FAX: (22) 666701

FAX: (202) 797-7408

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Charge d'Affaires Wanda NESBITT

embassy: 140 Msese Road, Kinondoni District, Dar es Salaam

mailing address: P. O. Box 9123, Dar es Salaam

telephone: (22) 666010 through 666015

Flag description: divided diagonally by a yellow-edged black band from the lower hoist-side corner; the upper triangle (hoist side) is green and the lower triangle is blue

Tanzania Economy

Economy - overview: Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which accounts for half of GDP, provides 85% of exports, and employs 80% of the work force. Topography and climatic conditions, however, limit cultivated crops to only 4% of the land area. Industry is mainly limited to processing agricultural products and light consumer goods. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and bilateral donors have provided funds to rehabilitate Tanzania's deteriorated economic infrastructure. Growth in 1991-2000 featured a pick up in industrial production and a substantial increase in output of minerals, led by gold. Natural gas exploration in the Rufiji Delta looks promising and production could start by 2002. Recent banking reforms have helped increase private sector growth and investment. Continued donor support and solid macroeconomic policies should allow Tanzania to achieve real GDP growth of 6% in 2001 and in 2002.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $25.1 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 5.2% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $710 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 49%

industry: 17%

services: 34% (1998 est.)

Population below poverty line: 51.1% (1991 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.9%

highest 10%: 30.2% (1993)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 13.495 million

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 80%, industry and commerce 20% (2000 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues: $1.21 billion

expenditures: $1.36 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)

Industries: primarily agricultural processing (sugar, beer, cigarettes, sisal twine), diamond and gold mining, oil refining, shoes, cement, textiles, wood products, fertilizer, salt

Industrial production growth rate: 8.4% (1999 est.)

Electricity - production: 2.248 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 22.24%

hydro: 77.76%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 2.134 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 43 million kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: coffee, sisal, tea, cotton, pyrethrum (insecticide made from chrysanthemums), cashew nuts, tobacco, cloves (Zanzibar), corn, wheat, cassava (tapioca), bananas, fruits, vegetables; cattle, sheep, goats

Exports: $937 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Exports - commodities: coffee, manufactured goods, cotton, cashew nuts, minerals, tobacco, sisal (1996)

Exports - partners: India 20%, UK 10%, Germany 8%, Japan 8%,
Netherlands 8%, Belgium 4% (1998)

Imports: $1.57 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: consumer goods, machinery and transportation equipment, industrial raw materials, crude oil

Imports - partners: South Africa 8%, Japan 8%, UK 8%, Kenya 7%,
India 6%, US 5% (1998)

Debt - external: $6.8 billion (2000 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $963 million (1997)

Currency: Tanzanian shilling (TZS)

Currency code: TZS

Exchange rates: Tanzanian shillings per US dollar - 803.34 (December 2000), 800.41 (2000), 744.76 (1999), 664.67 (1998), 612.12 (1997), 579.98 (1996)

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Tanzania Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 127,000 (1998)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 30,000 (1999)

Telephone system: general assessment: fair system operating below capacity and being modernized for better service; VSAT (very small aperture terminal) system under construction

domestic: trunk service provided by open wire, microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and fiber-optic cable; some links being made digital

international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 12, FM 11, shortwave 2 (1998)

Radios: 8.8 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 3 (1999)

Televisions: 103,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .tz

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 6 (2000)

Internet users: 25,000 (2000)

Tanzania Transportation

Railways: total: 3,569 km (1995)

narrow gauge: 2,600 km 1.000-m gauge; 969 km 1.067-m gauge

note: the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), which operates 1,860 km of 1.067-m narrow gauge track between Dar es Salaam and Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia (of which 969 km are in Tanzania and 891 km are in Zambia) is not a part of Tanzania Railways Corporation; because of the difference in gauge, this system does not connect to Tanzania Railways

Highways: total: 88,200 km

paved: 3,704 km

unpaved: 84,496 km (1996)

Waterways: note: Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, and Lake Nyasa are principal avenues of commerce between Tanzania and its neighbors on those lakes

Pipelines: crude oil 982 km

Ports and harbors: Bukoba, Dar es Salaam, Kigoma, Kilwa Masoko,
Lindi, Mtwara, Mwanza, Pangani, Tanga, Wete, Zanzibar

Merchant marine: total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 21,987
GRT/27,121 DWT

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

Airports: 126 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 11

over 3,047 m: 2

2,438 to 3,047 m: 2

1,524 to 2,437 m: 5

914 to 1,523 m: 1

under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 115

1,524 to 2,437 m: 17

914 to 1,523 m: 63

under 914 m: 35 (2000 est.)

Tanzania Military

Military branches: Tanzanian People's Defense Force or TPDF (includes Army, Navy, and Air Force), paramilitary Police Field Force Unit, Militia

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 8,365,337 (2001 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 4,841,095 (2001 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $21 million (FY98/99)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 0.2% (FY98/99)

Tanzania Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: dispute with Malawi over the boundary in Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi); a resurvey of the latitudinal boundary with Uganda in 2000 revealed a 300-meter discrepancy that both sides are currently adjudicating

Illicit drugs: growing role in transshipment of Southwest and
Southeast Asian heroin and South American cocaine destined for South
African, European, and US markets and of South Asian methaqualone
bound for Southern Africa

@Thailand

Thailand Introduction

Background: A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century; it was known as Siam until 1939. Thailand is the only southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US ally following the conflict.

Thailand Geography

Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of Burma

Geographic coordinates: 15 00 N, 100 00 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area: total: 514,000 sq km

land: 511,770 sq km

water: 2,230 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Wyoming

Land boundaries: total: 4,863 km

border countries: Burma 1,800 km, Cambodia 803 km, Laos 1,754 km, Malaysia 506 km

Coastline: 3,219 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; rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon (mid-May to September); dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to mid-March); southern isthmus always hot and humid

Terrain: central plain; Khorat Plateau in the east; mountains elsewhere

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Gulf of Thailand 0 m

highest point: Doi Inthanon 2,576 m

Natural resources: tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum, timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land

Land use: arable land: 34%

permanent crops: 6%

permanent pastures: 2%

forests and woodland: 26%

other: 32% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 44,000 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: land subsidence in Bangkok area resulting from the depletion of the water table; droughts

Environment - current issues: air pollution from vehicle emissions; water pollution from organic and factory wastes; deforestation; soil erosion; wildlife populations threatened by illegal hunting

Environment - international agreements: party to: Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83,
Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea

Geography - note: controls only land route from Asia to Malaysia and
Singapore

Thailand People

Population: 61,797,751

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: 23.43% (male 7,380,273; female 7,099,506)

15-64 years: 69.95% (male 21,304,051; female 21,921,383)

65 years and over: 6.62% (male 1,796,325; female 2,296,213) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.91% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 16.63 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 7.54 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

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

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

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

65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female

total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 30.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 68.86 years

male: 65.64 years

female: 72.24 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.87 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 2.15% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 755,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 66,000 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Thai (singular and plural)

adjective: Thai

Ethnic groups: Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%

Religions: Buddhism 95%, Muslim 3.8%, Christianity 0.5%, Hinduism 0.1%, other 0.6% (1991)

Languages: Thai, English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic and regional dialects

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

total population: 93.8%

male: 96%

female: 91.6% (1995 est.)

Thailand Government

Country name: conventional long form: Kingdom of Thailand

conventional short form: Thailand

former: Siam

Government type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: Bangkok

Administrative divisions: 76 provinces (changwat, singular and
plural); Amnat Charoen, Ang Thong, Buriram, Chachoengsao, Chai Nat,
Chaiyaphum, Chanthaburi, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Chon Buri,
Chumphon, Kalasin, Kamphaeng Phet, Kanchanaburi, Khon Kaen, Krabi,
Krung Thep Mahanakhon (Bangkok), Lampang, Lamphun, Loei, Lop Buri,
Mae Hong Son, Maha Sarakham, Mukdahan, Nakhon Nayok, Nakhon Pathom,
Nakhon Phanom, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Sawan, Nakhon Si Thammarat,
Nan, Narathiwat, Nong Bua Lamphu, Nong Khai, Nonthaburi, Pathum
Thani, Pattani, Phangnga, Phatthalung, Phayao, Phetchabun,
Phetchaburi, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Phrae,
Phuket, Prachin Buri, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Ranong, Ratchaburi,
Rayong, Roi Et, Sa Kaeo, Sakon Nakhon, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon,
Samut Songkhram, Sara Buri, Satun, Sing Buri, Sisaket, Songkhla,
Sukhothai, Suphan Buri, Surat Thani, Surin, Tak, Trang, Trat, Ubon
Ratchathani, Udon Thani, Uthai Thani, Uttaradit, Yala, Yasothon

Independence: 1238 (traditional founding date; never colonized)

National holiday: Birthday of King PHUMIPHON, 5 December (1927)

Constitution: new constitution signed by King PHUMIPHON on 11
October 1997

Legal system: based on civil law system, with influences of common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch: chief of state: King PHUMIPHON Adunyadet (since 9
June 1946)

head of government: Prime Minister THAKSIN Chinnawat (since NA January 2001)

cabinet: Council of Ministers

note: there is also a Privy Council

elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister designated from among the members of the House of Representatives; following a national election for the House of Representatives, the leader of the party that can organize a majority coalition usually becomes prime minister

Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly or Rathasapha consists of the Senate or Wuthisapha (200 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Sapha Phuthaen Ratsadon (500 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

elections: Senate - last held 4 March, 29 April, 4 June, 9 July, and 22 July 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004); House of Representatives - last held 6 January 2001 (next to be held NA January 2005)

election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - TRT 248, DP 128, TNP 41, NAP 36, NDP 29, other 18

Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Sandika (judges appointed by the monarch)

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party or DP (Prachathipat
Party) [CHUAN Likphai]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP (Seri Tham)
[PHINIT Charusombat]; Mass Party or MP [CHALERM Yoobamrung, SOPHON
Petchsavang]; National Development Party or NDP (Chat Phattana)
[KORN Dabbaransi]; New Aspiration Party or NAP (Khwamwang Mai) [Gen.
CHAWALIT Yongchaiyut]; Phalang Dharma Party or PDP (Phalang Tham)
[CHAIWAT Sinsuwong]; Social Action Party or SAP (Kitsangkhom Party)
[leader vacant]; Solidarity Party or SP (Ekkaphap Party) [CHAIYOT
Sasomsap]; Thai Citizen's Party or TCP (Prachakon Thai) [SAMAK
Sunthonwet]; Thai Nation Party or TNP (Chat Thai Party) [BANHAN
Sinlapa-acha]; Thai Rak Thai Party or TRT [THAKSIN Chinnawat]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: APEC, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN,
BIS, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM,
IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC (observer),
OPCW, OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM,
UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO,
WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
TEJ Bunnag

chancery: 1024 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007

telephone: (202) 944-3600