Compare Tuvalu (2003) - Gabon (2005)

Compare Tuvalu (2003) z Gabon (2005)

	Tuvalu (2003)	Gabon (2005)

Administrative divisions	none	9 provinces; Estuaire, Haut-Ogooue, Moyen-Ogooue, Ngounie, Nyanga, Ogooue-Ivindo, Ogooue-Lolo, Ogooue-Maritime, Woleu-Ntem
Age structure	0-14 years: 31.9% (male 1,838; female 1,772) 15-64 years: 63% (male 3,432; female 3,687) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 231; female 345) (2003 est.)	0-14 years: 42.1% (male 293,668/female 291,816) 15-64 years: 53.8% (male 372,134/female 374,850) 65 years and over: 4.1% (male 23,551/female 33,182) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	coconuts; fish	cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; cattle; okoume (a tropical softwood); fish
Airports	1 (2002)	56 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	-	total: 11 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002)	total: 45 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 23 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 26 sq km land: 26 sq km water: 0 sq km	total: 267,667 sq km land: 257,667 sq km water: 10,000 sq km
Area - comparative	0.1 times the size of Washington, DC	slightly smaller than Colorado
Background	In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over the next dozen years.	Only two autocratic presidents have ruled Gabon since independence from France in 1960. Gabon's current President, El Hadj Omar BONGO Ondimba - one of the longest-serving heads of state in the world - has dominated Gabon's political scene for almost four decades. President BONGO introduced a nominal multiparty system and a new constitution in the early 1990s. However, the low turnout and allegations of electoral fraud during the most recent local elections in 2002-03 have exposed the weaknesses of formal political structures in Gabon. Presidential elections scheduled for 2005 are unlikely to bring change since the opposition remains weak, divided, and financially dependent on the current regime. Despite political conditions, a small population, abundant natural resources, and considerable foreign support have helped make Gabon one of the more prosperous and stable African countries.
Birth rate	21.58 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)	36.24 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	revenues: $22.5 million expenditures: $11.2 million, including capital expenditures of $4.2 million (2000 est.)	revenues: $2.129 billion expenditures: $1.64 billion, including capital expenditures of $310 million (2004 est.)
Capital	Funafuti	Libreville
Climate	tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)	tropical; always hot, humid
Coastline	24 km	885 km
Constitution	1 October 1978	adopted 14 March 1991
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Tuvalu former: Ellice Islands note: "Tuvalu" means "group of eight," referring to the country's eight traditionally inhabited islands	conventional long form: Gabonese Republic conventional short form: Gabon local long form: Republique Gabonaise local short form: Gabon
Currency	Australian dollar (AUD); note - there is also a Tuvaluan dollar	-
Death rate	7.34 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)	11.72 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	$NA	$3.804 billion (2004 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	the US does not have an embassy in Tuvalu; the US ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tuvalu	chief of mission: Ambassador Barrie R. WALKLEY embassy: Boulevard du Bord de Mer, Libreville mailing address: Centre Ville, B. P. 4000, Libreville telephone: [241] 76 20 03 through 76 20 04, after hours - 74 34 92 FAX: [241] 74 55 07
Diplomatic representation in the US	Tuvalu does not have an embassy in the US - the country's only diplomatic post is in Fiji - Tuvalu does, however, have a UN office located at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400D, New York, New York 10017, telephone: [1] (212) 490-0534	chief of mission: Ambassador Jules Marius OGOUEBANDJA chancery: Suite 200, 2034 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 797-1000 FAX: [1] (202) 332-0668 consulate(s): New York
Disputes - international	none	UN presses Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to resolve the sovereignty dispute over Gabon-occupied Mbane Island and to establish a maritime boundary in hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay; only a few hundred out of the 20,000 Republic of the Congo refugees who fled militia fighting in 2000 remain in Gabon
Economic aid - recipient	$13 million ; note - major donors are Australia, Japan, and the US (1999 est.)	$331 million (1995)
Economy - overview	Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average, visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and worker remittances. About 1,000 Tuvaluans work in Nauru in the phosphate mining industry. Nauru has begun repatriating Tuvaluans, however, as phosphate resources decline. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this Fund has grown from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu, because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts of up to 7%. In 1998, Tuvalu began deriving revenue from use of its area code for "900" lines and in 2000, from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. Royalties from these new technology sources could increase substantially over the next decade. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and investment income from overseas assets.	Gabon enjoys a per capita income four times that of most of sub-Saharan African nations. This has supported a sharp decline in extreme poverty; yet because of high income inequality a large proportion of the population remains poor. Gabon depended on timber and manganese until oil was discovered offshore in the early 1970s. The oil sector now accounts for 50% of GDP. Gabon continues to face fluctuating prices for its oil, timber, and manganese exports. Despite the abundance of natural wealth, poor fiscal management hobbles the economy. Devaluation of its currency by 50% in January 1994 sparked a one-time inflationary surge, to 35%; the rate dropped to 6% in 1996. The IMF provided a one-year standby arrangement in 1994-95, a three-year Enhanced Financing Facility (EFF) at near commercial rates beginning in late 1995, and stand-by credit of $119 million in October 2000. Those agreements mandate progress in privatization and fiscal discipline. France provided additional financial support in January 1997 after Gabon had met IMF targets for mid-1996. In 1997, an IMF mission to Gabon criticized the government for overspending on off-budget items, overborrowing from the central bank, and slipping on its schedule for privatization and administrative reform. The rebound of oil prices in 1999-2000 helped growth, but drops in production hampered Gabon from fully realizing potential gains. In December 2000, Gabon signed a new agreement with the Paris Club to reschedule its official debt. A follow-up bilateral repayment agreement with the US was signed in December 2001. Gabon signed a 14 month Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF in May 2004, and received Paris Club debt rescheduling later that year. Short-term progress depends on an upbeat world economy and fiscal and other adjustments in line with IMF policies.
