Chapter 61
Economy--overview: Since World War II, the Italian economy has changed from one based on agriculture into a ranking industrial economy, with approximately the same total and per capita output as France and the UK. This basically capitalistic economy is still divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less developed agricultural south, with large public enterprises and more than 20% unemployment. Most raw materials needed by industry and over 75% of energy requirements must be imported. In the second half of 1992, Rome became unsettled by the prospect of not qualifying to participate in EU plans for economic and monetary union later in the decade; thus, it finally began to address its huge fiscal imbalances. Subsequently, the government has adopted fairly stringent budgets, abandoned its inflationary wage indexation system, and started to scale back its generous social welfare programs, including pension and health care benefits. In December 1998, Italy adopted a budget compliant with the requirements of the European Monetary Union (EMU); representatives of government, labor, and employers agreed to an update of the 1993 "social pact," which has been widely credited with having brought Italy's inflation into conformity with EMU requirements. In 1999, Italy must adjust to the loss of an independent monetary policy, which it has used quite liberally in the past to help cope with external shocks. Italy also must work to stimulate employment, promote wage flexibility, and tackle the informal economy.
GDP: purchasing power parity--$1.181 trillion (1998 est.)
GDP--real growth rate: 1.5% (1998 est.)
GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$20,800 (1998 est.)
GDP--composition by sector: agriculture: 3.3% industry: 33% services: 63.7% (1994)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.9% highest 10%: 23.7% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.8% (1998 est.)
Labor force: 23.193 million
Labor force--by occupation: services 61%, industry 32%, agriculture 7% (1996)
Unemployment rate: 12.5% (1998 est.)
Budget: revenues: $559 billion expenditures: $589 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998 est.)
Industries: tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics
Industrial production growth rate: 0.5% (1996 est.)
Electricity--production: 226.707 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--production by source: fossil fuel: 80.02% hydro: 18.25% nuclear: 0% other: 1.73%
Electricity--consumption: 264.007 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--exports: 800 million kWh (1996)
Electricity--imports: 38.1 billion kWh (1996)
Agriculture--products: fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; beef, dairy products; fish
Exports: $243 billion (f.o.b., 1998)
Exports--commodities: engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; food, beverages and tobacco; minerals and nonferrous metals
Exports--partners: Germany 16.4%, France 12.2%, US 7.9%, UK 7.1%, Spain 5.2%, Netherlands 2.8% (1997)
Imports: $202 billion (f.o.b., 1998)
Imports--commodities: engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages and tobacco
Imports--partners: Germany 18.0%, France 13.2%, UK 6.7%, Netherlands 6.2%, US 5.0%, Belgium-Luxembourg 4.7% (1997)
Debt--external: $45 billion (1996 est.)
Economic aid--donor: ODA, $1.6 billion (1995)
Currency: 1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100 centesimi
Exchange rates: Italian lire (Lit) per US$1--1,688.7 (January 1999), 1,736.2 (1998), 1,703.1 (1997), 1,542.9 (1996), 1,628.9 (1995), 1,612.4 (1994) note: on 1 January 1999, the European Union introduced a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in some member countries at the rate of 0.8597 euros per US$ and a fixed rate of 1,936.27 lire per euro; the euro will replace the local currency in consenting countries for all transactions in 2002
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones: 25.6 million (1996 est.)
Telephone system: modern, well-developed, fast; fully automated telephone, telex, and data services domestic: high-capacity cable and microwave radio relay trunks international: satellite earth stations--3 Intelsat (with a total of 5 antennas--3 for Atlantic Ocean and 2 for Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), and NA Eutelsat; 21 submarine cables
Radio broadcast stations: AM 135, FM 28 (repeaters 1,840), shortwave 0
Radios: 45.7 million (1996 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 6,317 (consisting of 117 public stations with two kW of power or more, about 5,300 low-power public stations, and about 900 low-power private stations, mostly in local service) (1997)
Televisions: 17 million (1996 est.)
Transportation
Railways: total: 19,272 km standard gauge: 17,983 km 1.435-m gauge; Italian Railways (FS) operates 15,942 km of the total standard gauge routes (10,889 km electrified) narrow gauge: 112 km 1.000-m gauge (112 km electrified); 1,177 km 0.950-m gauge (19 km electrified) (1996)
Highways: total: 317,000 km paved: 317,000 km (including 9,500 km of expressways) unpaved: 0 km (1996 est.)
Waterways: 2,400 km for various types of commercial traffic, although of limited overall value
Pipelines: crude oil 1,703 km; petroleum products 2,148 km; natural gas 19,400 km
Ports and harbors: Augusta (Sicily), Bagnoli, Bari, Brindisi, Gela, Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Milazzo, Naples, Porto Foxi, Porto Torres (Sardinia), Salerno, Savona, Taranto, Trieste, Venice
Merchant marine: total: 393 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,982,870 GRT/8,413,850 DWT ships by type: bulk 38, cargo 46, chemical tanker 60, combination ore/oil 2, container 16, liquefied gas tanker 35, livestock carrier 1, multifunction large-load carrier 1, oil tanker 84, passenger 6, roll-on/roll-off cargo 53, short-sea passenger 28, specialized tanker 12, vehicle carrier 11 (1998 est.)
Airports: 136 (1998 est.)
Airports--with paved runways: total: 97 over 3,047 m: 5 2,438 to 3,047 m: 33 1,524 to 2,437 m: 17 914 to 1,523 m: 30 under 914 m: 12 (1998 est.)
Airports--with unpaved runways: total: 39 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 19 under 914 m: 18 (1998 est.)
Heliports: 2 (1998 est.)
Military
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Carabinieri
Military manpower--military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower--availability: males age 15-49: 14,142,889 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--fit for military service: males age 15-49: 12,200,780 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--reaching military age annually: males: 315,952 (1999 est.)
Military expenditures--dollar figure: $21.095 billion (FY97)
Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 1.9% (1995)
Transnational Issues
Disputes--international: Italy and Slovenia made progress in resolving bilateral issues; Croatia and Italy made progress toward resolving a bilateral issue dating from World War II over property and ethnic minority rights
Illicit drugs: important gateway for and consumer of Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market
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@Jamaica -------
Geography
Location: Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba
Geographic coordinates: 18 15 N, 77 30 W
Map references: Central America and the Caribbean
Area: total: 10,990 sq km land: 10,830 sq km water: 160 sq km
Area--comparative: slightly smaller than Connecticut
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 1,022 km
Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior
Terrain: mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 m
Natural resources: bauxite, gypsum, limestone
Land use: arable land: 14% permanent crops: 6% permanent pastures: 24% forests and woodland: 17% other: 39% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 350 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: hurricanes (especially July to November)
Environment--current issues: deforestation; coastal waters polluted by industrial waste, sewage, and oil spills; damage to coral reefs; air pollution in Kingston results from vehicle emissions
Environment--international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography--note: strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for Panama Canal
People
Population: 2,652,443 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 31% (male 421,127; female 402,593) 15-64 years: 62% (male 819,956; female 828,176) 65 years and over: 7% (male 79,747; female 100,844) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.64% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 20.22 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 5.39 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration rate: -8.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (1999 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 13.93 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 75.62 years male: 73.22 years female: 78.13 years (1999 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.26 children born/woman (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Jamaican(s) adjective: Jamaican
Ethnic groups: black 90.4%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.6%
Religions: Protestant 61.3% (Church of God 21.2%, Baptist 8.8%, Anglican 5.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 9%, Pentecostal 7.6%, Methodist 2.7%, United Church 2.7%, Brethren 1.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.6%, Moravian 1.1%), Roman Catholic 4%, other, including some spiritual cults 34.7%
Languages: English, Creole
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over has ever attended school total population: 85% male: 80.8% female: 89.1% (1995 est.)
Government
Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: Jamaica
Data code: JM
Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Kingston
Administrative divisions: 14 parishes; Clarendon, Hanover, Kingston, Manchester, Portland, Saint Andrew, Saint Ann, Saint Catherine, Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Trelawny, Westmoreland
Independence: 6 August 1962 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day (first Monday in August) (1962)
Constitution: 6 August 1962
Legal system: based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Howard Felix COOKE (since 1 August 1991) head of government: Prime Minister Percival James PATTERSON (since 30 March 1992) and Deputy Prime Minister Seymour MULLINGS (since NA 1993) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (a 21-member body appointed by the governor general on the recommendations of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; ruling party 13 seats, opposition eight seats) and the House of Representatives (60 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 18 December 1997 (next to be held by March 2002) election results: percent of vote by party--NA; seats by party--PNP 50, JLP 10
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister)
Political parties and leaders: People's National Party or PNP [P.
Political pressure groups and leaders: Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists); New Beginnings Movement or NBM
International organization participation: ACP, C, Caricom, CCC, CDB, ECLAC, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member), ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Richard Leighton BERNAL chancery: 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 consulate(s) general: Miami and New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Stanley Louis MCLELLAND embassy: Jamaica Mutual Life Center, 2 Oxford Road, 3rd floor, Kingston mailing address: use embassy street address
Flag description: diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles--green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and outer side)
Economy
Economy--overview: Key sectors in this island economy are bauxite (alumina and bauxite account for more than half of exports) and tourism. Since assuming office in 1992, Prime Minister PATTERSON has eliminated most price controls, streamlined tax schedules, and privatized government enterprises. Continued tight monetary and fiscal policies have helped slow inflation--although inflationary pressures are mounting--and stabilize the exchange rate, but have resulted in the slowdown of economic growth (moving from 1.5% in 1992 to 0.5% in 1995). In 1996, GDP showed negative growth (-1.4%) and remained negative through 1998. Serious problems include: high interest rates; increased foreign competition; the weak financial condition of business in general resulting in receiverships or closures and downsizings of companies; the shift in investment portfolios to non-productive, short-term high yield instruments; a pressured, sometimes sliding, exchange rate; a widening merchandise trade deficit; and a growing internal debt for government bailouts to various ailing sectors of the economy, particularly the financial sector. Jamaica's medium-term prospects will depend upon encouraging investment in the productive sectors, maintaining a competitive exchange rate, stabilizing the labor environment, selling off reacquired firms, and implementing proper fiscal and monetary policies.
GDP: purchasing power parity--$8.8 billion (1998 est.)
GDP--real growth rate: -2% (1998 est.)
GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$3,300 (1998 est.)
GDP--composition by sector: agriculture: 7.4% industry: 42.1% services: 50.5% (1997 est.)
Population below poverty line: 34.2% (1992 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.4% highest 10%: 31.9% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.9% (1998 est.)
Labor force: 1.14 million (1996)
Labor force--by occupation: services 41%, agriculture 22.5%, industry 19% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 16.5% (1997 est.)
Budget: revenues: $2.27 billion expenditures: $3.66 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.265 billion (FY98/99 est.)
Industries: tourism, bauxite, textiles, food processing, light manufactures
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity--production: 6.125 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--production by source: fossil fuel: 97.96% hydro: 2.04% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1996)
Electricity--consumption: 6.125 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--exports: 0 kWh (1996)
Electricity--imports: 0 kWh (1996)
Agriculture--products: sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, potatoes, vegetables; poultry, goats, milk
Exports: $1.7 billion (1997)
Exports--commodities: alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum
Exports--partners: US 33.3%, EU (excluding UK and Norway) 17.1%, Canada 14.1%, UK 13.4%, Norway 6.1%, Caricom 3.4%
Imports: $2.8 billion (1997)
Imports--commodities: machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, fuel, food, chemicals
Imports--partners: US 47.7%, EU (excluding UK) 12.8%, Caricom 10.2%, Latin America 6.7%, UK 3.7% (1997)
Debt--external: $4.2 billion (1997 est.)
Economic aid--recipient: $102.7 million (1995)
Currency: 1 Jamaican dollar (J$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Jamaican dollars (J$) per US$1--35.57 (December 1998), 35.404 (1997), 37.120 (1996), 35.142 (1995), 33.086 (1994)
Fiscal year: 1 April--31 March
Communications
Telephones: 350,000 (1997 est.)
Telephone system: fully automatic domestic telephone network domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations--2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); 3 coaxial submarine cables
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 7, shortwave 0 (1997)
Radios: 1.973 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 7 (1997)
Televisions: 330,000 (1992 est.)
Transportation
Railways: total: 370 km standard gauge: 370 km 1.435-m gauge; note--207 km belong to the Jamaica Railway Corporation in common carrier service, but are no longer operational; the remaining track is privately owned and used to transport bauxite
Highways: total: 18,700 km paved: 13,100 km unpaved: 5,600 km (1997 est.)
Pipelines: petroleum products 10 km
Ports and harbors: Alligator Pond, Discovery Bay, Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, Rocky Point, Port Esquivel (Longswharf)
Merchant marine: total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,478 GRT/5,878 DWT ships by type: oil tanker 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1 (1998 est.)
Airports: 36 (1998 est.)
Airports--with paved runways: total: 11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 5 (1998 est.)
Airports--with unpaved runways: total: 25 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 23 (1998 est.)
Military
Military branches: Jamaica Defense Force (includes Ground Forces, Coast Guard, and Air Wing), Jamaica Constabulary Force
Military manpower--military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower--availability: males age 15-49: 715,260 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--fit for military service: males age 15-49: 503,667 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--reaching military age annually: males: 26,108 (1999 est.)
Military expenditures--dollar figure: $47.9 million (FY97/98 est.)
Military expenditures--percent of GDP: NA%
Transnational Issues
Disputes--international: none
Illicit drugs: transshipment point for cocaine from Central and South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation of cannabis; government has an active manual cannabis eradication program
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@Jan Mayen ---------
Geography
Location: Northern Europe, island between the Greenland Sea and the Norwegian Sea, northeast of Iceland
Geographic coordinates: 71 00 N, 8 00 W
Map references: Arctic Region
Area: total: 373 sq km land: 373 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area--comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 124.1 km
Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 10 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 4 nm
Climate: arctic maritime with frequent storms and persistent fog
Terrain: volcanic island, partly covered by glaciers
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Norwegian Sea 0 m highest point: Haakon VII Toppen/Beerenberg 2,277 m
Natural resources: none
Land use: arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 100%
Irrigated land: 0 sq km (1993)
Natural hazards: dominated by the volcano Haakon VII Toppen/Beerenberg; volcanic activity resumed in 1970
Environment--current issues: NA
Environment--international agreements: party to: NA signed, but not ratified: NA
Geography--note: barren volcanic island with some moss and grass
People
Population: no indigenous inhabitants note: there are personnel who operate the Long Range Navigation (Loran) C base and the weather and coastal services radio station
Government
Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: Jan Mayen
Data code: JN
Dependency status: territory of Norway; administered from Oslo through a governor (sysselmann) resident in Longyearbyen (Svalbard); however, authority has been delegated to a station commander of the Norwegian Defense Communication Service
Legal system: NA
Diplomatic representation in the US: none (territory of Norway)
Diplomatic representation from the US: none (territory of Norway)
Flag description: the flag of Norway is used
Economy
Economy--overview: Jan Mayen is a volcanic island with no exploitable natural resources. Economic activity is limited to providing services for employees of Norway's radio and meteorological stations located on the island.
Communications
Radio broadcast stations: AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA note: radio and meteorological station
Transportation
Ports and harbors: none; offshore anchorage only
Airports: 1 (1998 est.)
Airports--with unpaved runways: total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (1998 est.)
Military
Military--note: defense is the responsibility of Norway
Transnational Issues
Disputes--international: none
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@Japan -----
Geography
Location: Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
Geographic coordinates: 36 00 N, 138 00 E
Map references: Asia
Area: total: 377,835 sq km land: 374,744 sq km water: 3,091 sq km note: includes Bonin Islands (Ogasawara-gunto), Daito-shoto, Minami-jima, Okino-tori-shima, Ryukyu Islands (Nansei-shoto), and Volcano Islands (Kazan-retto)
Area--comparative: slightly smaller than California
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 29,751 km
Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm; between 3 nm and 12 nm in the international straits--La Perouse or Soya, Tsugaru, Osumi, and Eastern and Western Channels of the Korea or Tsushima Strait
Climate: varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in north
Terrain: mostly rugged and mountainous
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Hachiro-gata -4 m highest point: Fujiyama 3,776 m
Natural resources: negligible mineral resources, fish
Land use: arable land: 11% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 2% forests and woodland: 67% other: 19% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 27,820 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: many dormant and some active volcanoes; about 1,500 seismic occurrences (mostly tremors) every year; tsunamis
Environment--current issues: air pollution from power plant emissions results in acid rain; acidification of lakes and reservoirs degrading water quality and threatening aquatic life; Japan is one of the largest consumers of fish and tropical timber, contributing to the depletion of these resources in Asia and elsewhere