Radio broadcast stations:
AM 1, FM 12, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios:
133,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
2 (1997)
Televisions:
41,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.bz
Internet hosts:
2,613 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
2 (2000)
Internet users:
30,000 (2002)
Transportation Belize
Highways: total: 2,872 km paved: 488 km unpaved: 2,384 km (1999 est.)
Waterways:
825 km (navigable only by small craft) (2004)
Ports and harbors:
Belize City
Merchant marine:
total: 295 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,015,270 GRT/1,336,890 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 25, cargo 207, chemical tanker 9, container 6,
passenger/cargo 6, petroleum tanker 20, refrigerated cargo 17, roll
on/roll off 5
foreign-owned: 142 (Australia 2, Belgium 1, China 50, Cuba 1, Cyprus
1, Estonia 9, Germany 4, Hong Kong 6, Indonesia 3, Italy 2, Japan 5,
Latvia 4, Malaysia 1, Nigeria 1, Pakistan 1, Poland 2, Russia 23,
Singapore 5, South Korea 6, Spain 3, Switzerland 1, Turkey 2,
Ukraine 4, UAE 3, United States 2) (2005)
Airports:
43 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 5
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 38
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 11
under 914 m: 26 (2004 est.)
Military Belize
Military branches:
Belize Defense Force (BDF): Army, Maritime Wing, Air Wing, and
Volunteer Guard
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; laws allow for conscription only if volunteers are insufficient; conscription has never been implemented; volunteers typically outnumber available positions by 3:1 (2001)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18–49: 60,750 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18–49: 41,368 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males: 3,209 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$18 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
2% (2003)
Transnational Issues Belize
Disputes - international:
Guatemalan squatters continue to settle in the largely uninhabited
rain forests of Belize's border region; OAS is attempting to revive
the 2002 failed Differendum that created a small adjustment to land
boundary, a Guatemalan maritime corridor in Caribbean, joint
ecological park for disputed Sapodilla Cays, and substantial US-UK
financial package
Illicit drugs:
major transshipment point for cocaine; small-scale illicit producer
of cannabis for the international drug trade; money-laundering
activity related to narcotics trafficking and offshore sector
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Benin
Introduction Benin
Background:
Present day Benin was the site of Dahomey, a prominent West African
kingdom that rose in the 15th century. The territory became a French
Colony in 1872 and achieved independence on 1 August 1960, as the
Republic of Benin. A succession of military governments ended in
1972 with the rise to power of Mathieu KEREKOU and the establishment
of a government based on Marxist-Leninist principles. A move to
representative government began in 1989. Two years later, free
elections ushered in former Prime Minister Nicephore SOGLO as
president, marking the first successful transfer of power in Africa
from a dictatorship to a democracy. KEREKOU was returned to power by
elections held in 1996 and 2001, though some irregularities were
alleged.
Geography Benin
Location:
Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and
Togo
Geographic coordinates:
9 30 N, 2 15 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 112,620 sq km
land: 110,620 sq km
water: 2,000 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Pennsylvania
Land boundaries:
total: 1,989 km
border countries: Burkina Faso 306 km, Niger 266 km, Nigeria 773 km,
Togo 644 km
Coastline:
121 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical; hot, humid in south; semiarid in north
Terrain:
mostly flat to undulating plain; some hills and low mountains
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mont Sokbaro 658 m
Natural resources:
small offshore oil deposits, limestone, marble, timber
Land use: arable land: 18.08% permanent crops: 2.4% other: 79.52% (2001)
Irrigated land:
120 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
hot, dry, dusty harmattan wind may affect north from December to