Internet country code:
.ee
Internet hosts:
729,534 (2010) country comparison to the world: 48
Internet users:
971,700 (2009) country comparison to the world: 102
Transportation ::Estonia
Airports:
19 (2010) country comparison to the world: 136
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 13
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 7
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2010)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 3 (2010)
Heliports:
1 (2010)
Pipelines:
gas 859 km (2009)
Railways:
total: 1,196 km country comparison to the world: 86 broad gauge: 1,196 km 1.520 m/1.524-m gauge (131 km electrified) (2008)
Roadways:
total: 58,034 km country comparison to the world: 78 paved: 34,936 km (includes 104 km of expressways)
unpaved: 23,098 km (2009)
Waterways:
520 km (320 km are navigable year round) (2010) country comparison to the world: 84
Merchant marine:
total: 24 country comparison to the world: 94 by type: cargo 4, chemical tanker 1, passenger/cargo 17, petroleum tanker 2
foreign-owned: 3 (Germany 1, Norway 2)
registered in other countries: 77 (Antigua and Barbuda 20, Belize 1, Cambodia 1, Cyprus 7, Dominica 6, Finland 2, Latvia 4, Malta 16, former Netherlands Antilles 1, Norway 1, Saint Kitts and Nevis 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 10, Sierra Leone 1, Sweden 3, Venezuela 1) (2010)
Ports and terminals:
Kuivastu, Kunda, Muuga, Parnu Reid, Sillamae, Tallinn
Military ::Estonia
Military branches:
Estonian Defense Forces: Land Force, Navy, Air Force (Eesti
Ohuvagi), Volunteer Defense League (Kaitseliit, KL) (2010)
Military service age and obligation:
obligation for compulsory service ages 16–60, with conscription "likely" ages 18–27; service requirement 8–11 months (2009)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16–49: 297,096
females age 16–49: 308,229 (2010 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16–49: 213,740
females age 16–49: 255,926 (2010 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 6,945
female: 6,564 (2010 est.)
Military expenditures:
2% of GDP (2005 est.) country comparison to the world: 73
Transnational Issues ::Estonia
Disputes - international:
Russia recalled its signature to the 1996 technical border agreement with Estonia in 2005, rather than concede to Estonia's appending prepared a unilateral declaration referencing Soviet occupation and territorial losses; Russia demands better accommodation of Russian-speaking population in Estonia; Estonian citizen groups continue to press for realignment of the boundary based on the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty that would bring the now divided ethnic Setu people and parts of the Narva region within Estonia; as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Estonia must implement the strict Schengen border rules with Russia
Illicit drugs:
growing producer of synthetic drugs; increasingly important transshipment zone for cannabis, cocaine, opiates, and synthetic drugs since joining the European Union and the Schengen Accord; potential money laundering related to organized crime and drug trafficking is a concern, as is possible use of the gambling sector to launder funds; major use of opiates and ecstasy
page last updated on January 20, 2011
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@Ethiopia (Africa)
Introduction ::Ethiopia
Background:
Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy maintained its freedom from colonial rule with the exception of a short-lived Italian occupation from 1936–41. In 1974, a military junta, the Derg, deposed Emperor Haile SELASSIE (who had ruled since 1930) and established a socialist state. Torn by bloody coups, uprisings, wide-scale drought, and massive refugee problems, the regime was finally toppled in 1991 by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). A constitution was adopted in 1994, and Ethiopia's first multiparty elections were held in 1995. A border war with Eritrea late in the 1990s ended with a peace treaty in December 2000. In November 2007, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Border Commission remotely demarcated the border by geographical coordinates, but final demarcation of the boundary on the ground is currently on hold because of Ethiopian objections to an international commission's finding requiring it to surrender territory considered sensitive to Ethiopia.
Geography ::Ethiopia
Location:
Eastern Africa, west of Somalia
Geographic coordinates:
8 00 N, 38 00 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 1,104,300 sq km country comparison to the world: 27 land: 1 million sq km
water: 104,300 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Land boundaries:
total: 5,328 km
border countries: Djibouti 349 km, Eritrea 912 km, Kenya 861 km, Somalia 1,600 km, Sudan 1,606 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation
Terrain:
high plateau with central mountain range divided by Great Rift Valley
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Danakil Depression −125 m
highest point: Ras Dejen 4,533 m
Natural resources:
small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower
Land use: