Nauru (2003) | Bolivia (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 14 districts; Aiwo, Anabar, Anetan, Anibare, Baiti, Boe, Buada, Denigomodu, Ewa, Ijuw, Meneng, Nibok, Uaboe, Yaren | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Beni, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 38.9% (male 2,517; female 2,368)
15-64 years: 59.3% (male 3,681; female 3,779) 65 years and over: 1.8% (male 116; female 109) (2003 est.) |
0-14 years: 35.7% (male 1,613,049/female 1,551,023)
15-64 years: 59.8% (male 2,591,328/female 2,701,892) 65 years and over: 4.5% (male 178,486/female 222,092) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coconuts | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber |
Airports | 1 (2002) | 1,065 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002) |
total: 16
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 1,049
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 60 914 to 1,523 m: 207 under 914 m: 778 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 21 sq km
land: 21 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 1,098,580 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km water: 14,190 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly less than three times the size of Montana |
Background | Nauru's phosphate deposits began to be mined early in the 20th century by a German-British consortium; the island was occupied by Australian forces in World War I. Nauru achieved independence in 1968 and joined the UN in 1999. Nauru is the world's smallest independent republic. | Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history has consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and counter-coups. Comparatively democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and illegal drug production. Current goals include attracting foreign investment, strengthening the educational system, resolving disputes with coca growers over Bolivia's counterdrug efforts, and waging an anticorruption campaign. |
Birth rate | 26.09 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 23.76 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $23.4 million
expenditures: $64.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY 95/96) |
revenues: $2.264 billion
expenditures: $2.769 billion, including capital expenditures of $741 million (2004 est.) |
Capital | no official capital; government offices in Yaren District | La Paz (seat of government); Sucre (legal capital and seat of judiciary) |
Climate | tropical; monsoonal; rainy season (November to February) | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid |
Coastline | 30 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 29 January 1968 | 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Nauru
conventional short form: Nauru former: Pleasant Island |
conventional long form: Republic of Bolivia
conventional short form: Bolivia local long form: Republica de Bolivia local short form: Bolivia |
Currency | Australian dollar (AUD) | - |
Death rate | 7.08 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 7.64 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $33.3 million | $5.439 billion (June 2004 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US does not have an embassy in Nauru; the US Ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Nauru | chief of mission: Ambassador David N. GREENLEE
embassy: Avenida Arce 2780, San Jorge, La Paz mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032 telephone: [591] (2) 2430120, 2430251 FAX: [591] (2) 2433900 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | Nauru does not have an embassy in the US, but does have a UN office at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400 D, New York, New York 10017; telephone: (212) 937-0074
consulate(s): Hagatna (Guam) |
chief of mission: Ambassador Jaime APARICIO Otero
chancery: 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4410 FAX: [1] (202) 328-3712 consulate(s) general: Miami, New York, and San Francisco |
Disputes - international | none | Chile rebuffs Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, offering instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile for Bolivian natural gas and other commodities |
Economic aid - recipient | $2.25 million from Australia (FY96/97 est.) | $681 million (2002) |
Economy - overview | Revenues of this tiny island have come from exports of phosphates, but reserves are expected to be exhausted within a few years. Phosphate production has declined since 1989, as demand has fallen in traditional markets and as the marginal cost of extracting the remaining phosphate increases, making it less internationally competitive. While phosphates have given Nauruans one of the highest per capita incomes in the Third World, few other resources exist with most necessities being imported, including fresh water from Australia. The rehabilitation of mined land and the replacement of income from phosphates are serious long-term problems. In anticipation of the exhaustion of Nauru's phosphate deposits, substantial amounts of phosphate income have been invested in trust funds to help cushion the transition and provide for Nauru's economic future. The government has been borrowing heavily from the trusts to finance fiscal deficits. To cut costs the government has called for a freeze on wages, a reduction of over-staffed public service departments, privatization of numerous government agencies, and closure of some overseas consulates. In recent years Nauru has encouraged the registration of offshore banks and corporations. Tens of billions of dollars have been channeled through their accounts. Few comprehensive statistics on the Nauru economy exist, with estimates of Nauru's GDP varying widely. | Bolivia, long one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries, reformed its economy after suffering a disastrous economic crisis in the early 1980s. The reforms spurred real GDP growth, which averaged 4 percent in the 1990s, and poverty rates fell. Economic growth, however, lagged again beginning in 1999 because of a global slowdown and homegrown factors such as political turmoil, civil unrest, and soaring fiscal deficits, all of which hurt investor confidence. In 2003, violent protests against the pro-foreign investment economic policies of President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA led to his resignation and the cancellation of plans to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. Foreign investment dried up as companies adopted a wait-and-see attitude regarding new President Carlos MESA's willingness to protect investor rights in the face of increased demands by radical groups that the government expropriate foreign-owned assets. Real GDP growth in 2003 and 2004 - helped by increased demand for natural gas in neighboring Brazil - was positive, but still below the levels seen during the 1990s. Bolivia remains dependent on foreign aid from multilateral lenders and foreign governments. |
