Mongolia (2001) | Equatorial Guinea (2004) | |
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Administrative divisions | 18 provinces (aymguud, singular - aymag) and 3 municipalities* (hotuud, singular - hot); Arhangay, Bayanhongor, Bayan-Olgiy, Bulgan, Darhan*, Dornod, Dornogovi, Dundgovi, Dzavhan, Erdenet*, Govi-Altay, Hentiy, Hovd, Hovsgol, Omnogovi, Ovorhangay, Selenge, Suhbaatar, Tov, Ulaanbaatar*, Uvs
note: there may be a new province named Gobi-Sumber; further, there may now be 21 provinces and 1 capital city instead of 18 provinces and 3 municipalities |
7 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Annobon, Bioko Norte, Bioko Sur, Centro Sur, Kie-Ntem, Litoral, Wele-Nzas |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
32.99% (male 445,252; female 430,758) 15-64 years: 63.13% (male 837,771; female 838,384) 65 years and over: 3.88% (male 44,436; female 58,398) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 42% (male 110,268; female 109,222)
15-64 years: 54.3% (male 136,370; female 147,431) 65 years and over: 3.8% (male 8,745; female 11,015) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | wheat, barley, potatoes, forage crops; sheep, goats, cattle, camels, horses | coffee, cocoa, rice, yams, cassava (tapioca), bananas, palm oil nuts; livestock; timber |
Airports | 34 (2000 est.) | 3 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
8 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 less than 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
26 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 5 (2000 est.) |
total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
1.565 million sq km land: 1.565 million sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 28,051 sq km
land: 28,051 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Alaska | slightly smaller than Maryland |
Background | Long a province of China, Mongolia won its independence in 1921 with Soviet backing. A communist regime was installed in 1924. During the early 1990s, the ex-communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) gradually yielded its monopoly on power. In 1996, the Democratic Union Coalition (DUC) defeated the MPRP in a national election. Over the next four years the Coalition implemented a number of key reforms to modernize the economy and institutionalize democratic reforms. However, the former communists were a strong opposition that stalled additional reforms and made implementation difficult. In 2000, the MPRP won 72 of the 76 seats in Parliament and completely reshuffled the government. While it continues many of the reform policies, the MPRP is focusing on social welfare and public order priorities. | Equatorial Guinea gained independence in 1968 after 190 years of Spanish rule. This tiny country, composed of a mainland portion plus five inhabited islands, is one of the smallest on the African continent. President OBIANG NGUEM MBASOGO has ruled the country for over two decades since seizing power from his uncle, then President MACIAS, in a 1979 coup. Although nominally a constitutional democracy since 1991, the 1996 and 2002 presidential elections - as well as the 1999 legislative elections - were widely seen as being flawed. The president controls most opposition parties through the judicious use of patronage. Despite the country's economic windfall from oil production resulting in a massive increase in government revenue in recent years, there have been few improvements in the country's living standards. |
Birth rate | 21.8 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 36.56 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$262 million expenditures: $328 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $708.5 million
expenditures: $317.6 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.) |
Capital | Ulaanbaatar | Malabo |
Climate | desert; continental (large daily and seasonal temperature ranges) | tropical; always hot, humid |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 296 km |
Constitution | 12 February 1992 | approved by national referendum 17 November 1991; amended January 1995 |
Country name | conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Mongolia local long form: none local short form: Mongol Uls former: Outer Mongolia |
conventional long form: Republic of Equatorial Guinea
conventional short form: Equatorial Guinea local long form: Republica de Guinea Ecuatorial local short form: Guinea Ecuatorial former: Spanish Guinea |
Currency | togrog/tugrik (MNT) | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XAF); note - responsible authority is the Bank of the Central African States |
Death rate | 7.1 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 12.27 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $760 million (2000 est.) | $248 million (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador John DINGER embassy: inner north side of the Big Ring, just west of the Selbe Gol, Ulaanbaatar mailing address: United States Embassy in Mongolia, P. O. Box 1021, Ulaanbaatar 13; PSC 461, Box 300, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [976] (11) 329095 FAX: [976] (11) 320776 |
the US does not have an embassy in Equatorial Guinea (embassy closed September 1995); the US ambassador to Cameroon is accredited to Equatorial Guinea; the US State Department is considering opening a Consulate Agency in Malabo |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Jalbuugiyn CHOINHOR chancery: 2833 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 333-7117 FAX: [1] (202) 298-9227 consulate(s) general: New York |
chief of mission: Ambassador Teodoro Biyogo NSUE
chancery: 2020 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 518-5700 FAX: [1] (202) 518-5252 |
Disputes - international | none | in 2002, ICJ ruled on an equidistance settlement of Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea, but a dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River, imprecisely defined coordinates in the ICJ decision, and the unresolved Bakasi allocation contribute to the delay in implementation; creation of a maritime boundary in hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay with Gabon is hampered by dispute over Mbane Island, administered and occupied by Gabon since the 1970s |
Economic aid - recipient | $200 million (1998 est.) | $33.8 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | Economic activity traditionally has been based on agriculture and breeding of livestock. Mongolia also has extensive mineral deposits: copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production. Soviet assistance, at its height one-third of GDP, disappeared almost overnight in 1990-91, at the time of the dismantlement of the USSR. Mongolia was driven into deep recession, which was prolonged by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party's (MPRP) reluctance to undertake serious economic reform. The Democratic Coalition (DC) government has embraced free-market economics, easing price controls, liberalizing domestic and international trade, and attempting to restructure the banking system and the energy sector. Major domestic privatization programs were undertaken, as well as the fostering of foreign investment through international tender of the oil distribution company, a leading cashmere company, and banks. Reform was held back by the ex-communist MPRP opposition and by the political instability brought about through four successive governments under the DC. Economic growth picked up in 1997-99 after stalling in 1996 due to a series of natural disasters and declines in world prices of copper and cashmere. In August and September 1999, the economy suffered from a temporary Russian ban on exports of oil and oil products, and Mongolia remains vulnerable in this sector. Mongolia joined the World Trade Organization (WTrO) in 1997. The international donor community pledged over $300 million per year at the last Consultative Group Meeting, held in Ulaanbaatar in June 1999. The MPRP government, elected in July 2000, is anxious to improve the investment climate; it must also deal with a heavy burden of external debt. | The discovery and exploitation of large oil reserves have contributed to dramatic economic growth in recent years. Forestry, farming, and fishing are also major components of GDP. Subsistence farming predominates. Although pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard currency earnings, the neglect of the rural economy under successive regimes has diminished potential for agriculture-led growth (the government has stated its intention to reinvest some oil revenue into agriculture). A number of aid programs sponsored by the World Bank and the IMF have been cut off since 1993 because of corruption and mismanagement. No longer eligible for concessional financing because of large oil revenues, the government has been unsuccessfully trying to agree on a "shadow" fiscal management program with the World Bank and IMF. Businesses, for the most part, are owned by government officials and their family members. Undeveloped natural resources include titanium, iron ore, manganese, uranium, and alluvial gold. Growth will remain strong in 2004, led by oil. |
Electricity - consumption | 2.767 billion kWh (1999) | 21.91 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 80 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 363 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 2.671 billion kWh (1999) | 23.56 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Hoh Nuur 518 m highest point: Nayramadlin Orgil (Huyten Orgil) 4,374 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pico Basile 3,008 m |
Environment - current issues | limited natural fresh water resources in some areas; policies of the former communist regime promoting rapid urbanization and industrial growth have raised concerns about their negative effects on the environment; the burning of soft coal in power plants and the lack of enforcement of environmental laws have severely polluted the air in Ulaanbaatar; deforestation, overgrazing, the converting of virgin land to agricultural production have increased soil erosion from wind and rain; desertification and mining activities have also had a deleterious effect on the environment | tap water is not potable; deforestation |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Mongol (predominantly Khalkha) 85%, Turkic (of which Kazakh is the largest group) 7%, Tungusic 4.6%, other (including Chinese and Russian) 3.4% (1998) | Bioko (primarily Bubi, some Fernandinos), Rio Muni (primarily Fang), Europeans less than 1,000, mostly Spanish |
Exchange rates | togrogs/tugriks per US dollar - 1,097.00 (December 2000), 1,076.67 (2000), 1,072.37 (1999), 840.83 (1998), 789.99 (1997), 548.40 (1996) | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 581.2 (2003), 696.988 (2002), 733.039 (2001), 711.976 (2000), 615.699 (1999) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Natsagiyn BAGABANDI (since 20 June 1997) head of government: Prime Minister Nambaryn ENKHBAYAR (since 26 July 2000) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the State Great Hural in consultation with the president elections: president nominated by parties in the State Great Hural and elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 20 May 2001 (next to be held NA May 2005); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by the State Great Hural; election last held 2 July 2000 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: Natsagiyn BAGABANDI reelected president; percent of vote - NA%; Nambaryn ENKHBAYAR elected prime minister by a vote in the State Great Hural of 68 to 3 |
chief of state: President Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO (since 3 August 1979 when he seized power in a military coup)
head of government: Prime Minister Miguel Abia BITEO BORICO (since 14 June 2004); First Deputy Prime Minister Miguel OYONO NDONG (since NA January 1998); Deputy Prime Minister Demetrio Elo NDONG NZE FUMU (since NA January 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 15 December 2002 (next to be held NA December 2009); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO reelected president; percent of vote - Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO 97.1%, Celestino Bonifacio BACALE 2.2%; elections marred by widespread fraud |
Exports | $454.3 million (f.o.b., 1999) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | copper, livestock, animal products, cashmere, wool, hides, fluorspar, other nonferrous metals | petroleum, methanol, timber, cocoa |
Exports - partners | China 60%, US 20%, Russia 9%, Japan 2% (2000 est.) | US 33.6%, Spain 25.8%, China 14.4%, Canada 11.8%, Italy 6.4% (2003) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 January - 31 December |
Flag description | three equal, vertical bands of red (hoist side), blue, and red; centered on the hoist-side red band in yellow is the national emblem ("soyombo" - a columnar arrangement of abstract and geometric representation for fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and the yin-yang symbol) | three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side and the coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms has six yellow six-pointed stars (representing the mainland and five offshore islands) above a gray shield bearing a silk-cotton tree and below which is a scroll with the motto UNIDAD, PAZ, JUSTICIA (Unity, Peace, Justice) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $4.7 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1.27 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
36% industry: 22% services: 42% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 20%
industry: 60% services: 2.4% (2003 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,780 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2,700 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | -1% (2000 est.) | 20% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 46 00 N, 105 00 E | 2 00 N, 10 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; strategic location between China and Russia | insular and continental regions rather widely separated |
Highways | total:
3,387 km paved: 1,563 km unpaved: 1,824 km note: there are also 45,862 km of rural roads that consist of rough, unimproved, cross-country tracks (2000) |
total: 2,880 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
2.9% highest 10%: 24.5% (1995) |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Imports | $510.7 million (c.i.f., 1999) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, fuels, food products, industrial consumer goods, chemicals, building materials, sugar, tea | petroleum sector equipment, other equipment |
Imports - partners | Russia 33%, China 21%, Japan 12%, South Korea 10%, US 4% (1999) | US 30.6%, UK 16%, France 15.1%, Cote d'Ivoire 11.9%, Spain 8.1%, Norway 5.9%, Italy 5.3% (2003) |
Independence | 11 July 1921 (from China) | 12 October 1968 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 2.4% (2000 est.) | 30% (2002 est.) |
Industries | construction materials, mining (particularly coal and copper); food and beverages, processing of animal products | petroleum, fishing, sawmilling, natural gas |
Infant mortality rate | 53.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 87.08 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 93.27 deaths/1,000 live births female: 80.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 7.6% (1999) | 6% (2003 est.) |
International organization participation | ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (observer), CCC, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, BDEAC, CEMAC, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OAS (observer), OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 5 (2001) | - |
Irrigated land | 800 sq km (1993 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (serves as appeals court for people's and provincial courts, but rarely overturns verdicts of lower courts; judges are nominated by the General Council of Courts for approval by the president) | Supreme Tribunal |
Labor force | 1.3 million (1999) | NA (October 2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | primarily herding/agricultural | - |
Land boundaries | total:
8,161.9 km border countries: China 4,676.9 km, Russia 3,485 km |
total: 539 km
border countries: Cameroon 189 km, Gabon 350 km |
Land use | arable land:
5.7% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 81% forests and woodland: 11.4% other: 1.9% (2000 est.) |
arable land: 4.63%
permanent crops: 3.57% other: 91.8% (2001) |
Languages | Khalkha Mongol 90%, Turkic, Russian (1999) | Spanish (official), French (official), pidgin English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo |
Legal system | blend of Russian, Chinese, Turkish, and Western systems of law that combines aspects of a parliamentary system with some aspects of a presidential system; constitution ambiguous on judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | partly based on Spanish civil law and tribal custom |
Legislative branch | unicameral State Great Hural (76 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 2 July 2000 (next to be held NA July 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - MPRP 72, other 4 |
unicameral House of People's Representatives or Camara de Representantes del Pueblo (80 seats; members directly elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 7 March 1999 (next to be held 24 April 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - PDGE 80%, UP 6%, CPDS 5%; seats by party - PDGE 75, UP 4 and CPDS 1 note: Parliament has little power since the constitution vests all executive authority in the president |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
64.26 years male: 62.14 years female: 66.5 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 55.15 years
male: 53 years female: 57.36 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97% male: 98% female: 97.5% (2000) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 85.7% male: 93.3% female: 78.4% (2003 est.) |
Location | Northern Asia, between China and Russia | Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Cameroon and Gabon |
Map references | Asia | Africa |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | - | total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,556 GRT/9,704 DWT
by type: cargo 2, passenger/cargo 1 registered in other countries: 1 (2004 est.) |
Military branches | Mongolian Armed Forces (includes General Purpose Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Civil Defense Troops); note - Border Troops are under Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs in peacetime | Army, Navy, Air Force, Rapid Intervention Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $25.5 million (FY01) | $75.1 million (2003) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.3% (FY01) | 2.5% (2003) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
748,779 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 120,463 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
486,491 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 61,084 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
30,230 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day/Revolution Day, 11 July (1921) | Independence Day, 12 October (1968) |
Nationality | noun:
Mongolian(s) adjective: Mongolian |
noun: Equatorial Guinean(s) or Equatoguinean(s)
adjective: Equatorial Guinean or Equatoguinean |
Natural hazards | dust and snow storms, grassland and forest fires, drought and "zud", which is a combination of drought followed by harsh winter conditions | violent windstorms, flash floods |
Natural resources | oil, coal, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, phosphates, tin, nickel, zinc, wolfram, fluorspar, gold, silver, iron, phosphate | oil, petroleum, timber, small unexploited deposits of gold, manganese, uranium, titanium, iron ore |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | - | condensate 37 km; gas 39 km; liquid natural gas 4 km; oil 24 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Citizens' Will Party or CWP (also called Civil Will Party) [Sanjaasurengyn OYUN]; Democratic Party or DP [D. DORLIGAN]; Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party or MPRP [Nambaryn ENKHBAYAR]; Mongolian Democratic New Socialist Party or MDNSP [B. ERDENEBAT]; Mongolian Republican Party or MRP [B. JARGALSAIHAN]
note: the MPRP is the ruling party |
Convergence Party for Social Democracy or CPDS [Placido MIKO Abogo]; Democratic Party for Equatorial Guinea or PDGE (ruling party) [Teodoro OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO]; Party for Progress of Equatorial Guinea or PPGE [Severo MOTO]; Popular Action of Equatorial Guinea or APGE [Miguel Esono EMAN]; Popular Union or UP [Andres Moises Bda ADA]; Progressive Democratic Alliance or ADP [Victorino Bolekia BONAY]; Union of Independent Democrats of UDI [Daniel OYONO] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 2,654,999 (July 2001 est.) | 523,051 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 40% (2000 est.) | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.47% (2001 est.) | 2.43% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Bata, Luba, Malabo |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 7, FM 9, shortwave 4 (2001) | AM 0, FM 3, shortwave 5 (2002) |
Radios | 155,900 (1999) | - |
Railways | 1,815 km
broad gauge: 1,815 km 1.524-m gauge (2001) |
- |
Religions | Tibetan Buddhist Lamaism 96%, Muslim (primarily in the southwest), Shamanism, and Christian 4% (1998) | nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic, pagan practices |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal adult |
Telephone system | general assessment:
very low density: about 3.5 telephones for each thousand persons domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean Region) |
general assessment: poor system with adequate government services
domestic: NA international: country code - 240; international communications from Bata and Malabo to African and European countries; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 104,100 (1999) | 9,600 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 110,000 (2001) | 41,500 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 4 (plus 18 provincial repeaters and many low powered repeaters) (1999) | 1 (2002) |
Terrain | vast semidesert and desert plains, grassy steppe, mountains in west and southwest; Gobi Desert in south-central | coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic |
Total fertility rate | 2.39 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 4.68 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 30% (1998 est.) |
Waterways | 400 km (1999) | - |