Norway (2001) | Lesotho (2003) | |
Administrative divisions | 19 provinces (fylker, singular - fylke); Akershus, Aust-Agder, Buskerud, Finnmark, Hedmark, Hordaland, More og Romsdal, Nordland, Nord-Trondelag, Oppland, Oslo, Ostfold, Rogaland, Sogn og Fjordane, Sor-Trondelag, Telemark, Troms, Vest-Agder, Vestfold | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
19.99% (male 462,673; female 437,514) 15-64 years: 64.91% (male 1,482,346; female 1,440,832) 65 years and over: 15.1% (male 282,307; female 397,768) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 37.7% (male 353,554; female 349,092)
15-64 years: 56.8% (male 516,017; female 541,694) 65 years and over: 5.5% (male 41,735; female 59,867) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | barley, other grains, potatoes; beef, milk; fish | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock |
Airports | 103 (2000 est.) | 28 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
67 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 12 1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 28 (2000 est.) |
total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
36 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 31 (2000 est.) |
total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 20 (2002) |
Area | total:
324,220 sq km land: 307,860 sq km water: 16,360 sq km |
total: 30,355 sq km
land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than New Mexico | slightly smaller than Maryland |
Background | Despite its neutrality, Norway was not able to avoid occupation by Germany in World War II. In 1949, neutrality was abandoned and Norway became a member of NATO. Discovery of oil and gas in adjacent waters in the late 1960s boosted Norway's economic fortunes. The current focus is on containing spending on the extensive welfare system and planning for the time when petroleum reserves are depleted. In referenda held in 1972 and 1994, Norway rejected joining the EU. | Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. King MOSHOESHOE was exiled in 1990. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after 23 years of military rule. In 1998, violent protests and a military mutiny following a contentious election prompted a brief but bloody South African military intervention. Constitutional reforms have since restored political stability; peaceful parliamentary elections were held in 2002. |
Birth rate | 12.6 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 27.26 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$71.7 billion expenditures: $57.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
revenues: $76 million
expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million (FY 99/00 est.) |
Capital | Oslo | Maseru |
Climate | temperate along coast, modified by North Atlantic Current; colder interior with increased precipitation and colder summers causing glaciers to grow; rainy year-round on west coast | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers |
Coastline | 21,925 km (includes mainland 3,419 km, large islands 2,413 km, long fjords, numerous small islands, and minor indentations 16,093 km) | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 17 May 1814, modified in 1884 | 2 April 1993 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Kingdom of Norway conventional short form: Norway local long form: Kongeriket Norge local short form: Norge |
conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho
conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
Currency | Norwegian krone (NOK) | loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) |
Death rate | 9.83 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 24.58 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $0 (Norway is a net external creditor) | $735 million (2002) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Robin Chandler DUKE embassy: Drammensveien 18, 0244 Oslo mailing address: PSC 69, Box 1000, APO AE 09707 telephone: [47] (22) 44 85 50 FAX: [47] (22) 43 07 77 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Robert G. LOFTIS
embassy: 254 Kingsway, Maseru West (Consular Section) mailing address: P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho telephone: [266] 312666 FAX: [266] 310116 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Knut VOLLEBAEK chancery: 2720 34th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 333-6000 FAX: [1] (202) 337-0870 consulate(s) general: Houston, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, and San Francisco |
chief of mission: Ambassador Molelekeng E. RAPOLAKI
chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 797-5533 through 5536 FAX: [1] (202) 234-6815 |
Disputes - international | territorial claim in Antarctica (Queen Maud Land); Svalbard is the focus of a maritime boundary dispute between Norway and Russia | none |
Economic aid - donor | ODA, $1.4 billion (1998) | ODA $4.4 million |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $41.5 million (2000) |
Economy - overview | The Norwegian economy is a prosperous bastion of welfare capitalism, featuring a combination of free market activity and government intervention. The government controls key areas, such as the vital petroleum sector (through large-scale state enterprises). The country is richly endowed with natural resources - petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals - and is highly dependent on its oil production and international oil prices; in 1999, oil and gas accounted for 35% of exports. Only Saudi Arabia exports more oil than Norway. Oslo opted to stay out of the EU during a referendum in November 1994. Growth picked up in 2000 to 2.7%, compared to the meager 0.8% of 1999, but may fall back in 2001. The government moved ahead with privatization in 2000, even proposing the sale of up to one-third of the 100% state-owned oil company Statoil. Despite their high per capita income and generous welfare benefits, Norwegians worry about that time in the next two decades when the oil and gas begin to run out. Accordingly, Norway has been saving its oil-boosted budget surpluses in a Government Petroleum Fund, which is invested abroad and now is valued at more than $43 billion. | Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho relies on remittances from miners employed in South Africa and customs duties from the Southern Africa Customs Union for the majority of government revenue, but the government has strengthened its tax system to reduce dependency on customs duties. Completion of a major hydropower facility in January 1998 now permits the sale of water to South Africa, also generating royalties for Lesotho. As the number of mineworkers has declined steadily over the past several years, a small manufacturing base has developed based on farm products that support the milling, canning, leather, and jute industries and a rapidly growing apparel-assembly sector. The economy is still primarily based on subsistence agriculture, especially livestock, although drought has decreased agricultural activity. The extreme inequality in the distribution of income remains a major drawback. Lesotho has signed an Interim Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility with the IMF. |
Electricity - consumption | 110.795 billion kWh (1999) | 40 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 8.28 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 6.467 billion kWh (1999) | 40 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2001) |
Electricity - production | 121.084 billion kWh (1999) | 0 kWh NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
0.63% hydro: 99.11% nuclear: 0% other: 0.26% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Norwegian Sea 0 m highest point: Galdhopiggen 2,469 m |
lowest point: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m
highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m |
Environment - current issues | water pollution; acid rain damaging forests and adversely affecting lakes, threatening fish stocks; air pollution from vehicle emissions | population pressure forcing settlement in marginal areas results in overgrazing, severe soil erosion, and soil exhaustion; desertification; Highlands Water Project controls, stores, and redirects water to South Africa |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping |
Ethnic groups | Norwegian (Nordic, Alpine, Baltic), Sami 20,000 | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, |
Exchange rates | Norwegian kroner per US dollar - 8.7784 (January 2001), 8.8018 (2000), 7.7992 (1999), 7.5451 (1998), 7.0734 (1997), 6.4498 (1996) | maloti per US dollar - 10.54 (2002), 8.61 (2001), 6.94 (2000), 6.11 (1999), 5.53 (1998) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
King HARALD V (since 17 January 1991); Heir Apparent Crown Prince HAAKON MAGNUS, son of the monarch (born 20 July 1973) head of government: Prime Minister Jens STOLTENBERG (since 17 March 2000) cabinet: State Council appointed by the monarch with the approval of the Parliament elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; following parliamentary elections, the leader of the largest party or leader of a coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch with the approval of the Parliament |
chief of state: King LETSIE III (since 7 February 1996); note - King LETSIE III formerly occupied the throne from November 1990 to February 1995, while his father was in exile
head of government: Prime Minister Pakalitha MOSISILI (since 23 May 1998) cabinet: Cabinet elections: none; according to the constitution, the leader of the majority party in the Assembly automatically becomes prime minister; the monarch is hereditary, but, under the terms of the constitution, which came into effect after the March 1993 election, the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law the college of chiefs has the power to determine who is next in the line of succession, who shall serve as regent in the event that the successor is not of mature age, and may even depose the monarch |
Exports | $59.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | petroleum and petroleum products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, ships, fish | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (2000) |
Exports - partners | EU 73% (UK 17%, Germany 11%, Netherlands 10%, Sweden 9%), US 5% (1999) | US 97.5%, Canada 0.9%, France 0.6% (2002) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | red with a blue cross outlined in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag) | divided diagonally from the lower hoist side corner; the upper half is white, bearing the brown silhouette of a large shield with crossed spear and club; the lower half is a diagonal blue band with a green triangle in the corner |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $124.1 billion (1999 est.) | purchasing power parity - $5.106 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
2% industry: 25% services: 73% (1999) |
agriculture: 20%
industry: 46% services: 34% (2001) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $27,700 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2,700 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.7% (2000 est.) | 4% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 62 00 N, 10 00 E | 29 30 S, 28 30 E |
Geography - note | about two-thirds mountains; some 50,000 islands off its much indented coastline; strategic location adjacent to sea lanes and air routes in North Atlantic; one of most rugged and longest coastlines in world; Norway is the only NATO member having a land boundary with Russia | landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level |
Heliports | 1 (2000 est.) | - |
Highways | total:
91,180 km paved: 67,838 km (including 109 km of expressways) unpaved: 23,342 km (1999) |
total: 5,940 km
paved: 1,087 km unpaved: 4,853 km (1999) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
4.1% highest 10%: 21.8% (1995) |
lowest 10%: 0.9%
highest 10%: 43.4% |
Imports | $35.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, foodstuffs | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products (2000) |
Imports - partners | EU 66% (Sweden 15%, Germany 12%, UK 9%, Denmark 7%), US 10%, Japan (1999) | Hong Kong 51.9%, China 25%, France 3.9% (2002) |
Independence | 7 June 1905 Norway declared the union with Sweden dissolved; 26 October 1905 Sweden agreed to the repeal of the union | 4 October 1966 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3% (2000 est.) | 15.5% (1999) |
Industries | petroleum and gas, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp and paper products, metals, chemicals, timber, mining, textiles, fishing | food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts; construction; tourism |
Infant mortality rate | 3.94 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 86.21 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 91.28 deaths/1,000 live births female: 80.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.9% (2000 est.) | 10% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EFTA, ESA, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (associate), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC | ACP, AfDB, C, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 13 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 970 sq km (1993 est.) | 10 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Hoyesterett (justices appointed by the monarch) | High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court |
Labor force | 2.4 million (2000 est.) | 838,000 |
Labor force - by occupation | services 74%, industry 22%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 4% (1995) | 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa |
Land boundaries | total:
2,515 km border countries: Finland 729 km, Sweden 1,619 km, Russia 167 km |
total: 909 km
border countries: South Africa 909 km |
Land use | arable land:
3% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 27% other: 70% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 10.71%
permanent crops: 0% other: 89.29% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Norwegian (official)
note: small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities |
Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa |
Legal system | mixture of customary law, civil law system, and common law traditions; Supreme Court renders advisory opinions to legislature when asked; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | based on English common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | modified unicameral Parliament or Storting which, for certain purposes, divides itself into two chambers (165 seats; members are elected by popular vote by proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 15 September 1997 (next to be held 10 September 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - Labor Party 35%, Center Party 7.9%, Conservative Party 14.3%, Christian People's Party 13.7%, Socialist Left Party 6%, Progress Party 15.3%, Liberal Party 4.4%, other parties 1.6%; seats by party - Labor Party 65, Center Party 11, Conservative Party 23, Christian People's Party 25, Socialist Left Party 9, Progress Party 25, Liberal Party 6, other parties 1 note: for certain purposes, the Parliament divides itself into two chambers and elects one-fourth of its membership to an upper house or Lagting |
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (33 members - 22 principal chiefs and 11 other members appointed by the ruling party) and the Assembly (120 seats, 80 by direct popular vote and 40 by proportional vote; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms); note - number of seats in the Assembly rose from 80 to 120 in the May 2002 election
elections: last held 25 May 2002 (next to be held NA May 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - LCD 54%, BNP 21%, LPC 7%, other 18%; seats by party - LCD 76, BNP 21, LPC 5, other 18 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
78.79 years male: 75.87 years female: 81.92 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 36.94 years
male: 36.76 years female: 37.13 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 100% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 84.8% male: 74.5% female: 94.5% (2003 est.) |
Location | Northern Europe, bordering the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Sweden | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa |
Map references | Europe | Africa |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
10 NM continental shelf: 200 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 4 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total:
764 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 20,667,370 GRT/32,100,208 DWT ships by type: bulk 89, cargo 139, chemical tanker 114, combination bulk 9, combination ore/oil 37, container 15, liquefied gas 84, passenger 10, petroleum tanker 151, refrigerated cargo 10, roll on/roll off 45, short-sea passenger 22, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 38 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Germany 1, Japan 1, Mexico 1, Sweden 1 (2000 est.) |
- |
Military - note | - | the Lesotho Government in 1999 began an open debate on the future structure, size, and role of the armed forces, especially considering the Lesotho Defense Force's (LDF) history of intervening in political affairs |
Military branches | Norwegian Army, Royal Norwegian Navy (includes Coast Artillery and Coast Guard), Royal Norwegian Air Force, Home Guard | Lesotho Defense Force (LDF; including Army and Air Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $3.113 billion (FY98) | $34 million (1999) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.1% (FY98) | NA% |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
1,101,384 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 459,723 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
913,534 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 250,560 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 20 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
27,341 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Constitution Day, 17 May (1814); note - 17 May 1814 is the date of independence from Sweden, 7 June 1905 is the date Norway declared the union with Sweden was dissolved | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) |
Nationality | noun:
Norwegian(s) adjective: Norwegian |
noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho |
Natural hazards | rockslides, avalanches | periodic droughts |
Natural resources | petroleum, copper, natural gas, pyrites, nickel, iron ore, zinc, lead, fish, timber, hydropower | water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals |
Net migration rate | 2.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -0.74 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | refined petroleum products 53 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | Center Party [Odd Roger ENOKSEN]; Christian People's Party [Kiell Magne BONDEVIK]; Conservative Party [Jan PETERSEN]; Labor Party [Jens STOLTENBERG]; Liberal Party [Lars SPONHEIM]; Progress Party [Carl I. HAGEN]; Socialist Left Party [Kristin HALVORSEN] | Basotho Congress Party or BCP [Tseliso MAKHAKHE]; Basotho National Party or BNP [Maj. Gen. Justine Metsing LEKHANYA]; Lesotho Congress for Democracy or LCD [Phebe MOTEBANO, chairwoman; Pakalitha MOSISILI, leader] - the governing party; Lesotho People's Congress or LPC [Kelebone MAOPE]; United Democratic Party or UDP [Charles MOFELI]; Marematlou Freedom Party or MFP and Setlamo Alliance [Vincent MALEBO]; Progressive National Party or PNP [Chief Peete Nkoebe PEETE]; Sefate Democratic Party or SDP [Bofihla NKUEBE] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 4,503,440 (July 2001 est.) | 1,861,959
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 49% (1999) |
Population growth rate | 0.49% (2001 est.) | 0.19% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Bergen, Drammen, Floro, Hammerfest, Harstad, Haugesund, Kristiansand, Larvik, Narvik, Oslo, Porsgrunn, Stavanger, Tromso, Trondheim | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 5, FM at least 650, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) |
Radios | 4.03 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
4,012 km standard gauge: 4,012 km 1.435-m gauge (2,530 km electrified; 96 km double track) (1998) |
total: 2.6 km; note - owned by, operated by, and included in the statistics of South Africa
narrow gauge: 2.6 km 1.067-m gauge (1995) |
Religions | Evangelical Lutheran 86% (state church), other Protestant and Roman Catholic 3%, other 1%, none and unknown 10% (1997) | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
modern in all respects; one of the most advanced telecommunications networks in Europe domestic: Norway has a domestic satellite system; moreover the prevalence of rural areas encourages the wide use of cellular mobile systems instead of fixed wire systems international: 2 buried coaxial cable systems; 4 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - NA Eutelsat, NA Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), and 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions); note - Norway shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden) (1999) |
general assessment: rudimentary system
domestic: consists of a few landlines, a small microwave radio relay system, and a minor radiotelephone communication system; a cellular mobile telephone system is growing international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2.735 million (1998) | 22,200 (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2,080,408 (1998) | 21,600 (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 360 (plus 2,729 repeaters) (1995) | 1 (2000) |
Terrain | glaciated; mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys; small, scattered plains; coastline deeply indented by fjords; arctic tundra in north | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains |
Total fertility rate | 1.81 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 3.52 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 3% (2000 est.) | 45% (2002) |
Waterways | 1,577 km (along west coast)
note: navigable by 2.4 m maximum draft vessels |
none |