Mexico (2005) | French Guiana (2001) | |
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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 | none (overseas department of France) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 31.1% (male 16,844,400/female 16,159,511)
15-64 years: 63.3% (male 32,521,043/female 34,704,093) 65 years and over: 5.6% (male 2,715,010/female 3,258,846) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years:
30.47% (male 27,669; female 26,428) 15-64 years: 64.05% (male 61,457; female 52,266) 65 years and over: 5.48% (male 4,937; female 4,805) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products | rice, manioc (tapioca), sugar, cocoa, vegetables, bananas; cattle, pigs, poultry |
Airports | 1,833 (2004 est.) | 11 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 233
over 3,047 m: 12 2,438 to 3,047 m: 28 1,524 to 2,437 m: 84 914 to 1,523 m: 80 under 914 m: 29 (2004 est.) |
total:
4 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1,600
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: 1,075 (2004 est.) |
total:
7 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 5 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 1,972,550 sq km
land: 1,923,040 sq km water: 49,510 sq km |
total:
91,000 sq km land: 89,150 sq km water: 1,850 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Texas | slightly smaller than Indiana |
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. | First settled by the French in 1604, French Guiana was the site of notorious penal settlements until 1951. The European Space Agency launches its communication satellites from Kourou. |
Birth rate | 21.01 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 22.02 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $160 billion
expenditures: $158 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
revenues:
$225 million expenditures: $390 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1996) |
Capital | Mexico (Distrito Federal) | Cayenne |
Climate | varies from tropical to desert | tropical; hot, humid; little seasonal temperature variation |
Coastline | 9,330 km | 378 km |
Constitution | 5 February 1917 | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) |
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:
Department of Guiana conventional short form: French Guiana local long form: none local short form: Guyane |
Currency | - | French franc (FRF); euro (EUR) |
Death rate | 4.73 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 4.77 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $149.9 billion (2004 est.) | $1.2 billion (1988) |
Dependency status | - | overseas department of France |
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) 5525-5040 consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nogales, Nuevo, Laredo |
none (overseas department of France) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Carlos Alberto de ICAZA Gonzalez
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 (Texas), Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Douglas (Arizona), Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Indianapolis (Indiana), Kansas City (Missouri), Las Vegas, McAllen (Texas), Midland (Texas), Omaha, Orlando, Oxnard (California), Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), Presidio (Texas), Raleigh, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Santa Ana (California), Seattle, Tucson, Yuma (Arizona) |
none (overseas department of France) |
Disputes - international | prolonged drought, population growth, and outmoded practices and infrastructure in the border region have strained water-sharing arrangements with the US; the US has stepped up efforts to stem nationals from Mexico, Central America, and other parts of the world from illegally crossing the border with Mexico | Suriname claims area between Riviere Litani and Riviere Marouini (both headwaters of the Lawa) |
Economic aid - recipient | $1.166 billion (1995) | $NA |
Economy - overview | Mexico has a free market economy that recently entered the trillion dollar class. It contains 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 generation, natural gas distribution, and airports. Per capita income is one-fourth that of the US; income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the US and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. Mexico has 12 free trade agreements with over 40 countries including, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the European Free Trade Area, and Japan, putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements. The government is cognizant of the need to upgrade infrastructure, modernize the tax system and labor laws, and provide incentives to invest in the energy sector, but progress is slow. | The economy is tied closely to that of France through subsidies and imports. Besides the French space center at Kourou, fishing and forestry are the most important economic activities. The large reserves of tropical hardwoods, not fully exploited, support an expanding sawmill industry which provides sawn logs for export. Cultivation of crops is limited to the coastal area, where the population is largely concentrated; rice and manioc are the major crops. French Guiana is heavily dependent on imports of food and energy. Unemployment is a serious problem, particularly among younger workers. |
Electricity - consumption | 189.7 billion kWh (2002) | 409.2 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 98.65 million kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 367.7 million kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 203.6 billion kWh (2002) | 440 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m |
lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Bellevue de l'Inini 851 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 |