Electricity - consumption | 27.9 million kWh (2001) | 3.848 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 3 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 9 million kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | 30 million kWh (2001) | 4.132 billion kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location along plateau rim 61 m |
lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
Environment - current issues | limited natural fresh water resources, roof storage tanks collect rainwater, but mostly dependent on a single, aging desalination plant; intensive phosphate mining during the past 90 years - mainly by a UK, Australia, and NZ consortium - has left the central 90% of Nauru a wasteland and threatens limited remaining land resources | the clearing of land for agricultural purposes and the international demand for tropical timber are contributing to deforestation; soil erosion from overgrazing and poor cultivation methods (including slash-and-burn agriculture); desertification; loss of biodiversity; industrial pollution of water supplies used for drinking and irrigation |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
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, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection |
Ethnic groups | Nauruan 58%, other Pacific Islander 26%, Chinese 8%, European 8% | Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15% |
Exchange rates | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.2641 (2002) 1.9320 (2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998) | bolivianos per US dollar - 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003), 7.17 (2002), 6.6069 (2001), 6.1835 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Rene HARRIS (since 8 August 2003) note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Rene HARRIS (since 8 August 2003) note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of Parliament elections: president elected by Parliament for a three-year term; election last held 29 May 2003 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: Ludwig SCOTTY elected president 29 May 2003; Ludwig SCOTTY 10 parliamentary votes, Kinza CLODUMAR 7 note: Ludwig SCOTTY was removed from the presidency in a no-confidence vote 8 August 2003; Rene HARRIS became president |
chief of state: President Eduardo RODRIGUEZ Veltze (since 9 June 2005); Vice President (vacant); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Eduardo RODRIGUEZ Veltze (since 9 June 2005); Vice President (vacant); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 30 June 2002 (next to be held June 2007) election results: as a result of no candidate winning a majority in the 30 June 2002 election, Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA Bustamante was chosen president by Congress; congressional votes - Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA Bustamante 84, Evo MORALES 43; note - following the resignation of the elected president on 17 October 2003 and Vice President Carlos Diego MESA Gisbert on 9 June 2005, Eduardo RODRIGUEZ Veltze, President of the Supreme Court and constitutional successor, became president. |
Exports | NA (2001) | NA |
Exports - commodities | phosphates | natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin |
Exports - partners | India 46.1%, South Korea 18.3%, Australia 10.6%, New Zealand 7.8%, Netherlands 5.6% (2002) | Brazil 40%, US 13.9%, Colombia 8.7%, Peru 6.3%, Japan 4.5% (2004) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | calendar year |
Flag description | blue with a narrow, horizontal, yellow stripe across the center and a large white 12-pointed star below the stripe on the hoist side; the star indicates the country's location in relation to the Equator (the yellow stripe) and the 12 points symbolize the 12 original tribes of Nauru | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band; similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $60 million (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
agriculture: 13%
industry: 28% services: 59% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2004 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA% | 3.7% (2004 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 0 32 S, 166 55 E | 17 00 S, 65 00 W |
Geography - note | Nauru is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia; only 53 km south of Equator | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru |
Highways | total: 30 km
paved: 24 km unpaved: 6 km (1999 est.) |
total: 60,282 km
paved: 3,979 km unpaved: 56,303 km (2002) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 1.3%
highest 10%: 32% (1999) |
Illicit drugs | broad-based money-laundering center | world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 28,450 hectares under cultivation in June 2003, a 23% increase from June 2002; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported mostly to or through Brazil, Argentina, and Chile to European and US drug markets; eradication and alternative crop programs under the MESA administration have been unable to keep pace with farmers' attempts to increase cultivation; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade, especially along the borders with Brazil and Paraguay |
Imports | NA (2001) | NA |
Imports - commodities | food, fuel, manufactures, building materials, machinery | petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans |
Imports - partners | Australia 59.3%, US 10.1%, Ireland 7.6%, Malaysia 6% (2002) | Brazil 29.7%, Argentina 17.6%, US 10.8%, Chile 7.7%, Peru 7.3% (2004) |
Independence | 31 January 1968 (from the Australia-, NZ-, and UK-administered UN trusteeship) | 6 August 1825 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 5.7% (2004 est.) |
Industries | phosphate mining, offshore banking, coconut products | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing |
Infant mortality rate | total: 10.33 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 13 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
total: 53.11 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 56.7 deaths/1,000 live births female: 49.33 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | -3.6% (1993) | 4.9% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO, ICAO, ICCt, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO | CAN, CSN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS, ONUB, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMISET, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 1,280 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges appointed for 10-year terms by National Congress); District Courts (one in each department); provincial and local courts (to try minor cases) |
