The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency (ebook reader 8 inch .txt) 📕

est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:

$5.954 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:

$379 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

semiconductors, wireless telecommunications equipment, motor vehicles, computers, steel, ships, petrochemicals

Exports - partners:

China 22.1%, US 12.4%, Japan 7.1%, Hong Kong 5% (2007)

Imports:

$349.6 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

machinery, electronics and electronic equipment, oil, steel, transport equipment, organic chemicals, plastics

Imports - partners:

China 17.7%, Japan 15.8%, US 10.5%, Saudi Arabia 5.9% (2007)

Economic aid - donor:

ODA, $455.3 million (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:

$68.07 million (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$262.2 billion (31 December 2007)

Debt - external:

$220.1 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$119.6 billion (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$82.1 billion (2006)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$1.051 trillion (2007)

Currency (code):

South Korean won (KRW)

Currency code:

KRW

Exchange rates:

South Korean won (KRW) per US dollar - 929.2 (2007), 954.8 (2006), 1,024.1 (2005), 1,145.3 (2004), 1,191.6 (2003)

Communications
Korea, South

Telephones - main lines in use:

23.905 million (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

43.5 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: excellent domestic and international services featuring rapid incorporation of new technologies domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular telephone subscribership exceeds 140 per 100 persons; rapid assimilation of a full range of telecommunications technologies leading to a boom in e-commerce international: country code - 82; numerous submarine cables provide links throughout Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Europe, and US; satellite earth stations - 6 (3 Intelsat - 1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean; 3 Inmarsat - 1 Pacific Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 61, FM 150, shortwave 2 (2005)

Radios:

47.5 million (2000)

Television broadcast stations:

43 (plus 59 cable operators and 190 relay cable operators) (2005)

Televisions:

15.9 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.kr

Internet hosts:

333,823 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

11 (2000)

Internet users:

35.59 million (2007)

Transportation
Korea, South

Airports:

105 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 68 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 21 1,524 to 2,437 m: 14 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 19 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 37 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 34 (2007)

Heliports:

536 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 1,482 km; refined products 827 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 3,472 km standard gauge: 3,472 km 1.435-m gauge (1,342 km electrified) (2006)

Roadways:

total: 102,062 km paved: 90,417 km (includes 3,103 km of expressways) unpaved: 11,645 km (2006)

Waterways:

1,608 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2007)

Merchant marine:

total: 812 by type: bulk carrier 212, cargo 226, carrier 2, chemical tanker 133, container 80, liquefied gas 33, passenger 5, passenger/cargo 26, petroleum tanker 61, refrigerated cargo 16, roll on/roll off 9, specialized tanker 4, vehicle carrier 5 foreign-owned: 31 (China 1, Japan 20, Norway 2, UK 1, US 7) registered in other countries: 363 (Belize 1, Cambodia 22, China 1, Cyprus 1, Honduras 6, Hong Kong 3, Kiribati 2, Liberia 3, Malta 2, Marshall Islands 10, Mongolia 1, Netherlands 1, Panama 303, Russia 1, Singapore 3, Tuvalu 1, unknown 2) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Inch'on, P'ohang, Pusan, Ulsan

Military
Korea, South

Military branches:

Republic of Korea Army, Navy (includes Marine Corps), Air Force (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

20-30 years of age for compulsory military service, with middle school education required; conscript service obligation - 24-28 months, depending on the military branch involved (to be reduced to 18 months beginning 2016); 18-26 years of age for voluntary military service; women, in service since 1950, admitted to 7 service branches, including infantry, but excluded from artillery, armor, anti-air, and chaplaincy corps; some 4,000 women serve as commissioned and noncommissioned officers, approx. 2.3% of all officers (2008)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 13,691,809 females age 16-49: 13,029,859 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 11,282,699 females age 16-49: 10,683,668 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 371,108 female: 325,408 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

2.7% of GDP (2006)

Transnational Issues
Korea, South

Disputes - international:

Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; periodic incidents with North Korea in the Yellow Sea over the Northern Limiting Line, which South Korea claims as a maritime boundary; South Korea and Japan claim Liancourt Rocks (Tok-do/Take-shima), occupied by South Korea since 1954

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Kosovo

Introduction
Kosovo

Background:

Serbs migrated to the territories of modern Kosovo in the 7th century but did not fully incorporate them into the Serbian realm until the early 13th century. The Serbian defeat at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 led to five centuries of Ottoman rule during which large numbers of Turks and Albanians moved to Kosovo. By the end of the 19th century, Albanians replaced the Serbs as the dominant ethnic group in Kosovo. Serbia reacquired control over Kosovo from the Ottoman Empire during the First Balkan War (1912). After World War II (1945), the government of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia led by Josip TITO reorganized Kosovo as an autonomous province within the constituent republic of Serbia. Over the next four decades, Kosovo Albanians lobbied for greater autonomy, and Kosovo was granted the status almost equal to that of a republic in the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution. Despite the legislative concessions, Albanian nationalism increased in the 1980s leading to nationalist riots and calls for Kosovo's independence. Serbs in Kosovo complained of mistreatment and Serb nationalist leaders, such as Slobodan MILOSEVIC, exploited those charges to win support among Serbian voters many of whom viewed Kosovo as their cultural heartland. Under MILOSEVIC's leadership, Serbia instituted a new constitution in 1989 that drastically curtailed Kosovo's autonomy. Kosovo Albanian leaders responded in 1991 by organizing a referendum that declared Kosovo independent from Serbia. The MILOSEVIC regime carried out repressive measures against the Albanians in the early 1990s as the unofficial government of Kosovo, led by Ibrahim RUGOVA, tried to use passive resistance to gain international assistance and recognition of its demands for independence. In 1995, Albanians dissatisfied with RUGOVA's nonviolent strategy created the Kosovo Liberation Army and launched an insurgency. In 1998, MILOSEVIC authorized a counterinsurgency campaign that resulted in massacres and massive expulsions of ethnic Albanians by Serbian military, police, and paramilitary forces. The international community tried to resolve the conflict peacefully, but MILOSEVIC rejected the proposed international settlement - the Rambouillet Accords - leading to a three-month NATO bombing of Serbia beginning in March 1999, which forced Serbia to withdraw its military and police forces from Kosovo in June 1999. UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) placed Kosovo under a transitional administration, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), pending a determination of Kosovo's future status. Under the resolution, Serbia's territorial integrity was protected, but it was UNMIK that assumed responsibility for governing Kosovo. In 2001, UNMIK promulgated a Constitutional Framework, which established Kosovo's Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG). In succeeding years UNMIK increasingly devolved responsibilities to the PISG. A UN-led process began in late 2005 to determine Kosovo's future status. Negotiations held intermittently between 2006 and 2007 on issues related to decentralization, religious heritage, and minority rights failed to yield a resolution between Serbia's willingness to grant a high degree of autonomy and the Albanians' call for full independence for Kosovo. On 17 February 2008, the Kosovo Assembly declared its independence from Serbia.

Geography
Kosovo

Location:

Southeast Europe, between Serbia and Macedonia

Geographic coordinates:

42 35 N, 21 00 E

Map references:

Europe

Area:

total: 10,887 sq km land: 10,887 sq km water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly larger than Delaware

Land boundaries:

total: 702 km border countries: Albania 112 km, Macedonia 159 km, Montenegro 79 km, Serbia 352 km

Coastline:

0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:

none (landlocked)

Climate:

influenced by continental air masses resulting in relatively cold winters with heavy snowfall and hot, dry summers and autumns; Mediterranean and alpine influences create regional variation; maximum rainfall between October and December

Terrain:

flat fluvial basin with an elevation of 400-700 m above sea level surrounded by several high mountain ranges with elevations of 2,000 to 2,500 m

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Drini i Bardhe/Beli Drim 297 m (located on the border with Albania) highest point: Gjeravica/Deravica 2,565 m

Natural resources:

nickel, lead, zinc, magnesium, lignite, kaolin, chrome, bauxite

People
Kosovo

Population:

2,126,708 (2007 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Kosovar (Albanian), Kosovac (Serbian) adjective: Kosovar (Albanian), Kosovski (Serbian) note: Kosovan, a neutral term, is sometimes also used as a noun or adjective

Ethnic groups:

Albanians 88%, Serbs 7%, other 5% (Bosniak, Gorani, Roma, Turk,
Ashkali, Egyptian)

Religions:

Muslim, Serbian Orthodox, Roman Catholic

Languages:

Albanian (official), Serbian (official), Bosnian, Turkish, Roma

Government
Kosovo

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Kosovo conventional short form: Kosovo local long form: Republika e Kosoves (Republika Kosova) local short form: Kosova (Kosovo) former: Kosovo and Metohija Autonomous Province

Government type:

republic

Capital:

name: Pristina (Prishtine) geographic coordinates: 42 40 N, 21 10 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions:

30 municipalities (komunat, singular - komuna in Albanian; opstine,
singular - opstina in Serbian); Decan (Decani), Dragash (Dragas),
Ferizaj (Urosevac), Fushe Kosove (Kosovo Polje), Gjakove (Dakovica),
Gllogoc/Drenas (Glogovac), Gjilan (Gnjilane), Istog (Istok),
Kacanik, Kamenice/Dardana (Kamenica), Kline (Klina), Leposaviq
(Leposavic), Lipjan (Lipljan), Malisheve (Malisevo), Mitrovice
(Mitrovica), Novoberde (Novo Brdo), Obiliq (Obilic), Peje (Pec),
Podujeve (Podujevo), Prishtine (Pristina), Prizren, Rahovec
(Orahovac), Shtime (Stimlje), Shterpce (Strpce), Skenderaj (Srbica),
Suhareke (Suva Reka), Viti (Vitina), Vushtrri (Vucitrn), Zubin
Potok, Zvecan

Independence:

17 February 2008 (from Serbia)

National holiday:

Independence Day, 17 February (2008)

Constitution:

ratified 9 April 2008; effective 15 June 2008

Legal system:

evolving legal system based on terms of UN Special Envoy Martti AHTISAARI's Plan for Kosovo's supervised independence

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Fatmir SEJDIU (since 10 February 2006) head of government: Prime Minister Hashim THACI (since 9 January 2008) cabinet: ministers; elected by the Kosovo Assembly elections: the president is elected for a five-year term by the Kosovo Assembly; election last held 9 January 2008 (next to be held by in 2013); the prime minister is elected by the Kosovo Assembly election results: Fatmir SEJDIU reelected president; first round: Fatmir SEDIU 62, Naim MALOKU 37; second round: Fatmir SEDIU 61, Naim MALOKU 37; and Hashim THACI elected to be prime minister by the Assembly

Legislative branch:

unicameral Kosovo Assembly of the Provisional Government (120 seats; 100 seats directly elected, 10 seats for Serbs, 10 seats for other minorities; to serve three-year terms) elections: last held 17 November 2007 (next to be held in 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - PDK 34.3%, LDK 22.6%, AKR 12.3%, LDD 10.0%, AAK 9.6%, other 11.2%; seats by party - PDK 37, LDK 25, AKR 13, LDD 11, AAK 10, other 4

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court judges are appointed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG); district courts judges are appointed by the SRSG; municipal courts judges are appointed by the SRSG note: after the termination of UNMIK's mandate, the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) will propose to the president candidates for appointment or reappointment as judges and prosecutors; the KJC is also responsible for decisions on the promotion and transfer of judges and disciplinary proceedings against judges; at least 15% of Supreme Court and district court judges shall be from nonmajority communities

Political parties and leaders:

Albanian Christian Democratic Party of Kosovo or PShDK [Mark
KRASNIQI]; Alliance for the Future of Kosovo or AAK [Ramush
HARADINAJ]; Alliance of Independent Social Democrats of Kososvo and
Metohija or SDSKIM [Slavisa PETKOVIC]; Autonomous Liberal Party of
SLS [Slobodan PETROVIC]; Bosniak Vakat Coalition [Dzezair MURATI];
Citizens' Initiative of Gora or GIG [Murselj HALILI]; Council of
Independent Social Democrats of