Compare Tuvalu (2003) - Moldova (2002)

Compare Tuvalu (2003) z Moldova (2002)

	Tuvalu (2003)	Moldova (2002)

Administrative divisions	none	9 counties (judetele, singular - judetul), 1 municipality* (municipiul), 1 autonomous territorial unit (unitate teritoriala autonoma), and 1 territorial unit* (unitate teritoriala); Balti, Cahul, Chisinau, Chisinau, Edinet, Gagauzia, Lapusna, Orhei, Soroca, Stinga Nistrului**, Tighina, Ungheni
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: 21.7% (male 490,414; female 472,912) 15-64 years: 68.2% (male 1,451,962; female 1,572,561) 65 years and over: 10.1% (male 165,860; female 280,838) (2002 est.)
Agriculture - products	coconuts; fish	vegetables, fruits, wine, grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, tobacco; beef, milk
Airports	1 (2002)	30 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways	-	total: 7 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002)	total: 23 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 14 (2002)
Area	total: 26 sq km land: 26 sq km water: 0 sq km	total: 33,843 sq km land: 33,371 sq km water: 472 sq km
Area - comparative	0.1 times the size of Washington, DC	slightly larger than Maryland
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.	Formerly ruled by Romania, Moldova became part of the Soviet Union at the close of World War II. Although independent from the USSR since 1991, Russian forces have remained on Moldovan territory east of the Dniester River supporting the Slavic majority population, mostly Ukrainians and Russians, who have proclaimed a "Transnistria" republic. One of the poorest nations in Europe, Moldova became the first former Soviet state to elect a Communist as its president in 2001.
Birth rate	21.58 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)	13.82 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Budget	revenues: $22.5 million expenditures: $11.2 million, including capital expenditures of $4.2 million (2000 est.)	revenues: $536 million expenditures: $594 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998 est.)
Capital	Funafuti	Chisinau
Climate	tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)	moderate winters, warm summers
Coastline	24 km	0 km (landlocked)
Constitution	1 October 1978	new constitution adopted 28 July 1994; replaces old Soviet constitution of 1979
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: Republic of Moldova conventional short form: Moldova local long form: Republica Moldova local short form: none former: Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova; Moldavia
Currency	Australian dollar (AUD); note - there is also a Tuvaluan dollar	Moldovan leu (MDL)
Death rate	7.34 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)	12.64 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Debt - external	$NA	$1.3 billion (2002)
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 Pamela Hyde SMITH embassy: 103 Mateevici Street, Chisinau MD-2009 mailing address: use embassy street address; pouch address - American Embassy Chisinau, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-7080 telephone: [373] (2) 23-37-72 FAX: [373] (2) 23-30-44
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 Mihai MANOLI chancery: 2101 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 667-1130 FAX: [1] (202) 667-1204
Disputes - international	none	Moldovan difficulties with break-away Transnistria region inhibit establishment of a joint customs regime with Ukraine to curtail smuggling, arms transfers, and other illegal activities
Economic aid - recipient	$13 million ; note - major donors are Australia, Japan, and the US (1999 est.)	$100 million (2000)
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.	Moldova enjoys a favorable climate and good farmland but has no major mineral deposits. As a result, the economy depends heavily on agriculture, featuring fruits, vegetables, wine, and tobacco. Moldova must import all of its supplies of oil, coal, and natural gas, largely from Russia. Energy shortages contributed to sharp production declines after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. As part of an ambitious reform effort, Moldova introduced a convertible currency, freed all prices, stopped issuing preferential credits to state enterprises, backed steady land privatization, removed export controls, and freed interest rates. The government entered into agreements with the World Bank and the IMF to promote growth and reduce poverty. The economy returned to positive growth, of 2.1% in 2000 and 6.1% in 2001. Growth remained strong in 2002, in part because of the reforms and because of starting from a small base. Further reforms are in doubt because of strong political forces backing government controls. The economy remains vulnerable to higher fuel prices, poor agricultural weather, and the scepticism of foreign investors.
Electricity - consumption	-	3.655 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports	-	630 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports	-	1.2 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production	-	3.317 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source	fossil fuel: NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA%	fossil fuel: 90% hydro: 10% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location 5 m	lowest point: Dniester River 2 m highest point: Dealul Balanesti 430 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	heavy use of agricultural chemicals, including banned pesticides such as DDT, has contaminated soil and groundwater; extensive soil erosion from poor farming methods
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: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants
Ethnic groups	Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4%	Moldovan/Romanian 64.5%, Ukrainian 13.8%, Russian 13%, Jewish 1.5%, Bulgarian 2%, Gagauz and other 5.2% (1989 est.) note: internal disputes with ethnic Slavs in the Transnistrian region
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)	lei per US dollar - 12.8579 (October 2001), 12.4342 (2000), 10.5158 (1999), 5.3707 (1998), 4.6236 (1997); note - lei is the plural form of leu
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 Vladimir VORONIN (since 4 April 2001) head of government: Prime Minister Vasile TARLEV (since 15 April 2001), First Deputy Prime Minister Vasile IOVV (since NA 2002), Deputy Prime Minister Stefan ODAGIU (since NA 2002) cabinet: selected by prime minister, subject to approval of Parliament elections: president elected by Parliament for a four-year term; election last held 4 April 2001 (next to be held NA 2005); note - presidential elections were scheduled for December 2000, but in July 2000, Parliament canceled direct, popular elections; Parliament's failure to chose a new president in December 2000 led to early parliamentary elections in February 2001; prime minister designated by the president, upon consultation with Parliament; note - within 15 days from designation, the prime minister-designate must request a vote of confidence from the Parliament regarding his/her work program and entire cabinet; prime minister designated 15 April 2001, cabinet received a vote of confidence 19 April 2001 election results: Vladimir VORONIN elected president; parliamentary votes - Vladimir VORONIN 71, Dumitru BRAGHIS 15, Valerian CHRISTEA 3; Vasile TARLEV designated prime minister; parliamentary votes of confidence - 75 of 101
Exports	$276,000 f.o.b. (1997)	$590 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities	copra, fish	foodstuffs, textiles, and machinery (2001)
Exports - partners	UK 58.3%, Italy 16.7%, Denmark 8.3%, Fiji 8.3% (2002)	Russia 43%, Ukraine 10.1%, Italy 8.1%, Germany 7.2%, Romania 6.7% (2001)
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	same color scheme as Romania - three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red; emblem in center of flag is of a Roman eagle of gold outlined in black with a red beak and talons carrying a yellow cross in its beak and a green olive branch in its right talons and a yellow scepter in its left talons; on its breast is a shield divided horizontally red over blue with a stylized ox head, star, rose, and crescent all in black-outlined yellow
GDP	purchasing power parity - $12.2 million (2000 est.)	purchasing power parity - $11 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%	agriculture: 28% industry: 23% services: 49% (2000)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.)	purchasing power parity - $3,000 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	3% (2000 est.)	4% (2002 est.)
Geographic coordinates	8 00 S, 178 00 E	47 00 N, 29 00 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	landlocked; well endowed with various sedimentary rocks and minerals including sand, gravel, gypsum, and limestone
Highways	total: 8 km paved: 0 km unpaved: 8 km (1999 est.)	total: 20,000 km paved: 13,900 km (includes some all-weather gravel-surfaced roads) unpaved: 6,100 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1990)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	lowest 10%: 2% highest 10%: 31% (1997)
Illicit drugs	-	limited cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis, mostly for CIS consumption; transshipment point for illicit drugs from Southwest Asia via Central Asia to Russia, Western Europe, and possibly the US; widespread crime and underground economic activity
Imports	$7.2 million c.i.f. (1998)	$980 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities	food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods	mineral products and fuel 32%, machinery and equipment, chemicals, textiles (2000)
Imports - partners	Hungary 68.2%, Japan 12.9%, Fiji 11.9% (2002)	Ukraine 18%, Russia 15.1%, Romania 13.1%, Germany 10.5%, Italy 6.4% (2001)
Independence	1 October 1978 (from UK)	27 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Industrial production growth rate	NA%	9% (2002 est.)
Industries	fishing, tourism, copra	food processing, agricultural machinery, foundry equipment, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines, hosiery, sugar, vegetable oil, shoes, textiles
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.)	42.16 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	5% (2000 est.)	5.5% (2002 est.)
International organization participation	ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, IFRCS (associate), ITU, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WTrO (applicant)	ACCT, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)	1 (2000)	2 (1999)
Irrigated land	NA sq km	3,070 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; Constitutional Court (the sole authority for constitutional judicature)
Labor force	7,000 (2001 est.)	1.7 million (1998) (1998)
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 40%, industry 14%, services 46% (1998) (1998)
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 1,389 km border countries: Romania 450 km, Ukraine 939 km
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.)	arable land: 54.08% permanent crops: 12.1% other: 33.82% (1998 est.)
Languages	Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui)	Moldovan (official, virtually the same as the Romanian language), Russian (official), Gagauz (a Turkish dialect)
Legal system	NA	based on civil law system; Constitutional Court reviews legality of legislative acts and governmental decisions of resolution; it is unclear if Moldova accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction but accepts many UN and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) documents
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	unicameral Parliament or Parlamentul (101 seats; parties and electoral blocs, as well as independent candidates, elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 25 February 2001 (next to be held NA 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - PCM 50.1%, Braghis Alliance 13.4%, PPCD 8.2%, other parties 28.3%; seats by party - PCM 71, Braghis Alliance 19, PPCD 11
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 67.32 years male: 65.15 years female: 69.59 years (2003 est.)	total population: 64.74 years male: 60.39 years female: 69.31 years (2002 est.)
Literacy	definition: NA% total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA%	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 96% male: 99% female: 94% (1989 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	Eastern Europe, northeast of Romania
Map references	Oceania	Europe
Maritime claims	contiguous zone: 24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM	none (landlocked)
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)	Ground Forces (includes Air and Air Defense Forces), Republic Security Forces (includes paramilitary Internal Troops and Border Troops)
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$NA	$6 million (FY01)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	NA%	0.4% (FY01)
Military manpower - availability	-	males age 15-49: 1,172,714 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service	-	males age 15-49: 929,316 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - military age	-	18 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually	-	males: 42,268 (2002 est.)
National holiday	Independence Day, 1 October (1978)	Independence Day, 27 August (1991)
Nationality	noun: Tuvaluan(s) adjective: Tuvaluan	noun: Moldovan(s) adjective: Moldovan
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	landslides (57 cases in 1998)
Natural resources	fish	lignite, phosphorites, gypsum, arable land, limestone
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)	-0.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Pipelines	-	natural gas 310 km (1992)
Political parties and leaders	there are no political parties but members of Parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings	Braghis Alliance [Dumitru BRAGHIS]; Communist Party or PCM [Vladimir VORONIN, first chairman]; Popular Christian Democratic Party or PPCD [Iurie ROSCA]; Social Democratic Union (composed of Braghis Alliance and the Democratic Party of Moldova) [leader NA]
Political pressure groups and leaders	none	NA
Population	11,305 (July 2003 est.)	4,434,547 (July 2002 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA%	80% (2001 est.)
Population growth rate	1.42% (2003 est.)	0.09% (2002 est.)
Ports and harbors	Funafuti, Nukufetau	none
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1999)	AM 7, FM 50, shortwave 3 (1998)
Radios	-	3.22 million (1997)
Railways	0 km	total: 1,328 km broad gauge: 1,328 km 1.520-m gauge (2001)
Religions	Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6%	Eastern Orthodox 98%, Jewish 1.5%, Baptist and other 0.5% (2000)
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: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female total population: 0.91 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: serves particular needs for internal communications domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands international: NA	general assessment: inadequate, outmoded, poor service outside Chisinau, some effort to modernize is under way domestic: new subscribers face long wait for service; mobile cellular telephone service being introduced international: service through Romania and Russia via landline; satellite earth stations - Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik
Telephones - main lines in use	1,000 (1997)	627,000 (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular	0 (1994)	2,200 (1997)
Television broadcast stations	0 (1997)	1 (plus 30 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain	very low-lying and narrow coral atolls	rolling steppe, gradual slope south to Black Sea
Total fertility rate	3.05 children born/woman (2003 est.)	1.71 children born/woman (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate	NA%	8% (roughly 25% of working age Moldovans are employed abroad) (2002 est.)
Waterways	none	424 km (1994)

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