Suite 210, 1660 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
telephone:
(202) 628–5766
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Harry J. GILMORE
embassy:
18 Gen Bagramian, Yerevan
mailing address:
use embassy street address
telephone:
7–8852-151–144 or 8852–524-661
FAX:
7–8852-151–138
Flag:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, and gold
@Armenia, Economy
Overview: Under the old central planning system, Armenia had built up a developed industrial sector, supplying machine building equipment, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics in exchange for raw materials and energy resources. Armenia is a large food importer and its mineral deposits (gold, bauxite) are small. The economic decline in the past three years (1991–93) has been particularly severe due to the ongoing conflict over the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan and Turkey have blockaded pipeline and railroad traffic to Armenia for its support of the Karabakh Armenians. This has left Armenia with only sporadic deliveries of natural gas through unstable Georgia, while other fuel and raw materials are in critical short supply. Inflation, roughly 14% per month in the first nine months of 1993, surged even higher in the fourth quarter. In late 1993, most industrial enterprises were either shut down or operating at drastically reduced levels. Only small quantities of food were available (mostly humanitarian aid), heat was nonexistent, and electricity strictly rationed. An economic recovery cannot be expected until the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is settled and until transportation through Georgia improves. National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $7.1 billion (1993 estimate from the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991 and published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as extrapolated to 1993 using official Armenian statistics, which are very uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990) National product real growth rate: −9.9% (1993 est.) National product per capita: $2,040 (1993 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 14% per month average (first 9 months, 1993) Unemployment rate: 6.5% of officially registered unemployed but large numbers of underemployed (1993 est.) Budget: revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA Exports: $31 million to countries outside the FSU (f.o.b., 1993) commodities: machinery and transport equipment, light industrial products, processed food items, alcoholic products (1991) partners: NA Imports: $87 million from countries outside the FSU (c.i.f., 1993) commodities: grain, other foods, fuel, other energy (1991) partners: Russia, US, EC External debt: $NA Industrial production: growth rate −11% (1993 est.) Electricity: capacity: 2,875,000 kW production: 9 billion kWh consumption per capita: 2,585 kWh (1992) Industries: traditionally diverse, including (as a percent of output of former USSR) metalcutting machine tools (5.5%), forging-pressing machines (1.9%), electric motors (9%), tires (1.5%), knitted wear (4.4%), hosiery (3.0%), shoes (2.2%), silk fabric (0.8%), washing machines (2.0%), chemicals, trucks, watches, instruments, and microelectronics (1990); currently, much of industry is shut down Agriculture: accounts for about 45% of GDP; only 17% of land area is arable; employs 20%-30% of labor force as residents increasingly turn to subsistence agriculture; fruits (especially grapes) and vegetable farming, minor livestock sector; vineyards near Yerevan are famous for brandy and other liqueurs Illicit drugs: illicit cultivator of cannabis mostly for domestic consumption; used as a transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe Economic aid: recipient: considerable humanitarian aid, mostly food and energy products, from US and EC; Russia has granted 60 billion rubles in technical credits Currency: 1 dram = 100 luma; introduced separate currency in November 1993 Exchange rates: NA Fiscal year: calendar year
@Armenia, Communications
Railroads:
840 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)
Highways:
total:
11,300 km
paved:
10,500 km
unpaved:
earth 800 km (1990)
Inland waterways:
NA km
Pipelines:
natural gas 900 km (1991)
Ports:
none; landlocked
Airports:
total:
12
usable:
10
with permanent-surface runways:
6
with runways over 3,659 m:
1
with runways 2,440–3,659 m:
3
with runways 1,060–2,439 m:
2
note:
a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip
Telecommunications:
progress on installation of fiber optic cable and construction of
facilities for mobile cellular phone service remains in the
negotiation phase for joint venture agreement; Armenia has about
650,000 telephones; average telephone density is 17.7 per 100 persons;
international connections to other former republics of the USSR are by
landline or microwave and to other countries by satellite and by
leased connection through the Moscow international gateway switch;
broadcast stations - 100% of population receives Armenian and Russian
TV programs; satellite earth station - INTELSAT
@Armenia, Defense Forces
Branches:
Army, Air Force, National Guard, Security Forces (internal and border
troops)
Manpower availability:
males age 15–49 862,921; fit for military service 690,113; reach
military age (18) annually 28,458 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
250 million rubles, NA% of GDP (1992 est.); note - conversion of the
military budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could
produce misleading results
@Aruba
Header Affiliation: (part of the Dutch realm)
@Aruba, Geography
Location: Caribbean, in the southern Caribbean Sea, 28 km north of Venezuela and 125 km east of Colombia Map references: Central America and the Caribbean Area: total area: 193 sq km land area: 193 sq km comparative area: slightly larger than Washington, DC Land boundaries: 0 km Coastline: 68.5 km Maritime claims: exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm territorial sea: 12 nm International disputes: none Climate: tropical marine; little seasonal temperature variation Terrain: flat with a few hills; scant vegetation Natural resources: negligible; white sandy beaches Land use: arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 0% forest and woodland: 0% other: 100% Irrigated land: NA sq km Environment: current issues: NA natural hazards: lies outside the Caribbean hurricane belt international agreements: NA
@Aruba, People
Population: 65,545 (July 1994 est.) Population growth rate: 0.65% (1994 est.) Birth rate: 14.95 births/1,000 population (1994 est.) Death rate: 6.12 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.) Net migration