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Compare Poland (2007) - Tuvalu (2007)

Compare Poland (2007) z Tuvalu (2007)

 Poland (2007)Tuvalu (2007)
 PolandTuvalu
Administrative divisions 16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Dolnoslaskie wojewodztwo, Kujawsko-Pomorskie wojewodztwo, Lodzkie wojewodztwo, Lubelskie wojewodztwo, Lubuskie wojewodztwo, Malopolskie wojewodztwo, Mazowieckie wojewodztwo, Opolskie wojewodztwo, Podkarpackie wojewodztwo, Podlaskie wojewodztwo, Pomorskie wojewodztwo, Slaskie wojewodztwo, Swietokrzyskie wojewodztwo, Warminsko-Mazurskie wojewodztwo, Wielkopolskie wojewodztwo, Zachodniopomorskie wojewodztwo none
Age structure 0-14 years: 15.5% (male 3,070,388/female 2,906,121)


15-64 years: 71.1% (male 13,639,012/female 13,761,154)


65 years and over: 13.3% (male 1,964,429/female 3,177,137) (2007 est.)
0-14 years: 29.8% (male 1,821/female 1,752)


15-64 years: 65.2% (male 3,808/female 4,006)


65 years and over: 5% (male 227/female 378) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry, eggs, pork, dairy coconuts; fish
Airports 123 (2007) 1 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways total: 83


over 3,047 m: 4


2,438 to 3,047 m: 30


1,524 to 2,437 m: 39


914 to 1,523 m: 7


under 914 m: 3 (2007)
-
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 40


2,438 to 3,047 m: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 4


914 to 1,523 m: 13


under 914 m: 22 (2007)
total: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007)
Area total: 312,685 sq km


land: 304,465 sq km


water: 8,220 sq km
total: 26 sq km


land: 26 sq km


water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative slightly smaller than New Mexico 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC
Background Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived near the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation. In a series of agreements between 1772 and 1795, Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland amongst themselves. Poland regained its independence in 1918 only to be overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. It became a Soviet satellite state following the war, but its government was comparatively tolerant and progressive. Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union "Solidarity" that over time became a political force and by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. A "shock therapy" program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe, but Poland still faces the lingering challenges of high unemployment, underdeveloped and dilapidated infrastructure, and a poor rural underclass. Solidarity suffered a major defeat in the 2001 parliamentary elections when it failed to elect a single deputy to the lower house of Parliament, and the new leaders of the Solidarity Trade Union subsequently pledged to reduce the Trade Union's political role. Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. With its transformation to a democratic, market-oriented country largely completed, Poland is an increasingly active member of Euro-Atlantic organizations. In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over a 12-year period.
Birth rate 9.94 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) 22.43 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget revenues: $63.7 billion


expenditures: $71.78 billion (2006 est.)
revenues: $22.78 million


expenditures: $14.23 million (2002)
Capital name: Warsaw


geographic coordinates: 52 15 N, 21 00 E


time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)


daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
name: Funafuti


geographic coordinates: 8 30 S, 179 12 E


time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)


note: administrative offices are located in Vaiaku Village on Fongafale Islet
Climate temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)
Coastline 491 km 24 km
Constitution adopted by the National Assembly 2 April 1997; passed by national referendum 25 May 1997; effective 17 October 1997 1 October 1978
Country name conventional long form: Republic of Poland


conventional short form: Poland


local long form: Rzeczpospolita Polska


local short form: Polska
conventional long form: none


conventional short form: Tuvalu


local long form: none


local short form: Tuvalu


former: Ellice Islands


note: "Tuvalu" means "group of eight," referring to the country's eight traditionally inhabited islands
Death rate 9.94 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) 7 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external $121.5 billion (2006 est.) $NA
Diplomatic representation from the US chief of mission: Ambassador Victor ASHE


embassy: Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31 00-540 Warsaw


mailing address: American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch)


telephone: [48] (22) 504-2000


FAX: [48] (22) 504-2688


consulate(s) general: Krakow
the US does not have an embassy in Tuvalu; the US ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tuvalu
Diplomatic representation in the US chief of mission: Ambassador Janusz REITER


chancery: 2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009


telephone: [1] (202) 234-3800 through 3802


FAX: [1] (202) 328-6271


consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York
Tuvalu does not have an embassy in the US - the country's only diplomatic post is in Fiji - Tuvalu does, however, have a UN office located at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400D, New York, NY 10017, telephone: [1] (212) 490-0534
Disputes - international as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Poland must implement the strict Schengen border rules to restrict illegal immigration and trade along its eastern borders with Belarus and Ukraine none
Economic aid - recipient $1.524 billion in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004) $13 million; note - major donors are Australia, Japan, and the US (1999 est.)
Economy - overview Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of economic liberalization since 1990 and today stands out as a success story among transition economies. In 2006, GDP grew 5.3%, based on rising private consumption, a 16.7% jump in investment, and burgeoning exports. Poland today has a thriving private sector which created more than 300,000 new jobs during 2006 alone. GDP per capita roughly equals that of the three Baltic states. Consumer price inflation - at 1.3% in 2006 - remains among the lowest in the EU. Since 2004, EU membership and access to EU structural funds has provided a major boost to the economy. Inflows of direct foreign investment exceeded $10 billion in 2006 alone - and more than $100 billion since 1990 - with major investments being announced by foreign firms in computer, consumer electronics, and automobile component production. In early 2006, Poland reached agreement with its EU partners that will permit it to benefit from EU funds totaling nearly $80 billion during 2007-13. Since 2002, even though the zloty appreciated 30%, Poland's exports more than doubled. Despite Poland's successes, more remains to be done. Unemployment, which stood at 15% in December 2006, is still the highest in the EU. An inefficient commercial court system, a rigid labor code, bureaucratic red tape, and persistent corruption keep the private sector from performing to its potential. Agriculture is handicapped by inefficient small farms and inadequate investment. Restructuring and privatization of the remaining state-owned industries, especially "sensitive sectors" such as coal, oil refining, railroads, and energy transmission and generation, have stalled due to concerns about loss of control over critical national assets and lay-offs. Reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have failed so far to reduce the government budget deficit, which was roughly 2.7 percent of GDP in 2006. Further progress in public finance depends mainly on reducing losses in Polish state enterprises, restraining entitlements, and overhauling the tax code. The previous Socialist-led government introduced a package of social and administrative spending cuts to reduce public spending by about $17 billion through 2007, but full implementation of the plan was trumped by election-year politics in 2005. The right-wing Law and Justice party won parliamentary elections in September 2005, and Lech KACZYNSKI won the presidential election in October, running on a state-interventionist fiscal and monetary platform. The new government has proceeded cautiously on economic matters, however, retaining, for example, the corporate income tax cuts initiated by the previous administration and indicating its intention to reduce the top personal income tax rate. Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average, visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and remittances from seamen on merchant ships abroad. About 1,000 Tuvaluans are being repatriated from Nauru, with the decline of phosphate resources there. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this fund grew from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US Government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts of up to 7%. Tuvalu derives around $1.5 million per year from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and income from overseas investments.
Electricity - consumption 120.4 billion kWh (2005) -
Electricity - exports 16.19 billion kWh (2005) -
Electricity - imports 5.002 billion kWh (2005) -
Electricity - production 146.2 billion kWh (2005) -
Elevation extremes lowest point: near Raczki Elblaskie -2 m


highest point: Rysy 2,499 m
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m


highest point: unnamed location 5 m
Environment - current issues situation has improved since 1989 due to decline in heavy industry and increased environmental concern by post-Communist governments; air pollution nonetheless remains serious because of sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, and the resulting acid rain has caused forest damage; water pollution from industrial and municipal sources is also a problem, as is disposal of hazardous wastes; pollution levels should continue to decrease as industrial establishments bring their facilities up to EU code, but at substantial cost to business and the government since there are no streams or rivers and groundwater is not potable, most water needs must be met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other); beachhead erosion because of the use of sand for building materials; excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel; damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish; Tuvalu is concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country's underground water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary
Environment - international agreements party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands


signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling


signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups Polish 96.7%, German 0.4%, Belarusian 0.1%, Ukrainian 0.1%, other and unspecified 2.7% (2002 census) Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4%
Exchange rates zlotych per US dollar - 3.1032 (2006), 3.2355 (2005), 3.6576 (2004), 3.8891 (2003), 4.08 (2002)


note: zlotych is the plural form of zloty
Tuvaluan dollars or Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3285 (2006), 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002)
Executive branch chief of state: President Lech KACZYNSKI (since 23 December 2005)


head of government: Prime Minister Donald TUSK (since 16 November 2007); Deputy Prime Ministers Waldemar PAWLAK (since 16 November 2007) and Grzegorz SCHETYNA (since 16 November 2007)


cabinet: Council of Ministers responsible to the prime minister and the Sejm; the prime minister proposes, the president appoints, and the Sejm approves the Council of Ministers


elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 9 and 23 October 2005 (next to be held in the fall 2010); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm


election results: Lech KACZYNSKI elected president; percent of popular vote - Lech KACZYNSKI 54%, Donald Tusk 46%
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Filoimea TELITO (since 15 April 2005)


head of government: Prime Minister Apisai IELEMIA (since 14 August 2006)


cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister


elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by and from the members of Parliament; election last held 14 August 2006 (next to be held following parliamentary elections in 2010)


election results: Apisai IELEMIA elected Prime Minister in a Parliamentary election on 14 August 2006
Exports 51,780 bbl/day (2004) $1 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities machinery and transport equipment 37.8%, intermediate manufactured goods 23.7%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 17.1%, food and live animals 7.6% (2003) copra, fish
Exports - partners Germany 27.2%, Italy 6.6%, France 6.2%, UK 5.7%, Czech Republic 5.6%, Russia 4.3% (2006) Germany 60.5%, Italy 20.1%, Fiji 6.9% (2006)
Fiscal year calendar year calendar year
Flag description two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 4.5%


industry: 31.7%


services: 63.8% (2006 est.)
agriculture: 16.6%


industry: 27.2%


services: 56.2% (2002)
GDP - real growth rate 6.1% (2006 est.) 1.2% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates 52 00 N, 20 00 E 8 00 S, 178 00 E
Geography - note historically, an area of conflict because of flat terrain and the lack of natural barriers on the North European Plain one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the 9 coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon
Heliports 7 (2007) -
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: 3.1%


highest 10%: 27% (2002)
lowest 10%: NA%


highest 10%: NA%
Illicit drugs despite diligent counternarcotics measures and international information sharing on cross-border crimes, a major illicit producer of synthetic drugs for the international market; minor transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and Latin American cocaine to Western Europe -
Imports 480,300 bbl/day (2004) $9.186 million c.i.f. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities machinery and transport equipment 38%, intermediate manufactured goods 21%, chemicals 14.8%, minerals, fuels, lubricants, and related materials 9.1% (2003) food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods
Imports - partners Germany 29%, Russia 9.6%, Italy 6.4%, Netherlands 5.7%, France 5.4% (2006) Fiji 46.1%, Japan 18.9%, China 18.2%, Australia 7.7%, NZ 4.1% (2006)
Independence 11 November 1918 (republic proclaimed) 1 October 1978 (from UK)
Industrial production growth rate 10.2% (2006 est.) NA%
Industries machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles fishing, tourism, copra
Infant mortality rate total: 7.07 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 7.8 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 6.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total: 18.9 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 21.64 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 16.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 1% (2006 est.) 3.9% (2005 est.)
International organization participation ACCT (observer), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, IFRCS (observer), IMO, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO
Irrigated land 1,000 sq km (2003) NA
Judicial branch Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary for an indefinite period); Constitutional Tribunal (judges are chosen by the Sejm for nine-year terms) High Court (a chief justice visits twice a year to preside over its sessions; its rulings can be appealed to the Court of Appeal in Fiji); eight Island Courts (with limited jurisdiction)
Labor force 16.94 million (2006 est.) 3,615 (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation agriculture: 16.1%


industry: 29%


services: 54.9% (2002)
note: people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly workers in the phosphate industry and sailors)
Land boundaries total: 3,056 km


border countries: Belarus 416 km, Czech Republic 790 km, Germany 467 km, Lithuania 103 km, Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) 210 km, Slovakia 541 km, Ukraine 529 km
0 km
Land use arable land: 40.25%


permanent crops: 1%


other: 58.75% (2005)
arable land: 0%


permanent crops: 66.67%


other: 33.33% (2005)
Languages Polish 97.8%, other and unspecified 2.2% (2002 census) Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui)
Legal system based on a mixture of Continental (Napoleonic) civil law and holdover Communist legal theory; changes being gradually introduced as part of broader democratization process; limited judicial review of legislative acts, but rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal are final; court decisions can be appealed to the European Court of Justice in Strasbourg; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations NA
Legislative branch bicameral National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe consists of the Senate or Senat (upper house) (100 seats; members are elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis to serve four-year terms), and the Sejm (lower house) (460 seats; members are elected under a complex system of proportional representation to serve four-year terms); the designation of National Assembly is only used on those rare occasions when the two houses meet jointly


elections: Senate - last held 21 September 2007 (next to be held by September 2011); Sejm elections last held 21 September 2007 (next to be held by September 2011)


election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PO 60, PiS 39, independents 1; Sejm - percent of vote by party - PO 41.5%, PiS 32.1%, SLD 13.2%, PSL 8.9%, other 4.3%; seats by party - PO 209, PiS 166, SLD 53, PSL 31, German minorities 1


note: one seat is assigned to ethnic minority parties in the Sejm only
unicameral Parliament or Fale I Fono, also called House of Assembly (15 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)


elections: last held 3 August 2006 (next to be held in 2010)


election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - independents 15
Life expectancy at birth total population: 75.19 years


male: 71.18 years


female: 79.44 years (2007 est.)
total population: 68.63 years


male: 66.38 years


female: 70.99 years (2007 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 99.8%


male: 99.8%


female: 99.7% (2003 est.)
NA
Location Central Europe, east of Germany Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia
Map references Europe Oceania
Maritime claims territorial sea: 12 nm


exclusive economic zone: defined by international treaties
territorial sea: 12 nm


contiguous zone: 24 nm


exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine total: 11 ships (1000 GRT or over) 55,701 GRT/45,082 DWT


by type: cargo 6, chemical tanker 2, passenger/cargo 1, roll on/roll off 1, vehicle carrier 1


foreign-owned: 1 (Nigeria 1)


registered in other countries: 102 (Antigua and Barbuda 2, Bahamas 15, Cyprus 18, Liberia 14, Malta 25, Norway 3, Panama 15, Slovakia 2, St Vincent and The Grenadines 1, Vanuatu 7) (2007)
total: 74 ships (1000 GRT or over) 568,759 GRT/928,697 DWT


by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 45, chemical tanker 5, container 2, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 13, refrigerated cargo 1, specialized tanker 1


foreign-owned: 61 (China 25, Hong Kong 10, Kenya 1, Maldives 1, Romania 1, Russia 4, Singapore 13, Thailand 1, Turkey 1, US 1, Vietnam 3) (2007)
Military branches Armed Forces of the Polish Republic (Sily Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, SZRP): Land Forces (includes Navy (Marynarka Wojenna, MW)), Polish Air Force (Sily Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, SPRP) (2006) no regular military forces; Police Force
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 1.71% (2005 est.) NA
National holiday Constitution Day, 3 May (1791) Independence Day, 1 October (1978)
Nationality noun: Pole(s)


adjective: Polish
noun: Tuvaluan(s)


adjective: Tuvaluan
Natural hazards flooding severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones; low level of islands make them sensitive to changes in sea level
Natural resources coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt, amber, arable land fish
Net migration rate -0.46 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Pipelines gas 13,552 km; oil 1,384 km; refined products 777 km (2006) -
Political parties and leaders Catholic-National Movement or RKN [Antoni MACIEREWICZ]; Civic Platform or PO [Donald TUSK]; Conservative Peasants Party or SKL [Artur BALASZ]; Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Wojciech OLEJNICZAK]; Democratic Party or PD [Janusz ONYSZKIEWICZ]; Dom Ojczysty (Fatherland Home); German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO [Henryk KROLL]; Law and Justice or PiS [Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI]; League of Polish Families or LPR [Roman GIERTYCH]; Peasant-Democratic Party or PLD [Roman JAGIELINSKI]; Polish Accord or PP [Jan LOPUSZANSKI]; Polish Peasant Party or PSL [Waldemar PAWLAK]; Ruch Patriotyczny or RP [Jan OLSZEWSKI]; Samoobrona or SO [Andrzej LEPPER]; Social Democratic Party of Poland or SDPL [Marek BOROWSKI]; Social Movement or RS [Krzysztof PIESIEWICZ]; Union of Labor or UP [Andrzej SPYCHALSKI] there are no political parties but members of Parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings
Political pressure groups and leaders All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union) [Jan GUZ]; Roman Catholic Church [Cardinal Jozef GLEMP]; Solidarity Trade Union [Janusz SNIADEK] none
Population 38,518,241 (July 2007 est.) 11,992 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line 17% (2003 est.) NA%
Population growth rate -0.046% (2007 est.) 1.543% (2007 est.)
Radio broadcast stations AM 14, FM 777, shortwave 1 (1998) AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004)
Railways total: 23,072 km


broad gauge: 629 km 1.524-m gauge


standard gauge: 22,443 km 1.435-m gauge (20,555 km operational; 11,910 km electrified) (2006)
-
Religions Roman Catholic 89.8% (about 75% practicing), Eastern Orthodox 1.3%, Protestant 0.3%, other 0.3%, unspecified 8.3% (2002) Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6%
Sex ratio at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.057 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.991 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.618 male(s)/female


total population: 0.941 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.039 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.951 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.601 male(s)/female


total population: 0.954 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal 18 years of age; universal
Telephone system general assessment: modernization of the telecommunications network has accelerated with market based competition finalized in 2003; fixed-line service, dominated by the former state-owned company, is dwarfed by the growth in wireless telephony


domestic: wireless service, available since 1993 (GSM service available since 1996) and provided by three nation-wide networks, has grown rapidly in response to the weak fixed-line coverage; third generation UMTS service available in urban areas; cellular coverage is generally good with more gaps in the east; fixed-line service is growing slowly and still lags in rural areas


international: country code - 48; international direct dialing with automated exchanges; satellite earth station - 1 with access to Intelsat, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik
general assessment: serves particular needs for internal communications


domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands


international: country code - 688; international calls can be made by satellite
Telephones - main lines in use 11.475 million (2006) 700 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular 36.746 million (2006) 0 (2004)
Television broadcast stations 40 (2006) 0 (2004)
Terrain mostly flat plain; mountains along southern border very low-lying and narrow coral atolls
Total fertility rate 1.26 children born/woman (2007 est.) 2.96 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate 14.9% (2006 est.) NA%
Waterways 3,997 km (navigable rivers and canals) (2006) -
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