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Compare World (2003) - Dominican Republic (2008)

Compare World (2003) z Dominican Republic (2008)

 World (2003)Dominican Republic (2008)
 WorldDominican Republic
Administrative divisions 268 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries 31 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 district* (distrito); Azua, Bahoruco, Barahona, Dajabon, Distrito Nacional*, Duarte, El Seibo, Elias Pina, Espaillat, Hato Mayor, Independencia, La Altagracia, La Romana, La Vega, Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Monsenor Nouel, Monte Cristi, Monte Plata, Pedernales, Peravia, Puerto Plata, Salcedo, Samana, San Cristobal, San Jose de Ocoa, San Juan, San Pedro de Macoris, Sanchez Ramirez, Santiago, Santiago Rodriguez, Santo Domingo, Valverde
Age structure 0-14 years: 29.2% (male 932,581,592; female 885,688,851)


15-64 years: 63.7% (male 2,009,997,089; female 1,964,938,201)


65 years and over: 7.1% (male 193,549,180; female 247,067,032) (2003 est.)


note: some countries do not maintain age structure information, thus a slight discrepancy exists between the total world population and the total for world age structure
0-14 years: 32.1% (male 1,532,813/female 1,477,033)


15-64 years: 62.2% (male 2,971,620/female 2,851,207)


65 years and over: 5.7% (male 247,738/female 285,407) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products - sugarcane, coffee, cotton, cocoa, tobacco, rice, beans, potatoes, corn, bananas; cattle, pigs, dairy products, beef, eggs
Airports - 34 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways - total: 15


over 3,047 m: 3


2,438 to 3,047 m: 4


1,524 to 2,437 m: 4


914 to 1,523 m: 3


under 914 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways - total: 19


1,524 to 2,437 m: 3


914 to 1,523 m: 5


under 914 m: 11 (2007)
Area total: 510.072 million sq km


land: 148.94 million sq km


water: 361.132 million sq km


note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land
total: 48,730 sq km


land: 48,380 sq km


water: 350 sq km
Area - comparative land area about 16 times the size of the US slightly more than twice the size of New Hampshire
Background Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). Explored and claimed by Christopher COLUMBUS on his first voyage in 1492, the island of Hispaniola became a springboard for Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the American mainland. In 1697, Spain recognized French dominion over the western third of the island, which in 1804 became Haiti. The remainder of the island, by then known as Santo Domingo, sought to gain its own independence in 1821, but was conquered and ruled by the Haitians for 22 years; it finally attained independence as the Dominican Republic in 1844. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later they launched a war that restored independence in 1865. A legacy of unsettled, mostly non-representative rule followed, capped by the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas TRUJILLO from 1930-61. Juan BOSCH was elected president in 1962, but was deposed in a military coup in 1963. In 1965, the United States led an intervention in the midst of a civil war sparked by an uprising to restore BOSCH. In 1966, Joaquin BALAGUER defeated BOSCH in an election to become president. BALAGUER maintained a tight grip on power for most of the next 30 years when international reaction to flawed elections forced him to curtail his term in 1996. Since then, regular competitive elections have been held in which opposition candidates have won the presidency. Former President (1996-2000) Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna won election to a second term in 2004 following a constitutional amendment allowing presidents to serve more than one term.
Birth rate 20.43 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) 22.91 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget - revenues: $7.014 billion


expenditures: $6.985 billion (2007 est.)
Capital - name: Santo Domingo


geographic coordinates: 18 28 N, 69 54 W


time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones form a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation; seasonal variation in rainfall
Coastline 356,000 km 1,288 km
Constitution - 28 November 1966; amended 25 July 2002
Country name - conventional long form: Dominican Republic


conventional short form: The Dominican


local long form: Republica Dominicana


local short form: La Dominicana
Death rate 8.83 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) 5.32 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external $2 trillion for less developed countries (2002 est.) $8.842 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US - chief of mission: Ambassador P. Robert FANNIN


embassy: corner of Calle Cesar Nicolas Penson and Calle Leopoldo Navarro, Santo Domingo


mailing address: Unit 5500, APO AA 34041-5500


telephone: [1] (809) 221-2171


FAX: [1] (809) 686-7437
Diplomatic representation in the US - chief of mission: Ambassador Flavio Dario ESPINAL Jacobo


chancery: 1715 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008


telephone: [1] (202) 332-6280


FAX: [1] (202) 265-8057


consulate(s) general: Anchorage, Boston, Chicago, Mayaguez (Puerto Rico), Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico)
Disputes - international Globally, there are over 250,000 km of international land boundaries that separate the world's 192 independent states, along with 70 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities. Maritime states have claimed limits and have so far established over 130 maritime boundaries and joint development zones to allocate ocean resources and to provide for their national security at sea. On land, ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries. All of these factors have contributed to a wide array of boundary, borderland, and territorial disagreements that vary in intensity from unresolved or dormant to outright war. Territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural animosities, or they may be brought on by resource competition. Ethnic clashes continue to be responsible for territorial fragmentation around the world. Undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and political confrontation over boundary allocations. Other sources of contention include the use of water and mineral (especially petroleum) resources, fisheries, dams, and nuclear power plants. Many islands or island groups are also disputed, including those at sea and in streams. Nonetheless, many nations are actively cooperating to clarify, delineate, and demarcate their international borders. The tragic aspect of international discord is the impact on the sustenance and welfare of populations caught in the conflict. It is frequently left to members of the world community to cope with enormous refugee situations, and the resultant hunger, disease, and impoverishment that they create. Haitian migrants cross the porous border into the Dominican Republic to find work; illegal migrants from the Dominican Republic cross the Mona Passage each year to Puerto Rico to find better work
Economic aid - recipient official development assistance (ODA) $50 billion $76.99 million (2005)
Economy - overview Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) fell from 4.8% in 2000 to 2.2% in 2001 and 2.7% in 2002. The causes: sluggishness in the US economy (21% of GWP) and in the 15 EU economies (19% of GWP); continued stagnation in the Japanese economy (7.2% of GWP); and spillover effects in the less developed regions of the world. China, the second-largest economy in the world (12% of GWP), proved an exception, continuing its rapid annual growth, officially announced as 8% but estimated by many observers as perhaps two percentage points lower. Russia (2.6% of GWP), with 4% growth, continued to make uneven progress, its GDP per capita still only one-third that of the leading industrial nations. The other 14 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations continued as strong performers, in the 5% range of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that erode gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decision-making powers to international bodies. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuate a further growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic prospects. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2002, see the individual country entries.) The Dominican Republic has enjoyed strong GDP growth since 2005, with double digit growth in 2006. In 2007, exports were bolstered by the nearly 50% increase in nickel prices; however, prices are expected to fall in 2008, contributing to a slowdown in GDP growth for the year. Although the country has long been viewed primarily as an exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, in recent years the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy's largest employer due to growth in tourism and free trade zones. The economy is highly dependent upon the US, the source of nearly 80% of exports, and remittances represent about a tenth of GDP, equivalent to almost half of exports and three-quarters of tourism receipts. With the help of strict fiscal targets agreed to in the 2004 renegotiation of an IMF standby loan, President FERNANDEZ has stabilized the country's financial situation, lowereing inflation to less than 6%. A fiscal expansion is expected for 2008 prior to the elections in May and for Tropical Storm Noel reconstruction. Although the economy is growing at a respectable rate, high unemployment and underemployment remains an important challenge. The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of GNP, while the richest 10% enjoys nearly 40% of national income. The Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) came into force in March 2007, which should boost investment and exports and diminishes losses to the Asian garment industry.
Electricity - consumption 13.93 trillion kWh (2001 est.) 8.791 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports - 0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports - 0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - production 14.85 trillion kWh (2001 est.) 12.22 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - production by source fossil fuel: NA%


hydro: NA%


nuclear: NA%


other: NA%
-
Elevation extremes lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m


note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean


highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.)
lowest point: Lago Enriquillo -46 m


highest point: Pico Duarte 3,175 m
Environment - current issues large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion water shortages; soil eroding into the sea damages coral reefs; deforestation
Environment - international agreements - party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands


signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Ethnic groups - mixed 73%, white 16%, black 11%
Exchange rates - Dominican pesos per US dollar - 33.113 (2007), 33.406 (2006), 30.409 (2005), 42.12 (2004), 30.831 (2003)
Executive branch - chief of state: President Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna (since 16 August 2004); Vice President Rafael ALBURQUERQUE de Castro (since 16 August 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government


head of government: President Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna (since 16 August 2004); Vice President Rafael ALBURQUERQUE de Castro (since 16 August 2004)


cabinet: Cabinet nominated by the president


elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms (eligible for a second consecutive term); election last held 16 May 2004 (next to be held in May 2008)


election results: Leonel FERNANDEZ elected president; percent of vote - Leonel FERNANDEZ 57.1%, Rafael Hipolito MEJIA Dominguez 33.7%, Eduardo ESTRELLA 8.7%
Exports 703.9 billion cu m (2001 est.) 0 bbl/day (2004)
Exports - commodities the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services ferronickel, sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, meats, consumer goods
Exports - partners US 17.4%, Germany 7.6%, UK 5.4%, France 5.1%, Japan 4.8%, China 4% (2002) US 72.7%, UK 3.2%, Belgium 2.4% (2006)
Fiscal year - calendar year
Flag description - a centered white cross that extends to the edges divides the flag into four rectangles - the top ones are blue (hoist side) and red, and the bottom ones are red (hoist side) and blue; a small coat of arms featuring a shield supported by an olive branch (left) and a palm branch (right) is at the center of the cross; above the shield a blue ribbon displays the motto, DIOS, PATRIA, LIBERTAD (God, Fatherland, Liberty), and below the shield, REPUBLICA DOMINICANA appears on a red ribbon
GDP GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $49 trillion (2002 est.) -
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 4%


industry: 32%


services: 64% (2002 est.)
agriculture: 11.5%


industry: 28.3%


services: 60.2% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $7,900 (2002 est.) -
GDP - real growth rate 2.7% (2001 est.) 7.2% (2007 est.)
Geographic coordinates - 19 00 N, 70 40 W
Geography - note the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13-billion-year age estimated for the universe shares island of Hispaniola with Haiti
Highways total: NA km


paved: NA km


unpaved: NA km
-
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%: NA%


highest 10%: NA%
lowest 10%: 1.4%


highest 10%: 41.1% (2004)
Illicit drugs cocaine: worldwide, coca is grown on an estimated 205,450 hectares - almost exclusively in South America with 70% in Colombia; potential cocaine production during 2002 is estimated at 938 metric tons (or 1,200 metric tons of export quality cocaine at an average of 78% purity); coca eradication programs continue in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru, and 292 metric tons of export quality cocaine are documented to have been seized in 2002; consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been 875 metric tons


opiates: cultivation of opium poppy occurred on an estimated 141,213 hectares in 2002 and potentially produced 2,183 metric tons of opium - which conceivably could be converted to the equivalent of 238 metric tons of pure heroin; opium eradication programs have been undertaken in Afghanistan, Burma, Colombia, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam, and the annual average for opiates seized worldwide over the past five years (1998-2002) has been 45 metric tons of pure heroin equivalent; estimates for average annual consumption over this time period are 315 metric tons pure heroin equivalent
transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; has become a transshipment point for ecstasy from the Netherlands and Belgium destined for US and Canada; substantial money laundering activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor the Dominican Republic for illicit financial transactions; significant amphetamine consumption
Imports 697.5 billion cu m (2001 est.) 116,700 bbl/day (2004)
Imports - commodities the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services foodstuffs, petroleum, cotton and fabrics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals
Imports - partners US 11.2%, Germany 9.2%, China 7%, Japan 6.8%, France 4.7%, UK 4% (2002) US 46.9%, Venezuela 8.4%, Colombia 6.3%, Mexico 5.7% (2006)
Independence - 27 February 1844 (from Haiti)
Industrial production growth rate 3% (2002 est.) 5.5% (2007 est.)
Industries dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems tourism, sugar processing, ferronickel and gold mining, textiles, cement, tobacco
Infant mortality rate total: 51.38 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 53.81 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 48.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
total: 27.94 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 30.05 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 25.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in several Third World countries 5.8% (2007 est.)
International organization participation - ACP, Caricom (observer), FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (suspended), ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory), PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 10,350 (2000 est.) -
Irrigated land 2,714,320 sq km (1998 est.) 2,750 sq km (2003)
Judicial branch - Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are appointed by the National Judicial Council comprised of the president, the leaders of both chambers of congress, the president of the Supreme Court, and an additional non-governing party congressional representative)
Labor force NA 3.986 million (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA% agriculture: 17%


industry: 24.3%


services: 58.7% (1998 est.)
Land boundaries the land boundaries in the world total 250,472 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) total: 360 km


border countries: Haiti 360 km
Land use arable land: 10.58%


permanent crops: 1%


other: 88.42% (1998 est.)
arable land: 22.49%


permanent crops: 10.26%


other: 67.25% (2005)
Languages Chinese, Mandarin 14.37%, Hindi 6.02%, English 5.61%, Spanish 5.59%, Bengali 3.4%, Portuguese 2.63%, Russian 2.75%, Japanese 2.06%, German, Standard 1.64%, Korean 1.28%, French 1.27% (2000 est.)


note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Spanish
Legal system all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court based on French civil codes; Criminal Procedures Code modified in 2004 to include important elements of an accusatory system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch - bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate or Senado (32 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Camara de Diputados (178 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)


elections: Senate - last held 16 May 2006 (next to be held in May 2008); House of Representatives - last held 16 May 2006 (next to be held in May 2008)


election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PLD 22, PRD 6, PRSC 4; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PLD 96, PRD 60, PRSC 22
Life expectancy at birth total population: 63.95 years


male: 62 years


female: 70.23 years (2003 est.)
total population: 73.07 years


male: 71.34 years


female: 74.87 years (2007 est.)
Literacy definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 77%


male: 83%


female: 71% (1995 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 87%


male: 86.8%


female: 87.2% (2002 census)
Location - Caribbean, eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Haiti
Map references Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World Central America and the Caribbean
Maritime claims a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims: contiguous zone - 24 NM; continental shelf - 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation, or 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin; exclusive fishing zone - 200 NM; exclusive economic zone - 200 NM; territorial sea - 12 NM; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines


territorial sea: 6 nm


contiguous zone: 24 nm


exclusive economic zone: 200 nm


continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Merchant marine - total: 1 ship (1000 GRT or over) 1,587 GRT/1,165 DWT


by type: cargo 1


registered in other countries: 1 (Panama 1) (2007)
Military branches - Army, Navy, Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Dominicana, FAD) (2007)
Military expenditures - dollar figure aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.) -
Military expenditures - percent of GDP roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) 0.8% (2006)
National holiday - Independence Day, 27 February (1844)
Nationality - noun: Dominican(s)


adjective: Dominican
Natural hazards large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding; periodic droughts
Natural resources the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address nickel, bauxite, gold, silver
Net migration rate - -2.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Political parties and leaders - Dominican Liberation Party or PLD [Leonel FERNANDEZ Reyna]; Dominican Revolutionary Party or PRD [Ramon ALBURQUERQUE]; National Progressive Front [Vincent CASTILLO, Pelegrin CASTILLO]; Social Christian Reformist Party or PRSC [Enrique ANTUN]
Political pressure groups and leaders - Citizen Participation Group (Participacion Ciudadania); Collective of Popular Organizations or COP; Foundation for Institution-Building and Justice (FINJUS)
Population 6,302,309,691 (July 2003 est.) 9,365,818 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line - 42.2% (2004)
Population growth rate 1.17% (2003 est.) 1.5% (2007 est.)
Ports and harbors Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama -
Radio broadcast stations AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA AM 120, FM 56, shortwave 4 (1998)
Railways total: 1,122,650 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line


broad gauge: 251,153 km


standard gauge: 710,754 km


narrow gauge: 239,430 km
total: 517 km


standard gauge: 375 km 1.435-m gauge


narrow gauge: 142 km 0.762-m gauge


note: additional 1,226 km operated by sugar companies in 1.076 m, 0.889 m, and 0.762-m gauges (2006)
Religions Christians 32.79% (of which Roman Catholics 17.33%, Protestants 5.62%, Orthodox 3.51%, Anglicans 1.31%), Muslims 19.6%, Hindus 13.31%, Buddhists 5.88%, Sikhs 0.38%, Jews 0.24%, other religions 12.83%, non-religious 12.53%, atheists 2.44% (2001 est.) Roman Catholic 95%, other 5%
Sex ratio at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female


total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.038 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.042 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.868 male(s)/female


total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Suffrage - 18 years of age, universal and compulsory; married persons regardless of age; note - members of the armed forces and national police cannot vote
Telephone system general assessment: NA


domestic: NA


international: NA
general assessment: relatively efficient system based on island-wide microwave radio relay network


domestic: fixed telephone line density is about 10 per 100 persons; multiple providers of mobile cellular service with a subscribership of roughly 50 per 100 persons


international: country code - 1-809; landing point for the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber-optic telecommunications submarine cable that provides links to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and US; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Telephones - main lines in use NA 897,000 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular NA 4.606 million (2006)
Television broadcast stations NA 25 (2003)
Terrain the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean rugged highlands and mountains with fertile valleys interspersed
Total fertility rate 2.65 children born/woman (2003 est.) 2.81 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment 15.5% (2007 est.)
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