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

to serve four-year terms) elections: National Assembly - last held 23 September 2007 (next to be held in 2011) election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - TIM 106, LEADER/Fanilo 1, independents 20

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; High Constitutional Court or Haute
Cour Constitutionnelle

Political parties and leaders:

Association for the Rebirth of Madagascar or AREMA [Pierrot
RAJAONARIVELO]; Democratic Party for Union in Madagascar or PSDUM
[Jean LAHINIRIKO]; Economic Liberalism and Democratic Action for
National Recovery or LEADER/Fanilo [Herizo RAZAFIMAHALEO]; Fihaonana
Party or FP [Guy-Willy RAZANAMASY]; I Love Madagascar or TIM [Marc
RAVALOMANANA]; Renewal of the Social Democratic Party or RPSD
[Evariste MARSON]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Committee for the Defense of Truth and Justice or KMMR; Committee for National Reconciliation or CRN [Albert Zafy]; National Council of Christian Churches or FFKM

International organization participation:

ACP, AfDB, AU, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM,
IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU,
ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, SADC,
UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Jocelyn Bertin RADIFERA chancery: 2374 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 265-5525, 5526 FAX: [1] (202) 265-3034 consulate(s) general: New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador R. Niels MARQUARDT embassy: 14-16 Rue Rainitovo, Antsahavola, Antananarivo 101 mailing address: B. P. 620, Antsahavola, Antananarivo telephone: [261] (20) 22-212-57, 22-212-73, 22-209-56 FAX: [261] (20) 22-345-39

Flag description:

two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a vertical white band of the same width on hoist side

Economy
Madagascar

Economy - overview:

Having discarded past socialist economic policies, Madagascar has since the mid 1990s followed a World Bank- and IMF-led policy of privatization and liberalization. This strategy placed the country on a slow and steady growth path from an extremely low level. Agriculture, including fishing and forestry, is a mainstay of the economy, accounting for more than one-fourth of GDP and employing 80% of the population. Exports of apparel have boomed in recent years primarily due to duty-free access to the US. Deforestation and erosion, aggravated by the use of firewood as the primary source of fuel, are serious concerns. President RAVALOMANANA has worked aggressively to revive the economy following the 2002 political crisis, which triggered a 12% drop in GDP that year. Poverty reduction and combating corruption will be the centerpieces of economic policy for the next few years.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$18.44 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$7.322 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

6.3% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$900 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 26.8% industry: 15.8% services: 57.4% (2007 est.)

Labor force:

7.3 million (2000)

Population below poverty line:

50% (2004 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 1.9% highest 10%: 36.6% (2001)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

47.5 (2001)

Investment (gross fixed):

25.9% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $1.319 billion expenditures: $1.629 billion (2007 est.)

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

10.3% (2007 est.)

Commercial bank prime lending rate:

45% (31 December 2007)

Stock of money:

$1.161 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money:

$577.4 million (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit:

$767.5 million (31 December 2007)

Agriculture - products:

coffee, vanilla, sugarcane, cloves, cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), beans, bananas, peanuts; livestock products

Industries:

meat processing, seafood, soap, breweries, tanneries, sugar, textiles, glassware, cement, automobile assembly plant, paper, petroleum, tourism

Industrial production growth rate:

6% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:

1.045 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - consumption:

907 million kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 36.1% hydro: 63.9% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)

Oil - production:

92.18 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption:

18,190 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:

480.3 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - imports:

17,100 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves:

0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

Natural gas - production:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:

-$890 million (2007 est.)

Exports:

$986 million f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

coffee, vanilla, shellfish, sugar, cotton cloth, chromite, petroleum products

Exports - partners:

France 31.8%, US 26.6%, Germany 6.1%, UK 4.9%, Italy 4.4% (2007)

Imports:

$1.918 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

capital goods, petroleum, consumer goods, food

Imports - partners:

France 13.6%, China 13%, Iran 8.1%, South Africa 6.4%, Hong Kong 4.9%, Mauritius 4.8% (2007)

Economic aid - recipient:

$929.2 million (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$846.7 million (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:

$4.6 billion (2002)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$NA

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$NA

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$NA

Currency (code):

ariary (MGA)

Currency code:

MGF

Exchange rates:

Malagasy ariary (MGA) per US dollar - 1,880 (2007), 2,161.4 (2006), 2,003 (2005), 1,868.9 (2004), 1,238.3 (2003)

Communications
Madagascar

Telephones - main lines in use:

133,900 (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

2.218 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: system is above average for the region; Antananarivo's main telephone exchange modernized in the late 1990s, but the rest of the analogue-based telephone system is poorly developed; have added more than 50,000 new fixed lines since 2005 domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile telephone density only about 12 per 100 persons international: country code - 261; submarine cable to Bahrain; satellite earth stations - 2 (1 Intelsat - Indian Ocean, 1 Intersputnik - Atlantic Ocean region) (2007)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 2 (plus a number of repeater stations), FM 9, shortwave 6 (2001)

Radios:

3.05 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

1 (plus 36 repeaters) (2001)

Televisions:

325,000 (1997)

Internet country code:

.mg

Internet hosts:

11,016 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

2 (2000)

Internet users:

110,000 (2006)

Transportation
Madagascar

Airports:

104 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 27 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6 914 to 1,523 m: 17 under 914 m: 1 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 77 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 41 under 914 m: 34 (2007)

Railways:

total: 854 km narrow gauge: 854 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)

Roadways:

total: 65,663 km paved: 7,617 km unpaved: 58,046 km (2003)

Waterways:

600 km (2006)

Merchant marine:

total: 8 by type: cargo 4, passenger/cargo 2, petroleum tanker 2 (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Antsiranana, Mahajanga, Toamasina, Toliara

Military
Madagascar

Military branches:

People's Armed Forces: Intervention Force, Development Force, and
Aeronaval Force (navy and air); National Gendarmerie

Military service age and obligation:

18-25 years of age for male-only compulsory military service; 18-month conscript service obligation (either military or equivalent civil service); 20-30 years of age for National Gendarmerie recruits (35 years of age for those with military experience) (2008)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 4,443,341 females age 16-49: 4,441,124 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 3,034,600 females age 16-49: 3,271,732 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 230,088 female: 229,932 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

1% of GDP (2006)

Transnational Issues
Madagascar

Disputes - international:

claims Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, and Juan de Nova Island (all administered by France)

Illicit drugs:

illicit producer of cannabis (cultivated and wild varieties) used mostly for domestic consumption; transshipment point for heroin

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Malawi

Introduction
Malawi

Background:

Established in 1891, the British protectorate of Nyasaland became the independent nation of Malawi in 1964. After three decades of one-party rule under President Hastings Kamuzu BANDA the country held multiparty elections in 1994, under a provisional constitution that came into full effect the following year. Current President Bingu wa MUTHARIKA, elected in May 2004 after a failed attempt by the previous president to amend the constitution to permit another term, struggled to assert his authority against his predecessor and subsequently started his own party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 2005. As president, MUTHARIKA has overseen substantial economic improvement but because of political deadlock in the legislature, his minority party has been unable to pass significant legislation, and anti-corruption measures have stalled. Population growth, increasing pressure on agricultural lands, corruption, and the spread of HIV/AIDS pose major problems for Malawi.

Geography
Malawi

Location:

Southern Africa, east of Zambia

Geographic coordinates:

13 30 S, 34 00 E

Map references:

Africa

Area:

total: 118,480 sq km land: 94,080 sq km water: 24,400 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Pennsylvania

Land boundaries:

total: 2,881 km border countries: Mozambique 1,569 km, Tanzania 475 km, Zambia 837 km

Coastline:

0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:

none (landlocked)

Climate:

sub-tropical; rainy season (November to May); dry season (May to November)

Terrain:

narrow elongated plateau with rolling plains, rounded hills, some mountains

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: junction of the Shire River and international boundary with Mozambique 37 m highest point: Sapitwa (Mount Mlanje) 3,002 m

Natural resources:

limestone, arable land, hydropower, unexploited deposits of uranium, coal, and bauxite

Land use:

arable land: 20.68% permanent crops: 1.18% other: 78.14% (2005)

Irrigated land:

560 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

17.3 cu km (2001)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 1.01 cu km/yr (15%/5%/80%) per capita: 78 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

NA

Environment - current issues:

deforestation; land degradation; water pollution from agricultural runoff, sewage, industrial wastes; siltation of spawning grounds endangers fish populations

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note:

landlocked; Lake Nyasa, some 580 km long, is the country's most prominent physical feature

People
Malawi

Population:

13,931,831 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 46% (male 3,208,112/female 3,194,600) 15-64 years: 51.4% (male 3,592,073/female 3,563,840) 65 years and over: 2.7% (male 159,450/female 213,756) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 16.8 years male: 16.7 years female: 16.8 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

2.39% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

41.79 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

17.89 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

NA (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.01 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 90.55 deaths/1,000 live births male: 94.69 deaths/1,000 live births female: 86.35 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 43.45 years male: 43.74 years female: 43.15 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

5.67 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: