East Timor
Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
National name: Republika Demokratika Timor Lorosa'e/Republica Democratica de Timor-Leste
President: José Alexandre (Xanana) Gusmão (2002)
Prime Minister: Mari Alkatiri (2002)
Total and land area: 5,641 sq mi (14,609 sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 1,062,777 (growth rate: 2.1%); birth rate: 27.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 45.9/1000; life expectancy: 66.3; density per sq mi: 188
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Dili, 50,800
Monetary unit: U.S. dollar
Languages: Tetum, Portuguese (official); Bahasa Indonesia, English; other indigenous languages, including Tetum, Galole, Mambae, and Kemak
Ethnicity/race: Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian), Papuan, small Chinese minority
Religions: Roman Catholic 90%, Islam 4%, Protestant 3%, Hindu 0.5%, Buddhist, animist (1992 est.)
Literacy rate: 48% (2001)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $370 million; per capita $400. Real growth rate: 1%. Inflation: 4% (2003 est.). Unemployment: 50% (including underemployment) (1992 est.). Arable land: 5%. Agriculture: coffee, rice, maize, cassava, sweet potatoes, soybeans, cabbage, mangoes, bananas, vanilla. Labor force: n.a. Industries: printing, soap manufacturing, handicrafts, woven cloth. Natural resources: gold, petroleum, natural gas, manganese, marble. Exports: $8 million (2004 est.): coffee, sandalwood, marble; note—the potential for oil and vanilla exports. Imports: $167 million (2004 est.): food, gasoline, kerosene, machinery. Major trading partners: Portugal, Taiwan, Germany, U.S., Indonesia, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Portugal, Malaysia, China.
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: n.a.; mobile cellular: n.a.. Radio broadcast stations: n.a. Television broadcast stations: n.a. Internet hosts: n.a. Internet users: n.a.
Transportation: Railways: total: 0 km. Highways: total: 3,800 km; paved: 428 km; unpaved: 3,372 km (1995). Waterways: n.a. Ports and harbors: n.a. Airports: 8 (2004 est.).
International disputes: UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) has maintained about a thousand peacekeepers in East Timor since 2002; East Timor-Indonesia Boundary Committee continues to meet, survey, and delimit the land boundary, but several sections of the boundary especially around the Oekussi enclave remain unresolved; Indonesia and East Timor contest the sovereignty of the uninhabited coral island of Palau Batek/Fatu Sinai, which prevents delimitation of the northern maritime boundaries; many of 28,000 East Timorese refugees still residing in Indonesia in 2003 have returned, but many continue to refuse repatriation; East Timor and Australia continue to meet but disagree over how to delimit a permanent maritime boundary and share unexploited potential petroleum resources that fall outside the Joint Petroleum Development Area covered by the 2002 Timor Sea Treaty; dispute with Australia also hampers creation of a southern maritime boundary with Indonesia.
Geography
East Timor is located in the eastern part of Timor, an island in the Indonesian archipelago that lies between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. East Timor includes the enclave of Oecussi, which is located within West Timor (Indonesia). After Indonesia, East Timor's closest neighbor is Australia, 400 mi to the south. It is semiarid and mountainous.
Government
Republic.
Ecuador
Republic of Ecuador
National name: República del Ecuador
President: Alfredo Palacio (2005)
Land area: 106,888 sq mi (276,840 sq km); total area: 109, 483 sq mi (283,560 sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 13,547,510 (growth rate: 1.5%); birth rate: 22.3/1000; infant mortality rate: 22.9/1000; life expectancy: 76.4; density per sq mi: 127
Capital (2003 est.): Quito 1,780,700 (metro. area), 1,443,900 (city proper)
Largest cities: Guayaquil, 2,597,600 (metro. area), 2,013,500 (city proper); Cuenca, 285,700
Monetary unit: U.S. dollar
Languages: Spanish (official), Quechua, other Amerindian languages
Ethnicity/race: mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 65%, Amerindian 25%, Spanish 7%, black 3%
Religion: Roman Catholic 95%
Literacy rate: 93% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $49.51 billion; per capita $3,700. Real growth rate: 5.8%. Inflation: 2%. Unemployment: 11.1%, underemployment 47%. Arable land: 6%. Agriculture: bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, manioc (tapioca), plantains, sugarcane; cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products; balsa wood; fish, shrimp . Labor force: 4.53 million (urban); agriculture 8%, industry 24%, services 68% (2001). Industries: petroleum, food processing, textiles, wood products, chemicals. Natural resources: petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower. Exports: $7.56 billion (2004 est.): petroleum, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp. Imports: $7.65 billion (2004 est.): vehicles, medicinal products, telecommunications equipment, electricity. Major trading partners: U.S., Colombia, Germany, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Japan (2003).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 1.549 million (2003); mobile cellular: 2,394,400 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 392, FM 35, shortwave 29 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 7 (plus 14 repeaters) (2001). Televisions: 2.5 million (2001). Internet hosts: 3,188 (2003). Internet users: 569,700 (2003).
Transportation: Railways: total: 966 km (2004). Highways: total: 43,197 km; paved: 8,164 km; unpaved: 35,033 km (2002). Waterways: 1,500 km (most inaccessible) (2003). Ports and harbors: Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, La Libertad, Manta, Puerto Bolivar. Airports: 205 (2004 est.).
International disputes: organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia penetrate across Ecuador's shared border and caused over 20,000 refugees to flee into Ecuador in 2004
Geography
Ecuador, about equal in area to Nevada, is in the northwest part of South America fronting on the Pacific. To the north is Colombia and to the east and south is Peru. Two high and parallel ranges of the Andes, traversing the country from north to south, are topped by tall volcanic peaks. The highest is Chimborazo at 20,577 ft (6,272 m). The Galápagos Islands (or Colón Archipelago: 3,029 sq mi; 7,845 sq km), in the Pacific Ocean about 600 mi (966 km) west of the South American mainland, became part of Ecuador in 1832.
Government
Republic.
El Salvador
Republic of El Salvador
National name: República de El Salvador
President: Antonio Saca (2004)
Land area: 8,000 sq mi (20,720 sq km); total area: 8,124 sq mi (21,040 sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 6,822,378 (growth rate: 1.7%); birth rate: 26.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 24.4/1000; life expectancy: 71.5; density per sq mi: 853
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): San Salvador, 1,791,700 (metro. area), 504,700 (city proper)
Other large cities: Santa Ana, 167,200; San Miguel, 145,100; Zacatecoluca, 36,700
Monetary units: Colón; U.S. dollar
Languages: Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)
Ethnicity/race: mestizo 90%, white 9%, Amerindian 1%
Religions: Catholics 83%; growing population of evangelical Protestants (1992)
Literacy rate: 80% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $32.35 billion; per capita $4,900. Real growth rate: 1.8%. Inflation: 5.4%. Unemployment: 6.3%—but the economy has much underemployment. Arable land: 32%. Agriculture: coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; shrimp; beef, dairy products. Labor force: 2.75 million; agriculture 17.1%, industry 17.1%, services 65.8% (2003 est.). Industries: food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals. Natural resources: hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, arable land. Exports: $3.249 billion (2004 est.): offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, shrimp, textiles, chemicals, electricity. Imports: $5.968 billion (2004 est.): raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity. Major trading partners: U.S., Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico (2003).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 752,600 (2003); mobile cellular: 1,149,800 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 61 (plus 24 repeaters), FM 30, shortwave 0 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 5 (1997). Internet hosts: 4,084 (2003). Internet users: 550,000 (2003).
Transportation: Railways: total: 283 km; note: length of operational route reduced from 562 km to 283 km by disuse and lack of maintenance (2004). Highways: total: 10,029 km; paved: 1,986 km (including 327 km of expressways); unpaved: 8,043 km (1999 est.). Waterways: Rio Lempa partially navigable (2004). Ports and harbors: Acajutla, Puerto Cutuco. Airports: 73 (2004 est.).
International disputes: in 1992, the ICJ ruled on the delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras boundary, but despite OAS intervention and a further ICJ ruling in 2003, full demarcation of the border remains stalled; the 1992 ICJ ruling advised a tripartite resolution to a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Fonseca advocating Honduran access to the Pacific; El Salvador continues to claim tiny Conejo Island, not identified in the ICJ decision, off Honduras in the Gulf of Fonseca.
Geography
Situated on the Pacific coast of Central America, El Salvador has Guatemala to the west and Honduras to the north and east. It is the smallest of the Central American countries, with an area equal to that of Massachusetts, and it is the only one without an Atlantic coastline. Most of the country is on a fertile volcanic plateau about 2,000 ft (607 m) high.
Government
Republic.
Equatorial Guinea
Republic of Equatorial Guinea
National name: Républica de Guinea Ecuatorial
President: Col. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (1979)
Prime Minister: Miguel Abia Biteo Borico (2004)
Total and land area: 10,830 sq mi (28,050 sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 540,109 (growth rate: 2.1%); birth rate: 35.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 89.2/1000; life expectancy: 49.5; density per sq mi: 50
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Malabo, 92,900
Monetary unit: CFA Franc
Languages: Spanish, French (both official); pidgin English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo
Ethnicity/race: Bioko (primarily Bubi, some Fernandinos), Río Muni (primarily Fang), Europeans less than 1,000, mostly Spanish
Religions: nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic, pagan practices
Literacy rate: 86% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2002 est.): $1.27 billion; per capita $2,700. Real growth rate: 20%. Inflation: 8.5% (2004 est.). Unemployment: 30% (1998 est.). Arable land: 5%. Agriculture: coffee, cocoa, rice, yams, cassava (tapioca), bananas, palm oil nuts; livestock; timber. Labor force: n.a. Industries: petroleum, fishing, sawmilling, natural gas. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, timber, gold, bauxite, diamonds, tantalum, sand and gravel, clay. Exports: $2.77 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): petroleum, methanol, timber, cocoa. Imports: $1.167 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): petroleum sector equipment, other equipment. Major trading partners: U.S., Spain, China, Canada, Italy, UK, France, Côte d'Ivoire, Spain, Norway (2003).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 9,600 (2003); mobile cellular: 41,500 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 3, shortwave 5 (2002). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2002). Internet hosts: 3 (2004). Internet users: 1,800 (2002).
Transportation: Railways: total: 0 km. Highways: total: 2,880 km (1999 est.). Ports and harbors: Malabo. Airports: 4 (2004 est.).
International disputes: in 2002, ICJ ruled on an equidistance settlement of Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea, but a dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River, imprecisely defined maritime coordinates in the ICJ decision, and the unresolved Bakasi allocation contribute to the delay in implementation; UN has been pressing Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to pledge to resolve the sovereignty dispute over Gabon-occupied Mbane Island and create a maritime boundary in the hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay.
Geography
Equatorial Guinea, formerly Spanish Guinea, consists of Río Muni (10,045 sq mi; 26,117 sq km), on the western coast of Africa, and several islands in the Gulf of Guinea, the largest of which is Bioko (formerly Fernando Po) (785 sq mi; 2,033 sq km). The other islands are Annobón, Corisco, Elobey Grande, and Elobey Chico. The total area is twice that of Connecticut.
Government
Dictatorship.
Eritrea
State of Eritrea
National name: Hagere Ertra
President: Isaias Afwerki (1993)
Total and land area: 46,842 sq mi (121,320 sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 4,786,994 (growth rate: 2.5%); birth rate: 34.3/1000; infant mortality rate: 46.3/1000; life expectancy: 59.0; density per sq mi: 102
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Asmara, 899,000 (metro. area), 400,000 (city proper)
Other large cities: the ports of Massawa, 30,700; and Assab, 56,300
Monetary unit: Nakfa
Languages: Afar, Arabic, Tigre and Kunama, Tigrinya, other Cushitic languages
Ethnicity/race: ethnic Tigrinya 50%, Tigre and Kunama 40%, Afar 4%, Saho (Red Sea coast dwellers) 3%
Religions: Islam, Eritrean Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholic, Protestant
Literacy rate: 59% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $4.154 billion; per capita $900. Real growth rate: 2.5%. Inflation: 10%. Unemployment: n.a. (2003 est.). Arable land: 5%. Agriculture: sorghum, lentils, vegetables, corn, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sisal; livestock, goats; fish. Labor force: n.a.; agriculture 80%, industry and services 20%. Industries: food processing, beverages, clothing and textiles, salt, cement, commercial ship repair. Natural resources: gold, potash, zinc, copper, salt, possibly oil and natural gas, fish. Exports: $64.44 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): livestock, sorghum, textiles, food, small manufactures (2000). Imports: $622 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery, petroleum products, food, manufactured goods (2000). Major trading partners: Malaysia, Italy, France, U.S., Turkey, UK, Russia (2003).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 38,100 (2003); mobile cellular: n.a.; note: mobile cellular service was introduced in May 2001 Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 1, shortwave 2 (2000). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2000). Internet hosts: 1,047 (2004). Internet users: 9,500 (2003).
Transportation: Railways: total: 306 km (2004). Highways: total: 4,010 km; paved: 874 km; unpaved: 3,136 km (1999 est.). Ports and harbors: Assab, Massawa. Airports: 17 (2004 est.).
International disputes: Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by 2002 Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision, but despite international intervention, mutual animosities, accusations and armed posturing prevail, preventing demarcation; Ethiopia refuses to withdraw to the delimited boundary until technical errors made by the EEBC that ignored "human geography" are addressed, including the award of Badme, the focus of the 1998-2000 war; Eritrea insists that the EEBC decision be implemented immediately without modifications; since 2000, the UN Peacekeeping Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) monitors the 25km-wide Temporary Security Zone in Eritrea until the demarcation; Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting Sudanese rebel groups; Eritrea protests Yemeni fishing around the Hanish Islands awarded to Eritrea by the ICJ in 1999.
Geography
Eritrea was formerly the northernmost province of Ethiopia and is about the size of Indiana. Much of the country is mountainous. Its narrow Red Sea coastal plain is one of the hottest and driest places in Africa. The cooler central highlands have fertile valleys that support agriculture. Eritrea is bordered by the Sudan on the north and west, the Red Sea on the north and east, and Ethiopia and Djibouti on the south.
Government
A transitional government committed to a democratic system.
Estonia
Republic of Estonia
National name: Eesti Vabariik
President: Arnold Rüütel (2001)
Prime Minister: Andrus Ansip (2005)
Land area: 16,684 sq mi (43,211 sq km); total area: sq mi (sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 1,324,333 (growth rate: –0.6%); birth rate: 10.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 7.7/1000; life expectancy: 72.0; density per sq mi: 79
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Tallinn, 379,000
Other large city: Tartu, 100,100
Monetary unit: Kroon
Languages: Estonian (official), Russian, Ukrainian, Finnish, other
Ethnicity/race: Estonian 65.3%, Russian 28.1%, Ukrainian 2.5%, Belorussian 1.5%, Finn 1%, other 1.6% (1998)
Religions: Evangelical Lutheran, Russian Orthodox, Estonian Orthodox, Baptist, Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Word of Life, Jewish
Literacy: 100% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $19.23 billion; per capita $14,300. Real growth rate: 6%. Inflation: 3%. Unemployment: 9.6%. Arable land: 16%. Agriculture: potatoes, vegetables; livestock and dairy products; fish. Labor force: 660,000; industry 20%, agriculture 11%, services 69% (1999 est.). Industries: engineering, electronics, wood and wood products, textile; information technology, telecommunications. Natural resources: oil shale, peat, phosphorite, clay, limestone, sand, dolomite, arable land, sea mud. Exports: $5.701 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and equipment 33%, wood and paper 15%, textiles 14%, food products 8%, furniture 7%, metals, chemical products (2001). Imports: $7.318 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and equipment 33.5%, chemical products 11.6%, textiles 10.3%, foodstuffs 9.4%, transportation equipment 8.9% (2001). Major trading partners: Finland, Sweden, Russia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, China, Japan (2003).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 475,000 (2002); mobile cellular: 881,000 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 98, shortwave 0 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 3 (2001). Internet hosts: 82,142 (2004). Internet users: 444,000 (2002).
Transportation: Railways: total: 968 km (2004). Highways: total: 55,944 km; paved: 13,874 km (including 99 km of expressways); unpaved: 42,070 km (2002). Waterways: 500 km (2003). Ports and harbors: Kopli, Kuivastu, Muuga, Tallinn, Virtsu. Airports: 29 (2004 est.).
International disputes: in 1996, the Estonia-Russia technical border agreement was initialed but both states have been hesitant to sign and ratify it, with Russia asserting that Estonia needs to better assimilate Russian-speakers and Estonian groups pressing for realignment of the boundary based more closely on the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty that would bring the now divided ethnic Setu people and parts of the Narva region within Estonia; as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Estonia must implement the strict Schengen border rules.
Geography
Estonia is mainly a lowland country that is bordered by the Baltic Sea, Latvia, and Russia. It has numerous lakes and forests and many rivers, most draining northward into the Gulf of Finland or eastward into Lake Peipus, its largest lake.
Government
Parliamentary democracy.
Ethiopia
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
National name: Ityop'iya Federalawi Demokrasiyawi Ripeblik
President: Girma Woldegiorgis (2001)
Prime Minister: Meles Zenawi (1995)
Land area: 432,310 sq mi (1,119,683 sq km); total area: 435,186 sq mi (1,127,127 sq km)
Population (2006 est.): 74,777,981 (growth rate: 2.3%); birth rate: 38.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 93.6/1000; life expectancy: 49.0; density per sq mi: 173
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Addis Ababa, 2,716,200
Monetary unit: Birr
Languages: Amharic (official), Tigrigna, Orominga, Guaragigna, Somali, Arabic, English, over 70 others
Ethnicity/race: Oromo 40%, Amhara and Tigrean 32%, Sidamo 9%, Shankella 6%, Somali 6%, Afar 4%, Gurage 2%, other 1%
Religions: Islam 45%–50%, Ethiopian Orthodox 35%–40%, animist 12%, other 3%–8%
Literacy rate: 43% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $54.89 billion; per capita $800. Real growth rate: 11.6%. Inflation: 2.4%. Unemployment: n.a. Arable land: 11%. Agriculture: cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, sugarcane, potatoes, qat; hides, cattle, sheep, goats. Labor force: n.a.; agriculture and animal husbandry 80%, government and services 12%, industry and construction 8% (1985). Industries: food processing, beverages, textiles, chemicals, metals processing, cement. Natural resources: small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower. Exports: $562.8 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): coffee, qat, gold, leather products, live animals, oilseeds. Imports: $2.104 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): food and live animals, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles, cereals, textiles. Major trading partners: Djibouti, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Italy, U.S., China (2003).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 435,000 (2003); mobile cellular: 97,800 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 8, FM 0, shortwave 1 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 1 plus 24 repeaters (2002). Internet hosts: 9 (2003). Internet users: 75,000 (2003).
Transportation: Railways: total: 681 km (Ethiopian segment of the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railroad) (2004). Highways: total: 33,297 km; paved: 3,996 km; unpaved: 29,301 km (2002). Ports and harbors: Ethiopia is landlocked and has used ports of Assab and Massawa in Eritrea and port of Djibouti. Airports: 83 (2004 est.).
International disputes: Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to abide by the 2002 Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission's (EEBC) delimitation decision, but despite international intervention, mutual animosities, accusations and armed posturing prevail, preventing demarcation; Ethiopia refuses to withdraw to the delimited boundary until technical errors made by the EEBC that ignored "human geography" are addressed, including the award of Badme, the focus of the 1998-2000 war; Eritrea insists that the EEBC decision be implemented immediately without modifications; Ethiopia has only an administrative line and no international border with the Oromo region of southern Somalia where it maintains alliances with local clans in opposition to the unrecognized Somali Interim Government in Mogadishu; "Somaliland" secessionists provide port facilities and trade ties to landlocked Ethiopia; the UNHCR expects most of the remaining 23,000 Somali refugees in Ethiopia to be repatriated in 2005; efforts to demarcate the porous boundary with Sudan have been delayed by civil war
Geography
Ethiopia is in east-central Africa, bordered on the west by the Sudan, the east by Somalia and Djibouti, the south by Kenya, and the northeast by Eritrea. It has several high mountains, the highest of which is Ras Dashan at 15,158 ft (4,620 m). The Blue Nile, or Abbai, rises in the northwest and flows in a great semicircle before entering the Sudan. Its chief reservoir, Lake Tana, lies in the northwest.
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.
Link:
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