Marshall Islands (2001) | Macau (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | 33 municipalities; Ailinginae, Ailinglaplap, Ailuk, Arno, Aur, Bikar, Bikini, Bokak, Ebon, Enewetak, Erikub, Jabat, Jaluit, Jemo, Kili, Kwajalein, Lae, Lib, Likiep, Majuro, Maloelap, Mejit, Mili, Namorik, Namu, Rongelap, Rongrik, Toke, Ujae, Ujelang, Utirik, Wotho, Wotje | none (special administrative region of China) |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
49.29% (male 17,808; female 17,101) 15-64 years: 48.61% (male 17,573; female 16,853) 65 years and over: 2.1% (male 707; female 780) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 21.8% (male 52,262; female 48,439)
15-64 years: 70.9% (male 154,942; female 172,647) 65 years and over: 7.3% (male 13,616; female 19,927) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coconuts, tomatoes, melons, cacao, taro, breadfruit, fruits; pigs, chickens | rice, vegetables |
Airports | 16 (2000 est.) | 1 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
12 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
- |
Area | total:
181.3 sq km land: 181.3 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the atolls of Bikini, Enewetak, and Kwajalein |
total: 25.4 sq km
land: 25.4 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | about the size of Washington, DC | about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | After almost four decades under US administration as the easternmost part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Marshall Islands attained independence in 1986 under a Compact of Free Association. Compensation claims continue as a result of US nuclear testing on some of the islands between 1947 and 1962. | Colonized by the Portuguese in the 16th century, Macau was the first European settlement in the Far East. Pursuant to an agreement signed by China and Portugal on 13 April 1987, Macau became the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China on 20 December 1999. China has promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, China's socialist economic system will not be practiced in Macau and that Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs. |
Birth rate | 45.07 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 12.19 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$80.1 million expenditures: $77.4 million, including capital expenditures of $19.5 million (FY95/96 est.) |
revenues: $1.15 billion
expenditures: $1.03 billion, including capital expenditures of $166 million (2000 est.) |
Capital | Majuro | - |
Climate | wet season from May to November; hot and humid; islands border typhoon belt | subtropical; marine with cool winters, warm summers |
Coastline | 370.4 km | 41 km |
Constitution | 1 May 1979 | Basic Law, approved in March 1993 by China's National People's Congress, is Macau's "mini-constitution" |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of the Marshall Islands conventional short form: Marshall Islands former: Marshall Islands District (Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands) |
conventional long form: Macau Special Administrative Region
conventional short form: Macau local long form: Aomen Tebie Xingzhengqu (Chinese); Regiao Administrativa Especial de Macau (Portuguese) local short form: Aomen (Chinese); Macau (Portuguese) |
Currency | US dollar (USD) | pataca (MOP) |
Death rate | 6.23 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 3.78 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $125 million (FY96/97 est.) | $1.5 billion (1998) |
Dependency status | - | special administrative region of China |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Joan M. PLAISTED embassy: Oceanside, Mejen Weto, Long Island, Majuro mailing address: P. O. Box 1379, Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands 96960-1379 telephone: [692] 247-4011 FAX: [692] 247-4012 |
the US has no offices in Macau, and US interests are monitored by the US Consulate General in Hong Kong |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Banny DE BRUM chancery: 2433 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 234-5414 FAX: [1] (202) 232-3236 consulate(s) general: Honolulu |
none (special administrative region of China) |
Disputes - international | claims US territory of Wake Island | none |
Economic aid - recipient | approximately $65 million annually from the US | $NA |
Economy - overview | US Government assistance is the mainstay of this tiny island economy. Agricultural production is concentrated on small farms, and the most important commercial crops are coconuts, tomatoes, melons, and breadfruit. Small-scale industry is limited to handicrafts, fish processing, and copra. The tourist industry, now a small source of foreign exchange employing less than 10% of the labor force, remains the best hope for future added income. The islands have few natural resources, and imports far exceed exports. Under the terms of the Compact of Free Association, the US provides roughly $65 million in annual aid. Negotiations were underway in 1999 for an extended agreement. Government downsizing, drought, a drop in construction, and the decline in tourism and foreign investment due to the Asian financial difficulties caused GDP to fall in 1996-98. | Macau's economy two years after reversion to China remains one of the most open in the world, according to the World Trade Organization. The government collects no duty on imports and sets no restrictions on exports beyond those required by international agreements. The territory's net exports of goods and services account for 35% of GDP, with tourism and apparel exports as the mainstays. The territory therefore has been hit hard by the 2001 downturn in its key US and EU export markets. Tourism remained strong, however, driven by a surge in visitors from mainland China. In response to the expected contraction of the economy in 2002, the government has announced a stimulative income tax cut and public works program that will push the budget into deficit. China already has extended support by easing restrictions on travel to Macau and is proposing a China-Hong Kong-Macau free trade area. China's economic weight is increasingly felt, with the mainland now holding more than 50% of assets in the financial, real estate, and construction sectors. Mainlanders, however, have been excluded from bidding on the gambling industry licenses that Macau is offering to break up the territory's four-decade-old gambling monopoly. Gambling taxes account for up to 60% of revenue, and the government with Beijing's backing intends to revitalize the industry. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 1.476 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | - | 1 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | - | 175 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | - | 1.4 billion kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Likiep 10 m |
lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: Coloane Alto 172.4 m |
Environment - current issues | inadequate supplies of potable water | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
- |
Ethnic groups | Micronesian | Chinese 95%, Macanese (mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry), Portuguese, other |
Exchange rates | the US dollar is used | patacas per US dollar - 8.033 (January 2002), 8.034 (2001), 8.026 (2000), 7.992 (1999), 7.979 (1998), 7.975 (1997); note - linked to the Hong Kong dollar at the rate of 1.03 patacas per Hong Kong dollar |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Kessai Hesa NOTE (since 3 January 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Kessai Hesa NOTE (since 3 January 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet selected by the president from among the members of Parliament elections: president elected by Parliament from among its own members for a four-year term; election last held 15 November 1999 (next to be held NA November 2003) election results: Kessai Hesa NOTE elected president; percent of Parliament vote - 100% |
chief of state: President of China JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993)
head of government: Chief Executive Edmund HO Hau-wah (since 20 December 1999) cabinet: Executive Council consists of all five government secretaries, three legislators, and two businessmen elections: chief executive chosen by a 200-member selection committee for up to two five-year terms |
Exports | $28 million (f.o.b., 1997 est.) | $2.5 billion f.o.b. (2000) |
Exports - commodities | fish, coconut oil, trochus shells | clothing, textiles, cement, electronics, cameras |
Exports - partners | US, Japan, Australia | US 48%, EU 28%, China 10%, Hong Kong 7% (2000) |
Fiscal year | 1 October - 30 September | calendar year |
Flag description | blue with two stripes radiating from the lower hoist-side corner - orange (top) and white; there is a white star with four large rays and 20 small rays on the hoist side above the two stripes | light green with a lotus flower above a stylized bridge and water in white, beneath an arc of five gold, five-pointed stars: one large in center of arc and four smaller |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $105 million (1998 est.), supplemented by approximately $65 million annual US aid | purchasing power parity - $8 billion (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
15% industry: 13% services: 72% (1995) |
agriculture: 1%
industry: 25% services: 74% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,670 (1998 est.) | purchasing power parity - $17,600 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | -5% (1998 est.) | 0.5% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 9 00 N, 168 00 E | 22 10 N, 113 33 E |
Geography - note | two archipelagic island chains of 30 atolls and 1,152 islands; Bikini and Enewetak are former US nuclear test sites; Kwajalein, the famous World War II battleground, is now used as a US missile test range | essentially urban; one causeway and two bridges connect the two islands of Coloane and Taipa to the peninsula on mainland |
Highways | total:
NA km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km note: paved roads on major islands (Majuro, Kwajalein), otherwise stone-, coral-, or laterite-surfaced roads and tracks |
total: 50 km
paved: 50 km unpaved: 0 km (2001) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $58 million (f.o.b., 1997 est.) | $2.3 billion c.i.f. (2000) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels, beverages and tobacco | clothing, textiles, yarn, minerals, electrical machinery, fuel, livestock |
Imports - partners | US, Japan, Australia, NZ, Guam, Singapore | China 41%, Hong Kong 15%, EU 10%, Taiwan 10%, Japan 6% (2000) |
Independence | 21 October 1986 (from the US-administered UN trusteeship) | none (special administrative region of China) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | NA% |
Industries | copra, fish, tourism, craft items from shell, wood, and pearls, offshore banking (embryonic) | tourism, gambling, clothing, textiles, electronics, footwear, toys |
Infant mortality rate | 39.82 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 4.44 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 5% (1997) | -2% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AsDB, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFC, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, ITU, OPCW, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, WHO | CCC, ESCAP (associate), IHO, IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau), ISO (correspondent), UNESCO (associate), WMO, WToO (associate), WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; High Court | The Court of Final Appeal in the Macau Special Administrative Region |
Labor force | NA | 218,000 (2001) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% | restaurants and hotels 26%, manufacturing 20%, other services and agriculture 54% (2000 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 0.34 km
border countries: China 0.34 km |
Land use | arable land:
0% permanent crops: 60% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 40% |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% note: "green areas" represent 22.4% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English (universally spoken and is the official language), two major Marshallese dialects from the Malayo-Polynesian family, Japanese | Portuguese, Chinese (Cantonese) |
Legal system | based on adapted Trust Territory laws, acts of the legislature, municipal, common, and customary laws | based on Portuguese civil law system |
Legislative branch | unicameral Parliament or Nitijela (33 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 15 November 1999 (next to be held NA November 2003) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA note: the Council of Chiefs is a 12-member body that advises on matters affecting customary law and practice |
unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (27 seats; 10 elected by popular vote, 10 by indirect vote, and 7 appointed by the chief executive; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 23 September 2001 (next to be held NA 2005) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by political bloc - Entertainment Industry 3, pro-democracy 2, pro-Beijing Labor Union 2, pro-Beijing Neighborhood Association 2, pro-business 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
65.84 years male: 64.04 years female: 67.73 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 81.78 years
male: 78.97 years female: 84.73 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 93% male: 100% female: 88% (1980 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 90% male: 93% female: 86% (1981 est.) |
Location | Oceania, group of atolls and reefs in the North Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Papua New Guinea | Eastern Asia, bordering the South China Sea and China |
Map references | Oceania | Southeast Asia |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
not specified |
Merchant marine | total:
212 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 9,768,406 GRT/16,242,699 DWT ships by type: bulk 63, cargo 9, chemical tanker 10, combination ore/oil 2, container 29, liquefied gas 10, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, petroleum tanker 87, vehicle carrier 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Cyprus 1, Germany 1, Japan 1, US 6 (2000 est.) |
none (2002 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the US | responsibility for defense reverted to China on 20 December 1999 |
Military branches | no regular military forces (a coast guard may be established); Police Force | no regular indigenous military forces; responsibility for defense reverted to China on 20 December 1999; there is a local police force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $NA | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | - |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 128,005 (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 70,508 (2002 est.) |
National holiday | Constitution Day, 1 May (1979) | National Day (Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China), 1 October (1949); note - 20 December 1999 is celebrated as Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day |
Nationality | noun:
Marshallese (singular and plural) adjective: Marshallese |
noun: Chinese
adjective: Chinese |
Natural hazards | occasional typhoons | typhoons |
Natural resources | phosphate deposits, marine products, deep seabed minerals | NEGL |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 9.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | traditionally there have been no formally organized political parties; what has existed more closely resembles factions or interest groups because they do not have party headquarters, formal platforms, or party structures; the following two "groupings" have competed in legislative balloting in recent years - Kabua Party [Imata KABUA] and United Democratic Party or UDP [Litokwa TOMEING] | there are no formal political parties, however, there are civic associations that, for purposes of legislative voting, join together to form political blocs |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Catholic Church [Domingos LAM, bishop]; Macau Society of Tourism and Entertainment or STDM [Stanley HO, managing director]; Union for Democracy Development [Antonio NG Kuok-cheong, leader] |
Population | 70,822 (July 2001 est.) | 461,833 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 3.88% (2001 est.) | 1.75% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Majuro | Macau |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 3, FM 4, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 0, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | NA | 160,000 (1997) |
Railways | 0 km | 0 km |
Religions | Christian (mostly Protestant) | Buddhist 50%, Roman Catholic 15%, none and other 35% (1997 est.) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | direct election 18 years of age, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the past seven years; indirect election limited to organizations registered as "corporate voters" (257 are currently registered) and a 300-member Election Committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies |
Telephone system | general assessment:
telex services domestic: Majuro Atoll and Ebeye and Kwajalein islands have regular, seven-digit, direct-dial telephones; other islands interconnected by shortwave radiotelephone (used mostly for government purposes) international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean); US Government satellite communications system on Kwajalein |
general assessment: fairly modern communication facilities maintained for domestic and international services
domestic: NA international: HF radiotelephone communication facility; access to international communications carriers provided via Hong Kong and China; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 3,000 (1996) | 176,902 (November 2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 365 (1996) | 158,251 (November 2001) |
Television broadcast stations | 3 (of which two are US military stations) (1997) | 0 (receives Hong Kong broadcasts) (1997) |
Terrain | low coral limestone and sand islands | generally flat |
Total fertility rate | 6.55 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.31 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 16% (1991 est.) | 6.5% (2001 est.) |
Waterways | none | none |