Compare Sierra Leone (2005) - Turkmenistan (2007)

Compare Sierra Leone (2005) z Turkmenistan (2007)

	Sierra Leone (2005)	Turkmenistan (2007)

Administrative divisions	3 provinces and 1 area; Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western	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: 44.7% (male 1,318,508/female 1,371,164) 15-64 years: 52% (male 1,494,068/female 1,637,276) 65 years and over: 3.3% (male 93,047/female 103,580) (2005 est.)	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	rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish	cotton, grain; livestock
Airports	10 (2004 est.)	28 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.)	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: 9 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.)	total: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 under 914 m: 4 (2007)
Area	total: 71,740 sq km land: 71,620 sq km water: 120 sq km	total: 488,100 sq km land: 488,100 sq km water: NEGL
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than South Carolina	slightly larger than California
Background	The 1991 to 2002 civil war between the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about one-third of the population), many of whom are now refugees in neighboring countries. With the support of the UN peacekeeping force and contributions from the World Bank and international community, demobilization and disarmament of the RUF and Civil Defense Forces (CDF) combatants has been completed. National elections were held in May 2002 and the government continues to slowly reestablish its authority. However, the gradual withdrawal of most UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) peacekeepers in 2004 and early 2005, deteriorating political and economic conditions in Guinea, and the tenuous security situation in neighboring Liberia may present challenges to the continuation of Sierra Leone's stability.	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 NIYAZOV died in December 2006, and Turkmenistan held its first multi-candidate presidential electoral process in February 2007. Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW, a former NIYAZOV aide, emerged as the country's new president.
Birth rate	42.84 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)	25.36 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget	revenues: $96 million expenditures: $351 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2000 est.)	revenues: $1.434 billion expenditures: $1.386 billion (2006 est.)
Capital	Freetown	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; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry season (December to April)	subtropical desert
Coastline	402 km	0 km; note - Turkmenistan borders the Caspian Sea (1,768 km)
Constitution	1 October 1991; subsequently amended several times	adopted 18 May 1992
Country name	conventional long form: Republic of Sierra Leone conventional short form: Sierra Leone	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Turkmenistan local long form: none local short form: Turkmenistan former: Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
Death rate	20.61 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)	6.17 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external	$1.5 billion (2002 est.)	$2.4 billion to $5 billion (2001 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas N. HULL embassy: Corner of Walpole and Siaka Stevens Streets, Freetown mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [232] (22) 226481 through 226485 FAX: [232] (22) 225471	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 Ibrahim M. KAMARA chancery: 1701 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 939-9261 through 9263 FAX: [1] (202) 483-1793	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	domestic fighting among disparate rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone perpetuate insurgencies, street violence, looting, arms trafficking, ethnic conflicts, and refugees in border areas; UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) has maintained over 4,000 peacekeepers in Sierra Leone since 1999; Sierra Leone pressures Guinea to remove its forces from the town of Yenga occupied since 1998	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	$103 million (2001 est.)	$28.25 million from the US (2005)
Economy - overview	Sierra Leone is an extremely poor African nation with tremendous inequality in income distribution. While it possesses substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, its economic and social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development. About two-thirds of the working-age population engages in subsistence agriculture. Manufacturing consists mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Plans to reopen bauxite and rutile mines shut down during an 11 year civil war have not been implemented due to lack of foreign investment. Alluvial diamond mining remains the major source of hard currency earnings. The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad, which is essential to offset the severe trade imbalance and supplement government revenues. International financial institutions contributed over $600 million in development aid and budgetary support in 2003.	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 15% per year from 2003-06, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices. In 2006, Ashgabat raised its natural gas export prices to its main customer, Russia, from $66 per thousand cubic meters (tcm) to $100 per tcm. 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 AmuDarya railroad bridge in Lebap province, and to create special border trade zones in southern Balkan province - a hint that the new post-NIYAZOV government will work to create a friendlier foreign investment environment.
Electricity - consumption	237.4 million kWh (2002)	7.602 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2002)	2.918 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2002)	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - production	255.3 million kWh (2002)	12.05 billion kWh (2005 est.)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Loma Mansa (Bintimani) 1,948 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	rapid population growth pressuring the environment; overharvesting of timber, expansion of cattle grazing, and slash-and-burn agriculture have resulted in deforestation and soil exhaustion; civil war depleting natural resources; overfishing	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, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification	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	20 native African tribes 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%), Creole (Krio) 10% (descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area in the late-18th century), refugees from Liberia's recent civil war, small numbers of Europeans, Lebanese, Pakistanis, and Indians	Turkmen 85%, Uzbek 5%, Russian 4%, other 6% (2003)
Exchange rates	leones per US dollar - 2,701.3 (2004), 2,347.9 (2003), 2,099 (2002), 1,986.2 (2001), 2,092.1 (2000)	Turkmen manat per US$ - 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 Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (since 29 March 1996, reinstated 10 March 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (since 29 March 1996, reinstated 10 March 1998); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Ministers of State appointed by the president with the approval of the House of Representatives; the cabinet is responsible to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 14 May 2002 (next to be held May 2007); note - president's tenure of office is limited to two five-year terms election results: Ahmad Tejan KABBAH reelected president; percent of vote - Ahmad Tejan KABBAH (SLPP) 70.6%, Ernest KOROMA (APC) 22.4%	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	NA	117,800 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities	diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish (1999)	gas, crude oil, petrochemicals, cotton fiber, textiles
Exports - partners	Belgium 61.6%, Germany 11.8%, US 5.4% (2004)	Ukraine 47.7%, Iran 16.4%, Azerbaijan 5.3% (2006)
Fiscal year	calendar year	calendar year
Flag description	three equal horizontal bands of light green (top), white, and light blue	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: 49% industry: 30% services: 21% (2001 est.)	agriculture: 17.7% industry: 39.2% services: 43.2% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $600 (2004 est.)	-
GDP - real growth rate	6% (2004 est.)	IMF estimate: 6% note: official government statistics show 21.4% growth, but these estimates are widely regarded as unreliable (2006 est.)
Geographic coordinates	8 30 N, 11 30 W	40 00 N, 60 00 E
Geography - note	rainfall along the coast can reach 495 cm (195 inches) a year, making it one of the wettest places along coastal, western Africa	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	2 (2004 est.)	1 (2007)
Highways	total: 11,300 km paved: 904 km unpaved: 10,396 km (2002)	-
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 0.5% highest 10%: 43.6% (1989)	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	NA	NA bbl/day
Imports - commodities	foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals (1995)	machinery and equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
Imports - partners	Germany 14%, Cote d'Ivoire 10.7%, UK 9.1%, US 8.4%, China 5.6%, Netherlands 5%, South Africa 4.1% (2004)	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 April 1961 (from UK)	27 October 1991 (from the Soviet Union)
Industrial production growth rate	NA	22% (2003 est.)
Industries	diamonds mining; small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining, small commercial ship repair	natural gas, oil, petroleum products, textiles, food processing
Infant mortality rate	total: 143.64 deaths/1,000 live births male: 161.06 deaths/1,000 live births female: 125.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)	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)	1% (2002 est.)	11.5% (2006 est.)
International organization participation	ACP, AfDB, AU, C, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO	AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECO, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, 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	290 sq km (1998 est.)	18,000 sq km (2003)
Judicial branch	Supreme Court; Appeals Court; High Court	Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president)
Labor force	1.369 million (1981 est.)	2.32 million (2003 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA	agriculture: 48.2% industry: 13.8% services: 37% (2003 est.)
Land boundaries	total: 958 km border countries: Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km	total: 3,736 km border countries: Afghanistan 744 km, Iran 992 km, Kazakhstan 379 km, Uzbekistan 1,621 km
Land use	arable land: 6.98% permanent crops: 0.89% other: 92.13% (2001)	arable land: 4.51% permanent crops: 0.14% other: 95.35% (2005)
Languages	English (official, regular use limited to literate minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%)	Turkmen 72%, Russian 12%, Uzbek 9%, other 7%
Legal system	based on English law and customary laws indigenous to local tribes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction	based on civil law system and Islamic law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch	unicameral Parliament (124 seats - 112 elected by popular vote, 12 filled by paramount chiefs elected in separate elections; members serve five-year terms) elections: last held 14 May 2002 (next to be held May 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - SLPP 70.06%, APC 22.35%, PLP 3%, others 4.59%; seats by party - SLPP 83, APC 27, PLP 2	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: 39.87 years male: 37.74 years female: 42.06 years (2005 est.)	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 English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic total population: 29.6% male: 39.8% female: 20.5% (2000 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98.8% male: 99.3% female: 98.3% (1999 est.)
Location	Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia	Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan
Map references	Africa	Asia
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm	none (landlocked)
Merchant marine	total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 7,435 GRT/8,750 DWT by type: petroleum tanker 2 (2005)	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 branches	Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF): Army (includes Air Wing, Maritime Wing)	Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces (2007)
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$13.2 million (2004)	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	1.7% (2004)	3.4% (2005 est.)
National holiday	Independence Day, 27 April (1961)	Independence Day, 27 October (1991)
Nationality	noun: Sierra Leonean(s) adjective: Sierra Leonean	noun: Turkmen(s) adjective: Turkmenistani
Natural hazards	dry, sand-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (December to February); sandstorms, dust storms	NA
Natural resources	diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite	petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, salt
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population note: refugees currently in surrounding countries are slowly returning (2005 est.)	-3.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Pipelines	-	gas 6,441 km; oil 1,361 km (2006)
Political parties and leaders	All People's Congress or APC [Ben KANU]; Peace and Liberation Party or PLP [Darlington MORRISON, interim chairman]; Sierra Leone People's Party or SLPP [Sama BANYA]; numerous others	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 NIYAZOV; UDPT is led by former Foreign Minister Abdy KULIEV and is based in Moscow
Political pressure groups and leaders	trade unions and student unions	NA
Population	6,017,643 (July 2005 est.)	5,097,028 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line	68% (1989 est.)	27% (2002)
Population growth rate	2.22% (2005 est.)	1.617% (2007 est.)
Ports and harbors	Freetown, Pepel, Sherbro Islands	-
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 9, shortwave 1 (1999)	AM 16, FM 8, shortwave 2 (1998)
Railways	-	total: 2,440 km broad gauge: 2,440 km 1.520-m gauge (2006)
Religions	Muslim 60%, indigenous beliefs 30%, Christian 10%	Muslim 89%, Eastern Orthodox 9%, unknown 2%
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2005 est.)	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	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: marginal telephone and telegraph service domestic: the national microwave radio relay trunk system connects Freetown to Bo and Kenema international: country code - 232; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)	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	24,000 (2002)	495,000 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular	67,000 (2002)	105,000 (2005)
Television broadcast stations	2 (1999)	4 (government-owned and programmed) (2004)
Terrain	coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east	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	5.72 children born/woman (2005 est.)	3.13 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate	NA	60% (2004 est.)
Waterways	800 km (2003)	1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland waterways) (2006)

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