UZS

$NA

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$NA

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$36.89 million (2005)

Currency (code):

soum (UZS)

Currency code:

Exchange rates:

Uzbekistani soum (UZS) per US dollar - 1,263.8 (2007), 1,219.8 (2006), 1,020 (2005), 971.265 (2004), 771.029 (2003)

Communications
Uzbekistan

Telephones - main lines in use:

1.793 million (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

5.8 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: antiquated and inadequate; in serious need of modernization domestic: the main line telecommunications system is dilapidated and telephone density is low; the state-owned telecommunications company, Uzbektelecom, is working on improving main line services; mobile services are growing swiftly, with the subscriber base more than doubling in 2007 to 5.8 million international: country code - 998; linked by landline or microwave radio relay with CIS member states and to other countries by leased connection via the Moscow international gateway switch; after the completion of the Uzbek link to the Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE) fiber-optic cable, Uzbekistan will be independent of Russian facilities for international communications (2007)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 4, FM 6, shortwave 3 (2006)

Radios:

10.8 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

28 (includes 1 cable rebroadcaster in Tashkent and approximately 20 stations in regional capitals) (2006)

Televisions:

6.4 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.uz

Internet hosts:

38,183 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

42 (2000)

Internet users:

1.2 million (2007)

Transportation
Uzbekistan

Airports:

54 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 33 over 3,047 m: 6 2,438 to 3,047 m: 13 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 4 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 21 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 under 914 m: 19 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 9,725 km; oil 868 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 3,950 km broad gauge: 3,950 km 1.520-m gauge (620 km electrified) (2006)

Roadways:

total: 86,496 km paved: 75,511 km unpaved: 10,985 km (2000)

Waterways:

1,100 km (2006)

Ports and terminals:

Termiz (Amu Darya)

Military
Uzbekistan

Military branches:

Army, Air and Air Defense Forces, National Guard

Military service age and obligation:

18 years of age for compulsory military service; 1-year conscript service obligation; moving toward a professional military, but conscription will continue; the military cannot accommodate everyone who wishes to enlist, and competition for entrance into the military is similar to the competition for admission to universities (2007)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 7,480,484 females age 16-49: 7,542,017 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 5,684,540 females age 16-49: 6,432,976 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 324,094 female: 323,923 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

2% of GDP (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues
Uzbekistan

Disputes - international:

prolonged drought and cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river states; field demarcation of the boundaries with Kazakhstan commenced in 2004; border delimitation of 130 km of border with Kyrgyzstan is hampered by serious disputes around enclaves and other areas

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

refugees (country of origin): 39,202 (Tajikistan); 1,060 (Afghanistan) IDPs: 3,400 (forced population transfers by government from villages near Tajikistan border) (2007)

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Uzbekistan is a source country for women and girls trafficked to Kazakhstan, Russia, Middle East, and Asia for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation; men are trafficked to Kazakhstan and Russia for purposes of forced labor in the construction, cotton, and tobacco industries; men and women are also trafficked internally for the purposes of domestic servitude, forced labor in the agricultural and construction industries, and for commercial sexual exploitation tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Uzbekistan is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in 2007; the government did not amend its criminal code to increase penalties for convicted traffickers; in March 2008, Uzbekistan adopted ILO Conventions on minimum age of employment and on the elimination of the worst forms of child labor and is working with the ILO on implementation; the government also demonstrated its increasing commitment to combat trafficking in March 2008 by adopting a comprehensive anti-trafficking law; Uzbekistan has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)

Illicit drugs:

transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and, to a lesser extent, Western European markets; limited illicit cultivation of cannabis and small amounts of opium poppy for domestic consumption; poppy cultivation almost wiped out by government crop eradication program; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

@Vanuatu

Introduction
Vanuatu

Background:

Multiple waves of colonizers, each speaking a distinct language, migrated to the New Hebrides in the millennia preceding European exploration in the 18th century. This settlement pattern accounts for the complex linguistic diversity found on the archipelago to this day. The British and French, who settled the New Hebrides in the 19th century, agreed in 1906 to an Anglo-French Condominium, which administered the islands until independence in 1980, when the new name of Vanuatu was adopted.

Geography
Vanuatu

Location:

Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Australia

Geographic coordinates: