Mexico (2003) | Turkmenistan (2004) | |
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Administrative divisions | 31 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Colima, Distrito Federal*, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro de Arteaga, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz-Llave, Yucatan, Zacatecas | 5 provinces (welayatlar, singular - welayat): Ahal Welayaty (Ashgabat), Balkan Welayaty (Balkanabat), Dashoguz Welayaty, Lebap Welayaty (Turkmenabat), Mary Welayaty
note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 32.3% (male 17,298,964; female 16,617,728)
15-64 years: 63.1% (male 32,217,513; female 33,932,603) 65 years and over: 4.6% (male 2,145,252; female 2,695,931) (2003 est.) |
0-14 years: 36.2% (male 904,627; female 857,601)
15-64 years: 59.7% (male 1,423,836; female 1,477,224) 65 years and over: 4.1% (male 76,670; female 123,211) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products | cotton, grain; livestock |
Airports | 1,823 (2002) | 69 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 231
over 3,047 m: 11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 28 1,524 to 2,437 m: 83 914 to 1,523 m: 82 under 914 m: 27 (2002) |
total: 24
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 12 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1,592
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 69 914 to 1,523 m: 454 under 914 m: 1,067 (2002) |
total: 45
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 36 (2003 est.) |
Area | total: 1,972,550 sq km
land: 1,923,040 sq km water: 49,510 sq km |
total: 488,100 sq km
land: 488,100 sq km water: negl. |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Texas | slightly larger than California |
Background | The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in over half a century. The nation continues to make an impressive recovery. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that the opposition defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) was sworn in on 1 December 2000 as the first chief executive elected in free and fair elections. | Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1924. It achieved its independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. President NIYAZOV retains absolute control over the country and opposition is not tolerated. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects were to be expanded. The Turkmenistan Government is actively seeking to develop alternative petroleum transportation routes in order to break Russia's pipeline monopoly. |
Birth rate | 21.92 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 27.82 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $136 billion
expenditures: $140 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
revenues: $3.477 billion
expenditures: $3.908 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.) |
Capital | Mexico (Distrito Federal) | Ashgabat |
Climate | varies from tropical to desert | subtropical desert |
Coastline | 9,330 km | 0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km) |
Constitution | 5 February 1917 | adopted 18 May 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form: United Mexican States
conventional short form: Mexico local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos local short form: Mexico |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Turkmenistan local long form: none local short form: Turkmenistan former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic |
Currency | Mexican peso (MXN) | Turkmen manat (TMM) |
Death rate | 4.97 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 8.82 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $150 billion (2000 est.) | $2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio O. GARZA
embassy: Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico, Distrito Federal mailing address: P. O. Box 9000, Brownsville, TX 78520-0900 telephone: [52] (55) 5080-2000 FAX: [52] (55) 5080-2005, 5080-2834 consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nuevo Laredo, Nogales |
chief of mission: Ambassador Tracey A. JACOBSON
embassy: 9 Pushkin (1984) Street, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 774000 mailing address: 7070 Ashgabat Place, Washington, D.C. 20521-7070 telephone: [9] (9312) 35-00-45 FAX: [9] (9312) 39-26-14 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Juan Jose BREMER Martino
chancery: 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006 telephone: [1] (202) 728-1600 FAX: [1] (202) 728-1698 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Laredo (Texas), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Nogales (Arizona), Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Juan (Puerto Rico) consulate(s): Albuquerque, Brownsville (Texas), Calexico (California), Corpus Christi, Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Douglas (Arizona), Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Indianapolis (Indiana), Las Vegas, McAllen (Texas), Midland (Texas), Omaha, Orlando, Oxnard (California), Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), Presidio (Texas), Raleigh, Saint Louis, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Santa Ana (California), Seattle, Tucson, Yuma (Arizona) |
chief of mission: Ambassador Mered Bairamovich ORAZOV
chancery: 2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 588-1500 FAX: [1] (202) 588-0697 |
Disputes - international | prolonged regional drought in the border region with the US has strained water-sharing arrangements | prolonged regional drought created water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan reached an agreement on improving water usage along the Amu Darya in 2004; delimitation of Caspian seabed remains unresolved |
Economic aid - recipient | $1.166 billion (1995) | $16 million from the US (2001) |
Economy - overview | Mexico has a free market economy with a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. Recent administrations have expanded competition in seaports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity, natural gas distribution, and airports. Income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the US and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. Following 6.9% growth in 2000, real GDP fell 0.3% in 2001, recovering to only a plus 1% in 2002, with the US slowdown the principal cause. Mexico implemented free trade agreements with Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and the European Free Trade Area in 2001, putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements. Foreign direct investment reached $25 billion in 2001, of which $12.5 billion came from the purchase of Mexico's second-largest bank, Banamex, by Citigroup. | Turkmenistan is largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton, making it at one time the world's tenth-largest producer. Poor harvests in recent years have led to a nearly 46% decline in cotton exports. With an authoritarian ex-Communist regime in power and a tribally based social structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient economy. Privatization goals remain limited. In 1998-2003, Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time, however, total exports rose by 38% in 2003, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty, the burden of foreign debt, and the unwillingness of the government to adopt market-oriented reforms. However, Turkmenistan's cooperation with the international community in transporting humanitarian aid to Afghanistan may foreshadow a change in the atmosphere for foreign investment, aid, and technological support. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state secrets, and GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of error. In particular, the 20% rate of GDP growth is a guess. |
Electricity - consumption | 186.7 billion kWh (2001) | 8.509 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 77 million kWh (2001) | 980 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 2.068 billion kWh (2001) | 20 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 198.6 billion kWh (2001) | 10.18 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 78.7%
hydro: 14.2% nuclear: 4.2% other: 2.9% (2001) |
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Elevation extremes | lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m |
lowest point: Vpadina Akchanaya -81 m; note - Sarygamysh Koli is a lake in northern Turkmenistan with a water level that fluctuates above and below the elevation of Vpadina Akchanaya (the lake has dropped as low as -110 m)
highest point: Gora Ayribaba 3,139 m |
Environment - current issues | scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban migration; natural fresh water resources scarce and polluted in north, inaccessible and poor quality in center and extreme southeast; raw sewage and industrial effluents polluting rivers in urban areas; deforestation; widespread erosion; desertification; deteriorating agricultural lands; serious air and water pollution in the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border; land subsidence in Valley of Mexico caused by groundwater depletion
note: the government considers the lack of clean water and deforestation national security issues |
contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination, water-logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea; desertification |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1% | Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003) |
Exchange rates | Mexican pesos per US dollar - 9.66 (2002), 9.34 (2001), 9.46 (2000), 9.56 (1999), 9.14 (1998) | Turkmen manats per US dollar - 5,200 (2003), 5,200 (2002), 5,200 (2001), 5,200 (2000), 5,200 (1999);note - the official exchange rate has not varied for the last six years; the unofficial rate has fluctuated slightly, hovering around 21,000 manats to the dollar |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1 December 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1 December 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of attorney general requires consent of the Senate elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 2 July 2000 (next to be held NA July 2006) election results: Vicente FOX Quesada elected president; percent of vote - Vicente FOX Quesada (PAN) 42.52%, Francisco LABASTIDA Ochoa (PRI) 36.1%, Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (PRD) 16.64%, other 4.74% |
chief of state: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Saparmurat NIYAZOV (since 27 October 1990, when the first direct presidential election occurred); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president note: NIYAZOV's term in office was extended indefinitely on 28 December 1999 during a session of the People's Council (Halk Maslahaty) elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 June 1992 (next to be held in 2008 when NIYAZOV turns 70 and is constitutionally ineligible to run); note - President NIYAZOV was unanimously approved as president for life by the People's Council on 28 December 1999; deputy chairmen of the cabinet of ministers are appointed by the president election results: Saparmurat NIYAZOV elected president without opposition; percent of vote - Saparmurat NIYAZOV 99.5% |
Exports | 1.881 million bbl/day (2001) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton | gas 57%, oil 26%, cotton fiber 3%, textiles 2% (2001) |
Exports - partners | US 82.7%, Canada 5.4%, Japan 1.1% (2002) | Ukraine 39.2%, Italy 18.1%, Iran 14.7%, Turkey 6.5% (2003) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; the coat of arms (an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak) is centered in the white band | green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five carpet guls (designs used in producing rugs) stacked above two crossed olive branches similar to the olive branches on the UN flag; a white crescent moon and five white stars appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $924.4 billion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $27.88 billion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 5%
industry: 26% services: 69% (2001 est.) |
agriculture: 24.8%
industry: 46.2% services: 28.9% (2003 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $8,900 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $5,800 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 0.7% (2002 est.) | 23.1% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 23 00 N, 102 00 W | 40 00 N, 60 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location on southern border of US; corn (maize), one of the world's major grain crops, is thought to have originated in Mexico | landlocked; the western and central low-lying, desolate portions of the country make up the great Garagum (Kara-Kum) desert, which occupies over 80% of the country; eastern part is plateau |
Heliports | 2 (2002) | 1 (2003 est.) |
Highways | total: 329,532 km
paved: 108,087 km (including 6,429 km of expressways) unpaved: 221,445 km (1999 est.) |
total: 24,000 km
paved: 19,488 km unpaved: 4,512 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 41.1% (2001) |
lowest 10%: 2.6%
highest 10%: 31.7% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | illicit cultivation of opium poppy (cultivation in 2001 - 4,400 hectares; potential heroin production - 7 metric tons) and of cannabis (in 2001 - 4,100 hectares); government eradication efforts have been key in keeping illicit crop levels low; major supplier of heroin and largest foreign supplier of marijuana and methamphetamine to the US market; continues as the primary transshipment country for US-bound cocaine from South America; major drug syndicates control majority of drug trafficking throughout the country; growing producer and distributor of ecstasy; significant money-laundering center | transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and Western European markets; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan |
Imports | 374,700 bbl/day (2001) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts | machinery and equipment 60%, foodstuffs 15% (1999) |
Imports - partners | US 70.6%, Germany 3.5%, Japan 2.7% (2002) | Russia 21.5%, Ukraine 15.3%, Turkey 9.4%, UAE 7.6%, Germany 4.2%, China 4.2% (2003) |
Independence | 16 September 1810 (from Spain) | 27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | 4.9% (2002 est.) | 14% (2003 est.) |
Industries | food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism | natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing |
Infant mortality rate | total: 23.68 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 26.78 deaths/1,000 live births female: 20.43 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
total: 73.13 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 76.9 deaths/1,000 live births female: 69.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.4% (2002 est.) | 9.5% (2003 est.) |
International organization participation | APEC, BCIE, BIS, Caricom (observer), CDB, CE (observer), EBRD, ECLAC, FAO, G-3, G-6, G-15, G-19, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA (observer), IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM (observer), NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UNU, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 51 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 65,000 sq km (1998 est.) | 17,500 sq km (2003 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate) | Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president) |
Labor force | 39.8 million (2000) | 2.34 million (1996) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 20%, industry 24%, services 56% (1998) | agriculture 48%, industry 15%, services 37% (1998 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 4,353 km
border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km |
total: 3,736 km
border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km |
Land use | arable land: 13.2%
permanent crops: 1.1% other: 85.7% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 3.72%
permanent crops: 0.14% other: 96.14% (2001) |
Languages | Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages | Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7% |
Legal system | mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | based on civil law system |
Legislative branch | bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and 32 are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote) and the Federal Chamber of Deputies or Camara Federal de Diputados (500 seats; 300 members are directly elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; remaining 200 members are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote, also for three-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 2 July 2000 for all of the seats (next to be held NA 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 6 July 2003 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 60, PAN 46, PRD 15, PVEM 5, PT 1, CD 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 224, PAN 153, PRD 95, other 28 |
under the 1992 constitution, there are two parliamentary bodies, a unicameral People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (supreme legislative body of up to 2,500 delegates, some of which are elected by popular vote and some of which are appointed; meets at least yearly) and a unicameral Parliament or Mejlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: People's Council - last held in April 2003; Mejlis - last held 19 December 2004 (next to be held December 2009) election results: Mejlis - DPT 100%; seats by party - DPT 50; note - all 50 elected officials are members of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan and are preapproved by President NIYAZOV note: in late 2003, a new law was adopted, reducing the powers of the Mejlis and making the Halk Maslahaty the supreme legislative organ; the Halk Maslahaty can now legally dissolve the Mejlis, and the president is now able to participate in the Mejlis as its supreme leader; the Mejlis can no longer adopt or amend the constitution, or announce referendums or its elections; since the president is both the "Chairman for Life" of the Halk Maslahaty and the supreme leader of the Mejlis, the 2003 law has the effect of making him the sole authority of both the executive and legislative branches of government |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 72.3 years
male: 69.26 years female: 75.49 years (2003 est.) |
total population: 61.29 years
male: 57.87 years female: 64.88 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.2% male: 94% female: 90.5% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1989 est.) |
Location | Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between Belize and the US and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the US | Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan |
Map references | North America | Asia |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
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Merchant marine | total: 47 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 636,271 GRT/933,686 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 1, chemical tanker 4, combination ore/oil 1, liquefied gas 3, petroleum tanker 26, roll on/roll off 8, short-sea passenger 3 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Canada 2, Denmark 1 (2002 est.) |
total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,873 GRT/8,345 DWT
by type: combination ore/oil 1, petroleum tanker 1 registered in other countries: 2 (2004 est.) |
Military branches | National Defense Secretariat (SEDENA) (including Army and Air Force), Navy Secretariat (including Naval Air and Marines) | Ministry of Defense (Army, Air and Air Defense, Navy, Border Troops, and Internal Troops), National Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $4 billion (FY99) | $90 million (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1% (FY99) | 3.4% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 27,751,539 (2003 est.) | males age 15-49: 1,272,436 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 20,123,970 (2003 est.) | males age 15-49: 1,031,806 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age
note: starting in 2000, females were allowed to volunteer for military service (2003 est.) |
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Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 1,093,752 (2003 est.) | males: 55,866 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 16 September (1810) | Independence Day, 27 October (1991) |
Nationality | noun: Mexican(s)
adjective: Mexican |
noun: Turkmen(s)
adjective: Turkmen |
Natural hazards | tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts | NA |
Natural resources | petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber | petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt |
Net migration rate | -2.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | -0.86 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 28,200 km; petroleum products 10,150 km; natural gas 13,254 km; petrochemical 1,400 km | gas 6,549 km; oil 1,395 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Convergence for Democracy or CD [Dante DELGADO Ranauro]; Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI [Dulce Maria SAURI Riancho]; Mexican Green Ecological Party or PVEM [Jorge Emilio GONZALEZ Martinez]; National Action Party or PAN [Luis Felipe BRAVO Mena]; Party of the Democratic Revolution or PRD [Amalia GARCIA Medina]; Party of the Nationalist Society or PSN [Gustavo RIOJAS Santana]; Social Alliance Party or PAS [Guillermo CALDERON Dominguez]; Workers Party or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez] | Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT [Saparmurat NIYAZOV]
note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements exist underground or in foreign countries; the two most prominent opposition groups-in-exile have been Gundogar and Erkin; Gundogar was led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHMURADOV until his arrest and imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 assassination attempt on President NIYAZOV; Erkin is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV and is based out of Moscow; the Union of Democratic Forces, a coalition of opposition-in-exile groups, is based in Europe |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic or COPARMEX; Confederation of Industrial Chambers or CONCAMIN; Confederation of Mexican Workers or CTM; Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce or CONCANACO; Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations or COECE; Federation of Unions Providing Goods and Services or FESEBES; National Chamber of Transformation Industries or CANACINTRA; National Peasant Confederation or CNC; National Union of Workers or UNT; Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers or CROM; Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants or CROC; Roman Catholic Church | NA |
Population | 104,907,991 (July 2003 est.) | 4,863,169 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 40% (2001 est.) | 34.4% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.43% (2003 est.) | 1.81% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Acapulco, Altamira, Coatzacoalcos, Ensenada, Guaymas, La Paz, Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, Progreso, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Topolobampo, Tuxpan, Veracruz | Turkmenbasy |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 851, FM 598, shortwave 16 (2000) | AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Railways | total: 19,510 km
standard gauge: 19,510 km 1.435-m gauge (2002) |
total: 2,440 km
broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2003) |
Religions | nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5% | Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced) | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: low telephone density with about 12 main lines per 100 persons; privatized in December 1990; the opening to competition in January 1997 improved prospects for development
domestic: adequate telephone service for business and government, but the population is poorly served; domestic satellite system with 120 earth stations; extensive microwave radio relay network; considerable use of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, and mobile cellular service international: satellite earth stations - 32 Intelsat, 2 Solidaridad (giving Mexico improved access to South America, Central America, and much of the US as well as enhancing domestic communications), numerous Inmarsat mobile earth stations; linked to Central American Microwave System of trunk connections; high capacity Columbus-2 fiber-optic submarine cable with access to the US, Virgin Islands, Canary Islands, Morocco, Spain, and Italy (1997) |
general assessment: poorly developed
domestic: NA international: country code - 993; linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; a new telephone link from Ashgabat to Iran has been established; a new exchange in Ashgabat switches international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat |
Telephones - main lines in use | 12.332 million (2000) | 374,000 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2.02 million (1998) | 52,000 (2004) |
Television broadcast stations | 236 (plus repeaters) (1997) | 4 (government owned and programmed) (2004) |
Terrain | high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert | flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west |
Total fertility rate | 2.53 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 3.45 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | urban - 3% plus considerable underemployment (2002) | NA |
Waterways | 2,900 km
note: navigable rivers and coastal canals |
1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland waterways) (2003) |