Martinique (2001) | Lebanon (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | none (overseas department of France) | 5 governorates (mohafazat, singular - mohafazah); Beyrouth, Ech Chimal, Ej Jnoub, El Bekaa, Jabal Loubnane |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
23.1% (male 49,016; female 47,653) 15-64 years: 66.77% (male 139,106; female 140,291) 65 years and over: 10.13% (male 18,893; female 23,495) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years:
27.57% (male 509,975; female 490,031) 15-64 years: 65.72% (male 1,136,995; female 1,247,184) 65 years and over: 6.71% (male 110,964; female 132,625) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | pineapples, avocados, bananas, flowers, vegetables, sugarcane | citrus, grapes, tomatoes, apples, vegetables, potatoes, olives, tobacco; sheep, goats |
Airports | 2 (2000 est.) | 8 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total:
5 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
1 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total:
3 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Area | total:
1,100 sq km land: 1,060 sq km water: 40 sq km |
total:
10,400 sq km land: 10,230 sq km water: 170 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly more than six times the size of Washington, DC | about 0.7 times the size of Connecticut |
Background | Colonized by France in 1635, the island has subsequently remained a French possession except for three brief periods of foreign occupation. | Lebanon has made progress toward rebuilding its political institutions and regaining its national sovereignty since 1991 and the end of the devastating 16-year civil war. Under the Ta'if Accord - the blueprint for national reconciliation - the Lebanese have established a more equitable political system, particularly by giving Muslims a greater say in the political process while institutionalizing sectarian divisions in the government. Since the end of the war, the Lebanese have conducted several successful elections, most of the militias have been weakened or disbanded, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have extended central government authority over about two-thirds of the country. Hizballah, the radical Shi'a party, retains its weapons. Syria maintains about 25,000 troops in Lebanon based mainly in Beirut, North Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley. Syria's troop deployment was legitimized by the Arab League during Lebanon's civil war and in the Ta'if Accord. Damascus justifies its continued military presence in Lebanon by citing the continued weakness of the LAF, Beirut's requests, and the failure of the Lebanese Government to implement all of the constitutional reforms in the Ta'if Accord. Israel's withdrawal from its security zone in southern Lebanon in May of 2000, however, has emboldened some Lebanese Christians and Druze to demand that Syria withdraw its forces as well. |
Birth rate | 15.76 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 20.16 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$900 million expenditures: $2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $140 million (1996) |
revenues:
$3.31 billion expenditures: $5.55 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | Fort-de-France | Beirut |
Climate | tropical; moderated by trade winds; rainy season (June to October); vulnerable to devastating cyclones (hurricanes) every eight years on average; average temperature 17.3 degrees C; humid | Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows |
Coastline | 350 km | 225 km |
Constitution | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) | 23 May 1926, amended a number of times, most recently Charter of Lebanese National Reconciliation (Taif Accord) of October 1989 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Department of Martinique conventional short form: Martinique local long form: Departement de la Martinique local short form: Martinique |
conventional long form:
Lebanese Republic conventional short form: Lebanon local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Lubnaniyah local short form: Lubnan |
Currency | French franc (FRF); euro (EUR) | Lebanese pound (LBP) |
Death rate | 6.39 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 6.39 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $180 million (1994) | $9.6 billion (2000 est.) |
Dependency status | overseas department of France | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas department of France) | chief of mission:
Ambassador David M. SATTERFIELD embassy: Antelias, Beirut mailing address: P. O. Box 70-840, Antelias, Beirut; PSC 815, Box 2, FPO AE 09836-0002 telephone: [961] (4) 543600, 543600 FAX: [961] (4) 544136 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas department of France) | chief of mission:
Ambassador Dr. Farid ABBOUD chancery: 2560 28th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 939-6300 FAX: [1] (202) 939-6324 consulate(s) general: Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles |
Disputes - international | none | Syrian troops in northern, central, and eastern Lebanon since October 1976; Lebanese government claims Shab'a Farms area of Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as a part of Lebanon from which Hizballah conducts cross-border attacks |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA; note - substantial annual aid from France | $3.5 billion (pledges 1997-2001) |
Economy - overview | The economy is based on sugarcane, bananas, tourism, and light industry. Agriculture accounts for about 6% of GDP and the small industrial sector for 11%. Sugar production has declined, with most of the sugarcane now used for the production of rum. Banana exports are increasing, going mostly to France. The bulk of meat, vegetable, and grain requirements must be imported, contributing to a chronic trade deficit that requires large annual transfers of aid from France. Tourism has become more important than agricultural exports as a source of foreign exchange. The majority of the work force is employed in the service sector and in administration. | The 1975-91 civil war seriously damaged Lebanon's economic infrastructure, cut national output by half, and all but ended Lebanon's position as a Middle Eastern entrepot and banking hub. Peace enabled the central government to restore control in Beirut, begin collecting taxes, and regain access to key port and government facilities. Economic recovery was helped by a financially sound banking system and resilient small- and medium-scale manufacturers. Family remittances, banking services, manufactured and farm exports, and international aid provided the main sources of foreign exchange. Lebanon's economy has made impressive gains since the launch in 1993 of "Horizon 2000," the government's $20 billion reconstruction program. Real GDP grew 8% in 1994, 7% in 1995, 4% per year in 1996 and 1997 but slowed to 2% in 1998, -1% in 1999, and 1% in 2000. Annual inflation fell during the course of the 1990s from more than 100% to 0%, and foreign exchange reserves jumped from $1.4 billion to more than $6 billion. Burgeoning capital inflows have generated foreign payments surpluses, and the Lebanese pound has remained very stable for the past two years. Lebanon has rebuilt much of its war-torn physical and financial infrastructure. Solidere, a $2-billion firm, has managed the reconstruction of Beirut's central business district; the stock market reopened in January 1996; and international banks and insurance companies are returning. The government nonetheless faces serious challenges in the economic arena. It has funded reconstruction by tapping foreign exchange reserves and by borrowing heavily - mostly from domestic banks. The newly re-installed HARIRI government's announced policies fail to address the ever-increasing budgetary deficits and national debt burden. The gap between rich and poor has widened in the 1990s, resulting in grassroots dissatisfaction over the skewed distribution of the reconstruction's benefits. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.023 billion kWh (1999) | 7.86 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 654 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 1.1 billion kWh (1999) | 7.748 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel:
91.29% hydro: 8.71% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Montagne Pelee 1,397 m |
lowest point:
Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point: Qurnat as Sawda' 3,088 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Beirut from vehicular traffic and the burning of industrial wastes; pollution of coastal waters from raw sewage and oil spills |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation |
Ethnic groups | African and African-white-Indian mixture 90%, white 5%, East Indian, Chinese less than 5% | Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1% |
Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997), 5.1155 (1996) | Lebanese pounds per US dollar - 1,507.5 (January 2001), 1,507.5 (2000), 1,507.8 (1999), 1,516.1 (1998), 1,539.5 (1997), 1,571.4 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995); Prefect Jean-Francois CORDET (since NA) head of government: President of the General Council Claude LISE (since 22 March 1992); President of the Regional Council Alfred MARIE-JEANNE (since NA March 1998) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils |
chief of state:
President Emile LAHUD (since 24 November 1998) head of government: Prime Minister Rafiq HARIRI (since 23 October 2000); Deputy Prime Minister Issam FARES (since 23 October 2000) cabinet: Cabinet chosen by the prime minister in consultation with the president and members of the National Assembly; the current Cabinet was formed in 1998 elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a six-year term; election last held 15 October 1998 (next to be held NA 2004); prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president in consultation with the National Assembly; by custom, the president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the legislature is a Shi'a Muslim election results: Emile LAHUD elected president; National Assembly vote - 118 votes in favor, 0 against, 10 abstentions |
Exports | $250 million (f.o.b., 1997) | $700 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | refined petroleum products, bananas, rum, pineapples | foodstuffs and tobacco, textiles, chemicals, precious stones, metal and metal products, electrical equipment and products, jewelry, paper and paper products |
Exports - partners | France 45%, Guadeloupe 28% (1997) | UAE 9%, Saudi Arabia 8%, Syria 6%, US 6%, Kuwait 6%, France 5%, Belgium 5%, Jordan 4% (1999) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | a light blue background is divided into four quadrants by a white cross; in the center of each rectangle is a white snake; the flag of France is used for official occasions | three horizontal bands of red (top), white (double width), and red with a green and brown cedar tree centered in the white band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $4.39 billion (1997 est.) | purchasing power parity - $18.2 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
6% industry: 11% services: 83% (1997 est.) |
agriculture:
12% industry: 27% services: 61% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $11,000 (1997 est.) | purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA% | 1% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 14 40 N, 61 00 W | 33 50 N, 35 50 E |
Geography - note | - | Nahr al Litani only major river in Near East not crossing an international boundary; rugged terrain historically helped isolate, protect, and develop numerous factional groups based on religion, clan, and ethnicity |
Highways | total:
2,105 km (2000) paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
total:
7,300 km paved: 6,350 km unpaved: 950 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for the US and Europe | inconsequential producer of hashish; a Lebanese/Syrian eradication campaign started in the early 1990s has practically eliminated the opium and cannabis crops |
Imports | $2 billion (c.i.f., 1997) | $6.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | petroleum products, crude oil, foodstuffs, construction materials, vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods | foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, textiles, metals, fuels, agricultural foods |
Imports - partners | France 62%, Venezuela 6%, Germany 4%, Italy 4%, US 3% (1997) | Italy 13%, France 11%, Germany 8%, US 7%, Switzerland 6%, Japan, UK, Syria (1999) |
Independence | none (overseas department of France) | 22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | NA% |
Industries | construction, rum, cement, oil refining, sugar, tourism | banking; food processing; jewelry; cement; textiles; mineral and chemical products; wood and furniture products; oil refining; metal fabricating |
Infant mortality rate | 7.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 28.35 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.9% (1990) | 0% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | FZ, WCL, WFTU | ABEDA, ACCT, AFESD, AL, AMF, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 2 (2000) | 22 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 40 sq km (1993 est.) | 860 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel | four Courts of Cassation (three courts for civil and commercial cases and one court for criminal cases); Constitutional Council (called for in Ta'if Accord - rules on constitutionality of laws); Supreme Council (hears charges against the president and prime minister as needed) |
Labor force | 170,000 (1997) | 1.3 million (1999 est.)
note: in addition, there are as many as 1 million foreign workers (1997 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 10%, industry 17%, services 73% (1997) | services NA%, industry NA%, agriculture NA% |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total:
454 km border countries: Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km |
Land use | arable land:
8% permanent crops: 8% permanent pastures: 17% forests and woodland: 44% other: 23% (1993 est.) |
arable land:
18% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 1% forests and woodland: 8% other: 64% (1996 est.) |
Languages | French, Creole patois | Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian |
Legal system | French legal system | mixture of Ottoman law, canon law, Napoleonic code, and civil law; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral General Council or Conseil General (45 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Assembly or Conseil Regional (41 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held NA March 2000 (next to be held NA 2006); Regional Assembly - last held on 15 March 1998 (next to be held by March 2004) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; note - the PPM won a plurality; Regional Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RPR-UDF 14, MIM 13, PPM 7, left parties 4, PMS 3 note: Martinique elects 2 seats to the French Senate; elections last held NA September 1998 (next to be held September 2001); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PPM 2; Martinique also elects 4 seats to the French National Assembly; elections last held 1 June 1997 (next to be held NA 2002); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RPR 2, PS 1, independent 1 |
unicameral National Assembly or Majlis Alnuwab (Arabic) or Assemblee Nationale (French) (128 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of sectarian proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 27 August and 3 September 2000 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - Muslim 57% (of which Sunni 25%, Sh'ite 25%, Druze 6%, Alawite less than 1%), Christian 43% (of which Maronite 23%); seats by party - Muslim 64 (of which Sunni 27, Sh'ite 27, Druze 8, Alawite 2), Christian 64 (of which Maronite 34) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
78.41 years male: 79.11 years female: 77.69 years (2001 est.) |
total population:
71.52 years male: 69.13 years female: 74.03 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 93% male: 92% female: 93% (1982 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 86.4% male: 90.8% female: 82.2% (1997 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, north of Trinidad and Tobago | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Middle East |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea:
12 NM |
Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | total:
71 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 379,705 GRT/592,672 DWT ships by type: bulk 10, cargo 42, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 1, combination ore/oil 1, container 4, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 5, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 2, vehicle carrier 3 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Netherlands 1, Syria 1 (2000 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of France | - |
Military branches | French forces (Army, Navy, Air Force), Gendarmerie | Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF; includes Army, Navy, and Air Force) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $343 million (FY99/00) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 4.8% (FY99/00) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
980,412 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
605,332 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) | Independence Day, 22 November (1943) |
Nationality | noun:
Martiniquais (singular and plural) adjective: Martiniquais |
noun:
Lebanese (singular and plural) adjective: Lebanese |
Natural hazards | hurricanes, flooding, and volcanic activity (an average of one major natural disaster every five years) | dust storms, sandstorms |
Natural resources | coastal scenery and beaches, cultivable land | limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region, arable land |
Net migration rate | -0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 72 km (none in operation) |
Political parties and leaders | Martinique Independence Movement or MIM [Alfred MARIE-JEANNE]; Martinique Progressive Party or PPM [Camille DARSIERES]; Martinique Socialist Party or PMS [Ernest WAN-AJOUHU]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Michel CHARLONE]; Union for French Democracy or UDF (replaced by Martinique Forces of Progress) [Jean MAREN] | political party activity is organized along largely sectarian lines; numerous political groupings exist, consisting of individual political figures and followers motivated by religious, clan, and economic considerations |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Association for the Protection of Martinique's Heritage (ecologist) [Garcin MALSA]; Caribbean Revolutionary Alliance or ARC; Central Union for Martinique Workers or CSTM [Marc PULVAR]; Frantz Fanon Circle; League of Workers and Peasants; Proletarian Action Group or GAP; Socialist Revolution Group or GRS [Philippe PIERRE-CHARLES] | NA |
Population | 418,454 (July 2001 est.) | 3,627,774 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 28% (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.93% (2001 est.) | 1.38% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Fort-de-France, La Trinite | Antilyas, Batroun, Beirut, Chekka, El Mina, Ez Zahrani, Jbail, Jounie, Naqoura, Sidon, Tripoli, Tyre |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 14, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 20, FM 22, shortwave 4 (1998) |
Radios | 82,000 (1997) | 2.85 million (1997) |
Railways | 0 km | total:
399 km (mostly unusable because of damage in civil war) standard gauge: 317 km 1.435-m narrow gauge: 82 km (1999) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 95%, Hindu and pagan African 5% | Muslim 70% (including Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri), Christian 30% (including Orthodox Christian, Catholic, Protestant), Jewish NEGL% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 21 years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for women at age 21 with elementary education |
Telephone system | general assessment:
domestic facilities are adequate domestic: NA international: microwave radio relay to Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Saint Lucia; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment:
telecommunications system severely damaged by civil war; rebuilding well underway domestic: primarily microwave radio relay and cable international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean) (erratic operations); coaxial cable to Syria; microwave radio relay to Syria but inoperable beyond Syria to Jordan; 3 submarine coaxial cables |
Telephones - main lines in use | 170,000 (1997) | 700,000 (1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 15,000 (1997) | 580,000 (1999) |
Television broadcast stations | 11 (plus nine repeaters) (1997) | 15 (plus 5 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano | narrow coastal plain; Al Biqa' (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains |
Total fertility rate | 1.8 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.05 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 27.2% (1998) | 18% (1997 est.) |
Waterways | none | none |