Chapter 84
Executive branch: chief of state: King BIRENDRA Bir Bikram Shah Dev (succeeded to the throne 31 January 1972 following the death of his father King MAHENDRA Bir Bikram Shah Dev, crowned king 24 February 1975); Heir Apparent Crown Prince DIPENDRA Bir Bikram head of government: Prime Minister Girija Prasad KOIRALA (since 15 April 1998) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of the National Council (60 seats; 35 appointed by the House of Representatives, 10 by the king, and 15 elected by an electoral college; one-third of the members elected every two years to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (205 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: House of Representatives--last held 15 November 1994 (next to be held 3 May 1999) election results: House of Representatives--percent of vote by party--NCP 33%, CPN/UML 31%, NDP 18%, Nepal Sadbhavana (Goodwill) Party 3%, NWPP 1%; seats by party-- CPN/UML 88, NCP 83, NDP 20, NWPP 4, Nepal Sadbhavana (Goodwill) Party 3, independents 7
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Sarbochha Adalat), chief justice is appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Constitutional Council, the other judges are appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Judicial Council
Political parties and leaders: Communist Party of Nepal/United Madhar KUMAR, general secretary]; Nepali Congress Party or NCP general secretary]; National Democratic Party or NDP (also called party chair]
Political pressure groups and leaders: numerous small, left-leaning student groups in the capital; several small, radical Nepalese antimonarchist groups
International organization participation: AsDB, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OPCW, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNPREDEP, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador THAPA Bekh Bahadur chancery: 2131 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 consulate(s) general: New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Ralph FRANK embassy: Pani Pokhari, Kathmandu mailing address: use embassy street address
Flag description: red with a blue border around the unique shape of two overlapping right triangles; the smaller, upper triangle bears a white stylized moon and the larger, lower triangle bears a white 12-pointed sun
Economy
Economy--overview: Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with nearly half of its population living below the poverty line. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for over 80% of the population and accounting for 41% of GDP. Industrial activity mainly involves the processing of agricultural produce including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. Production of textiles and carpets has expanded recently and accounted for about 80% of foreign exchange earnings in the past three years. Apart from agricultural land and forests, exploitable natural resources are mica, hydropower, and tourism. Agricultural production is growing by about 5% on average as compared with annual population growth of 2.5%. Since May 1991, the government has been moving forward with economic reforms particularly those that encourage trade and foreign investment, e.g., by eliminating business licenses and registration requirements in order to simplify investment procedures. The government has also been cutting expenditures by reducing subsidies, privatizing state industries, and laying off civil servants. More recently, however, political instability--five different governments over the past few years--has hampered Kathmandu's ability to forge consensus to implement key economic reforms. Nepal has considerable scope for accelerating economic growth by exploiting its potential in hydropower and tourism, areas of recent foreign investment interest. Prospects for foreign trade or investment in other sectors will remain poor, however, because of the small size of the economy, its technological backwardness, its remoteness, its landlocked geographic location, and its susceptibility to natural disaster. The international community's role of funding more than 60% of Nepal's development budget and more than 28% of total budgetary expenditures will likely continue as a major ingredient of growth.
GDP: purchasing power parity--$26.2 billion (1998 est.)
GDP--real growth rate: 4.9% (1998 est.)
GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$1,100 (1998 est.)
GDP--composition by sector: agriculture: 41% industry: 22% services: 37% (1997)
Population below poverty line: 42% (1995-96 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.2% highest 10%: 29.8% (1995-96)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.8% (1998 est.)
Labor force: 10 million (1996 est.) note: severe lack of skilled labor
Labor force--by occupation: agriculture 81%, services 16%, industry 3%
Unemployment rate: NA%; substantial underemployment (1996)
Budget: revenues: $536 million expenditures: $818 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY96/97 est.)
Industries: tourism, carpet, textile; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarette; cement and brick production
Industrial production growth rate: 14.7% (FY94/95 est.)
Electricity--production: 1.032 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--production by source: fossil fuel: 3.1% hydro: 96.9% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1996)
Electricity--consumption: 1.013 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--exports: 89 million kWh (1996)
Electricity--imports: 70 million kWh (1996)
Agriculture--products: rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops; milk, water buffalo meat
Exports: $394 million (f.o.b., 1997), but does not include unrecorded border trade with India
Exports--commodities: carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain
Exports--partners: India, US, Germany, UK
Imports: $1.7 billion (c.i.f., 1997)
Imports--commodities: petroleum products 20%, fertilizer 11%, machinery 10%
Imports--partners: India, Singapore, Japan, Germany
Debt--external: $2.4 billion (1997)
Economic aid--recipient: $411 million (FY97/98)
Currency: 1 Nepalese rupee (NR) = 100 paisa
Exchange rates: Nepalese rupees (NRs) per US$1--67.675 (January 1999), 65.976 (1998), 58.010 (1997), 56.692 (1996), 51.890 (1995), 49.398 (1994)
Fiscal year: 16 July--15 July
Communications
Telephones: 115,911 (1996 est.)
Telephone system: poor telephone and telegraph service; fair radiotelephone communication service domestic: NA international: radiotelephone communications; satellite earth station--1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 88, FM 1, shortwave 0
Radios: 690,000 (1992 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 6 (1998 est.)
Televisions: 45,000 (1992 est.)
Transportation
Railways: total: 101 km; note--all in Kosi close to Indian border narrow gauge: 101 km 0.762-m gauge
Highways: total: 7,700 km paved: 3,196 km unpaved: 4,504 km (1996 est.)
Ports and harbors: none
Airports: 45 (1998 est.)
Airports--with paved runways: total: 5 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (1998 est.)
Airports--with unpaved runways: total: 40 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 29 (1998 est.)
Military
Military branches: Royal Nepalese Army, Royal Nepalese Army Air Service, Nepalese Police Force
Military manpower--military age: 17 years of age
Military manpower--availability: males age 15-49: 5,924,732 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--fit for military service: males age 15-49: 3,079,569 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--reaching military age annually: males: 281,658 (1999 est.)
Military expenditures--dollar figure: $44 million (FY96/97)
Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 0.9% (FY96/97)
Transnational Issues
Disputes--international: with Bhutan over 91,000 Bhutanese refugees in Nepal
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic and international drug markets; transit point for opiates from Southeast Asia to the West
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@Netherlands -----------
Geography
Location: Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany
Geographic coordinates: 52 30 N, 5 45 E
Map references: Europe
Area: total: 41,532 sq km land: 33,889 sq km water: 7,643 sq km
Area--comparative: slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey
Land boundaries: total: 1,027 km border countries: Belgium 450 km, Germany 577 km
Coastline: 451 km
Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters
Terrain: mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Prins Alexanderpolder -7 m highest point: Vaalserberg 321 m
Natural resources: natural gas, petroleum, fertile soil
Land use: arable land: 25% permanent crops: 3% permanent pastures: 25% forests and woodland: 8% other: 39% (1996 est.)
Irrigated land: 6,000 sq km (1996 est.)
Natural hazards: the extensive system of dikes and dams protects nearly one-half of the total area from being flooded
Environment--current issues: water pollution in the form of heavy metals, organic compounds, and nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates; air pollution from vehicles and refining activities; acid rain
Environment--international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography--note: located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, and Schelde)
People
Population: 15,807,641 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 18% (male 1,475,606; female 1,410,088) 15-64 years: 68% (male 5,482,193; female 5,288,948) 65 years and over: 14% (male 875,847; female 1,274,959) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.47% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 11.36 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 8.69 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration rate: 1.99 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: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (1999 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 5.11 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 78.15 years male: 75.28 years female: 81.17 years (1999 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.49 children born/woman (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Dutchman(men), Dutchwoman(women) adjective: Dutch
Ethnic groups: Dutch 94%, Moroccans, Turks, and other 6% (1988)
Religions: Roman Catholic 34%, Protestant 25%, Muslim 3%, other 2%, unaffiliated 36% (1991)
Languages: Dutch
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99% (1979 est.) male: NA% female: NA%
Government
Country name: conventional long form: Kingdom of the Netherlands conventional short form: Netherlands local long form: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden local short form: Nederland
Data code: NL
Government type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Amsterdam; The Hague is the seat of government
Administrative divisions: 12 provinces (provincien, singular--provincie); Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, Zuid-Holland
Dependent areas: Aruba, Netherlands Antilles
Independence: 1579 (from Spain)
National holiday: Queen's Day, 30 April
Constitution: adopted 1814; amended many times, last time 17 February 1983
Legal system: civil law system incorporating French penal theory; constitution does not permit judicial review of acts of the States General; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April 1980); Heir Apparent WILLEM-ALEXANDER (born 27 April 1967), Prince of Orange, son of the monarch head of government: Prime Minister Wim KOK (since 22 August 1994) and Vice Prime Ministers Annemarie JORRITSMA (since 3 August 1998) and Els BORST-EILERS (since 3 August 1998) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; following Second Chamber elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch; vice prime ministers appointed by the monarch note: there is a Council of State composed of the monarch, heir apparent, and councillors consulted by the executive on legislative and administrative policy
Legislative branch: bicameral States General or Staten Generaal consists of the First Chamber or Eerste Kamer (75 seats; members indirectly elected by the country's 12 provincial councils for four-year terms) and the Second Chamber or Tweede Kamer (150 seats; members directly elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: First Chamber--last held 9 June 1995 (next to be held 25 May 1999); Second Chamber--last held 6 May 1998 (next to be held May 2002) election results: First Chamber--percent of vote by party--NA; seats by party--VVD 23, CDA 19, PvdA 14, D'66 7, other 12; Second Chamber--percent of vote by party--PvdA 30.0%, VVD 25.3%, CDA 19.3%, D'66 9.3%, other 16.1%; seats by party--PvdA 45, VVD 38, CDA 29, D'66 14, other 24
Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Hoge Raad, justices are nominated for life by the monarch
Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA
Political pressure groups and leaders: large multinational firms; Federation of Netherlands Trade Union Movement (comprising Socialist and Catholic trade unions) and a Protestant trade union; Federation of Catholic and Protestant Employers Associations; the nondenominational Federation of Netherlands Enterprises; and Interchurch Peace Council or IKV
International organization participation: AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, EMU, ESA, ESCAP, EU, FAO, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MTCR, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Joris M. VOS chancery: 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Cynthia P. SCHNEIDER embassy: Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ, The Hague mailing address: PSC 71, Box 1000, APO AE 09715 consulate(s) general: Amsterdam
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue; similar to the flag of Luxembourg, which uses a lighter blue and is longer
Economy
Economy--overview: This prosperous and open economy is based on private enterprise with the government's presence felt in many aspects of the economy. Industrial activity features food processing, petroleum refining, and metalworking. The highly mechanized agricultural sector employs only 4% of the labor force, but provides large surpluses for export and the domestic food-processing industry. As a result, the Netherlands ranks third worldwide in value of agricultural exports, behind the US and France. Sharp cuts in subsidy and social security spending since the 1980s helped the Dutch achieve sustained economic growth combined with falling unemployment and moderate inflation. The economy achieved a strong 3.7% growth in 1998; a dip in the business cycle probably will cause the economy to decelerate to slightly over 2% growth in 1999. Unemployment in 1999 is expected to be less than 5% of the labor force, and inflation probably will decline. The Dutch joined the first wave of 11 EU countries launching the euro system on 1 January 1999.
GDP: purchasing power parity--$348.6 billion (1998 est.)
GDP--real growth rate: 3.7% (1998 est.)
GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$22,200 (1998 est.)
GDP--composition by sector: agriculture: 3.2% industry: 27.5% services: 69.3% (1998 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.9% highest 10%: 24.7% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2% (1998)
Labor force: 7 million (1998 est.)
Labor force--by occupation: services 73%, manufacturing and construction 23%, agriculture 4% (1998 est.)
Unemployment rate: 4.1% (1998 est.)
