Compare Mauritius (2005) - Syria (2004)

Compare Mauritius (2005) z Syria (2004)

	Mauritius (2005)	Syria (2004)

Administrative divisions	9 districts and 3 dependencies; Agalega Islands, Black River, Cargados Carajos Shoals, Flacq, Grand Port, Moka, Pamplemousses, Plaines Wilhems, Port Louis, Riviere du Rempart, Rodrigues, Savanne	14 provinces (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah, Al Qunaytirah, Ar Raqqah, As Suwayda', Dar'a, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq, Halab, Hamah, Hims, Idlib, Rif Dimashq, Tartus
Age structure	0-14 years: 24.4% (male 151,043/female 148,847) 15-64 years: 69.1% (male 424,472/female 425,974) 65 years and over: 6.5% (male 31,506/female 48,760) (2005 est.)	0-14 years: 38% (male 3,524,406; female 3,319,323) 15-64 years: 58.7% (male 5,421,133; female 5,163,669) 65 years and over: 3.3% (male 281,795; female 306,548) (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products	sugarcane, tea, corn, potatoes, bananas, pulses; cattle, goats; fish	wheat, barley, cotton, lentils, chickpeas, olives, sugar beets; beef, mutton, eggs, poultry, milk
Airports	6 (2004 est.)	93 (2003 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 2 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.)	total: 26 over 3,047 m: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 16 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.)	total: 66 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 54 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 2,040 sq km land: 2,030 sq km water: 10 sq km note: includes Agalega Islands, Cargados Carajos Shoals (Saint Brandon), and Rodrigues	total: 185,180 sq km land: 184,050 sq km water: 1,130 sq km note: includes 1,295 sq km of Israeli-occupied territory
Area - comparative	almost 11 times the size of Washington, DC	slightly larger than North Dakota
Background	Discovered by the Portuguese in 1505, Mauritius was subsequently held by the Dutch, French, and British before independence was attained in 1968. A stable democracy with regular free elections and a positive human rights record, the country has attracted considerable foreign investment and has earned one of Africa's highest per capita incomes. Recent poor weather and declining sugar prices have slowed economic growth, leading to some protests over standards of living in the Creole community.	Following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Syria was administered by the French until independence in 1946. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel. Since 1976, Syrian troops have been stationed in Lebanon, ostensibly in a peacekeeping capacity. Over the past decade, Syria and Israel have held occasional peace talks over the return of the Golan Heights.
Birth rate	15.62 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)	28.93 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Budget	revenues: $1.231 billion expenditures: $1.582 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)	revenues: $6.106 billion expenditures: $7.397 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.6 billion (2003 est.)
Capital	Port Louis	Damascus
Climate	tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May)	mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast; cold weather with snow or sleet periodically in Damascus
Coastline	177 km	193 km
Constitution	12 March 1968; amended 12 March 1992	13 March 1973
Country name	conventional long form: Republic of Mauritius conventional short form: Mauritius	conventional long form: Syrian Arab Republic conventional short form: Syria local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Arabiyah as Suriyah local short form: Suriyah former: United Arab Republic (with Egypt)
Currency	-	Syrian pound (SYP)
Death rate	6.83 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)	4.96 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Debt - external	$1.78 billion (2004 est.)	$21.55 billion (2003 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador John PRICE embassy: 4th Floor, Rogers House, John Kennedy Street, Port Louis mailing address: international mail: P. O. Box 544, Port Louis; US mail: American Embassy, Port Louis, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2450 telephone: [230] 202-4400 FAX: [230] 208-9534	chief of mission: Ambassador Margaret SCOBEY embassy: Abou Roumaneh, Al-Mansur Street, No. 2, Damascus mailing address: P. O. Box 29, Damascus telephone: [963] (11) 333-1342 FAX: [963] (11) 331-9678
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Usha JEETAH chancery: 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 441, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 244-1491, 1492 FAX: [1] (202) 966-0983	chief of mission: Ambassador Imad MUSTAFA chancery: 2215 Wyoming Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 232-6313 FAX: [1] (202) 234-9548
Disputes - international	Mauritius claims the Chagos Archipelago (UK-administered British Indian Ocean Territory), and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship but no right to patriation in the UK; claims French-administered Tromelin Island	Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied; Lebanon claims Shaba'a farms in Golan Heights; Syrian troops have been stationed in Lebanon since October 1976; Syria protests Turkish hydrological projects regulating upper Euphrates waters; settled border dispute with Jordan in 2004
Economic aid - recipient	$42 million (1997)	$199 million (1997 est.)
Economy - overview	Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a middle-income diversified economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. For most of the period, annual growth has been in the order of 5% to 6%. This remarkable achievement has been reflected in more equitable income distribution, increased life expectancy, lowered infant mortality, and a much-improved infrastructure. Sugarcane is grown on about 90% of the cultivated land area and accounts for 25% of export earnings. The government's development strategy centers on expanding local financial institutions and building a domestic information telecommunications industry. Mauritius has attracted more than 9,000 offshore entities, many aimed at commerce in India and South Africa, and investment in the banking sector alone has reached over $1 billion. Mauritius, with its strong textile sector, has been well poised to take advantage of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).	Syria's predominantly statist economy lately has been growing more slowly than its 2.4% annual population growth rate. Recent legislation allows private banks to operate in Syria, although a private banking sector will take years and further government cooperation to develop. Factors, including the war between the US-led coalition and Iraq, probably drove real annual GDP growth levels back below 1% in 2003 following growth of 3.5% in 2001 and 4.5% in 2002. A long-run economic constraint is the pressure on water supplies caused by rapid population growth, industrial expansion, and increased water pollution.
Electricity - consumption	1.707 billion kWh (2002)	21.63 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2002)	0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2002)	0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - production	1.836 billion kWh (2002)	23.26 billion kWh (2001)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Piton 828 m	lowest point: unnamed location near Lake Tiberias -200 m highest point: Mount Hermon 2,814 m
Environment - current issues	water pollution, degradation of coral reefs	deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution from raw sewage and petroleum refining wastes; inadequate potable water
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
Ethnic groups	Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%, Franco-Mauritian 2%	Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%
Exchange rates	Mauritian rupees per US dollar - 27.499 (2004), 27.902 (2003), 29.962 (2002), 29.129 (2001), 26.25 (2000)	Syrian pounds per US dollar - (Official rate): 11.225 (2003), 11.225 (2002), 11.225 (2001), 11.225 (2000), 11.225 (1999), (Free market rate): 49.65 (2001), 49.4 (2000), 51.7 (1999)
Executive branch	chief of state: President Sir Anerood JUGNAUTH (since 7 October 2003) and Vice President Abdool Raouf BUNDHUN (since 25 February 2002) head of government: Prime Minister Paul BERENGER (since 30 September 2003) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president and vice president elected by the National Assembly for five-year terms; election last held 25 February 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the president, responsible to the National Assembly election results: Karl OFFMANN elected president and Raouf BUNDHUN elected vice president; percent of vote by the National Assembly - NA%; note - Karl OFFMANN stepped down on 30 September 2003	chief of state: President Bashar al-ASAD (since 17 July 2000); Vice Presidents Abd al-Halim ibn Said KHADDAM (since 11 March 1984) and Muhammad Zuhayr MASHARIQA (since 11 March 1984) head of government: Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-UTRI (since 10 September 2003) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; referendum/election last held 10 July 2000 - after the death of President Hafiz al-ASAD, father of Bashar al-ASAD - (next to be held 2007); vice presidents appointed by the president; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Bashar al-ASAD elected president; percent of vote - Bashar al-ASAD 97.29% note: Hafiz al-ASAD died on 10 June 2000; on 20 June 2000, the Ba'th Party nominated Bashar al-ASAD for president and presented his name to the People's Council on 25 June 2000
Exports	NA	NA (2001)
Exports - commodities	clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flowers, molasses	crude oil, petroleum products, fruits and vegetables, cotton fiber, clothing, meat and live animals, wheat
Exports - partners	UK 33.1%, France 20.4%, US 14.8%, Madagascar 5.1%, Italy 4.1% (2004)	Germany 20.9%, Italy 12.6%, UAE 7.6%, Lebanon 6.2%, Turkey 6%, France 5.4%, Croatia 4.8%, US 4.1% (2003)
Fiscal year	1 July - 30 June	calendar year
Flag description	four equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, yellow, and green	three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black, colors associated with the Arab Liberation flag; two small green five-pointed stars in a horizontal line centered in the white band; former flag of the United Arab Republic where the two stars represented the constituent states of Syria and Egypt; similar to the flag of Yemen, which has a plain white band, Iraq, which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white band, and that of Egypt, which has a gold Eagle of Saladin centered in the white band; the current design dates to 1980
GDP	-	purchasing power parity - $58.01 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 7.6% industry: 30% services: 62.4% (2004 est.)	agriculture: 28.5% industry: 29.4% services: 42.1% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $12,800 (2004 est.)	purchasing power parity - $3,300 (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	4.7% (2004 est.)	0.9% (2003 est.)
Geographic coordinates	20 17 S, 57 33 E	35 00 N, 38 00 E
Geography - note	the main island, from which the country derives its name, is of volcanic origin and is almost entirely surrounded by coral reefs	there are 42 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (February 2002 est.)
Heliports	-	7 (2003 est.)
Highways	total: 2,000 km paved: 1,960 km (including 60 km of expressways) unpaved: 40 km (2002)	total: 43,381 km paved: 10,021 km (including 877 km of expressways) unpaved: 33,360 km (1999)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA
Illicit drugs	minor consumer and transshipment point for heroin from South Asia; small amounts of cannabis produced and consumed locally; significant offshore financial industry creates potential for money laundering, but corruption levels are relatively low and the government appears generally to be committed to regulating its banking industry	a transit point for opiates and hashish bound for regional and Western markets; weak anti-money-laundering controls, bank privatization may leave it vulnerable to money-laundering
Imports	NA	NA (2001)
Imports - commodities	manufactured goods, capital equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals	machinery and transport equipment, electric power machinery, food and livestock, metal and metal products, chemicals and chemical products, plastics, yarn, paper
Imports - partners	South Africa 11.3%, China 9.4%, India 9.3%, France 9.2%, Bahrain 5.3%, Japan 4.1% (2004)	Germany 7.2%, Italy 7.1%, China 6.3%, France 5.9%, Turkey 5.4% (2003)
Independence	12 March 1968 (from UK)	17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
Industrial production growth rate	8% (2000 est.)	NA
Industries	food processing (largely sugar milling), textiles, clothing; chemicals, metal products, transport equipment, nonelectrical machinery; tourism	petroleum, textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco, phosphate rock mining
Infant mortality rate	total: 15.03 deaths/1,000 live births male: 17.74 deaths/1,000 live births female: 12.27 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)	total: 30.6 deaths/1,000 live births male: 30.82 deaths/1,000 live births female: 30.35 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	4.5% (2004 est.)	1.5% (2003 est.)
International organization participation	ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, C, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO	ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAS, MIGA, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNRWA, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO
Irrigated land	200 sq km (2000 est.)	12,130 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	Supreme Court	Supreme Constitutional Court (justices are appointed for four-year terms by the president); High Judicial Council; Court of Cassation; State Security Courts
Labor force	560,000 (2004 est.)	4.97 million (2003 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture and fishing 14%, construction and industry 36%, transportation and communication 7%, trade, restaurants, hotels 16%, finance 3%, other services 24% (1995)	agriculture, industry, services NA
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 2,253 km border countries: Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km, Jordan 375 km, Lebanon 375 km, Turkey 822 km
Land use	arable land: 49.26% permanent crops: 2.96% other: 47.78% (2001)	arable land: 25.22% permanent crops: 4.43% other: 70.35% (2001)
Languages	Creole 80.5%, Bhojpuri 12.1%, French 3.4% (official), other 3.7%, unspecified 0.3% (2000 census)	Arabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood; French, English somewhat understood
Legal system	based on French civil law system with elements of English common law in certain areas	based on Islamic law and civil law system; special religious courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch	unicameral National Assembly (66 seats; 62 elected by popular vote, 4 appointed by the election commission from the losing political parties to give representation to various ethnic minorities; members serve five-year terms) elections: last held on 11 September 2000 (next to be held September 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - MSM/MMM 52.3%, MLP/PMSD 36.9%, OPR 10.8%; seats by party - MSM/MMM 54, MLP/PMSD 6, OPR 2	unicameral People's Council or Majlis al-shaab (250 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 2-3 March 2003 (next to be held NA 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NPF 67%, independents 33%; seats by party - NPF 167, independents 83; note - the constitution guarantees that the Ba'th Party (part of the NPF alliance) receives one-half of the seats
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 72.38 years male: 68.4 years female: 76.41 years (2005 est.)	total population: 69.71 years male: 68.47 years female: 71.02 years (2004 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 85.6% male: 88.6% female: 82.7% (2003 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 76.9% male: 89.7% female: 64% (2003 est.)
Location	Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar	Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey
Map references	Political Map of the World	Middle East
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 41 nm
Merchant marine	total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 22,946 GRT/27,102 DWT by type: bulk carrier 4, passenger/cargo 2, refrigerated cargo 2 foreign-owned: 6 (India 4, Switzerland 2) (2005)	total: 122 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 446,981 GRT/636,620 DWT by type: bulk 12, cargo 101, container 2, livestock carrier 4, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 1 foreign-owned: Egypt 1, Germany 1, Greece 1, Italy 1, Lebanon 10, Romania 1 registered in other countries: 83 (2004 est.)
Military branches	National Police Force (includes the paramilitary Special Mobile Force or SMF and National Coast Guard)	Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Navy, Syrian Arab Air Force (including Air Defense Command), Police and Security Force
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$12.5 million (2004)	$858 million (FY00 est.); note - based on official budget data that may understate actual spending
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	0.2% (2004)	5.9% (FY00)
Military manpower - availability	-	males age 15-49: 4,876,040 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service	-	males age 15-49: 2,716,054 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually	-	males: 216,077 (2004 est.)
National holiday	Independence Day, 12 March (1968)	Independence Day, 17 April (1946)
Nationality	noun: Mauritian(s) adjective: Mauritian	noun: Syrian(s) adjective: Syrian
Natural hazards	cyclones (November to April); almost completely surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards	dust storms, sandstorms
Natural resources	arable land, fish	petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower
Net migration rate	-0.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Pipelines	-	gas 2,300 km; oil 2,183 km (2004)
Political parties and leaders	Hizbullah [Cehl Mohamed FAKEEMEEAH]; Mauritian Labor Party or MLP [Navinchandra RAMGOOLAM]; Mauritian Militant Movement or MMM [Paul BERENGER] - in coalition with MSM; Mauritian Social Democrat Party or PMSD [Charles Xavier-Luc DUVAL]; Militant Socialist Movement or MSM [Pravind JUGNAUTH] - governing party; Rodrigues Movement or MR [Joseph (Nicholas) Von MALLY]; Rodrigues Peoples Organization or OPR [Serge CLAIR]	National Progressive Front or NPF (includes Arab Socialist Renaissance (Ba'th) Party; the governing party) [President Bashar al-ASAD, secretary general]; Socialist Unionist Democratic Party [Fadlallal Nasr Al-DIN]; Syrian Communist Party (two branches) [Wissal Farha BAKDASH, Yuusuf Rashid FAYSAL]; Unionist Socialist Party [Fayez ISMAIL]; Arab Socialist Unionist Movement [Ahmed al-AHMED]; Syrian Arab Socialist Party or ASP [Safwan QUDSI]); Syrian Social National Party [Jubran URAYJI]
Political pressure groups and leaders	various labor unions	conservative religious leaders; Kurdish Democratic Alliance [leader NA]; Kurdish Democratic Front [lader NA]; Muslim Brotherhood (operates in exile in London) [Ali Badr Eddine al-BAYANOUNI]; National Democratic Front [Hassan Abd al-AZIM]
Population	1,230,602 (July 2005 est.)	18,016,874 note: in addition, about 40,000 people live in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - 20,000 Arabs (18,000 Druze and 2,000 Alawites) and about 20,000 Israeli settlers (July 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line	10% (2001 est.)	20% (2003 est.)
Population growth rate	0.84% (2005 est.)	2.4% (2004 est.)
Ports and harbors	Port Louis	Baniyas, Jablah, Latakia, Tartus
Radio broadcast stations	AM 4, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2002)	AM 14, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998)
Railways	-	total: 2,711 km standard gauge: 2,460 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 251 km 1.050-m gauge (2003)
Religions	Hindu 48%, Roman Catholic 23.6%, other Christian 8.6%, Muslim 16.6%, other 2.5%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.4% (2000 census)	Sunni Muslim 74%, Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim sects 16%, Christian (various sects) 10%, Jewish (tiny communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo)
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.65 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2005 est.)	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: small system with good service domestic: primarily microwave radio relay trunk system international: country code - 230; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); new microwave link to Reunion; HF radiotelephone links to several countries; fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia	general assessment: fair system currently undergoing significant improvement and digital upgrades, including fiber-optic technology domestic: coaxial cable and microwave radio relay network international: country code - 963; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); 1 submarine cable; coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey; participant in Medarabtel
Telephones - main lines in use	348,200 (2003)	2,099,300 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	462,400 (2003)	400,000 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	2 (plus several repeaters) (1997)	44 (plus 17 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain	small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains encircling central plateau	primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west
Total fertility rate	1.96 children born/woman (2005 est.)	3.61 children born/woman (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate	10.8% (2004 est.)	20% (2002 est.)
Waterways	-	900 km (not economically significant) (2002)

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