19.42 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6% (2000 est.) | 9.2% (2006 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACCT (observer), BSEC, CE, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PFP, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 30 sq km (1993 est.) | 4,690 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court | Supreme Court (judges elected by the Supreme Council on the president's or chairman of the Supreme Court's recommendation); Constitutional Court; first and second instance courts |
Labor force | 700,000 economically active | 2.04 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa | agriculture: 40%
industry: 20% services: 40% (1999 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
909 km border countries: South Africa 909 km |
total: 1,461 km
border countries: Armenia 164 km, Azerbaijan 322 km, Russia 723 km, Turkey 252 km |
Land use | arable land:
11% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 66% forests and woodland: 0% other: 23% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 11.51%
permanent crops: 3.79% other: 84.7% (2005) |
Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa | Georgian 71% (official), Russian 9%, Armenian 7%, Azeri 6%, other 7%
note: Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia |
Legal system | based on English common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (33 members - 22 principal chiefs and 11 other members appointed by the ruling party) and the Assembly (80 seats; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms); note - number of seats in the Assembly rose from 65 to 80 in the May 1998 election; on 28 February 2001, the Senate approved expansion of the Assembly by a further 50 seats in the next election, which may be held as early as January 2002
elections: last held 23 May 1998 (next to be held NA March 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - LCD 60.7%, BNP 24.5%, other 14.8%; seats by party - LCD 79, BNP 1 note: results contested; opposition parties claimed the election was fraudulent and staged a coup; Southern African Development Community (SADC) forces intervened in September 1998 and restored order; the Interim Political Authority (IPA) was set up in December 1998 to create a new electoral system and conduct new elections. |
unicameral Supreme Council (commonly referred to as Parliament) or Umaghlesi Sabcho (235 seats; 150 members elected by proportional representation, 75 from single-seat constituencies, and 10 represent displaced persons from Abkhazia; to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held in spring 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - National Movement-Democratic Front 67.6%, Rightist Opposition 7.6%, other parties 24.8%; seats by party - National Movement-Democratic Front 135, Rightist Opposition 15 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
48.84 years male: 47.97 years female: 49.74 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 76.3 years
male: 73 years female: 80.07 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 83% male: 72% female: 93% (1999 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100% (2004 est.) |
Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa | Southwestern Asia, bordering the Black Sea, between Turkey and Russia |
Map references | Africa | Asia |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | - | total: 209 ships (1000 GRT or over) 958,504 GRT/1,408,540 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 25, cargo 159, carrier 2, chemical tanker 1, container 5, liquefied gas 2, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 4, refrigerated cargo 4, roll on/roll off 3, vehicle carrier 1 foreign-owned: 180 (Albania 2, Azerbaijan 1, China 4, Cyprus 1, Egypt 14, Germany 2, Greece 7, Lebanon 3, Monaco 10, Romania 15, Russia 17, Slovenia 2, Syria 54, Turkey 23, Ukraine 24, UAE 1) (2007) |
Military - note | The Lesotho Government in 1999 began an open debate on the future structure, size, and role of the armed forces, especially considering the Lesotho Defense Force's (LDF) history of intervening in political affairs. | a CIS peacekeeping force of Russian troops is deployed in the Abkhazia region of Georgia together with a UN military observer group; a Russian peacekeeping battalion is deployed in South Ossetia |
Military branches | Lesotho Defense Force (LDF; includes Army and Air Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police (RLMP) | Georgian Armed Forces: Land Forces (includes National Guard), Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces (2006) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $34 million (1999) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 0.59% (2005 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
515,464 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
277,369 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) | Independence Day, 26 May (1918); note - 26 May 1918 was the date of independence from Soviet Russia, 9 April 1991 was the date of independence from the Soviet Union |
Nationality | noun:
Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural) adjective: Basotho |
noun: Georgian(s)
adjective: Georgian |
Natural hazards | periodic droughts | earthquakes |
Natural resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals | forests, hydropower, manganese deposits, iron ore, copper, minor coal and oil deposits; coastal climate and soils allow for important tea and citrus growth |
Net migration rate | -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -4.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 1,349 km; oil 1,010 km (2006) |
Political parties and leaders | Basotho Congress Party or BCP [Tseliso MAKHAKHE]; Basotho National Party or BNP [Maj. Gen. Justine Metsing LEKHANYA]; Lesotho Congress for Democracy or LCD [Phebe MOTEBANO, chairwoman; Dr. Pakalitha MOSISILI, leader] - the governing party; United Democratic Party or UDP [Charles MOFELI]; Marematlou Freedom Party or MFP and Setlamo Alliance [Vincent MALEBO]; Progressive National Party or PNP [Chief Peete Nkoebe PEETE]; Sefate Democratic Party or SDP [Bofihla NKUEBE] | Burjanadze-Democrats [Nino BURJANADZE]; Georgian People's Front [Nodar NATADZE]; Georgian United Communist Party or UCPG [Panteleimon GIORGADZE]; Georgia's Way Party [Salome ZOURABICHVILI]; Greens [Giorgi GACHECHILADZE]; Industry Will Save Georgia (Industrialists) or IWSG [Georgi TOPADZE]; Labor Party [Shalva NATELASHVILI]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Bachuki KARDAVA]; National Movement Democratic Front [Mikheil SAAKASHVILI] (bloc composed of National Movement and Burjanadze-Democrats); National Movement [Mikheil SAAKASHVILI]; New Rights [David GAMKRELIDZE]; Republican Party [David USUPASHVILI]; Rightist Opposition [David GAMKRELIDZE] (bloc composed of Industrialists and New Right Party); Socialist Party or SPG [Irakli MINDELI]; Traditionalists [Akaki ASATIANI]; Union of National Forces-Conservatives [Koba DAVITASHVILI and Zviad DZIDZIGURI] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Georgian independent deputies from Abkhaz government in exile; separatists in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia |
Population | 2,177,062
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
4,646,003 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 49.2% (1999 est.) | 54.5% (2003) |
Population growth rate | 1.49% (2001 est.) | -0.329% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 7, FM 12, shortwave 4 (1998) |
Radios | 104,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
2.6 km; note - owned by, operated by, and included in the statistics of South Africa narrow gauge: 2.6 km 1.067-m gauge (1995) |
total: 1,612 km
broad gauge: 1,575 km 1.520-m gauge (1,575 electrified) narrow gauge: 37 km 0.912-m gauge (37 electrified) (2006) |
Religions | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% | Orthodox Christian 83.9%, Muslim 9.9%, Armenian-Gregorian 3.9%, Catholic 0.8%, other 0.8%, none 0.7% (2002 census) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.14 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.135 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.928 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.672 male(s)/female total population: 0.91 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
rudimentary system domestic: consists of a few landlines, a small microwave radio relay system, and a minor radiotelephone communication system international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: fixed-line telecommunications network has only limited coverage outside Tbilisi; multiple mobile-cellular providers provide services to an increasing subscribership
domestic: local - T'bilisi, K'ut'aisi, and Batumi have cellular telephone networks; urban telephone density is about 20 per 100 people; rural telephone density is about 4 per 100 people; intercity facilities include a fiber-optic line between T'bilisi and K'ut'aisi; nationwide pager service is available international: country code - 995; the Georgia-Russia fiber optic submarine cable provides connectivity to Russia; international service is available by microwave, landline, and satellite through the Moscow switch; international electronic mail and telex service are available |
Telephones - main lines in use | 20,000 (1997) | 553,100 (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1,262 (1996) | 1.704 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 12 (plus repeaters) (1998) |
Terrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains | largely mountainous with Great Caucasus Mountains in the north and Lesser Caucasus Mountains in the south; Kolkhet'is Dablobi (Kolkhida Lowland) opens to the Black Sea in the west; Mtkvari River Basin in the east; good soils in river valley flood plains, foothills of Kolkhida Lowland |
Total fertility rate | 4.08 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.42 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Transportation - note | - | transportation network is in poor condition resulting from ethnic conflict, criminal activities, and fuel shortages; network lacks maintenance and repair |
Unemployment rate | 45% (2000 est.) | 12.6% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | none | - |