Budget: revenues: $163 billion expenditures: $170 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)
Industries: agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, construction, microelectronics, fishing
Industrial production growth rate: 2.4% (1998)
Electricity--production: 83.3 billion kWh (1997)
Electricity--production by source: fossil fuel: 94.51% hydro: 0.1% nuclear: 4.95% other: 0.44% (1996)
Electricity--consumption: 90.366 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity--exports: 700 million kWh (1996)
Electricity--imports: 11.3 billion kWh (1996)
Agriculture--products: grains, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, vegetables; livestock
Exports: $160 billion (f.o.b., 1998)
Exports--commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, food and tobacco
Exports--partners: EU 78% (Germany 27%, Belgium-Luxembourg 13%, France 11%, UK 10%, Italy 6%), Central and Eastern Europe, US (1997)
Imports: $142 billion (f.o.b., 1998)
Imports--commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels, consumer goods
Imports--partners: EU 61% (Germany 21%, Belgium-Luxembourg 11%, UK 10%), US 9%, Central and Eastern Europe (1997)
Debt--external: $0
Economic aid--donor: ODA, $2.9 billion (1997)
Currency: 1 Netherlands guilder, gulden, or florin (f.) = 100 cents; note--on 1 January 2002 to be replaced by the euro
Exchange rates: Netherlands guilders, gulden, or florins (f.) per US$1--1.8904 (January 1999), 1.9837 (1998), 1.9513 (1997), 1.6859 (1996), 1.6057 (1995), 1.8200 (1994) note: on 1 January 1999, the European Union introduced a common currency that is now being used by financial institutions in some member countries at the rate of 0.8597 euros per US$ and a fixed rate of 2.20371 guilders per euro; the euro will replace the local currency in consenting countries for all transactions in 2002
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones: 8.431 million (1998 est.); 3.4 million cellular telephone subscribers (1998 est.)
Telephone system: highly developed and well maintained; system of multi-conductor cables gradually being supplemented/replaced by a glass-fiber based telecommunication infrastructure; Mobile GSM-based mobile telephony density rapidly growing; third generation Universal Mobile Telecommunications System expected for introduction by the year 2001 domestic: nationwide cellular telephone system; microwave radio relay international: 5 submarine cables; satellite earth stations--3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Eutelsat, and 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean Regions)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 3 (relays 3), FM 12 (repeaters 39), shortwave 0
Radios: 14 million (1994 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 15 (in addition, there are five low-power repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 7.6 million (1994 est.)
Transportation
Railways: total: 2,813 km standard gauge: 2,813 km 1.435-m gauge; (1,991 km electrified) (1996)
Highways: total: 127,000 km paved: 114,427 km (including 2,360 km of expressways) unpaved: 12,573 km (1996 est.)
Waterways: 5,046 km, of which 47% is usable by craft of 1,000 metric ton capacity or larger
Pipelines: crude oil 418 km; petroleum products 965 km; natural gas 10,230 km
Ports and harbors: Amsterdam, Delfzijl, Dordrecht, Eemshaven, Groningen, Haarlem, Ijmuiden, Maastricht, Rotterdam, Terneuzen, Utrecht
Merchant marine: total: 510 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,632,477 GRT/4,097,328 DWT ships by type: bulk 4, cargo 303, chemical tanker 42, combination bulk 1, container 52, liquefied gas tanker 17, livestock carrier 1, multifunction large-load carrier 9, oil tanker 24, passenger 8, refrigerated cargo 30, roll-on/roll-off cargo 12, short-sea passenger 3, specialized tanker 4 note: many Dutch-owned ships are also operating under the registry of Netherlands Antilles (1998 est.)
Airports: 28 (1998 est.)
Airports--with paved runways: total: 19 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 (1998 est.)
Airports--with unpaved runways: total: 9 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 6 (1998 est.)
Heliports: 1 (1998 est.)
Military
Military branches: Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy (includes Naval Air Service and Marine Corps), Royal Netherlands Air Force, Royal Constabulary
Military manpower--military age: 20 years of age
Military manpower--availability: males age 15-49: 4,117,376 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--fit for military service: males age 15-49: 3,595,693 (1999 est.)
Military manpower--reaching military age annually: males: 95,368 (1999 est.)
Military expenditures--dollar figure: $6.604 billion (FY97)
Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 2.1% (1995)
Transnational Issues
Disputes--international: none
Illicit drugs: important gateway for cocaine, heroin, and hashish entering Europe; major European producer of illicit amphetamines and other synthetic drugs
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@Netherlands Antilles --------------------
Geography
Location: Caribbean, two island groups in the Caribbean Sea--one includes Curacao and Bonaire north of Venezuela and the other is east of the Virgin Islands
Geographic coordinates: 12 15 N, 68 45 W
Map references: Central America and the Caribbean
Area: total: 960 sq km land: 960 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin)
Area--comparative: more than five times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: total: 10.2 km border countries: Guadeloupe (Saint Martin) 10.2 km
Coastline: 364 km
Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds
Terrain: generally hilly, volcanic interiors