Belgium

Kingdom of Belgium

National name: Royaume de Belgique—Koninkrijk België

Sovereign: King Albert II (1993)

Prime Minister: Guy Verhofstadt (1999)

Land area: 11,672 sq mi (30,230 sq km); total area: 11,787 sq mi (30,528 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 10,379,067 (growth rate: 0.1%); birth rate: 10.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 4.6/1000; life expectancy: 78.8; density per sq mi: 889

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Brussels, 1,750,600 (metro area), 981,200 (city proper)

Other large cities: Antwerp, 952,600 (metro area), 450,000 (city proper); Ghent, 226,900; Charleroi, 201,200; Liège, 185,700; Bruges, 117,200

Monetary units: Euro (formerly Belgian franc)

Languages: Dutch (Flemish) 60%, French 40%, German less than 1% (all official)

Ethnicity/race: Fleming, Walloon, mixed, or other

Religion: Roman Catholic 75%, Protestant or other 25%

Literacy rate: 98% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $316.2 billion; per capita $30,600. Real growth rate: 2.6%. Inflation: 1.9%. Unemployment: 12% (first half, 2004 est.). Arable land: 23%. Agriculture: sugar beets, fresh vegetables, fruits, grain, tobacco; beef, veal, pork, milk. Labor force: 4.75 million; agriculture 1.3%, industry 24.5%, services 74.2% (2003 est.). Industries: engineering and metal products, motor vehicle assembly, transportation equipment, scientific instruments, processed food and beverages, chemicals, basic metals, textiles, glass, petroleum. Natural resources: coal, natural gas, construction materials, silica sand, carbonates. Exports: $255.7 billion (f.o.b., 2003 est.): machinery and equipment, chemicals, diamonds, metals and metal products, foodstuffs. Imports: $235 billion (f.o.b., 2003 est.): machinery and equipment, chemicals, diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transportation equipment, oil products. Major trading partners: Germany, France, Netherlands, UK, U.S., Italy, Ireland (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 5,120,400 (2002); mobile cellular: 8,135,500 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: FM 79, AM 7, shortwave 1 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 25 (plus 10 repeaters) (1997). Internet hosts: 166,799 (2004). Internet users: 3.4 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 3,521 km (2,927 km electrified) (2004). Highways: total: 149,028 km; paved: 116,540 km (including 1,729 km of expressways); unpaved: 32,488 km (2002). Waterways: 2,043 km (1,528 km in regular commercial use) (2003). Ports and harbors: Antwerp, Brussels, Gent, Liege, Oostende, Zeebrugge. Airports: 43 (2004 est.).

International disputes: none.

Geography
Located in western Europe, Belgium has about 40 mi of seacoast on the North Sea, at the Strait of Dover, and is approximately the size of Maryland. The Meuse and the Schelde, Belgium's principal rivers, are important commercial arteries.

Government

Parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarch. Under the 1994 constitution, autonomy was granted to the Walloon region (Wallonia), the Flemish region (Flanders), and the bilingual Brussels-Capital region; autonomy was also guaranteed for the Flemish-, French-, and German-speaking “communities.” The central government retains responsibility for foreign policy, defense, taxation, and social security.

Benin

Republic of Benin

National name: Republique du Benin

President: Yayi Boni (2006)

Land area: 42,710 sq mi (110,619 sq km); total area: 43,483 sq mi (112,620 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 7,862,944 (growth rate: 2.7%); birth rate: 38.9/1000; infant mortality rate: 79.6/1000; life expectancy: 53.0; density per sq mi: 184

Capital (2003 est.): Porto-Novo (official), 231,600

Largest cities: Cotonou (de facto capital) 734,600; Parakou 205,300; Djougou, 184,200

Monetary unit: CFA Franc

Languages: French (official), Fon, Yoruba, tribal languages

Ethnicity/race: African 99% (42 ethnic groups, most important being Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba), Europeans 5,500

Religions: indigenous 50%, Christian 30%, Islam 20%

Literacy rate: 41% (2000)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $8.338 billion; per capita $1,200. Real growth rate: 5%. Inflation: 2.8%. Unemployment: n.a. Arable land: 18%. Agriculture: cotton, corn, cassava (tapioca), yams, beans, palm oil, peanuts, livestock (2001). Labor force: n.a. Industries: textiles, food processing, chemical production, construction materials (2001). Natural resources: small offshore oil deposits, limestone, marble, timber. Exports: $720.9 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): cotton, crude oil, palm products, cocoa. Imports: $934.5 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): foodstuffs, capital goods, petroleum products. Major trading partners: China, India, Thailand, Ghana, Niger, Indonesia, Nigeria, Italy, France, UK, Côte d'Ivoire, Thailand (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 66,500 (2003); mobile cellular: 236,200 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 4 (2000). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2001). Internet hosts: 879 (2004). Internet users: 70,000 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 578 km (2004). Highways: total: 6,787 km; paved: 1,357 km (including 10 km of expressways); unpaved: 5,430 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 150 km (on River Niger along northern border) (2004). Ports and harbors: Cotonou. Airports: 5 (2004 est.).

International disputes: two villages remain in dispute along the border with Burkina Faso; accuses Burkina Faso of moving boundary pillars; much of Benin-Niger boundary, including tripoint with Nigeria, remains undemarcated, and the states expect a ruling in 2005 from the ICJ over the disputed Niger and Mekrou River islands; a joint task force was established in 2004 that resolved disputes over and redrew the maritime and the 870-km land boundary with Nigeria, including the sovereignty over seven villages along the Okpara River; a joint boundary commission continues to resurvey the boundary with Togo to verify Benin's claim that Togo moved boundary stones.

Geography
This West African nation on the Gulf of Guinea, between Togo on the west and Nigeria on the east, is about the size of Tennessee. It is bounded also by Burkina Faso and Niger on the north. The land consists of a narrow coastal strip that rises to a swampy, forested plateau and then to highlands in the north. A hot and humid climate blankets the entire country.

Government
Republic under a multiparty democratic rule.

Bhutan

Kingdom of Bhutan

Ruler: King Jigme Singye Wangchuck (1972)

Prime Minister: Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba (2004)

Total and land area: 18,147 sq mi (47,001 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 2,279,723 (growth rate: 2.1%); birth rate: 33.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 98.4/1000; life expectancy: 54.8; density per sq mi: 126

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Thimphu (official), 60,200

Monetary unit: Ngultrum

Languages: Dzongkha (official), Tibetan dialects (among Bhotes), Nepalese dialects (among Nepalese)

Ethnicity/race: Bhote 50%, ethnic Nepalese 35%, indigenous or migrant tribes 15%

Religions: Lamaistic Buddhist 75%, Indian- and Nepalese-influenced Hinduism 25%

Literacy rate: 42% (1995 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2003 est.): $2.9 billion; per capita $1,400. Real growth rate: 5.3%. Inflation: 3% (2002 est.). Unemployment: n.a. Arable land: 3%. Agriculture: rice, corn, root crops, citrus, grains; dairy products, eggs. Labor force: n.a.; note: massive lack of skilled labor (1997 est.); agriculture 93%, services 5%, industry and commerce 2%. Industries: cement, wood products, processed fruits, alcoholic beverages, calcium carbide. Natural resources: timber, hydropower, gypsum, calcium carbide. Exports: $154 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.): electricity (to India), cardamom, gypsum, timber, handicrafts, cement, fruit, precious stones, spices. Imports: $196 million (c.i.f., 2000 est.): fuel and lubricants, grain, machinery and parts, vehicles, fabrics, rice. Major trading partners: India, Bangladesh, Philippines, Japan, Austria (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 25,200 (2003); mobile cellular: 22,000 (2005). Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 1, shortwave 1 (2004). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2005). Internet hosts: 985 (2003). Internet users: 15,000 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 4,007 km; paved: 24 km; unpaved: 3,983 km (2002). Ports and harbors: none. Airports: 2 (2004 est.).

International disputes: approximately 104,000 Bhutanese refugees live in Nepal, 90% of whom reside in seven UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees camps; Bhutan cooperates with India to expel Indian separatists.

Geography
Mountainous Bhutan, half the size of Indiana, is situated on the southeast slope of the Himalayas, bordered on the north and east by Tibet and on the south and west and east by India. The landscape consists of a succession of lofty and rugged mountains and deep valleys. In the north, towering peaks reach a height of 24,000 ft (7,315 m).

Government
Monarchy.

Brazil

Federative Republic of Brazil

National name: República Federativa do Brasil

President: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003)

Land area: 3,265,059 sq mi (8,456,511 sq km); total area: 3,286,488 sq mi (8,511,965 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 188,078,227 (growth rate: 1.0%); birth rate: 16.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 28.6/1000; life expectancy: 72.0; density per sq mi: 58

Capital (2003 est.): Brasília, 2,160,100

Largest cities: São Paulo, 18,847,400 (metro. area), 10,195,000 (city proper); Rio de Janeiro, 11,437,100 (metro. area), 6,119,800 (city proper); Salvador, 2,590,400; Belo Horizonte, 2,347,500; Recife, 1,485,500; Porto Alegre, 1,372,700

Monetary unit: Real

Languages: Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French

Ethnicity/race: white (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish) 55%, mixed white and black 38%, black 6%, other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 1%

Religion: Roman Catholic 80%

Literacy rate: 80% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $1.492 trillion; per capita $8,100. Real growth rate: 5.1%. Inflation: 7.6%. Unemployment: 11.5%. Arable land: 7%. Agriculture: coffee, soybeans, wheat, rice, corn, sugarcane, cocoa, citrus; beef. Labor force: 89 million; agriculture 20%, industry 14%, services 66% (2003 est.). Industries: textiles, shoes, chemicals, cement, lumber, iron ore, tin, steel, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, other machinery and equipment. Natural resources: bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber. Exports: $95 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): transport equipment, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee, autos. Imports: $61 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery, electrical and transport equipment, chemical products, oil. Major trading partners: U.S., Argentina, China, Netherlands, Germany, Japan (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 38.81 million (2002); mobile cellular: 46,373,300 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 1,365, FM 296, shortwave 161 (of which 91 are collocated with AM stations) (1999). Television broadcast stations: 138 (1997). Internet hosts: 3,163,349 (2003). Internet users: 14.3 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 29,412 km (1,567 km electrified) (2004). Highways: total: 1,724,929 km; paved: 94,871 km; unpaved: 1,630,058 km (2000). Waterways: 50,000 km (most in areas remote from industry and population) (2004). Ports and harbors: Gebig, Itaqui, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande, San Sebasttiao, Santos, Sepetiba Terminal, Tubarao, Vitoria. Airports: 4,136 (2004 est.).

International disputes: unruly region at convergence of Argentina-Brazil-Paraguay borders is locus of money laundering, smuggling, arms and illegal narcotics trafficking, and fundraising for extremist organizations; uncontested dispute with Uruguay over certain islands in the Quarai/Cuareim and Invernada boundary streams and the resulting tripoint with Argentina; in 2004 Brazil submitted its claims to UNCLOS to extend its maritime continental margin.

Geography
Brazil covers nearly half of South America and is the continent's largest nation. It extends 2,965 mi (4,772 km) north-south, 2,691 mi (4,331 km) east-west, and borders every nation on the continent except Chile and Ecuador. Brazil may be divided into the Brazilian Highlands, or plateau, in the south and the Amazon River Basin in the north. Over a third of Brazil is drained by the Amazon and its more than 200 tributaries. The Amazon is navigable for ocean steamers to Iquitos, Peru, 2,300 mi (3,700 km) upstream. Southern Brazil is drained by the Plata system—the Paraguay, Uruguay, and Paraná Rivers.

Government
Federal republic.

Cambodia

Kingdom of Cambodia

National Name: Preahreacheanacha Kampuchea

King: Norodom Sihamoni (2004)

Prime Minister: Hun Sen (1998)

Land area: 68,154 sq mi (176,519 sq km); total area: 69,900 sq mi (181,040 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 13,881,427 (growth rate: 1.8%); birth rate: 26.9/1000; infant mortality rate: 68.8/1000; life expectancy: 59.3; density per sq mi: 204

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Phnom Penh, 1,169,800

Monetary unit: Riel

Languages: Khmer (official), French, English

Ethnicity/race: Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4%

Religions: Theravada Buddhist 95%, others 5%

Literacy rate: 70% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $26.99 billion; per capita $2,000. Real growth rate: 5.4%. Inflation: 3.1%. Unemployment: 2.5% (2000 est.). Arable land: 21%. Agriculture: rice, rubber, corn, vegetables, cashews, tapioca. Labor force: 7 million; agriculture 75% (2004 est.). Industries: tourism, garments, rice milling, fishing, wood and wood products, rubber, cement, gem mining, textiles. Natural resources: oil and gas, timber, gemstones, some iron ore, manganese, phosphates, hydropower potential. Exports: $2.311 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): clothing, timber, rubber, rice, fish, tobacco, footwear. Imports: $3.129 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): petroleum products, cigarettes, gold, construction materials, machinery, motor vehicles, pharmaceutical products. Major trading partners: U.S., Germany, UK, Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 35,400 (2002); mobile cellular: 380,000 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 17, (2003). Television broadcast stations: 7 (2003). Internet hosts: 818 (2003). Internet users: 30,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 602 km (2004). Highways: total: 12,323 km; paved: 1,996 km; unpaved: 10,327 km (2000 est.). Waterways: 2,400 km (mainly on Mekong River) (2004). Ports and harbors: Phnom Penh. Airports: 20 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Southeast Asian states have enhanced border surveillance to check the spread of avian flu; Cambodia and Thailand dispute sections of boundary with missing boundary markers and Thai encroachments into Cambodian territory; maritime boundary with Vietnam is hampered by unresolved dispute over offshore islands; Cambodia accuses Thailand of obstructing access to Preah Vihear temple ruins awarded to Cambodia by ICJ decision in 1962; in 2004 Cambodian-Laotian and Laotian-Vietnamese boundary commissions reerect missing markers completing most of their demarcations.

Geography
Situated on the Indochinese peninsula, Cambodia is bordered by Thailand and Laos on the north and Vietnam on the east and south. The Gulf of Thailand is off the western coast. The size of Missouri, the country consists chiefly of a large alluvial plain ringed by mountains and on the east is the Mekong River. The plain is centered around Lake Tonle Sap, which is a natural storage basin of the Mekong.

Government
Multiparty liberal democracy under a constitutional monarchy.

Chile

Republic of Chile

National name: República de Chile

President: Michelle Bachelet (2006)

Land area: 289,112 sq mi (748,800 sq km); total area: 292,260 sq mi (756,950 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 16,134,219 (growth rate: 0.9%); birth rate: 15.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 8.6/1000; life expectancy: 76.8; density per sq mi: 56

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Santiago, 5,333,100 (metro. area), 4,372,800 (city proper)

Other large cities: Viña del Mar, 303,100; Valparaíso, 274,100; Talcahuano, 252,800; Temuco, 247,200; Concepción, 217,600

Monetary unit: Chilean Peso

Language: Spanish

Ethnicity/race: white and white-Amerindian 95%, Amerindian 3%, other 2%

Religions: Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 11%, small Jewish and Muslim populations

Literacy rate: 96% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $169.1 billion; per capita $10,700. Real growth rate: 5.8%. Inflation: 2.4%. Unemployment: 8.5%. Arable land: 3%. Agriculture: grapes, apples, pears, onions, wheat, corn, oats, peaches, garlic, asparagus, beans, beef, poultry, wool; fish; timber. Labor force: 6.2 million; agriculture 13.6%, industry 23.4%, services 63% (2003). Industries: copper, other minerals, foodstuffs, fish processing, iron and steel, wood and wood products, transport equipment, cement, textiles. Natural resources: copper, timber, iron ore, nitrates, precious metals, molybdenum, hydropower. Exports: $29.2 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): copper, fruit, fish products, paper and pulp, chemicals, wine. Imports: $22.53 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, electrical and telecommunications equipment, industrial machinery, vehicles, natural gas. Major trading partners: U.S., Japan, China, South Korea, Mexico, Italy, Argentina, Brazil (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 3.467 million (2002); mobile cellular: 6,445,700 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 180 (eight inactive), FM 64, shortwave 17 (one inactive) (1998). Television broadcast stations: 63 (plus 121 repeaters) (1997). Internet hosts: 202,429 (2003). Internet users: 3.575 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 6,585 km (2004). Highways: total: 79,605 km; paved: 16,080 km; unpaved: 63,525 km (2001). Waterways: 725 km. Ports and harbors: Antofagasta, Arica, Huasco, Iquique, Lirquen, San Antonio, San Vicente, Valparaiso. Airports: 364 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Chile rebuffs Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, offering instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile to Bolivian gas and other commodities; Peru proposes changing its latitudinal maritime boundary with Chile to an equidistance line with a southwestern axis; territorial claim in Antarctica (Chilean Antarctic Territory) partially overlaps Argentine and British claims.

Geography
Situated south of Peru and west of Bolivia and Argentina, Chile fills a narrow 2,880 mi (4,506 km) strip between the Andes and the Pacific. One-third of Chile is covered by the towering ranges of the Andes. In the north is the driest place on Earth, the Atacama Desert, and in the center is a 700-mile-long (1,127 km) thickly populated valley with most of Chile's arable land. At the southern tip of Chile's mainland is Punta Arenas, the southernmost city in the world, and beyond that lies the Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego, an island divided between Chile and Argentina. The southernmost point of South America is Cape Horn, a 1,390-foot (424 m) rock on Horn Island in the Wollaston group, which belongs to Chile. Chile also claims sovereignty over 482,628 sq mi (1,250,000 sq km) of Antarctic territory; the Juan Fernández Islands, about 400 mi (644 km) west of the mainland; and Easter Island, about 2,000 mi (3,219 km) west.

Government
Republic.

Colombia

Republic of Colombia

National name: República de Colombia

President: Alvaro Uribe (2002)

Land area: 401,042 sq mi (1,038,699 sq km); total area: 439,736 sq mi (1,138,910 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 43,593,035 (growth rate: 1.5%); birth rate: 20.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 20.4/1000; life expectancy: 72.0; density per sq mi: 109

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Santafé de Bogotá, 6,837,800

Other large cities: Cali, 2,283,200; Medellín, 1,957,800; Barranquilla, 1,330,400; Cartagena, 901,500

Monetary unit: Colombian Peso

Language: Spanish

Ethnicity/race: mestizo 58%, white 20%, mulatto 14%, black 4%, mixed black-Amerindian 3%, Amerindian 1%

Religion: Roman Catholic 90%

Literacy rate: 93% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $281.1 billion; per capita $6,600. Real growth rate: 3.6%. Inflation: 5.9%. Unemployment: 13.6%. Arable land: 2%. Agriculture: coffee, cut flowers, bananas, rice, tobacco, corn, sugarcane, cocoa beans, oilseed, vegetables; forest products; shrimp. Labor force: 20.7 million; services 46%, agriculture 30%, industry 24% (1990). Industries: textiles, food processing, oil, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, cement; gold, coal, emeralds. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, hydropower. Exports: $15.5 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): petroleum, coffee, coal, apparel, bananas, cut flowers. Imports: $15.34 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): iindustrial equipment, transportation equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, paper products, fuels, electricity. Major trading partners: U.S., Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, China, Japan, Germany (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 8,768,100 (2003); mobile cellular: 6,186,200 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 454, FM 34, shortwave 27 (1999). Television broadcast stations: 60 (includes seven low-power stations) (1997). Internet hosts: 115,158 (2003). Internet users: 2,732,200 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 3,304 km (2004). Highways: total: 112,998 km; paved: 26,000 km; unpaved: 84,000 km (2000). Waterways: 9,187 km (2004). Ports and harbors: Barranquilla, Buenaventura, Cartagena, Muelles El Bosque, Puerto Bolivar, Santa Marta, Turbo. Airports: 980 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and against Colombia in 2001 at the ICJ over disputed maritime boundary involving 50,000 sq km in the Caribbean Sea, including the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank; dispute with Venezuela over maritime boundary and Los Monjes Islands near the Gulf of Venezuela; Colombian-organized illegal narcotics, guerrilla, and paramilitary activities penetrate all of its neighbors' borders and have created a serious refugee crisis with over 300,000 persons having fled the country, mostly into neighboring states.

Geography
Colombia is bordered on the northwest by Panama, on the east by Venezuela and Brazil, and on the southwest by Peru and Ecuador. Through the western half of the country, three Andean ranges run north and south. The eastern half is a low, jungle-covered plain, drained by spurs of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers, inhabited mostly by isolated tropical-forest Indian tribes. The fertile plateau and valley of the eastern range are the most densely populated parts of the country.

Government
Republic.

Comoros

Union of the Comoros

National Name: Union des Comores

President: Azali Assoumani (2002)

Total and land area: 838 sq mi (2,170 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 690,948 (growth rate: 2.9%); birth rate: 36.9/1000; infant mortality rate: 72.8/1000; life expectancy: 62.3; density per sq mi: 825

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Moroni (on Grande Comoro), 60,200

Monetary unit: Franc

Languages: Arabic and French (both official), Shikomoro (Swahili/Arabic blend)

Ethnicity/race: Antalote, Cafre, Makoa, Oimatsaha, Sakalava

Religions: Sunni Muslim 98%, Roman Catholic 2%

Literacy rate: 57% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP: (2002 est.) $441 million; per capita $700. Real growth rate: 2%. Inflation: 3.5% (2001 est.). Unemployment: 20% (1996 est.). Arable land: 36%. Agriculture: vanilla, cloves, perfume essences, copra, coconuts, bananas, cassava (tapioca). Labor force: 144,500 (1996 est.): agriculture 80%. Industries: tourism, perfume distillation. Natural resources: negl. Exports: $28 million (f.o.b., 2002 est.): vanilla, ylang-ylang, cloves, perfume oil, copra. Imports: $88 million (f.o.b., 2002 est.): rice and other foodstuffs, consumer goods; petroleum products, cement, transport equipment. Major trading partners: France, Germany, U.S., Singapore, Japan, South Africa, UAE, Kenya, Mauritius (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 13,200 (2003); mobile cellular: 2,000 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 1 (2001). Television broadcast stations: n.a. Internet hosts: 11 (2003). Internet users: 5,000 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 880 km; paved: 673 km; unpaved: 207 km (1999 est.). Ports and harbors: Mayotte, Moutsamoudou. Airports: 4 (2004 est.).

International disputes: claims French-administered Mayotte.

Geography
The Comoros Islands—Grande Comoro (Ngazidja), Anjouan, Mohéli, and Mayotte (which is not part of the country and retains ties to France)—constitute an archipelago of volcanic origin in the Indian Ocean, 190 mi off the coast of Mozambique.

Government
Emerging republic.

Congo, Republic of

National name: République du Congo

President: Denis Sassou-Nguesso (1997)

Land area: 131,853 sq mi (341,499 sq km); total area: 132,047 sq mi (342,000 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 3,702,314 (growth rate: 2.6%); birth rate: 42.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 85.3/1000; life expectancy: 52.8; density per sq mi: 28

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Brazzaville, 1,169,900

Other large city: Pointe-Noire, 544,200

Monetary unit: CFA Franc

Languages: French (official), Lingala, Monokutuba, Kikongo, many local languages and dialects

Ethnicity/race: Kongo 48%, Sangha 20%, M'Bochi 12%, Teke 17%, Europeans (mostly French) and other 3%

Religions: Christian 50%, animist 48%, Islam 2%

Literacy rate: 84% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $2.324 billion; per capita $800. Real growth rate: 3.7%. Inflation: 1.8%. Unemployment: n.a. Arable land: 1%. Agriculture: cassava (tapioca), sugar, rice, corn, peanuts, vegetables, coffee, cocoa; forest products. Labor force: n.a. Industries: petroleum extraction, cement, lumber, brewing, sugar, palm oil, soap, flour, cigarettes. Natural resources: petroleum, timber, potash, lead, zinc, uranium, copper, phosphates, natural gas, hydropower. Exports: $2.224 billion (f.o.b., 2004): petroleum, lumber, plywood, sugar, cocoa, coffee, diamonds. Imports: $749.3 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): capital equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs. Major trading partners: China, Taiwan, U.S., South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, France, Italy, India, Belgium (2003).

.Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 7,000 (2003); mobile cellular: 330,000 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 3 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2002). Internet hosts: 46 (2003). Internet users: 15,000 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 894 km (2004). Highways: total: 12,800 km; paved: 1,242 km; unpaved: 11,558 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 4,385 km (on Congo and Oubanqui rivers) (2004). Ports and harbors: Brazzaville, Djeno, Impfondo, Ouesso, Oyo, Pointe-Noire. Airports: 32 (2004 est.).

International disputes: about 7,000 Congolese refugees fleeing internal civil conflicts since the mid-1990s still reside in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; the location of the boundary in the broad Congo River with the Democratic Republic of the Congo is indefinite except in the Pool Malebo/Stanley Pool area.

Geography
The Congo is situated in west-central Africa astride the equator. It borders Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Angola exclave of Cabinda, with a short stretch of coast on the South Atlantic. Its area is nearly three times that of Pennsylvania. Most of the inland is tropical rain forest, drained by tributaries of the Congo River.

Government
Dictatorship.

Croatia

Republic of Croatia

National Name: Republika Hrvatska

President: Stipe Mesic (2000)

Prime Minister: Ivo Sanader (2003)

Land area: 21,781 sq mi (56,414 sq km); total area: 21,831 sq mi (56,542 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 4,494,749 (growth rate: –0.03%); birth rate: 9.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 6.7/1000; life expectancy: 74.7; density per sq mi: 206

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Zagreb, 685,500

Other large cities: Split, 173,600; Rijeka, 142,500; Osijek, 89,600

Monetary unit: Kuna

Languages: Croatian 96% (official), other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, German)

Ethnicity/race: Croat 89.6%, Serb 4.5%, Bosniak 0.5%, Hungarian 0.4%, Slovene 0.3%, Czech 0.2%, Roma 0.2%, Albanian 0.1%, Montenegrin 0.1%, others 4.1% (2001)

Religions: Roman Catholic 87.8%, Orthodox 4.4%, Muslim 1.3%, Protestant 0.3%, others and unknown 6.2% (2001)

Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $50.33 billion; per capita $11,200. Real growth rate: 3.7%. Inflation: 2.5%. Unemployment: 13.8%. Arable land: 26%. Agriculture: wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, barley, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, soybeans, potatoes; livestock, dairy products. Labor force: 1.71 million; agriculture 2.7%, industry 32.8%, services 64.5% (2004). 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. Natural resources: oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, hydropower. Exports: $7.845 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels. Imports: $16.7 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery, transport and electrical equipment, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, foodstuffs. Major trading partners: Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Slovenia, Austria, France, Russia (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 1.825 million (2002); mobile cellular: 2.553 million (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 16, FM 98, shortwave 5 (1999). Television broadcast stations: 36 (plus 321 repeaters) (September 1995). Internet hosts: 29,644 (2004). Internet users: 1.014 million (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 2,726 km (2004). Highways: total: 28,344 km; paved: 23,979 km (including 455 km of expressways); unpaved: 4,365 km (2002). Waterways: 785 km (2004). Ports and harbors: Omisalj, Ploce, Rijeka, Sibenik, Vukovar (on Danube). Airports: 68 (2004 est.).

International disputes: discussions continue with Bosnia and Herzegovina over several small disputed sections of the boundary; 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; as a European Union peripheral state, neighboring Slovenia must conform to the strict Schengen border rules to curb illegal migration and commerce through southeastern Europe while encouraging close cross-border ties with Croatia.


Geography
Croatia is a former Yugoslav republic on the Adriatic Sea. It is about the size of West Virginia. Part of Croatia is a barren, rocky region lying in the Dinaric Alps. The Zagorje region north of the capital, Zagreb, is a land of rolling hills, and the fertile agricultural region of the Pannonian Plain is bordered by the Drava, Danube, and Sava Rivers in the east. Over one-third of Croatia is forested.

Government
Presidential/parliamentary democracy

Cyprus

Republic of Cyprus

National name: Kypriaki Dimokratia—Kibris Cumhuriyeti

President: Tassos Papadopoulos (2003)

Land area: 3,568 sq mi (9,241 sq km); total area: 3,571 sq mi ()

Population (2006 est.): 784,301 (growth rate: 0.5%); birth rate: 12.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 7.0/1000; life expectancy: 77.8; density per sq mi: 220

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Lefkosia (Nicosia) (in government-controlled area), 197,600

Monetary unit: Cyprus pound

Languages: Greek, Turkish (both official); English

Ethnicity/race: Current: Greek 77%, Turkish 18% (each concentrated almost exclusively in separate areas); other 5% (2001)

Religions: Greek Orthodox 78%, Islam 18%, Maronite, Armenian Apostolic, and other 4%

Literacy rate: 98% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP: Greek Cypriot area (2004 est.): $15.71 billion; $20,300 per capita; Turkish Cypriot area (2004 est.): $4.54 billion; $7,135 per capita. Real growth rate: Greek Cypriot area: 3.2%; Turkish Cypriot area: 2.6%. Inflation: Greek Cypriot area: 2.4%; Turkish Cypriot area: 12.6% (2003 est.). Unemployment: Greek Cypriot area: 3.2%; Turkish Cypriot area: 5.6%. Arable land: 8%. Agriculture: citrus, vegetables, barley, grapes, olives, vegetables, poultry, pork, lamb, kids, dairy, cheese. Labor force: Greek Cypriot area: 330,000; Turkish Cypriot area: 95,025; Greek Cypriot area: agriculture 4.9%, industry 19.4%, services 75.6%; Turkish Cypriot area: agriculture 15.1%, industry 27%, services 57.9% (2003 est.). Industries: tourism, food and beverage processing; cement and gypsum production; ship repair and refurbishment; textiles; light chemicals; metal products; wood, paper, stone, and clay products. Natural resources: copper, pyrites, asbestos, gypsum, timber, salt, marble, clay earth pigment. Exports: Greek Cypriot area: $1.094 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): citrus, potatoes, pharmaceuticals, cement, clothing, and cigarettes; Turkish Cypriot area: $49.3 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): citrus, potatoes, textiles. Imports: Greek Cypriot area: $5.258 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): consumer goods, petroleum and lubricants, intermediate goods, machinery, transport equipment; Turkish Cypriot area: $415.2 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): vehicles, fuel, cigarettes, food, minerals, chemicals, machinery. Major trading partners: UK, Greece, Lebanon, Italy, Germany, Japan, France, China, U.S. (2003).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: Greek Cypriot area: 427,400 (2002); Turkish Cypriot area: 86,228 (2002); mobile cellular: Greek Cypriot area: 417,900 (2002); Turkish Cypriot area: 143,178 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: Greek Cypriot area: AM 7, FM 60, shortwave 1 (1998); Turkish Cypriot area: AM 3, FM 11, shortwave 1 (1998). Television broadcast stations: Greek Cypriot area: 4 (plus 225 low-power repeaters); Turkish Cypriot area: 4 (plus 5 repeaters) (Sept. 1995). Internet hosts: 5,901 (2004). Internet users: 210,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: Greek Cypriot area: 11,593 km; Turkish Cypriot area: 2,350 km; paved: Greek Cypriot area: 7,211 km; Turkish Cypriot area: 1,370 km; unpaved: Greek Cypriot area: 4,382 km (2002); Turkish Cypriot area: 980 km (1996). Ports and harbors: Famagusta, Kyrenia, Larnaca, Limassol, Vasilikos. Airports: 17 (2004 est.).

International disputes: hostilities in 1974 divided the island into two de facto autonomous entities, the internationally recognized Cypriot Government and a Turkish-Cypriot community (north Cyprus); the 1,000-strong UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has served in Cyprus since 1964 and maintains the buffer zone between north and south; March 2003 reunification talks failed, but Turkish-Cypriots later opened their borders to temporary visits by Greek Cypriots; on 24 April 2004, the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities voted in simultaneous and parallel referenda on whether to approve the UN-brokered Annan Plan that would have ended the thirty-year division of the island by establishing a new "United Cyprus Republic," a majority of Greek Cypriots voted "no"; on 1 May 2004, Cyprus entered the European Union still divided, with the EU's body of legislation and standards (acquis communitaire) suspended in the north.

Geography
The third-largest island in the Mediterranean (one and one-half times the size of Delaware), Cyprus lies off the southern coast of Turkey and the western shore of Syria. The highest peak is Mount Olympus at 6,406 ft (1,953 m).

Government
Republic. Mediation efforts by the UN seek to reunify the Greek and Turkish areas of the island under one federated system of government.

Czech Republic

National name: Ceska Republika

President: Vaclav Klaus (2003)

Prime Minister: Jiri Paroubek (2005)

Land area: 29,836 sq mi (77,276 sq km); total area: 30,450 sq mi (78,866 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 10,235,455 (growth rate: –0.1%); birth rate: 9.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 3.9/1000; life expectancy: 76.2; density per sq mi: 343

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Prague, 1,378,700 (metro. area), 1,169,800 (city proper)

Other large cities: Brno, 376,400; Ostrava, 317,700; Plzen, 164,900; Olomouc, 102,900

Monetary unit: Koruna

Language: Czech

Ethnicity/race: Czech 81.2%, Moravian 13.2%, Slovak 3.1%, Polish 0.6%, German 0.5%, Silesian 0.4%, Roma (Gypsy) 0.3%, Hungarian 0.2%, other 0.5% (1991)

Religions: atheist 39.8%, Roman Catholic 39.2%, Protestant 4.6%, Orthodox 3%, other 13.4%

Literacy rate: 100% (1999 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $172.2 billion; per capita $16,800. Real growth rate: 3.7%. Inflation: 3.2%. Unemployment: 10.6%. Arable land: 40%. Agriculture: wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, poultry. Labor force: 5.25 million; agriculture 4%, industry 38%, services 58% (2002 est.). Industries: metallurgy, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, glass, armaments. Natural resources: hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber. Exports: $66.51 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and transport equipment 52%, chemicals 5%, raw materials and fuel 9% (2003). Imports: $68.19 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and transport equipment 46%, raw materials and fuels 15%, chemicals 10% (2003). Major trading partners: Germany, Slovakia, Austria, UK, Poland, France, Italy, Netherlands, China, Russia (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 3.626 million (2003); mobile cellular: 9,708,700 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 31, FM 304, shortwave 17 (2000). Television broadcast stations: 150 (plus 1,434 repeaters) (2000). . Internet hosts: 295,677 (2004). Internet users: 2.7 million (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 9,543 km (2004). Highways: total: 127,204 km; paved: 127,204 km (including 518 km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (2002). Waterways: 664 km (on Elbe, Vltava, and Oder rivers) (2004). Ports and harbors: Decin, Prague, Usti nad Labem. Airports: 120 (2004 est.).

International disputes: in February 2005, the ICJ refused to rule on the restitution of Liechtenstein's land and property assets in the Czech Republic confiscated in 1945 as German property; individual Sudeten Germans seek restitution for property confiscated in connection with their expulsion after World War II.

Geography
The Czech Republic's central European landscape is dominated by the Bohemian Massif, which rises to heights of 3,000 ft (900 m) above sea level. This ring of mountains encircles a large elevated basin, the Bohemian Plateau. The principal rivers are the Elbe and the Vltava.

Government
Parliamentary democracy.

Egypt

Arab Republic of Egypt

National name: Jumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah

President: Hosni Mubarak (1981)

Prime Minister: Ahmed Nazif (2004)

Land area: 384,344 sq mi (995,451 sq km); total area: 386,662 sq mi (1,001,450 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 78,887,007 (growth rate: 1.8%); birth rate: 22.9/1000; infant mortality rate: 31.3/1000; life expectancy: 71.3; density per sq mi: 205

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Cairo, 15,892,400 (metro. area), 7,937,700 (city proper)

Other large cities: Alexandria, 3,891,000; Giza, 2,597,600 (part of Cairo metro. area); Shubra el Khema, 1,018,000 (part of Cairo metro. area); El Mahalla el Kubra, 462,300

Monetary unit: Egyptian pound

Languages: Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes

Ethnicity/race: Eastern Hamitic stock (Egyptians, Bedouins, and Berbers) 99%, Greek, Nubian, Armenian, other European (primarily Italian and French) 1%

Religions: Islam (mostly Sunni) 94%, Coptic Christian and other 6%

Literacy rate: 58% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $316.3 billion; per capita $4,200. Real growth rate: 4.5%. Inflation: 9.5%. Unemployment: 10.9%. Arable land: 3%. Agriculture: cotton, rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruits, vegetables; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats. Labor force: 20.71 million; agriculture 32%, industry 17%, services 51% (2001 est.). Industries: textiles, food processing, tourism, chemicals, hydrocarbons, construction, cement, metals. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, zinc. Exports: $11 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): crude oil and petroleum products, cotton, textiles, metal products, chemicals. Imports: $19.21 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, wood products, fuels. Major trading partners: U.S., Italy, UK, Germany, France, China, Saudi Arabia (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 9.6 million (2005); mobile cellular: 8,583,940 (2005). Radio broadcast stations: AM 42 (plus 15 repeater stations), FM 14, shortwave 3 (1999). Television broadcast stations: 98 (Sept. 1995). Internet hosts: 3,401 (2004). Internet users: 4.2 million (2005).

Transportation: Railways: total: 5,063 km (2004). Highways: total: 64,000 km; paved: 49,984 km; unpaved: 14,016 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 3,500 km; note: includes Nile River, Lake Nasser, Alexandria-Cairo Waterway, and numerous smaller canals in delta; Suez Canal (193.5 km including approaches) navigable by oceangoing vessels drawing up to 17.68 m (2004). Ports and harbors: Alexandria, Damietta, El Dekheila, Port Said, Suez, Zeit. Airports: 87 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Egypt and Sudan retain claims to administer the two triangular areas that extend north and south of the 1899 Treaty boundary along the 22nd Parallel, but have withdrawn their military presence; Egypt is developing the Hala'ib Triangle north of the Treaty line; since the attack on Taba and other Egyptian resort towns on the Red Sea in October 2004, Egypt vigilantly monitors the Sinai and borders with Israel and the Gaza Strip; Egypt does not extend domestic asylum to some 70,000 persons who identify as Palestinians but who largely lack UNRWA assistance and, until recently, UNHCR recognition as refugees.

Geography
Egypt, at the northeast corner of Africa on the Mediterranean Sea, is bordered on the west by Libya, on the south by the Sudan, and on the east by the Red Sea and Israel. It is nearly one and one-half times the size of Texas. Egypt is divided into two unequal, extremely arid regions by the landscape's dominant feature, the northward-flowing Nile River. The Nile starts 100 mi (161 km) south of the Mediterranean and fans out to a sea front of 155 mi between the cities of Alexandria and Port Said.

Government
Republic.

United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)

Prime Minister: Tony Blair (1997)

Land area: 93,278 sq mi (241,590 sq km); total area: 94,526 sq mi (244,820 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 60,609,153 (growth rate: 0.3%); birth rate: 10.7/1000; infant mortality rate:5.1/1000; life expectancy: 78.5; density per sq mi: 650

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): London, 11,219,000 (metro. area), 7,417,700 (city proper)

Other large cities: Glasgow, 1,099,400; Birmingham, 971,800; Liverpool, 461,900; Edinburgh, 460,000; Leeds, 417,000; Bristol, 406,500; Manchester, 390,700; Bradford, 288,400

Monetary unit: Pound sterling (£)

Languages: English, Welsh, Scots Gaelic

Ethnicity/race: English 81.5%; Scottish 9.6%; Irish 2.4%; Welsh 1.9%; Ulster 1.8%; West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other 2.8%

Religions: Anglican and Roman Catholic 40 million, Muslim 1.5 million, Presbyterian 800,000, Methodist 760,000, Sikh 500,000, Hindu 500,000, Jewish 350,000

Literacy rate: 99% (2000 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $1.782 trillion; per capita $29,600. Real growth rate: 3.2%. Inflation: 1.4%. Unemployment: 4.8%. Arable land: 23%. Agriculture: cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish. Labor force: 29.78 million; agriculture 1.5%, industry 19.1%, services 79.5% (2004). Industries: machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, and other consumer goods. Natural resources: coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica, arable land. Exports: $347.2 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco. Imports: $439.4 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs. Major trading partners: U.S., Germany, France, Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain, Italy (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 34.878 million (1997); mobile cellular: 13 million (yearend 1998). Radio broadcast stations: AM 219, FM 431, shortwave 3 (1998). Radios: 84.5 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 228 (plus 3,523 repeaters) (1995). Televisions: 30.5 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): more than 400 (2000). Internet users: 34.3 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 16,893 km (2002). Highways: total: 371,913 km; paved: 371,913 km (including 3,913 km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (1999). Waterways: 3,200 km. Ports and harbors: Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Dover, Falmouth, Felixstowe, Glasgow, Grangemouth, Hull, Leith, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Peterhead, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Scapa Flow, Southampton, Sullom Voe, Teesport, Tyne. Airports: 470 (2002).

International disputes: Gibraltar residents vote overwhelmingly in referendum against “total shared sovereignty” arrangement worked out between Spain and UK to change 300-year rule over colony; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory) and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, but in 2001 were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation since eviction in 1965; Argentina claims the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark and Iceland; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim; disputes with Iceland, Denmark, and Ireland over the Faroe Islands continental shelf boundary outside 200 NM.



Geography
The United Kingdom, consisting of Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) and Northern Ireland, is twice the size of New York State. England, in the southeast part of the British Isles, is separated from Scotland on the north by the granite Cheviot Hills; from them the Pennine chain of uplands extends south through the center of England, reaching its highest point in the Lake District in the northwest. To the west along the border of Wales—a land of steep hills and valleys—are the Cambrian Mountains, while the Cotswolds, a range of hills in Gloucestershire, extend into the surrounding shires.

Important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Thames, Humber, Tees, and Tyne. In the west are the Severn and Wye, which empty into the Bristol Channel and are navigable, as are the Mersey and Ribble.

Government
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a queen and a Parliament that has two houses: the House of Lords, with 574 life peers, 92 hereditary peers, and 26 bishops; and the House of Commons, which has 651 popularly elected members. Supreme legislative power is vested in Parliament, which sits for five years unless dissolved sooner. The House of Lords was stripped of most of its power in 1911, and now its main function is to revise legislation. In Nov. 1999 hundreds of hereditary peers were expelled in an effort to make the body more democratic. The executive power of the Crown is exercised by the cabinet, headed by the prime minister.

England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanently join as Great Britain; the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927.

Fiji

Republic of the Fiji Islands

President: Ratu Josefa Iloilo (2000)

Prime Minister: Laisenia Qarase (2001)

Total and land area: 7,054 sq mi (18,270 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 905,949 (growth rate: 1.4%); birth rate: 22.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 12.3/1000; life expectancy: 69.8; density per sq mi: 128

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Suva (on Viti Levu), 177,300

Monetary unit: Fiji dollar

Languages: English (official), Fijian, Hindustani

Ethnicity/race: Fijian 51%, Indian 44%, European, other Pacific Islanders, overseas Chinese, and other 5% (1998)

Religions: Christian 52% (Methodist 37%, Roman Catholic 9%), Hindu 38%, Islam 8%, other 2%

Literacy rate: 94% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $5.173 billion; per capita $5,900. Real growth rate: 3.6%. Inflation: 1.6% (2002 est.). Unemployment: 7.6% (1999). Arable land: 11%. Agriculture: sugarcane, coconuts, cassava (tapioca), rice, sweet potatoes, bananas; cattle, pigs, horses, goats; fish. Labor force: 137,000 (1999); agriculture, including subsistence agriculture 70% (2001 est.). Industries: tourism, sugar, clothing, copra, gold, silver, lumber, small cottage industries. Natural resources: timber, fish, gold, copper, offshore oil potential, hydropower. Exports: $609 million (f.o.b., 2002): sugar, garments, gold, timber, fish, molasses, coconut oil. Imports: $835 million (c.i.f., 2002): manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products, food, chemicals. Major trading partners: U.S., Australia, UK, Samoa, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 102,000 (2003); mobile cellular: 109,900 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 13, FM 40, shortwave 0 (1998). Television broadcast stations: n.a. Internet hosts: 493 (2003). Internet users: 55,000 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 597 km; note: belongs to the government-owned Fiji Sugar (2003). Highways: total: 3,440 km; paved: 1,692 km; unpaved: 1,748 km (1999 est.) ). Waterways: 203 km; 122 km navigable by motorized craft and 200-metric-ton barges (2004). Ports and harbors: Lambasa, Lautoka, Suva. Airports: 28 (2004 est.).

International disputes: none.

Geography
Fiji consists of 332 islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean about 1,960 mi (3,152 km) from Sydney, Australia. About 110 of these islands are inhabited. The two largest are Viti Levu (4,109 sq mi; 10,642 sq km) and Vanua Levu (2,242 sq mi; 5,807 sq km).

Government
Republic.

Finland

Republic of Finland

National name: Suomen Tasavalta—Republiken Finland

President: Tarja Halonen (2000)

Prime Minister: Matti Vanhanen (2003)

Land area: 117,942 sq mi (305,470 sq km); total area: 130,558 sq mi (338,145 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 5,231,372 (growth rate: 0.1%); birth rate: 10.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 3.5/1000; life expectancy: 78.5; density per sq mi: 44

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Helsinki, 1,162,900 (metro. area), 582,600 (city proper)

Other large cities: Espoo, 229,500; Tampere, 201,200; Vantaa, 189,200; Turku, 178,100

Monetary unit: Euro (formerly markka)

Languages: Finnish 93.4%, Swedish 5.9% (both official); small Sami- (Lapp) and Russian-speaking minorities

Ethnicity/race: Finn 93%, Swede 6%, Sami (Lapp) 0.11%, Romany (Gypsy) 0.12%, Tatar 0.02%

Religions: Evangelical Lutheran 89%, Greek Orthodox 1%, none 9%, other 1%

Literacy rate: 100% (1980 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $151.2 billion; per capita $29,000. Real growth rate: 3%. Inflation: 0.7%. Unemployment: 8.9%. Arable land: 7%. Agriculture: barley, wheat, sugar beets, potatoes; dairy cattle; fish. Labor force: 2.66 million; public services 32%, industry 22%, commerce 14%, finance, insurance, and business services 10%, agriculture and forestry 8%, transport and communications 8%, construction 6%. Industries: metals and metal products, electronics, machinery and scientific instruments, shipbuilding, pulp and paper, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, clothing. Natural resources: timber, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, nickel, gold, silver, limestone. Exports: $61.04 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals; timber, paper, pulp (1999). Imports: $45.17 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): foodstuffs, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, transport equipment, iron and steel, machinery, textile yarn and fabrics, grains (1999). Major trading partners: Germany, Sweden, U.S., UK, Russia, Netherlands, Denmark, France (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 2.548 million (2003); mobile cellular: 4.7 million (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 186, shortwave 1 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 120 (plus 431 repeaters) (1999). Internet hosts: 1,219,173 (2004). Internet users: 2.65 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 5,851 km (2004). Highways: total: 78,197 km; paved: 50,539 km (including 794 km of expressways); unpaved: 27,658 km (2004). Waterways: 7,842 km note: includes Saimaa Canal system of 3,577 km; southern part leased from Russia (2004). Ports and harbors: Hamina, Hanko, Helsinki, Kotka, Naantali, Pori, Porvou, Raahe, Rauma, Turku. Airports: 148 (2004 est.).

International disputes: various groups in Finland advocate restoration of Karelia and other areas ceded to the Soviet Union, but the Finnish Government asserts no territorial demands.

Geography
Finland is three times the size of Ohio. It is heavily forested and contains thousands of lakes, numerous rivers, and extensive areas of marshland. Except for a small highland region in the extreme northwest, the country is a lowland less than 600 ft (180 m) above sea level. Off the southwest coast are the Swedish-populated Åland Islands (581 sq mi; 1,505 sq km), which have had an autonomous status since 1921.

Government
Republic.

France

French Republic

National name: République Française

President: Jacques Chirac (1995)

Prime Minister: Dominique de Villepin (2005)

Land area: 210,668 sq mi (545,630 sq km); total area: 211,209 sq mi (547,030 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 60,876,136 (growth rate: 0.4%); birth rate: 12.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 4.2/1000; life expectancy: 79.7; density per sq mi: 289

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Paris, 11,330,700 (metro. area), 2,110,400 (city proper)

Other large cities: Marseille, 820,700; Lyon, 443,900; Toulouse, 411,800; Nice, 332,000; Nantes, 282,300; Strasbourg, 272,600; Bordeaux, 217,000

Monetary unit: Euro (formerly French franc)

Languages: French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects (Provençal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)

Ethnicity/race: Celtic and Latin with Teutonic, Slavic, North African, Southeast Asian, and Basque minorities

Religions: Roman Catholic 83%–88%, Protestant 2%, Islam 5%–10%, Jewish 1%

Literacy rate: 99% (1980 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $1.737 trillion; per capita $28,700. Real growth rate: 2.1%. Inflation: 2.3%. Unemployment: 10.1%. Arable land: 34%. Agriculture: wheat, cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, wine grapes; beef, dairy products; fish. Labor force: 27.7 million; services 71.5%, industry 24.4%, agriculture 4.1% (1999). Industries: machinery, chemicals, automobiles, metallurgy, aircraft, electronics; textiles, food processing; tourism. Natural resources: coal, iron ore, bauxite, zinc, uranium, antimony, arsenic, potash, feldspar, fluorospar, gypsum, timber, fish. Exports: $419 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages. Imports: $419.7 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and equipment, vehicles, crude oil, aircraft, plastics, chemicals. Major trading partners: Germany, Spain, UK, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, U.S. (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 33,905,400 (2003); mobile cellular: 41,683,100 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 41, FM about 3,500 (this figure is an approximation and includes many repeaters), shortwave 2 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 584 (plus 9,676 repeaters) (1995). Internet hosts: 2,396,761 (2004). Internet users: 21.9 million (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 29,519 km (2004). Highways: total: 893,100 km; paved: 893,100 km (including 12,000 km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (2002). Waterways: 8,500 km (1,686 km accessible to craft of 3,000 metric tons) (2000). Ports and harbors: Bordeaux, Calais, Dunkerque, La Pallice, Le Havre, Marseille, Nantes, Paris, Rouen, Strasbourg. Airports: 478 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Madagascar claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, and Juan de Nova Island; Comoros claims Mayotte; Mauritius claims Tromelin Island; territorial dispute between Suriname and the French overseas department of French Guiana; France asserts a territorial claim in Antarctica (Adelie Land); France and Vanuatu claim Matthew and Hunter Islands, east of New Caledonia.

Geography
France is about 80% the size of Texas. In the Alps near the Italian and Swiss borders is western Europe's highest point—Mont Blanc (15,781 ft; 4,810 m). The forest-covered Vosges Mountains are in the northeast, and the Pyrénées are along the Spanish border. Except for extreme northern France, the country may be described as four river basins and a plateau. Three of the streams flow west—the Seine into the English Channel, the Loire into the Atlantic, and the Garonne into the Bay of Biscay. The Rhône flows south into the Mediterranean. For about 100 mi (161 km), the Rhine is France's eastern border. In the Mediterranean, about 115 mi (185 km) east-southeast of Nice, is the island of Corsica (3,367 sq mi; 8,721 sq km).

Government
Fifth republic.

Germany

Federal Republic of Germany

National name: Bundesrepublik Deutschland

President: Horst Köhler (2004)

Chancellor: Angela Merkel (2005)

Land area: 135,236 sq mi (350,261 sq km); total area: 137,847 sq mi (357,021 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 82,422,299 (growth rate: –0.02%); birth rate: 8.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 4.1/1000; life expectancy: 78.8; density per sq mi: 609

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Berlin (capital since Oct. 3, 1990), 3,933,300 (metro. area), 3,274,500 (city proper)

Other large cities: Hamburg, 1,686,100; Munich, 1,185,400; Cologne, 965,300; Frankfurt, 648,000; Essen, 588,800; Dortmund, 587,600; Stuttgart, 581,100; Düsseldorf, 568,900; Bremen, 527,900; Hanover, 516,300; Duisburg, 513,400

Monetary unit: Euro (formerly Deutsche mark)

Language: German

Ethnicity/race: German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, Italian 0.7%, Greek 0.4%, Polish 0.4%, other 4.6%

Religions: Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Islam 3.7%, Unaffiliated or other 28.3%

Literacy rate: 99% (1977 est.)

Economic summary GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $2.362 trillion; per capita $28,700. Real growth rate: 1.7%. Inflation: 1.6%. Unemployment: 10.6%. Arable land: 34%. Agriculture: potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry. Labor force: 42.63 million; industry 33.4%, agriculture 2.8%, services 63.8% (1999). Industries: among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages; shipbuilding; textiles. Natural resources: iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel, arable land. Exports: $893.3 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles. Imports: $716.7 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals. Major trading partners: France, U.S., UK, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Spain, China (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 54.35 million (2003); mobile cellular: 64.8 million (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 51, FM 767, shortwave 4 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 373 (plus 8,042 repeaters) (1995). Internet hosts: 2,686,119 (2004). Internet users: 39 million (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 46,142 km (20,100 km electrified) (2004). Highways: total: 230,735 km; paved: 230,735 km (including 11,515 km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (2002). Waterways: 7,500 km (1999); note: Rhine River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and Black Sea (2004). Ports and harbors: Bremen, Bremerhaven, Brunsbuttel, Duisburg, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Mainz, Rostock, Wilhemshaven. Airports: 550 (2004 est.).

International disputes: none.

Geography
Located in central Europe, Germany is made up of the North German Plain, the Central German Uplands (Mittelgebirge), and the Southern German Highlands. The Bavarian plateau in the southwest averages 1,600 ft (488 m) above sea level, but it reaches 9,721 ft (2,962 m) in the Zugspitze Mountains, the highest point in the country. Germany's major rivers are the Danube, the Elbe, the Oder, the Weser, and the Rhine. Germany is about the size of Montana.

Government
Federal republic.

United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)

Prime Minister: Tony Blair (1997)

Land area: 93,278 sq mi (241,590 sq km); total area: 94,526 sq mi (244,820 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 60,609,153 (growth rate: 0.3%); birth rate: 10.7/1000; infant mortality rate:5.1/1000; life expectancy: 78.5; density per sq mi: 650

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): London, 11,219,000 (metro. area), 7,417,700 (city proper)

Other large cities: Glasgow, 1,099,400; Birmingham, 971,800; Liverpool, 461,900; Edinburgh, 460,000; Leeds, 417,000; Bristol, 406,500; Manchester, 390,700; Bradford, 288,400

Monetary unit: Pound sterling (£)

Languages: English, Welsh, Scots Gaelic

Ethnicity/race: English 81.5%; Scottish 9.6%; Irish 2.4%; Welsh 1.9%; Ulster 1.8%; West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other 2.8%

Religions: Anglican and Roman Catholic 40 million, Muslim 1.5 million, Presbyterian 800,000, Methodist 760,000, Sikh 500,000, Hindu 500,000, Jewish 350,000

Literacy rate: 99% (2000 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $1.782 trillion; per capita $29,600. Real growth rate: 3.2%. Inflation: 1.4%. Unemployment: 4.8%. Arable land: 23%. Agriculture: cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish. Labor force: 29.78 million; agriculture 1.5%, industry 19.1%, services 79.5% (2004). Industries: machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, and other consumer goods. Natural resources: coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica, arable land. Exports: $347.2 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco. Imports: $439.4 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs. Major trading partners: U.S., Germany, France, Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain, Italy (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 34.878 million (1997); mobile cellular: 13 million (yearend 1998). Radio broadcast stations: AM 219, FM 431, shortwave 3 (1998). Radios: 84.5 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 228 (plus 3,523 repeaters) (1995). Televisions: 30.5 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): more than 400 (2000). Internet users: 34.3 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 16,893 km (2002). Highways: total: 371,913 km; paved: 371,913 km (including 3,913 km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (1999). Waterways: 3,200 km. Ports and harbors: Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Dover, Falmouth, Felixstowe, Glasgow, Grangemouth, Hull, Leith, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Peterhead, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Scapa Flow, Southampton, Sullom Voe, Teesport, Tyne. Airports: 470 (2002).

International disputes: Gibraltar residents vote overwhelmingly in referendum against “total shared sovereignty” arrangement worked out between Spain and UK to change 300-year rule over colony; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory) and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, but in 2001 were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation since eviction in 1965; Argentina claims the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark and Iceland; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim; disputes with Iceland, Denmark, and Ireland over the Faroe Islands continental shelf boundary outside 200 NM.
Geography
The United Kingdom, consisting of Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) and Northern Ireland, is twice the size of New York State. England, in the southeast part of the British Isles, is separated from Scotland on the north by the granite Cheviot Hills; from them the Pennine chain of uplands extends south through the center of England, reaching its highest point in the Lake District in the northwest. To the west along the border of Wales—a land of steep hills and valleys—are the Cambrian Mountains, while the Cotswolds, a range of hills in Gloucestershire, extend into the surrounding shires.

Important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Thames, Humber, Tees, and Tyne. In the west are the Severn and Wye, which empty into the Bristol Channel and are navigable, as are the Mersey and Ribble.

Government
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a queen and a Parliament that has two houses: the House of Lords, with 574 life peers, 92 hereditary peers, and 26 bishops; and the House of Commons, which has 651 popularly elected members. Supreme legislative power is vested in Parliament, which sits for five years unless dissolved sooner. The House of Lords was stripped of most of its power in 1911, and now its main function is to revise legislation. In Nov. 1999 hundreds of hereditary peers were expelled in an effort to make the body more democratic. The executive power of the Crown is exercised by the cabinet, headed by the prime minister.

England has existed as a unified entity since the 10th century; the union between England and Wales, begun in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan, was not formalized until 1536 with an Act of Union; in another Act of Union in 1707, England and Scotland agreed to permanently join as Great Britain; the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was implemented in 1801, with the adoption of the name the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 formalized a partition of Ireland; six northern Irish counties remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland and the current name of the country, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was adopted in 1927.

Greece

Hellenic Republic

National name: Elliniki Dimokratia

President: Karolos Papoulias (2005)

Prime Minister: Kostas Karamanlis (2004)

Land area: 50,502 sq mi (130,800 sq km); total area: 50,942 sq mi (131,940 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 10,688,058 (growth rate: 0.2%); birth rate: 9.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 5.4/1000; life expectancy: 79.2; density per sq mi: 212

Capital (2003 est.): Athens, 3,247,000 (metro. area), 747,300 (city proper)

Other large cities: Thessaloníki, 361,200; Piraeus, 179,300; Patras, 167,000

Monetary unit: Euro (formerly drachma)

Languages: Greek 99% (official), English, French

Ethnicity/race: Greek 98%, other 2%; note: the Greek government states there are no ethnic divisions in Greece

Religions: Greek Orthodox 98%, Islam 1.3%, other 0.7%

Literacy rate: 98% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $226.4 billion; per capita $21,300. Real growth rate: 3.7%. Inflation: 2.9%. Unemployment: 10%. Arable land: 21%. Agriculture: wheat, corn, barley, sugar beets, olives, tomatoes, wine, tobacco, potatoes; beef, dairy products. Labor force: 4.4 million; agriculture 12%, industry 20%, services 68% (2004 est.). Industries: tourism; food and tobacco processing, textiles; chemicals, metal products; mining, petroleum. Natural resources: lignite, petroleum, iron ore, bauxite, lead, zinc, nickel, magnesite, marble, salt, hydropower potential. Exports: $15.5 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): food and beverages, manufactured goods, petroleum products, chemicals, textiles. Imports: $54.28 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery, transport equipment, fuels, chemicals. Major trading partners: Germany, Italy, UK, U.S., Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Russia, South Korea, Netherlands, Japan (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 5,205,100 (2003); mobile cellular: 8,936,200 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 26, FM 88, shortwave 4 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 36 (plus 1,341 low-power repeaters); also two stations in the US Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (1995). Internet hosts: 208,977 (2004). Internet users: 1,718,400 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 2,571 km (2004). Highways: total: 117,000 km; paved: 107,406 km (including 470 km of expressways); unpaved: 9,594 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 6 km; note: Corinth Canal (6 km) crosses the Isthmus of Corinth; shortens sea voyage by 325 km (2004). Ports and harbors: Agioitheodoroi, Aspropyrgos, Irakleion, Pachi, Peiraiefs, Thessaloniki. Airports: 80 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Greece and Turkey continue discussions to resolve their complex maritime, air, territorial, and boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea; Cyprus question with Turkey; Greece rejects the use of the name Macedonia or Republic of Macedonia

Geography
Located in southern Europe, Greece forms an irregular-shaped peninsula in the Mediterranean with two additional large peninsulas projecting from it: the Chalcidice and the Peloponnese. The Greek Islands are generally subdivided into two groups, according to location: the Ionian Islands (including Corfu, Cephalonia, and Leucas) west of the mainland and the Aegean Islands (including Euboea, Samos, Chios, Lesbos, and Crete) to the east and south. North-central Greece, Epirus, and western Macedonia are all mountainous. The main chain of the Pindus Mountains extends from northwest Greece to the Peloponnese. Mount Olympus, rising to 9,570 ft (2,909 m), is the highest point in the country.

Government
Parliamentary republic.

Hungary

Republic of Hungary

National name: Magyar Köztársaság

President: László Sólyom (2005)

Prime Minister: Ferenc Gyurcsány (2004)

Land area: 35,653 sq mi (92,341 sq km); total area: 35,919 sq mi (93,030 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 9,981,334 (growth rate: –0.3%); birth rate: 9.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 8.4/1000; life expectancy: 72.7; density per sq mi: 280

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Budapest, 2,597,000 (metro. area), 1,769,500 (city proper)

Other large cities: Debrecen, 210,500; Miskolc, 182,600; Szeged, 173,200; Pécs, 163,900

Monetary unit: Forint

Languages: Magyar (Hungarian) 98.2%, other 1.8%

Ethnicity/race: Hungarian 89.9%, Roma 4%, German 2.6%, Serb 2%, Slovak 0.8%, Romanian 0.7%

Religions: Roman Catholic 67.5%, Calvinist 20%, Lutheran 5%, atheist and others 7.5%

Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $149.3 billion; per capita $14,900. Real growth rate: 3.9%. Inflation: 7%. Unemployment: 5.9%. Arable land: 50%. Agriculture: wheat, corn, sunflower seed, potatoes, sugar beets; pigs, cattle, poultry, dairy products. Labor force: 4.17 million; agriculture 6.2%, industry 27.1%, services 66.7% (2002). Industries: mining, metallurgy, construction materials, processed foods, textiles, chemicals (especially pharmaceuticals), motor vehicles. Natural resources: bauxite, coal, natural gas, fertile soils, arable land. Exports: $54.62 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and equipment 61.1%, other manufactures 28.7%, food products 6.5%, raw materials 2%, fuels and electricity 1.6% (2003). Imports: $58.68 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and equipment 51.6%, other manufactures 35.7%, fuels and electricity 7.7%, food products 3.1%, raw materials 2.0% (2003). Major trading partners: Germany, Austria, Italy, France, UK, Netherlands, China, Russia, Japan (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 3,666,400 (2002); mobile cellular: 6,862,800 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 17, FM 57, shortwave 3 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 35 (plus 161 low-power repeaters) (1995). Internet hosts: 383,071 (2004). Internet users: 1.6 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 7,875 km (2004). Highways: total: 159,568 km; paved: 70,050 km (including 533 km of expressways); unpaved: 89,518 km (2002). Waterways: 1,622 km (most on Danube River) (2004). Ports and harbors: Budapest, Dunaujvaros, Gyor-Gonyu, Csepel, Baja, Mohacs (2003). Airports: 44 (2004 est.).

International disputes: in 2004, Hungary amended the status law extending special social and cultural benefits and voted down a referendum to extend dual citizenship to ethnic Hungarians living in neighboring states, which have objected to such measures; consultations continue between Slovakia and Hungary over Hungary's completion of its portion the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros hydroelectric dam project along the Danube; as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Hungary must implement the strict Schengen border rules.

Geography
This central European country is the size of Indiana. Most of Hungary is a fertile, rolling plain lying east of the Danube River and drained by the Danube and Tisza rivers. In the extreme northwest is the Little Hungarian Plain. South of that area is Lake Balaton (250 sq mi; 648 sq km).

Government
Parliamentary democracy.

Iceland

Republic of Iceland

National name: Lydveldid Island

President: Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (2004)

Prime Minister: Halldór Ásgrímsson (2004)

Land area: 38,707 sq mi (100,251 sq km); total area: 39,769 sq mi (103,000 sq km)1

Population (2006 est.): 299,388 (growth rate: 0.9%); birth rate: 13.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 3.3/1000; life expectancy: 80.3; density per sq mi: 8

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Reykjavik, 184,200 (metro. area), 114,800 (city proper)

Monetary unit: Icelandic króna

Languages: Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken

Ethnicity/race: homogeneous mixture of Norse/Celtic descendants 94%, population of foreign origin 6%

Religions: Church of Iceland (Evangelical Lutheran) 87.1%, other Protestant 4.1%, Roman Catholic 1.7%, other 7.1% (2002)

Literacy rate: 100% (1997 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $9.373 billion; per capita $31,900. Real growth rate: 1.8%. Inflation: 4%. Unemployment: 3.1%. Arable land: 0.07%. Agriculture: potatoes, green vegetables, mutton, dairy products, fish. Labor force: 158,100; agriculture, fishing and fish processing 10.3%, industry 18.3%, services 71.4% (2003). Industries: fish processing; aluminum smelting, ferrosilicon production, geothermal power; tourism. Natural resources: fish, hydropower, geothermal power, diatomite. Exports: $2.902 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): fish and fish products 70%, aluminum, animal products, ferrosilicon, diatomite. Imports: $3.307 billion (2004 est.): machinery and equipment, petroleum products; foodstuffs, textiles. Major trading partners: UK, Germany, Netherlands, U.S., Spain, Denmark, Norway, France, Sweden, Italy (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 190,700 (2003); mobile cellular: 279,100 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM about 70 (including repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 14 (plus 156 low-power repeaters) (1997). Internet hosts: 122,175 (2004). Internet users: 195,000 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 13,004 km; paved: 4,331 km; unpaved: 8,673 km (2004). Ports and harbors: Grundartangi, Hafnarfjordur, Hornafjordhur, Reykjavik, Seydhisfjordhur. Airports: 98 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Iceland disputes Denmark's alignment of the Faroe Islands' fisheries median line; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm.

Geography
Iceland, an island about the size of Kentucky, lies in the north Atlantic Ocean east of Greenland and just touches the Arctic Circle. It is one of the most volcanic regions in the world. More than 13% is covered by snowfields and glaciers, and most of the people live in the 7% of the island that is made up of fertile coastland. The Gulf Stream keeps Iceland's climate milder than one would expect from an island near the Arctic Circle.

Government
Constitutional republic.

Indonesia

Republic of Indonesia

National name: Republik Indonesia

President: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2004)

Land area: 705,188 sq mi (1,826,440 sq km); total area: 741, 100 sq mi (1,919,440 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 245,452,739 (growth rate: 1.4%); birth rate: 20.3/1000; infant mortality rate: 34.4/1000; life expectancy: 69.9; density per sq mi: 348

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Jakarta, 17,891,000 (metro. area), 8,827,900 (city proper)

Other large cities: Surabaya, 3,038,800; Bandung, 2,733,500; Medan, 2,204,300; Semarang, 1,267,100

Monetary unit: Rupiah

Languages: Bahasa Indonesia (official), English, Dutch, Javanese, and more than 580 other languages and dialects

Ethnicity/race: Javanese 45%, Sundanese 14%, Madurese 7.5%, coastal Malays 7.5%, other 26%

Religions: Islam 88%, Protestant 5%, Roman Catholic 3%, Hindu 2%, Buddhist 1%, other 1%

Literacy rate: 89% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $827.4 billion; per capita $3,500. Real growth rate: 4.9%. Inflation: 6.1%. Unemployment: 9.2%. Arable land: 11%. Agriculture: rice, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, rubber, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, copra, poultry, beef, pork, eggs. Labor force: 111.5 million; agriculture 45%, industry 16%, services 39% (1999 est.) Industries: petroleum and natural gas, textiles, apparel, footwear, mining, cement, chemical fertilizers, plywood, rubber, food, tourism. Natural resources: petroleum, tin, natural gas, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper, fertile soils, coal, gold, silver. Exports: $69.86 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): oil and gas, electrical appliances, plywood, textiles, rubber. Imports: $45.07 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and equipment; chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs. Major trading partners: Japan, U.S., Singapore, South Korea, China, Thailand, Australia, Saudi Arabia (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 7.75 million (2002); mobile cellular: 11.7 million (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 678, FM 43, shortwave 82 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 41 (1999). Internet hosts: 62,036 (2003). Internet users: 8 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 6,458 km (2004). Highways: total: 342,700 km; paved: 158,670 km; unpaved: 184,030 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 21,579 km; note: Sumatra 5,471 km, Java and Madura 820 km, Kalimantan 10,460 km, Sulawesi (Celebes) 241 km, Irian Jaya 4,587 km (2004). Ports and harbors: Banjarmasin, Belawan, Ciwandan, Krueg Geukueh, Palembang, Panjang, Sungai Pakning, Tanjung Perak, Tanjung Priok. Airports: 667 (2004 est.).

International disputes: East Timor-Indonesia Boundary Committee continues to meet, survey and delimit land boundary, but several sections of the boundary remain unresolved; Indonesia and East Timor contest the sovereignty of the uninhabited coral island of Palau Batek/Fatu Sinai, which hinders a decision on a northern maritime boundary; a 1997 treaty between Indonesia and Australia settled some parts of their maritime boundary but outstanding issues remain; ICJ's award of Sipadan and Ligitan islands to Malaysia in 2002 left maritime boundary in the hydrocarbon-rich Celebes Sea in dispute, culminating in hostile confrontations in March 2005 over concessions to the Ambalat oil block; the ICJ decision has prompted Indonesia to assert claims to and to establish a presence on its smaller outer islands; Indonesia and Singapore pledged in 2005 to finalize their 1973 maritime boundary agreement by defining unresolved areas north of Batam Island; Indonesian secessionists, squatters, and illegal migrants create repatriation problems for Papua New Guinea; piracy remains a problem in the Malacca Strait.

Geography
Indonesia is an archipelago in Southeast Asia consisting of 17,000 islands (6,000 inhabited) and straddling the equator. The largest islands are Sumatra, Java (the most populous), Bali, Kalimantan (Indonesia's part of Borneo), Sulawesi (Celebes), the Nusa Tenggara islands, the Moluccas Islands, and Irian Jaya (also called West Papua), the western part of New Guinea. Its neighbor to the north is Malaysia and to the east is Papua New Guinea.

Indonesia, part of the “ring of fire,” has the largest number of active volcanoes in the world. Earthquakes are frequent. Wallace's line, a zoological demarcation between Asian and Australian flora and fauna, divides Indonesia.

Government
Republic.

Iran

Islamic Republic of Iran

National name: Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Iran

Chief of State: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (1989)

President: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005)

Land area: 631,659 sq mi (1,635,999 sq km); total area: 636,296 sq mi (1,648,000 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 68,688,433 (growth rate: 1.1%); birth rate: 17.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 40.3/1000; life expectancy: 70.3; density per sq mi: 109

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Teheran, 11,224,800 (metro. area), 7,893,700 (city proper)

Other large cities: Mashad, 2,061,100; Isfahan, 1,378,600; Tabriz, 1,213,400

Monetary unit: Rial

Languages: Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%

Ethnicity/race: Persian 51%, Azerbaijani 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%

Religions: Islam 98% (Shi'a 89%, Sunni 9%); Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha'i 2%

Literacy rate: 79% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $516.7 billion; per capita $7,700. Real growth rate: 6.3%. Inflation: 15.5%. Unemployment: 11.2%. Arable land: 9%. Agriculture: wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets, fruits, nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool; caviar. Labor force: 23 million; note: shortage of skilled labor; agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (2001 est.). Industries: petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and vegetable oil production), metal fabrication, armaments. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur. Exports: $38.79 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): petroleum 80%, chemical and petrochemical products, fruits and nuts, carpets. Imports: $31.3 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): industrial raw materials and intermediate goods, capital goods, foodstuffs and other consumer goods, technical services, military supplies. Major trading partners: Japan, China, Italy, Taiwan, Turkey, South Korea, Germany, France, UAE, Russia (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 14,571,100 (2003); mobile cellular: 3,376,500 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 72, FM 5, shortwave 5 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 28 (plus 450 low-power repeaters) (1997). Internet hosts: 5,269 (2004). Internet users: 4.3 million (2003).

Transportation: Railways: 7,203 km (2004). Highways: total: 167,157 km; paved: 94,109 km (including 890 km of expressways); unpaved: 73,048 km (1998). Waterways: 850 km (on Karun River and Lake Urmia) (2004). Ports and harbors: Assaluyeh, Bushehr. Airports: 305 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Iran protests Afghanistan's limiting flow of dammed tributaries to the Helmand River in periods of drought; Iraq's lack of a maritime boundary with Iran prompts jurisdiction disputes beyond the mouth of the Shatt al Arab in the Persian Gulf; Iran and UAE engage in direct talks and solicit Arab League support to resolve disputes over Iran's occupation of Tunb Islands and Abu Musa Island; Iran stands alone among littoral states in insisting upon a division of the Caspian Sea into five equal sectors

Geography
Iran, a Middle Eastern country south of the Caspian Sea and north of the Persian Gulf, is three times the size of Arizona. It shares borders with Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

The Elburz Mountains in the north rise to 18,603 ft (5,670 m) at Mount Damavend. From northwest to southeast, the country is crossed by a desert 800 mi (1,287 km) long.

Government
Iran has been an Islamic theocracy since the Pahlavi monarchy regime was overthrown on Feb. 11, 1979.

Ireland

National name: Éire

President: Mary McAleese (1997)

Taoiseach (Prime Minister): Bertie Ahern (1997)

Land area: 26,598 sq mi (68,889 sq km); total area: 27,135 sq mi (70,280 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 4,062,235 (growth rate: 1.2%); birth rate: 14.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 5.3/1000; life expectancy: 77.7; density per sq mi: 153

Capital (2003 est.): Dublin, 1,018,500

Other large cities: Cork, 193,400; Limerick, 84,900; Galway, 67,200

Monetary units: Euro (formerly Irish pound [punt])

Languages: English, Irish (Gaelic)

Ethnicity/race: Celtic, English

Religions: Roman Catholic 91.6%, Anglican 2.5%, other 5.9%

Literacy rate: 98% (1981 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $126.4 billion; per capita $31,900. Real growth rate: 5.1%. Inflation: 2.2%. Unemployment: 4.3%. Arable land: 15%. Agriculture: turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat; beef, dairy products. Labor force: 1.92 million; agriculture 8%, industry 29%, services 64% (2002 est.). Industries: steel, lead, zinc, silver, aluminum, barite, and gypsum mining processing; food products, brewing, textiles, clothing; chemicals, pharmaceuticals; machinery, rail transportation equipment, passenger and commercial vehicles, ship construction and refurbishment; glass and crystal; software, tourism. Natural resources: zinc, lead, natural gas, barite, copper, gypsum, limestone, dolomite, peat, silver. Exports: $103.8 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and equipment, computers, chemicals, pharmaceuticals; live animals, animal products. Imports: $60.65 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): data processing equipment, other machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum and petroleum products, textiles, clothing. Major trading partners: U.S., UK, Belgium, Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy (2003)

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 1.955 million (2003); mobile cellular: 3.4 million (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 9, FM 106, shortwave 0 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 4 (many low-power repeaters) (2001). Internet hosts: 162,228 (2004). Internet users: 1.26 million (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 3,312 km (2004). Highways: total: 95,736 km; paved: 95,736 km (including 125 km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (2002). Waterways: 753 km (pleasure craft only) (2004). Ports and harbors: Cork, Dublin, New Ross, Shannon Foynes, Waterford. Airports: 36 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Ireland, Iceland, and the UK dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm.

Geography
Ireland is situated in the Atlantic Ocean and separated from Great Britain by the Irish Sea. Half the size of Arkansas, it occupies the entire island except for the six counties that make up Northern Ireland. Ireland resembles a basin—a central plain rimmed with mountains, except in the Dublin region. The mountains are low, with the highest peak, Carrantuohill in County Kerry, rising to 3,415 ft (1,041 m). The principal river is the Shannon, which begins in the north-central area, flows south and southwest for about 240 mi (386 km), and empties into the Atlantic.

Government
Republic.

Israel

State of Israel

National name: Medinat Yisra'el

President: Moshe Katsav (2000)

Prime Minister: Ehud Olmert (2006)

Land area: 7,849 sq mi (20,329 sq km); total area: 8,019 sq mi (20,770 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 6,352,117 (growth rate: 1.2%); birth rate: 18.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 6.9/1000; life expectancy: 79.5; density per sq mi: 809

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Jerusalem,1 695,500

Other large cities: Tel Aviv, 365,300; Haifa, 280,200

Monetary unit: Shekel

Languages: Hebrew (official), Arabic, English

Ethnicity/race: Jewish 80.1% (Europe/Americas/Oceania-born 32.1%, Israel-born 20.8%, Africa-born 14.6%, Asia-born 12.6%), non-Jewish 19.9% (mostly Arab) (1996 est.)

Religions: Judaism 80.1%, Islam 14.6% (mostly Sunni), Christian 2.1%, others 3.2% (1996 est.)

Literacy rate: 95% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $129 billion; per capita $20,800. Real growth rate: 3.9%. Inflation: 0%. Unemployment: 10.7%. Arable land: 16%. Agriculture: citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry, dairy products. Labor force: 2.68 million; public services 31.2%, manufacturing 20.2%, finance and business 13.1%, commerce 12.8%, construction 7.5%, personal and other services 6.4%, transport, storage, and communications 6.2%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 2.6% (1996). Industries: high-technology projects (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics, fiber optics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, construction, metals products, chemical products, plastics, diamond cutting, textiles and footwear. Natural resources: timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand. Exports: 34.41 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel. Imports: $36.84 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, grain, consumer goods. Major trading partners: U.S., Belgium, Hong Kong, Germany, UK, Switzerland, Italy (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 3.006 million (2002); mobile cellular: 6.334 million (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 23, FM 15, shortwave 2 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 17 (plus 36 low-power repeaters) (1995). Internet hosts: 437,516 (2004). Internet users: 2 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 640 km (2004). Highways: total: 16,903 km; paved: 16,903 km (including 56 km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (2002). Ports and harbors: Ashdod, Elat (Eilat), Hadera, Haifa. Airports: 51 (2004 est.).

International disputes: West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel announced its intention to pull out Israeli settlers and withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the northern West Bank in 2005; Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied (Lebanon claims the Shab'a Farms area of Golan Heights); since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) headquartered in Jerusalem monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region.
1. Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950, but the U.S., like nearly all other countries, maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv.

Geography
Israel, slightly larger than Massachusetts, lies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Egypt on the west, Syria and Jordan on the east, and Lebanon on the north. Its maritime plain is extremely fertile. The southern Negev region, which comprises almost half the total area, is largely a desert. The Jordan, the only important river, flows from the north through Lake Hule (Waters of Merom) and Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee or Sea of Tiberias), finally entering the Dead Sea, 1,349 ft (411 m) below sea level—the world's lowest land elevation.

Government
Parliamentary democracy.

Italy

Italian Republic

National name: Repubblica Italiana

President: Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (1999)

Prime Minister: Silvio Berlusconi (2001)

Land area: 113,521 sq mi (294,019 sq km); total area: 116,306 sq mi (301,230 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 58,133,509 (growth rate: 0.04%); birth rate: 8.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 5.8/1000; life expectancy: 79.8; density per sq mi: 512

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Rome, 3,550,900 (metro. area), 2,455,600 (city proper)

Other large cities: Milan, 1,180,700; Naples, 991,700; Turin, 856,000; Palermo, 651,500; Genoa, 602,500; Bologna, 369,300; Florence, 351,600; Bari, 311,900; Catania, 305,900; Venice, 265,700

Monetary unit: Euro (formerly lira)

Languages: Italian (official); German-, French-, and Slovene-speaking minorities

Ethnicity/race: Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian- and Greek-Italians in the south)

Religions: Roman Catholic (predominant), Protestant, Jewish, Islamic

Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $1.609 trillion; per capita $27,700. Real growth rate: 1.3%. Inflation: 2.3%. Unemployment: 8.6%. Arable land: 28%. Agriculture: fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; beef, dairy products; fish. Labor force: 24.27 million; services 63%, industry 32%, agriculture 5% (2001). Industries: tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics. Natural resources: mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal, arable land. Exports: $336.4 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; food, beverages and tobacco; minerals and nonferrous metals. Imports: $329.3 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages and tobacco. Major trading partners: Germany, France, U.S., Spain, UK, Netherlands, Belgium (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 26.596 million (2003); mobile cellular: 55.918 million (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM about 100, FM about 4,600, shortwave 9 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 358 (plus 4,728 repeaters) (1995). . Internet hosts: 1,437,511 (2004). Internet users: 18.5 million (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 19,319 km (2004). Highways: total: 479,688 km; paved: 479,688 km (including 6,621 km of expressways); unpaved: 0 km (1999). Waterways: 2,400 km; note: used for commercial traffic; of limited overall value compared to road and rail (2004). Ports and harbors: Augusta, Genoa, Livorno, Melilli Oil Terminal, Ravenna, Taranto, Trieste, Venice. Airports: 134 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Italy's long coastline and developed economy entices tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from southeastern Europe and northern Africa.

Geography
Italy, slightly larger than Arizona, is a long peninsula shaped like a boot, surrounded on the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and on the east by the Adriatic. It is bounded by France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia to the north. The Apennine Mountains form the peninsula's backbone; the Alps form its northern boundary. The largest of its many northern lakes is Garda (143 sq mi; 370 sq km); the Po, its principal river, flows from the Alps on Italy's western border and crosses the Lombard plain to the Adriatic Sea. Several islands form part of Italy; the largest are Sicily (9,926 sq mi; 25,708 sq km) and Sardinia (9,301 sq mi; 24,090 sq km).

Government
Republic.

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