Electricity - consumption	-	1.08 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports	-	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports	-	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - production	-	1.161 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source	fossil fuel: NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA%	-
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location 5 m	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mont Iboundji 1,575 m
Environment - current issues	since there are no streams or rivers and groundwater is not potable, most water needs must be met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other); beachhead erosion because of the use of sand for building materials; excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel; damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish; Tuvalu is very concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country's underground water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary	deforestation; poaching
Environment - international agreements	party to: Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity, Law of the Sea	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups	Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4%	Bantu tribes including four major tribal groupings (Fang, Bapounou, Nzebi, Obamba), other Africans and Europeans 154,000, including 10,700 French and 11,000 persons of dual nationality
Exchange rates	Tuvaluan dollars or Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.8406 (2002), 1.9320 (2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998)	Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XAF) per US dollar - 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000)
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Faimalaga LUKA (since 9 September 2003) head of government: Prime Minister Saufatu SOPOANGA (since 2 August 2002) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by and from the members of Parliament; election last held 2 August 2002 (next to be held NA) election results: Saufatu SOPOANGA elected prime minister; Parliamentary vote - Saufatu SOPOANGA 8, Amasone KILEI 7	chief of state: President El Hadj Omar BONGO Ondimba (since 2 December 1967) head of government: Prime Minister Jean-Francois NTOUTOUME-EMANE (since 23 January 1999) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister in consultation with the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term; election last held 6 December 1998 (next to be held NA 2005); prime minister appointed by the president election results: President El Hadj Omar BONGO Ondimba reelected; percent of vote - El Hadj Omar BONGO Ondimba 66.6%, Pierre MAMBOUNDOU 16.5%, Fr. Paul M'BA-ABESSOLE 13.4%
Exports	$276,000 f.o.b. (1997)	NA
Exports - commodities	copra, fish	crude oil 77%, timber, manganese, uranium (2001)
Exports - partners	UK 58.3%, Italy 16.7%, Denmark 8.3%, Fiji 8.3% (2002)	US 53.3%, China 8.5%, France 7.4% (2004)
Fiscal year	calendar year	calendar year
Flag description	light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands	three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and blue
GDP	purchasing power parity - $12.2 million (2000 est.)	-
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%	agriculture: 7.4% industry: 46.7% services: 45.9% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.)	purchasing power parity - $5,900 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	3% (2000 est.)	1.9% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	8 00 S, 178 00 E	1 00 S, 11 45 E
Geography - note	one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon	a small population and oil and mineral reserves have helped Gabon become one of Africa's wealthier countries; in general, these circumstances have allowed the country to maintain and conserve its pristine rain forest and rich biodiversity
Highways	total: 8 km paved: 0 km unpaved: 8 km (1999 est.)	total: 8,464 km paved: 838 km unpaved: 7,626 km (2000 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA
Imports	$7.2 million c.i.f. (1998)	NA
Imports - commodities	food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods	machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, construction materials
Imports - partners	Hungary 68.2%, Japan 12.9%, Fiji 11.9% (2002)	France 43.8%, US 6.3%, UK 5.9%, Netherlands 4% (2004)
Independence	1 October 1978 (from UK)	17 August 1960 (from France)
Industrial production growth rate	NA%	1.6% (2002 est.)
Industries	fishing, tourism, copra	petroleum extraction and refining; manganese, and gold mining; chemicals; ship repair; food and beverage; textile; lumbering and plywood; cement
Infant mortality rate	total: 21.34 deaths/1,000 live births male: 24.35 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.18 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)	total: 53.64 deaths/1,000 live births male: 63.21 deaths/1,000 live births female: 43.79 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	5% (2000 est.)	1.5% (2004 est.)
International organization participation	ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, IFRCS (associate), ITU, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WTrO (applicant)	ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, BDEAC, CEMAC, FAO, FZ, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OIC, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)	1 (2000)	-
Irrigated land	NA sq km	150 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	High Court (a chief justice visits twice a year to preside over its sessions; its rulings can be appealed to the Court of Appeal in Fiji); eight Island Courts (with limited jurisdiction)	Supreme Court or Cour Supreme consisting of three chambers - Judicial, Administrative, and Accounts; Constitutional Court; Courts of Appeal; Court of State Security; County Courts
Labor force	7,000 (2001 est.)	650,000 (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly workers in the phosphate industry and sailors)	agriculture 60%, industry 15%, services 25%
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 2,551 km border countries: Cameroon 298 km, Republic of the Congo 1,903 km, Equatorial Guinea 350 km
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.)	arable land: 1.26% permanent crops: 0.66% other: 98.08% (2001)
Languages	Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui)	French (official), Fang, Myene, Nzebi, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi
Legal system	NA	based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch	unicameral Parliament or Fale I Fono, also called House of Assembly (15 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 25 July 2002 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 15	bicameral legislature consists of the Senate (91 seats; members elected by members of municipal councils and departmental assemblies) and the National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (120 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: National Assembly - last held 9 and 23 December 2001 (next to be held December 2006); Senate - last held 26 January and 9 February 2003 (next to be held by January 2009) election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PDG 86, RNB-RPG 8, PGP 3, ADERE 3, CLR 2, PUP 1, PSD 1, independents 13, others 3; Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PDG 53, RNB 20, PGP 4, ADERE 3, RDP 1, CLR 1, independents 9
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 67.32 years male: 65.15 years female: 69.59 years (2003 est.)	total population: 55.02 years male: 53.63 years female: 56.45 years (2005 est.)
Literacy	definition: NA% total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA%	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 63.2% male: 73.7% female: 53.3% (1995 est.)
Location	Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia	Western Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean at the Equator, between Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea
Map references	Oceania	Africa
Maritime claims	contiguous zone: 24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	total: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 33,199 GRT/56,187 DWT ships by type: cargo 2, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Germany 5 (2002 est.)	-
Military branches	no regular military forces; Police Force (includes Maritime Surveillance Unit for search and rescue missions and surveillance operations)	Army, Navy, Air Force, National Gendarmerie, National Police
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$NA	$184.8 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	NA%	2% (2004)
National holiday	Independence Day, 1 October (1978)	Founding of the Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG), 12 March (1968)
Nationality	noun: Tuvaluan(s) adjective: Tuvaluan	noun: Gabonese (singular and plural) adjective: Gabonese
Natural hazards	severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones; low level of islands make them very sensitive to changes in sea level	NA
Natural resources	fish	petroleum, natural gas, diamond, niobium, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore, hydropower
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Pipelines	-	gas 210 km; oil 1,385 km (2004)
Political parties and leaders	there are no political parties but members of Parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings	Circle of Liberal Reformers or CLR [General Jean Boniface ASSELE]; Congress for Democracy and Justice or CDJ [Jules Aristide Bourdes OGOULIGUENDE]; Democratic and Republican Alliance or ADERE [Divungui-di-Ndinge DIDJOB]; Gabonese Democratic Party or PDG, former sole party [Simplice Nguedet MANZELA]; Gabonese Party for Progress or PGP [Pierre-Louis AGONDJO-OKAWE]; National Rally of Woodcutters-Rally for Gabon or RNB-RPG (Bucherons) [Fr. Paul M'BA-ABESSOLE]; People's Unity Party or PUP [Louis Gaston MAYILA]; Rally for Democracy and Progress or RDP [Pierre EMBONI]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Pierre Claver MAGANGA-MOUSSAVOU]; Union for Democracy and Social Integration or UDIS [leader NA]; Union of Gabonese People or UPG [Pierre MAMBOUNDOU]
Political pressure groups and leaders	none	NA
Population	11,305 (July 2003 est.)	1,389,201 note: estimates for this country explicitly 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 and 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%	NA
Population growth rate	1.42% (2003 est.)	2.45% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	Funafuti, Nukufetau	Gamba, Libreville, Lucinda, Owendo, Port-Gentil
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1999)	AM 6, FM 7 (and 11 repeaters), shortwave 4 (2001)
Railways	0 km	total: 814 km standard gauge: 814 km 1.435-m gauge (2004)
Religions	Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6%	Christian 55%-75%, animist, Muslim less than 1%
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2003 est.)	at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	21 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: serves particular needs for internal communications domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands international: NA	general assessment: adequate service by African standards and improving with the help of the growing mobile cell system domestic: adequate system of cable, microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, radiotelephone communication stations, and a domestic satellite system with 12 earth stations international: country code - 241; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia
Telephones - main lines in use	1,000 (1997)	38,400 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular	0 (1994)	300,000 (2003)
Television broadcast stations	0 (1997)	4 (plus four low-power repeaters) (2001)
Terrain	very low-lying and narrow coral atolls	narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south
Total fertility rate	3.05 children born/woman (2003 est.)	4.77 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	NA%	21% (1997 est.)
Waterways	none	1,600 km (310 km on Ogooue River) (2003)

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