FAX: (20) 22-345-39

Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a vertical white band of the same width on hoist side

Madagascar Economy

Economy - overview: Madagascar faces problems of chronic malnutrition, underfunded health and education facilities, a roughly 3% annual population growth rate, and severe loss of forest cover, accompanied by erosion. Agriculture, including fishing and forestry, is the mainstay of the economy, accounting for 30% of GDP and contributing more than 70% to export earnings. Industry features textile manufacturing and the processing of agricultural products. Growth in output in 1992-97 averaged less than the growth rate of the population. Growth has been held back by antigovernment strikes and demonstrations, a decline in world coffee prices, and the erratic commitment of the government to economic reform. The extent of government reforms, outside financial aid, and foreign investment will be key determinants of future growth. For 2001, growth should again be about 5%.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $12.3 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4.8% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $800 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 30%

industry: 14%

services: 56% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: 70% (1994 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.9%

highest 10%: 36.7% (1993)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 7 million (1999)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues: $553 million

expenditures: $735 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998 est.)

Industries: meat processing, soap, breweries, tanneries, sugar, textiles, glassware, cement, automobile assembly plant, paper, petroleum, tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 3% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production: 810 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 37.04%

hydro: 62.96%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 753.3 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: coffee, vanilla, sugarcane, cloves, cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), beans, bananas, peanuts; livestock products

Exports: $538 million (f.o.b., 1998)

Exports - commodities: coffee, vanilla, shellfish, sugar; cotton cloth, chromite, petroleum products

Exports - partners: France 41%, US 19%, Germany 13%, UK 8%, Japan 6% (1999)

Imports: $693 million (f.o.b., 1998)

Imports - commodities: intermediate manufactures, capital goods, petroleum, consumer goods, food

Imports - partners: France 34%, Hong Kong 6%, China 6%, Japan 5%,
Singapore 4% (1999)

Debt - external: $4.4 billion (1999)

Economic aid - recipient: $838 million (1997)

Currency: Malagasy franc (MGF)

Currency code: MGF

Exchange rates: Malagasy francs per US dollar - 6,656.3 (November 2000), 6,283.8 (1999), 5,441.4 (1998), 5,090.9 (1997), 4,061.3 (1996)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Madagascar Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 43,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 4,000 (1997)

Telephone system: general assessment: system is above average for the region

domestic: open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay, and tropospheric scatter links

international: submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 2 (plus 8 repeater stations), FM 7, shortwave 5 (1998)

Radios: 3.05 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 1 (plus 36 repeaters) (1997)

Televisions: 325,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .mg

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 2 (2000)

Internet users: 8,000 (2000)

Madagascar Transportation

Railways: total: 883 km

narrow gauge: 883 km 1.000-m gauge (1994)

Highways: total: 49,837 km

paved: 5,781 km

unpaved: 44,056 km (1996)

Waterways: note: of local importance only

Ports and harbors: Antsiranana, Antsohimbondrona, Mahajanga,
Toamasina, Toliara

Merchant marine: total: 13 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 24,819 GRT/34,173 DWT

ships by type: cargo 7, chemical tanker 1, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 2, roll on/roll off 2 (2000 est.)

Airports: 130 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 29

over 3,047 m: 1

2,438 to 3,047 m: 2

1,524 to 2,437 m: 5

914 to 1,523 m: 19

under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 101

1,524 to 2,437 m: 2

914 to 1,523 m: 56

under 914 m: 43 (2000 est.)

Madagascar Military

Military branches: Popular Armed Forces (includes Intervention
Forces, Development Forces, Aeronaval Forces - includes Navy and Air
Force), Gendarmerie, Presidential Security Regiment

Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 3,640,554 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 2,159,767 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 153,856 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $29 million (FY94)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1% (FY94)

Madagascar Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island, and Tromelin Island (all administered by France)

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis (cultivated and wild varieties) used mostly for domestic consumption; transshipment point for heroin

@Malawi

Malawi Introduction

Background: Established in 1891, the British protectorate of Nyasaland became the independent nation of Malawi in 1964. After three decades of one-party rule, the country held multiparty elections in 1994 under a provisional constitution, which took full effect the following year. National multiparty elections were held again in 1999.

Malawi Geography

Location: Southern Africa, east of Zambia

Geographic coordinates: 13 30 S, 34 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area: total: 118,480 sq km

land: 94,080 sq km

water: 24,400 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Pennsylvania

Land boundaries: total: 2,881 km

border countries: Mozambique 1,569 km, Tanzania 475 km, Zambia 837 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: sub-tropical; rainy season (November to May); dry season
(May to November)

Terrain: narrow elongated plateau with rolling plains, rounded hills, some mountains

Elevation extremes: lowest point: junction of the Shire River and international boundary with Mozambique 37 m

highest point: Sapitwa 3,002 m

Natural resources: limestone, arable land, hydropower, unexploited deposits of uranium, coal, and bauxite

Land use: arable land: 34%

permanent crops: 0%

permanent pastures: 20%

forests and woodland: 39%

other: 7% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 280 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues: deforestation; land degradation; water pollution from agricultural runoff, sewage, industrial wastes; siltation of spawning grounds endangers fish populations

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note: landlocked

Malawi People

Population: 10,548,250

note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 44.43% (male 2,348,940; female 2,337,290)

15-64 years: 52.78% (male 2,741,622; female 2,825,966)

65 years and over: 2.79% (male 119,283; female 175,149) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.5% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 37.8 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 22.81 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female

total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 121.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 37.08 years

male: 36.61 years

female: 37.55 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.18 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 15.96% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 800,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 70,000 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Malawian(s)

adjective: Malawian

Ethnic groups: Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuko, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga,
Ngoni, Ngonde, Asian, European

Religions: Protestant 55%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 20%, indigenous beliefs

Languages: English (official), Chichewa (official), other languages important regionally

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 58%

male: 72.8%

female: 43.4% (1999 est.)

Malawi Government

Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Malawi

conventional short form: Malawi

former: British Central African Protectorate, Nyasaland Protectorate, Nyasaland

Government type: multiparty democracy

Capital: Lilongwe

Administrative divisions: 24 districts; Blantyre, Chikwawa,
Chiradzulu, Chitipa, Dedza, Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Lilongwe,
Machinga (Kasupe), Mangochi, Mchinji, Mulanje, Mwanza, Mzimba,
Ntcheu, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntchisi, Rumphi, Salima,
Thyolo, Zomba; note - there may be three new districts named Balaka,
Likoma, and Phalombe

Independence: 6 July 1964 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 6 July (1964)

Constitution: 18 May 1994

Legal system: based on English common law and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court of Appeal; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: President Bakili MULUZI (since 21 May 1994); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government: President Bakili MULUZI (since 21 May 1994); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

cabinet: 36-member Cabinet named by the president

elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 15 June 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)

election results: Bakili MULUZI reelected president; percent of vote - Bakili MULUZI (UDF) 51.4%, Gwandaguluwe CHAKUAMBA (MCP-AFORD) 44.3%

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (193 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)

elections: last held 15 June 1999 (next to be held NA 2004)

election results: percent of vote by party - UDF 48%, MCP 34%, AFORD 15%, others 3%; seats by party - UDF 94, MCP 66, AFORD 29, others 4

Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Appeal; High Court (chief justice appointed by the president, puisne judges appointed on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission); magistrate's courts

Political parties and leaders: Alliance for Democracy or AFORD
[Chakufwa CHIHANA, president]; Malawi Congress Party or MCP [Gwanda
CHAKUAMBA, president, John TEMBO, vice president]; Malawi Democratic
Party or MDP [Kampelo KALUA, president]; National Independence
Party; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Eston KAKHOME, president];
United Democratic Front or UDF [Bakili MULUZI] - governing party

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA,
FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF,
IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU,
OPCW, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Paul Tony Steven KANDIERO

chancery: 2408 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone: (202) 797-1007

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Roger A. MEECE

embassy: Area 40, Plot 24, Kenyatta Road

mailing address: P. O. Box 30016, Lilongwe 3, Malawi

telephone: 773 166