Gabon

Gabonese Republic

National name: République Gabonaise

President: El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba (1967)

Premier: Jean Eyeghe Ndong (2006)

Land area: 99,486 sq mi (257,669 sq km); total area: 103,347 sq mi (267,667 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 1,424,906 (growth rate: 2.1%); birth rate: 36.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 54.5/1000; life expectancy: 54.5; density per sq mi: 14

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Libreville, 661,600

Other large cities: Port-Gentil, 116,200; Franceville, 41,300

Monetary unit: CFA Franc

Languages: French (official), Fang, Myene, Bateke, Bapounou/Eschira, Bandjabi

Ethnicity/race: Bantu tribes, including four major tribal groupings: Fang, Punu, Nzeiby, Mbede (Obamba/Bateke); other Africans and Europeans 11.3%, including 0.8% French and 0.8% persons of dual nationality

Religions: Christian 55%–75%, animist, Islam less than 1%

Literacy rate: 63% (1995 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $7.966 billion; per capita $5,900. Real growth rate: 1.9%. Inflation: 1.5%. Unemployment: 21% (1997 est.). Arable land: 1%. Agriculture: cocoa, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber; cattle; okoume (a tropical softwood); fish. Labor force: 650,000; agriculture 60%, services 25%, industry 15%. Industries: petroleum extraction and refining; manganese, and gold mining; chemicals; ship repair; food and beverage; textile; lumbering and plywood; cement. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, diamond, niobium, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore, hydropower. Exports: $3.71 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): crude oil 77%, timber, manganese, uranium (2001). Imports: $1.225 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, chemicals, construction materials. Major trading partners: U.S., France, China, UK (2003).

Member of French Community

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 38,400 (2003); mobile cellular: 300,000 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 6, FM 7 (and 11 repeaters), shortwave 3 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 3 (plus six repeaters) (2001). Internet hosts: 93 (2004). Internet users: 35,000 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 814 km (2004). Highways: total: 8,464 km; paved: 838 km; unpaved: 7,626 km (2000 est.). Waterways: 1,600 km (310 km on Ogooue River) (2003). Ports and harbors: Gamba, Libreville, Lucinda, Owendo, Port-Gentil. Airports: 56 (2004 est.).

International disputes: UN presses Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to resolve the sovereignty dispute over Gabon-occupied Mbane Island and to establish a maritime boundary in hydrocarbon-rich Corisco Bay; only a few hundred out of the 20,000 Republic of the Congo refugees who fled militia fighting in 2000 remain in Gabon.

Geography
This West African country with the Atlantic as its western border is also bounded by Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, and the Congo. Its area is slightly less than Colorado's. Most of the country is covered by a dense tropical forest.

Government
Republic.

Gambia

Republic of the Gambia

President: Yahya Jammeh (1994)

Land area: 3,861 sq mi (10,000 sq km); total area: 4,363 sq mi (11,300 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 1,641,564 (growth rate: 2.8%); birth rate: 39.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 71.6/1000; life expectancy: 54.1; density per sq mi: 425

Capital (2003 est.): Banjul, 46,700

Largest city: Serekunda, 344,100

Monetary unit: Dalasi

Languages: English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous

Ethnicity/race: African 99% (Mandinka 42%, Fula 18%, Wolof 16%, Jola 10%, Serahuli 9%, other 4%), non-African 1%

Religions: Islam 90%, Christian 9%, indigenous 1%

Literacy rate: 40% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $2.799 billion; per capita $1,800. Real growth rate: 6%. Inflation: 7%. Unemployment: n.a. (2002 est.). Arable land: 25%. Agriculture: rice, millet, sorghum, peanuts, corn, sesame, cassava (tapioca), palm kernels; cattle, sheep, goats. Labor force: 400,000 (1996); agriculture 75%, industry, commerce, and services 19%, government 6%. Industries: processing peanuts, fish, and hides; tourism; beverages; agricultural machinery assembly, woodworking, metalworking; clothing. Natural resources: fish, titanium (rutile and ilmenite), tin, zircon, silica sand, clay, petroleum. Exports: $114.4 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): peanut products, fish, cotton lint, palm kernels, reexports. Imports: $180.9 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): foodstuffs, manufactures, fuel, machinery and transport equipment. Major trading partners: UK, India, China, Germany, Belgium, Malaysia, Italy, Senegal, Brazil, U.S., Netherlands (2003).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 38,400 (2002); mobile cellular: 100,000 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 1 (government-owned) (1997). Internet hosts: 568 (2004). Internet users: 25,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 2,700 km; paved: 956 km; unpaved: 1,744 km (1999). Waterways: 390 km (on River Gambia; small ocean-going vessels can reach 190 km) (2004). Ports and harbors: Banjul. Airports: 1 (2004 est.).

International disputes: attempts to stem refugees, cross-border raids, arms smuggling, and other illegal activities by separatists from southern Senegal's Casamance region as well as from conflicts in other west African states.

Geography
Situated on the Atlantic coast in westernmost Africa and surrounded on three sides by Senegal, Gambia is twice the size of Delaware. The Gambia River flows for 200 mi (322 km) through Gambia on its way to the Atlantic. The country, the smallest on the continent, averages only 20 mi (32 km) in width.

Government
Republic.

Georgia

Georgia

National name: Sak'art'velo

President: Mikhail Saakashvili (2004)

Prime Minister: Zurab Nogaideli (2005)

Minister of State: Avtandil Jorbenadze (2001)

Total and land area: 26,911 sq mi (69,700 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 4,661,473 (growth rate: –0.3%); birth rate: 10.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 18.0/1000; life expectancy: 76.1; density per sq mi: 173

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Tbilisi, 1,440,000 (metro. area), 1,240,200 (city proper)

Other large cities: Kutaisi, 268,800; Batoumi, 145,400; and Sokhumi, 110,300

Monetary unit: Lari

Languages: Georgian 71% (official), Russian 9%, Armenian 7%, Azerbaijani 6%, other 7% (Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia)

Ethnicity/race: Georgian 70.1%, Armenian 8.1%, Russian 6.3%, Azeri 5.7%, Ossetian 3%, Abkhaz 1.8%, other 5%

Religions: Georgian Orthodox 65%, Islam 11%, Russian Orthodox 10%, Armenian Orthodox 8%, unknown 6%

Literacy rate: 99% (1999 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $14.45 billion; per capita $3,100. Real growth rate: 9.5%. Inflation: 5.5%. Unemployment: 17% (2001 est.). Arable land: 11%. Agriculture: citrus, grapes, tea, hazelnuts, vegetables; livestock. Labor force: 2.1 million (2001 est.); industry 20%, agriculture 40%, services 40% (1999 est.). Industries: steel, aircraft, machine tools, electrical appliances, mining (manganese and copper), chemicals, wood products, wine. Natural resources: forests, hydropower, manganese deposits, iron ore, copper, minor coal and oil deposits; coastal climate and soils allow for important tea and citrus growth. Exports: $909.4 million (2004 est.): scrap metal, machinery, chemicals; fuel reexports; citrus fruits, tea, wine. Imports: $1.806 billion (2004 est.): fuels, machinery and parts, transport equipment, grain and other foods, pharmaceuticals. Major trading partners: Russia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Switzerland, Ukraine, UK, Azerbaijan, U.S., Germany, France (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 650,500 (2003); mobile cellular: 522,300 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 7, FM 12, shortwave 4 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 12 (plus repeaters) (1998). Internet hosts: 5,160 (2004). Internet users: 150,500 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 1,612 km (2004). Highways: total: 20,229 km; paved: 18,914 km; unpaved: 1,315 km (2002). Ports and harbors: Bat'umi, P'ot'i. Airports: 30 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Russia and Georgia agree on delimiting 80% of their common border, leaving certain small, strategic segments and the maritime boundary unresolved; OSCE observers monitor volatile areas such as the Pankisi Gorge in the Akhmeti region and the Argun Gorge in Abkhazia; UN Observer Mission in Georgia has maintained a peacekeeping force in Georgia since 1993; Meshkheti Turks scattered throughout the former Soviet Union seek to return to Georgia; boundary with Armenia remains undemarcated; ethnic Armenian groups in Javakheti region of Georgia seek greater autonomy from the Georgian government; Azerbaijan and Georgia cannot resolve the alignment of their boundary at certain crossing areas.

Geography
Georgia is bordered by the Black Sea in the west, by Turkey and Armenia in the south, by Azerbaijan in the east, and Russia in the north. The republic also includes the Abkhazia and Ajara autonomous republics and South Ossetia.

Government
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.

Ghana

Republic of Ghana

President: John Agyekum Kufuor (2001)

Land area: 89,166 sq mi (230,940 sq km); total area: 92,456 sq mi (239,460 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 22,409,572 (growth rate: 2.1%); birth rate: 30.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 55.0/1000; life expectancy: 58.9; density per sq mi: 251

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Accra, 2,825,800 (metro. area), 1,661,400 (city proper)

Other large cities: Kumasi, 645,100; Tamale, 279,600

Monetary unit: Cedi

Languages: English (official), African languages (including Akan, Moshi-Dagomba, Ewe, and Ga)

Ethnicity/race: black African 98.5% (major tribes: Akan 44%, Moshi-Dagomba 16%, Ewe 13%, Ga 8%, Gurma 3%, Yoruba 1%), European and other 1.5% (1998)

Religions: Christian 63%, indigenous beliefs 21%, Islam 16%

Literacy rate: 75% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $48.27 billion; per capita $2,300. Real growth rate: 5.4%. Inflation: 13%. Unemployment: 20% (1997 est.). Arable land: 16%. Agriculture: cocoa, rice, coffee, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, corn, shea nuts, bananas; timber. Labor force: 10.24 million; agriculture 60%, industry 15%, services 25% (1999 est.). Industries: mining, lumbering, light manufacturing, aluminum smelting, food processing, cement, small commercial shipbuilding. Natural resources: gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, limestone. Exports: $3.01 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): gold, cocoa, timber, tuna, bauxite, aluminum, manganese ore, diamonds. Imports: $3.699 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): capital equipment, petroleum, foodstuffs. Major trading partners: Netherlands, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Turkey, U.S., Nigeria, China, India (2003).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 302,300 (2003); mobile cellular: 799,900 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 49, shortwave 3 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 10 (2001). Internet hosts: 407 (2004). Internet users: 170,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 953 km (2004). Highways: total: 46,176 km; paved: 8,496 km; unpaved: 37,679 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 1,293 km; note: 168 km for launches and lighters on Volta, Ankobra, and Tano rivers; 1,125 km of arterial and feeder waterways on Lake Volta (2003). Ports and harbors: Takoradi, Tema. Airports: 12 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Ghana struggles to accommodate returning nationals who worked in the cocoa plantations and escaped rebel fighting in Côte d'Ivoire.

Geography
A West African country bordering on the Gulf of Guinea, Ghana is bounded by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It compares in size to Oregon, and its largest river is the Volta.

Government
Constitutional democracy.

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.

Grenada

Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)

Governor-General: Sir Daniel Williams (1996)

Prime Minister: Keith C. Mitchell (1995)

Land area: 131 sq mi (339 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 89,703 (growth rate 0.3%); birth rate: 22.1/1000; infant mortality rate: 14.3/1000; life expectancy: 64.9; density per sq mi: 685

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): St. George's, 4,300

Monetary unit: East Caribbean dollar

Languages: English (official), French patois

Ethnicity/race: black 82%, mixed black and European 13%, European and East Indian 5%, and trace of Arawak/Carib Amerindian

Religions: Roman Catholic 53%, Anglican 13.8%, other Protestant 33.2%

Literacy rate: 90% (1970 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2002 est.): $440 million; per capita $5,000. Real growth rate: 2.5%. Inflation: 2.8% (2001 est.). Unemployment: 12.5% (2000). Arable land: 6%. Agriculture: bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, mace, citrus, avocados, root crops, sugarcane, corn, vegetables. Labor force: 42,300 (1996); services 62%, agriculture 24%, industry 14% (1999 est.). Industries: food and beverages, textiles, light assembly operations, tourism, construction. Natural resources: timber, tropical fruit, deepwater harbors. Exports: $46 million (2002 est.): bananas, cocoa, nutmeg, fruit and vegetables, clothing, mace. Imports: $208 million (2002 est.): food, manufactured goods, machinery, chemicals, fuel. Major trading partners: U.S., Germany, Netherlands, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, UK, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago, Japan (2003).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 33,500 (2002); mobile cellular: 7,600 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 2 (1997). Internet hosts: 18 (2003). Internet users: 15,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 1,040 km; paved: 638 km; unpaved: 402 km (1999 est.). Ports and harbors: Saint George's. Airports: 3 (2004 est.).

International disputes: none.

Geography
Grenada (the first “a” is a long vowel) is the most southerly of the Windward Islands, about 100 mi (161 km) from the Venezuelan coast. It is a volcanic island traversed by a mountain range, the highest peak of which is Mount St. Catherine (2,756 ft; 840 m).

Government
Constitutional monarchy. A governor-general represents the sovereign, Elizabeth II.

Guatemala

Republic of Guatemala

National name: República de Guatemala

President: Oscar Berger (2004)

Land area: 41,865 sq mi (108,430 sq km); total area: 42,042 sq mi (108,890 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 12,293,545 (growth rate:2.3%); birth rate: 29.9/1000; infant mortality rate: 30.9/1000; life expectancy: 69.4; density per sq mi: 294

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Guatemala City, 2,655,900 (metro. area), 1,128,800 (city proper)

Other large cities: Mixco, 287,600; Villa Nueva, 138,900

Monetary unit: Quetzal

Languages: Spanish 60%, Amerindian languages 40% (23 officially recognized Amerindian languages, including Quiche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, Mam, Garifuna, and Xinca)

Ethnicity/race: Mestizo (Ladino)—mixed Amerindian-Spanish ancestry—55%, Amerindian (Mayan) or predominantly Amerindian 43%, whites and others 2%

Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, indigenous Mayan beliefs

Literacy rate: 71% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $59.47 billion; per capita $4,200. Real growth rate: 2.6%. Inflation: 7.2%. Unemployment: 7.5% (2003 est.). Arable land: 13%. Agriculture: sugarcane, corn, bananas, coffee, beans, cardamom; cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens. Labor force: 3.68 million; agriculture 50%, industry 15%, services 35% (1999 est.). Industries: sugar, textiles and clothing, furniture, chemicals, petroleum, metals, rubber, tourism. Natural resources: petroleum, nickel, rare woods, fish, chicle, hydropower. Exports: $2.911 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): coffee, sugar, petroleum, apparel, bananas, fruits and vegetables, cardamom. Imports: $7.77 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): fuels, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials, grain, fertilizers, electricity. Major trading partners: U.S., El Salvador, Mexico, South Korea, China (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 846,000 (2002); mobile cellular: 1,577,100 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 130, FM 487, shortwave 15 (2000). Television broadcast stations: 26 (plus 27 repeaters) (1997). Internet hosts: 20,360 (2003). Internet users: 400,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 886 km (2004). Highways: total: 14,118 km; paved: 4,871 km (including 74 km of expressways); unpaved: 9,247 km (1999). Waterways: 990 km; note: 260 km navigable year round; additional 730 km navigable during high-water season (2004). Ports and harbors: Puerto Quetzal, Santo Tomas de Castilla. Airports: 452 (2004 est.).

International disputes: Guatemalan squatters continue to settle in the rain forests of Belize's border region; OAS is attempting to revive the 2002 failed Differendum that created a small adjustment to land boundary, a Guatemalan maritime corridor in Caribbean, a joint ecological park for the disputed Sapodilla Cays, and a substantial US-UK financial package; Guatemalans enter Mexico illegally seeking work or transit to the US.

Geography
The northernmost of the Central American nations, Guatemala is the size of Tennessee. Its neighbors are Mexico on the north and west, and Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador on the east. The country consists of three main regions—the cool highlands with the heaviest population, the tropical area along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, and the tropical jungle in the northern lowlands (known as the Petén).

Government
Constitutional democratic republic.

Guinea

Republic of Guinea

National name: République de Guinée

President: Lansana Conté (1984)

Prime Minister: Cellou Dalein Diallo (2004)

Total and land area: 94,927 sq mi (245,861 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 9,690,222 (growth rate: 2.6%); birth rate: 41.8/1000; infant mortality rate: 90.0/1000; life expectancy: 49.5; density per sq mi: 102

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Conakry, 1,767,200

Monetary unit: Guinean franc

Languages: French (official), native tongues (Malinké, Susu, Fulani)

Ethnicity/race: Peuhl 40%, Malinke 30%, Susu 20%, smaller tribes 10%

Religions: Islam 85%, Christian 8%, indigenous 7%

Literacy rate: 36% (1995 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $19.5 billion; per capita $2,100. Real growth rate: 1%. Inflation: 18%. Unemployment: n.a. (2002 est.). Arable land: 4%. Agriculture: rice, coffee, pineapples, palm kernels, cassava (tapioca), bananas, sweet potatoes; cattle, sheep, goats; timber. Labor force: 3 million (1999); agriculture 80%, industry and services 20% (2000 est.). Industries: bauxite, gold, diamonds; alumina refining; light manufacturing and agricultural processing industries. Natural resources: bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold, uranium, hydropower, fish. Exports: $709.2 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): bauxite, alumina, gold, diamonds, coffee, fish, agricultural products. Imports: $641.5 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): petroleum products, metals, machinery, transport equipment, textiles, grain and other foodstuffs. Major trading partners: South Korea, Spain, U.S., Russia, France, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Ukraine, China, Italy, Netherlands, UK, Côte d'Ivoire, India (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 26,200 (2003); mobile cellular: 111,500 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 4 (one station is inactive), FM 1 (plus 7 repeaters), shortwave 3 (2001). Television broadcast stations: 6 low-power stations (2001). Internet hosts: 380 (2004). Internet users: 40,000 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 837 km (2004). Highways: total: 30,500 km; paved: 5,033 km; unpaved: 25,467 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 1,295 km (navigable by shallow-draft native craft) (2003). Ports and harbors: Kamsar. Airports: 16 (2004 est.).

International disputes: conflicts among rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in neighboring states has spilled over into Guinea, resulting in domestic instability; Sierra Leone pressures Guinea to remove its forces from the town of Yenga occupied since 1998.

Geography
Guinea, in West Africa on the Atlantic, is also bordered by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Slightly smaller than Oregon, the country consists of a coastal plain, a mountainous region, a savanna interior, and a forest area in the Guinea Highlands. The highest peak is Mount Nimba at 5,748 ft (1,752 m).

Government
Republic.

Guinea-Bissau

Republic of Guinea-Bissau

National name: Républica da Guiné-Bissau

President: João Bernardo Vieira (2005)

Prime Minister: Aristides Gomes (2005)

Land area: 10,811 sq mi (28,000 sq km); total area: 13,946 sq mi (36,120 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 1,442,029 (growth rate: 2.1%); birth rate: 37.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 105.2/1000; life expectancy: 46.9; density per sq mi: 133

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Bissau, 296,900

Monetary unit: CFA Franc

Languages: Portuguese (official), Criolo, African languages

Ethnicity/race: African 99% (Balanta 30%, Fula 20%, Manjaca 14%, Mandinga 13%, Papel 7%), European and mulatto less than 1%

Religions: indigenous beliefs 50%, Islam 45%, Christian 5%

Literacy rate: 42% (2002 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $1.008 billion; per capita $700. Real growth rate: 2.6%. Inflation: 4% (2002 est.). Unemployment: n.a. (1998). Arable land: 11%. Agriculture: rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish. Labor force: 480,000 (1999); agriculture 82% (2000 est.). Industries: agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks. Natural resources: fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone, unexploited deposits of petroleum. Exports: $54 million (f.o.b., 2002 est.): cashew nuts, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber. Imports: $104 million (f.o.b., 2002 est.): foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products. Major trading partners: India, Nigeria, Italy, Senegal, Portugal, China, Spain (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 10,600 (2003); mobile cellular: 1,300 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 1 (transmitter out of service), FM 4, shortwave 0 (2002). Television broadcast stations: n.a. (1997). Internet hosts: 2 (2004). Internet users: 19,000 (2003).

Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 4,400 km; paved: 453 km; unpaved: 3,947 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 4 largest rivers are navigable for some distance; many inlets and creeks give shallow-water access to much of interior (2004). Ports and harbors: Bissau, Buba, Cacheu, Farim. Airports: 28 (2004 est.).

International disputes:attempts to stem refugees and cross-border raids, arms smuggling, and political instability from a separatist movement in Senegal's Casamance region.

Geography
A neighbor of Senegal and Guinea in West Africa, on the Atlantic coast, Guinea-Bissau is about half the size of South Carolina. The country is a low-lying coastal region of swamps, rain forests, and mangrove-covered wetlands, with about 25 islands off the coast. The Bijagos archipelago extends 30 mi (48 km) out to sea.

Government
Republic.

Guyana

Cooperative Republic of Guyana

President: Bharrat Jagdeo (1999)

Prime Minister: Samuel Hinds (1999)

Land area: 76,004 sq mi (196,850 sq km); total area: 83,000 sq mi (214,970 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 767,245 (growth rate: 0.3%); birth rate: 18.3/1000; infant mortality rate: 32.2/1000; life expectancy: 65.9; density per sq mi: 10

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Georgetown, 227,700

Monetary unit: Guyanese dollar

Languages: English (official), Amerindian dialects, Creole, Hindi, Urdu

Ethnicity/race: East Indian 50%; black 36%; Amerindian 7%; white, Chinese, and mixed 7%

Religions: Christian 50%, Hindu 35%, Islam 10%, other 5%

Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $2.899 billion; per capita $3,800. Real growth rate: 1.9%. Inflation: 4.5%. Unemployment: 9.1% (2000) (understated). Arable land: 2%. Labor force: 418,000 (2001 est.); agriculture n.a., industry n.a., services n.a. Agriculture: sugar, rice, wheat, vegetable oils; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish, shrimp. Industries: bauxite, sugar, rice milling, timber, textiles, gold mining. Natural resources: bauxite, gold, diamonds, hardwood timber, shrimp, fish. Exports: $570.2 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): sugar, gold, bauxite/alumina, rice, shrimp, molasses, rum, timber. Imports: $650.1 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): manufactures, machinery, petroleum, food. Major trading partners: Canada, U.S., UK, Portugal, Belgium, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Italy, Cuba (2003).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 80,400 (2002); mobile cellular: 87,300 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 3, shortwave 1 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 3 (one public station; two private stations which relay U.S. satellite services) (1997). Internet hosts: 613 (2003). Internet users: 125,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 187 km (all dedicated to ore transport) (2001 est.). Highways: total: 7,970 km; paved: 590 km; unpaved: 7,380 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 1,077 km; note: Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo rivers are navigable by oceangoing vessels for 150 km, 100 km, and 80 km respectively (2004) . Ports and harbors: Georgetown. Airports: 49 (2004 est.).

International disputes: all of the area west of the Essequibo (river) is claimed by Venezuela preventing any discussion of a maritime boundary; Guyana has expressed its intention to join Barbados in asserting claims before UNCLOS that Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with Venezuela extends into their waters; Suriname claims a triangle of land between the New and Kutari/Koetari rivers in a historic dispute over the headwaters of the Courantyne; Guyana seeks UNCLOS arbitration to resolve the long-standing dispute with Suriname over the axis of the territorial sea boundary in potentially oil-rich waters.

Geography
Guyana is the size of Idaho and is situated on the northern coast of South America east of Venezuela, west of Suriname, and north of Brazil. A tropical forest covers more than 80% of the country.

Government
Republic.

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Haiti

Republic of Haiti

National name: République d'Haïti

President: Boniface Alexandre (interim) (2004)

Prime Minister: Gérard Latortue (interim) (2004)

Land area: 10,641 sq mi (27,560 sq km); total area: 10,714 sq mi (27,750 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 8,308,504 (growth rate: 2.3%); birth rate: 36.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 71.7/1000; life expectancy: 53.2; density per sq mi: 781

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Port-au-Prince, 1,764,000 (metro. area), 1,119,000 (city proper)

Monetary unit: Gourde

Languages: Creole and French (both official)

Ethnicity/race: black 95%, mulatto and white 5%

Religions: Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), other 3%, none 1%. Note: roughly half the population practices Vaudou

Literacy rate: 53% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $12.05 billion; per capita $1,500. Real growth rate: –3.5%. Inflation: 22%. Unemployment: widespread unemployment and underemployment; more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs (2002 est.). Arable land: 28%. Agriculture: coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, rice, corn, sorghum, wood. Labor force: 3.6 million; note: shortage of skilled labor, unskilled labor abundant (1995); agriculture 66%, services 25%, industry 9%. Industries: sugar refining, flour milling, textiles, cement, light assembly industries based on imported parts. Natural resources: bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble, hydropower. Exports: $338.1 million (f.o.b., 2004 est.): manufactures, coffee, oils, cocoa, mangoes. Imports: $1.085 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): food, manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, fuels, raw materials. Major trading partners: U.S., Dominican Republic, Canada, Colombia (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 130,000 (2002); mobile cellular: over 140,000 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 41, FM 26, shortwave 0 (1999). Television broadcast stations: 2 (plus a cable TV service) (1997). Internet hosts: n.a. Internet users: 80,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: n.a. Highways: n.a. Waterways: n.a. Ports and harbors: Cap-Haitien. Airports: 13 (2004 est.).

International disputes: since 2004, about 8,000 peacekeepers from the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) maintain civil order in Haiti; despite efforts to control illegal migration, Haitians fleeing economic privation and civil unrest continue to cross into Dominican Republic and to sail to neighboring countries; Haiti claims US-administered Navassa Island.

Geography
Haiti, in the West Indies, occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. About the size of Maryland, Haiti is two-thirds mountainous, with the rest of the country marked by great valleys, extensive plateaus, and small plains.

Government
Republic with an elected government.

Honduras

Republic of Honduras

National name: República de Honduras

President: Manuel Zelaya (2006)

Land area: 43,201 sq mi (111,891 sq km); total area: 43,278 sq mi (112,090 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 7,326,496 (growth rate: 2.2%); birth rate: 28.2/1000; infant mortality rate: 25.8/1000; life expectancy: 69.3; density per sq mi: 170

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Tegucigalpa, 1,436,000 (metro. area), 1,248,300 (city proper)

Monetary unit: Lempira

Languages: Spanish (official), Amerindian dialects; English widely spoken in business

Ethnicity/race: mestizo 90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 1%

Religions: Roman Catholic 97%, growing population of evangelical Protestants

Literacy rate: 76% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $18.79 billion; per capita $2,800. Real growth rate: 4.2%. Inflation: 7%. Unemployment: 28.5%. Arable land: 10%. Agriculture: bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp. Labor force: 2.47 million; agriculture 34%, industry 21%, services 45% (2001 est.). Industries: sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products. Natural resources: timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower. Exports: $1.457 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): coffee, shrimp, bananas, gold, palm oil, fruit, lobster, lumber. Imports: $3.332 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): machinery and transport equipment, industrial raw materials, chemical products, fuels, foodstuffs (2000). Major trading partners: U.S., El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 322,500 (2002); mobile cellular: 326,500 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 241, FM 53, shortwave 12 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 11 (plus 17 repeaters) (1997). Internet hosts: ,944 (2003). Internet users: 168,600 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 699 km (2004). Highways: total: 13,603 km; paved: 2,775 km; unpaved: 10,828 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 465 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2004). Ports and harbors: Puerto Castilla, Puerto Cortes, San Lorenzo, Tela. Airports: 115 (2004 est.).

International disputes: in 1992, ICJ ruled on the delimitation of "bolsones" (disputed areas) along the El Salvador-Honduras border, 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 with consideration of Honduran access to the Pacific; El Salvador continues to claim tiny Conejo Island, not mentioned in the ICJ ruling, off Honduras in the Gulf of Fonseca; Honduras claims Sapodilla Cays off the coast of Belize, but agreed to creation of a joint ecological park and Guatemalan corridor in the Caribbean in the failed 2002 Belize-Guatemala Differendum, which the OAS is attempting to revive; Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and against Colombia in 2001 at the ICJ over a complex dispute over islands and maritime boundaries in the Caribbean Sea.

Geography
Honduras, in the north-central part of Central America, has a Caribbean as well as a Pacific coastline. Guatemala is to the west, El Salvador to the south, and Nicaragua to the east. The second-largest country in Central America, Honduras is slightly larger than Tennessee. Generally mountainous, the country is marked by fertile plateaus, river valleys, and narrow coastal plains.

Government
Democratic constitutional republic.

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India

Republic of India

National name: Bharat

President: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (2002)

Prime Minister: Manmohan Singh (2004)

Land area: 1,147,949 sq mi (2,973,190 sq km); total area: 1,269,346 sq mi (3,287,590 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 1,095,351,995 (growth rate: 1.4%); birth rate: 22.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 54.6/1000; life expectancy: 64.7; density per sq mi: 954

Capital (2003 est.): New Delhi, 17,037,900 (metro. area), 10,203,700 (city proper)

Largest cities: Bombay (Mumbai), 17,012,100 (metro. area), 12,383,100 (city proper); Calcutta (Kolkata), 14,090,200 (metro. area), 4,760,800 (city proper); Bangalore, 4,461,100; Madras (Chennai), 4,382,100; Ahmedabad, 3,653,700; Hyderabad, 3,585,600; Kanpur, 2,631,800

Monetary unit: Rupee

Principal languages: Hindi (official), English (official), Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Kannada, Assamese, Sanskrit, Sindhi (all recognized by the constitution). Dialects, 1,600+

Ethnicity/race: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)

Religions: Hindu 81.3%, Islam 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other (including Buddhists, Jains, and Parsis) 2.5%

Literacy rate: 60% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $3.319 trillion; per capita $3,100. Real growth rate: 6.2%. Inflation: 4.2%. Unemployment: 9.2%. Arable land: 54%. Agriculture: rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish. Labor force: 482.2 million; agriculture 60%, services 23%, industry 17% (1999). Industries: textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software. Natural resources: coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land. Exports: $69.18 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures. Imports: $89.33 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals. Major trading partners: U.S., UAE, Hong Kong, UK, China, Germany, Belgium (2003).

Member of Commonwealth of Nations

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 48.917 million (2003); mobile cellular: 26,154,400 (2003). Radio broadcast stations: AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998). Television broadcast stations: 562 (of which 82 stations have 1 kW or greater power and 480 stations have less than 1 kW of power) (1997). Internet hosts: 86,871 (2003). Internet users: 18.481 million (2003).

Transportation: Railways: total: 63,230 km (16,693 km electrified) (2004). Highways: total: 2,525,989 km; paved: 1,448,655 km; unpaved: ,077,334 km (1999). Waterways: 14,500 km; note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals suitable for mechanized vessels (2004). Ports and harbors: Chennai, Haldia, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), New Mangalore, Vishakhapatnam. Airports: 333 (2004 est.).

International disputes: China and India launched a security and foreign policy dialogue in 2005, consolidating discussions related to the dispute over most of their rugged, militarized boundary, regional nuclear proliferation, Indian claims that China transferred missiles to Pakistan, and other matters; recent talks and confidence-building measures have begun to defuse tensions over Kashmir, site of the world's largest and most militarized territorial dispute with portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas); in 2004, India and Pakistan instituted a cease fire in the Kashmir and in 2005, restored bus service across the highly militarized Line of Control; Pakistan has taken its dispute on the impact and benefits of India's building the Baglihar dam on the Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir to the World Bank for arbitration; UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has maintained a small group of peacekeepers since 1949; India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic Kashmir lands to China in 1964; disputes persist with Pakistan over Indus River water sharing; to defuse tensions and prepare for discussions on a maritime boundary, in 2004, India and Pakistan resurveyed a portion of the disputed boundary in Sir Creek estuary at the mouth of the Rann of Kutch; Pakistani maps continue to show Junagadh claim in Indian Gujarat State; discussions with Bangladesh remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary, to exchange 162 miniscule enclaves in both countries, to allocate divided villages, and to stop illegal cross-border trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous border; Bangladesh protests India's attempts to fence off high-traffic sections; dispute with Bangladesh over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation; India seeks cooperation from Bhutan and Burma to keep Indian Nagaland and Assam separatists from hiding in remote areas along the borders; Joint Border Committee with Nepal continues to demarcate minor disputed boundary sections; India has instituted a stricter border regime to keep out Maoist insurgents and control illegal cross-border activities from Nepal.

Geography
One-third the area of the United States, the Republic of India occupies most of the subcontinent of India in southern Asia. It borders on China in the northeast. Other neighbors are Pakistan on the west, Nepal and Bhutan on the north, and Burma and Bangladesh on the east.

The country can be divided into three distinct geographic regions: the Himalayan region in the north, which contains some of the highest mountains in the world, the Gangetic Plain, and the plateau region in the south and central part. Its three great river systems have extensive deltas and all rise in the Himalayas: the Ganges, the Indus, and the Brahmaputra.

Government
Federal republic.

[U

]Iraq

[/U]

Republic of Iraq

National name: Al Jumhuriyah al Iraqiyah

President: Jalal Talabani (2005)

Prime Minister: Ibrahim al-Jaafari (2005)

Land area: 167,556 sq mi (433,970 sq km)

Population (2006 est.): 26,783,383 (growth rate: 2.7%); birth rate: 32.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 48.6/1000; life expectancy: 69.0; density per sq mi: 160

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Baghdad, 6,777,300 (metro. area), 5,772,000 (city proper)

Largest cities: Mosul, 1,791,600; Basra, 1,377,000; Irbil, 864,900; Kirkuk, 755,700

Monetary unit: U.S. dollar

Languages: Arabic (official), Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Assyrian, Armenian

Ethnicity/race: Arab 75%–80%, Kurdish 15%–20%, Turkoman, Assyrian, or other 5%

Religions: Islam 97% (Shiite 60%–65%, Sunni 32%–37%), Christian or other 3%

Literacy rate: 40% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $89.8 billion; per capita $3,500. Real growth rate: 52.3%. Inflation: 25.4%. Unemployment: 25%–30%. Arable land: 13%. Agriculture: wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, dates, cotton; cattle, sheep, poultry. Labor force: 6.7 million; agriculture n.a., industry n.a., services n.a. Industries: petroleum, chemicals, textiles, construction materials, food processing, fertilizer, metal fabrication/processing. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur. Exports: $10.1 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): crude oil (83.9%), crude materials excluding fuels (8.0%), food and live animals (5.0%). Imports: $9.9 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): food, medicine, manufactures. Major trading partners: U.S., Canada, Italy, Taiwan, Jordan, Turkey, Vietnam, Germany, UK (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use:675,000; note - an unknown number of telephone lines were damaged or destroyed during the March-April 2003 war (2003); mobile cellular: 20,000 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: after 17 months of unregulated media growth, there are approximately 80 radio stations on the air inside Iraq (2004). Television broadcast stations: 21 (2004). Internet hosts: n.a. Internet users: 25,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 2,200 km (2004). Highways: total: 45,550 km; paved: 38,399 km; unpaved: 7,151 km (1999). Waterways: 5,275 km (not all navigable); note: Euphrates River (2,815 km), Tigris River (1,895 km), and Third River (565 km) are principal waterways (2004). Ports and harbors: Al Basrah, Khawr az Zubayr, Umm Qasr. Airports: 111; note - unknown number were damaged during the March-April 2003 war (2004 est.).

International disputes: coalition forces assist Iraqis in monitoring boundary security; Iraq's lack of a maritime boundary with Iran prompts jurisdiction disputes beyond the mouth of the Shatt al Arab in the Persian Gulf; Turkey has expressed concern over the status of Kurds in Iraq.

Geography
Iraq, a triangle of mountains, desert, and fertile river valley, is bounded on the east by Iran, on the north by Turkey, on the west by Syria and Jordan, and on the south by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It is twice the size of Idaho. The country has arid desert land west of the Euphrates, a broad central valley between the Euphrates and the Tigris, and mountains in the northeast.

Government
The dictatorship of Saddam Hussein collapsed on April 9, 2003, after U.S. and British forces invaded the country. Sovereignty was returned to Iraq on June 28, 2004.

__________________
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