Debt - external: $225 million (yearend 2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $10 million (2001 est.)
Currency: Comoran franc (KMF)
Currency code: KMF
Exchange rates: Comoran francs per US dollar - 557.09 (January 2002), 549.78 (2001), 533.98 (2000), 461.77 (1999), 442.46 (1998), 437.75 (1997) note: prior to January 1999, the official rate was pegged to the French franc at 75 Comoran francs per French franc; since 1 January 1999, the Comoran franc is pegged to the euro at a rate of 491.9677 Comoran francs per euro
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Comoros
Telephones - main lines in use: 7,000 (2000)
Telephones - mobile cellular: NA
Telephone system: general assessment: sparse system of microwave radio relay and HF radiotelephone communication stations domestic: HF radiotelephone communications and microwave radio relay international: HF radiotelephone communications to Madagascar and Reunion
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 1 (2001)
Radios: 90,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: NA
Televisions: 1,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .km
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)
Internet users: 1,500 (2001)
Transportation Comoros
Railways: 0 km
Highways: total: 880 km paved: 673 km unpaved: 207 km (1996)
Waterways: none
Ports and harbors: Fomboni, Moroni, Moutsamoudou
Merchant marine: total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 139,779
GRT/205,369 DWT ships by type: cargo 6 note: includes some foreign-owned
ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Malta 1, Pakistan 1,
Turkey 1 (2002 est.)
Airports: 4 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2001)
Military Comoros
Military branches: Comoran Security Force
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 145,509 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 86,455 (2002 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $6 million (FY01)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3% (FY01)
Transnational Issues Comoros
Disputes - international: claims French-administered Mayotte; the island of Anjouan (Nzwani) has moved to secede from Comoros again after recent military coup
This page was last updated on 1 January 2002
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Colombia
Introduction
Colombia
Background: Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Ecuador and Venezuela). A 40-year insurgent campaign to overthrow the Colombian Government escalated during the 1990s, undergirded in part by funds from the drug trade. Although the violence is deadly and large swaths of the countryside are under guerrilla influence, the movement lacks the military strength or popular support necessary to overthrow the government. An anti-insurgent army of paramilitaries has grown to be several thousand strong in recent years, challenging the insurgents for control of territory and illicit industries such as the drug trade and the government's ability to exert its dominion over rural areas. While Bogota continues to try to negotiate a settlement, neighboring countries worry about the violence spilling over their borders.
Geography Colombia
Location: Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between
Panama and Venezuela, and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between
Ecuador and Panama
Geographic coordinates: 4 00 N, 72 00 W
Map references: South America
Area: total: 1,138,910 sq km land: 1,038,700 sq km note: includes Isla de Malpelo, Roncador Cay, Serrana Bank, and Serranilla Bank water: 100,210 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Montana
Land boundaries: total: 6,004 km border countries: Brazil 1,643 km,
Ecuador 590 km, Panama 225 km, Peru 1,496 km (est.), Venezuela 2,050 km
Coastline: 3,208 km (Caribbean Sea 1,760 km, North Pacific Ocean 1,448 km)
Maritime claims: continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation territorial sea: 12 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
Climate: tropical along coast and eastern plains; cooler in highlands
Terrain: flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, eastern lowland plains
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Pico Cristobal Colon 5,775 m note: nearby Pico Simon Bolivar also has the same elevation
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 2% other: 96% (1998 est.) permanent crops: 2%
Irrigated land: 8,500 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: highlands subject to volcanic eruptions; occasional earthquakes; periodic droughts
Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil and water quality damage from overuse of pesticides; air pollution, especially in Bogota, from vehicle emissions
Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic
Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life
Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping
Geography - note: only South American country with coastlines on both
North Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea
People Colombia
Population: 41,008,227 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 31.6% (male 6,552,961; female 6,399,666) 15-64 years: (male 886,921; female 1,098,961) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.6% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 21.99 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 5.66 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.32 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 23.21 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: 74.83 years (2002 est.) male: Total fertility rate: 2.64 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.31% (1999 est.)