Part 19
Type: in transition from Communist state to republic
Capital: Prague
Administrative divisions: 2 socialist republics (socialisticke republiky, singular--socialisticka republika); Ceska Socialisticka Republika, Slovenska Socialisticka Republika
Independence: 18 October 1918 (from Austro-Hungarian Empire)
Constitution: 11 July 1960; amended in 1968 and 1970; new constitution under review (1 January 1990)
Legal system: civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes, modified by Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: National Holiday of the Republic (Anniversary of the Liberation), 9 May (1945)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly (Federalni Shromazdeni) consists of an upper house or House of Nations (Snemovna Narodu) and a lower house or House of the People (Snemovna Lidu)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State--President Vaclav HAVEL (since 28 December 1989);
Head of Government--Premier Marian CALFA (since 10 December 1989); First Deputy Premier Valtr KOMAREK (since 7 December 1989); Jan CARNOGURSKY (since 7 December 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Civic Forum, since December 1989 leading political force, loose coalition of former oppositionists headed by President Vaclav Havel; Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC), Ladislav Adamec, chairman (since 20 December 1989); KSC toppled from power in November 1989 by massive antiregime demonstrations, minority role in coalition government since 10 December 1989
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: President--last held 22 May 1985 (next to be held 8 June 1990; will be a free election); results--Gustav Husak was reelected without opposition;
Federal Assembly--last held 23 and 24 May 1986 (next to be held 8 June 1990; will be a free election); results--KSC was the only party; seats--(350 total) KSC 350
Communists: 1.71 million party members (April 1988) and falling
Other political groups: Czechoslovak Socialist Party, Czechoslovak People's Party, Slovak Freedom Party, Slovak Revival Party, Christian Democratic Party; more than 40 political groups are expected to field candidates for the 8 June 1990 election
Member of: CCC, CEMA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBEC, ICAO, ICO, ILO, ILZSG, IMO, IPU, ISO, ITC, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, Warsaw Pact, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Rita KLIMOVA; Chancery at 3900 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 363-6315 or 6316; US--Ambassador Shirley Temple BLACK; Embassy at Trziste 15-12548, Prague (mailing address is APO New York 09213); telephone [42] (2) 53 6641 through 6649
Flag: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side
- Economy Overview: Czechoslovakia is highly industrialized and has a well-educated and skilled labor force. Its industry, transport, energy sources, banking, and most other means of production are state owned. The country is deficient, however, in energy and many raw materials. Moreover, its aging capital plant lags well behind West European standards. Industry contributes over 50% to GNP and construction 10%. About 95% of agricultural land is in collectives or state farms. The centrally planned economy has been tightly linked in trade (80%) to the USSR and Eastern Europe. Growth has been sluggish, averaging less than 2% in the period 1982-89. GNP per capita ranks next to the GDR as the highest in the Communist countries. As in the rest of Eastern Europe, the sweeping political changes of 1989 have been disrupting normal channels of supply and compounding the government's economic problems. Czechoslovakia is beginning the difficult transition from a command to a market economy.
GNP: $123.2 billion, per capita $7,878; real growth rate 1.0% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.5% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 0.9% (1987)
Budget: revenues $22.4 billion; expenditures $21.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.7 billion (1986 state budget)
Exports: $24.5 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--machinery and equipment 58.5%; industrial consumer goods 15.2%; fuels, minerals, and metals 10.6%; agricultural and forestry products 6.1%, other products 15.2%; partners--USSR, GDR, Poland, Hungary, FRG, Yugoslavia, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, US
Imports: $23.5 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--machinery and equipment 41.6%; fuels, minerals, and metals 32.2%; agricultural and forestry products 11.5%; industrial consumer goods 6.7%; other products 8.0%; partners--USSR, GDR, Poland, Hungary, FRG, Yugoslavia, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, US
External debt: $7.4 billion, hard currency indebtedness (1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 2.1% (1988)
Electricity: 22,955,000 kW capacity; 85,000 million kWh produced, 5,410 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: iron and steel, machinery and equipment, cement, sheet glass, motor vehicles, armaments, chemicals, ceramics, wood, paper products, footwear
Agriculture: accounts for 15% of GNP (includes forestry); largely self-sufficient in food production; diversified crop and livestock production, including grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit, hogs, cattle, and poultry; exporter of forest products
Aid: donor--$4.2 billion in bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1954-88)
Currency: koruna (plural--koruny); 1 koruna (Kc) = 100 haleru
Exchange rates: koruny (Kcs) per US$1--17.00 (March 1990), 10.00 (1989), 5.63 (1988), 5.43 (1987), 5.95 (1986), 6.79 (1985), 6.65 (1984)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 13,116 km total; 12,868 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 102 km 1.524-meter broad gauge, 146 km 0.750- and 0.760-meter narrow gauge; 2,854 km double track; 3,530 km electrified; government owned (1986)
Highways: 73,805 km total; including 489 km superhighway (1986)
Inland waterways: 475 km (1986); the Elbe (Labe) is the principal river
Pipelines: crude oil, 1,448 km; refined products, 1,500 km; natural gas, 8,000 km
Ports: maritime outlets are in Poland (Gdynia, Gdansk, Szczecin), Yugoslavia (Rijeka, Koper), FRG (Hamburg), GDR (Rostock); principal river ports are Prague on the Vltava, Decin on the Elbe (Labe), Komarno on the Danube, Bratislava on the Danube
