Puerto Rico (2005) | Bolivia (2007) | |
Administrative divisions | none (commonwealth associated with the US); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 78 municipalities (municipios, singular - municipio) at the second order; Adjuntas, Aguada, Aguadilla, Aguas Buenas, Aibonito, Anasco, Arecibo, Arroyo, Barceloneta, Barranquitas, Bayamon, Cabo Rojo, Caguas, Camuy, Canovanas, Carolina, Catano, Cayey, Ceiba, Ciales, Cidra, Coamo, Comerio, Corozal, Culebra, Dorado, Fajardo, Florida, Guanica, Guayama, Guayanilla, Guaynabo, Gurabo, Hatillo, Hormigueros, Humacao, Isabela, Jayuya, Juana Diaz, Juncos, Lajas, Lares, Las Marias, Las Piedras, Loiza, Luquillo, Manati, Maricao, Maunabo, Mayaguez, Moca, Morovis, Naguabo, Naranjito, Orocovis, Patillas, Penuelas, Ponce, Quebradillas, Rincon, Rio Grande, Sabana Grande, Salinas, San German, San Juan, San Lorenzo, San Sebastian, Santa Isabel, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Trujillo Alto, Utuado, Vega Alta, Vega Baja, Vieques, Villalba, Yabucoa, Yauco | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 22% (male 441,594/female 421,986)
15-64 years: 65.5% (male 1,228,583/female 1,337,066) 65 years and over: 12.4% (male 211,283/female 276,120) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 34.3% (male 1,593,509/female 1,532,155)
15-64 years: 61.1% (male 2,730,359/female 2,841,872) 65 years and over: 4.6% (male 187,123/female 234,134) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, coffee, pineapples, plantains, bananas, livestock products, chickens | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber |
Airports | 30 (2004 est.) | 1,061 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 17
over 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.) |
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 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 13
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 10 (2004 est.) |
total: 1,045
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 57 914 to 1,523 m: 183 under 914 m: 800 (2007) |
Area | total: 9,104 sq km
land: 8,959 sq km water: 145 sq km |
total: 1,098,580 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km water: 14,190 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Rhode Island | slightly less than three times the size of Montana |
Background | Populated for centuries by aboriginal peoples, the island was claimed by the Spanish Crown in 1493 following Columbus' second voyage to the Americas. In 1898, after 400 years of colonial rule that saw the indigenous population nearly exterminated and African slave labor introduced, Puerto Rico was ceded to the US as a result of the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship in 1917. Popularly-elected governors have served since 1948. In 1952, a constitution was enacted providing for internal self government. In plebiscites held in 1967, 1993, and 1998, voters chose to retain commonwealth status. | 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 countercoups. Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and illegal drug production. In December 2005, Bolivians elected Movement Toward Socialism leader Evo MORALES president - by the widest margin of any leader since the restoration of civilian rule in 1982 - after he ran on a promise to change the country's traditional political class and empower the nation's poor majority. However, since taking office, his controversial strategies have exacerbated racial and economic tensions between the Amerindian populations of the Andean west and the non-indigenous communities of the eastern lowlands. |
Birth rate | 13.93 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 22.82 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $6.7 billion
expenditures: $9.6 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (FY99/00) |
revenues: $4.48 billion
expenditures: $3.95 billion (2006 est.) |
Capital | San Juan | name: La Paz (administrative capital)
geographic coordinates: 16 30 S, 68 09 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Sucre (constitutional capital) |
Climate | tropical marine, mild; little seasonal temperature variation | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid |
Coastline | 501 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | ratified 3 March 1952, approved by US Congress 3 July 1952, effective 25 July 1952 | 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994; referendum on new constitution to be held 6 August 2007 |
Country name | conventional long form: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
conventional short form: Puerto Rico |
conventional long form: Republic of Bolivia
conventional short form: Bolivia local long form: Republica de Bolivia local short form: Bolivia |
Death rate | 7.86 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 7.44 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | NA | $4.455 billion (2006 est.) |
Dependency status | commonwealth associated with the US | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (commonwealth associated with the US) | chief of mission: Ambassador Philip S. GOLDBERG
embassy: Avenida Arce 2780, La Paz mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032 telephone: [591] (2) 216-8000 FAX: [591] (2) 216-8111 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (commonwealth associated with the US) | chief of mission: Ambassador Gustavo GUZMAN Saldana
chancery: 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4410 FAX: [1] (202) 328-3712 consulate(s) general: Houston, Miami, New York, Oklahoma City, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, DC |
Disputes - international | increasing numbers of illegal migrants from the Dominican Republic cross the Mona Passage to Puerto Rico each year looking for work | 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 | NA (2001) | $582.9 million (2005 est.) |
Economy - overview | Puerto Rico has one of the most dynamic economies in the Caribbean region. A diverse industrial sector has far surpassed agriculture as the primary locus of economic activity and income. Encouraged by duty-free access to the US and by tax incentives, US firms have invested heavily in Puerto Rico since the 1950s. US minimum wage laws apply. Sugar production has lost out to dairy production and other livestock products as the main source of income in the agricultural sector. Tourism has traditionally been an important source of income, with estimated arrivals of nearly 5 million tourists in 1999. Growth fell off in 2001-03, largely due to the slowdown in the US economy, and has recovered in 2004. | 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% 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 ex-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. In 2005, the government passed a controversial natural gas law that imposed significantly higher taxes on the oil and gas firms and required production firms to sign new operating contracts, which were completed in October 2006. Bolivian officials are in the process of revamping the defunct state-owned oil company and acquiring majority ownership of five gas production, transportation, refining, and storage companies. The MORALES administration plans to increase state control over other sectors as well, including mining, electricity, telecommunications, transportation, and forestry. Real GDP growth in 2003-06 - helped by increased demand for natural gas in neighboring Brazil - was positive, but still below the levels seen during the 1990s. Bolivia's fiscal position has improved in recent years, and the country had a record 6% fiscal surplus for 2006. In 2005, the G8 announced a $2 billion debt-forgiveness plan over the next few decades. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank forgave a total of approximately $1.8 billion of Bolivian debt in 2006 that has helped reduce fiscal pressures on the government. |
Electricity - consumption | 20.54 billion kWh (2002) | 4.207 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 22.09 billion kWh (2002) | 5.041 billion kWh (2005) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Cerro de Punta 1,338 m |
lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
Environment - current issues | erosion; occasional drought causing water shortages | 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, 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 | white (mostly Spanish origin) 80.5%, black 8%, Amerindian 0.4%, Asian 0.2%, mixed and other 10.9% | Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15% |
Exchange rates | the US dollar is used | bolivianos per US dollar - 8.0159 (2006), 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003), 7.17 (2002) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001)
head of government: Governor Anibal ACEVEDO-VILA (since 2 January 2005) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor with the consent of the legislature elections: US president and vice president elected on the same ticket for four-year terms; governor elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held November 2008) election results: Anibal ACEVEDO-VILA (PPD) elected governor; percent of vote - 48.4% |
chief of state: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: Juan Evo MORALES Ayma elected president; percent of vote - Juan Evo MORALES Ayma 53.7%; Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez 28.6%; Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana 7.8%; Michiaki NAGATANI Morishit 6.5%; Felipe QUISPE Huanca 2.2%; Guildo ANGULA Cabrera 0.7% |
Exports | NA | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | chemicals, electronics, apparel, canned tuna, rum, beverage concentrates, medical equipment | natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin |
Exports - partners | US 90.3%, UK 1.6%, Netherlands 1.4%, Dominican Republic 1.4% (2002 est.) | Brazil 45.6%, US 10.8%, Argentina 9.2%, Colombia 6.8%, Japan 5.5%, South Korea 4.3% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | calendar year |
Flag description | five equal horizontal bands of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bears a large, white, five-pointed star in the center; design initially influenced by the US flag, but similar to the Cuban flag, with the colors of the bands and triangle reversed | 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 - composition by sector | agriculture: 1%
industry: 45% services: 54% (2002 est.) |
agriculture: 12.6%
industry: 35.6% services: 51.8% (2006 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $17,700 (2004 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.7% (2004 est.) | 4.5% (2006 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 18 15 N, 66 30 W | 17 00 S, 65 00 W |