Labor force | - | 3.8 million (2004 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | employed in mining phosphates, public administration, education, and transportation | agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 6,743 km
border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km, Chile 861 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 2.67%
permanent crops: 0.19% other: 97.14% (2001) |
Languages | Nauruan (official, a distinct Pacific Island language), English widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official) |
Legal system | acts of the Nauru Parliament and British common law | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral Parliament (18 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 3 May 2003 (next to be held not later than May 2006) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - Nauru First Party 3, independents 15 |
bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; 68 are directly elected from their districts and 62 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms)
elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 30 June 2002 (next to be held June 2007) election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - MNR 11, MAS 8, MIR 5, NFR 2, other 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - MNR 36, MAS 27, MIR 26, NFR 25, others 16 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 61.95 years
male: 58.41 years female: 65.66 years (2003 est.) |
total population: 65.5 years
male: 62.89 years female: 68.25 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 87.2% male: 93.1% female: 81.6% (2003 est.) |
Location | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, south of the Marshall Islands | Central South America, southwest of Brazil |
Map references | Oceania | South America |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | none (2002 est.) | total: 32 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 413,407 GRT/699,901 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 16, chemical tanker 1, container 1, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 9, refrigerated cargo 1 foreign-owned: 11 (Argentina 1, Egypt 2, Eritrea 1, Germany 1, Iran 1, Singapore 2, United Kingdom 1, United States 2) (2005) |
Military - note | Nauru maintains no defense forces; under an informal agreement, defense is the responsibility of Australia | - |
Military branches | no regular military forces; Nauru Police Force | Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Navy (Fuerza Naval; includes Marines), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana) (2004) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $NA | $132.2 million (2004) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 1.6% (2004) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 3,190 (2003 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 1,762 (2003 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 31 January (1968) | Independence Day, 6 August (1825) |
Nationality | noun: Nauruan(s)
adjective: Nauruan |
noun: Bolivian(s)
adjective: Bolivian |
Natural hazards | periodic droughts | flooding in the northeast (March-April) |
Natural resources | phosphates, fish | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | -1.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 4,860 km; liquid petroleum gas 47 km; oil 2,457 km; refined products 1,589 km; unknown (oil/water) 247 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | loose multiparty system; Democratic Party [Kennan ADEANG]; Nauru Party (informal) [leader NA]; Naoero Amo (Nauru First) Party [leader NA] | Bolivian Socialist Falange or FSB [Romel PANTOJA]; Civic Solidarity Union or UCS [Johnny FERNANDEZ]; Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Franz BARRIOS]; Marshal of Ayacucho Institutional Vanguard or VIMA [Freddy ZABALA]; Movement of the Revolutionary Left or MIR [Jaime PAZ Zamora]; Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Evo MORALES]; Movement Without Fear or MSM [Juan DEL GRANADO]; Nationalist Democratic Action or ADN [Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez]; Nationalist Revolutionary Movement or MNR [leader NA]; New Republican Force or NFR [Manfred REYES-VILLA]; Pachakuti Indigenous Movement or MIP [Felipe QUISPE]; Socialist Party or PS [Jeres JUSTINIANO] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Cocalero Groups; indigenous organizations; labor unions; Sole Confederation of Campesino Workers of Bolivia or CSUTCB [Roman LOAYZA] |
Population | 12,570 (July 2003 est.) | 8,857,870 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 64% (2004 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.9% (2003 est.) | 1.49% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Nauru | Puerto Aguirre (on the Paraguay/Parana waterway, at the Bolivia/Brazil border); also, Bolivia has free port privileges in maritime ports in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) |
Railways | total: 5 km
note: gauge unknown; used to haul phosphates from the center of the island to processing facilities on the southwest coast (2001) |
total: 3,519 km
narrow gauge: 3,519 km 1.000-m gauge (2004) |
Religions | Christian (two-thirds Protestant, one-third Roman Catholic) | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.06 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 20 years of age; universal and compulsory | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single) |
Telephone system | general assessment: adequate local and international radiotelephone communication provided via Australian facilities
domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
general assessment: new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile cellular telephone use expanding rapidly
domestic: primary trunk system, which is being expanded, employs digital microwave radio relay; some areas are served by fiber-optic cable; mobile cellular systems are being expanded international: country code - 591; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2,000 (1996) | 600,100 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 450 (1994) | 1,401,500 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | 48 (1997) |
Terrain | sandy beach rises to fertile ring around raised coral reefs with phosphate plateau in center | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin |
Total fertility rate | 3.4 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 2.94 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 0% | 9.2% in urban areas
note: widespread underemployment (2003 est.) |
Waterways | none | 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2004) |