Part 62
_*_Economy _#_Overview: Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. The economy has been devastated by much political instability, mismanagement, and civil war since independence in 1962, keeping Uganda poor with a per capita income of about $300. (GDP remains below the levels of the early 1970s, as does industrial production.) Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the work force. Coffee is the major export crop and accounts for the bulk of export revenues. Since 1986 the government has acted to rehabilitate and stabilize the economy by undertaking currency reform, raising producer prices on export crops, increasing petroleum prices, and improving civil service wages. The policy changes are especially aimed at dampening inflation, which was running at over 300% in 1987, and boosting production and export earnings.
_#_GDP: $4.9 billion, per capita $290 (1988); real growth rate 6.1% (1989 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 30% (FY90)
_#_Unemployment rate: NA%
_#_Budget: revenues $365 million; expenditures $545 million, including capital expenditures of $165 million (FY89 est.)
_#_Exports: $273 million (f.o.b., 1989);
commodities--coffee 97%, cotton, tea;
partners--US 25%, UK 18%, France 11%, Spain 10%
_#_Imports: $652 million (c.i.f., 1989);
commodities--petroleum products, machinery, cotton piece goods, metals, transportation equipment, food;
partners--Kenya 25%, UK 14%, Italy 13%
_#_External debt: $1.9 billion (1990 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 15.0% (1989 est.); accounts for 5% of GDP
_#_Electricity: 173,000 kW capacity; 312 million kWh produced, 18 kWh per capita (1989)
_#_Industries: sugar, brewing, tobacco, cotton textiles, cement
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 57% of GDP and 83% of labor force; cash crops--coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco; food crops--cassava, potatoes, corn, millet, pulses; livestock products--beef, goat meat, milk, poultry; self-sufficient in food
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (1970-89), $145 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $1.2 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $60 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $169 million
_#_Currency: Ugandan shilling (plural--shillings); 1 Ugandan shilling (USh) = 100 cents
_#_Exchange rates: Ugandan shillings (USh) per US$1--563.18 (January 1991), 428.85 (1990), 223.09 (1989), 106.14 (1988), 42.84 (1987), 14.00 (1986), 6.72 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
_*_Communications _#_Railroads: 1,300 km, 1.000-meter-gauge single track
_#_Highways: 26,200 km total; 1,970 km paved; 5,849 km crushed stone, gravel, and laterite; remainder earth roads and tracks
_#_Inland waterways: Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, Lake George, Lake Edward; Victoria Nile, Albert Nile; principal inland water ports are at Jinja and Port Bell, both on Lake Victoria
_#_Merchant marine: 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,697 GRT
_#_Civil air: 4 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 37 total, 28 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 10 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: fair system with radio relay and radio communications stations; 61,600 telephones; stations--10 AM, no FM, 9 TV; satellite communications ground stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT
_*_Defense Forces _#_Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, about 3,980,637; about 2,162,241 fit for military service
_#_Defense expenditures: $68 million, 1.5% of GDP (1988) _%_ _@_United Arab Emirates _*_Geography _#_Total area: 83,600 km2; land area: 83,600 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than Maine
_#_Land boundaries: 1,016 km total; Oman 410 km, Saudi Arabia 586 km, Qatar 20 km
_#_Coastline: 1,448 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: defined by bilateral boundaries or equidistant line
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 3 nm (assumed), 12 nm for Ash Shariqah (Sharjah)
_#_Disputes: boundary with Qatar is in dispute; no defined boundary with Saudi Arabia; no defined boundary with most of Oman, but Administrative Line in far north; claims three islands in the Persian Gulf occupied by Iran (Jazireh-ye Abu Musa or Abu Musa, Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg or Greater Tunb, and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchek or Lesser Tunb)
_#_Climate: desert; cooler in eastern mountains
_#_Terrain: flat, barren coastal plain merging into rolling sand dunes of vast desert wasteland; mountains in east
_#_Natural resources: crude oil and natural gas
_#_Land use: arable land NEGL%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 2%; forest and woodland NEGL%; other 98%; includes irrigated NEGL%
_#_Environment: frequent dust and sand storms; lack of natural freshwater resources being overcome by desalination plants; desertification
_#_Note: strategic location along southern approaches to Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil
_*_People _#_Population: 2,389,759 (July 1991), growth rate 5.7% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 30 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 3 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 30 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 23 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 74 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 4.9 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Emirian(s), adjective--Emirian
_#_Ethnic divisions: Emirian 19%, other Arab 23%, South Asian (fluctuating) 50%, other expatriates (includes Westerners and East Asians) 8%; less than 20% of the population are UAE citizens (1982)
_#_Religion: Muslim 96% (Shia 16%); Christian, Hindu, and other 4%
_#_Language: Arabic (official); Persian and English widely spoken in major cities; Hindi, Urdu
_#_Literacy: 68% (male 70%, female 63%) age 10 and over but definition of literacy not available (1980)
_#_Labor force: 580,000 (1986 est.); industry and commerce 85%, agriculture 5%, services 5%, government 5%; 80% of labor force is foreign
_#_Organized labor: trade unions are illegal
_*_Government _#_Long-form name: United Arab Emirates (no short-form name); abbreviated UAE
_#_Type: federation with specified powers delegated to the UAE central government and other powers reserved to member emirates
_#_Capital: Abu Dhabi
_#_Administrative divisions: 7 emirates (imarat, singular--imarah); Abu Zaby (Abu Dhabi), Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Ash Shariqah, Dubayy, Ras al Khaymah, Umm al Qaywayn
_#_Independence: 2 December 1971 (from UK; formerly Trucial States)
_#_Constitution: 2 December 1971 (provisional)
_#_Legal system: secular codes are being introduced by the UAE Government and in several member shaykhdoms; Islamic law remains influential
_#_National holiday: National Day, 2 December (1971)
_#_Executive branch: president, vice president, Supreme Council of Rulers, prime minister, Council of Ministers
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral Federal National Council (Majlis Watani Itihad)
_#_Judicial branch: Union Supreme Court
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--President Shaykh Zayid bin Sultan Al NUHAYYAN, (since 2 December 1971), ruler of Abu Dhabi; Vice President Shaykh Maktum bin Rashid al-MAKTUM (since 8 October 1990), ruler of Dubayy;
Head of Government--Prime Minister Shaykh Maktum bin Rashid al-MAKTUM (since 8 October 1990), ruler of Dubayy; Deputy Prime Minister Sultan bin Zayid Al NUHAYYAN (since 20 November 1990)
_#_Political parties and leaders: none
_#_Suffrage: none
_#_Elections: none
_#_Communists: NA
_#_Other political or pressure groups: a few small clandestine groups are active
_#_Member of: ABEDA, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, GCC, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abdullah bin Zayid Al NUHAYYAN; Chancery at Suite 740, 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037; telephone (202) 338-6500;
US--Ambassador Edward S. WALKER, Jr.; Embassy at Al-Sudan Street, Abu Dhabi (mailing address is P. O. Box 4009, Abu Dhabi); telephone [971] (2) 336691; there is a US Consulate General in Dubayy (Dubai)
_#_Flag: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), white, and black with a thicker vertical red band on the hoist side
_*_Economy _#_Overview: The UAE has an open economy with one of the world's highest incomes per capita outside the OECD nations. This wealth is based on oil and gas, and the fortunes of the economy fluctuate with the prices of those commodities. Since 1973, when petroleum prices shot up, the UAE has undergone a profound transformation from an impoverished region of small desert principalities to a modern state with a high standard of living. At present levels of production, crude oil reserves should last for over 100 years.
_#_GDP: $27.3 billion, per capita $12,100; real growth rate 10% (1989 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3-4% (1989 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: NEGL (1988)
_#_Budget: revenues $3.8 billion; expenditures $3.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989 est.)
_#_Exports: $15.0 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
commodities--crude oil 65%, natural gas, reexports, dried fish, dates;
partners--US, EC, Japan
_#_Imports: $9.0 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
commodities--food, consumer and capital goods;
partners--EC, Japan, US
_#_External debt: $11.0 billion (December 1989 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate - 9.3% (1986)
_#_Electricity: 5,773,000 kW capacity; 15,400 million kWh produced, 6,830 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: petroleum, fishing, petrochemicals, construction materials, some boat building, handicrafts, pearling
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 2% of GNP and 5% of labor force; cash crop--dates; food products--vegetables, watermelons, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish; only 25% self-sufficient in food
_#_Economic aid: donor--pledged $9.1 billion in bilateral aid to less developed countries (1979-89)
_#_Currency: Emirian dirham (plural--dirhams); 1 Emirian dirham (Dh) = 100 fils
_#_Exchange rates: Emirian dirhams (Dh) per US$1--3.6710 (fixed rate)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications _#_Highways: 2,000 km total; 1,800 km bituminous, 200 km gravel and graded earth
_#_Pipelines: 830 km crude oil; 870 km natural gas, including natural gas liquids
_#_Ports: Al Fujayrah, Khawr Fakkan, Mina Jabal Ali, Mina Khalid, Mina Rashid, Mina Saqr, Mina Zayid
_#_Merchant marine: 57 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 925,424 GRT/1,543,716 DWT; includes 22 cargo, 8 container, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 20 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 5 bulk
_#_Civil air: 8 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 38 total, 35 usable; 20 with permanent-surface runways; 7 with runways over 3,659 m; 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: adequate system of radio relay and coaxial cable; key centers are Abu Dhabi and Dubayy; 386,600 telephones; stations--8 AM, 3 FM, 12 TV; satellite communications ground stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT, 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 ARABSAT; submarine cables to Qatar, Bahrain, India, and Pakistan; tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; radio relay to Saudi Arabia
_*_Defense Forces _#_Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Federal Police Force
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 940,130; 516,218 fit for military service
_#_Defense expenditures: $1.59 billion, 6.8% of GDP (1988) _%_ _@_United Kingdom _*_Geography _#_Total area: 244,820 km2; land area: 241,590 km2; includes Rockall and Shetland Islands
_#_Comparative area: slightly smaller than Oregon
_#_Land boundary: Ireland 360 km
_#_Coastline: 12,429 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries;
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
_#_Disputes: Northern Ireland question with Ireland; Gibraltar question with Spain; Argentina claims Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); Argentina claims South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Mauritius claims island of Diego Garcia in British Indian Ocean Territory; Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark, Iceland, and Ireland (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area); territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory)
_#_Climate: temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than half of the days are overcast
_#_Terrain: mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast
_#_Natural resources: coal, crude oil, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica
_#_Land use: arable land 29%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 48%; forest and woodland 9%; other 14%; includes irrigated 1%
_#_Environment: pollution control measures improving air, water quality; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters
_#_Note: lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now being linked by tunnel under the English Channel
_*_People _#_Population: 57,515,307 (July 1991), growth rate 0.3% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 14 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 79 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Briton(s), British (collective pl.); adjective--British
_#_Ethnic divisions: English 81.5%, Scottish 9.6%, Irish 2.4%, Welsh 1.9%, Ulster 1.8%, West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other 2.8%
_#_Religion: Anglican 27.0 million, Roman Catholic 5.3 million, Presbyterian 2.0 million, Methodist 760,000, Jewish 410,000
_#_Language: English, Welsh (about 26% of population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)
_#_Literacy: 99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1978 est.)
_#_Labor force: 28,966,000; services 60.6%, manufacturing and construction 27.2%, government 8.9%, energy 2.1%, agriculture 1.2% (June 1990)
_#_Organized labor: 35.7% of labor force (1989)
_*_Government _#_Long-form name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; abbreviated UK
_#_Type: constitutional monarchy
_#_Capital: London
_#_Administrative divisions: 47 counties, 7 metropolitan counties, 26 districts, 9 regions, and 3 islands areas;
England--39 counties, 7 metropolitan counties*; Avon, Bedford, Berkshire, Buckingham, Cambridge, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derby, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucester, Greater London*, Greater Manchester*, Hampshire, Hereford and Worcester, Hertford, Humberside, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicester, Lincoln, Merseyside*, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottingham, Oxford, Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire*, Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Tyne and Wear*, Warwick, West Midlands*, West Sussex, West Yorkshire*, Wiltshire;
Northern Ireland--26 districts; Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Londonderry, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane;
Scotland--9 regions, 3 islands areas*; Borders, Central, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Grampian, Highland, Lothian, Orkney*, Shetland*, Strathclyde, Tayside, Western Isles*;
Wales--8 counties; Clwyd, Dyfed, Gwent, Gwynedd, Mid Glamorgan, Powys, South Glamorgan, West Glamorgan
_#_Independence: 1 January 1801, United Kingdom established
_#_Constitution: unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice
_#_Dependent areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong (scheduled to become a Special Administrative Region of China in 1997), Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands
_#_Legal system: common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
_#_National holiday: Celebration of the Birthday of the Queen (second Saturday in June), 10 June 1989
_#_Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, Cabinet
_#_Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or House of Lords and a lower house or House of Commons
_#_Judicial branch: House of Lords
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the Queen, born 14 November 1948);
Head of Government--Prime Minister John MAJOR (since 28 November 1990)
_#_Political parties and leaders: Conservative and Unionist Party, John MAJOR; Labor Party, Neil KINNOCK; Social and Liberal Democratic Party (SLDP; formed from the merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party), Jeremy (Paddy) ASHDOWN; Scottish National Party, Alex SALMOND; Welsh National Party (Plaid Cymru), Dafydd THOMAS; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland), James MOLYNEAUX; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland), Rev. Ian PAISLEY; Ulster Popular Unionist Party (Northern Ireland), James KILFEDDER; Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP, Northern Ireland), John HUME; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland), Gerry ADAMS; Alliance Party (Northern Ireland), John ALDERDICE; Communist Party, Nina TEMPLE
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
House of Commons--last held 11 June 1987 (next to be held by June 1992); results--Conservative 43%, Labor 32%, Liberal/Social Democratic 23%, other 2%; seats--(650 total) Conservative 376, Labor 228, Liberal/Social Democratic 22, Ulster Unionist (Northern Ireland) 9, Scottish National 4, Welsh National 3, Democratic Unionist (Northern Ireland) 3, Social Democratic and Labor (Northern Ireland) 3, Ulster Popular Unionist (Northern Ireland) 1, Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) 1; note--the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party merged to become the Social and Liberal Democratic Party in 1988
_#_Communists: 15,961
_#_Other political or pressure groups: Trades Union Congress, Confederation of British Industry, National Farmers' Union, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
_#_Member of: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, BIS, C, CCC, CDB, CE, CERN, COCOM, CP, CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECA (associate), ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESCAP, ESA, FAO, G-5, G-7, G-10, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NATO, NEA, OECD, PCA, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNRWA, UN Security Council, UN Trusteeship Council, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Sir Antony ACLAND; Chancery at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 462-1340; there are British Consulates General in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, and Consulates in Dallas, Miami, and Seattle;
US--Ambassador Raymond SEITZ; Embassy at 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W.1A1AE, (mailing address is FPO New York 09509); telephone [44] (71) 499-9000; there are US Consulates General in Belfast and Edinburgh
_#_Flag: blue with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland) which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); known as the Union Flag or Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including dependencies, Commonwealth countries, and others
_*_Economy _#_Overview: The UK is one of the world's great trading powers and financial centers, and its economy ranks among the four largest in Europe. The economy is essentially capitalistic with a generous admixture of social welfare programs and government ownership. Over the last decade the Thatcher government halted the expansion of welfare measures and promoted extensive reprivatization of the government economic sector. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only 1% of the labor force. Industry is a mixture of public and private enterprises, employing about 27% of the work force and generating 22% of GDP. The UK is an energy-rich nation with large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 12% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation. In mid-1990 the economy fell into recession after eight years of strong economic expansion, which had raised national output by one quarter. Britain's inflation rate, which has been consistently well above those of her major trading partners, is expected to decline in 1991. Between 1986 and 1990 unemployment fell from 11% to about 6%, but it is now rising rapidly because of the economic slowdown. As a major trading nation, the UK will continue to be greatly affected by world boom or recession, swings in the international oil market, productivity trends in domestic industry, and the terms on which the economic integration of Europe proceeds.
_#_GDP: $858.3 billion, per capita $15,000; real growth rate 0.8% (1990)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.3% (1990)
_#_Unemployment rate: 5.7% (1990)
_#_Budget: revenues $385.0 billion; expenditures $385.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $35.0 billion (FY91 est.)
_#_Exports: $188.9 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, transport equipment;
partners--EC 50.7% (FRG 11.9%, France 10.2%, Netherlands 7.0%), US 13.1%
_#_Imports: $222 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
commodities--manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods;
partners--EC 52.6% (FRG 16.6%, France 8.9%, Netherlands 7.9%), US 10.8%
_#_External debt: $10.5 billion (1990)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 0% (1990)
_#_Electricity: 98,000,000 kW capacity; 316,500 million kWh produced, 5,520 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: machinery and transportation equipment, metals, food processing, paper and paper products, textiles, chemicals, clothing, other consumer goods, motor vehicles, aircraft, shipbuilding, petroleum, coal
_#_Agriculture: accounts for only 1.5% of GNP and 1% of labor force; highly mechanized and efficient farms; wide variety of crops and livestock products produced; about 60% self-sufficient in food and feed needs; fish catch of 665,000 metric tons (1987)
_#_Economic aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $21.0 billion
_#_Currency: British pound or pound sterling (plural--pounds); 1 British pound (5) = 100 pence
_#_Exchange rates: British pounds (5) per US$1--0.5171 (January 1991), 0.5603 (1990), 0.6099 (1989), 0.5614 (1988), 0.6102 (1987), 0.6817 (1986), 0.7714 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
_*_Communications _#_Railroads: Great Britain--16,629 km total; British Railways (BR) operates 16,629 km 1.435-meter standard gauge (4,205 km electrified and 12,591 km double or multiple track); several additional small standard-gauge and narrow-gauge lines are privately owned and operated; Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) operates 332 km 1.600-meter gauge, 190 km double track
_#_Highways: UK, 362,982 km total; Great Britain, 339,483 km paved (including 2,573 km limited-access divided highway); Northern Ireland, 23,499 km (22,907 paved, 592 km gravel)
_#_Inland waterways: 2,291 total; British Waterways Board, 606 km; Port Authorities, 706 km; other, 979 km
_#_Pipelines: 933 km crude oil, almost all insignificant; 2,993 km refined products; 12,800 km natural gas
_#_Ports: London, Liverpool, Felixstowe, Tees and Hartlepool, Dover, Sullom Voe, Southampton
_#_Merchant marine: 251 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,643,056 GRT/6,214,450 DWT; includes 7 passenger, 21 short-sea passenger, 39 cargo, 34 container, 22 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 10 refrigerated cargo, 1 vehicle carrier, 1 railcar carrier, 74 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 4 chemical tanker, 9 liquefied gas, 1 combination ore/oil, 1 specialized tanker, 25 bulk, 2 combination bulk
_#_Civil air: 618 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 520 total, 388 usable; 252 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 37 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 133 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: modern, efficient domestic and international system; 30,200,000 telephones; excellent countrywide broadcast systems; stations--223 AM, 165 (401 relays) FM, 207 (3,210 relays) TV; 40 coaxial submarine cables; satellite communication ground stations operating in INTELSAT (7 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean), MARISAT, and EUTELSAT systems
_*_Defense Forces _#_Branches: Army, Royal Navy (including Royal Marines), Royal Air Force
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 14,475,433; 12,167,324 fit for military service; no conscription
_#_Defense expenditures: $41 billion, 4.8% of GDP (FY90) _%_ _@_United States _*_Geography _#_Total area: 9,372,610 km2; land area: 9,166,600 km2; includes only the 50 states and District of Colombia
_#_Comparative area: about four-tenths the size of USSR; about one-third the size of Africa; about one-half the size of South America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly smaller than China; about two and one-half times the size of Western Europe
_#_Land boundaries: 12,248 km total; Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska), Mexico 3,326 km, Cuba (US naval base at Guantanamo) 29 km
_#_Coastline: 19,924 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: not specified;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
_#_Disputes: maritime boundary disputes with Canada; US Naval Base at Guantanamo is leased from Cuba and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease; Haiti claims Navassa Island; US has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other nation; Marshall Islands claims Wake Island
_#_Climate: mostly temperate, but varies from tropical (Hawaii) to arctic (Alaska); arid to semiarid in west with occasional warm, dry chinook wind
_#_Terrain: vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii
_#_Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, crude oil, natural gas, timber
_#_Land use: arable land 20%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 26%; forest and woodland 29%; other 25%; includes irrigated 2%
_#_Environment: pollution control measures improving air and water quality; acid rain; agricultural fertilizer and pesticide pollution; management of sparse natural water resources in west; desertification; tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around Pacific Basin; continuous permafrost in northern Alaska is a major impediment to development
_#_Note: world's fourth-largest country (after USSR, Canada, and China)
_*_People _#_Population: 252,502,000 (July 1991), growth rate 0.8% (1991)
_#_Birth rate: 15 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 10 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 79 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--American(s); adjective--American
_#_Ethnic divisions: white 85%, black 12%, other 3% (1985)
_#_Religion: Protestant 61% (Baptist 21%, Methodist 12%, Lutheran 8%, Presbyterian 4%, Episcopalian 3%, other Protestant 13%), Roman Catholic 25%, Jewish 2%, other 5%, none 7%
_#_Language: predominantly English; sizable Spanish-speaking minority
_#_Literacy: 97% (male 97%, female 97%) age 15 and over having completed 5 or more years of schooling (1980)
_#_Labor force: 126,424,000 (includes armed forces and unemployed); civilian labor force 124,787,000 (1990)