Read Ebook: The 1999 CIA World Factbook by United States Central Intelligence Agency

Font size: 10 px 15 px 20 px 25 px 30 px 35 px

Background color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Text color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Apply/Save settings

Ebook has 24126 lines and 489473 words, and 483 pages

rence List of Country Data Codes which includes the US Government approved Federal Information Processing Standards codes, the International Organization for Standardization codes, and Internet codes for land entities.

Data codes--hydrographic: This information is presented in Appendix G: Cross-Reference List of Hydrographic Data Codes which includes the International Hydrographic Organization codes, Aeronautical Chart and Information Center codes, and Defense Intelligence Agency codes for hydrographic entities. The US Government has not yet approved a standard for hydrographic data codes similar to the FIPS 10-4 standard for country data codes.

Date of information: In general, information available as of 1 January 1999, was used in the preparation of this edition.

Death rate: This entry gives the average annual number of deaths during a year per 1,000 population at midyear; also known as crude death rate. The death rate, while only a rough indicator of the mortality situation in a country, accurately indicates the current mortality impact on population growth. This indicator is significantly affected by age distribution, and most countries will eventually show a rise in the overall death rate, in spite of continued decline in mortality at all ages, as declining fertility results in an aging population.

Debt--external: This entry gives the total amount of public foreign financial obligations.

Dependency status: This entry describes the formal relationship between a particular nonindependent entity and an independent state.

Dependent areas: This entry contains an alphabetical listing of all nonindependent entities associated in some way with a particular independent state.

Diplomatic representation: The US Government has diplomatic relations with 184 independent states, including 178 of the 185 UN members . In addition, the US has diplomatic relations with 6 independent states that are not in the UN--Holy See, Kiribati, Nauru, Switzerland, Tonga, and Tuvalu.

Diplomatic representation from the US: This entry includes the chief of mission, embassy address, mailing address, telephone number, FAX number, branch office locations, consulate general locations, and consulate locations.

Diplomatic representation in the US: This entry includes the chief of the foreign mission, chancery address, telephone number, FAX number, consulate general locations, consulate locations, honorary consulate general locations, and honorary consulate locations.

Disputes--international: This entry includes a wide variety of situations that range from traditional bilateral boundary disputes to unilateral claims of one sort or another. Information regarding disputes over international terrestrial and maritime boundaries has been reviewed by the US Department of State. References to other situations involving borders or frontiers may also be included, such as resource disputes, geopolitical questions, or irredentist issues; however, inclusion does not necessarily constitute official acceptance or recognition by the US Government.

Economic aid--donor: This entry refers to net official development assistance from OECD nations to developing countries and multilateral organizations. ODA is defined as financial assistance that is concessional in character, has the main objective to promote economic development and welfare of LDCs, and contains a grant element of at least 25%. The entry does not cover other official flows or private flows.

Economic aid--recipient: This entry, which is subject to major problems of definition and statistical coverage, refers to the net inflow of Official Development Finance to recipient countries. The figure includes assistance from the World Bank, the IMF, and other international organizations and from individual nation donors. Formal commitments of aid are included in the data. Omitted from the data are grants by private organizations. Aid comes in various forms including outright grants and loans. The entry thus is the difference between new inflows and repayments.

Economy: This category includes the entries dealing with the size, development, and management of productive resources, i.e., land, labor, and capital.

Economy--overview: This entry briefly describes the type of economy, including the degree of market orientation, the level of economic development, the most important natural resources, and the unique areas of specialization. It also characterizes major economic events and policy changes in the most recent 12 months and may include a statement about one or two key future macroeconomic trends.

Electricity--consumption: This entry consists of total electricity generated annually plus imports and minus exports, expressed in kilowatt hours.

Electricity--exports: This entry is the total exported electricity in kilowatt hours.

Electricity--imports: This entry is the total imported electricity in kilowatt hours.

Electricity--production: This entry is the annual electricity generated expressed in kilowatt hours.

Electricity--production by source: This entry indicates the percentage share of annual electricity production of each energy source. These are fossil fuel, hydro, nuclear, and other .

Elevation extremes: This entry includes both the highest point and the lowest point.

Entities: Some of the independent states, dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and governments included in this publication are not independent, and others are not officially recognized by the US Government. "Independent state" refers to a people politically organized into a sovereign state with a definite territory. "Dependencies" and "areas of special sovereignty" refer to a broad category of political entities that are associated in some way with an independent state. "Country" names used in the table of contents or for page headings are usually the short-form names as approved by the US Board on Geographic Names and may include independent states, dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty, or other geographic entities. There are a total of 266 separate geographic entities in The World Factbook that may be categorized as follows:

INDEPENDENT STATES

OTHER

DEPENDENCIES AND AREAS OF SPECIAL SOVEREIGNTY

MISCELLANEOUS

OTHER ENTITIES

Environment--international agreements: This entry separates country participation in international environmental agreements into two levels--party to and signed but not ratified. Agreements are listed in alphabetical order by the abbreviated form of the full name.

Environmental agreements: This information is presented in Appendix D: Selected International Environmental Agreements, which includes the name, abbreviation, date opened for signature, date entered into force, objective, and parties by category.

Ethnic groups: This entry provides a rank ordering of ethnic groups starting with the largest and normally includes the percent of total population.

Exchange rates: This entry provides the official value of a country's monetary unit at a given date or over a given period of time, as expressed in units of local currency per US dollar and as determined by international market forces or official fiat.

Executive branch: This entry includes several subfields. Chief of state includes the name and title of the titular leader of the country who represents the state at official and ceremonial functions but may not be involved with the day-to-day activities of the government. Head of government includes the name and title of the top administrative leader who is designated to manage the day-to-day activities of the government. Cabinet includes the official name for this body of high-ranking advisers and the method for selection of members. Elections includes the nature of election process or accession to power, date of the last election, and date of the next election. Election results includes the percent of vote for each candidate in the last election. In the UK, the monarch is the chief of state, and the prime minister is the head of government. In the US, the president is both the chief of state and the head of government.

Exports: This entry provides the total US dollar amount of exports on an f.o.b. basis.

Exports--commodities: This entry provides a rank ordering of exported products starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.

Exports--partners: This entry provides a rank ordering of trading partners starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.

Fiscal year: This entry identifies the beginning and ending months for a country's accounting period of 12 months, which often is the calendar year but which may begin in any month. FY93/94 refers to the fiscal year that began in calendar year 1993 and ended in calendar year 1994. All yearly references are for the calendar year unless indicated as a noncalendar fiscal year .

Flag description: This entry provides a written flag description produced from actual flags or the best information available at the time the entry was written. The flags of independent states are used by their dependencies unless there is an officially recognized local flag. Some disputed and other areas do not have flags.

Flag graphic: Most versions of the Factbook include a color flag at the beginning of the country profile. The flag graphics were produced from actual flags or the best information available at the time of preparation. The flags of independent states are used by their dependencies unless there is an officially recognized local flag. Some disputed and other areas do not have flags.

GDP: This entry gives the gross domestic product or value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year. GDP dollar estimates in the Factbook are derived from purchasing power parity calculations. See the note on GDP methodology for more information.

GDP methodology: In the Economy section, GDP dollar estimates for all countries are derived from purchasing power parity calculations rather than from conversions at official currency exchange rates. The PPP method involves the use of standardized international dollar price weights, which are applied to the quantities of final goods and services produced in a given economy. The data derived from the PPP method provide the best available starting point for comparisons of economic strength and well-being between countries. The division of a GDP estimate in domestic currency by the corresponding PPP estimate in dollars gives the PPP conversion rate. Whereas PPP estimates for OECD countries are quite reliable, PPP estimates for developing countries are often rough approximations. Most of the GDP estimates are based on extrapolation of PPP numbers published by the UN International Comparison Program and by Professors Robert Summers and Alan Heston of the University of Pennsylvania and their colleagues. In contrast, currency exchange rates depend on a variety of international and domestic financial forces that often have little relation to domestic output. In developing countries with weak currencies the exchange rate estimate of GDP in dollars is typically one-fourth to one-half the PPP estimate. Furthermore, exchange rates may suddenly go up or down by 10% or more because of market forces or official fiat whereas real output has remained unchanged. On 12 January 1994, for example, the 14 countries of the African Financial Community devalued their currencies by 50%. This move, of course, did not cut the real output of these countries by half. One important caution: the proportion of, say, defense expenditures as a percentage of GDP in local currency accounts may differ substantially from the proportion when GDP accounts are expressed in PPP terms, as, for example, when an observer tries to estimate the dollar level of Russian or Japanese military expenditures. Note: the numbers for GDP and other economic data can not be chained together from successive volumes of the Factbook because of changes in the US dollar measuring rod, revisions of data by statistical agencies, use of new or different sources of information, and changes in national statistical methods and practices. For statistical series on GDP and other economic variables, see the Handbook of International Economic Statistics available from the same sources as The World Factbook.

GDP--composition by sector: This entry gives the percentage contribution of agriculture, industry, and services to total GDP.

GDP--per capita: This entry shows GDP on a purchasing power parity basis divided by population as of 1 July for the same year.

GDP--real growth rate: This entry gives GDP growth on an annual basis adjusted for inflation and expressed as a percent.

Geographic coordinates: This entry includes rounded latitude and longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate geographic center of an entity and is based on the Gazetteer of Conventional Names, Third Edition, August 1988, US Board on Geographic Names and on other sources.

Geographic names: This information is presented in Appendix H: Cross-Reference List of Geographic Names which indicates where various geographic names--including alternate names, former names, political or geographical portions of larger entities, and the location of all US Foreign Service posts--can be found in The World Factbook. Spellings are normally, but not always, those approved by the US Board on Geographic Names . Alternate names are included in parentheses, while additional information is included in brackets.

Geography: This category includes the entries dealing with the natural environment and the effects of human activity.

Geography--note: This entry includes miscellaneous geographic information of significance not included elsewhere.

GNP: Gross national product is the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year, plus income earned by its citizens abroad, minus income earned by foreigners from domestic production. The Factbook, following current practice, uses GDP rather than GNP to measure national production. However, the user must realize that in certain countries net remittances from citizens working abroad may be important to national well-being.

Government: This category includes the entries dealing with the system for the adoption and administration of public policy.

Government type: This entry gives the basic form of government .

Government--note: This entry includes miscellaneous government information of significance not included elsewhere.

Share on: WhatsApp @Hash Facebook Tweet