CHF

Exchange rates:

Swiss francs (CHF) per US dollar - 1.1973 (2007), 1.2539 (2006), 1.2452 (2005), 1.2435 (2004), 1.3467 (2003)

Communications
Switzerland

Telephones - main lines in use:

5 million (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

8.096 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: highly developed telecommunications infrastructure with excellent domestic and international services domestic: ranked among leading countries for fixed-line teledensity and infrastructure; mobile-cellular subscribership roughly 100 per 100 persons; extensive cable and microwave radio relay networks international: country code - 41; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 4, FM 113 (plus many low-power stations), shortwave 2 (1998)

Radios:

7.1 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

115 (plus 1,919 repeaters) (1995)

Televisions:

3.31 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.ch

Internet hosts:

3.437 million (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

44 (Switzerland and Liechtenstein) (2000)

Internet users:

4.61 million (2007)

Transportation
Switzerland

Airports:

65 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 42 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 12 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 16 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 23 under 914 m: 23 (2007)

Heliports:

2 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 1,781 km; oil 94 km; refined products 7 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 4,839 km standard gauge: 3,561 km 1.435-m gauge (3,195 km electrified) narrow gauge: 1,268 km 1.000-m gauge (1,274 km electrified); 10 km 0.800-m gauge (10 km electrified) (2006)

Roadways:

total: 71,298 km paved: 71,298 km (includes 1,758 of expressways) (2006)

Waterways:

65 km (Rhine River between Basel-Rheinfelden and Schaffhausen-Bodensee) (2003)

Merchant marine:

total: 35 by type: bulk carrier 13, cargo 9, chemical tanker 6, container 6, specialized tanker 1 registered in other countries: 106 (Antigua and Barbuda 8, Bahamas 1, France 3, Italy 8, Liberia 13, Malta 20, Marshall Islands 12, Panama 25, Portugal 2, Russia 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6, Singapore 2, Tonga 1, UK 1, Vanuatu 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Basel

Military
Switzerland

Military branches:

Swiss Armed Forces: Land Forces, Swiss Air Force (Schweizer
Luftwaffe) (2007)

Military service age and obligation:

19 years of age for male compulsory military service; 18 years of age for voluntary male and female military service; the Swiss Constitution states that "every Swiss male is obliged to do military service"; every Swiss male has to serve at least 260 days in the armed forces; conscripts receive 18 weeks of mandatory training, followed by seven 3-week intermittent recalls for training during the next 10 years (2008)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 1,852,580 females age 16-49: 1,807,667 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 1,513,984 females age 16-49: 1,478,761 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 49,205 female: 45,220 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

1% of GDP (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues
Switzerland

Disputes - international:

none

Illicit drugs:

a major international financial center vulnerable to the layering and integration stages of money laundering; despite significant legislation and reporting requirements, secrecy rules persist and nonresidents are permitted to conduct business through offshore entities and various intermediaries; transit country for and consumer of South American cocaine, Southwest Asian heroin, and Western European synthetics; domestic cannabis cultivation and limited ecstasy production

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

@Syria

Introduction
Syria

Background:

Following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, France administered Syria until its independence in 1946. The country lacked political stability, however, and experienced a series of military coups during its first decades. Syria united with Egypt in February 1958 to form the United Arab Republic. In September 1961, the two entities separated, and the Syrian Arab Republic was reestablished. In November 1970, Hafiz al-ASAD, a member of the Socialist Ba'th Party and the minority Alawite sect, seized power in a bloodless coup and brought political stability to the country. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel. During the 1990s, Syria and Israel held occasional peace talks over its return. Following the death of President al-ASAD, his son, Bashar al-ASAD, was approved as president by popular referendum in July 2000. Syrian troops - stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role - were withdrawn in April 2005. During the July-August 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizballah, Syria placed its military forces on alert but did not intervene directly on behalf of its ally Hizballah.

Geography
Syria

Location:

Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and
Turkey

Geographic coordinates: