Chapter 21
Legal system: based on English common law; for Muslims, Islamic Shari'a law supersedes civil law in a number of areas
Suffrage: none
Executive branch: chief of state: Sultan and Prime Minister His Majesty Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji HASSANAL Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah (since 5 October 1967); note--the monarch is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: Sultan and Prime Minister His Majesty Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji HASSANAL Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah (since 5 October 1967); note--the monarch is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Cabinet Ministers appointed and presided over by the monarch; deals with executive matters note: there is also a Religious Council (members appointed by the monarch) that advises on religious matters, a Privy Council (members appointed by the monarch) that deals with constitutional matters, and the Council of Succession (members appointed by the monarch) that determines the succession to the throne if the need arises elections: none; the monarch is hereditary
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council or Majlis Masyuarat Megeri (a privy council that serves only in a consultative capacity; NA seats; members appointed by the monarch) elections: last held in March 1962 note: in 1970 the Council was changed to an appointive body by decree of the monarch; an elected Legislative Council is being considered as part of constitutional reform, but elections are unlikely for several years
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, chief justice and judges are sworn in by the monarch for three-year terms
Political parties and leaders: Brunei Solidarity National Party president]; the PPKB is the only legal political party in Brunei; it was registered in 1985, but became largely inactive after 1988; it has less than 200 registered party members; other parties include Brunei People's Party or PRB (banned in 1962) and Brunei National Democratic Party (registered in May 1985, deregistered by the Brunei Government in 1988)
International organization participation: APEC, ASEAN, C, CCC, ESCAP, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDB, IFRCS, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Pengiran Anak Dato Haji PUTEH Ibni Mohammad Alam chancery: Watergate, Suite 300, 3rd floor, 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Glen Robert RASE embassy: Third Floor, Teck Guan Plaza, Jalan Sultan, Bandar Seri Begawan mailing address: PSC 470 (BSB), FPO AP 96534-0001
Flag description: yellow with two diagonal bands of white (top, almost double width) and black starting from the upper hoist side; the national emblem in red is superimposed at the center; the emblem includes a swallow-tailed flag on top of a winged column within an upturned crescent above a scroll and flanked by two upraised hands
Economy
Economy--overview: This small, wealthy economy is a mixture of foreign and domestic entrepreneurship, government regulation and welfare measures, and village tradition. It is almost totally supported by exports of crude oil and natural gas, with revenues from the petroleum sector accounting for over half of GDP. Per capita GDP is far above most other Third World countries, and substantial income from overseas investment supplements income from domestic production. The government provides for all medical services and subsidizes food and housing. The government is beginning to show progress on its basic policy of diversifying the economy away from oil and gas. Brunei's leaders are concerned that steadily increased integration in the world economy will undermine internal social cohesion. Because of low world oil prices and the Asian crisis, growth in 1999 is expected to be moderate.
GDP: purchasing power parity--$5.4 billion (1998 est.)
GDP--real growth rate: -1% (1998 est.)
GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$17,000 (1998 est.)
GDP--composition by sector: agriculture: 5% industry: 46% services: 49% (1996 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2% (1997 est.)
Labor force: 144,000 (1995 est.); note--includes foreign workers and military personnel note: temporary residents make up 41% of labor force (1991)
Labor force--by occupation: government 48%, production of oil, natural gas, services, and construction 42%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 4%, other 6% (1986 est.)
Unemployment rate: 4.8% (1994 est.)
Budget: revenues: $2.5 billion expenditures: $2.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $768 million (1995 est.)
Industries: petroleum, petroleum refining, liquefied natural gas, construction
Industrial production growth rate: 4% (1997 est.)
Electricity--production: 1.48 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1996)
Electricity--consumption: 1.48 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--exports: 0 kWh (1996)
Electricity--imports: 0 kWh (1996)
Agriculture--products: rice, cassava (tapioca), bananas; water buffalo
Exports: $2.62 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
Exports--commodities: crude oil, liquefied natural gas, petroleum products
Exports--partners: ASEAN 31%, Japan 27%, South Korea 26%, UK, Taiwan (1996 est.)
Imports: $2.65 billion (c.i.f., 1996 est.)
Imports--commodities: machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, chemicals
Imports--partners: Singapore 29%, UK 19%, US 13%, Malaysia 9%, Japan 5% (1994 est.)
Debt--external: $0
Economic aid--recipient: $4.3 million (1995)
Currency: 1 Bruneian dollar (B$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Bruneian dollars (B$) per US$1--1.6781 (January 1999), 1.6736 (1998), 1.4848 (1997), 1.4100 (1996), 1.4174 (1995), 1.5274 (1994); note--the Bruneian dollar is at par with the Singapore dollar
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones: 90,000 (1997 est.)
Telephone system: service throughout country is excellent; international service good to Europe, US, and East Asia domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations--2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 10, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: 284,000 (1995 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 2 (1997)
Televisions: 173,000 (1995 est.)
Transportation
Railways: total: 13 km (private line) narrow gauge: 13 km 0.610-m gauge
Highways: total: 1,150 km paved: 399 km unpaved: 751 km (1996 est.)
Waterways: 209 km; navigable by craft drawing less than 1.2 m
Pipelines: crude oil 135 km; petroleum products 418 km; natural gas 920 km
Ports and harbors: Bandar Seri Begawan, Kuala Belait, Muara, Seria, Tutong
Merchant marine: total: 7 liquefied gas tankers (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 348,476 GRT/340,635 DWT (1998 est.)
Airports: 2 (1998 est.)
Airports--with paved runways: total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (1998 est.)
Airports--with unpaved runways: total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (1998 est.)
Heliports: 3 (1998 est.)
Military
Military branches: Land Forces, Navy, Air Force, Royal Brunei Police
Military manpower--military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower--availability: males age 15-49: 88,628 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--fit for military service: males age 15-49: 51,270 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--reaching military age annually: males: 3,078 (1999 est.)
Military expenditures--dollar figure: $343 million (1997)
Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 6% (1997)
Transnational Issues
Disputes--international: possibly involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam; in 1984, Brunei established an exclusive fishing zone that encompasses Louisa Reef in the southern Spratly Islands, but has not publicly claimed the island
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@Bulgaria --------
Introduction
Background: A Slavic state, Bulgaria achieved independence in 1908 after 500 years of Ottoman rule. Bulgaria fought on the losing side in both World Wars. After World War II it fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. Communist domination ended in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, and Bulgaria began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy. In addition to the problems of structural economic reform, particularly privatization, Bulgaria faces the serious issues of keeping inflation under control and unemployment, combatting corruption, and curbing black-market and mafia-style crime.
Geography
Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Romania and Turkey
Geographic coordinates: 43 00 N, 25 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area: total: 110,910 sq km land: 110,550 sq km water: 360 sq km
Area--comparative: slightly larger than Tennessee
Land boundaries: total: 1,808 km border countries: Greece 494 km, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 148 km, Romania 608 km, Serbia and Montenegro 318 km (all with Serbia), Turkey 240 km
Coastline: 354 km
Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: temperate; cold, damp winters; hot, dry summers
Terrain: mostly mountains with lowlands in north and southeast
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Black Sea 0 m highest point: Musala 2,925 m
Natural resources: bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, coal, timber, arable land
Land use: arable land: 37% permanent crops: 2% permanent pastures: 16% forests and woodland: 35% other: 10% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 12,370 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: earthquakes, landslides
Environment--current issues: air pollution from industrial emissions; rivers polluted from raw sewage, heavy metals, detergents; deforestation; forest damage from air pollution and resulting acid rain; soil contamination from heavy metals from metallurgical plants and industrial wastes
Environment--international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography--note: strategic location near Turkish Straits; controls key land routes from Europe to Middle East and Asia
People
Population: 8,194,772 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 16% (male 674,643; female 641,943) 15-64 years: 68% (male 2,744,634; female 2,800,816) 65 years and over: 16% (male 570,766; female 761,970) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: -0.52% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 8.71 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 13.2 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (1999 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 12.37 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.27 years male: 68.72 years female: 76.03 years (1999 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.23 children born/woman (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Bulgarian(s) adjective: Bulgarian
Ethnic groups: Bulgarian 85%, Turk 9%, other 6%
Religions: Bulgarian Orthodox 85%, Muslim 13%, Jewish 0.8%, Roman Catholic 0.5%, Uniate Catholic 0.2%, Protestant, Gregorian-Armenian, and other 0.5%
Languages: Bulgarian, secondary languages closely correspond to ethnic breakdown
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98% male: 99% female: 97% (1992 est.)
Government
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Bulgaria conventional short form: Bulgaria
Data code: BU
Government type: republic
Capital: Sofia
Administrative divisions: 9 provinces (oblasti, singular--oblast); Burgas, Grad Sofiya, Khaskovo, Lovech, Montana, Plovdiv, Ruse, Sofiya, Varna
Independence: 22 September 1908 (from Ottoman Empire)
National holiday: Independence Day, 3 March (1878)
Constitution: adopted 12 July 1991
Legal system: civil law and criminal law based on Roman law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Petar STOYANOV (since 22 January 1997); Vice President Todor KAVALDZHIEV (since 22 January 1997) head of government: Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) Ivan Kostov (since 19 May 1997); Deputy Prime Ministers Aleksandur BOZHKOV (since 12 February 1997), Evgeniy BAKURDZHIEV (since 21 May 1997), Veselin METODIEV (since 21 May 1997) cabinet: Council of Ministers elected by the National Assembly elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 27 October and 3 November 1996 (next to be held NA 2001); chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) nominated by the president; deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister election results: Petar STOYANOV elected president; percent of vote--Petar STOYANOV 59.73%
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Narodno Sobranie (240 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 19 April 1997 (next to be held NA 2001) election results: percent of vote by party--UDF 52%, BSP 22%, ANS 7%, Euro-left 5.5%, BBB 4.95%; seats by party--UDF 137, BSP 58, ANS 19, Euro-left 14, BBB 12
Judicial branch: Supreme Court, chairman appointed for a seven-year term by the president; Constitutional Court, 12 justices appointed or elected for nine-year terms
Political parties and leaders: Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP (coalition led mainly by Movement for Rights and Freedoms or DPS cochairmen]
Political pressure groups and leaders: Democratic Alliance for the Republic or DAR; New Union for Democracy or NUD; Podkrepa Labor Confederation; Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria or CITUB; Bulgarian Agrarian National Union--United or BZNS; Bulgarian Democratic Center; "Nikola Petkov" Bulgarian Agrarian National Union; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization or IMRO; agrarian movement; numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas
International organization participation: ACCT, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUA, NAM (guest), NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UPU, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Philip DIMITROV chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 consulate(s): New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Avis T. BOHLEN embassy: 1 Saborna Street, Sofia mailing address: American Embassy Sofia, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5740
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red; the national emblem formerly on the hoist side of the white stripe has been removed--it contained a rampant lion within a wreath of wheat ears below a red five-pointed star and above a ribbon bearing the dates 681 (first Bulgarian state established) and 1944 (liberation from Nazi control)
Economy
Economy--overview: In April 1997, the current ruling Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) government won pre-term parliamentary elections and introduced an IMF currency board system which succeeded in stabilizing the economy. The triple digit inflation of 1996 and 1997 has given way to an official consumer price increase of 1% in 1998. Following declines in GDP in both 1996 and 1997, the economy grew an officially estimated 4% in 1998. In September 1998, the IMF approved a three-year Extended Fund Facility, which provides credits worth approximately $864 million, designed to support Bulgaria's reform efforts. The government's structural reform program includes: (a) privatization and, where appropriate, liquidation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs); (b) liberalization of agricultural policies, including creating conditions for the development of a land market; (c) reform of the country's social insurance programs; and, (d) reforms to strengthen contract enforcement and fight crime and corruption.
GDP: purchasing power parity--$33.6 billion (1998 est.)
GDP--real growth rate: 4% (1998 est.)
GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$4,100 (1998 est.)
GDP--composition by sector: agriculture: 26% industry: 29% services: 45% (1997 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.3% highest 10%: 24.7% (1992)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1% (1998 est.)
Labor force: 3.57 million (1996 est.)
Labor force--by occupation: NA
Unemployment rate: 12.2% (1998 est.)
Budget: revenues: $4.1 billion expenditures: $3.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998 est.)
Industries: machine building and metal working, food processing, chemicals, textiles, construction materials, ferrous and nonferrous metals
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity--production: 41.575 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--production by source: fossil fuel: 51.17% hydro: 6.1% nuclear: 42.73% other: 0% (1996)
Electricity--consumption: 41.08 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--exports: 2.045 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--imports: 1.55 billion kWh (1996)
Agriculture--products: grain, oilseed, vegetables, fruits, tobacco; livestock
Exports: $4.5 billion (f.o.b., 1998)
Exports--commodities: machinery and equipment; metals, minerals, and fuels; chemicals and plastics; food, textiles (1997)
Exports--partners: Italy 12%, Germany 10%, Turkey, Greece, Russia (1997)
Imports: $4.6 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)
Imports--commodities: fuels, minerals, and raw materials; machinery and equipment; metals and ores; chemicals and plastics; food, textiles (1997)
Imports--partners: Russia 28%, Germany 11%, Italy, Greece, US (1997)
Debt--external: $9.3 billion (1998 est.)
Economic aid--recipient: $NA
Currency: 1 lev (Lv) = 100 stotinki
Exchange rates: leva (Lv) per US$1--1,685.10 (January 1999), 1,760.36 (1998), 1,681.88 (1997), 177.89 (1996), 67.17 (1995), 54.13 (1994) note: the official rate is pegged to the euro as of 1 January 1999
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones: 2,773,293 (1993 est.)
Telephone system: almost two-thirds of the lines are residential domestic: extensive but antiquated transmission system of coaxial cable and microwave radio relay; telephone service is available in most villages international: direct dialing to 36 countries; satellite earth stations--1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region); Intelsat available through a Greek earth station
Radio broadcast stations: AM 24, FM 93, shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios: NA
Television broadcast stations: 33 (in addition, there are two relays of Russian program OK-1 and two relays of TV-5 Europe) (1997)
Televisions: 2.1 million (May 1990 est.)
Transportation
Railways: total: 4,292 km standard gauge: 4,047 km 1.435-m gauge (2,650 km electrified; 917 km double track) narrow gauge: 245 km 0.760-m gauge (1995)
Highways: total: 36,724 km paved: 33,786 km (including 314 km of expressways) unpaved: 2,938 km (1997 est.)
Waterways: 470 km (1987)
Pipelines: crude oil 193 km; petroleum products 525 km; natural gas 1,400 km (1992)
Ports and harbors: Burgas, Lom, Nesebur, Ruse, Varna, Vidin
Merchant marine: total: 89 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,005,092 GRT/1,508,614 DWT ships by type: bulk 44, cargo 20, chemical tanker 4, container 2, oil tanker 8, passenger-cargo 1, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 6, short-sea passenger 1 (1998 est.)
Airports: 61 (1998 est.)
Airports--with paved runways: total: 56 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 19 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11 under 914 m: 25 (1998 est.)
Airports--with unpaved runways: total: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 4 (1998 est.)
Military
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Border Troops, Internal Troops
Military manpower--military age: 19 years of age
Military manpower--availability: males age 15-49: 2,028,930 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--fit for military service: males age 15-49: 1,693,597 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--reaching military age annually: males: 59,887 (1999 est.)
Military expenditures--dollar figure: $226.8 million (1997)
Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 2.2% (1997)
Transnational Issues
Disputes--international: twenty bilateral agreements remain unsigned in a dispute over Bulgarian nonrecognition of Macedonian as a language distinct from Bulgarian
Illicit drugs: major European transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and, to a lesser degree, South American cocaine for the European market; limited producer of precursor chemicals; significant producer of amphetamines, much of which are consumed in the Middle East
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@Burkina Faso ------------
Geography
Location: Western Africa, north of Ghana
Geographic coordinates: 13 00 N, 2 00 W
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 274,200 sq km land: 273,800 sq km water: 400 sq km
Area--comparative: slightly larger than Colorado
Land boundaries: total: 3,192 km border countries: Benin 306 km, Ghana 548 km, Cote d'Ivoire 584 km, Mali 1,000 km, Niger 628 km, Togo 126 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: tropical; warm, dry winters; hot, wet summers
Terrain: mostly flat to dissected, undulating plains; hills in west and southeast
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Mouhoun (Black Volta) River 200 m highest point: Tena Kourou 749 m
Natural resources: manganese, limestone, marble; small deposits of gold, antimony, copper, nickel, bauxite, lead, phosphates, zinc, silver
Land use: arable land: 13% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 22% forests and woodland: 50% other: 15% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 200 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: recurring droughts
Environment--current issues: recent droughts and desertification severely affecting agricultural activities, population distribution, and the economy; overgrazing; soil degradation; deforestation
Environment--international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban
Geography--note: landlocked
People
Population: 11,575,898 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 48% (male 2,792,895; female 2,759,072) 15-64 years: 49% (male 2,700,253; female 2,978,168) 65 years and over: 3% (male 147,017; female 198,493) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.7% (1999 est.)