Martinique (2001) | Libya (2008) | |
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Administrative divisions | none (overseas department of France) | 25 municipalities (baladiyat, singular - baladiyah); Ajdabiya, Al 'Aziziyah, Al Fatih, Al Jabal al Akhdar, Al Jufrah, Al Khums, Al Kufrah, An Nuqat al Khams, Ash Shati', Awbari, Az Zawiyah, Banghazi, Darnah, Ghadamis, Gharyan, Misratah, Murzuq, Sabha, Sawfajjin, Surt, Tarabulus, Tarhunah, Tubruq, Yafran, Zlitan; note - the 25 municipalities may have been replaced by 13 regions |
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: 33.4% (male 1,029,096/female 985,606)
15-64 years: 62.4% (male 1,940,287/female 1,827,429) 65 years and over: 4.2% (male 124,892/female 129,604) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | pineapples, avocados, bananas, flowers, vegetables, sugarcane | wheat, barley, olives, dates, citrus, vegetables, peanuts, soybeans; cattle |
Airports | 2 (2000 est.) | 141 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 60
over 3,047 m: 23 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 23 914 to 1,523 m: 6 under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
1 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 81
over 3,047 m: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 15 914 to 1,523 m: 41 under 914 m: 18 (2007) |
Area | total:
1,100 sq km land: 1,060 sq km water: 40 sq km |
total: 1,759,540 sq km
land: 1,759,540 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly more than six times the size of Washington, DC | slightly larger than Alaska |
Background | Colonized by France in 1635, the island has subsequently remained a French possession except for three brief periods of foreign occupation. | The Italians supplanted the Ottoman Turks from the area around Tripoli in 1911 and did not relinquish their hold until 1943 when defeated in World War II. Libya then passed to UN administration and achieved independence in 1951. Following a 1969 military coup, Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI began to espouse his own political system, the Third Universal Theory. The system is a combination of socialism and Islam derived in part from tribal practices and is supposed to be implemented by the Libyan people themselves in a unique form of "direct democracy." QADHAFI has always seen himself as a revolutionary and visionary leader. He used oil funds during the 1970s and 1980s to promote his ideology outside Libya, supporting subversives and terrorists abroad to hasten the end of Marxism and capitalism. In addition, beginning in 1973, he engaged in military operations in northern Chad's Aozou Strip - to gain access to minerals and to use as a base of influence in Chadian politics - but was forced to retreat in 1987. UN sanctions in 1992 isolated QADHAFI politically following the downing of Pan AM Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. During the 1990s, QADHAFI began to rebuild his relationships with Europe. UN sanctions were suspended in April 1999 and finally lifted in September 2003 after Libya accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing. In December 2003, Libya announced that it had agreed to reveal and end its programs to develop weapons of mass destruction and to renounce terrorism, and QADHAFI has made significant strides in normalizing relations with western nations since then. He has received various Western European leaders as well as many working-level and commercial delegations, and made his first trip to Western Europe in 15 years when he traveled to Brussels in April 2004. Libya has responded in good faith to legal cases brought against it in US courts for terrorist acts that predate its renunciation of violence. Claims for compensation in the Lockerbie bombing, LaBelle disco bombing, and UTA 772 bombing cases are ongoing. The US rescinded Libya's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism in June 2006. In late 2007, Libya was elected by the General Assembly to a nonpermanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the 2008-2009 term. |
Birth rate | 15.76 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 26.09 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$900 million expenditures: $2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $140 million (1996) |
revenues: $39.62 billion
expenditures: $19.51 billion (2007 est.) |
Capital | Fort-de-France | name: Tripoli
geographic coordinates: 32 53 N, 13 10 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
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 along coast; dry, extreme desert interior |
Coastline | 350 km | 1,770 km |
Constitution | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) | none; note - following the September 1969 military overthrow of the Libyan government, the Revolutionary Command Council replaced the existing constitution with the Constitutional Proclamation in December 1969; in March 1977, Libya adopted the Declaration of the Establishment of the People's Authority |
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: Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
conventional short form: Libya local long form: Al Jumahiriyah al Arabiyah al Libiyah ash Shabiyah al Ishtirakiyah al Uzma local short form: none |
Currency | French franc (FRF); euro (EUR) | - |
Death rate | 6.39 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 3.47 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $180 million (1994) | $4.837 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Dependency status | overseas department of France | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas department of France) | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires J. Christopher Stevens
embassy: Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel, Souq At-Tlat Al-Qadim, Tripoli mailing address: US Embassy, 8850 Tripoli Place, Washington, DC 20521-8850 telephone: [218] 21-335-1848 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas department of France) | chief of mission: ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Ali Suleiman AUJALI
chancery: 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Suite 705, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 944-9601 FAX: [1] (202) 944-9060 |
Disputes - international | none | Libya has claimed more than 32,000 sq km in southeastern Algeria and about 25,000 sq km in the Tommo region of Niger in a currently dormant dispute; various Chadian rebels from the Aozou region reside in southern Libya |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA; note - substantial annual aid from France | ODA, $24.44 million (2005 est.) |
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 Libyan economy depends primarily upon revenues from the oil sector, which contribute about 95% of export earnings, about one-quarter of GDP, and 60% of public sector wages. Substantial revenues from the energy sector coupled with a small population give Libya one of the highest per capita GDPs in Africa, but little of this income flows down to the lower orders of society. Libyan officials in the past five years have made progress on economic reforms as part of a broader campaign to reintegrate the country into the international fold. This effort picked up steam after UN sanctions were lifted in September 2003 and as Libya announced in December 2003 that it would abandon programs to build weapons of mass destruction. Almost all US unilateral sanctions against Libya were removed in April 2004, helping Libya attract more foreign direct investment, mostly in the energy sector. Libyan oil and gas licensing rounds continue to draw high international interest; the National Oil Company set a goal of nearly doubling oil production to 3 million bbl/day by 2015. Libya faces a long road ahead in liberalizing the socialist-oriented economy, but initial steps - including applying for WTO membership, reducing some subsidies, and announcing plans for privatization - are laying the groundwork for a transition to a more market-based economy. The non-oil manufacturing and construction sectors, which account for more than 20% of GDP, have expanded from processing mostly agricultural products to include the production of petrochemicals, iron, steel, and aluminum. Climatic conditions and poor soils severely limit agricultural output, and Libya imports about 75% of its food. Libya's primary agricultural water source remains the Great Manmade River Project, but significant resources are being invested in desalinization research to meet growing water demands. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.023 billion kWh (1999) | 18.18 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 1.1 billion kWh (1999) | 21.15 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Montagne Pelee 1,397 m |
lowest point: Sabkhat Ghuzayyil -47 m
highest point: Bikku Bitti 2,267 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | desertification; very limited natural fresh water resources; the Great Manmade River Project, the largest water development scheme in the world, is being built to bring water from large aquifers under the Sahara to coastal cities |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | African and African-white-Indian mixture 90%, white 5%, East Indian, Chinese less than 5% | Berber and Arab 97%, other 3% (includes Greeks, Maltese, Italians, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indians, and Tunisians) |
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) | Libyan dinars per US dollar - 1.2604 (2007), 1.3108 (2006), 1.3084 (2005), 1.305 (2004), 1.2929 (2003) |
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: Revolutionary Leader Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI (since 1 September 1969); note - holds no official title, but is de facto chief of state
head of government: Secretary of the General People's Committee (Prime Minister) al-Baghdadi Ali al-MAHMUDI (since 5 March 2006) cabinet: General People's Committee established by the General People's Congress elections: national elections are indirect through a hierarchy of people's committees; head of government elected by the General People's Congress; election last held March 2006 (next to be held NA) election results: NA |
Exports | $250 million (f.o.b., 1997) | 1.326 million bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | refined petroleum products, bananas, rum, pineapples | crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas, chemicals |
Exports - partners | France 45%, Guadeloupe 28% (1997) | Italy 36.7%, Germany 14.3%, Spain 8.7%, US 6.1%, France 5.6%, Turkey 5.3% (2006) |
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 | plain green; green is the traditional color of Islam (the state religion) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $4.39 billion (1997 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
6% industry: 11% services: 83% (1997 est.) |
agriculture: 2.1%
industry: 81.7% services: 16.2% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $11,000 (1997 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | NA% | 5.4% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 14 40 N, 61 00 W | 25 00 N, 17 00 E |
Geography - note | - | more than 90% of the country is desert or semidesert |
Heliports | - | 2 (2007) |
Highways | total:
2,105 km (2000) paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
- |
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 | - |
Imports | $2 billion (c.i.f., 1997) | 1,233 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | petroleum products, crude oil, foodstuffs, construction materials, vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods | machinery, semi-finished goods, food, transport equipment, consumer products |
Imports - partners | France 62%, Venezuela 6%, Germany 4%, Italy 4%, US 3% (1997) | Italy 18.9%, Germany 7.9%, China 7.5%, Tunisia 6.3%, France 5.8%, Turkey 5.2%, US 4.7%, South Korea 4.3%, UK 4% (2006) |
Independence | none (overseas department of France) | 24 December 1951 (from UN trusteeship) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 5.6% (2007 est.) |
Industries | construction, rum, cement, oil refining, sugar, tourism | petroleum, iron and steel, food processing, textiles, handicrafts, cement |
Infant mortality rate | 7.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 22.82 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 25.07 deaths/1,000 live births female: 20.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.9% (1990) | 3.3% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | FZ, WCL, WFTU | ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AMF, AMU, AU, CAEU, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 2 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 40 sq km (1993 est.) | 4,700 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel | Supreme Court |
Labor force | 170,000 (1997) | 1.82 million (2007 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 10%, industry 17%, services 73% (1997) | agriculture: 17%
industry: 23% services: 59% (2004 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 4,348 km
border countries: Algeria 982 km, Chad 1,055 km, Egypt 1,115 km, Niger 354 km, Sudan 383 km, Tunisia 459 km |
Land use | arable land:
8% permanent crops: 8% permanent pastures: 17% forests and woodland: 44% other: 23% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 1.03%
permanent crops: 0.19% other: 98.78% (2005) |
Languages | French, Creole patois | Arabic, Italian, English, all are widely understood in the major cities |
Legal system | French legal system | based on Italian and French civil law systems and Islamic law; separate religious courts; no constitutional provision for 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 General People's Congress (approximately 2,700 seats; members elected indirectly through a hierarchy of people's committees) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
78.41 years male: 79.11 years female: 77.69 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 76.88 years
male: 74.64 years female: 79.23 years (2007 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: 82.6% male: 92.4% female: 72% (2003 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, north of Trinidad and Tobago | Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Tunisia |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Africa |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
note: Gulf of Sidra closing line - 32 degrees, 30 minutes north exclusive fishing zone: 62 nm |
Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | total: 17 ships (1000 GRT or over) 67,200 GRT/85,931 DWT
by type: cargo 11, liquefied gas 3, petroleum tanker 2, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: 3 (Kuwait 1, Norway 1, Syria 1) registered in other countries: 4 (Malta 3, Tunisia 1) (2007) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of France | - |
Military branches | French forces (Army, Navy, Air Force), Gendarmerie | Armed Peoples on Duty (APOD, Army), Libyan Arab Navy, Libyan Arab Air Force (Al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Jamahiriya al-Arabia al-Libyya, LAAF) (2007) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 3.9% (2005 est.) |
National holiday | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) | Revolution Day, 1 September (1969) |
Nationality | noun:
Martiniquais (singular and plural) adjective: Martiniquais |
noun: Libyan(s)
adjective: Libyan |
Natural hazards | hurricanes, flooding, and volcanic activity (an average of one major natural disaster every five years) | hot, dry, dust-laden ghibli is a southern wind lasting one to four days in spring and fall; dust storms, sandstorms |
Natural resources | coastal scenery and beaches, cultivable land | petroleum, natural gas, gypsum |
Net migration rate | -0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | condensate 882 km; gas 3,425 km; oil 6,956 km (2007) |
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] | none |
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] | various Arab nationalist movements with almost negligible memberships may be functioning clandestinely, as well as some Islamic elements; an anti-QADHAFI Libyan exile movement exists, primarily based in London, but has little influence |
Population | 418,454 (July 2001 est.) | 6,036,914
note: includes 166,510 non-nationals (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 7.4% (2005 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.93% (2001 est.) | 2.262% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Fort-de-France, La Trinite | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 14, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 16, FM 3, shortwave 3 (2001) |
Radios | 82,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | 0 km
note: Libya has announced plans to build seven lines totaling 2,757 km of 1.435-m gauge track (2006) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 95%, Hindu and pagan African 5% | Sunni Muslim 97%, other 3% |
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: 1.044 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.062 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.964 male(s)/female total population: 1.052 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory |
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 is being modernized; mobile cellular telephone system became operational in 1996; combined fixed line and mobile telephone density reached 75 telephones per 100 persons in 2006
domestic: microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, cellular, tropospheric scatter, and a domestic satellite system with 14 earth stations international: country code - 218; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat, NA Arabsat, and NA Intersputnik; submarine cables to France and Italy; microwave radio relay to Tunisia and Egypt; tropospheric scatter to Greece; participant in Medarabtel (1999) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 170,000 (1997) | 483,000 (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 15,000 (1997) | 3.928 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 11 (plus nine repeaters) (1997) | 12 (plus 1 repeater) (1999) |
Terrain | mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano | mostly barren, flat to undulating plains, plateaus, depressions |
Total fertility rate | 1.8 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 3.21 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 27.2% (1998) | 30% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | none | - |