NA |
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, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
- |
Ethnic groups | mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1% | black or mulatto 66%, white 12%, East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian 12%, other 10% |
Exchange rates | Mexican pesos per US dollar - 11.286 (2004), 10.789 (2003), 9.656 (2002), 9.342 (2001), 9.456 (2000) | Euros per US dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French francs per US dollar - 5.8995 (1998), 5.8367 (1997), 5.1155 (1996) |
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 2 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 Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Dominique VIAN (since NA January 1997) head of government: President of the General Council Andre LECANTE (since NA March 1998); President of the Regional Council Antoine KARAM (since 22 March 1992) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; presidents of the General and Regional Councils are appointed by the members of those councils |
Exports | 1.863 million bbl/day (2004) | $155 million (f.o.b., 1997) |
Exports - commodities | manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton | shrimp, timber, gold, rum, rosewood essence, clothing |
Exports - partners | US 87.6%, Canada 1.8%, Spain 1.1% (2004) | France 62%, Switzerland 7%, US 2% (1997) |
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 | the flag of France is used |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $1 billion (1998 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 4%
industry: 27.2% services: 68.9% (2004 est.) |
agriculture:
NA% industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $9,600 (2004 est.) | purchasing power parity - $6,000 (1998 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.1% (2004 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 23 00 N, 102 00 W | 4 00 N, 53 00 W |
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 | mostly an unsettled wilderness |
Heliports | 2 (2004 est.) | - |
Highways | total: 329,532 km
paved: 108,087 km (including 6,429 km of expressways) unpaved: 221,445 km (1999 est.) |
total:
1,817 km paved: 817 km unpaved: 1,000 km (1998) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 35.6% (2002) |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
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, accounting for about 70 percent of estimated annual cocaine movement to the US; major drug syndicates control majority of drug trafficking throughout the country; producer and distributor of ecstasy; significant money-laundering center | small amount of marijuana grown for local consumption; minor transshipment point to Europe |
Imports | 205,000 bbl/day (2004) | $625 million (c.i.f., 1997) |
Imports - commodities | metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts | food (grains, processed meat), machinery and transport equipment, fuels and chemicals |
Imports - partners | US 53.7%, China 7%, Japan 5.1% (2004) | France 52%, US 14%, Trinidad and Tobago 6% (1997) |
Independence | 16 September 1810 (from Spain) | none (overseas department of France) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.8% (2004 est.) | NA% |
Industries | food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism | construction, shrimp processing, forestry products, rum, gold mining |
Infant mortality rate | total: 20.91 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 22.85 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
13.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 5.4% (2004 est.) | 2.5% (1992) |
International organization participation | APEC, BCIE, BIS, CDB, CE (observer), EBRD, FAO, G-3, G-6, G-15, G-19, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM (observer), NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO | FZ, WCL, WFTU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 2 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 65,000 sq km (1998 est.) | 20 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia Nacional (justices or ministros are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate) | Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel (highest local court based in Martinique with jurisdiction over Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana) |
Labor force | 34.73 million (2004 est.) | 58,800 (1997) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 18%, industry 24%, services 58% (2003) | services, government, and commerce 60.6%, industry 21.2%, agriculture 18.2% (1980) |
Land boundaries | total: 4,353 km
border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km |
total:
1,183 km border countries: Brazil 673 km, Suriname 510 km |
Land use | arable land: 12.99%
permanent crops: 1.31% other: 85.7% (2001) |
arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 90% other: 10% (1996 est.) |
Languages | Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages | French |
Legal system | mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | French legal 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 2 July 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 6 July 2003 (next to be held 2 July 2006) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 60, PAN 46, PRD 16, PVEM 5, unassigned 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 222, PAN 151, PRD 95, PVEM 17, PT 6, CD 5, unassigned 4; note - special elections were held in December 2003; the PRI and the PRD each won one seat and were each assigned one additional proportional representation seat |
unicameral General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (31 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 Council - last held 15 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; Regional Council - percent of vote by party - PS 28.28%, various left parties 22.56%, RPR 15.91%, independents 8.6%, Walwari Committee 6%; seats by party - PS 11, various left parties 9, RPR 6, independents 3, Walwari Committee 2 note: one seat was elected to the French Senate on 27 September 1998 (next to be held NA September 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; 2 seats were elected to the French National Assembly on 25 May - 1 June 1997 (next to be held NA 2002); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - RPR 1, PSG 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 75.19 years
male: 72.42 years female: 78.1 years (2005 est.) |
total population:
76.3 years male: 72.97 years female: 79.79 years (2001 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: 83% male: 84% female: 82% (1982 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 | Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Brazil and Suriname |
Map references | North America | South America |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 57 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 649,389 GRT/942,766 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 6, chemical tanker 5, liquefied gas 5, passenger/cargo 9, petroleum tanker 26, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 4 (Denmark 1, Germany 1, UAE 1, United States 1) registered in other countries: 6 (2005) |
none (2000 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of France |
Military branches | Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena): Army and Air Force (FAM)
Secretariat of the Navy (Semar): Naval Air and Marines (2004) |
French Forces, Gendarmerie |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $6.043 billion (2004) | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.9% (2004) | NA% |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
49,495 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
32,052 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 16 September (1810) | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) |
Nationality | noun: Mexican(s)
adjective: Mexican |
noun:
French Guianese (singular and plural) adjective: French Guianese |
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 | high frequency of heavy showers and severe thunderstorms; flooding |
Natural resources | petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber | bauxite, timber, gold (widely scattered), cinnabar, kaolin, fish |
Net migration rate | -4.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 10.14 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 28,200 km; petroleum products 10,150 km; natural gas 13,254 km; petrochemical 1,400 km (2003) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Convergence for Democracy or CD [Dante DELGADO Ranauro]; Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI [Roberto MADRAZO Pintado]; 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 [Leonel GODOY]; Workers Party or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez] | Guianese Socialist Party or PSG [Antoine KARAM]; Guyana Democratic Forces or FDG [Georges OTHILY]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Roland HO-WEN-SZE]; Socialist Party or PS [Pierre RIBARDIERE] (may be a subset of PSG); Walwari Committee [Christine TAUBIRA-DELANON] |
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 | 106,202,903 (July 2005 est.) | 177,562 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 40% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.17% (2005 est.) | 2.74% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Altamira, Manzanillo, Morro Redondo, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Topolobampo, Veracruz | Cayenne, Degrad des Cannes, Saint-Laurent du Maroni |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 850, FM 545, shortwave 15 (2003) | AM 2, FM 14 (including 6 repeaters), shortwave 6 (including 5 repeaters) (1998) |
Radios | - | 104,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 17,634 km
standard gauge: 17,634 km 1.435-m gauge (2004) |
0 km (1995) |
Religions | nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5% | Roman Catholic |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.18 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.03 male(s)/female total population: 1.13 male(s)/female (2001 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 15.2 main lines per 100 persons; privatized in December 1990; the opening to competition in January 1997 improved prospects for development, but Telmex remains dominant
domestic: adequate telephone service for business and government, but the population is poorly served; mobile subscribers far outnumber fixed-line subscribers; domestic satellite system with 120 earth stations; extensive microwave radio relay network; considerable use of fiber-optic cable and coaxial cable international: country code - 52; 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:
NA domestic: fair open wire and microwave radio relay system international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 15,958,700 (2003) | 47,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 28.125 million (2003) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 236 (plus repeaters) (1997) | 3 (plus eight low-power repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert | low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains |
Total fertility rate | 2.45 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 3.17 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 3.2% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (2004 est.) | 21.4% (1998) |
Waterways | 2,900 km
note: navigable rivers and coastal canals (2004) |
3,300 km navigable by native craft
note: 460 km navigable by small oceangoing vessels and coastal and river steamers |