Part 43
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Mohan Man SAINJU; Chancery at 2131 Leroy Place NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 667-4550; there is a Nepalese Consulate General in New York;
US--Ambassador Julia Chang BLOCH; Embassy at Pani Pokhari, Kathmandu; telephone [977] (1) 411179 or 412718, 411601, 411613, 413890
_#_Flag: red with a blue border around the unique shape of two overlapping right triangles; the smaller, upper triangle bears a white stylized moon and the larger, lower triangle bears a white 12-pointed sun
_*_Economy _#_Overview: Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with a per capita income of less than $200. Real growth averaged 4% in the 1980s until FY89, when it plunged to 1.5% because of a trade/transit dispute with India. Though the impasse is over, political turmoil and inflated energy costs will probably constrain growth to under 4%. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for over 90% of the population and accounting for 60% of GDP. Industrial activity is limited, mainly involving the processing of agricultural produce (jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain). Production of textiles and carpets has expanded recently and accounted for 87% of foreign exchange earnings in FY89. Apart from agricultural land and forests, the only other exploitable natural resources are mica, hydropower, and tourism. Agricultural production in the late 1980s grew by about 5%, compared with a population growth of 2.6%. Forty percent or more of the population is undernourished partly because of poor distribution. Economic prospects for the 1990s are poor, with economic growth probably outpacing population growth only slightly.
_#_GDP: $3.0 billion, per capita $160; real growth rate 2.1% (FY90)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10.0% (FY90 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 5%; underemployment estimated at 25-40% (1987)
_#_Budget: revenues $316.5 million; expenditures $618.5 million, including capital expenditures of $398 (FY91 est.)
_#_Exports: $125 million (f.o.b., FY90), but does not include unrecorded border trade with India;
commodities--clothing, carpets, leather goods, grain;
partners--India 38%, US 23%, UK 6%, other Europe 9% (FY88)
_#_Imports: $454.3illion (c.i.f., FY90 est.);
commodities--petroleum products 20%, fertilizer 11%, machinery 10%;
partners--India 36%, Japan 13%, Europe 4%, US 1% (FY88)
_#_External debt: $2.5 billion (April 1990 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 6% (FY90 est.); accounts for 7% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 280,000 kW capacity; 540 million kWh produced, 30 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarette, textiles, carpets, cement, brick; tourism
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 60% of GDP and 90% of work force; farm products--rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops, milk, buffalo meat; not self-sufficient in food, particularly in drought years
_#_Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic and international drug markets
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $304 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1980-88), $2.0 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $30 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $286 million
_#_Currency: Nepalese rupee (plural--rupees); 1 Nepalese rupee (NR) = 100 paisa
_#_Exchange rates: Nepalese rupees (NRs) per US$1--30.805 (January 1991), 29.370 (1990), 27.189 (1989), 23.289 (1988), 21.819 (1987), 21.230 (1986), 18.246 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: 16 July-15 July
_*_Communications _#_Railroads: 52 km (1990), all 0.762-meter narrow gauge; all in Terai close to Indian border; 10 km from Raxaul to Birganj is government owned
_#_Highways: 7,080 km total (1990); 2,898 km paved, 1,660 km gravel or crushed stone; also 2,522 km of seasonally motorable tracks
_#_Civil air: 5 major and 11 minor transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 37 total, 37 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 8 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: poor telephone and telegraph service; fair radio communication and broadcast service; international radio communication service is poor; 50,000 telephones (1990); stations--88 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station
_*_Defense Forces _#_Branches: Royal Nepalese Army, Royal Nepalese Army Air Service, Nepalese Police Force
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 4,669,421; 2,420,398 fit for military service; 233,404 reach military age (17) annually
_#_Defense expenditures: $38 million, 2% of GDP (FY91) _%_ _@_Netherlands _*_Geography _#_Total area: 37,290 km2; land area: 33,940 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey
_#_Land boundaries: 1,027 km total; Belgium 450 km, Germany 577 km
_#_Coastline: 451 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: not specific;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
_#_Climate: temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters
_#_Terrain: mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast
_#_Natural resources: natural gas, crude oil, fertile soil
_#_Land use: arable land 25%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 34%; forest and woodland 9%; other 31%; includes irrigated 15%
_#_Environment: 27% of the land area is below sea level and protected from the North Sea by dikes
_#_Note: located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, Schelde)
_*_People _#_Population: 15,022,393 (July 1991), growth rate 0.6% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 81 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Dutchman(men), Dutchwoman(women); adjective--Dutch
_#_Ethnic divisions: Dutch 96%, Moroccans, Turks, and other 4% (1988)
_#_Religion: Roman Catholic 36%, Protestant 27%, other 6%, unaffiliated 31% (1988)
_#_Language: Dutch
_#_Literacy: 99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1979 est.)
_#_Labor force: 5,300,000; services 50.1%, manufacturing and construction 28.2%, government 15.9%, agriculture 5.8% (1986)
_#_Organized labor: 29% of labor force
_*_Government _#_Long-form name: Kingdom of the Netherlands
_#_Type: constitutional monarchy
_#_Capital: Amsterdam, but government resides at The Hague
_#_Administrative divisions: 12 provinces (provincien, singular--provincie); Drenthe, Flevoland, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, Zuid-Holland
_#_Dependent areas: Aruba, Netherlands Antilles
_#_Independence: 1579 (from Spain)
_#_Constitution: 17 February 1983
_#_Legal system: civil law system incorporating French penal theory; judicial review in the Supreme Court of legislation of lower order rather than Acts of the States General; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
_#_National holiday: Queen's Day, 30 April (1938)
_#_Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, vice prime minister, Cabinet, Cabinet of Ministers
_#_Legislative branch: bicameral legislature (Staten Generaal) consists of an upper chamber or First Chamber (Eerste Kamer) and a lower chamber or Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer)
_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court (De Hoge Raad)
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April 1980); Heir Apparent WILLEM-ALEXANDER, Prince of Orange, son of Queen Beatrix (born 27 April 1967);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Ruud (Rudolph) F. M. LUBBERS (since 4 November 1982); Vice Prime Minister Wim KOK (since 2 November 1989)
_#_Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Willem van VELZEN; Labor (PvdA), Wim KOK; Liberal (VVD), Joris VOORHOEVE; Democrats '66 (D'66), Hans van MIERIO; Communist (CPN), Henk HOEKSTRA; a host of minor parties
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
First Chamber--last held on 9 June l987 (next to be held 9 June 1991); results--elected by the country's 12 provincial councils; seats--(75 total) percent of seats by party NA;
Second Chamber--last held on 6 September 1989 (next to be held by September 1993); results--CDA 35.3%, PvdA 31.9%, VVD 14.6%, D'66 7.9%, other 10.3%; seats--(150 total) CDA 54, PvdA 49, VVD 22, D'66 12, other 13
_#_Communists: about 6,000
_#_Other political or pressure groups: large multinational firms; Federation of Netherlands Trade Union Movement (comprising Socialist and Catholic trade unions) and a Protestant trade union; Federation of Catholic and Protestant Employers Associations; the nondenominational Federation of Netherlands Enterprises; and IKV--Interchurch Peace Council
_#_Member of: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Benelux, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, EMS, ESA, ESCAP, FAO, G-10, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NATO, NEA, OAS (observer), OECD, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Johan Hendrick MEESMAN; Chancery at 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 244-5300; there are Dutch Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco;
US--Ambassador C. Howard WILKINS, Jr.; Embassy at Lange Voorhout 102, The Hague (mailing address APO New York 09159); telephone [31] (70) 362-4911; there is a US Consulate General in Amsterdam
_#_Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue; similar to the flag of Luxembourg which uses a lighter blue and is longer
_*_Economy _#_Overview: This highly developed and affluent economy is based on private enterprise. The government makes its presence felt, however, through many regulations, permit requirements, and welfare programs affecting most aspects of economic activity. The trade and financial services sector contributes over 50% of GDP. Industrial activity provides about 25% of GDP and is led by the food-processing, oil-refining, and metalworking industries. The highly mechanized agricultural sector employs only 5% of the labor force, but provides large surpluses for export and the domestic food-processing industry. An unemployment rate of 6.8% and a sizable budget deficit are currently the most serious economic problems.
_#_GDP: $218.0 billion, per capita $14,600; real growth rate 3.1% (1990)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.2% (1990 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 6.8% (1990 est.)
_#_Budget: revenues $68 billion; expenditures $76 billion, including capital expenditures of $7 billion (1990)
_#_Exports: $107.8 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--agricultural products, processed foods and tobacco, natural gas, chemicals, metal products, textiles, clothing;
partners--EC 74.9% (FRG 28.3%, Belgium-Luxembourg 14.2%, France 10.7%, UK 10.2%), US 4.7% (1988)
_#_Imports: $104.2 billion (c.i.f., 1989);
commodities--raw materials and semifinished products, consumer goods, transportation equipment, crude oil, food products;
partners--EC 63.8% (FRG 26.5%, Belgium-Luxembourg 23.1%, UK 8.1%), US 7.9% (1988)
_#_External debt: none
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 4.8% (1990 est.); accounts for 25% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 22,216,000 kW capacity; 63,570 million kWh produced, 4,300 kWh per capita (1989)
_#_Industries: agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, fishing, construction, microelectronics
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 4% of GDP; animal production predominates; crops--grains, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, vegetables; shortages of grain, fats, and oils
_#_Economic aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $19.4 billion
_#_Currency: Netherlands guilder, gulden, or florin (plural--guilders, gulden, or florins); 1 Netherlands guilder, gulden, or florin (f.) = 100 cents
_#_Exchange rates: Netherlands guilders, gulden, or florins (f.) per US$1--1.7018 (January 1991), 1.8209 (1990), 2.1207 (1989), 1.9766 (1988), 2.0257 (1987), 2.4500 (1986), 3.3214 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications _#_Railroads: 3,037 km track (includes 1,871 km electrified and 1,800 km double track); 2,871 km 1.435-meter standard gauge operated by Netherlands Railways (NS); 166 km privately owned
_#_Highways: 108,360 km total; 92,525 km paved (including 2,185 km of limited access, divided highways); 15,835 km gravel, crushed stone
_#_Inland waterways: 6,340 km, of which 35% is usable by craft of 1,000 metric ton capacity or larger
_#_Pipelines: 418 km crude oil; 965 km refined products; 10,230 km natural gas
_#_Ports: maritime--Amsterdam, Delfzijl, Den Helder, Dordrecht, Eemshaven, Ijmuiden, Rotterdam, Scheveningen, Terneuzen, Vlissingen; inland--29 ports
_#_Merchant marine: 344 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,722,838 GRT/3,822,230 DWT; includes 2 short-sea passenger, 187 cargo, 32 refrigerated cargo, 23 container, 12 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 3 livestock carrier, 12 multifunction large-load carrier, 17 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 29 chemical tanker, 10 liquefied gas, 2 specialized tanker, 3 combination ore/oil, 9 bulk, 3 combination bulk; note--many Dutch-owned ships are also registered in the captive Netherlands Antilles register
_#_Civil air: 98 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 28 total, 28 usable; 18 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 12 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 3 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: highly developed, well maintained, and integrated; extensive system of multiconductor cables, supplemented by radio relay links; 9,418,000 telephones; stations--6 AM, 20 (33 repeaters) FM, 22 (8 repeaters) TV; 5 submarine cables; communication satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean) and EUTELSAT systems
_*_Defense Forces _#_Branches: Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy (including Naval Air Service and Marine Corp), Royal Netherlands Air Force, Royal Constabulary
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 4,141,910; 3,658,056 fit for military service; 105,829 reach military age (20) annually
_#_Defense expenditures: $6.8 billion, 2.7% of GDP (1990) _%_ _@_Netherlands Antilles (part of the Dutch realm) _*_Geography _#_Total area: 960 km2; land area: 960 km2; includes Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin)
_#_Comparative area: slightly less than 5.5 times the size of Washington, DC
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 364 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
_#_Climate: tropical; modified by northeast trade winds
_#_Terrain: generally hilly, volcanic interiors
_#_Natural resources: phosphates (Curacao only), salt (Bonaire only)
_#_Land use: arable land 8%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 0%; forest and woodland 0%; other 92%
_#_Environment: Curacao and Bonaire are south of Caribbean hurricane belt, so rarely threatened; Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius are subject to hurricanes from July to October
