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

on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission); High Court of Justice; Caribbean Court of Appeals member; Court of Appeals; the highest court of appeal is the Privy Council in London

Political parties and leaders:

Congress of the People [Winston DOOKERAN]; Democratic Action
Congress or DAC [Hochoy CHARLES] (only active in Tobago); Democratic
National Alliance or DNA [Gerald YETMING] (coalition of NAR, DDPT,
MND); Movement for National Development or MND [Garvin NICHOLAS];
National Alliance for Reconstruction or NAR [Dr. Carson CHARLES];
People's National Movement or PNM [Patrick MANNING]; United National
Congress or UNC [Basdeo PANDAY]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Jamaat-al Muslimeen [Yasin BAKR]

International organization participation:

ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-24, G-77, IADB, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM,
IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITSO,
ITU, ITUC, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Glenda MOREAN-PHILLIP chancery: 1708 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 467-6490 FAX: [1] (202) 785-3130 consulate(s) general: Miami, New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Roy L. AUSTIN embassy: 15 Queen's Park West, Port-of-Spain mailing address: P. O. Box 752, Port-of-Spain telephone: [1] (868) 622-6371 through 6376 FAX: [1] (868) 822-5905

Flag description:

red with a white-edged black diagonal band from the upper hoist side to the lower fly side

Economy
Trinidad and Tobago

Economy - overview:

Trinidad and Tobago has earned a reputation as an excellent investment site for international businesses and has one of the highest growth rates and per capita incomes in Latin America. Recent growth has been fueled by investments in liquefied natural gas (LNG), petrochemicals, and steel. Additional petrochemical, aluminum, and plastics projects are in various stages of planning. Trinidad and Tobago is the leading Caribbean producer of oil and gas, and its economy is heavily dependent upon these resources but it also supplies manufactured goods, notably food and beverages, as well as cement to the Caribbean region. Oil and gas account for about 40% of GDP and 80% of exports, but only 5% of employment. The country is also a regional financial center, and tourism is a growing sector, although it is not proportionately as important as in many other Caribbean islands. The economy benefits from a growing trade surplus. Economic growth reached 12.6% in 2006 and 5.5% in 2007 as prices for oil, petrochemicals, and LNG remained high, and as foreign direct investment continued to grow to support expanded capacity in the energy sector.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$26.79 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$20.7 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

5.5% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$25,400 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 0.6% industry: 62% services: 37.5% (2007 est.)

Labor force:

622,000 (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture 4%, manufacturing, mining, and quarrying 12.9%, construction and utilities 17.5%, services 65.6% (2006 est.)

Unemployment rate:

4.5% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:

17% (2007 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

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

Investment (gross fixed):

16.7% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $6.332 billion expenditures: $5.969 billion (2007 est.)

Fiscal year:

1 October - 30 September

Public debt:

27.9% of GDP (2007 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

7.9% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate:

10% (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate:

11.75% (31 December 2007)

Stock of money:

$2.646 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money:

$5.707 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit:

$3.721 billion (31 December 2007)

Agriculture - products:

cocoa, rice, citrus, coffee, vegetables; poultry

Industries:

petroleum, chemicals, tourism, food processing, cement, beverage, cotton textiles

Industrial production growth rate:

6.5% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:

7.704 billion kWh (2007)

Electricity - consumption:

7.083 billion kWh (2007)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports:

0 kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 99.8% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0.2% (2001)

Oil - production:

163,300 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption:

28,730 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:

218,800 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - imports:

72,780 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves:

728.3 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

Natural gas - production:

39 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

20.8 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

18.1 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

531.5 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Current account balance:

$5.378 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:

$13.39 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

petroleum and petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), methanol, ammonia, urea, steel products, beverages, cereal and cereal products, sugar, cocoa, coffee, citrus fruit, vegetables, flowers

Exports - partners:

US 57.5%, Jamaica 6.5%, Spain 3.9% (2007)

Imports:

$7.67 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

mineral fuels, lubricants, machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, live animals, grain

Imports - partners:

US 28.2%, Brazil 11%, Venezuela 8.2%, Colombia 5.4%, Gabon 4.9%,
China 4.2% (2007)

Economic aid - recipient:

$200,000 (2007 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$6.745 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:

$2.869 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$12.44 billion (2007)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$1.419 billion (2007)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$15.57 billion (2006)

Currency (code):

Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TTD)

Currency code:

TTD

Exchange rates:

Trinidad and Tobago dollars (TTD) per US dollar - 6.3275 (2007), 6.3107 (2006), 6.2842 (2005), 6.299 (2004), 6.2951 (2003)

Communications
Trinidad and Tobago

Telephones - main lines in use:

323,800 (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

1.008 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: excellent international service; good local service domestic: mobile-cellular teledensity exceeds 125 telephones per 100 persons international: country code - 1-868; submarine cable systems provide connectivity to US and parts of the Caribbean and South America; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); tropospheric scatter to Barbados and Guyana

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 4, FM 18, shortwave 0 (2001)

Radios:

680,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

6 (2005)

Televisions:

425,000 (1997)

Internet country code:

.tt

Internet hosts:

155,722 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

17 (2000)

Internet users:

430,800 (2007)

Transportation
Trinidad and Tobago

Airports:

6 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 3 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

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

Pipelines:

condensate 245 km; gas 1,320 km; oil 563 km (2007)

Roadways:

total: 8,320 km paved: 4,252 km unpaved: 4,068 km (2000)

Merchant marine:

total: 9 by type: passenger 2, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 2 foreign-owned: 1 (US 1) registered in other countries: 2 (Bahamas 1, unknown 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Point Fortin, Point Lisas, Port-of-Spain

Military
Trinidad and Tobago

Military branches:

Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force (TTDF): Trinidad and Tobago
Regiment, Coast Guard, Air Guard (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

18 years of age for voluntary military service (16 years of age with parental consent); no conscription (2008)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 301,561 females age 16-49: 264,225 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 215,310 females age 16-49: 180,526 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 8,671 female: 8,153 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

0.3% of GDP (2006)

Transnational Issues
Trinidad and Tobago

Disputes - international:

in April 2006, the Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a decision that delimited a maritime boundary with Trinidad and Tobago and compelled Barbados to enter a fishing agreement that limited Barbadian fishermen's catches of flying fish in Trinidad and Tobago's exclusive economic zone; in 2005, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago agreed to compulsory international arbitration under UNCLOS challenging whether the northern limit of Trinidad and Tobago's and Venezuela's maritime boundary extends into Barbadian waters; Guyana has also expressed its intention to include itself in the arbitration as the Trinidad and Tobago-Venezuela maritime boundary may extend into its waters as well

Illicit drugs:

transshipment point for South American drugs destined for the US and Europe; producer of cannabis

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Tunisia

Introduction
Tunisia

Background:

Rivalry between French and Italian interests in Tunisia culminated in a French invasion in 1881 and the creation of a protectorate. Agitation for independence in the decades following World War I was finally successful in getting the French to recognize Tunisia as an independent state in 1956. The country's first president, Habib BOURGUIBA, established a strict one-party state. He dominated the country for 31 years, repressing Islamic fundamentalism and establishing rights for women unmatched by any other Arab nation. In November 1987, BOURGUIBA was removed from office and replaced by Zine el Abidine BEN ALI in a bloodless coup. BEN ALI is currently serving his fourth consecutive five-year term as president; the next elections are scheduled for October 2009. Tunisia has long taken a moderate, non-aligned stance in its foreign relations. Domestically, it has sought to defuse rising pressure for a more open political society.

Geography
Tunisia

Location:

Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and Libya

Geographic coordinates:

34 00 N, 9 00 E

Map references:

Africa

Area:

total: 163,610 sq km land: 155,360 sq km water: 8,250 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly larger than Georgia

Land boundaries:

total: 1,424 km border countries: Algeria 965 km, Libya 459 km

Coastline:

1,148 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 12 nm

Climate:

temperate in north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers; desert in south

Terrain:

mountains in north; hot, dry central plain; semiarid south merges into the Sahara

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Shatt al Gharsah -17 m highest point: Jebel ech Chambi 1,544 m

Natural resources:

petroleum, phosphates, iron ore, lead, zinc, salt

Land use:

arable land: 17.05% permanent crops: 13.08% other: 69.87% (2005)

Irrigated land:

3,940 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

4.6 cu km (2003)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 2.64 cu km/yr (14%/4%/82%) per capita: 261 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

NA

Environment - current issues:

toxic and hazardous waste disposal is ineffective and poses health risks; water pollution from raw sewage; limited natural fresh water resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Environment - international agreements:

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

Geography - note:

strategic location in central Mediterranean; Malta and Tunisia are discussing the commercial exploitation of the continental shelf between their countries, particularly for oil exploration

People
Tunisia

Population:

10,383,577 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 23.2% (male 1,246,105/female 1,167,379) 15-64 years: 69.7% (male 3,638,062/female 3,595,254) 65 years and over: 7.1% (male 345,590/female 391,187) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 28.8 years male: 28.2 years female: 29.3 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.989% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

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

Death rate:

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

Net migration rate:

-0.44 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: