Slovakia (2004) | China (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 8 regions (kraje, singular - kraj); Banskobystricky, Bratislavsky, Kosicky, Nitriansky, Presovsky, Trenciansky, Trnavsky, Zilinsky | 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**, Chongqing**, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**, Xinjiang*, Xizang* (Tibet), Yunnan, Zhejiang; note - China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 17.5% (male 485,523; female 463,173)
15-64 years: 70.8% (male 1,908,425; female 1,929,861) 65 years and over: 11.7% (male 239,081; female 397,504) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years:
25.01% (male 166,754,893; female 151,598,117) 15-64 years: 67.88% (male 445,222,858; female 418,959,646) 65 years and over: 7.11% (male 42,547,296; female 48,028,480) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, cattle, poultry; forest products | rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish |
Airports | 34 (2003 est.) | 489 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 17
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 7 (2004 est.) |
total:
324 over 3,047 m: 27 2,438 to 3,047 m: 88 1,524 to 2,437 m: 147 914 to 1,523 m: 30 under 914 m: 32 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 17
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 7 (2004 est.) |
total:
165 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 29 914 to 1,523 m: 56 under 914 m: 78 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 48,845 sq km
land: 48,800 sq km water: 45 sq km |
total:
9,596,960 sq km land: 9,326,410 sq km water: 270,550 sq km |
Area - comparative | about twice the size of New Hampshire | slightly smaller than the US |
Background | In 1918 the Slovaks joined the closely related Czechs to form Czechoslovakia. Following the chaos of World War II, Czechoslovakia became a Communist nation within Soviet-ruled Eastern Europe. Soviet influence collapsed in 1989 and Czechoslovakia once more became free. The Slovaks and the Czechs agreed to separate peacefully on 1 January 1993. Slovakia joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004. | For centuries China has stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the first half of the 20th century, China was beset by major famines, civil unrest, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping gradually introduced market-oriented reforms and decentralized economic decision making. Output quadrupled in the next 20 years and China now has the world's second largest GDP. Political controls remain tight even while economic controls continue to weaken. |
Birth rate | 10.57 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 15.95 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $12.03 billion
expenditures: $13.69 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003) |
revenues:
$NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
Capital | Bratislava | Beijing |
Climate | temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters | extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 14,500 km |
Constitution | ratified 1 September 1992, fully effective 1 January 1993; changed in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president; amended February 2001 to allow Slovakia to apply for NATO and EU membership | most recent promulgation 4 December 1982 |
Country name | conventional long form: Slovak Republic
conventional short form: Slovakia local long form: Slovenska Republika local short form: Slovensko |
conventional long form:
People's Republic of China conventional short form: China local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo local short form: Zhong Guo abbreviation: PRC |
Currency | Slovak koruna (SKK) | yuan (CNY) |
Death rate | 9.48 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 6.74 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $18.31 billion (2003 est.) | $162 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Scott N. THAYER
embassy: Hviezdoslavovo Namestie 4, 81102 Bratislava mailing address: P.O. Box 309, 814 99 Bratislava telephone: [421] (2) 5443-3338 FAX: [421] (2) 5443-0096 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Joseph W. PRUEHER embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002 telephone: [86] (10) 6532-3431 FAX: [86] (10) 6532-6422 consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Rastislav KACER
chancery: 3523 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 237-1054 FAX: [1] (202) 237-6438 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador-designate YANG Jiechi chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-2500 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco |
Disputes - international | Hungary amended its status law extending special social and cultural benefits to ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia, many of whom had protested the law; Slovakia and Hungary have renewed discussions on ways to resolve differences over the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros hydroelectric dam on the Danube, with possible resort again to the ICJ for final resolution | most of boundary with India in dispute; dispute over at least two small sections of the boundary with Russia remains to be settled, despite 1997 boundary agreement; portions of the boundary with Tajikistan are indefinite; 33-km section of boundary with North Korea in the Paektu-san (mountain) area is indefinite; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary agreement with Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin awaits ratification; Paracel Islands occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; claims Japanese-administered Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai), as does Taiwan |
Economic aid - recipient | ODA $113 million (2000),; $92 million EU structural adjustment funds (2000 est.) | $NA |
Economy - overview | Slovakia has mastered much of the difficult transition from a centrally planned economy to a modern market economy. The DZURINDA government made excellent progress during 2001-03 in macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform. Major privatizations are nearly complete, the banking sector is almost completely in foreign hands, and foreign investment has picked up. Slovakia's economy exceeded expectations in 2001-03, despite the general European slowdown. Unemployment, at an unacceptable 15% in 2003, remains the economy's Achilles heel. The government faces other strong challenges in 2004, especially cutting the budget deficit, containing inflation, and strengthening the health care system. | In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic influence of non-state managers and enterprises has been steadily increasing. The authorities have switched to a system of household responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and investment. The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978. In 2000, with its 1.26 billion people but a GDP of just $3,600 per capita, China stood as the second largest economy in the world after the US (measured on a purchasing power parity basis). Agricultural output doubled in the 1980s, and industry also posted major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan, where foreign investment helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. On the darker side, the leadership has often experienced in its hybrid system the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and of capitalism (windfall gains and stepped-up inflation). Beijing thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals. The government has struggled to (a) collect revenues due from provinces, businesses, and individuals; (b) reduce corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large state-owned enterprises many of which had been shielded from competition by subsides and had been losing the ability to pay full wages and pensions. From 80 to 120 million surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the cities, many subsisting through part-time low-paying jobs. Popular resistance, changes in central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China's population control program, which is essential to maintaining growth in living standards. Another long-term threat to continued rapid economic growth is the deterioration in the environment, notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table especially in the north. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. Weakness in the global economy in 2001 could hamper growth in exports. Beijing will intensify efforts to stimulate growth through spending on infrastructure--such as water control and power grids--and poverty relief and through rural tax reform aimed at eliminating arbitrary local levies on farmers. |
Electricity - consumption | 24.41 billion kWh (2001) | 1.084 trillion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 5.141 billion kWh (2001) | 7.2 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 1.381 billion kWh (2001) | 90 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 30.29 billion kWh (2001) | 1.173 trillion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
79.82% hydro: 18.98% nuclear: 1.2% other: 0.01% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Bodrok River 94 m
highest point: Gerlachovsky Stit 2,655 m |
lowest point:
Turpan Pendi -154 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
Environment - current issues | air pollution from metallurgical plants presents human health risks; acid rain damaging forests | air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal, produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants |
party to:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life Conservation |
Ethnic groups | Slovak 85.7%, Hungarian 10.6%, Roma 1.6% (the 1992 census figures underreport the Gypsy/Romany community, which is about 500,000), Czech, Moravian, Silesian 1.1%, Ruthenian and Ukrainian 0.6%, German 0.1%, Polish 0.1%, other 0.2% (1996) | Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1% |
Exchange rates | koruny per US dollar - 36.7729 (2003), 45.3267 (2002), 48.3548 (2001), 46.0352 (2000), 41.3628 (1999) | yuan per US dollar - 8.2776 (January 2001), 8.2785 (2000), 8.2783 (1999), 8.2790 (1998), 8.2898 (1997), 8.3142 (1996)
note: beginning 1 January 1994, the People's Bank of China quotes the midpoint rate against the US dollar based on the previous day's prevailing rate in the interbank foreign exchange market |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Ivan GASPAROVIC (since 15 June 2004)
head of government: Prime Minister Mikulas DZURINDA (since 30 October 1998); Deputy Prime Minister Ivan MIKLOS (since 30 October 1998); Deputy Prime Minister Pal CSAKY (since 30 October 1998); Deputy Prime Minister Pavol RUSKO (since May 2004) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by direct, popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 3 April and 17 April 2004 (next to be held April 2009); following National Council elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president election results: Ivan GASPAROVIC elected president in runoff; percent of vote - Ivan GASPAROVIC 59.9%, Vladimir MECIAR 40.1%; Mikulas DZURINDA reelected prime minister October 2002 note: government coalition - SDKU, SMK, KDH, ANO |
chief of state:
President JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993) and Vice President HU Jintao (since 16 March 1998) head of government: Premier ZHU Rongji (since 18 March 1998); Vice Premiers QIAN Qichen (since 29 March 1993), LI Lanqing (29 March 1993), WU Bangguo (since 17 March 1995), and WEN Jiabao (since 18 March 1998) cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress (NPC) elections: president and vice president elected by the National People's Congress for five-year terms; elections last held 16-18 March 1998 (next to be held NA March 2003); premier nominated by the president, confirmed by the National People's Congress election results: JIANG Zemin reelected president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,882 votes (36 delegates voted against him, 29 abstained, and 32 did not vote); HU Jintao elected vice president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a total of 2,841 votes (67 delegates voted against him, 39 abstained, and 32 did not vote) |
Exports | NA (2001) | $232 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
Exports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment 39.4%, intermediate manufactured goods 27.5%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 13%, chemicals 8% (1999) | machinery and equipment; textiles and clothing, footwear, toys and sporting goods; mineral fuels |
Exports - partners | Germany 37.2%, Czech Republic 12%, Austria 9.8%, Italy 5.4%, Poland 4.7%, US 4.7%, Hungary 4.2% (2003) | US 21%, Hong Kong 18%, Japan 17%, South Korea, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Singapore, Taiwan (2000) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red superimposed with the Slovak cross in a shield centered on the hoist side; the cross is white centered on a background of red and blue | red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $72.29 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $4.5 trillion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 5.9%
industry: 47.9% services: 46.2% (2003) |
agriculture:
15% industry: 50% services: 35% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $13,300 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $3,600 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.9% (2003 est.) | 8% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 48 40 N, 19 30 E | 35 00 N, 105 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; most of the country is rugged and mountainous; the Tatra Mountains in the north are interspersed with many scenic lakes and valleys | world's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US) |
Heliports | 1 (2003 est.) | - |
Highways | total: 42,717 km
paved: 37,036 km (including 296 km of expressways) unpaved: 5,681 km (2000) |
total:
1.4 million km paved: 271,300 km (with at least 16,000 km of expressways) unpaved: 1,128,700 km (1999) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 5.1%
highest 10%: 18.2% (1992) |
lowest 10%:
2.4% highest 10%: 30.4% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin bound for Western Europe; producer of synthetic drugs for regional market | major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle; growing domestic drug abuse problem; source country for chemical precursors and methamphetamine |
Imports | NA (2001) | $197 billion (f.o.b., 2000) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment 37.7%, intermediate manufactured goods 18%, fuels 13%, chemicals 11%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 9.5% (1999) | machinery and equipment, mineral fuels, plastics, iron and steel, chemicals |
Imports - partners | Germany 27.5%, Czech Republic 18.3%, Russia 10.8%, Austria 6.4%, Italy 5.6%, Poland 4.1%, Hungary 4% (2003) | Japan 18%, Taiwan 11%, US 10%, South Korea 10%, Germany, Hong Kong, Russia, Malaysia (2000) |
Independence | 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia) | 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty 221 BC; Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February 1912; People's Republic established 1 October 1949) |
Industrial production growth rate | 7.2% (2003 est.) | 10% (2000 est.) |
Industries | metal and metal products; food and beverages; electricity, gas, coke, oil, nuclear fuel; chemicals and manmade fibers; machinery; paper and printing; earthenware and ceramics; transport vehicles; textiles; electrical and optical apparatus; rubber products | iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics, telecommunications |
Infant mortality rate | total: 7.62 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.88 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
28.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 8.6% (2003 est.) | 0.4% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | Australia Group, BIS, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU (new member), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (member affiliate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC | AfDB, APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIS, CCC, CDB (non-regional), ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, NAM (observer), OPCW, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNTAET, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer), ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 3 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 1,740 sq km (1998 est.) | 498,720 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court (judges are elected by the National Council); Constitutional Court (judges appointed by president from group of nominees approved by the National Council) | Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local Peoples Courts (comprise higher, intermediate and local courts); Special Peoples Courts (primarily military, maritime, and railway transport courts) |
Labor force | 2.58 million (2003) | 700 million (1998 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 8.9%, industry 29.3%, construction 8%, transport and communication 8.2%, services 45.6% (1994) | agriculture 50%, industry 24%, services 26% (1998) |
Land boundaries | total: 1,524 km
border countries: Austria 91 km, Czech Republic 215 km, Hungary 677 km, Poland 444 km, Ukraine 97 km |
total:
22,147.24 km border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia 4,676.9 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km |
Land use | arable land: 30.16%
permanent crops: 2.62% other: 67.22% (2001) |
arable land:
10% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 43% forests and woodland: 14% other: 33% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Slovak (official), Hungarian | Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry) |
Legal system | civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory | a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987; new legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial law |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic or Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky (150 seats; members are elected on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20-21 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - HZDS-LS 19.5%, SDKU 15.1%, SMER 13.5%, SMK 11.2%, KDH 8.3%, ANO 8%, KSS 6.3%; seats by party - governing coalition 69 (SDKU 22, SMK 20, KDH 15, ANO 12), opposition 81 (HZDS 26, Smer 25, KSS 9, Free Forum 6, People's Union 5, and independents 10) |
unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,979 seats; members elected by municipal, regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held NA December 1997-NA February 1998 (next to be held late 2002-NA March 2003) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - NA |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 74.19 years
male: 70.21 years female: 78.37 years (2004 est.) |
total population:
71.62 years male: 69.81 years female: 73.59 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA male: NA female: NA |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 81.5% male: 89.9% female: 72.7% (1995 est.) |
Location | Central Europe, south of Poland | Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam |
Map references | Europe | Asia |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 41,891 GRT/63,185 DWT
by type: bulk 4, cargo 4 foreign-owned: Bulgaria 3, Estonia 1, Greece 1, India 1, Liberia 1, Panama 1 (2004 est.) |
total:
1,745 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,533,521 GRT/24,746,859 DWT ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 324, cargo 825, chemical tanker 21, combination bulk 11, combination ore/oil 1, container 132, liquefied gas 24, multi-functional large-load carrier 5, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 45, petroleum tanker 258, refrigerated cargo 22, roll on/roll off 23, short-sea passenger 41, specialized tanker 3, vehicle carrier 1 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | Ground Forces (including Home Guard [Domobrana]), Air and Air Defense Forces (January 2003) | People's Liberation Army (PLA) - which includes Ground Forces, Navy (includes Marines and Naval Aviation), Air Force, Second Artillery Corps (the strategic missile force), People's Armed Police (internal security troops, nominally subordinate to Ministry of Public Security, but included by the Chinese as part of the "armed forces" and considered to be an adjunct to the PLA in wartime) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $406 million (2002) | $12.608 billion (FY99); note - China's real defense spending may be several times higher than the official figure because a number of significant items are funded elsewhere |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.89% (2002) | 1.2% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 1,477,017 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49:
366,306,353 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 1,129,935 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49:
200,886,946 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 43,029 (2004 est.) | males:
10,089,458 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Constitution Day, 1 September (1992) | Founding of the People's Republic of China, 1 October (1949) |
Nationality | noun: Slovak(s)
adjective: Slovak |
noun:
Chinese (singular and plural) adjective: Chinese |
Natural hazards | NA | frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts |
Natural resources | brown coal and lignite; small amounts of iron ore, copper and manganese ore; salt; arable land | coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest) |
Net migration rate | 0.3 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | -0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 6,769 km; oil 449 km (2004) | crude oil 9,070 km; petroleum products 560 km; natural gas 9,383 km (1998) |
Political parties and leaders | Christian Democratic Movement or KDH [Pavol HRUSOVSKY]; Direction (Smer) [Robert FICO]; Free Forum [Zuzana MARTINAKOVA]; Movement for Democracy or HZD [Jozef GRAPA]; Movement for a Democratic Slovakia-People's Party or HZDS-LS [Vladimir MECIAR]; New Citizens Alliance or ANO [Pavol RUSKO]; Party of the Hungarian Coalition or SMK [Bela BUGAR]; People's Union or LU [Gustav KRAJCI]; Slovak Communist Party or KSS [Jozef SEVC]; Slovak Democratic and Christian Union or SDKU [Mikulas DZURINDA]; Slovak National Party or SNS [Peter SULOVSKY] | Chinese Communist Party or CCP [JIANG Zemin, General Secretary of the Central Committee]; eight registered small parties controlled by CCP |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Association of Employers of Slovakia; Association of Towns and Villages or ZMOS; Confederation of Trade Unions or KOZ; Metal Workers Unions or KOVO and METALURG | no substantial political opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the Falungong sect and the China Democracy Party as potential rivals |
Population | 5,423,567 (July 2004 est.) | 1,273,111,290 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | 10% (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.14% (2004 est.) | 0.88% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Bratislava, Komarno | Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shantou, Tianjin, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 15, FM 78, shortwave 2 (1998) | AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998) |
Radios | - | 417 million (1997) |
Railways | total: 3,661 km
broad gauge: 100 km 1.520-m gauge standard gauge: 3,512 km 1.435-m gauge (1,588 km electrified) narrow gauge: 49 km (1.000-m or 0.750-m gauge) (2003) |
total:
67,524 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails) standard gauge: 63,924 km 1.435-m gauge (13,362 km electrified; 20,250 km double track) narrow gauge: 3,600 km 0.750-m and 1.000-m gauge local industrial lines (1998 est.) note: a new total of 68,000 km was estimated for early 1999 to take new construction programs into account (1999) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 60.3%, atheist 9.7%, Protestant 8.4%, Orthodox 4.1%, other 17.5% | Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 2%-3%, Christian 1% (est.)
note: officially atheist |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
at birth:
1.09 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: a modernization and privatization program is increasing accessibility to telephone service, reducing the waiting time for new subscribers, and generally improving service quality
domestic: predominantly an analog system that is now receiving digital equipment and is being enlarged with fiber-optic cable, especially in the larger cities; mobile cellular capability has been added international: country code - 421; three international exchanges (one in Bratislava and two in Banska Bystrica) are available; Slovakia is participating in several international telecommunications projects that will increase the availability of external services |
general assessment:
domestic and international services are increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular telephone systems have been installed; a domestic satellite system with 55 earth stations is in place international: satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) and 1 Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); several international fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and Germany (2000) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 1,294,700 (2003) | 135 million (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 3,678,800 (2003) | 65 million (January 2001) |
Television broadcast stations | 6 national broadcasting, 7 regional, 67 local (2004) | 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997) |
Terrain | rugged mountains in the central and northern part and lowlands in the south | mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east |
Total fertility rate | 1.31 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 1.82 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 15.2% (2003 est.) | urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2000 est.) |
Waterways | 172 km (on Danube River) (2004) | 110,000 km (1999) |