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

of the private sector, especially the encouragement of investment, and is committing increased funds for health and education. Tonga has a reasonably sound basic infrastructure and well-developed social services. High unemployment among the young, a continuing upturn in inflation, pressures for democratic reform, and rising civil service expenditures are major issues facing the government.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$526 million (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$219 million (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

-3.5% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$5,100 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 25% industry: 17% services: 57% (FY05/06 est.)

Labor force:

33,910 (2003)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 65% industry and services: 35% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate:

13% (FY03/04 est.)

Population below poverty line:

24% (FY03/04)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%

Budget:

revenues: $80.48 million expenditures: $109.8 million (FY07/08)

Fiscal year:

1 July - 30 June

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

5.9% (2007 est.)

Commercial bank prime lending rate:

12.16% (31 December 2007)

Stock of money:

$46.38 million (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money:

$106.8 million (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit:

$163.1 million (31 December 2007)

Agriculture - products:

squash, coconuts, copra, bananas, vanilla beans, cocoa, coffee, ginger, black pepper; fish

Industries:

tourism, construction, fishing

Industrial production growth rate:

1% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production:

43 million kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - consumption:

39.99 million kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2007)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)

Oil - production:

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption:

870 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:

0 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - imports:

1,035 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves:

0 bbl (1 January 2007 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 2007 est.)

Current account balance:

-$23 million (2007 est.)

Exports:

$22 million f.o.b. (2006)

Exports - commodities:

squash, fish, vanilla beans, root crops

Exports - partners:

US 36.7%, Japan 21.6%, NZ 10.1%, Fiji 5.8%, Samoa 4.9% (2007)

Imports:

$139 million f.o.b. (2006)

Imports - commodities:

foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, fuels, chemicals

Imports - partners:

Fiji 32.5%, NZ 27.5%, US 9%, Australia 7.4%, China 5% (2007)

Economic aid - recipient:

$31.75 million (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$40.83 million (yearend, FY04/05)

Debt - external:

$80.7 million (2004)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$NA

Currency (code):

pa'anga (TOP)

Currency code:

TOP

Exchange rates:

pa'anga (TOP) per US dollar - NA (2007), 2.0277 (2006), 1.96 (2005), 1.9716 (2004), 2.142 (2003)

Communications
Tonga

Telephones - main lines in use:

21,000 (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

46,500 (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: competition between Tonga Telecommunications Corporation (TCC) and Shoreline Communications Tonga (SCT) is accelerating expansion of telecommunications; SCT recently granted authority to develop high-speed digital service for telephone, Internet, and television domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity roughly 40 telephones per 100 persons; fully automatic switched network international: country code - 676; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) (2004)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 1, FM 4, shortwave 1 (2001)

Radios:

61,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

3 (2004)

Televisions:

2,000 (1997)

Internet country code:

.to

Internet hosts:

19,231 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

2 (2000)

Internet users:

8,400 (2007)

Transportation
Tonga

Airports:

6 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 (2007)

Roadways:

total: 680 km paved: 184 km unpaved: 496 km (2000)

Merchant marine:

total: 13 by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 8, carrier 1, liquefied gas 1, passenger/cargo 1, refrigerated cargo 1 foreign-owned: 4 (Australia 1, Cyprus 1, Switzerland 1, UK 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Nuku'alofa

Military
Tonga

Military branches:

Tonga Defense Services (TDS): Land Force (Royal Guard), Naval Force (includes Royal Marines, Air Wing) (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2008)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 32,053 females age 16-49: 30,981 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 25,520 females age 16-49: 26,893 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 1,464 female: 1,412 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

0.9% of GDP (2006 est.)

Transnational Issues
Tonga

Disputes - international:

none

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

======================================================================

@Trinidad and Tobago

Introduction
Trinidad and Tobago

Background:

First colonized by the Spanish, the islands came under British control in the early 19th century. The islands' sugar industry was hurt by the emancipation of the slaves in 1834. Manpower was replaced with the importation of contract laborers from India between 1845 and 1917, which boosted sugar production as well as the cocoa industry. The discovery of oil on Trinidad in 1910 added another important export. Independence was attained in 1962. The country is one of the most prosperous in the Caribbean thanks largely to petroleum and natural gas production and processing. Tourism, mostly in Tobago, is targeted for expansion and is growing. The government is coping with a rise in violent crime.

Geography
Trinidad and Tobago

Location:

Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic
Ocean, northeast of Venezuela

Geographic coordinates:

11 00 N, 61 00 W

Map references:

Central America and the Caribbean

Area:

total: 5,128 sq km land: 5,128 sq km water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Delaware

Land boundaries:

0 km

Coastline:

362 km

Maritime claims:

measured from claimed archipelagic baselines territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the outer edge of the continental margin

Climate:

tropical; rainy season (June to December)

Terrain:

mostly plains with some hills and low mountains

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: El Cerro del Aripo 940 m

Natural resources:

petroleum, natural gas, asphalt

Land use:

arable land: 14.62% permanent crops: 9.16% other: 76.22% (2005)

Irrigated land:

40 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

3.8 cu km (2000)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 0.31 cu km/yr (68%/26%/6%) per capita: 237 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical storms

Environment - current issues:

water pollution from agricultural chemicals, industrial wastes, and raw sewage; oil pollution of beaches; deforestation; soil erosion

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

Pitch Lake, on Trinidad's southwestern coast, is the world's largest natural reservoir of asphalt

People
Trinidad and Tobago

Population:

1,047,366 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 19% (male 102,352/female 96,487) 15-64 years: 71.8% (male 396,352/female 356,080) 65 years and over: 9.2% (male 42,998/female 53,097) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 32.3 years male: 31.9 years female: 32.8 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

-0.891% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

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

Death rate:

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

Net migration rate:

-11.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.11 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female total population: 1.07 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 23.59 deaths/1,000 live births male: 25.34 deaths/1,000 live births female: 21.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 67 years male: 66.07 years female: 67.98 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.73 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

3.2% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

29,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

1,900 (2003 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Trinidadian(s), Tobagonian(s) adjective: Trinidadian, Tobagonian

Ethnic groups:

Indian (South Asian) 40%, African 37.5%, mixed 20.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 0.8% (2000 census)

Religions:

Roman Catholic 26%, Hindu 22.5%, Anglican 7.8%, Baptist 7.2%,
Pentecostal 6.8%, Muslim 5.8%, Seventh Day Adventist 4%, other
Christian 5.8%, other 10.8%, unspecified 1.4%, none 1.9% (2000
census)

Languages:

English (official), Caribbean Hindustani (a dialect of Hindi),
French, Spanish, Chinese

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98.6% male: 99.1% female: 98% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 11 years male: 11 years female: 11 years (2005)

Education expenditures:

4.2% of GDP (200)

People - note:

in 2007, the government of Trinidad and Tobago estimated the population to be 1.3 million

Government
Trinidad and Tobago

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Trinidad and Tobago conventional short form: Trinidad and Tobago

Government type:

parliamentary democracy

Capital:

name: Port-of-Spain geographic coordinates: 10 39 N, 61 31 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions:

9 regional corporations, 2 city corporations, 3 borough corporations, 1 ward regional corporations: Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo, Diego Martin, Mayaro/Rio Claro, Penal/Debe, Princes Town, Sangre Grande, San Juan/Laventille, Siparia, Tunapuna/Piarco city corporations: Port-of-Spain, San Fernando borough corporations: Arima, Chaguanas, Point Fortin ward: Tobago

Independence:

31 August 1962 (from UK)

National holiday:

Independence Day, 31 August (1962)

Constitution:

1 August 1976

Legal system:

based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President George Maxwell RICHARDS (since 17 March 2003) head of government: Prime Minister Patrick MANNING (since 24 December 2001) cabinet: Cabinet appointed from among the members of Parliament elections: president elected by an electoral college, which consists of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives, for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 11 February 2008 (next to be held by February 2013); the president usually appoints as prime minister the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives election results: George Maxwell RICHARDS reelected president; percent of electoral college vote - NA

Legislative branch:

bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (31 seats; 16 members appointed by the ruling party, nine by the President, six by the opposition party to serve a maximum term of five years) and the House of Representatives (41 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: House of Representatives - last held on 5 November 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote - PNM 46%, UNC 29.7%; seats by party - PNM 26, UNC 15 note: Tobago has a unicameral House of Assembly with 12 members serving four-year terms; last election held in January 2005; seats by party - PNM 11, DAC 1

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court of Judicature (comprised of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeals; the chief justice is appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; other justices are appointed by the president