Chapter 95

Chapter 953,680 wordsPublic domain

6.264 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - consumption:

5.124 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports:

58.3 million kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports:

22.5 million kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 17.7% hydro: 71% nuclear: 0% other: 11.3% (2001)

Oil - production:

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

Oil - consumption:

65,530 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:

5,137 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - imports:

72,780 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves:

0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

Natural gas - production:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:

-$1.147 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:

$4.127 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

tea, horticultural products, coffee, petroleum products, fish, cement

Exports - partners:

Uganda 16.9%, UK 9.3%, Tanzania 8.2%, Netherlands 8.2%, US 6.4%, Pakistan 5.2% (2007)

Imports:

$8.54 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

machinery and transportation equipment, petroleum products, motor vehicles, iron and steel, resins and plastics

Imports - partners:

UAE 11.4%, China 9.9%, India 8.7%, Saudi Arabia 8%, South Africa 6.9%, US 6.2%, Japan 5.9%, UK 4.6% (2007)

Economic aid - recipient:

$768.3 million (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$3.355 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:

$6.713 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$1.249 billion (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$47 million (2007 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$11.38 billion (2006)

Currency (code):

Kenyan shilling (KES)

Currency code:

KES

Exchange rates:

Kenyan shillings (KES) per US dollar - 68.309 (2007), 72.101 (2006), 75.554 (2005), 79.174 (2004), 75.936 (2003)

Communications Kenya

Telephones - main lines in use:

264,800 (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

11.44 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: inadequate; fixed-line telephone system is small and inefficient; trunks are primarily microwave radio relay; business data commonly transferred by a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) system domestic: no recent growth in fixed-line infrastructure and the sole provider, Telkom Kenya, is slated for privatization; multiple providers in the mobile-cellular segment of the market fostering a boom in mobile-cellular telephone usage international: country code - 254; satellite earth stations - 4 Intelsat

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 24, FM 18, shortwave 6 (2001)

Radios:

3.07 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

8 (2001)

Televisions:

730,000 (1997)

Internet country code:

.ke

Internet hosts:

27,376 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

65 (2001)

Internet users:

3 million (2007)

Transportation Kenya

Airports:

225 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 15 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 1 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 210 1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 914 to 1,523 m: 113 under 914 m: 85 (2007)

Pipelines:

refined products 900 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 2,778 km narrow gauge: 2,778 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)

Roadways:

total: 63,265 km (interurban roads) paved: 8,933 km unpaved: 54,332 km note: there also are 100,000 km of rural roads and 14,500 km of urban roads for a national total of 177,765 km (2004)

Waterways:

part of Lake Victoria system is within boundaries of Kenya (2006)

Merchant marine:

total: 1 by type: petroleum tanker 1 registered in other countries: 6 (Bahamas 1, Comoros 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2, Tuvalu 1, unknown 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Mombasa

Military Kenya

Military branches:

Kenyan Army, Kenyan Navy, Kenyan Air Force (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

18 years of age (est.) for voluntary service, with a 9-year obligation (2007)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 9,044,685 females age 16-49: 8,805,736 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 5,688,259 females age 16-49: 5,396,166 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 411,032 female: 406,794 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

2.8% of GDP (2006)

Transnational Issues Kenya

Disputes - international:

Kenya served as an important mediator in brokering Sudan's north-south separation in February 2005; Kenya provides shelter to almost a quarter of a million refugees, including Ugandans who flee across the border periodically to seek protection from Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels; Kenya works hard to prevent the clan and militia fighting in Somalia from spreading across the border, which has long been open to nomadic pastoralists; the boundary that separates Kenya's and Sudan's sovereignty is unclear in the "Ilemi Triangle," which Kenya has administered since colonial times

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

refugees (country of origin): 173,702 (Somalia); 73,004 (Sudan); 16,428 (Ethiopia) IDPs: 250,000-400,000 (2007 post-election violence; KANU attacks on opposition tribal groups in 1990s) (2007)

Illicit drugs:

widespread harvesting of small plots of marijuana; transit country for South Asian heroin destined for Europe and North America; Indian methaqualone also transits on way to South Africa; significant potential for money-laundering activity given the country's status as a regional financial center; massive corruption, and relatively high levels of narcotics-associated activities

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Kiribati

Introduction Kiribati

Background:

The Gilbert Islands became a British protectorate in 1892 and a colony in 1915; they were captured by the Japanese in the Pacific War in 1941. The islands of Makin and Tarawa were the sites of major US amphibious victories over entrenched Japanese garrisons in 1943. The Gilbert Islands were granted self-rule by the UK in 1971 and complete independence in 1979 under the new name of Kiribati. The US relinquished all claims to the sparsely inhabited Phoenix and Line Island groups in a 1979 treaty of friendship with Kiribati.

Geography Kiribati

Location:

Oceania, group of 33 coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the Equator; the capital Tarawa is about half way between Hawaii and Australia; note - on 1 January 1995, Kiribati proclaimed that all of its territory lies in the same time zone as its Gilbert Islands group (UTC +12) even though the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands under its jurisdiction lie on the other side of the International Date Line

Geographic coordinates:

1 25 N, 173 00 E

Map references:

Oceania

Area:

total: 811 sq km land: 811 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands

Area - comparative:

four times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries:

0 km

Coastline:

1,143 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:

tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds

Terrain:

mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Banaba 81 m

Natural resources:

phosphate (production discontinued in 1979)

Land use:

arable land: 2.74% permanent crops: 47.95% other: 49.31% (2005)

Irrigated land:

Natural hazards:

typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to March; occasional tornadoes; low level of some of the islands make them sensitive to changes in sea level

Environment - current issues:

heavy pollution in lagoon of south Tarawa atoll due to heavy migration mixed with traditional practices such as lagoon latrines and open-pit dumping; ground water at risk

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

21 of the 33 islands are inhabited; Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Makatea in French Polynesia, and Nauru

People Kiribati

Population:

110,356 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 37.9% (male 21,180/female 20,604) 15-64 years: 58.7% (male 31,993/female 32,797) 65 years and over: 3.4% (male 1,606/female 2,176) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 20.6 years male: 20.1 years female: 21.1 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

2.235% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

30.31 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

7.97 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

NA (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 44.69 deaths/1,000 live births male: 49.61 deaths/1,000 live births female: 39.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 62.85 years male: 59.79 years female: 66.06 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

4.08 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

Nationality:

noun: I-Kiribati (singular and plural) adjective: I-Kiribati

Ethnic groups:

Micronesian 98.8%, other 1.2% (2000 census)

Religions:

Roman Catholic 52%, Protestant (Congregational) 40%, other (includes Seventh-Day Adventist, Muslim, Baha'i, Latter-day Saints, Church of God) 8% (1999)

Languages:

I-Kiribati, English (official)

Literacy:

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 12 years male: 12 years female: 13 years (2005)

Education expenditures:

17.8% of GDP (2002)

Government Kiribati

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Kiribati conventional short form: Kiribati local long form: Republic of Kiribati local short form: Kiribati note: pronounced keer-ree-bahss former: Gilbert Islands

Government type:

republic

Capital:

name: Tarawa geographic coordinates: 1 19 N, 172 58 E time difference: UTC+12 (17 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:

3 units; Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands; note - in addition, there are 6 districts (Banaba, Central Gilberts, Line Islands, Northern Gilberts, Southern Gilberts, Tarawa) and 21 island councils - one for each of the inhabited islands (Abaiang, Abemama, Aranuka, Arorae, Banaba, Beru, Butaritari, Kanton, Kiritimati, Kuria, Maiana, Makin, Marakei, Nikunau, Nonouti, Onotoa, Tabiteuea, Tabuaeran, Tamana, Tarawa, Teraina)

Independence:

12 July 1979 (from UK)

National holiday:

Independence Day, 12 July (1979)

Constitution:

12 July 1979

Legal system:

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President Teima ONORIO; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President Teima ONORIO cabinet: 12-member cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of the House of Parliament elections: the House of Parliament chooses the presidential candidates from among its members and then those candidates compete in a general election; president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for two more terms); election last held 17 October 2007 (next to be held in 2011); vice president appointed by the president election results: Anote TONG 63.7%, Nabuti MWEMWENIKARAWA 32.9%

Legislative branch:

unicameral House of Parliament or Maneaba Ni Maungatabu (46 seats; 44 members elected by popular vote, 1 ex officio member - the attorney general, 1 nominated by the Rabi Council of Leaders (representing Banaba Island); to serve four-year terms) elections: legislative elections were held in two rounds - the first round on 22 August 2007 and the second round on 30 August 2007 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA, other 2 (includes attorney general)

Judicial branch:

Court of Appeal; High Court; 26 Magistrates' courts; judges at all levels are appointed by the president

Political parties and leaders:

Boutokaan Te Koaua Party or BTK [Taberannang TIMEON]; Maneaban Te Mauri Party or MTM [Teburoro TITO]; Maurin Kiribati Pati or MKP; National Progressive Party or NPP [Dr. Harry TONG] note: there is no tradition of formally organized political parties in Kiribati; they more closely resemble factions or interest groups because they have no party headquarters, formal platforms, or party structures

Political pressure groups and leaders:

International organization participation:

ACP, ADB, C, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, ITU, ITUC, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

Kiribati does not have an embassy in the US; there is an honorary consulate in Honolulu

Diplomatic representation from the US:

the US does not have an embassy in Kiribati; the ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Kiribati

Flag description:

the upper half is red with a yellow frigate bird flying over a yellow rising sun, and the lower half is blue with three horizontal wavy white stripes to represent the ocean

Economy Kiribati

Economy - overview:

A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls, Kiribati has few natural resources. Commercially viable phosphate deposits were exhausted at the time of independence from the UK in 1979. Copra and fish now represent the bulk of production and exports. The economy has fluctuated widely in recent years. Economic development is constrained by a shortage of skilled workers, weak infrastructure, and remoteness from international markets. Tourism provides more than one-fifth of GDP. Private sector initiatives and a financial sector are in the early stages of development. Foreign financial aid from UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and China equals more than 10% of GDP. Remittances from seamen on merchant ships abroad account for more than $5 million each year. Kiribati receives around $15 million annually for the government budget from an Australian trust fund.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$348 million (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$67 million (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

2% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$3,600 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 8.9% industry: 24.2% services: 66.8% (2004)

Labor force:

7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (2001 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 2.7% industry: 32% services: 65.3% (2000)

Unemployment rate:

2% official rate; underemployment 70% (1992 est.)

Population below poverty line:

NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Budget:

revenues: $55.52 million expenditures: $59.71 million (FY05)

Fiscal year:

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

0.2% (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products:

copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish

Industries:

fishing, handicrafts

Industrial production growth rate:

0.7% (1991 est.)

Electricity - production:

10 million kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - consumption:

9.3 million kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)

Oil - production:

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption:

232.4 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:

0 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - imports:

259.1 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves:

0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

Natural gas - production:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:

-$21 million (2007 est.)

Exports:

$17 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities:

copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish

Exports - partners:

US 22.8%, Belgium 21.5%, Japan 14.3%, Samoa 7.8%, Australia 7.5%, Malaysia 6.7%, Taiwan 5.6%, Denmark 4.6% (2006)

Imports:

$62 million c.i.f. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities:

foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel

Imports - partners:

Australia 33%, Fiji 27.1%, Japan 18.1%, NZ 6.9% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:

$27.84 million largely from UK and Japan (2005)

Debt - external:

$10 million (1999 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$NA

Currency (code):

Australian dollar (AUD)

Currency code:

AUD

Exchange rates:

Australian dollars (AUD) per US dollar - 1.2137 (2007), 1.3285 (2006), 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003)

Communications Kiribati

Telephones - main lines in use:

4,500 (2002)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

700 (2005)

Telephone system:

general assessment: generally good quality national and international service domestic: wire line service available on Tarawa and Kiritimati (Christmas Island); connections to outer islands by HF/VHF radiotelephone; wireless service available in Tarawa since 1999 international: country code - 686; Kiribati is being linked to the Pacific Ocean Cooperative Telecommunications Network, which should improve telephone service; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (may be inactive) (2002)

Radios:

17,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

1 (possibly inactive) (2002)

Televisions:

1,000 (1997)

Internet country code:

.ki

Internet hosts:

9 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

1 (2000)

Internet users:

2,000 (2007)

Transportation Kiribati

Airports:

19 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 15 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 4 (2007)

Roadways:

total: 670 km (2000)

Waterways:

5 km (small network of canals in Line Islands) (2007)

Merchant marine:

total: 43 by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 18, chemical tanker 3, petroleum tanker 6, refrigerated cargo 14 foreign-owned: 31 (China 15, Hong Kong 4, South Korea 2, Singapore 4, Taiwan 5, Turkey 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Betio

Military Kiribati

Military branches:

no regular military forces (constitutionally prohibited); Police Force (2008)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 26,377 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 17,577 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 1,247 female: 1,226 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

Military - note:

Kiribati does not have military forces; defense assistance is provided by Australia and NZ

Transnational Issues Kiribati

Disputes - international:

none

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Korea, North

Introduction Korea, North

Background:

An independent kingdom for much of its long history, Korea was occupied by Japan in 1905 following the Russo-Japanese War. Five years later, Japan formally annexed the entire peninsula. Following World War II, Korea was split with the northern half coming under Soviet-sponsored Communist domination. After failing in the Korean War (1950-53) to conquer the US-backed Republic of Korea (ROK) in the southern portion by force, North Korea (DPRK), under its founder President KIM Il Sung, adopted a policy of ostensible diplomatic and economic "self-reliance" as a check against excessive Soviet or Communist Chinese influence. The DPRK demonized the US as the ultimate threat to its social system through state-funded propaganda, and molded political, economic, and military policies around the core ideological objective of eventual unification of Korea under Pyongyang's control. KIM's son, the current ruler KIM Jong Il, was officially designated as his father's successor in 1980, assuming a growing political and managerial role until the elder KIM's death in 1994. After decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the DPRK since the mid-1990s has relied heavily on international aid to feed its population while continuing to expend resources to maintain an army of approximately 1 million. North Korea's history of regional military provocations, proliferation of military-related items, and long-range missile development - as well as its nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs and massive conventional armed forces - are of major concern to the international community. In December 2002, following revelations that the DPRK was pursuing a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium in violation of a 1994 agreement with the US to freeze and ultimately dismantle its existing plutonium-based program, North Korea expelled monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In January 2003, it declared its withdrawal from the international Non-Proliferation Treaty. In mid-2003 Pyongyang announced it had completed the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods (to extract weapons-grade plutonium) and was developing a "nuclear deterrent." Beginning in August 2003, North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the US have participated in the Six-Party Talks aimed at resolving the stalemate over the DPRK's nuclear programs. North Korea pulled out of the talks in November 2005. It test-fired ballistic missiles in July 2006 and conducted a nuclear test in October 2006. North Korea returned to the Six-Party Talks in December 2006 and subsequently signed two agreements on denuclearization. The 13 February 2007 Initial Actions Agreement shut down the North's nuclear facilities at Yongbyon in July 2007. In the 3 October 2007 Second Phase Actions Agreement, Pyongyang pledged to disable those facilities and provide a correct and complete declaration of its nuclear programs. Under the supervision of US nuclear experts, North Korean personnel completed a number of agreed-upon disablement actions at the three core facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear complex by the end of 2007. North Korea also began the discharge of spent fuel rods in December 2007, but it did not provide a declaration of its nuclear programs by the end of the year.

Geography Korea, North

Location:

Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea

Geographic coordinates:

40 00 N, 127 00 E

Map references:

Asia

Area:

total: 120,540 sq km land: 120,410 sq km water: 130 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Mississippi

Land boundaries:

total: 1,673 km border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km

Coastline:

2,495 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm note: military boundary line 50 nm in the Sea of Japan and the exclusive economic zone limit in the Yellow Sea where all foreign vessels and aircraft without permission are banned

Climate:

temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer

Terrain:

mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m

Natural resources:

coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower

Land use:

arable land: 22.4% permanent crops: 1.66% other: 75.94% (2005)