Geography - note | important location along the Mona Passage - a key shipping lane to the Panama Canal; San Juan is one of the biggest and best natural harbors in the Caribbean; many small rivers and high central mountains ensure land is well watered; south coast relatively dry; fertile coastal plain belt in north | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru |
Highways | total: 25,328 km
paved: 23,665 km (including 426 km of expressways) unpaved: 1,363 km (2004) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: 0.3%
highest 10%: 47.2% (2002) |
Illicit drugs | - | world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 26,500 hectares under cultivation in August 2005, an 8% increase from 2004; transit country for Peruvian and Colombian cocaine destined for Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Europe; cultivation steadily increasing despite eradication and alternative crop programs; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade, especially along the borders with Brazil and Paraguay; major cocaine consumption |
Imports | NA | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | chemicals, machinery and equipment, clothing, food, fish, petroleum products | petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans |
Imports - partners | US 55.0%, Ireland 23.7%, Japan 5.4% (2002 est.) | Brazil 29.3%, Argentina 16%, Chile 12.1%, US 9.1%, Peru 8.1% (2006) |
Independence | none (commonwealth associated with the US) | 6 August 1825 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 5.7% (2004 est.) |
Industries | pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, food products, tourism | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing |
Infant mortality rate | total: 8.24 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 9.52 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
total: 50.43 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 53.93 deaths/1,000 live births female: 46.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.5% (2003 est.) | 4.3% (2006 est.) |
International organization participation | ICFTU, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WToO (associate) | CAN, CSN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMISET, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Irrigated land | 400 sq km (1998 est.) | 1,320 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Appellate Court; Court of First Instance composed of two sections: a Superior Court and a Municipal Court (justices for all these courts appointed by the governor with the consent of the Senate) | 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 | 1.3 million (2000) | 4.297 million (2006 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 3%, industry 20%, services 77% (2000 est.) | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 6,940 km
border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,423 km, Chile 860 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 1,075 km |
Land use | arable land: 3.95%
permanent crops: 5.52% other: 90.53% (2001) |
arable land: 2.78%
permanent crops: 0.19% other: 97.03% (2005) |
Languages | Spanish, English | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (official) |
Legal system | based on Spanish civil code and within the US Federal system of justice | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | bicameral Legislative Assembly consists of the Senate (at least 27 seats - currently 29; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives (51 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held November 2008); House of Representatives - last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held November 2008) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - PNP 43.4%, PPD 40.3%, PIP 9.4%; seats by party - PNP 17, PPD 9, PIP 1; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - PNP 46.3%, PPD 43.1%, PIP 9.7%; seats by party - PNP 32, PPD 18, PIP 1 note: Puerto Rico elects, by popular vote, a resident commissioner to serve a four-year term as a nonvoting representative in the US House of Representatives; aside from not voting on the House floor, he enjoys all the rights of a member of Congress; elections last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held November 2008); results - percent of vote by party - PNP 48.6%; seats by party - PNP 1; Luis FORTUNO elected resident commissioner |
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; 70 members are directly elected from their districts and 60 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms)
elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PODEMOS 13, MAS 12, UN 1, MNR 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 73, PODEMOS 43, UN 8, MNR 6 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 78.29 years
male: 74.35 years female: 82.43 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 66.19 years
male: 63.53 years female: 68.97 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 94.1% male: 93.9% female: 94.4% (2002 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.7% male: 93.1% female: 80.7% (2001 census) |
Location | Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic | Central South America, southwest of Brazil |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | South America |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 36,728 GRT/37,048 DWT
by type: roll on/roll off 2 foreign-owned: 2 (United States 2) registered in other countries: 1 (2005) |
total: 25 ships (1000 GRT or over) 73,877 GRT/110,148 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 12, carrier 1, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 9 foreign-owned: 9 (Argentina 1, China 1, Egypt 1, Iran 1, Italy 1, Singapore 1, Syria 1, Taiwan 1, Yemen 1) (2007) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the US | - |
Military branches | no regular indigenous military forces; paramilitary National Guard, Police Force | Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Bolivian Navy (Armada Boliviana; includes marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB) (2007) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.9% (2006) |
National holiday | US Independence Day, 4 July (1776); Puerto Rico Constitution Day, 25 July (1952) | Independence Day, 6 August (1825) |
Nationality | noun: Puerto Rican(s) (US citizens)
adjective: Puerto Rican |
noun: Bolivian(s)
adjective: Bolivian |
Natural hazards | periodic droughts; hurricanes | flooding in the northeast (March-April) |
Natural resources | some copper and nickel; potential for onshore and offshore oil | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower |
Net migration rate | -1.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | -1.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 4,860 km; liquid petroleum gas 47 km; oil 2,475 km; refined products 1,589 km; unknown (oil/water) 247 km (2006) |
Political parties and leaders | National Democratic Party [Celeste BENITEZ]; National Republican Party of Puerto Rico [Dr. Tiody FERRE]; New Progressive Party or PNP (pro-US statehood) [Pedro ROSSELLO]; Popular Democratic Party or PPD (pro-commonwealth) [Anibal ACEVEDO-VILA]; Puerto Rican Independence Party or PIP (pro-independence) [Ruben BERRIOS Martinez] | Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Franz BARRIOS]; Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Juan Evo MORALES Ayma]; Movement Without Fear or MSM [Juan DEL GRANADO]; National Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Mirta QUEVEDO]; National Unity [Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana]; Poder Democratico Nacional or PODEMOS [Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez]; Social Alliance [Rene JOAQUINO] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Armed Forces for National Liberation or FALN; Armed Forces of Popular Resistance; Boricua Popular Army (also known as the Macheteros); Volunteers of the Puerto Rican Revolution | Cocalero groups; indigenous organizations; labor unions; Sole Confederation of Campesino Workers of Bolivia or CSUTCB |
Population | 3,916,632 (July 2005 est.) | 9,119,152 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | 64% (2004 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.47% (2005 est.) | 1.42% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Las Mareas, Mayaguez, San Juan | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 72, FM 17, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) |
Railways | total: 96 km
narrow gauge: 96 km 1.000-m gauge (2004) |
total: 3,504 km
narrow gauge: 3,504 km 1.000-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 85%, Protestant and other 15% | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 0.92 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.961 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.799 male(s)/female total population: 0.979 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal; island residents are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single) |
Telephone system | general assessment: modern system integrated with that of the US by high-capacity submarine cable and Intelsat with high-speed data capability
domestic: digital telephone system; cellular telephone service international: country code - 1-787, 939; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat; submarine cable to US |
general assessment: privatization beginning in 1995; reliability has steadily improved; new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile- cellular telephone use expanding rapidly; fixed-line teledensity of 7 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density of 27 per 100 persons
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) (2007) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 1,329,500 (2002) | 646,300 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1,211,111 (2001) | 2.421 million (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 6 (19 relay stations) (2004) | 48 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountains with coastal plain belt in north; mountains precipitous to sea on west coast; sandy beaches along most coastal areas | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin |
Total fertility rate | 1.91 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 2.76 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 12% (2002) | 7.8% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2006 est.) |
Waterways | - | 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2007) |