Compare Paracel Islands (2003) - Turkmenistan (2008)

Compare Paracel Islands (2003) z Turkmenistan (2008)

	Paracel Islands (2003)	Turkmenistan (2008)

Administrative divisions	-	5 provinces (welayatlar, singular - welayat) and 1 independent city: Ahal Welayaty (Anew), Ashgabat, Balkan Welayaty (Balkanabat), Dashoguz Welayaty, Lebap Welayaty (Turkmenabat), Mary Welayaty note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses)
Age structure	-	0-14 years: 34.7% (male 900,718/female 866,930) 15-64 years: 60.9% (male 1,537,638/female 1,567,049) 65 years and over: 4.4% (male 97,454/female 127,239) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	cotton, grain; livestock
Airports	1 (2002)	28 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002)	total: 22 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 11 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 under 914 m: 4 (2007)
Area	total: NA sq km land: NA sq km water: 0 sq km	total: 488,100 sq km land: 488,100 sq km water: NEGL
Area - comparative	NA	slightly larger than California
Background	The Paracel Islands are surrounded by productive fishing grounds and by potential oil and gas reserves. In 1932, French Indochina annexed the islands and set up a weather station on Pattle Island; maintenance was continued by its successor, Vietnam. China has occupied the Paracel Islands since 1974, when its troops seized a South Vietnamese garrison occupying the western islands. The islands are claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.	Eastern Turkmenistan for centuries formed part of the Persian province of Khurasan; in medieval times Merv (today known as Mary) was one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by Russia between 1865 and 1885, Turkmenistan became a Soviet republic in 1924. It achieved independence upon the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Extensive hydrocarbon/natural gas reserves could prove a boon to this underdeveloped country if extraction and delivery projects were to be expanded. The Turkmenistan Government is actively seeking to develop alternative petroleum transportation routes to break Russia's pipeline monopoly. President for Life Saparmurat NYYAZOW died in December 2006, and Turkmenistan held its first multi-candidate presidential electoral process in February 2007. Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW, a former NYYAZOW aide, emerged as the country's new president.
Birth rate	-	25.36 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget	-	revenues: $1.641 billion expenditures: $1.6 billion (2007 est.)
Capital	-	name: Ashgabat (Ashkhabad) geographic coordinates: 37 57 N, 58 23 E time difference: UTC+5 (10 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate	tropical	subtropical desert
Coastline	518 km	0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km)
Constitution	-	adopted 18 May 1992
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Paracel Islands	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Turkmenistan local long form: none local short form: Turkmenistan former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
Death rate	-	6.17 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external	-	$2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	-	chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Richard E. HOAGLAND embassy: No. 9 1984 Street (formerly Pushkin Street), Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 744000 mailing address: 7070 Ashgabat Place, Washington, DC 20521-7070 telephone: [993] (12) 35-00-45 FAX: [993] (12) 39-26-14
Diplomatic representation in the US	-	chief of mission: Ambassador Meret Bairamovich ORAZOW chancery: 2207 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 588-1500 FAX: [1] (202) 588-0697
Disputes - international	occupied by China, but claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam	cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; field demarcation of the boundaries with Kazakhstan commenced in 2005, but Caspian seabed delimitation remains stalled with Azerbaijan, Iran, and Kazakhstan due to Turkmenistan's indecision over how to allocate the sea's waters and seabed
Economic aid - recipient	-	$28.25 million from the US (2005)
Economy - overview	China announced plans in 1997 to open the islands for tourism.	Turkmenistan is a largely desert country with intensive agriculture in irrigated oases and large gas and oil resources. One-half of its irrigated land is planted in cotton; formerly it was the world's 10th-largest producer. Poor harvests in recent years have led to an almost 50% decline in cotton exports. With an authoritarian ex-Communist regime in power and a tribally based social structure, Turkmenistan has taken a cautious approach to economic reform, hoping to use gas and cotton sales to sustain its inefficient economy. Privatization goals remain limited. From 1998-2005, Turkmenistan suffered from the continued lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time, however, total exports rose by an average of roughtly 15% per year from 2003-07, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. Overall prospects in the near future are discouraging because of widespread internal poverty, a poor educational system, government misuse of oil and gas revenues, and Ashgabat's unwillingness to adopt market-oriented reforms. Turkmenistan's economic statistics are state secrets, and GDP and other figures are subject to wide margins of error. In particular, the rate of GDP growth is uncertain. President BERDIMUHAMEDOW's election platform included plans to build a gas line to China, to complete the Amu Darya railroad bridge in Lebap province, and to create special border trade zones in southern Balkan province - a hint that the new post-NYYAZOW government will work to create a friendlier foreign investment environment.
Electricity - consumption	-	7.602 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	-	2.918 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	-	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - production	-	12.05 billion kWh (2005 est.)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: South China Sea 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Rocky Island 14 m	lowest point: Vpadina Akchanaya -81 m; note - Sarygamysh Koli is a lake in northern Turkmenistan with a water level that fluctuates above and below the elevation of Vpadina Akchanaya (the lake has dropped as low as -110 m) highest point: Gora Ayribaba 3,139 m
Environment - current issues	NA	contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination, water logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river's inability to replenish the Aral Sea; desertification
Environment - international agreements	-	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups	-	Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003)
Exchange rates	-	Turkmen manat per US$ - 11,250 (2007), 11,100 (2006) official rate note: in recent years the unofficial rate has hovered around 24,000 to 25,000 Turkmen manats to the dollar
Executive branch	-	chief of state: President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 14 February 2007); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW (since 14 February 2007) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held on 11 February 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW elected president; percent of vote - Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW 89.2%
Exports	-	117,800 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities	-	gas, crude oil, petrochemicals, cotton fiber, textiles
Exports - partners	-	Ukraine 47.7%, Iran 16.4%, Azerbaijan 5.3% (2006)
Fiscal year	-	calendar year
Flag description	-	green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five tribal guls (designs used in producing carpets) stacked above two crossed olive branches similar to the olive branches on the UN flag; a white crescent moon representing Islam with five white stars representing the regions or velayats of Turkmenistan appear in the upper corner of the field just to the fly side of the red stripe
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: 16.7% industry: 39.2% services: 44.2% (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-	IMF estimate: 7% note: official government statistics are widely regarded as unreliable (2007 est.)
Geographic coordinates	16 30 N, 112 00 E	40 00 N, 60 00 E
Geography - note	composed of 130 small coral islands and reefs divided into the northeast Amphitrite Group and the western Crescent Group	landlocked; the western and central low-lying desolate portions of the country make up the great Garagum (Kara-Kum) desert, which occupies over 80% of the country; eastern part is plateau
Heliports	-	1 (2007)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	-	lowest 10%: 2.6% highest 10%: 31.7% (1998)
Illicit drugs	-	transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and Western European markets; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan
Imports	-	2,536 bbl/day (2004)
Imports - commodities	-	machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
Imports - partners	-	UAE 15.5%, Turkey 11.1%, Ukraine 9.1%, Russia 9%, Germany 7.8%, Iran 7.6%, China 6.4%, US 4.5% (2006)
Independence	-	27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
Industrial production growth rate	-	7% (2007 est.)
Industries	-	natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing
Infant mortality rate	-	total: 53.49 deaths/1,000 live births male: 57.84 deaths/1,000 live births female: 48.91 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-	11.3% (2007 est.)
International organization participation	-	ABEDA, ADB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Irrigated land	0 sq km (1998 est.)	18,000 sq km (2003)
Judicial branch	-	Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)
Labor force	-	2.32 million (2003 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	-	agriculture: 48.2% industry: 13.8% services: 37% (2003 est.)
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 3,736 km border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.)	arable land: 4.51% permanent crops: 0.14% other: 95.35% (2005)
Languages	-	Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
Legal system	-	based on civil law system and Islamic law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch	-	two parliamentary bodies, a People's Council or Halk Maslahaty (supreme legislative body of up to 2,500 delegates, some elected by popular vote and some appointed; meets at least yearly) and a National Assembly or Mejlis (50 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: People's Council - last held in April 2003 (next to be held in December 2008); Mejlis - last held 19 December 2004 (next to be held in December 2008) election results: Mejlis - DPT 100%; seats by party - DPT 50; note - all 50 elected officials are members of the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan and are preapproved by the president note: in late 2003, a law was adopted reducing the powers of the Mejlis and making the Halk Maslahaty the supreme legislative organ; the Halk Maslahaty can now legally dissolve the Mejlis, and the president is now able to participate in the Mejlis as its supreme leader; the Mejlis can no longer adopt or amend the constitution or announce referendums or its elections; since the president is both the "Chairman for Life" of the Halk Maslahaty and the supreme leader of the Mejlis, the 2003 law has the effect of making him the sole authority of both the executive and legislative branches of government
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: 68.3 years male: 65.23 years female: 71.54 years (2007 est.)
Literacy	-	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98.8% male: 99.3% female: 98.3% (1999 est.)
Location	Southeastern Asia, group of small islands and reefs in the South China Sea, about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the northern Philippines	Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan
Map references	Southeast Asia	Asia
Maritime claims	NA	none (landlocked)
Merchant marine	-	total: 8 ships (1000 GRT or over) 22,870 GRT/25,801 DWT by type: cargo 4, combination ore/oil 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 1 (2007)
Military - note	occupied by China	-
Military branches	-	Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces (2007)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	-	3.4% (2005 est.)
National holiday	-	Independence Day, 27 October (1991)
Nationality	-	noun: Turkmen(s) adjective: Turkmenistani
Natural hazards	typhoons	NA
Natural resources	none	petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt
Net migration rate	-	-3.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Pipelines	-	gas 6,441 km; oil 1,361 km (2007)
Political parties and leaders	-	Democratic Party of Turkmenistan or DPT note: formal opposition parties are outlawed; unofficial, small opposition movements exist underground or in foreign countries; the two most prominent opposition groups-in-exile have been National Democratic Movement of Turkmenistan (NDMT) and the United Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (UDPT); NDMT was led by former Foreign Minister Boris SHIKHMURADOV until his arrest and imprisonment in the wake of the 25 November 2002 assassination attempt on President NYYAZOW
Political pressure groups and leaders	-	NA
Population	no indigenous inhabitants note: there are scattered Chinese garrisons (July 2003 est.)	5,097,028 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line	-	27% (2002)
Population growth rate	-	1.617% (2007 est.)
Ports and harbors	small Chinese port facilities on Woody Island and Duncan Island being expanded	-
Radio broadcast stations	-	AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998)
Railways	-	total: 2,440 km broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2006)
Religions	-	Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%
Sex ratio	-	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.039 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.981 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.766 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Suffrage	-	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	-	general assessment: poorly developed domestic: Turkmenistan's telecommunications network remains woefully underdeveloped; Turkmentelekom, in cooperation with foreign investors, is planning to upgrade the country's telephone exchanges and install a new digital switching system international: country code - 993; linked by cable and microwave radio relay to other CIS republics and to other countries by leased connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; a new telephone link from Ashgabat to Iran has been established; a new exchange in Ashgabat switches international traffic through Turkey via Intelsat; satellite earth stations - 1 Orbita and 1 Intelsat (2006)
Telephones - main lines in use	-	495,000 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	105,000 (2005)
Television broadcast stations	-	4 (government-owned and programmed) (2004)
Terrain	mostly low and flat	flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes rising to mountains in the south; low mountains along border with Iran; borders Caspian Sea in west
Total fertility rate	-	3.13 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate	-	60% (2004 est.)
Waterways	none	1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland waterways) (2006)

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