FAX: (9412) 90-66-71

FAX: (202) 842-0004

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Ross WILSON

embassy: Azadliq Prospekt 83, Baku 370007

mailing address: American Embassy Baku, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-7050

telephone: (9412) 98-03-35, 36, 37

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), red, and green; a crescent and eight-pointed star in white are centered in red band

Azerbaijan Economy

Economy - overview: Azerbaijan's most prominent products are oil, cotton, and natural gas. Azerbaijan's oil production declined through 1997 but has registered an increase every year since. Negotiation of 19 production-sharing arrangements (PSAs) with foreign firms, which have thus far committed $60 billion to oil field development, should generate the funds needed to spur future industrial development. Oil production under the first of these PSAs, with the Azerbaijan International Operating Company, began in November 1997. Azerbaijan shares all the formidable problems of the former Soviet republics in making the transition from a command to a market economy, but its considerable energy resources brighten its long-term prospects. Baku has only recently begun making progress on economic reform, and old economic ties and structures are slowly being replaced. An obstacle to economic progress, including stepped up foreign investment, is the continuing conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Trade with Russia and the other former Soviet republics is declining in importance while trade is building up with Turkey, Iran, UAE, and the nations of Europe. Long-term prospects will depend on world oil prices, the location of new pipelines in the region, and Azerbaijan's ability to manage its oil wealth.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $23.5 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 11.4% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,000 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 22%

industry: 33%

services: 45% (1999 est.)

Population below poverty line: 60% (2000 est.)

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

highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.8% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 2.9 million (1997)

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture and forestry 32%, industry 15%, services 53% (1997)

Unemployment rate: 20% (1999 est.)

Budget: revenues: $777 million

expenditures: $995 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)

Industries: petroleum and natural gas, petroleum products, oilfield equipment; steel, iron ore, cement; chemicals and petrochemicals; textiles

Industrial production growth rate: 6.9% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production: 16.378 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 86.46%

hydro: 13.54%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 15.432 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 600 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 800 million kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: cotton, grain, rice, grapes, fruit, vegetables, tea, tobacco; cattle, pigs, sheep, goats

Exports: $1.9 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities: oil and gas 75%, machinery, cotton, foodstuffs

Exports - partners: Italy, Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Iran

Imports: $1.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, metals, chemicals

Imports - partners: Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, UAE, Iran

Debt - external: $1 billion (2000)

Economic aid - recipient: ODA, $113 million (1996)

Currency: Azerbaijani manat (AZM)

Currency code: AZM

Exchange rates: Azerbaijani manats per US dollar - 4,579 (1 February 2001), 4,342 (October 1999), 4,373 (1999), 3,869 (1998), 3,985.38 (1997), 4,301.26 (1996)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Azerbaijan Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 663,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 40,000 (1997)

Telephone system: general assessment: inadequate; requires considerable expansion and modernization; teledensity of 8.6 main lines per 100 persons is very low

domestic: the majority of telephones are in Baku and other industrial centers - about 700 villages still do not have public telephone service; satellite service connects Baku to a modern switch in its exclave of Naxcivan

international: the old Soviet system of cable and microwave is still serviceable; a satellite connection to Turkey enables Baku to reach about 200 additional countries, some of which are directly connected to Baku by satellite providers other than Turkey (1997)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 10, FM 17, shortwave 1 (1998)

Radios: 175,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 2 (1997)

Televisions: 170,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .az

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 2 (2000)

Internet users: 8,000 (2000)

Azerbaijan Transportation

Railways: total: 2,125 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines

broad gauge: 2,125 km 1.520-m gauge (1,278 km electrified) (1993)

Highways: total: 24,981 km

paved: 23,057 km (these roads are said to be hard-surfaced, and include, in addition to conventionally paved roads, some that are surfaced with gravel or other coarse aggregate, making them trafficable in all weather)

unpaved: 1,924 km (these roads are made of unstabilized earth and are difficult to negotiate in wet weather) (1998)

Waterways: none

Pipelines: crude oil 1,130 km; petroleum products 630 km; natural gas 1,240 km

Ports and harbors: Baku (Baki)

Merchant marine: total: 56 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 253,882 GRT/313,252 DWT

ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 12, petroleum tanker 40, roll on/roll off 2, short-sea passenger 1 (2000 est.)

Airports: 52 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 9

2,438 to 3,047 m: 5

1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 43

1,524 to 2,437 m: 7

914 to 1,523 m: 8

under 914 m: 28 (2000 est.)

Azerbaijan Military

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Border
Guards

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 2,102,780 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 1,684,673 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 77,099 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $121 million (FY99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.6% (FY99)

Azerbaijan Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: Armenia supports ethnic Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan in the longstanding, separatist conflict against the Azerbaijani Government; Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan

Illicit drugs: limited illicit cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; limited government eradication program; transshipment point for opiates via Iran, Central Asia, and Russia to Western Europe

@Bahamas, The

Bahamas, The Introduction

Background: Since attaining independence from the UK in 1973, The Bahamas have prospered through tourism and international banking and investment management. Because of its geography, the country is a major transshipment point for illegal drugs, particularly shipments to the US, and its territory is used for smuggling illegal migrants into the US.

Bahamas, The Geography

Location: Caribbean, chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida

Geographic coordinates: 24 15 N, 76 00 W

Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

Area: total: 13,940 sq km

land: 10,070 sq km

water: 3,870 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Connecticut

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 3,542 km

Maritime claims: continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

territorial sea: 12 NM

Climate: tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream

Terrain: long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m

highest point: Mount Alvernia, on Cat Island 63 m

Natural resources: salt, aragonite, timber, arable land

Land use: arable land: 1%

permanent crops: 0%

permanent pastures: 0%

forests and woodland: 32%

other: 67% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Natural hazards: hurricanes and other tropical storms that cause extensive flood and wind damage

Environment - current issues: coral reef decay; solid waste disposal

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba; extensive island chain

Bahamas, The People

Population: 297,852

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: 29.43% (male 44,179; female 43,486)

15-64 years: 64.46% (male 94,329; female 97,674)

65 years and over: 6.11% (male 7,618; female 10,566) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.93% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 19.1 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 7.14 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -2.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

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

65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female

total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 17.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 70.46 years

male: 67.27 years

female: 73.71 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.3 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 4.13% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 6,900 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 500 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Bahamian(s)

adjective: Bahamian

Ethnic groups: black 85%, white 12%, Asian and Hispanic 3%

Religions: Baptist 32%, Anglican 20%, Roman Catholic 19%, Methodist 6%, Church of God 6%, other Protestant 12%, none or unknown 3%, other 2%

Languages: English, Creole (among Haitian immigrants)

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

total population: 98.2%

male: 98.5%

female: 98% (1995 est.)

Bahamas, The Government

Country name: conventional long form: Commonwealth of The Bahamas

conventional short form: The Bahamas

Government type: constitutional parliamentary democracy

Capital: Nassau

Administrative divisions: 21 districts; Acklins and Crooked Islands,
Bimini, Cat Island, Exuma, Freeport, Fresh Creek, Governor's
Harbour, Green Turtle Cay, Harbour Island, High Rock, Inagua, Kemps
Bay, Long Island, Marsh Harbour, Mayaguana, New Providence, Nicholls
Town and Berry Islands, Ragged Island, Rock Sound, Sandy Point, San
Salvador and Rum Cay

Independence: 10 July 1973 (from UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 10 July (1973)

Constitution: 10 July 1973

Legal system: based on English common law

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6
February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Orville
TURNQUEST (since 2 January 1995)

head of government: Prime Minister Hubert Alexander INGRAHAM (since 19 August 1992) and Deputy Prime Minister Frank WATSON (since December 1994)

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the prime minister's recommendation

elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; prime minister and deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (16-member body appointed by the governor general upon the advice of the prime minister and the opposition leader for five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (40 seats; members elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)

elections: last held 14 March 1997 (next to be held by March 2002)

election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - FNM 35, PLP 5

Judicial branch: Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; magistrates courts

Political parties and leaders: Free National Movement or FNM [Hubert
Alexander INGRAHAM]; Progressive Liberal Party or PLP [Perry
CHRISTIE]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: ACP, C, Caricom, CCC, CDB,
ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO,
IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, LAES, NAM, OAS,
OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO
(observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Joshua SEARS

chancery: 2220 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone: (202) 319-2660