Compare Mauritius (2007) - Japan (2004)

Compare Mauritius (2007) z Japan (2004)

	Mauritius (2007)	Japan (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	47 prefectures; Aichi, Akita, Aomori, Chiba, Ehime, Fukui, Fukuoka, Fukushima, Gifu, Gumma, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Ishikawa, Iwate, Kagawa, Kagoshima, Kanagawa, Kochi, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Miyazaki, Nagano, Nagasaki, Nara, Niigata, Oita, Okayama, Okinawa, Osaka, Saga, Saitama, Shiga, Shimane, Shizuoka, Tochigi, Tokushima, Tokyo, Tottori, Toyama, Wakayama, Yamagata, Yamaguchi, Yamanashi
Age structure	0-14 years: 23.5% (male 147,808/female 146,270) 15-64 years: 69.8% (male 436,043/female 437,441) 65 years and over: 6.7% (male 32,475/female 50,845) (2007 est.)	0-14 years: 14.3% (male 9,337,867; female 8,876,996) 15-64 years: 66.7% (male 42,697,264; female 42,196,835) 65 years and over: 19% (male 10,169,190; female 14,054,850) (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products	sugarcane, tea, corn, potatoes, bananas, pulses; cattle, goats; fish	rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit, pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs, fish
Airports	5 (2007)	174 (2003 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 2 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2007)	total: 143 over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 37 1,524 to 2,437 m: 39 914 to 1,523 m: 28 under 914 m: 32 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2007)	total: 31 over 3047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 26 (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: 377,835 sq km land: 374,744 sq km water: 3,091 sq km note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto, Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto)
Area - comparative	almost 11 times the size of Washington, DC	slightly smaller than California
Background	Although known to Arab and Malay sailors as early as the 10th century, Mauritius was first explored by the Portuguese in 1505; it 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.	In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Following the Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States in 1854, Japan opened its ports and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1933 Japan occupied Manchuria and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America's entry into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia. After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic power and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s following three decades of unprecedented growth, but Japan still remains a major economic power, both in Asia and globally. In 2005, Japan began a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Birth rate	15.26 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	9.56 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Budget	revenues: $1.236 billion expenditures: $1.562 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)	revenues: $1.327 trillion expenditures: $1.646 trillion, including capital expenditures (public works only) of about $71 billion (2003 est.)
Capital	name: Port Louis geographic coordinates: 20 09 S, 57 29 E time difference: UTC+4 (9 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)	Tokyo
Climate	tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May)	varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north
Coastline	177 km	29,751 km
Constitution	12 March 1968; amended 12 March 1992	3 May 1947
Country name	conventional long form: Republic of Mauritius conventional short form: Mauritius local long form: Republic of Mauritius local short form: Mauritius	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Japan
Currency	-	yen (JPY)
Death rate	6.88 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	8.75 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Debt - external	$2.419 billion (2006 est.)	NA (2002 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, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2450 telephone: [230] 202-4400 FAX: [230] 208-9534	chief of mission: Ambassador Howard H. BAKER, Jr. embassy: 10-5 Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8420 mailing address: Unit 45004, Box 258, APO AP 96337-5004 telephone: [81] (03) 3224-5000 FAX: [81] (03) 3505-1862 consulate(s) general: Naha (Okinawa), Osaka-Kobe, Sapporo consulate(s): Fukuoka, Nagoya
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 Ryozo KATO chancery: 2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 238-6700 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2187 consulate(s) general: Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Hagatna (Guam), Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, and Seattle consulate(s): Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands)
Disputes - international	Mauritius claims the Chagos Archipelago (UK-administered British Indian Ocean Territory), and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius; claims French-administered Tromelin Island	The sovereignty dispute over the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan, and the Habomai group, known in Japan as the "Northern Territories" and in Russia as the "Southern Kuril Islands", occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia and claimed by Japan, remains the primary sticking point to signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II hostilities; intensified media coverage and protests highlight dispute over the fishing-rich Liancourt Rocks (Tok-do/Take-shima) also claimed by South Korea; China and Taiwan have intensified their claims to the Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Tai) administered by Japan
Economic aid - donor	-	ODA, $7 billion (FY03/04)
Economic aid - recipient	$31.93 million (2005)	-
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).	Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic, mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation (1% of GDP) helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank of second most technologically-powerful economy in the world after the US and third-largest economy after the US and China. One notable characteristic of the economy is the working together of manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in closely-knit groups called keiretsu. A second basic feature has been the guarantee of lifetime employment for a substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now eroding. Industry, the most important sector of the economy, is heavily dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The much smaller agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields among the highest in the world. Usually self-sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50% of its requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the world's largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth had been spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s, averaging just 1.7%, largely because of the after effects of overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary domestic policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth have met with little success and were further hampered in 2000-2003 by the slowing of the US, European, and Asian economies. Japan's huge government debt, which totals more than 150% of GDP, and the ageing of the population are two major long-run problems. Robotics constitutes a key long-term economic strength with Japan possessing 410,000 of the world's 720,000 "working robots." Internal conflict over the proper way to reform the ailing banking system continues.
Electricity - consumption	1.973 billion kWh (2005)	964.2 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2005)	0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - production	2.122 billion kWh (2005)	1.037 trillion kWh (2001)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Piton 828 m	lowest point: Hachiro-gata -4 m highest point: Mount Fuji 3,776 m
Environment - current issues	water pollution, degradation of coral reefs	air pollution from power plant emissions results in acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of the largest consumers of fish and tropical timber, contributing to the depletion of these resources in Asia and elsewhere
Environment - international agreements	party to: Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, 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: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
Ethnic groups	Indo-Mauritian 68%, Creole 27%, Sino-Mauritian 3%, Franco-Mauritian 2%	Japanese 99%, others 1% (Korean 511,262, Chinese 244,241, Brazilian 182,232, Filipino 89,851, other 237,914) note: up to 230,000 Brazilians of Japanese origin migrated to Japan in the 1990s to work in industries; some have returned to Brazil (2004)
Exchange rates	Mauritian rupees per US dollar - 31.656 (2006), 29.496 (2005), 27.499 (2004), 27.902 (2003), 29.962 (2002)	yen per US dollar - 115.933 (2003), 125.388 (2002), 121.529 (2001), 107.765 (2000), 113.907 (1999)
Executive branch	chief of state: President Sir Anerood JUGNAUTH (since 7 October 2003); Vice President Abdool Raouf BUNDHUN (since 25 February 2002) head of government: Prime Minister Navinchandra RAMGOOLAM (since 5 July 2005) 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 (eligible for a second term); election last held 25 February 2002 (next to be held in 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: Emperor AKIHITO (since 7 January 1989) head of government: Prime Minister Junichiro KOIZUMI (since 26 April 2001) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister elections: Diet designates prime minister; constitution requires that prime minister commands parliamentary majority; following legislative elections, leader of majority party or leader of majority coalition in House of Representatives usually becomes prime minister; monarch is hereditary
Exports	NA bbl/day	93,360 bbl/day (2001)
Exports - commodities	clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flowers, molasses	motor vehicles, semiconductors, office machinery, chemicals
Exports - partners	UK 32.5%, France 15.1%, UAE 11.4%, US 8.3%, Madagascar 4.8% (2006)	US 24.8%, China 12.1%, South Korea 7.3%, Taiwan 6.6%, Hong Kong 6.3% (2003)
Fiscal year	1 July - 30 June	1 April - 31 March
Flag description	four equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, yellow, and green	white with a large red disk (representing the sun without rays) in the center
GDP	-	purchasing power parity - $3.582 trillion (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 5.2% industry: 25.2% services: 69.6% (2006 est.)	agriculture: 1.3% industry: 25.4% services: 73.3% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $28,200 (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	5% (2006 est.)	2.7% (2003 est.)
Geographic coordinates	20 17 S, 57 33 E	36 00 N, 138 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	strategic location in northeast Asia
Heliports	-	15 (2003 est.)
Highways	-	total: 1,161,894 km paved: 534,471 km (including 6,455 km of expressways) unpaved: 627,423 km (1999)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	lowest 10%: 4.8% highest 10%: 21.7% (1993)
Illicit drugs	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	-
Imports	NA bbl/day	5.449 million bbl/day (2001)
Imports - commodities	manufactured goods, capital equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals	machinery and equipment, fuels, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, raw materials (2001)
Imports - partners	France 14.3%, India 13.6%, China 8.6%, South Africa 7.3% (2006)	China 19.7%, US 15.6%, South Korea 4.7%, Indonesia 4.3% (2003)
Independence	12 March 1968 (from UK)	660 BC (traditional founding by Emperor Jimmu)
Industrial production growth rate	8% (2000 est.)	3.3% (2003 est.)
Industries	food processing (largely sugar milling), textiles, clothing, mining, chemicals, metal products, transport equipment, nonelectrical machinery, tourism	among world's largest and technologically advanced producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods
Infant mortality rate	total: 14.14 deaths/1,000 live births male: 16.72 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	total: 3.28 deaths/1,000 live births male: 3.54 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	8.9% (2006 est.)	-0.3% (2003 est.)
International organization participation	ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO	AfDB, APEC, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EBRD, FAO, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA, MIGA, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner), Paris Club, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UNRWA, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
Irrigated land	220 sq km (2003)	26,790 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	Supreme Court	Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the monarch after designation by the cabinet; all other justices are appointed by the cabinet)
Labor force	541,000 (2006 est.)	66.66 million (2003)
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 5%, industry 25%, services 70% (2002 est.)
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 49.02% permanent crops: 2.94% other: 48.04% (2005)	arable land: 12.19% permanent crops: 0.96% other: 86.85% (2001)
Languages	Creole 80.5%, Bhojpuri 12.1%, French 3.4%, English (official; spoken by less than 1% of the population), other 3.7%, unspecified 0.3% (2000 census)	Japanese
Legal system	based on French civil law system with elements of English common law in certain areas; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations	modeled after European civil law system with English-American influence; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Legislative branch	unicameral National Assembly (70 seats; 62 members elected by popular vote, 8 appointed by the election commission to give representation to various ethnic minorities; to serve five-year terms) elections: last held on 3 July 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - AS 38, MSM/MMM 22, OPR 2; appointed seats - AS 4, MSM/MMM 2, OPR 2	bicameral Diet or Kokkai consists of the House of Councillors or Sangi-in (242 seats - members elected for six-year terms; half reelected every three years; 144 members in multi-seat constituencies and 98 by proportional representation); House of Representatives or Shugi-in (480 seats - members elected for four-year terms; 300 in single-seat constituencies; 180 members by proportional representation in 11 regional blocs) elections: House of Councillors - last held 11 July 2004 (next to be held in July 2007); House of Representatives - last held 9 November 2003 (next election by November 2007) election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LDP 115, DPJ 82, Komeito 24, JCP 9, SDP 5, others 7; distribution of seats as of October 2004 - LDP 114, DPJ 84, Komeito 24, JCP 9, SDP 5, others 6 House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - LDP 49.38%, DPJ 36.88%, Komeito 7.09%, JCP 1.88%, SDP 1.25%, NCP .84%; seats by party - LDP 237, DPJ 177, Komeito 34, JCP 9, SDP 6, NCP 4, others 13; distribution of seats as of December 2004: LDP 249, DPJ 177, Komeito 34, JCP 9, SDP 6, others 3, vacant 2 note: Liberal Party merged with Democratic Party of Japan in September 2003; Conservative New Party merged with Liberal Democratic Party following election in November 2003 (2004)
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 72.88 years male: 68.92 years female: 76.9 years (2007 est.)	total population: 81.04 years male: 77.74 years female: 84.51 years (2004 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 84.4% male: 88.4% female: 80.5% (2000 census)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2002)
Location	Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar	Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
Map references	Political Map of the World	Asia
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; between 3 nm and 12 nm in the international straits - La Perouse or Soya, Tsugaru, Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	total: 5 ships (1000 GRT or over) 19,417 GRT/19,700 DWT by type: bulk carrier 2, passenger/cargo 2, refrigerated cargo 1 foreign-owned: 2 (India 2) (2007)	total: 568 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 10,149,196 GRT/12,680,544 DWT by type: bulk 113, cargo 39, chemical tanker 18, combination bulk 31, combination ore/oil 1, container 14, liquefied gas 53, passenger 8, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 170, refrigerated cargo 6, roll on/roll off 58, short-sea/passenger 7, vehicle carrier 49 foreign-owned: China 1, Panama 1, Philippines 1, Singapore 1 registered in other countries: 1,989 (2004 est.)
Military branches	no regular military forces; National Police Force, Special Mobile Force, National Coast Guard (2007)	Ground Self-Defense Force (Army), Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy), Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force), Coast Guard
Military expenditures - dollar figure	-	$42,488.1 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	0.3% (2006 est.)	1% (2003)
Military manpower - availability	-	males age 15-49: 29,179,095 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service	-	males age 15-49: 25,189,438 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually	-	males: 700,931 (2004 est.)
National holiday	Independence Day, 12 March (1968)	Birthday of Emperor AKIHITO, 23 December (1933)
Nationality	noun: Mauritian(s) adjective: Mauritian	noun: Japanese (singular and plural) adjective: Japanese
Natural hazards	cyclones (November to April); almost completely surrounded by reefs that may pose maritime hazards	many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis; typhoons
Natural resources	arable land, fish	negligible mineral resources, fish
Net migration rate	-0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Pipelines	-	gas 2,719 km; oil 170 km; oil/gas/water 60 km (2004)
Political parties and leaders	Alliance Sociale or AS; 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 (the governing party) [Pravind JUGNAUTH]; Rodrigues Movement or MR [Joseph (Nicholas) Von MALLY]; Rodrigues Peoples Organization or OPR [Serge CLAIR]	Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Katsuya OKADA, leader; Tatsuo KAWABATA, secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo SHII, chairman; Tadayoshi ICHIDA, secretary general]; Komeito [Takenori KANZAKI, president; Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Junichiro KOIZUMI, president; Tsutomu TAKEBE, secretary general]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Mizuho FUKUSHIMA, chairperson; Seiji MATAICHI, secretary general]
Political pressure groups and leaders	various labor unions	NA
Population	1,250,882 (July 2007 est.)	127,333,002 (July 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line	10% (2001 est.)	NA
Population growth rate	0.798% (2007 est.)	0.08% (2004 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Akita, Amagasaki, Chiba, Hachinohe, Hakodate, Higashi-Harima, Himeji, Hiroshima, Kawasaki, Kinuura, Kobe, Kushiro, Mizushima, Moji, Nagoya, Osaka, Sakai, Sakaide, Shimizu, Tokyo, Tomakomai
Radio broadcast stations	AM 4, FM 9, shortwave 0 (2001)	AM 215 plus 370 repeaters, FM 89 plus 485 repeaters, shortwave 21 (2001)
Railways	-	total: 23,705 km (16,519 km electrified) standard gauge: 3,204 km 1.435-m gauge (3,204 km electrified) narrow gauge: 77 km 1.372-m gauge (77 km electrified); 20,393 km 1.067-m gauge (13,227 km electrified); 11 km 0.762-m gauge (11 km electrified) (2003)
Religions	Hindu 48%, Roman Catholic 23.6%, Muslim 16.6%, other Christian 8.6%, other 2.5%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.4% (2000 census)	observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including Christian 0.7%)
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.011 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.997 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.639 male(s)/female total population: 0.971 male(s)/female (2007 est.)	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	20 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: excellent domestic and international service domestic: high level of modern technology and excellent service of every kind international: country code - 81; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region), and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); submarine cables to China, Philippines, Russia, and US (via Guam) (1999)
Telephones - main lines in use	357,300 (2006)	71.149 million (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	772,400 (2006)	86,658,600 (2003)
Television broadcast stations	2 (plus several repeaters) (1997)	211 plus 7,341 repeaters note: in addition, US Forces are served by 3 TV stations and 2 TV cable services (1999)
Terrain	small coastal plain rising to discontinuous mountains encircling central plateau	mostly rugged and mountainous
Total fertility rate	1.94 children born/woman (2007 est.)	1.38 children born/woman (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate	9.4% (2006 est.)	5.3% (2003)
Waterways	-	1,770 km (seagoing vessels use inland seas) (2004)

Sitemap: Compare countries listing (map site) | Country listing (map site)
Links: Add to favorites | Information about this website | Stats | Polityka prywatnosci
This page was generated in ##czas## s. Size this page: ##rozmiar_strony## kB.