Ports and terminals:
Algiers, Annaba, Arzew, Bejaia, Djendjene, Jijel, Mostaganem, Oran,
Skikda
Military
Algeria
Military branches:
National Popular Army (ANP; includes Land Forces), Algerian National
Navy (MRA), Air Force (QJJ), Territorial Air Defense Force (2005)
Military service age and obligation:
19–30 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 18 months (6 months basic training, 12 months civil projects) (2006)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16–49: 9,736,757 females age 16–49: 9,590,978 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16–49: 8,141,864 females age 16–49: 8,215,895 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 374,365 female: 360,942 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures:
3.3% of GDP (2006)
Transnational Issues
Algeria
Disputes - international:
Algeria, and many other states, rejects Moroccan administration of Western Sahara; the Polisario Front, exiled in Algeria, represents the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic; Algeria's border with Morocco remains an irritant to bilateral relations, each nation accusing the other of harboring militants and arms smuggling; Algeria remains concerned about armed bandits operating throughout the Sahel who sometimes destabilize southern Algerian towns; dormant disputes include Libyan claims of about 32,000 sq km still reflected on its maps of southeastern Algeria and the FLN's assertions of a claim to Chirac Pastures in southeastern Morocco
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 90,000 (Western Saharan Sahrawi, mostly living in Algerian-sponsored camps in the southwestern Algerian town of Tindouf) IDPs: undetermined (civil war during 1990s) (2007)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Algeria is a transit country for men and women trafficked from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude; Algerian children are trafficked internally for the purpose of domestic servitude or street vending tier rating: Tier 3 - Algeria did not report any serious law enforcement actions to punish traffickers who force women into commercial sexual exploitation or men into involuntary servitude in 2007; the government again reported no investigations of trafficking of children for domestic servitude or improvements in protection services available to victims of trafficking; Algeria still lacks victim protection services, and its failure to distinguish between trafficking and illegal migration may result in the punishment of victims of trafficking (2008)
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
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@American Samoa
Introduction
American Samoa
Background:
Settled as early as 1000 B.C., Samoa was "discovered" by European explorers in the 18th century. International rivalries in the latter half of the 19th century were settled by an 1899 treaty in which Germany and the US divided the Samoan archipelago. The US formally occupied its portion - a smaller group of eastern islands with the excellent harbor of Pago Pago - the following year.
Geography
American Samoa
Location:
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and New Zealand
Geographic coordinates:
14 20 S, 170 00 W
Map references:
Oceania
Area:
total: 199 sq km land: 199 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Rose Island and Swains Island
Area - comparative:
slightly larger than Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
116 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical marine, moderated by southeast trade winds; annual rainfall averages about 3 m; rainy season (November to April), dry season (May to October); little seasonal temperature variation
Terrain:
five volcanic islands with rugged peaks and limited coastal plains, two coral atolls (Rose Island, Swains Island)
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Lata Mountain 964 m
Natural resources:
pumice, pumicite
Land use:
arable land: 10% permanent crops: 15% other: 75% (2005)
Irrigated land:
NA
Natural hazards:
typhoons common from December to March
Environment - current issues:
limited natural fresh water resources; the water division of the government has spent substantial funds in the past few years to improve water catchments and pipelines
Geography - note:
Pago Pago has one of the best natural deepwater harbors in the South
Pacific Ocean, sheltered by shape from rough seas and protected by
peripheral mountains from high winds; strategic location in the
South Pacific Ocean
People
American Samoa
Population:
64,827 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 34.4% (male 11,337/female 10,946) 15–64 years: 61.8% (male 20,335/female 19,728) 65 years and over: 3.8% (male 1,161/female 1,320) (2008 est.)
Median age:
total: 22.8 years male: 22.7 years female: 23 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.236% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
23.66 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate:
4.13 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
−7.17 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15–64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant