Chapter 50
$69.59 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$51.36 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
5.7% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$15,500 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 7.2% industry: 31.7% services: 61.2% (2007 est.)
Labor force:
1.749 million (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 2.7% industry: 32.8% services: 64.5% (2004)
Unemployment rate:
11.8% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line:
11% (2003)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.4% highest 10%: 24.5% (2003 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
29 (2001)
Investment (gross fixed):
30.1% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $22.56 billion expenditures: $23.92 billion (2007 est.)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Public debt:
47.8% of GDP (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4.5% (2007 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
9% (31 December 2007)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
9.33% (31 December 2007)
Stock of money:
$11.61 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money:
$31.86 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit:
$45.7 billion (31 December 2007)
Agriculture - products:
wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, barley, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, soybeans, potatoes; livestock, dairy products
Industries:
chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum, paper, wood products, construction materials, textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food and beverages, tourism
Industrial production growth rate:
5.3% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production:
12.41 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
15.57 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - exports:
3.306 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - imports:
8.374 billion kWh (2006 est.)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 33.6% hydro: 66% nuclear: 0% other: 0.4% (2001)
Oil - production:
23,620 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - consumption:
101,800 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - exports:
43,680 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - imports:
112,200 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - proved reserves:
79.15 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)
Natural gas - production:
1.58 billion cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
2.73 billion cu m (2006 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
1.103 billion cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
28.54 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Current account balance:
-$4.85 billion (2007 est.)
Exports:
$12.62 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities:
transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels
Exports - partners:
Italy 19.3%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 13.9%, Germany 10.2%, Slovenia 8.4%, Austria 6.2% (2007)
Imports:
$25.99 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery, transport and electrical equipment; chemicals, fuels and lubricants; foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
Italy 16.1%, Germany 14.4%, Russia 10.1%, China 6.2%, Slovenia 6%, Austria 5.3% (2007)
Economic aid - recipient:
ODA, $125.4 million (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$13.67 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$46.3 billion (30 June 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$23.13 billion (2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$3.161 billion (2007 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$29.01 billion (2006)
Currency (code):
kuna (HRK)
Currency code:
HRK
Exchange rates:
kuna (HRK) per US dollar - 5.3735 (2007), 5.8625 (2006), 5.9473 (2005), 6.0358 (2004), 6.7035 (2003)
Communications Croatia
Telephones - main lines in use:
1.825 million (2007)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
5.035 million (2007)
Telephone system:
general assessment: the telecommunications network has improved steadily since the mid-1990s; the number of fixed telephone lines holding steady at about 40 per 100 persons; the number of cellular telephone subscriptions exceeds the population domestic: more than 90 percent of local lines are digital international: country code - 385; digital international service is provided through the main switch in Zagreb; Croatia participates in the Trans-Asia-Europe (TEL) fiber-optic project, which consists of 2 fiber-optic trunk connections with Slovenia and a fiber-optic trunk line from Rijeka to Split and Dubrovnik; the ADRIA-1 submarine cable provides connectivity to Albania and Greece (2007)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 16, FM 98, shortwave 5 (1999)
Radios:
1.51 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
36 (plus 321 repeaters) (1995)
Televisions:
1.22 million (1997)
Internet country code:
.hr
Internet hosts:
1.111 million (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
9 (2000)
Internet users:
1.995 million (2007)
Transportation Croatia
Airports:
68 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 23 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 9 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 45 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 37 (2007)
Heliports:
2 (2007)
Pipelines:
gas 1,556 km; oil 583 km (2007)
Railways:
total: 2,726 km standard gauge: 2,726 km 1.435-m gauge (1,199 km electrified) (2006)
Roadways:
total: 28,788 km (includes 877 km of expressways) (2006)
Waterways:
785 km (2007)
Merchant marine:
total: 80 by type: bulk carrier 25, cargo 11, chemical tanker 3, passenger/cargo 30, petroleum tanker 8, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 2 registered in other countries: 30 (Bahamas 1, Belize 2, Liberia 2, Malta 9, Marshall Islands 6, Panama 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 7) (2008)
Ports and terminals:
Omisalj, Ploce, Rijeka, Sibenik, Vukovar (on Danube)
Military Croatia
Military branches:
Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia (Oruzane Snage Republike Hrvatske, OSRH), consists of five major commands directly subordinate to a General Staff: Ground Forces (Hrvatska Kopnena Vojska, HKoV), Naval Forces (Hrvatska Ratna Mornarica, HRM), Air Force (Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo, HRZ), Joint Education and Training Command, Logistics Command; Military Police Force supports each of the three Croatian military forces (2008)
Military service age and obligation:
18-27 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of age with consent for voluntary service; 6-month conscript service obligation; full conversion to professional military service by 2010 (2006)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 1,035,712 females age 16-49: 1,037,896 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 771,323 females age 16-49: 855,937 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 27,500 female: 25,893 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures:
2.39% of GDP (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues Croatia
Disputes - international:
dispute remains with Bosnia and Herzegovina over several small disputed sections of the boundary related to maritime access that hinders ratification of the 1999 border agreement; the Croatia-Slovenia land and maritime boundary agreement, which would have ceded most of Pirin Bay and maritime access to Slovenia and several villages to Croatia, remains un-ratified and in dispute; Slovenia also protests Croatia's 2003 claim to an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic; as a European Union peripheral state, Slovenia imposed a hard border Schengen regime with non-member Croatia in December 2007
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 2,900-7,000 (Croats and Serbs displaced in 1992-95 war) (2007)
Illicit drugs:
transit point along the Balkan route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe; has been used as a transit point for maritime shipments of South American cocaine bound for Western Europe
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
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@Cuba
Introduction Cuba
Background:
The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the European discovery of the island by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule, marked initially by neglect, became increasingly repressive, provoking an independence movement and occasional rebellions that were harshly suppressed. It was US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 that finally overthrew Spanish rule. The subsequent Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence, which was granted in 1902 after a three-year transition period. Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule held the subsequent regime together for nearly five decades. He stepped down as president in February 2008 in favor of his younger brother Raul CASTRO. Cuba's Communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The country is now slowly recovering from a severe economic downturn in 1990, following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies, worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually. Cuba portrays its difficulties as the result of the US embargo in place since 1961. Illicit migration to the US - using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, air flights, or via the southwest border - is a continuing problem. The US Coast Guard intercepted 2,864 individuals attempting to cross the Straits of Florida in fiscal year 2006.
Geography Cuba
Location:
Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, 150 km south of Key West, Florida
Geographic coordinates:
21 30 N, 80 00 W
Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean
Area:
total: 110,860 sq km land: 110,860 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Pennsylvania
Land boundaries:
total: 29 km border countries: US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay 29 km note: Guantanamo Naval Base is leased by the US and remains part of Cuba
Coastline:
3,735 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical; moderated by trade winds; dry season (November to April); rainy season (May to October)
Terrain:
mostly flat to rolling plains, with rugged hills and mountains in the southeast
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Pico Turquino 2,005 m
Natural resources:
cobalt, nickel, iron ore, chromium, copper, salt, timber, silica, petroleum, arable land
Land use:
arable land: 27.63% permanent crops: 6.54% other: 65.83% (2005)
Irrigated land:
8,700 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
38.1 cu km (2000)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 8.2 cu km/yr (19%/12%/69%) per capita: 728 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
the east coast is subject to hurricanes from August to November (in general, the country averages about one hurricane every other year); droughts are common
Environment - current issues:
air and water pollution; biodiversity loss; deforestation
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
Geography - note:
largest country in Caribbean and westernmost island of the Greater Antilles
People Cuba
Population:
11,423,952 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 18.5% (male 1,088,311/female 1,030,499) 15-64 years: 70.5% (male 4,029,381/female 4,025,154) 65 years and over: 10.9% (male 569,002/female 681,605) (2008 est.)
Median age:
total: 36.8 years male: 36.1 years female: 37.5 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
0.251% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
11.27 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate:
7.19 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
-1.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 5.93 deaths/1,000 live births male: 6.64 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 77.27 years male: 75.02 years female: 79.64 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.6 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
less than 0.1% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
3,300 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
fewer than 200 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A vectorborne diseases: dengue fever (2008)
Nationality:
noun: Cuban(s) adjective: Cuban
Ethnic groups:
white 65.1%, mulatto and mestizo 24.8%, black 10.1% (2002 census)
Religions:
nominally 85% Roman Catholic prior to CASTRO assuming power; Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, and Santeria are also represented
Languages:
Spanish
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.8% male: 99.8% female: 99.8% (2002 census)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 16 years male: 15 years female: 17 years (2006)
Education expenditures:
9.1% of GDP (2006)
People - note:
illicit emigration is a continuing problem; Cubans attempt to depart the island and enter the US using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, direct flights, or falsified visas; Cubans also use non-maritime routes to enter the US including direct flights to Miami and over-land via the southwest border
Government Cuba
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Cuba conventional short form: Cuba local long form: Republica de Cuba local short form: Cuba
Government type:
Communist state
Capital:
name: Havana geographic coordinates: 23 07 N, 82 21 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Administrative divisions:
14 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 special municipality* (municipio especial); Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Cienfuegos, Ciudad de La Habana, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Isla de la Juventud*, La Habana, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Pinar del Rio, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba, Villa Clara
Independence:
20 May 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered by the US from 1898 to 1902); not acknowledged by the Cuban Government as a day of independence
National holiday:
Triumph of the Revolution, 1 January (1959)
Constitution:
24 February 1976; amended July 1992 and June 2002
Legal system:
based on Spanish civil law and influenced by American legal concepts, with large elements of Communist legal theory; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
16 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (president since 24 February 2008); First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Jose Ramon MACHADO Ventura (since 24 February 2008); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (president since 24 February 2008); First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Jose Ramon MACHADO Ventura (since 24 February 2008) cabinet: Council of Ministers proposed by the president of the Council of State and appointed by the National Assembly or the 31-member Council of State, elected by the Assembly to act on its behalf when it is not in session elections: president and vice presidents elected by the National Assembly for a term of five years; election last held 24 February 2008 (next to be held in 2013) election results: Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz elected president; percent of legislative vote - 100%; Gen. Jose Ramon MACHADO Ventura elected vice president; percent of legislative vote - 100%
Legislative branch:
unicameral National Assembly of People's Power or Asemblea Nacional del Poder Popular (number of seats in the National Assembly is based on population; 614 seats; members elected directly from slates approved by special candidacy commissions to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 20 January 2008 (next to be held in January 2013) election results: Cuba's Communist Party is the only legal party, and officially sanctioned candidates run unopposed
Judicial branch:
People's Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo Popular (president, vice president, and other judges are elected by the National Assembly)
Political parties and leaders:
Cuban Communist Party or PCC [Fidel CASTRO Ruz, first secretary]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Human Rights Watch; National Association of Small Farmers
International organization participation:
ACP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM, OAS (excluded from formal participation since 1962), OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNITAR, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:
none; note - Cuba has an Interests Section in the Swiss Embassy, headed by Principal Officer Jorge BOLANOS Suarez; address: Cuban Interests Section, Swiss Embassy, 2630 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009; telephone: [1] (202) 797-8518; FAX: [1] (202) 797-8521
Diplomatic representation from the US:
none; note - the US has an Interests Section in the Swiss Embassy, headed by Chief of Mission Jonathan D. FARRAR; address: USINT, Swiss Embassy, Calzada between L and M Streets, Vedado, Havana; telephone: [53] (7) 833-3551 through 3559 (operator assistance required); FAX: [53] (7) 833-1653; protecting power in Cuba is Switzerland
Flag description:
five equal horizontal bands of blue (top, center, and bottom) alternating with white; a red equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bears a white, five-pointed star in the center
Economy Cuba
Economy - overview:
The government continues to balance the need for economic loosening against a desire for firm political control. It has rolled back limited reforms undertaken in the 1990s to increase enterprise efficiency and alleviate serious shortages of food, consumer goods, and services. The average Cuban's standard of living remains at a lower level than before the downturn of the 1990s, which was caused by the loss of Soviet aid and domestic inefficiencies. Since late 2000, Venezuela has been providing oil on preferential terms, and it currently supplies about 100,000 barrels per day of petroleum products. Cuba has been paying for the oil, in part, with the services of Cuban personnel in Venezuela, including some 20,000 medical professionals. In 2007, high metals prices continued to boost Cuban earnings from nickel and cobalt production. Havana continued to invest in the country's energy sector to mitigate electrical blackouts that had plagued the country since 2004.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$125.5 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$45.58 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
6.5% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$11,000 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 5.2% industry: 25% services: 69.8% (2007 est.)
Labor force:
4.956 million note: state sector 78%, non-state sector 22% (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 20% industry: 19.4% services: 60.6% (2005)
Unemployment rate:
1.8% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Investment (gross fixed):
13.1% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $41.84 billion expenditures: $43.9 billion (2007 est.)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Public debt:
36.8% of GDP (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.1% (2007 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
NA
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
NA
Stock of money:
NA
Stock of quasi money:
NA
Stock of domestic credit:
NA
Agriculture - products:
sugar, tobacco, citrus, coffee, rice, potatoes, beans; livestock
Industries:
sugar, petroleum, tobacco, construction, nickel, steel, cement, agricultural machinery, pharmaceuticals
Industrial production growth rate:
2.5% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production:
16.97 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
14.02 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 93.9% hydro: 0.6% nuclear: 0% other: 5.4% (2001)
Oil - production:
61,300 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - consumption:
203,500 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2006)
Oil - imports:
123,200 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - proved reserves:
124 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)
Natural gas - production:
1.058 billion cu m (2006)
Natural gas - consumption:
1.058 billion cu m (2006)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2007 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
70.79 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)
Current account balance:
$240 million (2007 est.)
Exports:
$3.734 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities:
sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, coffee
Exports - partners:
China 27.5%, Canada 26.9%, Netherlands 11.1%, Spain 4.7% (2007)
Imports:
$10.08 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities:
petroleum, food, machinery and equipment, chemicals
Imports - partners:
Venezuela 29.6%, China 13.4%, Spain 10.4%, Canada 6%, US 5.1% (2007)
Economic aid - recipient:
$87.8 million (2005 est.)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$4.247 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$16.79 billion (convertible currency); another $15-20 billion owed to Russia (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$11.24 billion (2006 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$4.138 billion (2006 est.)
Currency (code):
Cuban peso (CUP) and Convertible peso (CUC)
Currency code:
CUP (nonconvertible Cuban peso) and CUC (convertible Cuban peso)
Exchange rates:
Cuban pesos (CUP) per US dollar - 0.9259 (2007), 0.9231 (2006) note: Cuba has two currencies in circulation: the Cuban peso (CUP) and the convertible peso (CUC); in April 2005 the official exchange rate changed from $1 per CUC to $1.08 per CUC (0.93 CUC per $1), both for individuals and enterprises; individuals can buy 24 Cuban pesos (CUP) for each CUC sold, or sell 25 Cuban pesos for each CUC bought; enterprises, however, must exchange CUP and CUC at a 1:1 ratio.
Communications Cuba
Telephones - main lines in use:
1.043 million (2007)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
198,300 (2007)
Telephone system: