Martinique (2005) | Colombia (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | none (overseas department of France) | 32 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) and 1 capital district* (distrito capital); Amazonas, Antioquia, Arauca, Atlantico, Distrito Capital de Bogota*, Bolivar, Boyaca, Caldas, Caqueta, Casanare, Cauca, Cesar, Choco, Cordoba, Cundinamarca, Guainia, Guaviare, Huila, La Guajira, Magdalena, Meta, Narino, Norte de Santander, Putumayo, Quindio, Risaralda, San Andres y Providencia, Santander, Sucre, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Vaupes, Vichada |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 22.4% (male 49,112/female 47,697)
15-64 years: 67.2% (male 145,531/female 145,250) 65 years and over: 10.5% (male 20,423/female 24,887) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 30.7% (male 6,670,950/female 6,516,371)
15-64 years: 64.2% (male 13,424,433/female 14,142,825) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 968,127/female 1,231,573) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | pineapples, avocados, bananas, flowers, vegetables, sugarcane | coffee, cut flowers, bananas, rice, tobacco, corn, sugarcane, cocoa beans, oilseed, vegetables; forest products; shrimp |
Airports | 2 (2004 est.) | 980 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 101
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 39 914 to 1,523 m: 39 under 914 m: 12 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 879
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 34 914 to 1,523 m: 272 under 914 m: 572 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 1,100 sq km
land: 1,060 sq km water: 40 sq km |
total: 1,138,910 sq km
land: 1,038,700 sq km water: 100,210 sq km note: includes Isla de Malpelo, Roncador Cay, Serrana Bank, and Serranilla Bank |
Area - comparative | slightly more than six times the size of Washington, DC | slightly less than three times the size of Montana |
Background | Colonized by France in 1635, the island has subsequently remained a French possession except for three brief periods of foreign occupation. | Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Ecuador and Venezuela). A 40-year insurgent campaign to overthrow the Colombian Government escalated during the 1990s, undergirded in part by funds from the drug trade. Although the violence is deadly and large swaths of the countryside are under guerrilla influence, the movement lacks the military strength or popular support necessary to overthrow the government. An anti-insurgent army of paramilitaries has grown to several thousand strong in recent years, challenging the insurgents for control of territory and the drug trade, and also the government's ability to exert its dominion over rural areas. While Bogota steps up efforts to reassert government control throughout the country, neighboring countries worry about the violence spilling over their borders. |
Birth rate | 14.14 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 20.82 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $900 million
expenditures: $2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $140 million (1996) |
revenues: $15.33 billion
expenditures: $21.03 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
Capital | Fort-de-France | Bogota |
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 | tropical along coast and eastern plains; cooler in highlands |
Coastline | 350 km | 3,208 km (Caribbean Sea 1,760 km, North Pacific Ocean 1,448 km) |
Constitution | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution) | 5 July 1991 |
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: Republic of Colombia
conventional short form: Colombia local long form: Republica de Colombia local short form: Colombia |
Death rate | 6.44 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 5.59 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $180 million (1994) | $38.7 billion (2004 est.) |
Dependency status | overseas department of France | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas department of France) | chief of mission: Ambassador William B. WOOD
embassy: Calle 22D-BIS, numbers 47-51, Apartado Aereo 3831 mailing address: Carrera 45 #22D-45, Bogota, D.C., APO AA 34038 telephone: [57] (1) 315-0811 FAX: [57] (1) 315-2197 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas department of France) | chief of mission: Ambassador Luis Alberto MORENO Mejia
chancery: 2118 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387-8338 FAX: [1] (202) 232-8643 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Washington, DC |
Disputes - international | none | Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and against Colombia in 2001 at the ICJ over disputed maritime boundary involving 50,000 sq km in the Caribbean Sea, including the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank; dispute with Venezuela over maritime boundary and Los Monjes Islands near the Gulf of Venezuela; Colombian-organized illegal narcotics, guerrilla, and paramilitary activities penetrate all of its neighbors' borders and have created a serious refugee crisis with over 300,000 persons having fled the country, mostly into neighboring states |
Economic aid - recipient | NA; note - substantial annual aid from France (1998) | NA |
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, which employs more than 11,000 people, has become more important than agricultural exports as a source of foreign exchange. | Colombia's economy has been on a recovery trend during the past two years despite a serious armed conflict. The economy continues to improve thanks to austere government budgets, focused efforts to reduce public debt levels, and an export-oriented growth focus. Ongoing economic problems facing President URIBE range from reforming the pension system to reducing high unemployment. New exploration is needed to offset declining oil production. On the positive side, several international financial institutions have praised the economic reforms introduced by URIBE, which include measures designed to reduce the public-sector deficit below 2.5% of GDP. The government's economic policy and democratic security strategy have engendered a growing sense of confidence in the economy, particularly within the business sector. Coffee prices have recovered from previous lows as the Colombian coffee industry pursues greater market shares in developed countries such as the United States. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.095 billion kWh (2002) | 41.14 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 618 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 23 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 1.178 billion kWh (2002) | 44.87 billion kWh (2002) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Montagne Pelee 1,397 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pico Cristobal Colon 5,775 m note: nearby Pico Simon Bolivar also has the same elevation |
Environment - current issues | NA | deforestation; soil and water quality damage from overuse of pesticides; air pollution, especially in Bogota, from vehicle emissions |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, 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% | mestizo 58%, white 20%, mulatto 14%, black 4%, mixed black-Amerindian 3%, Amerindian 1% |
Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000) | Colombian pesos per US dollar - 2,628.61 (2004), 2,877.65 (2003), 2,504.24 (2002), 2,299.63 (2001), 2,087.9 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995); Prefect Yves DASSONVILLE (since 14 January 2004); note - took office 8 February 2004
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 five-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 Alvaro URIBE Velez (since 7 August 2002); Vice President Francisco SANTOS (since 7 August 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Alvaro URIBE Velez (since 7 August 2002); Vice President Francisco SANTOS (since 7 August 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet consists of a coalition of the two dominant parties - the PL and PSC - and independents elections: president and vice president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 26 May 2002 (next to be held May 2006) election results: President Alvaro URIBE Velez received 53% of the vote; Vice President Francisco SANTOS was elected on the same ticket |
Exports | NA | NA |
Exports - commodities | refined petroleum products, bananas, rum, pineapples (2001 est.) | petroleum, coffee, coal, apparel, bananas, cut flowers |
Exports - partners | France 45%, Guadeloupe 28% (2000) | US 42.1%, Venezuela 9.7%, Ecuador 6% (2004) |
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 yellow (top, double-width), blue, and red; similar to the flag of Ecuador, which is longer and bears the Ecuadorian coat of arms superimposed in the center |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 6%
industry: 11% services: 83% (1997 est.) |
agriculture: 13.4%
industry: 32.1% services: 54.5% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $14,400 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $6,600 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA% | 3.6% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 14 40 N, 61 00 W | 4 00 N, 72 00 W |
Geography - note | the island is dominated by Mount Pelee, which on 8 May 1902 erupted and completely destroyed the city of Saint Pierre, killing 30,000 inhabitants | only South American country with coastlines on both the North Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea |
Heliports | - | 1 (2004 est.) |
Highways | total: 2,105 km (2000) | total: 112,998 km
paved: 26,000 km unpaved: 84,000 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 44% (1999) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for the US and Europe | illicit producer of coca, opium poppy, and cannabis; world's leading coca cultivator (cultivation of coca in 2002 was 144,450 hectares, a 15% decline since 2001); potential production of opium between 2001 and 2002 declined by 25% to 91 metric tons; potential production of heroin declined to 11.3 metric tons; the world's largest processor of coca derivatives into cocaine; supplier of about 90% of the cocaine to the US market and the great majority of cocaine to other international drug markets; important supplier of heroin to the US market; active aerial eradication program; a significant portion of non-US narcotics proceeds are either laundered or invested in Colombia through the black market peso exchange |
Imports | NA | NA |
Imports - commodities | petroleum products, crude oil, foodstuffs, construction materials, vehicles, clothing and other consumer goods | industrial equipment, transportation equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, paper products, fuels, electricity |
Imports - partners | France 62%, Venezuela 6%, Germany 4%, Italy 4%, US 3% (2000) | US 29.1%, Venezuela 6.5%, China 6.4%, Mexico 6.2%, Brazil 5.8% (2004) |
Independence | none (overseas department of France) | 20 July 1810 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 4% (2004 est.) |
Industries | construction, rum, cement, oil refining, sugar, tourism | textiles, food processing, oil, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, cement; gold, coal, emeralds |
Infant mortality rate | total: 7.09 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 4.73 deaths/1,000 live births female: 9.51 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
total: 20.97 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 24.92 deaths/1,000 live births female: 16.89 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.9% (1990) | 5.9% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | UPU, WCL, WFTU | BCIE, CAN, CDB, CSN, FAO, G-3, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Irrigated land | 30 sq km (1998 est.) | 8,500 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel | four roughly coequal, supreme judicial organs; Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (highest court of criminal law; judges are selected by their peers from the nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms); Council of State (highest court of administrative law; judges are selected from the nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms); Constitutional Court (guards integrity and supremacy of the constitution; rules on constitutionality of laws, amendments to the constitution, and international treaties); Superior Judicial Council (administers and disciplines the civilian judiciary; resolves jurisdictional conflicts arising between other courts; members are elected by three sister courts and Congress for eight-year terms) |
Labor force | 165,900 (1998) | 20.7 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 10%, industry 17%, services 73% (1997) | agriculture 30%, industry 24%, services 46% (1990) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 6,004 km
border countries: Brazil 1,643 km, Ecuador 590 km, Panama 225 km, Peru 1,496 km (est.), Venezuela 2,050 km |
Land use | arable land: 10.38%
permanent crops: 9.43% other: 80.19% (2001) |
arable land: 2.42%
permanent crops: 1.67% other: 95.91% (2001) |
Languages | French, Creole patois | Spanish |
Legal system | French legal system | based on Spanish law; a new criminal code modeled after US procedures was enacted into law in 2004; judicial review of executive and legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
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 28 March 2004 (next to be held by March 2010) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - left-wing candidates 13, PPM 11, RPR 6, right-wing candidates 5, PCM 3, UDF 3, PMS 2, independents 2; note - the PPM won a plurality; Regional Assembly (second round) - percent of vote by party - MIM 53.8%, PPM 30.6%; seats by party - MIM 28, PPM 9, other 4 note: Martinique elects 2 seats to the French Senate; elections last held NA September 2001 (next to be held September 2004); 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, first round - 9 June 2002, second round - 16 June 2002 (next to be held not later than June 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, PS 1, MIM 1, left-wing candidate 1 (candidacy of the left-wing candidate was found invalid by the Constitutional Council; new elections will be called) |
bicameral Congress or Congreso consists of the Senate or Senado (102 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Camara de Representantes (166 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 10 March 2002 (next to be held March 2006); House of Representatives - last held 10 March 2002 (next to be held March 2006) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PL 28, PSC 13, independents and smaller parties (many aligned with conservatives) 61; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PL 54, PSC 21, independents and other parties 91 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 79.04 years
male: 79.43 years female: 78.64 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 71.72 years
male: 67.88 years female: 75.7 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.7% male: 97.4% female: 98.1% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.5% male: 92.4% female: 92.6% (2003 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago | Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Panama and Venezuela, and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Ecuador and Panama |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | South America |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
Merchant marine | - | total: 15 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 35,427 GRT/46,301 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 11, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 2 registered in other countries: 7 (2005) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of France | - |
Military branches | no regular military forces; Gendarmerie | Army (Ejercito Nacional), Navy (Armada Nacional, includes Naval Aviation, Marines, and Coast Guard), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Colombiana) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $3.3 billion (FY01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 3.4% (FY01) |
National holiday | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) | Independence Day, 20 July (1810) |
Nationality | noun: Martiniquais (singular and plural)
adjective: Martiniquais |
noun: Colombian(s)
adjective: Colombian |
Natural hazards | hurricanes, flooding, and volcanic activity (an average of one major natural disaster every five years) | highlands subject to volcanic eruptions; occasional earthquakes; periodic droughts |
Natural resources | coastal scenery and beaches, cultivable land | petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, hydropower |
Net migration rate | -0.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | -0.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 4,360 km; oil 6,134 km; refined products 3,140 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Martinique Communist Party or PCM [Georges ERICHOT]; Martinique Independence Movement or MIM [Alfred MARIE-JEANNE]; Martinique Progressive Party or PPM [Pierre SUEDILE]; Martinique Socialist Party or PMS [Ernest WAN-AJOUHU]; Movement of Democrats and Ecologists for a Sovereign Martinique or Modemas [Garcin MALSA]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Michel CHARLONE]; Socialist Revolution Group or GRS [Philippe PIERRE-CHARLES]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Jean MAREN] | Colombian Communist Party or PCC [Jaime CAICEDO]; Conservative Party or PSC [Carlos HOLGUIN Sardi]; Democratic Pole or PDI [Samuel MORENO Rojas]; Liberal Party or PL [Juan Fernando CRISTO]
note: Colombia has about 60 formally recognized political parties, most of which do not have a presence in either house of Congress |
Political pressure groups and leaders | 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 | two largest insurgent groups active in Colombia - Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC and National Liberation Army or ELN; largest anti-insurgent paramilitary group is United Self-Defense Groups of Colombia or AUC |
Population | 432,900 (July 2005 est.) | 42,954,279 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 55% (2001) |
Population growth rate | 0.76% (2005 est.) | 1.49% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Fort-de-France, La Trinite, Marin | Barranquilla, Buenaventura, Cartagena, Muelles El Bosque, Puerto Bolivar, Santa Marta, Turbo |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 14, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 454, FM 34, shortwave 27 (1999) |
Railways | - | total: 3,304 km
standard gauge: 150 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 3,154 km 0.914-m gauge (2004) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant 10.5%, Muslim 0.5%, Hindu 0.5%, other 3.5% (1997) | Roman Catholic 90%, other 10% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: domestic facilities are adequate
domestic: NA international: country code - 596; microwave radio relay to Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Saint Lucia; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: modern system in many respects
domestic: nationwide microwave radio relay system; domestic satellite system with 41 earth stations; fiber-optic network linking 50 cities international: country code - 57; satellite earth stations - 6 Intelsat, 1 Inmarsat; 3 fully digitalized international switching centers; 8 submarine cables |
Telephones - main lines in use | 172,000 est (2001) | 8,768,100 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 319,900 (2002) | 6,186,200 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 11 (plus nine repeaters) (1997) | 60 (includes seven low-power stations) (1997) |
Terrain | mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano | flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, eastern lowland plains |
Total fertility rate | 1.79 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 2.56 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 27.2% (1998) | 13.6% (2004 est.) |
Waterways | - | 9,187 km (2004) |