general assessment: limited telephone service; fixed-line connections for well less than 1 per 100 persons coupled with mobile-cellular usage of only about 3 per 100 persons; most fixed-line and cellular telephone services are concentrated in Bangui domestic: network consists principally of microwave radio relay and low-capacity, low-powered radiotelephone communication international: country code - 236; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2007)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 1 (2001)
Radios:
283,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
1 (2001)
Televisions:
18,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.cf
Internet hosts:
21 (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
1 (2002)
Internet users:
13,000 (2006)
Transportation
Central African Republic
Airports:
51 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 48 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 24 under 914 m: 13 (2007)
Roadways:
total: 24,307 km (2000)
Waterways:
2,800 km (primarily on the Oubangui and Sangha rivers) (2006)
Ports and terminals:
Bangui, Nola, Salo, Nzinga
Military
Central African Republic
Military branches:
Central African Armed Forces (Forces Armees Centrafricaines, FACA):
Ground Forces, General Directorate of Gendarmerie Inspection (DGIG),
Military Air Service, National Police (2008)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; 2-year conscript service obligation (2006)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16–49: 1,032,828 females age 16–49: 999,330 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16–49: 534,141 females age 16–49: 495,303 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 54,655 female: 54,420 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures:
1.1% of GDP (2006 est.)
Transnational Issues
Central African Republic
Disputes - international:
periodic skirmishes over water and grazing rights among related pastoral populations along the border with southern Sudan persist
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 7,900 (Sudan); 3,700 (Democratic
Republic of the Congo); note - UNHCR resumed repatriation of
Southern Sudanese refugees in 2006
IDPs: 197,000 (ongoing unrest following coup in 2003) (2007)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Central African Republic is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation; the majority of victims are children trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, street vending, and forced agricultural, mine, market and restaurant labor; to a lesser extent, children are trafficked from the Central African Republic to Cameroon, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo; rebels conscript children into armed forces within the country tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Central African Republic is on the Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in 2007; efforts to address trafficking through vigorous law enforcement measures and victim protection efforts were minimal, though awareness about trafficking appeared to be increasing in the country; the government does not actively investigate cases, work to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, or rescue and provide care to victims; the government has not taken measures to reduce demand for commercial sex acts (2008)
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
======================================================================
@Chad
Introduction
Chad
Background:
Chad, part of France's African holdings until 1960, endured three decades of civil warfare as well as invasions by Libya before a semblance of peace was finally restored in 1990. The government eventually drafted a democratic constitution, and held flawed presidential elections in 1996 and 2001. In 1998, a rebellion broke out in northern Chad, which has sporadically flared up despite several peace agreements between the government and the rebels. In 2005, new rebel groups emerged in western Sudan and made probing attacks into eastern Chad, despite signing peace agreements in December 2006 and October 2007. Power remains in the hands of an ethnic minority. In June 2005, President Idriss DEBY held a referendum successfully removing constitutional term limits and won another controversial election in 2006. Sporadic rebel campaigns continued throughout 2006 and 2007, and the capital experienced a significant rebel threat in early 2008.
Geography
Chad
Location:
Central Africa, south of Libya
Geographic coordinates:
15 00 N, 19 00 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 1.284 million sq km land: 1,259,200 sq km water: 24,800 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly more than three times the size of California
Land boundaries:
total: 5,968 km border countries: Cameroon 1,094 km, Central African Republic 1,197 km, Libya 1,055 km, Niger 1,175 km, Nigeria 87 km, Sudan 1,360 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
tropical in south, desert in north
Terrain:
broad, arid plains in center, desert in north, mountains in northwest, lowlands in south
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Djourab Depression 160 m highest point: Emi Koussi 3,415 m
Natural resources:
petroleum, uranium, natron, kaolin, fish