Sierra Leone (2007) | Uzbekistan (2003) | |
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Administrative divisions | 3 provinces and 1 area*; Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western* | 12 provinces (viloyatlar, singular - viloyat), 1 autonomous republic* (respublika), and 1 city** (shahar); Andijon Viloyati, Buxoro Viloyati, Farg'ona Viloyati, Jizzax Viloyati, Namangan Viloyati, Navoiy Viloyati, Qashqadaryo Viloyati (Qarshi), Qaraqalpog'iston Respublikasi* (Nukus), Samarqand Viloyati, Sirdaryo Viloyati (Guliston), Surxondaryo Viloyati (Termiz), Toshkent Shahri**, Toshkent Viloyati, Xorazm Viloyati (Urganch)
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: 44.8% (male 1,349,878/female 1,400,297)
15-64 years: 52% (male 1,531,763/female 1,664,996) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 92,360/female 105,268) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 34.7% (male 4,594,721; female 4,431,653)
15-64 years: 60.5% (male 7,781,739; female 7,945,641) 65 years and over: 4.7% (male 497,692; female 730,201) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish | cotton, vegetables, fruits, grain; livestock |
Airports | 10 (2007) | 273 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2007) |
total: 27
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 13 1,523 to 2,437 m: 5 under 914 m: 6 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 9
914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
total: 246
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 211 (2002) |
Area | total: 71,740 sq km
land: 71,620 sq km water: 120 sq km |
total: 447,400 sq km
land: 425,400 sq km water: 22,000 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than South Carolina | slightly larger than California |
Background | The government is slowly reestablishing its authority after the civil war from 1991 to 2002 that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about one-third of the population). The last UN peacekeepers withdrew in December 2005 leaving full responsibility for security with domestic forces. A new civilian UN mission - the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) - was established to support the government's efforts to consolidate peace. The most pressing long-term threat to stability in Sierra Leone is the potential for political insecurity surrounding elections in July 2007. | Russia conquered Uzbekistan in the late 19th century. Stiff resistance to the Red Army after World War I was eventually suppressed and a socialist republic set up in 1924. During the Soviet era, intensive production of "white gold" (cotton) and grain led to overuse of agrochemicals and the depletion of water supplies, which have left the land poisoned and the Aral Sea and certain rivers half dry. Independent since 1991, the country seeks to gradually lessen its dependence on agriculture while developing its mineral and petroleum reserves. Current concerns include terrorism by Islamic militants, a nonconvertible currency, and the curtailment of human rights and democratization. |
Birth rate | 45.41 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 26.09 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $96 million
expenditures: $351 million (2000 est.) |
revenues: $4 billion
expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
Capital | name: Freetown
geographic coordinates: 8 30 N, 13 15 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Tashkent (Toshkent) |
Climate | tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry season (December to April) | mostly midlatitude desert, long, hot summers, mild winters; semiarid grassland in east |
Coastline | 402 km | 0 km (doubly landlocked); note - Uzbekistan includes the southern portion of the Aral Sea with a 420 km shoreline |
Constitution | 1 October 1991; subsequently amended several times | new constitution adopted 8 December 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Sierra Leone
conventional short form: Sierra Leone local long form: Republic of Sierra Leone local short form: Sierra Leone |
conventional long form: Republic of Uzbekistan
conventional short form: Uzbekistan local long form: Ozbekiston Respublikasi local short form: Ozbekiston former: Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic |
Currency | - | Uzbekistani sum (UZS) |
Death rate | 22.64 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 7.97 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $1.61 billion (2003 est.) | $4.6 billion (2002 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) 515 000 or [232] (76) 515 000 FAX: [232] (22) 225471 |
chief of mission: Ambassador John Edward HERBST
embassy: 82 Chilanzarskaya, Tashkent 700115 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [998] (71) 120-5450 FAX: [998] (71) 120-6335 |
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 Abdulaziz KAMILOV
chancery: 1746 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 293-6803 FAX: [1] (202) 293-6804 consulate(s) general: New York |
Disputes - international | as domestic fighting among disparate ethnic groups, rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone gradually abate, the number of refugees in border areas has begun to slowly dwindle; UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) has maintained over 4,000 peacekeepers in Sierra Leone since 1999; Sierra Leone considers excessive Guinea's definition of the flood plain limits to define the left bank boundary of the Makona and Moa rivers and protests Guinea's continued occupation of these lands including the hamlet of Yenga occupied since 1998 | prolonged regional drought creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; delimitation with Kazakhstan complete with demarcation underway; serious disputes with Kyrgyzstan around Uzbek enclaves mar progress on delimitation efforts; talks have begun with Tajikistan to determine and delimit border |
Economic aid - recipient | $343.4 million (2005 est.) | approximately $150 million from the US (2001) |
Economy - overview | Sierra Leone is an extremely poor 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. Nearly half 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. Alluvial diamond mining remains the major source of hard currency earnings accounting for nearly half of Sierra Leone's exports. 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. The IMF has completed a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program that helped stabilize economic growth and reduce inflation. A recent increase in political stability has led to a revival of economic activity such as the rehabilitation of bauxite and rutile mining. | Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country of which 11% consists of intensely cultivated, irrigated river valleys. More than 60% of its population lives in densely populated rural communities. Uzbekistan is now the world's second-largest cotton exporter, a large producer of gold and oil, and a regionally significant producer of chemicals and machinery. Following independence in December 1991, the government sought to prop up its Soviet-style command economy with subsidies and tight controls on production and prices. Uzbekistan responded to the negative external conditions generated by the Asian and Russian financial crises by emphasizing import substitute industrialization and by tightening export and currency controls within its already largely closed economy. The government, while aware of the need to improve the investment climate, sponsors measures that often increase, not decrease, the government's control over business decisions. A sharp increase in the inequality of income distribution has hurt the lower ranks of society since independence. |
Electricity - consumption | 227.9 million kWh (2005) | 47.07 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 3.998 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | 9.7 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 245 million kWh (2005) | 44.49 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 88.2%
hydro: 11.8% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Loma Mansa (Bintimani) 1,948 m |
lowest point: Sariqarnish Kuli -12 m
highest point: Adelunga Toghi 4,301 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 depleted natural resources; overfishing | shrinkage of the Aral Sea is resulting in growing concentrations of chemical pesticides and natural salts; these substances are then blown from the increasingly exposed lake bed and contribute to desertification; water pollution from industrial wastes and the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides is the cause of many human health disorders; increasing soil salination; soil contamination from buried nuclear processing and agricultural chemicals, including DDT |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, 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, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | 20 African ethnic groups 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 | Uzbek 80%, Russian 5.5%, Tajik 5%, Kazakh 3%, Karakalpak 2.5%, Tatar 1.5%, other 2.5% (1996 est.) |
Exchange rates | leones per US dollar - 2,961.7 (2006), 2,889.6 (2005), 2,701.3 (2004), 2,347.9 (2003), 2,099 (2002) | Uzbekistani sums per US dollar - 970 (2002), 325 (2001), 236.61 (2000), 124.63 (1999), 94.49 (1998) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Ernest Bai KOROMA (since 17 September 2007); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Ernest Bai KOROMA (since 17 September 2007) 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 (eligible for a second term); election last held 11 August 2007 and 8 September 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: second round results; percent of vote - Ernest Bai KOROMA 54.6%, Solomon BEREWA 45.4% |
chief of state: President Islom KARIMOV (since 24 March 1990, when he was elected president by the then Supreme Soviet)
head of government: Prime Minister Shavkat MIRZIYAYEV (since 11 December 2003) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the president with approval of the Supreme Assembly elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term (previously was a five-year term, extended by constitutional amendment in 2002); election last held 9 January 2000 (next to be held NA December 2007); prime minister and deputy ministers appointed by the president election results: Islom KARIMOV reelected president; percent of vote - Islom KARIMOV 91.9%, Abdulkhafiz JALALOV 4.2% |
Exports | NA bbl/day | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish | cotton 41.5%, gold 9.6%, energy products 9.6%, mineral fertilizers, ferrous metals, textiles, food products, automobiles (1998 est.) |
Exports - partners | Belgium 52.1%, US 19.1%, Netherlands 6.8% (2006) | Russia 17.7%, Ukraine 11%, Italy 7.6%, Tajikistan 6.8%, Poland 5.1%, South Korea 5%, Kazakhstan 4.5%, US 4.2% (2002) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of light green (top), white, and light blue | three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and green separated by red fimbriations with a white crescent moon and 12 white stars in the upper hoist-side quadrant |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $66.06 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 49%
industry: 31% services: 21% (2001 est.) |
agriculture: 36%
industry: 21% services: 43% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $2,600 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 7.1% (2006 est.) | 4.2% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 8 30 N, 11 30 W | 41 00 N, 64 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 | along with Liechtenstein, one of the only two doubly landlocked countries in the world |
Heliports | 2 (2007) | - |
Highways | - | total: 81,600 km
paved: 71,237 km unpaved: 10,363 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 0.5%
highest 10%: 43.6% (1989) |
lowest 10%: 1.2%
highest 10%: 32.8% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | - | transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and, to a lesser extent, Western European markets; limited illicit cultivation of cannabis and small amounts of opium poppy for domestic consumption; poppy cultivation almost wiped out by government crop eradication program; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan |
Imports | NA bbl/day | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals | machinery and equipment 49.8%, foodstuffs 16.4%, chemicals, metals (1998 est.) |
Imports - partners | Cote d'Ivoire 9.3%, US 7.7%, China 7.7%, Brazil 6.9%, UK 6.7%, Netherlands 5.5%, South Africa 4.5%, India 4.3%, France 4.2% (2006) | Russia 22.6%, Germany 9.8%, South Korea 9.4%, Kazakhstan 8.1%, US 6.9%, Ukraine 6.8%, China 5.2%, Turkey 4.6% (2002) |
Independence | 27 April 1961 (from UK) | 1 September 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 3.5% (2000 est.) |
Industries | diamond mining; small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining, small commercial ship repair | textiles, food processing, machine building, metallurgy, natural gas, chemicals |
Infant mortality rate | total: 158.27 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 175.39 deaths/1,000 live births female: 140.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: 71.51 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 75.27 deaths/1,000 live births female: 67.56 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1% (2002 est.) | 26% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, AU, C, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | AsDB, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, GUUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, SCO, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 42 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 300 sq km (2003) | 42,810 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Appeals Court; High Court | Supreme Court (judges are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Supreme Assembly) |
Labor force | 1.369 million (1981 est.) | 11.9 million (1998 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
agriculture 44%, industry 20%, services 36% (1995) |
Land boundaries | total: 958 km
border countries: Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km |
total: 6,221 km
border countries: Afghanistan 137 km, Kazakhstan 2,203 km, Kyrgyzstan 1,099 km, Tajikistan 1,161 km, Turkmenistan 1,621 km |
Land use | arable land: 7.95%
permanent crops: 1.05% other: 91% (2005) |
arable land: 10.8%
permanent crops: 0.91% other: 88.29% (1998 est.) |
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%) | Uzbek 74.3%, Russian 14.2%, Tajik 4.4%, other 7.1% |
Legal system | based on English law and customary laws indigenous to local tribes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | evolution of Soviet civil law; still lacks independent judicial system |
Legislative branch | unicameral Parliament (124 seats; 112 members elected by popular vote, 12 filled by paramount chiefs elected in separate elections; to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held on 11 August 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - APC 59, SLPP 43, PMDC 10 |
unicameral Supreme Assembly or Oliy Majlis (250 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms); note - 2002 amendment to the constitution creates a second chamber to be established via elections in 2004
elections: last held 5 December and 19 December 1999 (next to be held NA December 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NDP 48, Self-Sacrificers Party 34, Fatherland Progress Party 20, Adolat Social Democratic Party 11, MTP 10, citizens' groups 16, local government 110, vacant 1 note: not all seats in the last Supreme Assembly election were contested; all parties in the Supreme Assembly support President KARIMOV |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 40.58 years
male: 38.36 years female: 42.87 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 64 years
male: 60.53 years female: 67.64 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic
total population: 35.1% male: 46.9% female: 24.4% (2004 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.3% male: 99.6% female: 99% (2003 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia | Central Asia, north of Afghanistan |
Map references | Africa | Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm |
none (doubly landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 113 ships (1000 GRT or over) 314,549 GRT/419,409 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 85, chemical tanker 4, combination ore/oil 1, container 4, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 7, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 47 (Belgium 1, China 8, Greece 1, Romania 2, Russia 5, Syria 8, Turkey 7, Ukraine 8, UAE 7) (2007) |
- |
Military branches | Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF): Army (includes Air Wing, Navy (Maritime Wing)) (2007) | Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, National Guard, Security Forces (internal security and border troops) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $200 million (FY97) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.3% (2006) | 2% (FY97) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 6,940,031 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 5,635,099 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 310,915 (2003 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 27 April (1961) | Independence Day, 1 September (1991) |
Nationality | noun: Sierra Leonean(s)
adjective: Sierra Leonean |
noun: Uzbek(s)
adjective: Uzbek |
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 | natural gas, petroleum, coal, gold, uranium, silver, copper, lead and zinc, tungsten, molybdenum |
Net migration rate | 0.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: refugees currently in surrounding countries are slowly returning (2007 est.) |
-1.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 9,012 km; oil 869 km; refined products 33 km (2003) |
Political parties and leaders | All People's Congress or APC [Ernest Bai KOROMA]; Peace and Liberation Party or PLP [Darlington MORRISON]; People's Movement for Democratic Change or PMDC [Charles MARGAI]; Sierra Leone People's Party or SLPP [Solomon BEREWA]; numerous others | Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party [Anwar JURABAYEV, first secretary]; Democratic National Rebirth Party (Milly Tiklanish) or MTP [Aziz KAYUMOV, chairman]; People's Democratic Party or NDP (formerly Communist Party) [Abdulkhafiz JALALOV, first secretary]; Self-Sacrificers Party or Fidokorlar National Democratic Party [Ahtam TURSUNOV, first secretary]; note - Fatherland Progress Party merged with Self-Sacrificers Party |
Political pressure groups and leaders | trade unions and student unions | Birlik (Unity) Movement [Abdurakhim POLAT, chairman]; Erk (Freedom) Democratic Party [Muhammad SOLIH, chairman] was banned 9 December 1992; Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan [Tolib YAKUBOV, chairman]; Independent Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan [Abduhoshim GHAFUROV, chairman]; Ezgulik [Vasilia INOYATOVA] |
Population | 6,144,562 (July 2007 est.) | 25,981,647 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 70.2% (2004) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.292% (2007 est.) | 1.63% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Termiz (Amu Darya) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 9, shortwave 1 (2001) | AM 20, FM 7, shortwave 10 (1998) |
Railways | - | total: 3,950 km
broad gauge: 3,950 km 1.520-m gauge (620 km electrified) (2002) |
Religions | Muslim 60%, Christian 10%, indigenous beliefs 30% | Muslim 88% (mostly Sunnis), Eastern Orthodox 9%, other 3% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.964 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.877 male(s)/female total population: 0.938 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2003 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) (2000) |
general assessment: antiquated and inadequate; in serious need of modernization
domestic: the domestic telephone system is being expanded and technologically improved, particularly in Tashkent (Toshkent) and Samarqand, under contracts with prominent companies in industrialized countries; moreover, by 1998, six cellular networks had been placed in operation - four of the GSM type (Global System for Mobile Communication), one D-AMPS type (Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System), and one AMPS type (Advanced Mobile Phone System) international: linked by landline or microwave radio relay with CIS member states and to other countries by leased connection via the Moscow international gateway switch; after the completion of the Uzbek link to the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic cable, Uzbekistan will be independent of Russian facilities for international communications; Inmarsat also provides an international connection, albeit an expensive one; satellite earth stations - NA (1998) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 24,000 (2002) | 1.98 million (1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 113,200 (2003) | 130,000 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (1999) | 4 (plus two repeaters that relay Russian programs), 1 cable rebroadcaster in Tashkent; approximately 20 stations in regional capitals (2003) |
Terrain | coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east | mostly flat-to-rolling sandy desert with dunes; broad, flat intensely irrigated river valleys along course of Amu Darya, Syr Darya (Sirdaryo), and Zarafshon; Fergana Valley in east surrounded by mountainous Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan; shrinking Aral Sea in west |
Total fertility rate | 6.01 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 3 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 10% plus another 20% underemployed (1999 est.) |
Waterways | 800 km (600 km year round) (2005) | 1,100 km (1990) |