Compare Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2006) - Burma (2005)

Compare Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2006) z Burma (2005)

	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2006)	Burma (2005)

Administrative divisions	6 parishes; Charlotte, Grenadines, Saint Andrew, Saint David, Saint George, Saint Patrick	7 divisions (taing-myar, singular - taing) and 7 states (pyi ne-myar, singular - pyi ne) divisions: Ayeyarwady, Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing, Tanintharyi, Yangon states: Chin State, Kachin State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Mon State, Rakhine State, Shan State
Age structure	0-14 years: 26.7% (male 16,007/female 15,426) 15-64 years: 66.9% (male 40,676/female 38,155) 65 years and over: 6.4% (male 3,315/female 4,269) (2006 est.)	0-14 years: 27.2% (male 5,967,487/female 5,717,795) 15-64 years: 67.8% (male 14,448,887/female 14,641,419) 65 years and over: 5% (male 939,092/female 1,194,784) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	bananas, coconuts, sweet potatoes, spices; small numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats; fish	rice, pulses, beans, sesame, groundnuts, sugarcane; hardwood; fish and fish products
Airports	6 (2006)	78 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2006)	total: 9 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2006)	total: 69 over 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 16 914 to 1,523 m: 20 under 914 m: 31 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 389 sq km (Saint Vincent 344 sq km) land: 389 sq km water: 0 sq km	total: 678,500 sq km land: 657,740 sq km water: 20,760 sq km
Area - comparative	twice the size of Washington, DC	slightly smaller than Texas
Background	Resistance by native Caribs prevented colonization on St. Vincent until 1719. Disputed between France and the United Kingdom for most of the 18th century, the island was ceded to the latter in 1783. Between 1960 and 1962, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was a separate administrative unit of the Federation of the West Indies. Autonomy was granted in 1969 and independence in 1979.	Britain conquered Burma over a period of 62 years (1824-1886) and incorporated it into its Indian Empire. Burma was administered as a province of India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony; independence from the Commonwealth was attained in 1948. Gen. NE WIN dominated the government from 1962 to 1988, first as military ruler, then as self-appointed president, and later as political kingpin. Despite multiparty legislative elections in 1990 that resulted in the main opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) - winning a landslide victory, the ruling junta refused to hand over power. NLD leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient AUNG SAN SUU KYI, who was under house arrest from 1989 to 1995 and 2000 to 2002, was imprisoned in May 2003 and is currently under house arrest. In December 2004, the junta announced it was extending her detention for at least an additional year. Her supporters, as well as all those who promote democracy and improved human rights, are routinely harassed or jailed.
Birth rate	16.18 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)	18.11 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	revenues: $94.6 million expenditures: $85.8 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)	revenues: $474.9 million expenditures: $955.5 million, including capital expenditures of $5.7 billion (2004 est.)
Capital	name: Kingstown geographic coordinates: 13 09 N, 61 14 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)	Rangoon (government refers to the capital as Yangon)
Climate	tropical; little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season (May to November)	tropical monsoon; cloudy, rainy, hot, humid summers (southwest monsoon, June to September); less cloudy, scant rainfall, mild temperatures, lower humidity during winter (northeast monsoon, December to April)
Coastline	84 km	1,930 km
Constitution	27 October 1979	3 January 1974; suspended since 18 September 1988; national convention convened in 1993 to draft a new constitution but collapsed in 1996; reconvened in 2004 but does not include participation of democratic opposition
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	conventional long form: Union of Burma conventional short form: Burma local long form: Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw (translated by the US Government as Union of Myanma and by the Burmese as Union of Myanmar) local short form: Myanma Naingngandaw former: Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma note: since 1989 the military authorities in Burma have promoted the name Myanmar as a conventional name for their state; this decision was not approved by any sitting legislature in Burma, and the US Government did not adopt the name, which is a derivative of the Burmese short-form name Myanma Naingngandaw
Death rate	5.98 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)	12.15 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	$223 million (2004)	$6.752 billion (2004 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	the US does not have an embassy in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	chief of mission: Charge d'Affaires Carmen M. MARTINEZ embassy: 581 Merchant Street, Rangoon (GPO 521) mailing address: Box B, APO AP 96546 telephone: [95] (1) 379 880, 379 881 FAX: [95] (1) 256 018
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Ellsworth I. A. JOHN chancery: 3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016 telephone: [1] (202) 364-6730 FAX: [1] (202) 364-6736 consulate(s) general: New York	chief of mission: vacant chancery: 2300 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-9044 FAX: [1] (202) 332-9046 consulate(s) general: New York
Disputes - international	joins other Caribbean states to counter Venezuela's claim that Aves Island sustains human habitation, a criterion under UNCLOS, which permits Venezuela to extend its EEZ/continental shelf over a large portion of the Caribbean Sea	over half of Burma's population consists of diverse ethnic groups with substantial numbers of kin beyond its borders; despite continuing border committee talks, significant differences remain with Thailand over boundary alignment and the handling of ethnic rebels, refugees, and illegal cross-border activities; ethnic Karens flee into Thailand to escape fighting between Karen rebels and Burmese troops, in 2004 Thailand sheltered about 118,000 Burmese refugees; Karens also protest Thai support for a Burmese hydroelectric dam on the Salween River near the border; environmentalists in Burma and Thailand continue to voice concern over China's construction of hydroelectric dams upstream on the Nujiang/Salween River in Yunnan Province; India seeks cooperation from Burma to keep Indian Nagaland separatists from hiding in remote Burmese uplands
Economic aid - recipient	$10.5 million (1995); note - EU $34.5 million (2004)	$127 million (2001 est.)
Economy - overview	Economic growth in this lower-middle-income country hinges upon seasonal variations in the agricultural and tourism sectors. Tropical storms wiped out substantial portions of crops in 1994, 1995, and 2002, and tourism in the Eastern Caribbean has suffered low arrivals following 11 September 2001. Saint Vincent is home to a small offshore banking sector and has moved to adopt international regulatory standards. Saint Vincent is also a producer of marijuana and is being used as a transshipment point for illegal narcotics from South America.	Burma is a resource-rich country that suffers from government controls, inefficient economic policies, and abject rural poverty. The junta took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy after decades of failure under the "Burmese Way to Socialism", but those efforts have since stalled and some of the liberalization measures have been rescinded. Burma has been unable to achieve monetary or fiscal stability, resulting in an economy that suffers from serious macroeconomic imbalances - including inflation and multiple official exchange rates that overvalue the Burmese kyat. In addition, most overseas development assistance ceased after the junta began to suppress the democracy movement in 1988 and subsequently ignored the results of the 1990 legislative elections. Economic sanctions against Burma by the United States - including a ban on imports of Burmese products and a ban on provision of financial services by US persons in response to the government of Burma's attack in May 2003 on AUNG SAN SUU KYI and her convoy - further slowed the inflow of foreign exchange. Official statistics are inaccurate. Published statistics on foreign trade are greatly understated because of the size of the black market and unofficial border trade - often estimated to be one to two times the size of the official economy. Though the Burmese government has good economic relations with its neighbors, a better investment climate and an improved political situation are needed to promote foreign investment, exports, and tourism. In February 2003, a major banking crisis hit the country's 20 private banks, shutting them down and disrupting the economy. As of January 2004, the largest private banks remained moribund, leaving the private sector with little formal access to credit.
Electricity - consumption	88.35 million kWh (2003)	3.484 billion kWh (2003)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2003)	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2003)	0 kWh (2004)
Electricity - production	95 million kWh (2003)	5.068 billion kWh (2003)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: La Soufriere 1,234 m	lowest point: Andaman Sea 0 m highest point: Hkakabo Razi 5,881 m
Environment - current issues	pollution of coastal waters and shorelines from discharges by pleasure yachts and other effluents; in some areas, pollution is severe enough to make swimming prohibitive	deforestation; industrial pollution of air, soil, and water; inadequate sanitation and water treatment contribute to disease
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94 signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups	black 66%, mixed 19%, East Indian 6%, Carib Amerindian 2%, other 7%	Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, other 5%
Exchange rates	East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7 (2005), 2.7 (2004), 2.7 (2003), 2.7 (2002), 2.7 (2001)	kyats per US dollar - 5.7459 (2004), 6.0764 (2003), 6.5734 (2002), 6.6841 (2001), 6.4257 (2000) note: these are official exchange rates; unofficial exchange rates ranged in 2004 from 815 kyat/US dollar to nearly 970 kyat/US dollar
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Fredrick Nathaniel BALLANTYNE (since 2 September 2002) head of government: Prime Minister Ralph E. GONSALVES (since 29 March 2001) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the governor general is appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister	chief of state: Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Sr. Gen. THAN SHWE (since 23 April 1992) head of government: Prime Minister, Gen SOE WIN (since 19 October 2004) cabinet: State Peace and Development Council (SPDC); military junta, so named 15 November 1997, which initially assumed power 18 September 1988 under the name State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC); the SPDC oversees the cabinet elections: none
Exports	NA bbl/day	3,356 bbl/day (2003)
Exports - commodities	bananas 39%, eddoes and dasheen (taro), arrowroot starch; tennis racquets	clothing, gas, wood products, pulses, beans, fish, rice
Exports - partners	France 50.3%, Italy 21%, Greece 11%, US 4.2% (2005)	Thailand 37.8%, India 11.7%, China 6%, Japan 5.3% (2004)
Fiscal year	calendar year	1 April - 31 March
Flag description	three vertical bands of blue (hoist side), gold (double width), and green; the gold band bears three green diamonds arranged in a V pattern	red with a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing, 14 white five-pointed stars encircling a cogwheel containing a stalk of rice; the 14 stars represent the 7 administrative divisions and 7 states
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 10% industry: 26% services: 64% (2001 est.)	agriculture: 56.6% industry: 8.8% services: 34.5% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	4.9% (2005 est.)	-1.3% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	13 15 N, 61 12 W	22 00 N, 98 00 E
Geography - note	the administration of the islands of the Grenadines group is divided between Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is comprised of 32 islands and cays	strategic location near major Indian Ocean shipping lanes
Heliports	-	1 (2004 est.)
Highways	-	total: 28,200 km paved: 3,440 km unpaved: 24,760 km (1996 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 32.4% (1998)
Illicit drugs	transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; small-scale cannabis cultivation	remains world's second largest producer of illicit opium (estimated production in 2004 - 292 metric tons, down 40% from 2003 due to eradication efforts and drought; cultivation in 2004 - 30,900 hectares, a 34% decline from 2003); lack of government will and ability to take on major narcotrafficking groups and lack of serious commitment against money laundering continues to hinder the overall antidrug effort; major source of methamphetamine and heroin for regional consumption; currently under Financial Action Task Force countermeasures due to continued failure to address its inadequate money-laundering controls (2005)
Imports	NA bbl/day	49,230 bbl/day (2003)
Imports - commodities	foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, chemicals and fertilizers, minerals and fuels	fabric, petroleum products, plastics, machinery, transport equipment, construction materials, crude oil; food products
Imports - partners	France 36.1%, Singapore 12.5%, Italy 11.9%, Trinidad and Tobago 7.9%, US 7.2% (2005)	China 29.8%, Singapore 20.8%, Thailand 19.3%, South Korea 5.2%, Malaysia 4.8% (2004)
Independence	27 October 1979 (from UK)	4 January 1948 (from UK)
Industrial production growth rate	-0.9% (1997 est.)	NA
Industries	food processing, cement, furniture, clothing, starch	agricultural processing; knit and woven apparel; wood and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertilizer; cement
Infant mortality rate	total: 14.4 deaths/1,000 live births male: 15.67 deaths/1,000 live births female: 13.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)	total: 67.24 deaths/1,000 live births male: 73.11 deaths/1,000 live births female: 61.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	1% (2005 est.)	17.2% (2004 est.)
International organization participation	ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, OAS, OECS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WTO	APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Irrigated land	10 sq km (2003)	15,920 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (based on Saint Lucia; one judge of the Supreme Court resides in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)	remnants of the British-era legal system are in place, but there is no guarantee of a fair public trial; the judiciary is not independent of the executive
Labor force	41,680 (1991 est.)	27.01 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 26% industry: 17% services: 57% (1980 est.)	agriculture 70%, industry 7%, services 23% (2001 est.)
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 5,876 km border countries: Bangladesh 193 km, China 2,185 km, India 1,463 km, Laos 235 km, Thailand 1,800 km
Land use	arable land: 17.95% permanent crops: 17.95% other: 64.1% (2005)	arable land: 15.19% permanent crops: 0.97% other: 83.84% (2001)
Languages	English, French patois	Burmese, minority ethnic groups have their own languages
Legal system	based on English common law	has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch	unicameral House of Assembly (21 seats, 15 elected representatives and 6 appointed senators; representatives are elected by popular vote from single-member constituencies to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 7 December 2005 (next to be held 2010) election results: percent of vote by party - ULP 55.26%, NDP 44.68%; seats by party - ULP 12, NDP 3	unicameral People's Assembly or Pyithu Hluttaw (485 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 27 May 1990, but Assembly never allowed by junta to convene election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NLD 392 (opposition), SNLD 23 (opposition), NUP 10 (pro-government), other 60
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 73.85 years male: 71.99 years female: 75.77 years (2006 est.)	total population: 60.7 years male: 57.8 years female: 63.78 years (2005 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 96% male: 96% female: 96% (1970 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 85.3% male: 89.2% female: 81.4% (2002)
Location	Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago	Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand
Map references	Central America and the Caribbean	Southeast Asia
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Merchant marine	total: 589 ships (1000 GRT or over) 5,449,699 GRT/8,051,250 DWT by type: bulk carrier 106, cargo 351, chemical tanker 5, container 20, liquefied gas 7, livestock carrier 1, passenger 5, passenger/cargo 15, petroleum tanker 18, refrigerated cargo 38, roll on/roll off 20, specialized tanker 3 foreign-owned: 529 (Bangladesh 1, Barbados 1, Belgium 3, Bulgaria 17, Canada 6, China 103, Croatia 9, Cyprus 1, Czech Republic registered in other countries: 1 (Comoros 1) (2006)	total: 37 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 429,144 GRT/659,622 DWT by type: bulk carrier 8, cargo 19, passenger 3, passenger/cargo 3, roll on'roll off 3, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 10 (Germany 4, Japan 5, United Kingdom 1) (2005)
Military branches	no regular military forces; Royal Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (includes Special Service Unit), Coast Guard (2005)	Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw): Army, Navy, Air Force (2005)
Military expenditures - dollar figure	NA	$39 million (FY97)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	NA	2.1% (FY97)
National holiday	Independence Day, 27 October (1979)	Independence Day, 4 January (1948); Union Day, 12 February (1947)
Nationality	noun: Saint Vincentian(s) or Vincentian(s) adjective: Saint Vincentian or Vincentian	noun: Burmese (singular and plural) adjective: Burmese
Natural hazards	hurricanes; Soufriere volcano on the island of Saint Vincent is a constant threat	destructive earthquakes and cyclones; flooding and landslides common during rainy season (June to September); periodic droughts
Natural resources	hydropower, cropland	petroleum, timber, tin, antimony, zinc, copper, tungsten, lead, coal, some marble, limestone, precious stones, natural gas, hydropower
Net migration rate	-7.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)	-1.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Pipelines	-	gas 2,056 km; oil 558 km (2004)
Political parties and leaders	New Democratic Party or NDP [Arnhim EUSTACE]; Unity Labor Party or ULP [Ralph GONSALVES] (formed by the coalition of Saint Vincent Labor Party or SVLP and the Movement for National Unity or MNU)	National League for Democracy or NLD [AUNG SHWE, chairman, AUNG SAN SUU KYI, general secretary]; National Unity Party or NUP (pro-government) [THA KYAW]; Shan Nationalities League for Democracy or SNLD [KHUN HTUN OO]; and other smaller parties
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma or NCGUB (self-proclaimed government in exile) ["Prime Minister" Dr. SEIN WIN] consists of individuals, some legitimately elected to the People's Assembly in 1990 (the group fled to a border area and joined insurgents in December 1990 to form parallel government in exile); Kachin Independence Army or KIA; Karen National Union or KNU; several Shan factions; United Wa State Army or UWSA; Union Solidarity and Development Association or USDA (pro-government, a social and political organization) [THAN AUNG, general secretary]
Population	117,848 (July 2006 est.)	42,909,464 note: estimates for this country 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 growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	25% (2000 est.)
Population growth rate	0.26% (2006 est.)	0.42% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Moulmein, Rangoon, Sittwe
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 6, shortwave 0 (2004)	AM 1, FM 1 (2004)
Railways	-	total: 3,955 km narrow gauge: 3,955 km 1.000-m gauge (2004)
Religions	Anglican 47%, Methodist 28%, Roman Catholic 13%, Hindu, Seventh-Day Adventist, other Protestant	Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%, animist 1%, other 2%
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2006 est.)	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: adequate system domestic: islandwide, fully automatic telephone system; VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to the other islands of the Grenadines international: country code - 1-784; VHF/UHF radiotelephone from Saint Vincent to Barbados; new SHF radiotelephone to Grenada and to Saint Lucia; access to Intelsat earth station in Martinique through Saint Lucia	general assessment: barely meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service for business and government; international service is fair domestic: NA international: country code - 95; satellite earth station - 2, Intelsat (Indian Ocean), and ShinSat
Telephones - main lines in use	22,500 (2005)	357,300 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular	70,600 (2005)	66,500 (2003)
Television broadcast stations	1 (plus three repeaters) (2004)	2 (2004)
Terrain	volcanic, mountainous	central lowlands ringed by steep, rugged highlands
Total fertility rate	1.83 children born/woman (2006 est.)	2.01 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	15% (2001 est.)	5.2% (2004 est.)
Waterways	-	12,800 km (2004)

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