Imports:
$5.87 billion (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities:
crude oil, machinery, chemicals
Imports - partners:
Saudi Arabia 32.4%, Japan 7.3%, Germany 6.1%, US 5.6%, UK 5.4%,
France 4.8% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$2.141 billion (2004 est.)
Debt - external:
$6.215 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$150 million; note - $50 million annually since 1992 from each of
Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait (2002)
Currency (code):
Bahraini dinar (BHD)
Currency code:
BHD
Exchange rates:
Bahraini dinars per US dollar - 0.376 (2004), 0.376 (2003), 0.376
(2002), 0.376 (2001), 0.376 (2000)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications Bahrain
Telephones - main lines in use:
185,800 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
443,100 (2003)
Telephone system:
general assessment: modern system
domestic: modern fiber-optic integrated services; digital network
with rapidly growing use of mobile cellular telephones
international: country code - 973; tropospheric scatter to Qatar and
UAE; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia; submarine cable to
Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat
(1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat (1997)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios:
338,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
4 (1997)
Televisions:
275,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.bh
Internet hosts:
1,334 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
1 (2000)
Internet users:
195,700 (2003)
Transportation Bahrain
Highways: total: 3,459 km paved: 2,653 km unpaved: 806 km (2002)
Pipelines:
gas 20 km; oil 53 km (2004)
Ports and harbors:
Mina' Salman, Sitrah
Merchant marine:
total: 8 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 219,083 GRT/312,638 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 3, cargo 2, container 2, petroleum tanker 1
foreign-owned: 2 (Kuwait 2) (2005)
Airports:
4 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 3 over 3,047 m: 2 1524 to 2437 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Heliports:
1 (2004 est.)
Military Bahrain
Military branches:
Bahrain Defense Forces (BDF): Ground Force (includes Air Defense),
Navy, Air Force, National Guard
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18–49: 202,126 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18–49: 161,372 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 6,013 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$628.9 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
6.3% (2004)
Transnational Issues Bahrain
Disputes - international: none
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Baker Island
Introduction Baker Island
Background:
The US took possession of the island in 1857, and its guano
deposits were mined by US and British companies during the second
half of the 19th century. In 1935, a short-lived attempt at
colonization was begun on this island - as well as on nearby Howland
Island - but was disrupted by World War II and thereafter abandoned.
Presently the island is a National Wildlife Refuge run by the US
Department of the Interior; a day beacon is situated near the middle
of the west coast.
Geography Baker Island
Location:
Oceania, atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, about half way between
Hawaii and Australia
Geographic coordinates:
0 13 N, 176 31 W
Map references:
Oceania
Area:
total: 1.4 sq km
land: 1.4 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
about 2.5 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
4.8 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:
equatorial; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun
Terrain:
low, nearly level coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 8 m
Natural resources:
guano (deposits worked until 1891), terrestrial and aquatic wildlife
Land use: arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001)
Irrigated