_#_Note: consists of two island groups--Curacao and Bonaire are located off the coast of Venezuela, and Sint Maarten, Saba, and Sint Eustatius lie 800 km to the north
_*_People _#_Population: 183,872 (July 1991), growth rate 0.2% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 18 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: - 10 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 8 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 79 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 2.0 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Netherlands Antillean(s); adjective--Netherlands Antillean
_#_Ethnic divisions: mixed African 85%; remainder Carib Indian, European, Latin, and Oriental
_#_Religion: predominantly Roman Catholic; Protestant, Jewish, Seventh-Day Adventist
_#_Language: Dutch (official); Papiamento, a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect predominates; English widely spoken; Spanish
_#_Literacy: 94% (male 94%, female 93%) age 15 and over can read and write (1981)
_#_Labor force: 89,000; government 65%, industry and commerce 28% (1983)
_#_Organized labor: 60-70% of labor force
_*_Government _#_Long-form name: none
_#_Type: part of the Dutch realm--full autonomy in internal affairs granted in 1954
_#_Capital: Willemstad
_#_Administrative divisions: none (part of the Dutch realm)
_#_Independence: none (part of the Dutch realm)
_#_Constitution: 29 December 1954, Statute of the Realm of the Netherlands, as amended
_#_Legal system: based on Dutch civil law system, with some English common law influence
_#_National holiday: Queen's Day, 30 April (1938)
_#_Executive branch: Dutch monarch, governor, prime minister, vice prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
_#_Legislative branch: legislature (Staten)
_#_Judicial branch: Joint High Court of Justice
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April 1980), represented by Governor General Jaime SALEH (since October 1989);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Maria LIBERIA-PETERS (since 17 May 1988, previously served from September 1984 to November 1985)
_#_Political parties and leaders: political parties are indigenous to each island:
Curacao--National People's Party (PNP), Maria LIBERIA-PETERS; New Antilles Movement (MAN), Domenico Felip MARTINA; Workers' Liberation Front (FOL), Wilson (Papa) GODETT; Socialist Independent (SI), George HUECK and Nelson MONTE; Democratic Party of Curacao (DP), Augustin DIAZ; Nos Patria, Chin BEHILIA;
Bonaire--Patriotic Union of Bonaire (UPB), C. V. Winklaar; Democratic Party of Bonaire (PDB), John Evert (Jopie) ABRAHAM; New Force, Rudy ELLIS;
Sint Maarten--Democratic Party of Sint Maarten (DP-St.M), Claude WATHEY; Patriotic Movement of Sint Maarten (SPM), Romeo PAPLOPHLET;
Sint Eustatius--Democratic Party of Sint Eustatius (DP-St.E), Albert K. Van PUTTEN; Windward Islands People's Movement (WIPM), Eric HENRIQUEZ;
Saba--Windward Islands People's Movement (WIPM Saba), Will JOHNSTON; Saba Democratic Labor Movement, Vernon HASSELL; Saba Unity Party, Carmen SIMMONDS
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
Staten--last held on 16 March 1990 (next to be held March 1994); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(22 total) PNP 7, FOL-SI-Curacao 3, UPB 3, MAN 2, Democratic Party of Sint Maarten 2, Democratic Party of Curacao 1, SPM-Sint Maarten 1, WIPM 1, Democratic Party of Sint Eustatius 1, Nos Patria-Curacao 1; note--the government of Prime Minister Maria LIBERIA-PETERS is a coalition of several parties
_#_Communists: small leftist groups
_#_Member of: CARICOM (observer), ECLAC (associate), ICFTU, INTERPOL, IOC, UNESCO (associate), UPU, WCL, WMO, WTO (associate)
_#_Diplomatic representation: as an autonomous part of the Netherlands, Netherlands Antillean interests in the US are represented by the Netherlands;
US--Consul General Sharon P. WILKINSON; Consulate General at Sint Anna Boulevard 19, Willemstad, Curacao (mailing address P. O. Box 158, Willemstad, Curacao); telephone [599] (9) 613066
_#_Flag: white with a horizontal blue stripe in the center superimposed on a vertical red band also centered; five white five-pointed stars are arranged in an oval pattern in the center of the blue band; the five stars represent the five main islands of Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten
_*_Economy _#_Overview: Tourism, petroleum refining, and offshore finance are the mainstays of the economy. The islands enjoy a high per capita income and a well-developed infrastructure compared with other countries in the region. Unlike many Latin American countries, the Netherlands Antilles has avoided large international debt. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, with the US being the major supplier.
_#_GDP: $1.0 billion, per capita $5,500; real growth rate 3% (1988 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.9% (1989)
_#_Unemployment rate: 20% (1988)
_#_Budget: revenues $454 million; expenditures $525 million, including capital expenditures of $42 million (1989 est.)
_#_Exports: $959 million (f.o.b., 1988);
commodities--petroleum products 98%;
partners--US 55%, UK 7%, Jamaica 5%
_#_Imports: $935 million (c.i.f., 1988);
commodities--crude petroleum 64%, food, manufactures;
partners--Venezuela 52%, Nigeria 15%, US 12%
_#_External debt: $701.2 million (December 1987)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate NA%
_#_Electricity: 125,000 kW capacity; 365 million kWh produced, 1,990 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: tourism (Curacao and Sint Maarten), petroleum refining (Curacao), petroleum transshipment facilities (Curacao and Bonaire), light manufacturing (Curacao)
_#_Agriculture: hampered by poor soils and scarcity of water; chief products--aloes, sorghum, peanuts, fresh vegetables, tropical fruit; not self-sufficient in food
_#_Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $428 million
_#_Currency: Netherlands Antillean guilder, gulden, or florin (plural--guilders, gulden, or florins); 1 Netherlands Antillean guilder, gulden, or florin (NAf.) = 100 cents
_#_Exchange rates: Netherlands Antillean guilders, gulden, or florins (NAf.) per US$1--1.79 (fixed rate since 1989; 1.80 fixed rate 1971-88)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications _#_Highways: 950 km total; 300 km paved, 650 km gravel and earth
_#_Ports: Willemstad, Philipsburg, Kralendijk
_#_Merchant marine: 54 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 431,958 GRT/441,056 DWT; includes 4 passenger, 19 cargo, 8 refrigerated cargo, 6 container, 6 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 7 multifunction large-load carrier, 1 chemical tanker, 1 liquefied gas, 2 bulk; note--all but a few are foreign owned, mostly in the Netherlands
_#_Civil air: 5 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 7 total, 7 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: generally adequate facilities; extensive interisland radio relay links; stations--9 AM, 4 FM, 1 TV; 2 submarine cables; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
_*_Defense Forces _#_Branches: Royal Netherlands Navy, Marine Corps, Royal Netherlands Air Force, National Guard, Police Force
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49 49,249; 27,803 fit for military service; 1,634 reach military age (20) annually
_#_Note: defense is responsibility of the Netherlands _%_ _@_New Caledonia (overseas territory of France) _*_Geography _#_Total area: 19,060 km2; land area: 18,760 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than New Jersey
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 2,254 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
_#_Climate: tropical; modified by southeast trade winds; hot, humid
_#_Terrain: coastal plains with interior mountains
_#_Natural resources: nickel, chrome, iron, cobalt, manganese, silver, gold, lead, copper
_#_Land use: arable land NEGL%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 14%; forest and woodland 51%; other 35%
_#_Environment: typhoons most frequent from November to March
_#_Note: located 1,750 km east of Australia in the South Pacific Ocean
_*_People _#_Population: 171,559 (July 1991), growth rate 1.9% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 23 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 17 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 76 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 2.8 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--New Caledonian(s); adjective--New Caledonian
_#_Ethnic divisions: Melanesian 42.5%, European 37.1%, Wallisian 8.4%, Polynesian 3.8%, Indonesian 3.6%, Vietnamese 1.6%, other 3.0%
_#_Religion: Roman Catholic 60%, Protestant 30%, other 10%
_#_Language: French; 28 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects
_#_Literacy: 91% (male 91%, female 90%) age 15 and over can read and write (1976)
_#_Labor force: 50,469; foreign workers for plantations and mines from Wallis and Futuna, Vanuatu, and French Polynesia (1980 est.)
_#_Organized labor: NA
_*_Government _#_Long-form name: Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies
_#_Type: overseas territory of France since 1956
_#_Capital: Noumea
_#_Administrative divisions: none (overseas territory of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 3 provinces named Iles Loyaute, Nord, and Sud
_#_Independence: none (overseas territory of France); note--a referendum on independence will be held in 1998, with a review of the issue in 1992
_#_Constitution: 28 September 1958 (French Constitution)
_#_Legal system: the 1988 Matignon Accords grant substantial autonomy to the islands; formerly under French law
_#_National holiday: Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)
_#_Executive branch: high commissioner, Consultative Committee (cabinet)
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral Territorial Assembly
_#_Judicial branch: Court of Appeal
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--President Francois MITTERRAND (since 21 May 1981);
Head of Government High Commissioner and President of the Council of Government Bernard GRASSET (since 15 July 1988)
_#_Political parties: white-dominated Rassemblement pour la Caledonie dans la Republique (RPCR), conservative, Jacques LAFLEUR--affiliated to France's Rassemblement pour la Republique (RPR); Melanesian proindependence Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), Paul NEAOUTYINE; Melanesian moderate Kanak Socialist Liberation (LKS), Nidoish NAISSELINE; National Front (FN), extreme right, Guy GEORGE; Caledonie Demain (CD), right-wing, Bernard MARANT; Union Oceanienne (UO), conservative, Michel HEMA; Front Uni de Liberation Kanak (FULK), proindependence, Yann CELENE
_#_Suffrage: universal adult at age 18
_#_Elections:
Territorial Assembly--last held 11 June 1989 (next to be held NA 1993); results--percent of vote by party--RPCR 44.5%, FLNKS 28.5%, FN 7%, CD 5%, UO 4%, other 11%; seats--(54 total) RPCR 27, FLNKS 19, FN 3, other 5; note--election boycotted by FULK;
French Senate--last held 24 September 1989 (next to be held September 1992); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(1 total) RPCR 1;
French National Assembly--last held 5 and 12 June 1988 (next to be held June 1993); results--percent of vote by party--RPR 83.5%, FN 13.5%, other 3%; seats--(2 total) RPCR 2
_#_Communists: number unknown; Palita extreme left party; some politically active Communists deported during 1950s; small number of North Vietnamese
_#_Member of: FZ, SPC, WFTU, WMO
_#_Diplomatic representation: as an overseas territory of France, New Caledonian interests are represented in the US by France
_#_Flag: the flag of France is used
_*_Economy _#_Overview: New Caledonia has more than 25% of the world's known nickel resources. In recent years the economy has suffered because of depressed international demand for nickel, the principal source of export earnings. Only a negligible amount of the land is suitable for cultivation, and food accounts for about 25% of imports.
_#_GNP: $973 million, per capita $5,790; real growth rate 2.4% (1990 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.1% (1989)
_#_Unemployment rate: 16.0% (1989)
_#_Budget: revenues $224.0 million; expenditures $211.0 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1985)
_#_Exports: $344 million (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--nickel metal 87%, nickel ore;
partners--France 52.3%, Japan 15.8%, US 6.4%
_#_Imports: $389 million (c.i.f., 1989);
commodities--foods, fuels, minerals, machines, electrical equipment;
partners--France 44.0%, US 10%, Australia 9%
_#_External debt: $NA
_#_Industrial production: growth rate NA%
_#_Electricity: 400,000 kW capacity; 2,200 million kWh produced, 12,790 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: nickel mining
_#_Agriculture: large areas devoted to cattle grazing; coffee, corn, wheat, vegetables; 60% self-sufficient in beef
_#_Illicit drugs: illicit cannabis cultivation is becoming a principal source of income for some families
_#_Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $3.9 billion
_#_Currency: Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (plural--francs); 1 CFP franc (CFPF) = 100 centimes
_#_Exchange rates: Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique francs (CFPF) per US$1--93.28 (January 1991), 99.00 (1990), 115.99 (1989), 108.30 (1988), 109.27 (1987), 125.92 (1986), 163.35 (1985); note--linked at the rate of 18.18 to the French franc
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications _#_Highways: 6,340 km total; only about 10% paved (1987)
_#_Ports: Noumea, Nepoui, Poro, Thio
_#_Civil air: 1 major transport aircraft