770,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.do
Internet hosts:
105,546 (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
24 (2000)
Internet users:
1.677 million (2007)
Transportation
Dominican Republic
Airports:
34 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 15 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 19 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 11 (2007)
Railways:
total: 517 km standard gauge: 375 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 142 km 0.762-m gauge note: additional 1,226 km operated by sugar companies in 1.076 m, 0.889 m, and 0.762-m gauges (2006)
Roadways:
total: 19,705 km paved: 9,872 km unpaved: 9,833 km (2002)
Merchant marine:
total: 1 by type: cargo 1 registered in other countries: 1 (Panama 1) (2008)
Ports and terminals:
Boca Chica, Caucedo, Puerto Plata, Rio Haina, Santo Domingo
Military
Dominican Republic
Military branches:
Army, Navy, Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Dominicana, FAD) (2007)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service (2007)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16–49: 2,440,203 females age 16–49: 2,326,694 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16–49: 2,020,490 females age 16–49: 1,883,875 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 96,971 female: 93,116 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures:
0.8% of GDP (2006)
Transnational Issues
Dominican Republic
Disputes - international:
Haitian migrants cross the porous border into the Dominican Republic to find work; illegal migrants from the Dominican Republic cross the Mona Passage each year to Puerto Rico to find better work
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: the Dominican Republic is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; a large number of Dominican women are trafficked into prostitution and sexual exploitation in Western Europe, Australia, Central and South America, and Caribbean destinations; a significant number of women, boys, and girls are trafficked within the country for sexual exploitation and domestic servitude tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - for a second consecutive year, the Dominican Republic is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly in terms of not adequately investigating and prosecuting public officials who may be complicit with trafficking activity, and inadequate government efforts to protect trafficking victims; the government has taken measures to reduce demand for commercial sex acts with children through criminal prosecutions (2008)
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; has become a transshipment point for ecstasy from the Netherlands and Belgium destined for US and Canada; substantial money laundering activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor the Dominican Republic for illicit financial transactions; significant amphetamine consumption
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
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@Ecuador
Introduction
Ecuador
Background:
What is now Ecuador formed part of the northern Inca Empire until the Spanish conquest in 1533. Quito became a seat of Spanish colonial government in 1563 and part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717. The territories of the Viceroyalty - New Granada (Colombia), Venezuela, and Quito - gained their independence between 1819 and 1822 and formed a federation known as Gran Colombia. When Quito withdrew in 1830, the traditional name was changed in favor of the "Republic of the Equator." Between 1904 and 1942, Ecuador lost territories in a series of conflicts with its neighbors. A border war with Peru that flared in 1995 was resolved in 1999. Although Ecuador marked 25 years of civilian governance in 2004, the period has been marred by political instability. Protests in Quito have contributed to the mid-term ouster of Ecuador's last three democratically elected Presidents. In 2007, a Constituent Assembly was elected to draft a new constitution; Ecuador's twentieth since gaining independence.
Geography
Ecuador
Location:
Western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, between Colombia and Peru
Geographic coordinates:
2 00 S, 77 30 W
Map references:
South America
Area:
total: 283,560 sq km land: 276,840 sq km water: 6,720 sq km note: includes Galapagos Islands
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Nevada
Land boundaries:
total: 2,010 km border countries: Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km
Coastline:
2,237 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 200 nm continental shelf: 100 nm from 2,500-m isobath
Climate:
tropical along coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations; tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands
Terrain:
coastal plain (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (oriente)
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Chimborazo 6,267 m
Natural resources:
petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower
Land use:
arable land: 5.71% permanent crops: 4.81% other: 89.48% (2005)
Irrigated land:
8,650 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
432 cu km (2000)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 16.98 cu km/yr (12%/5%/82%) per capita: 1,283 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
frequent earthquakes, landslides,