Central Intelligence Agency	The World Factbook 1996
		Notes and Definitions

Abbreviations: (see Appendix A)

Administrative divisions: The numbers, designatory terms, and first-order administrative divisions are generally those approved by the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN). Changes that have been reported but not yet acted on by BGN are noted.

Age structure: The distribution of a population according to age, usually by five-year age groups. The age structure of a population will affect where the country needs to invest resources. Countries with young populations (high percentage under age 15) need to invest more in schools, while countries with older populations (high percentage ages 65 and over) need to worry about nursing homes, etc. The age structure can also be used to help predict potential political issues. For example, the rapid growth of a young adult population unable to find employment can lead to unrest.

Airports: Only airports with usable runways are included in this listing. For airports with more than one runway, only the longest runway is included. Not all airports have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control. Paved runways have concrete or asphalt surfaces; unpaved runways have grass, dirt, sand, or gravel surfaces.

Area: Total area is the sum of all land and water areas delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines. Land area is the aggregate of all surfaces delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, excluding inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers). Comparative areas are based on total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 sq km, 69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi, 146 acres).

Birth rate: The average annual number of births during a year per 1,000 population at midyear; also known as crude birth rate. The birth rate is usually the dominant factor in determining the rate of population growth. It depends on both the level of fertility and the age structure of the population.

Data codes: The data code is an official US Government standard that precisely identifies every land entity without overlap, duplication, or omission. AF, for example, is the data code for Afghanistan. This two-letter country code or digraph is a standardized geopolitical data element promulgated in the Federal Information Processing Standards Publication (FIPS) 10-4 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology at the US Department of Commerce and maintained by the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues at the US Department of State. The data code is used to eliminate confusion and incompatibility in the collection, processing, and dissemination of area-specific data and is particularly useful for interchanging data between databases. Appendix F is a cross-reference list of FIPS, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and Internet country codes. The US Government has not yet approved a standard for hydrographic codes similar to the FIPS 10-4 standard for country codes, but Appendix G provides a cross-reference list of International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), Aeronautical Chart and Information Center (now Defense Mapping Agency), and Defense Intelligence Agency hydrographic codes.

Dates of information: In general, information available as of 1 January 1996 is used in the preparation of this edition. Population figures are estimates for 1 July 1996, with population growth rates estimated for calendar year 1996. Major political events have been updated through May 1996.

Death rate: The average annual number of deaths during a year per l,000 population at midyear; also known as crude death rate. The death rate, while only a rough indicator of the mortality situation in a country, accurately indicates the current mortality impact on population growth. This indicator is significantly affected by the age distribution, and most countries will eventually show a rise in the rate, in spite of continued declines in mortality at all ages, as declining fertility results in an aging population.

Diplomatic representation: The US Government has diplomatic relations with 184 nations, including 178 of the 185 UN members (excluded UN members are Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, former Yugoslavia, and the US itself). In addition, the US has diplomatic relations with 6 nations that are not in the UN - Holy See, Kiribati, Nauru, Switzerland, Tonga, and Tuvalu.

Economic aid: This entry refers to bilateral commitments of official development assistance (ODA) and other official flows (OOF). ODA is defined as financial assistance which is concessional in character, has the main objective to promote economic development and welfare of LDCs, and contains a grant element of at least 25%. OOF transactions are also official government assistance, but with a main objective other than development and with a grant element less than 25%. OOF transactions include official export credits (such as Ex-Im Bank credits), official equity and portfolio investment, and debt reorganization by the official sector that does not meet concessional terms. Aid is considered to have been committed when agreements are initialed by the parties involved and constitute a formal declaration of intent.

Entities: Some of the nations, dependent areas, areas of special sovereignty, and governments included in this publication are not independent, and others are not officially recognized by the US Government. "Nation" refers to a people politically organized into a sovereign state with a definite territory. "Dependent area" refers to a broad category of political entities that are associated in some way with a nation. Names used for page headings are usually the short-form names as approved by the US Board on Geographic Names. There are 267 entities in The World Factbook that may be categorized as follows:

Exchange rate: The official value of a nation's monetary unit at a given date or over a given period of time, as expressed in units of local currency per US dollar and as determined by international market forces or official fiat.

Flags: In addition to the written flag descriptions in the Government section, flags in color are displayed at the beginning of the text for nearly all entities in the Factbook. The flags of independent nations are used by their dependencies unless there is an officially recognized local flag. Some disputed and other areas do not have a flag. The flags were produced from the best information available at the time the Factbook went to press, but some may have changed completely, show a variance in detail, or a change in color from the current official flag.

GDP methodology: In the Economy section, GDP dollar estimates for all countries are derived from purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations rather than from conversions at official currency exchange rates. The PPP method involves the use of international dollar price weights, which are applied to the quantities of goods and services produced in a given economy. The data derived from the PPP method provide a better comparison of economic well-being between countries. The division of a GDP estimate in domestic currency by the corresponding PPP estimate in dollars gives the PPP conversion rate. When priced in PPPs, $1,000 will buy the same market basket of goods in any country. Whereas PPP estimates for OECD countries are quite reliable, PPP estimates for developing countries are often rough approximations. Most of the GDP estimates are based on extrapolation of numbers published by the UN International Comparison Program and by Professors Robert Summers and Alan Heston of the University of Pennsylvania and their colleagues. Currency exchange rates depend on a variety of international and domestic financial forces that often have little relation to domestic output. In developing countries with weak currencies the exchange rate estimate of GDP in dollars is typically one-fourth to one-half the PPP estimate. Furthermore, exchange rates may suddenly go up or down by 10% or more because of market forces or official fiat whereas real output has remained unchanged. On 12 January 1994, for example, the 14 countries of the African Financial Community (whose currencies are tied to the French franc) devalued their currencies by 50%. This move, of course, did not cut the real output of these countries by half. One important caution: the proportion of, say, defense expenditures as a percentage of GDP in local currency accounts may differ substantially from the proportion when GDP accounts are expressed in PPP terms, as, for example, when an observer tries to estimate the dollar level of Russian or Japanese military expenditures. Note: The numbers for GDP and other economic data can not be chained together from successive volumes of the Factbook because of changes in the US dollar measuring rod, revisions of data by statistical agencies, use of new or different sources of information, and changes in national statistical methods and practices. For statistical series on GDP and other economic variables, see the Handbook of International Economic Statistics available from the same sources as The World Factbook.

Gross domestic product (GDP): The value of all goods and services produced within a nation in a given year.

Gross national product (GNP): The value of all goods and services produced within a nation in a given year, plus income earned abroad, minus income earned by foreigners from domestic production.

Gross world product (GWP): The aggregate value of all goods and services produced worldwide in a given year.

Illicit drugs: There are five categories of illicit drugs - narcotics, stimulants, depressants (sedatives), hallucinogens, and cannabis. These categories include many drugs legally produced and prescribed by doctors as well as those illegally produced and sold outside of medical channels.

• Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) is the common hemp plant, which provides hallucinogens with some sedative properties, and includes marijuana (pot, Acapulco gold, grass, reefer), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, Marinol), hashish (hash), and hashish oil (hash oil).
• Coca (mostly Erythroxylum coca) is a bush, and the leaves contain the stimulant used to make cocaine. Coca is not to be confused with cocoa, which comes from cacao seeds and is used in making chocolate, cocoa, and cocoa butter.
• Cocaine is a stimulant derived from the leaves of the coca bush.
• Depressants (sedatives) are drugs that reduce tension and anxiety and include chloral hydrate, barbiturates (Amytal, Nembutal, Seconal, phenobarbital), benzodiazepines (Librium, Valium), methaqualone (Quaalude), glutethimide (Doriden), and others (Equanil, Placidyl, Valmid).
• Drugs are any chemical substances that effect a physical, mental, emotional, or behavioral change in an individual.
• Drug abuse is the use of any licit or illicit chemical substance that results in physical, mental, emotional, or behavioral impairment in an individual.
• Hallucinogens are drugs that affect sensation, thinking, self-awareness, and emotion. Hallucinogens include LSD (acid, microdot), mescaline and peyote (mexc, buttons, cactus), amphetamine variants (PMA, STP, DOB), phencyclidine (PCP, angel dust, hog), phencyclidine analogues (PCE, PCPy, TCP), and others (psilocybin, psilocyn).
• Hashish is the resinous exudate of the cannabis or hemp plant (Cannabis sativa).
• Heroin is a semisynthetic derivative of morphine.
• Mandrax is the Southwest Asian slang term for methaqualone, a pharmaceutical depressant.
• Marijuana is the dried leaves of the cannabis or hemp plant (Cannabis sativa).
• Methaqualone is a pharmaceutical depressant, in slang referred to as Quaaludes in North America or Mandrax in Southwest Asia
• Narcotics are drugs that relieve pain, often induce sleep, and refer to opium, opium derivatives, and synthetic substitutes. Natural narcotics include opium (paregoric, parepectolin), morphine (MS-Contin, Roxanol), codeine (Tylenol with codeine, Empirin with codeine, Robitussan AC), and thebaine. Semisynthetic narcotics include heroin (horse, smack), and hydromorphone (Dilaudid). Synthetic narcotics include meperidine or Pethidine (Demerol, Mepergan), methadone (Dolophine, Methadose), and others (Darvon, Lomotil).
• Opium is the brown, gummy exudate of the incised, unripe seedpod of the opium poppy.
• Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is the source for the natural and semisynthetic narcotics.
• Poppy straw concentrate is the alkaloid derived from the mature dried opium poppy.
• Qat (kat, khat) is a stimulant from the buds or leaves of Catha edulis that is chewed or drunk as tea.
• Quaaludes is the North American slang term for methaqualone, a pharmaceutical depressant.
• Stimulants are drugs that relieve mild depression, increase energy and activity, and include cocaine (coke, snow, crack), amphetamines (Desoxyn, Dexedrine), phenmetrazine (Preludin), methylphenidate (Ritalin), and others (Cylert, Sanorex, Tenuate).

International disputes: This category includes a wide variety of situations that range from traditional bilateral boundary disputes to unilateral claims of one sort or another. Information regarding disputes over international boundaries and maritime boundaries has been reviewed by the Department of State. References to other situations involving borders or frontiers may also be included, such as resource disputes, geopolitical questions, or irredentist issues. However, inclusion does not necessarily constitute official acceptance or recognition by the US Government.

Irrigated land: The figure refers to the land area that is artificially supplied with water.

Land use: The land surface is categorized as arable land - land cultivated for crops that are replanted after each harvest (wheat, maize, rice); permanent crops - land cultivated for crops that are not replanted after each harvest (citrus, coffee, rubber); meadows and pastures - land permanently used for herbaceous forage crops; forest and woodland - land under dense or open stands of trees; and other - any land type not specifically mentioned above (urban areas, roads, desert).

Leaders: The chief of state is the titular leader of the country who represents the state at official and ceremonial functions but is not involved with the day-to-day activities of the government. The head of government is the administrative leader who manages the day-to-day activities of the government. In the UK, the monarch is the chief of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of government. In the US, the President is both the chief of state and the head of government.

Life expectancy at birth: The average number of years to be lived by a group of people all born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future. Life expectancy at birth is also a measure of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes the mortality at all ages. It can also be thought of as indicating the potential return on investment in human capital, and is necessary for the calculation of various measures based on years of potential life.

Literacy: There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise noted, all rates are based on the most common definition - the ability to read and write at a specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of this publication. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and comparable on an international basis. Low levels of literacy, and education in general, can impede the economic development of a country in the current rapidly changing, technology-driven world.

Manpower availability: Population age 15-49 is a measure of potential military manpower. Population fit for military service is a more refined measure of potential military manpower which tries to correct for the health situation in the country. Population reaching military age annually gives an idea of the availability of draft-age young adults.

Maritime claims: The proximity of neighboring states may prevent some national claims from being extended the full distance.

Merchant marine: All ships engaged in the carriage of goods. All commercial vessels (as opposed to all nonmilitary ships), which excludes tugs, fishing vessels, offshore oil rigs, etc. Also, a grouping of merchant ships by nationality or register.

• Captive register - A register of ships maintained by a territory, possession, or colony primarily or exclusively for the use of ships owned in the parent country; also referred to as an offshore register, the offshore equivalent of an internal register. Ships on a captive register will fly the same flag as the parent country, or a local variant of it, but will be subject to the maritime laws and taxation rules of the offshore territory. Although the nature of a captive register makes it especially desirable for ships owned in the parent country, just as in the internal register, the ships may also be owned abroad. The captive register then acts as a flag of convenience register, except that it is not the register of an independent state.
• Flag of convenience register - A national register offering registration to a merchant ship not owned in the flag state. The major flags of convenience (FOC) attract ships to their registers by virtue of low fees, low or nonexistent taxation of profits, and liberal manning requirements. True FOC registers are characterized by having relatively few of the ships registered actually owned in the flag state. Thus, while virtually any flag can be used for ships under a given set of circumstances, an FOC register is one where the majority of the merchant fleet is owned abroad. It is also referred to as an open register.
• Flag state - The nation in which a ship is registered and which holds legal jurisdiction over operation of the ship, whether at home or abroad. Flag state maritime legislation determines how a ship is crewed and taxed and whether a foreign-owned ship may be placed on the register.
• Internal register - A register of ships maintained as a subset of a national register. Ships on the internal register fly the national flag and have that nationality but are subject to a separate set of maritime rules from those on the main national register. These differences usually include lower taxation of profits, use of foreign nationals as crew members, and, usually, ownership outside the flag state (when it functions as an FOC register). The Norwegian International Ship Register and Danish International Ship Register are the most notable examples of an internal register. Both have been instrumental in stemming flight from the national flag to flags of convenience and in attracting foreign-owned ships to the Norwegian and Danish flags.
• Merchant ship - A vessel that carries goods against payment of freight; commonly used to denote any nonmilitary ship but accurately restricted to commercial vessels only.
• Register - The record of a ship's ownership and nationality as listed with the maritime authorities of a country; also, the compendium of such individual ships' registrations. Registration of a ship provides it with a nationality and makes it subject to the laws of the country in which registered (the flag state) regardless of the nationality of the ship's ultimate owner.

Net migration rate: The balance between the number of persons entering and leaving a country during the year per 1,000 persons (based on midyear population). An excess of persons entering the country is referred to as net immigration (3.56 migrants/1,000 population); an excess of persons leaving the country as net emigration (-9.26 migrants/1,000 population). The net migration rate indicates the contribution of migration to the overall level of population change. High levels of migration (either into or out of a country) can cause problems such as increasing unemployment and potential ethnic strife (if people are coming in) or reducing the labor force, perhaps in certain key sectors (if people are leaving).

Population: Figures are estimates from the Bureau of the Census based on statistics from population censuses, vital statistics registration systems, or sample surveys pertaining to the recent past, and on assumptions about future trends. Starting with the 1993 Factbook, demographic estimates for some countries (mostly African) have taken into account the effects of the growing incidence of AIDS infections; in 1996 these countries were Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The total population presents one overall measure of the potential impact of the country on the world, and it is also important in considering the political influence of a country within a region.

Population growth rate: The average annual percent change in the population, resulting from a surplus (or deficit) of births over deaths and the balance of migrants entering and leaving a country. The rate may be positive or negative. Also known as growth rate or average annual rate of growth. The growth rate is a factor in determining how rapidly a country responds to the changing needs of its people. Rapid population growth requires rapid increases in infrastructure (e.g., schools, hospitals, housing, roads), resources (e.g., food, water, electricity), and jobs. Rapid population growth can also be seen as threatening by neighboring countries.

Ports: Ports are selected on the basis of overall importance to each country. This is determined by evaluating a number of factors that include, but are not limited to, dollar value of goods handled, gross tonnage of goods handled, port facilities, and military significance. For most countries only the five to 10 most important ports are listed.

Sex ratio at birth: The number of male births for each female birth during a specified period of time. Sex ratio at birth has recently emerged as an indicator of certain kinds of sex discrimination in some countries. High sex ratios at birth in some Asian countries are now attributed to sex-selective abortion and infanticide due to a strong preference for sons. This will affect future marriage patterns and fertility patterns and could cause unrest among young adult males who are unable to find partners. The sex ratio at birth for the World is 1.06 (1996 est.).

Telephone numbers: All telephone numbers presented in the Factbook consist of the country code in brackets, the city or area code (where required) in parentheses, and the local number. The one component that is not presented is the international access code which varies from country to country. For example, an international direct dial telephone call placed from the US to Madrid, Spain, would be as follows:

011 [34] (1) 577-xxxx where

• 011 is the international access code for station-to-station calls (01 is for calls other than station-to-station calls),
• [34] is the country code for Spain,
• (1) is the city code for Madrid,
• 577 is the local exchange, and
• xxxx is the local telephone number.

international access code + [1] (202) 939-xxxx where

• [1] is the country code for the US,
• (202) is the area code for Washington, DC,
• 939 is the local exchange, and
• xxxx is the local telephone number.

• Arabsat - Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
• Autodin - Automatic Digital Network (US Department of Defense)
• CB - citizens band mobile radio communications
• cellular telephone system - the telephones in this system are radio transceivers, each instrument having its own private radio frequency with sufficient radiated power to reach the booster station in its area (cell), from which the telephone signal is fed to a regular telephone exchange
• Central American Microwave System - a trunk microwave radio relay system that links the countries of Central America and Mexico with each other
• coaxial cable - a multichannel communication cable consisting of a central conducting wire, surrounded by and insulated from a cylindrical conducting shell; a large number of telephone channels can be made available within the insulated space by the use of a large number of carrier frequencies
• Comsat - Communications Satellite Corporation (US)
• DSN - Defense Switched Network (formerly Automatic Voice Network or Autovon); basic general-purpose, switched voice network of the Defense Communications System (US Department of Defense)
• Eutelsat - European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Paris)
• fiber-optic cable - a multichannel communications cable using a thread of optical glass fibers as a transmission medium in which the signal (voice, video, etc.) is in the form of a coded pulse of light
• HF - high-frequency; any radio frequency in the 3,000- to 30,000-kHz range
• Inmarsat - International Mobile Satellite Organization (London); provider of global mobile satellite communications for commercial and distress and safety applications, at sea, in the air, and on land
• Intelsat - International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Washington, DC)
• Intersputnik - International Organization of Space Communications (Moscow); first established in the former Soviet Union and the East European countries, it is now marketing its services worldwide with earth stations in North America, Africa, and East Asia
• landline - communication wire or cable of any sort that is installed on poles or buried in the ground
• Marecs - Maritime European Communications Satellite used in the Inmarsat system on lease from the European Space Agency
• Marisat - satellites of the Comsat Corporation that participate in the Inmarsat system
• Medarabtel - the Middle East Telecommunications Project of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), providing a modern telecommunications network, primarily by microwave radio relay, linking Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen (initially begun in Morocco in 1970 by the Arab Telecommunications Union (ATU) and known at that time as the Middle East Mediterranean Telecommunications Network)
• microwave radio relay - transmission of long distance telephone calls and television programs by highly directional radio microwaves that are received and sent on from one booster station to another on an optical path
• NMT - Nordic Mobile Telephone; an analog cellular telephone system that was developed jointly by the national telecommunications authorities of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden)
• Orbita - a Russian television service; also the trade name of a packet-switched digital telephone network
• radiotelephone communications - the two-way transmission and reception of sounds by broadcast radio on authorized frequencies using telephone handsets
• satellite communication system - a communication system consisting of two or more earth stations and at least one satellite that provides long distance transmission of voice, data, and television; the system usually serves as a trunk connection between telephone exchanges; if the earth stations are in the same country, it is a domestic system
• satellite earth station - a communications facility with a microwave radio transmitting and receiving antenna and required receiving and transmitting equipment for communicating with satellites
• satellite link - a radio connection between a satellite and an earth station permitting communication between them, either one-way (down link from satellite to earth station - television receive-only transmission) or two-way (telephone channels)
• SHF - super-high-frequency; any radio frequency in the 3,000- to 30,000-MHz range
• shortwave - radio frequencies (from 1.605 to 30 MHz) that fall above the commercial broadcast band and are used for communication over long distances
• Solidaridad - geosynchronous satellites in Mexico's system of international telecommunications in the Western Hemisphere
• Statsionar - Russia's geostationary system for satellite telecommunications
• submarine cable - a cable designed for service under water
• TAT - Trans-Atlantic Telephone; any of a number of high-capacity submarine coaxial telephone cables linking Europe with North America
• telefax - facsimile service between subscriber stations via the public switched telephone network or the international Datel network
• telegraph - a telecommunications system designed for unmodulated electric impulse transmission
• telex - a communication service involving teletypewriters connected by wire through automatic exchanges
• tropospheric scatter - a form of microwave radio transmission in which the troposphere is used to scatter and reflect a fraction of the incident radio waves back to earth; powerful, highly directional antennas are used to transmit and receive the microwave signals; reliable over-the-horizon communications are realized for distances up to 600 miles in a single hop; additional hops can extend the range of this system for very long distances
• trunk network - a network of switching centers, connected by multichannel trunk lines
• UHF - ultra-high-frequency; any radio frequency in the 300- to 3,000-MHz range
• VHF - very-high-frequency; any radio frequency in the 30- to 300-MHz range

Years: All year references are for the calendar year (CY) unless indicated as fiscal year (FY). FY93/94, for example, refers to the fiscal year that began in calendar year 1993 and ended in calendar year 1994 as defined in the Fiscal Year entry of the Economy section for each nation. FY90-94, for example, refers to the four fiscal years that began in calendar year 1990 and ended in calendar year 1994.

Note: Information for the US and US dependencies was compiled from material in the public domain and does not represent Intelligence Community estimates. The Handbook of International Economic Statistics, published annually in September by the Central Intelligence Agency, contains detailed economic information for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, Eastern Europe, the newly independent republics of the former nations of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, and selected other countries. The Handbook can be obtained wherever The World Factbook is available.