Merchant marine: 21 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 208,471 GRT/ 308,072 DWT; includes 15 cargo, 6 bulk
Civil air: 40 major transport aircraft
Airports: 158 total, 158 usable; 40 with permanent-surface runways; 19 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 37 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: stations--58 AM, 16 FM, 45 TV; 14 Soviet TV relays; 4,360,000 TV sets; 4,208,538 radio receivers; at least 1 satellite earth station
- Defense Forces Branches: Czechoslovak People's Army, Frontier Guard, Air and Air Defense Forces
Military manpower: males 15-49, 4,019,311; 3,076,735 fit for military service; 137,733 reach military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures: 28.4 billion koruny, 7% of total budget (1989); note--conversion of the military budget into US dollars using the official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading results ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Denmark - Geography Total area: 43,070 km2; land area: 42,370 km2; includes the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea and the rest of metropolitan Denmark, but excludes the Faroe Islands and Greenland
Comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of Massachusetts
Land boundaries: 68 km with FRG
Coastline: 3,379 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 4 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 3 nm
Disputes: Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Iceland, Ireland, and the UK (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area); Denmark has challenged Norway's maritime claims between Greenland and Jan Mayen
Climate: temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers
Terrain: low and flat to gently rolling plains
Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, fish, salt, limestone
Land use: 61% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 6% meadows and pastures; 12% forest and woodland; 21% other; includes 9% irrigated
Environment: air and water pollution
Note: controls Danish Straits linking Baltic and North Seas
- People Population: 5,131,217 (July 1990), growth rate NEGL% (1990)
Birth rate: 12 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 79 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Dane(s); adjective--Danish
Ethnic divisions: Scandinavian, Eskimo, Faroese, German
Religion: 97% Evangelical Lutheran, 2% other Protestant and Roman Catholic, 1% other
Language: Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Eskimo dialect); small German-speaking minority
Literacy: 99%
Labor force: 2,760,000; 51% services, 34% industry, 8% government, 7% agriculture, forestry, and fishing (1988)
Organized labor: 65% of labor force
- Government Long-form name: Kingdom of Denmark
Type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Copenhagen
Administrative divisions: metropolitan Denmark--14 counties (amter, singular--amt) and 1 city* (stad); Arhus, Bornholm, Frederiksborg, Fyn, Kobenhavn, Nordjylland, Ribe, Ringkobing, Roskilde, Sonderjylland, Staden Kobenhavn*, Storstrom, Vejle, Vestsjaelland, Viborg; note--see separate entries for the Faroe Islands and Greenland which are part of the Danish realm and self-governing administrative divisions
Independence: became a constitutional monarchy in 1849
Constitution: 5 June 1953
Legal system: civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Birthday of the Queen, 16 April (1940)
Executive branch: monarch, heir apparent, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (Folketing)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State--Queen MARGRETHE II (since January 1972); Heir Apparent Crown Prince FREDERIK, elder son of the Queen (born 26 May 1968);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Poul SCHLUTER (since 10 September 1982)
Political parties and leaders: Social Democratic, Svend Auken; Liberal, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen; Conservative, Poul Schluter; Radical Liberal, Niels Helveg Petersen; Socialist People's, Gert Petersen; Communist, Ole Sohn; Left Socialist, Elizabeth Brun Olesen; Center Democratic, Mimi Stilling Jakobsen; Christian People's, Flemming Kofoed-Svendsen; Justice, Poul Gerhard Kristiansen; Progress Party, Aage Brusgaard; Socialist Workers Party, leader NA; Communist Workers' Party (KAP); Common Course, Preben Moller Hansen; Green Party, Inger Borlehmann
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections: Parliament--last held 10 May 1988 (next to be held by May 1992); results--Social Democrat 29.9%, Conservative 19.3%, Socialist People's 13.0%, Liberal 11.8%, Radical Liberal 9.0%, Center Democratic 5.6%, Christian People's 2.0%, Common Course 2.7%, other 6.7%; seats--(175 total; includes 2 from Greenland and 2 from the Faroe Islands) Social Democratic 55, Conservative 35, Socialist People's 24, Liberal 22, Progress 16, Radical Liberal 10, Center Democratic 9, Christian People's 4
Member of: ADB, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, EMS, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB, Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC--International Wheat Council, NATO, Nordic Council, OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Peter Pedersen DYVIG; Chancery at 3200 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 234-4300; there are Danish Consulates General at Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York; US--Ambassador Keith L. BROWN; Embassy at Dag Hammarskjolds Alle 24, 2100 Copenhagen O (mailing address is APO New York 09170); telephone [45] (31) 42 31 44
Flag: red with a white cross that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side and that design element of the Dannebrog (Danish flag) was subsequently adopted by the other Nordic countries of Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden
- Economy Overview: This modern economy features high-tech agriculture, up-to-date small-scale and corporate industry, extensive government welfare measures, comfortable living standards, and high dependence on foreign trade. Growth in output, however, has been sluggish in 1987-89, and unemployment in early 1989 stood at 9.6% of the labor force. The government is trying to revitalize growth in preparation for the economic integration of Europe in 1992.
GDP: $73.7 billion, per capita $14,300; real growth rate 1.4% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.25% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 9.6% (1989)
Budget: revenues $34 billion; expenditures $34 billion, including capital expenditures of $19 billion (1988)
Exports: $27.7 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities--meat and meat products, dairy products, transport equipment, fish, chemicals, industrial machinery; partners--US 6.0%, FRG, Norway, Sweden, UK, other EC, Japan
Imports: $26.4 billion (c.i.f., 1989 est.); commodities--petroleum, machinery and equipment, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, textiles, paper; partners--US 7.0%, FRG, Netherlands, Sweden, UK, other EC
External debt: $41.1 billion (1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 0.9% (1988)
Electricity: 11,215,000 kW capacity; 30,910 million kWh produced, 6,030 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: food processing, machinery and equipment, textiles and clothing, chemical products, electronics, construction, furniture, and other wood products
Agriculture: accounts for 7% of GNP and employs 1.8% of labor force (includes fishing); farm products account for nearly 16% of export revenues; principal products--meat, dairy, grain, potatoes, rape, sugar beets, fish; self-sufficient in food production
Aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87) $4.8 billion
Currency: Danish krone (plural--kroner); 1 Danish krone (DKr) = 100 ore
Exchange rates: Danish kroner (DKr) per US$1--6.560 (January 1990), 7.310 (1989), 6.732 (1988), 6.840 (1987), 8.091 (1986), 10.596 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 2,675 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; Danish State Railways (DSB) operate 2,025 km (1,999 km rail line and 121 km rail ferry services); 188 km electrified, 730 km double tracked; 650 km of standard-gauge lines are privately owned and operated
Highways: 66,482 km total; 64,551 km concrete, bitumen, or stone block; 1,931 km gravel, crushed stone, improved earth
Inland waterways: 417 km
Pipelines: crude oil, 110 km; refined products, 578 km; natural gas, 700 km
Ports: Alborg, Arhus, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Fredericia; numerous secondary and minor ports
Merchant marine: 252 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,498,611 GRT/6,711,011 DWT; includes 12 short-sea passenger, 82 cargo, 15 refrigerated cargo, 28 container, 36 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 railcar carrier, 37 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 13 chemical tanker, 12 liquefied gas, 4 livestock carrier, 12 bulk; note--Denmark has created a captive register called the Danish International Ship Register (DIS) as its own internal register; DIS ships do not have to meet Danish manning regulations, and they amount to a flag of convenience within the Danish register; by the end of 1990, most Danish flag ships will belong to the DIS
Civil air: 58 major transport aircraft
Airports: 130 total, 114 usable; 27 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 9 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 6 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: excellent telephone, telegraph, and broadcast services; 4,237,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, 15 (39 repeaters) FM, 27 (25 repeaters) TV stations; 7 submarine coaxial cables; 1 satellite earth station operating in INTELSAT, 4 Atlantic Ocean, EUTELSAT, and domestic systems
- Defense Forces Branches: Royal Danish Army, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Danish Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,368,013; 1,180,865 fit for military service; 37,228 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: 2.1% of GDP, or $1.5 billion (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Djibouti - Geography Total area: 22,000 km2; land area: 21,980 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Massachusetts
Land boundaries: 517 km total; Ethiopia 459 km, Somalia 58 km
Coastline: 314 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: possible claim by Somalia based on unification of ethnic Somalis
Climate: desert; torrid, dry
Terrain: coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains
Natural resources: geothermal areas
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 9% meadows and pastures; NEGL% forest and woodland; 91% other
Environment: vast wasteland
Note: strategic location near world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; terminus of rail traffic into Ethiopia
- People Population: 337,386 (July 1990), growth rate 2.6% (1990)
Birth rate: 43 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 17 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 119 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 46 years male, 49 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 6.4 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Djiboutian(s); adjective--Djiboutian
Ethnic divisions: 60% Somali (Issa); 35% Afar, 5% French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian
Religion: 94% Muslim, 6% Christian
Language: French (official); Arabic, Somali, and Afar widely used
Literacy: 20%
Labor force: NA, but a small number of semiskilled laborers at the port and 3,000 railway workers; 52% of population of working age (1983)
Organized labor: 3,000 railway workers
- Government Long-form name: Republic of Djibouti
Type: republic
Capital: Djibouti
Administrative divisions: 5 districts (cercles, singular--cercle); Ali Sahih, Dikhil, Djibouti, Obock, Tadjoura
Independence: 27 June 1977 (from France; formerly French Territory of the Afars and Issas)
Constitution: partial constitution ratified January 1981 by the Chamber of Deputies
Legal system: based on French civil law system, traditional practices, and Islamic law
National holiday: Independence Day, 27 June (1977)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers
Legislative branch: Chamber of Deputies (Chambre des Deputes)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Leaders: Chief of State--President Hassan GOULED Aptidon (since 24 June 1977);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Barkat GOURAD Hamadou (since 30 September 1978)
Political parties and leaders: only party--People's Progress Assembly (RPP), Hassan Gouled Aptidon
Suffrage: universal adult at age NA
Elections: President--last held 24 April 1987 (next to be held April 1993); results--President Hassan Gouled Aptidon was reelected without opposition;
Chamber of Deputies--last held 24 April 1987 (next to be held April 1992); results--RPP is the only party; seats--(65 total) RPP 65
Communists: NA
Member of: ACP, AfDB, Arab League, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Roble OLHAYE; Chancery (temporary) at the Djiboutian Permanent Mission to the UN; 866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 4011, New York, NY 10017; telephone (212) 753-3163; US--Ambassador Robert S. BARRETT IV; Embassy at Villa Plateau du Serpent Boulevard, Marechal Joffre, Djibouti (mailing address is B. P. 185, Djibouti); telephone [253] 35-38-49 or 35-39-95, 35-29-16, 35-29-17
Flag: two equal horizontal bands of light blue (top) and light green with a white isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bearing a red five-pointed star in the center
- Economy Overview: The economy is based on service activities connected with the country's strategic location and status as a free trade zone. Djibouti provides services as both a transit port for the region and an international transshipment and refueling center. It has few natural resources and little industry. The nation is, therefore, heavily dependent on foreign assistance to help support its balance of payments and to finance development projects. An unemployment rate of over 50% continues to be a major problem.
GNP: $333 million, $1,070 per capita; real growth rate - 0.7% (1986)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.0% (1987)
Unemployment rate: over 50% (1987)
Budget: revenues $117 million; expenditures $163 billion, including capital expenditures of $52 million (1987 est.)
Exports: $128 million (f.o.b., 1986); commodities--hides and skins, coffee (in transit); partners--Middle East 50%, Africa 43%, Western Europe 7%
Imports: $198 million (f.o.b., 1986); commodities--foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products; partners--EC 36%, Africa 21%, Bahrain 14%, Asia 12%, US 2%
External debt: $250 million (December 1988)
Industrial production: growth rate - 1.6% (1986)
Electricity: 110,000 kW capacity; 190 million kWh produced, 580 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: limited to a few small-scale enterprises, such as dairy products and mineral-water bottling
Agriculture: accounts for 30% of GDP; scanty rainfall limits crop production to mostly fruit and vegetables; half of population pastoral nomads herding goats, sheep, and camels; imports bulk of food needs
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY78-88), $36 million; Western (non-US) countries, including ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $962 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $149 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $35 million
Currency: Djiboutian franc (plural--francs); 1 Djiboutian franc (DF) = 100 centimes
Exchange rates: Djiboutian francs (DF) per US$1--177.721 (fixed rate since 1973)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: the Ethiopian-Djibouti railroad extends for 97 km through Djibouti
Highways: 2,900 km total; 280 km bituminous surface, 2,620 km improved or unimproved earth (1982)
Ports: Djibouti
Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft
Airports: 12 total, 9 usable; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: fair system of urban facilities in Djibouti and radio relay stations at outlying places; 7,300 telephones; stations--2 AM, 1 FM, 2 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station and 1 ARABSAT; 1 submarine cable to Saudi Arabia
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force; paramilitary National Security Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 88,132; 51,260 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: $29.9 million, 23% of central government budget (1986) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Dominica - Geography Total area: 750 km2; land area: 750 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than four times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 148 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; moderated by northeast trade winds; heavy rainfall
Terrain: rugged mountains of volcanic origin
Natural resources: timber
Land use: 9% arable land; 13% permanent crops; 3% meadows and pastures; 41% forest and woodland; 34% other
Environment: flash floods a constant hazard; occasional hurricanes
Note: located 550 km southeast of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea