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

>Radios:

1.51 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

36 (plus 321 repeaters) (1995)

Televisions:

1.22 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.hr

Internet hosts:

1.111 million (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

9 (2000)

Internet users:

1.995 million (2007)

Transportation
Croatia

Airports:

68 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 23 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 9 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 45 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 37 (2007)

Heliports:

2 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 1,556 km; oil 583 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 2,726 km standard gauge: 2,726 km 1.435-m gauge (1,199 km electrified) (2006)

Roadways:

total: 28,788 km (includes 877 km of expressways) (2006)

Waterways:

785 km (2007)

Merchant marine:

total: 80 by type: bulk carrier 25, cargo 11, chemical tanker 3, passenger/cargo 30, petroleum tanker 8, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 2 registered in other countries: 30 (Bahamas 1, Belize 2, Liberia 2, Malta 9, Marshall Islands 6, Panama 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 7) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Omisalj, Ploce, Rijeka, Sibenik, Vukovar (on Danube)

Military
Croatia

Military branches:

Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia (Oruzane Snage Republike Hrvatske, OSRH), consists of five major commands directly subordinate to a General Staff: Ground Forces (Hrvatska Kopnena Vojska, HKoV), Naval Forces (Hrvatska Ratna Mornarica, HRM), Air Force (Hrvatsko Ratno Zrakoplovstvo, HRZ), Joint Education and Training Command, Logistics Command; Military Police Force supports each of the three Croatian military forces (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

18-27 years of age for compulsory military service; 16 years of age with consent for voluntary service; 6-month conscript service obligation; full conversion to professional military service by 2010 (2006)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 1,035,712 females age 16-49: 1,037,896 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 771,323 females age 16-49: 855,937 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 27,500 female: 25,893 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

2.39% of GDP (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues
Croatia

Disputes - international:

dispute remains with Bosnia and Herzegovina over several small disputed sections of the boundary related to maritime access that hinders ratification of the 1999 border agreement; the Croatia-Slovenia land and maritime boundary agreement, which would have ceded most of Pirin Bay and maritime access to Slovenia and several villages to Croatia, remains un-ratified and in dispute; Slovenia also protests Croatia's 2003 claim to an exclusive economic zone in the Adriatic; as a European Union peripheral state, Slovenia imposed a hard border Schengen regime with non-member Croatia in December 2007

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

IDPs: 2,900-7,000 (Croats and Serbs displaced in 1992-95 war) (2007)

Illicit drugs:

transit point along the Balkan route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe; has been used as a transit point for maritime shipments of South American cocaine bound for Western Europe

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Cuba

Introduction
Cuba

Background:

The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the European discovery of the island by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations, and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule, marked initially by neglect, became increasingly repressive, provoking an independence movement and occasional rebellions that were harshly suppressed. It was US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 that finally overthrew Spanish rule. The subsequent Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence, which was granted in 1902 after a three-year transition period. Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule held the subsequent regime together for nearly five decades. He stepped down as president in February 2008 in favor of his younger brother Raul CASTRO. Cuba's Communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The country is now slowly recovering from a severe economic downturn in 1990, following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies, worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually. Cuba portrays its difficulties as the result of the US embargo in place since 1961. Illicit migration to the US - using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, air flights, or via the southwest border - is a continuing problem. The US Coast Guard intercepted 2,864 individuals attempting to cross the Straits of Florida in fiscal year 2006.

Geography
Cuba

Location:

Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic
Ocean, 150 km south of Key West, Florida

Geographic coordinates:

21 30 N, 80 00 W

Map references:

Central America and the Caribbean

Area:

total: 110,860 sq km land: 110,860 sq km water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Pennsylvania

Land boundaries:

total: 29 km border countries: US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay 29 km note: Guantanamo Naval Base is leased by the US and remains part of Cuba

Coastline:

3,735 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:

tropical; moderated by trade winds; dry season (November to April); rainy season (May to October)

Terrain:

mostly flat to rolling plains, with rugged hills and mountains in the southeast

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Pico Turquino 2,005 m

Natural resources:

cobalt, nickel, iron ore, chromium, copper, salt, timber, silica, petroleum, arable land

Land use:

arable land: 27.63% permanent crops: 6.54% other: 65.83% (2005)

Irrigated land:

8,700 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

38.1 cu km (2000)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 8.2 cu km/yr (19%/12%/69%) per capita: 728 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

the east coast is subject to hurricanes from August to November (in general, the country averages about one hurricane every other year); droughts are common

Environment - current issues:

air and water pollution; biodiversity loss; deforestation

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Antarctic Treaty, 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:

largest country in Caribbean and westernmost island of the Greater Antilles

People
Cuba

Population:

11,423,952 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 18.5% (male 1,088,311/female 1,030,499) 15-64 years: 70.5% (male 4,029,381/female 4,025,154) 65 years and over: 10.9% (male 569,002/female 681,605) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 36.8 years male: 36.1 years female: 37.5 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.251% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

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

Death rate:

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

Net migration rate:

-1.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 5.93 deaths/1,000 live births male: 6.64 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 77.27 years male: 75.02 years female: 79.64 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.6 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

less than 0.1% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

3,300 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

fewer than 200 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A vectorborne diseases: dengue fever (2008)

Nationality:

noun: Cuban(s) adjective: Cuban

Ethnic groups:

white 65.1%, mulatto and mestizo 24.8%, black 10.1% (2002 census)

Religions:

nominally 85% Roman Catholic prior to CASTRO assuming power; Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, and Santeria are also represented

Languages:

Spanish

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.8% male: 99.8% female: 99.8% (2002 census)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

total: 16 years male: 15 years female: 17 years (2006)

Education expenditures:

9.1% of GDP (2006)

People - note:

illicit emigration is a continuing problem; Cubans attempt to depart the island and enter the US using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, direct flights, or falsified visas; Cubans also use non-maritime routes to enter the US including direct flights to Miami and over-land via the southwest border

Government
Cuba

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Cuba
conventional short form: Cuba
local long form: Republica de Cuba
local short form: Cuba

Government type:

Communist state

Capital:

name: Havana geographic coordinates: 23 07 N, 82 21 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions:

14 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 special municipality* (municipio especial); Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Cienfuegos, Ciudad de La Habana, Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Isla de la Juventud*, La Habana, Las Tunas, Matanzas, Pinar del Rio, Sancti Spiritus, Santiago de Cuba, Villa Clara

Independence:

20 May 1902 (from Spain 10 December 1898; administered by the US from 1898 to 1902); not acknowledged by the Cuban Government as a day of independence

National holiday:

Triumph of the Revolution, 1 January (1959)

Constitution:

24 February 1976; amended July 1992 and June 2002

Legal system:

based on Spanish civil law and influenced by American legal concepts, with large elements of Communist legal theory; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:

16 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (president since 24 February 2008); First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Jose Ramon MACHADO Ventura (since 24 February 2008); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz (president since 24 February 2008); First Vice President of the Council of State and First Vice President of the Council of Ministers Gen. Jose Ramon MACHADO Ventura (since 24 February 2008) cabinet: Council of Ministers proposed by the president of the Council of State and appointed by the National Assembly or the 31-member Council of State, elected by the Assembly to act on its behalf when it is not in session elections: president and vice presidents elected by the National Assembly for a term of five years; election last held 24 February 2008 (next to be held in 2013) election results: Gen. Raul CASTRO Ruz elected president; percent of legislative vote - 100%; Gen. Jose Ramon MACHADO Ventura elected vice president; percent of legislative vote - 100%

Legislative branch:

unicameral National Assembly of People's Power or Asemblea Nacional del Poder Popular (number of seats in the National Assembly is based on population; 614 seats; members elected directly from slates approved by special candidacy commissions to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 20 January 2008 (next to be held in January 2013) election results: Cuba's Communist Party is the only legal party, and officially sanctioned candidates run unopposed

Judicial branch:

People's Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo Popular (president, vice president, and other judges are elected by the National Assembly)

Political parties and leaders:

Cuban Communist Party or PCC [Fidel CASTRO Ruz, first secretary]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Human Rights Watch; National Association of Small Farmers

International organization participation:

ACP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMO,
IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAES,
LAIA, NAM, OAS (excluded from formal participation since 1962),
OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNITAR,
UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

none; note - Cuba has an Interests Section in the Swiss Embassy, headed by Principal Officer Jorge BOLANOS Suarez; address: Cuban Interests Section, Swiss Embassy, 2630 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009;