Cambodia (2001) | Nicaragua (2008) | |
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Administrative divisions | 20 provinces (khett, singular and plural) and 4 municipalities* (krong, singular and plural); Banteay Mean Cheay, Batdambang, Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Spoe, Kampong Thum, Kampot, Kandal, Kaoh Kong, Keb*, Kracheh, Mondol Kiri, Otdar Mean Cheay, Pailin*, Phnum Penh*, Pouthisat, Preah Seihanu* (Sihanoukville), Preah Vihear, Prey Veng, Rotanah Kiri, Siem Reab, Stoeng Treng, Svay Rieng, Takev | 15 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) and 2 autonomous regions* (regiones autonomistas, singular - region autonoma); Atlantico Norte*, Atlantico Sur*, Boaco, Carazo, Chinandega, Chontales, Esteli, Granada, Jinotega, Leon, Madriz, Managua, Masaya, Matagalpa, Nueva Segovia, Rio San Juan, Rivas |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
41.25% (male 2,626,821; female 2,526,510) 15-64 years: 55.28% (male 3,253,611; female 3,651,129) 65 years and over: 3.47% (male 177,577; female 255,853) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 35.5% (male 1,025,426/female 988,148)
15-64 years: 61.3% (male 1,734,153/female 1,746,574) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 79,589/female 101,466) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | rice, rubber, corn, vegetables | coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products; shrimp, lobsters |
Airports | 19 (2000 est.) | 163 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
6 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 3 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
13 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 11 (2000 est.) |
total: 152
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 16 under 914 m: 135 (2007) |
Area | total:
181,040 sq km land: 176,520 sq km water: 4,520 sq km |
total: 129,494 sq km
land: 120,254 sq km water: 9,240 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Oklahoma | slightly smaller than the state of New York |
Background | Following a five-year struggle, communist Khmer Rouge forces captured Phnom Penh in 1975 and ordered the evacuation of all cities and towns; over 1 million displaced people died from execution or enforced hardships. A 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the countryside and touched off 13 years of fighting. UN-sponsored elections in 1993 helped restore some semblance of normalcy, as did the rapid diminishment of the Khmer Rouge in the mid-1990s. A coalition government, formed after national elections in 1998, brought renewed political stability and the surrender of remaining Khmer Rouge forces. | The Pacific coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish colony from Panama in the early 16th century. Independence from Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an independent republic in 1838. Britain occupied the Caribbean Coast in the first half of the 19th century, but gradually ceded control of the region in subsequent decades. Violent opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption spread to all classes by 1978 and resulted in a short-lived civil war that brought the Marxist Sandinista guerrillas to power in 1979. Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador caused the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. Free elections in 1990, 1996, and 2001, saw the Sandinistas defeated, but voting in 2006 announced the return of former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra. Nicaragua's infrastructure and economy - hard hit by the earlier civil war and by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 - are slowly being rebuilt. |
Birth rate | 33.16 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 24.12 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$363 million expenditures: $532 million, including capital expenditures of $225 million (2000 est.) |
revenues: $1.027 billion
expenditures: $1.336 billion (2007 est.) |
Capital | Phnom Penh | name: Managua
geographic coordinates: 12 09 N, 86 17 W time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | tropical; rainy, monsoon season (May to November); dry season (December to April); little seasonal temperature variation | tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands |
Coastline | 443 km | 910 km |
Constitution | promulgated 21 September 1993 | 9 January 1987; reforms in 1995, 2000, and 2005 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Kingdom of Cambodia conventional short form: Cambodia local long form: Preahreacheanachakr Kampuchea local short form: Kampuchea former: Khmer Republic, Kampuchea Republic |
conventional long form: Republic of Nicaragua
conventional short form: Nicaragua local long form: Republica de Nicaragua local short form: Nicaragua |
Currency | riel (KHR) | - |
Death rate | 10.65 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $829 million (1999 est.) | $3.702 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Kent M. WIEDEMANN embassy: 16-18 Mongkol lem St. 228, Phnom Penh mailing address: Box P, APO AP 96546 telephone: [855] (23) 216-436 FAX: [855] (23) 216-437 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Paul A. TRIVELLI
embassy: Kilometer 4.5 Carretera Sur, Managua mailing address: P.O. Box 327 telephone: [505] 266-6010 FAX: [505] 266-3861 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Roland ENG chancery: 4500 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011 telephone: [1] (202) 726-7742 FAX: [1] (202) 726-8381 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Arturo CRUZ Sequeira, Jr.
chancery: 1627 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 939-6570, [1] (202) 939-6573 FAX: [1] (202) 939-6545 consulate(s) general: Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco |
Disputes - international | portions of boundary with Vietnam are disputed; parts of border with Thailand are indefinite | memorials and countermemorials were filed by the parties in Nicaragua's 1999 and 2001 proceedings against Honduras and Colombia at the ICJ over the maritime boundary and territorial claims in the western Caribbean Sea, final public hearings are scheduled for 2007; the 1992 ICJ ruling for El Salvador and Honduras advised a tripartite resolution to establish a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Fonseca, which considers Honduran access to the Pacific; legal dispute over navigational rights of San Juan River on border with Costa Rica |
Economic aid - recipient | $548 million pledged in grants and concessional loans for 2001 by international donors | $471 million (2006 est.) |
Economy - overview | Cambodia's economy slowed dramatically in 1997-98 due to the regional economic crisis, civil violence, and political infighting. Foreign investment and tourism fell off. In 1999, the first full year of peace in 30 years, progress was made on economic reforms and growth resumed at 4%. GDP growth for 2000 had been projected to reach 5.5%, but the worst flooding in 70 years severely damaged agricultural crops, and high oil prices hurt industrial production, and growth for the year is estimated at only 4%. Tourism is Cambodia's fastest growing industry, with arrivals up 34% in 2000. The long-term development of the economy after decades of war remains a daunting challenge. The population lacks education and productive skills, particularly in the poverty-ridden countryside, which suffers from an almost total lack of basic infrastructure. Fear of renewed political instability and corruption within the government discourage foreign investment and delay foreign aid. On the brighter side, the government is addressing these issues with assistance from bilateral and multilateral donors. | Nicaragua has widespread underemployment, one of the highest degrees of income inequality in the world, and the third lowest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere. While the country has progressed toward macroeconomic stability in the past few years, annual GDP growth has been far too low to meet the country's needs, forcing the country to rely on international economic assistance to meet fiscal and debt financing obligations. In early 2004, Nicaragua secured some $4.5 billion in foreign debt reduction under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, and in October 2007, the IMF approved a new poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF) program that should create fiscal space for social spending and investment. The continuity of a relationship with the IMF reinforces donor confidence, despite private sector concerns surrounding Ortega, which has dampened investment. The US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has been in effect since April 2006 and has expanded export opportunities for many agricultural and manufactured goods. Energy shortages fueled by high oil prices, however, are a serious bottleneck to growth. |
Electricity - consumption | 136.7 million kWh (1999) | 2.929 billion kWh (2006) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 8 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 69.34 million kWh (2006) |
Electricity - production | 147 million kWh (1999) | 2.778 billion kWh (2006) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
59.18% hydro: 40.82% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
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Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Gulf of Thailand 0 m highest point: Phnum Aoral 1,810 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mogoton 2,438 m |
Environment - current issues | illegal logging activities throughout the country and strip mining for gems in the western region along the border with Thailand have resulted in habitat loss and declining biodiversity (in particular, destruction of mangrove swamps threatens natural fisheries); soil erosion; in rural areas, a majority of the population does not have access to potable water; toxic waste delivery from Taiwan sparked unrest in Kampong Saom (Sihanoukville) in December 1998 | deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Marine Life Conservation, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
Ethnic groups | Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4% | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5% |
Exchange rates | riels per US dollar - 3,909.0 (January 2001), 3,840.8 (2000), 3,807.8 (1999), 3,744.4 (1998), 2,946.3 (1997), 2,624.1 (1996) | gold cordobas per US dollar - 18.457 (2007), 17.582 (2006), 16.733 (2005), 15.937 (2004), 15.105 (2003) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
King Norodom SIHANOUK (reinstated 24 September 1993) head of government: Prime Minister HUN SEN (since 30 November 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is chosen by a Royal Throne Council; prime minister appointed by the monarch after a vote of confidence by the National Assembly |
chief of state: President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (since 10 January 2007); Vice President Jaime MORALES Carazo (since 10 January 2007); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (since 10 January 2007); Vice President Jaime MORALES Carazo (since 10 January 2007) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term so long as it is not consecutive); election last held 5 November 2006 (next to be held by November 2011) election results: Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra elected president - 38.07%, Eduardo MONTEALEGRE 29%, Jose RIZO 26.21%, Edmundo JARQUIN 6.44% |
Exports | $942 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 1,397 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | timber, garments, rubber, rice, fish | coffee, beef, shrimp and lobster, tobacco, sugar, gold, peanuts |
Exports - partners | Vietnam 18%, Thailand 15%, US 10%, Singapore 8%, China 5% (1997) | US 65.2%, El Salvador 6.9%, Honduras 3.8% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (double width), and blue with a white three-towered temple representing Angkor Wat outlined in black in the center of the red band | three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), white, and blue with the national coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms features a triangle encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE NICARAGUA on the top and AMERICA CENTRAL on the bottom; similar to the flag of El Salvador, which features a round emblem encircled by the words REPUBLICA DE EL SALVADOR EN LA AMERICA CENTRAL centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Honduras, which has five blue stars arranged in an X pattern centered in the white band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $16.1 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
43% industry: 20% services: 37% (1998 est.) |
agriculture: 17.1%
industry: 25.9% services: 56.9% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,300 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2000 est.) | 2.9% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 13 00 N, 105 00 E | 13 00 N, 85 00 W |
Geography - note | a land of paddies and forests dominated by the Mekong River and Tonle Sap | largest country in Central America; contains the largest freshwater body in Central America, Lago de Nicaragua |
Heliports | 3 (2000 est.) | - |
Highways | total:
35,769 km paved: 4,165 km unpaved: 31,604 km (1997) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
2.9% highest 10%: 33.8% (1997) |
lowest 10%: 2.2%
highest 10%: 33.8% (2001) |
Illicit drugs | possible money laundering; narcotics-related corruption reportedly involving some in the government, military, and police; possible small-scale opium, heroin, and amphetamine production; large producer of cannabis for the international market | transshipment point for cocaine destined for the US and transshipment point for arms-for-drugs dealing |
Imports | $1.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 15,560 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
Imports - commodities | cigarettes, gold, construction materials, petroleum products, machinery, motor vehicles | consumer goods, machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products |
Imports - partners | Thailand 16%, Vietnam 9%, Japan 7%, Hong Kong 5%, China 5% (1997) | US 20.1%, Mexico 13.9%, Venezuela 9.4%, Costa Rica 6.9%, Guatemala 5.4%, China 4.3% (2006) |
Independence | 9 November 1953 (from France) | 15 September 1821 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 3% (2007 est.) |
Industries | garments, tourism, rice milling, fishing, wood and wood products, rubber, cement, gem mining, textiles | food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood |
Infant mortality rate | 65.41 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 27.14 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 30.45 deaths/1,000 live births female: 23.67 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.6% (2000 est.) | 9.8% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (subscriber), ITU, NAM, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) | BCIE, CACM, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 2 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 920 sq km (1993 est.) | 610 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Council of the Magistracy (provided for in the constitution and formed in December 1997); Supreme Court (and lower courts) exercises judicial authority | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema de Justicia (16 judges elected for five-year terms by the National Assembly) |
Labor force | 6 million (1998 est.) | 2.262 million (2007 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 80% (1999 est.) | agriculture: 29%
industry: 19% services: 52% (2006 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
2,572 km border countries: Laos 541 km, Thailand 803 km, Vietnam 1,228 km |
total: 1,231 km
border countries: Costa Rica 309 km, Honduras 922 km |
Land use | arable land:
13% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 11% forests and woodland: 66% other: 10% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 14.81%
permanent crops: 1.82% other: 83.37% (2005) |
Languages | Khmer (official) 95%, French, English | Spanish 97.5% (official), Miskito 1.7%, other 0.8% (1995 census)
note: English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast |
Legal system | primarily a civil law mixture of French-influenced codes from the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) period, royal decrees, and acts of the legislature, with influences of customary law and remnants of communist legal theory; increasing influence of common law in recent years | civil law system; Supreme Court may review administrative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | bicameral consists of the National Assembly (122 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) and the Senate (61 seats; two members appointed by the monarch, two elected by the National Assembly, and 57 elected by "functional constituencies"; members serve five-year terms
elections: National Assembly - last held 26 July 1998 (next to be held NA 2003); Senate - last held 2 March 1999 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - CPP 41%, FUNCINPEC 32%, SRP 14%, other 13%; seats by party - CPP 64, FUNCINPEC 43, SRP 15; Senate - seats by party - CPP 31, FUNCINPEC 21, SRP 7 |
unicameral National Assembly or Asamblea Nacional (92 seats; 90 members are elected by proportional representation and party lists to serve five-year terms; 1 seat for the previous president, 1 seat for the runner-up in previous presidential election)
elections: last held 5 November 2006 (next to be held by November 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FSLN 38, PLC 25, ALN 23 (22 plus one for presidential candidate Eduardo MONTEALEGRE, runner-up in the 2006 presidential election), MRS 5, APRE 1 (outgoing President Enrique BOLANOS) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
56.82 years male: 54.62 years female: 59.12 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 70.92 years
male: 68.82 years female: 73.13 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 35% male: 48% female: 22% (1990 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 67.5% male: 67.2% female: 67.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos | Central America, bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, between Costa Rica and Honduras |
Map references | Southeast Asia | Central America and the Caribbean |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: natural prolongation |
Merchant marine | total:
295 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,305,932 GRT/1,853,487 DWT ships by type: bulk 22, cargo 237, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 3, container 8, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 2, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 7, refrigerated cargo 6, roll on/roll off 5, short-sea passenger 1 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Cyprus 3, South Korea 1, Malta 1, Panama 1, Russia 1, Singapore 1 (2000 est.) |
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Military branches | Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), including Army, Navy, and Air Force - created in 1993 by the merger of the Cambodian People's Armed Forces and the two noncommunist resistance armies
note: Khmer Rouge and royalist insurgent forces were integrated into the RCAF in 1999 |
National Army of Nicaragua (ENN; includes Navy, Air Force) (2007) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $112 million (FY01 est.) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 3% (FY01 est.) | 0.6% (2006) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
2,877,137 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
1,610,761 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
162,643 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 9 November (1953) | Independence Day, 15 September (1821) |
Nationality | noun:
Cambodian(s) adjective: Cambodian |
noun: Nicaraguan(s)
adjective: Nicaraguan |
Natural hazards | monsoonal rains (June to November); flooding; occasional droughts | destructive earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides; extremely susceptible to hurricanes |
Natural resources | timber, gemstones, some iron ore, manganese, phosphates, hydropower potential | gold, silver, copper, tungsten, lead, zinc, timber, fish |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -1.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | oil 54 km (2007) |
Political parties and leaders | Buddhist Liberal Party or BLP [IENG MOULY]; Cambodian Pracheachon Party or Cambodian People's Party or CPP [CHEA SIM]; Khmer Citizen Party or KCP [NGUON SOEUR]; National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia or FUNCINPEC [Prince NORODOM RANARIDDH]; Sam Rangsi Party or SRP (formerly Khmer Nation Party or KNP) [SAM RANGSI] | Alliance for the Republic or APRE [Miguel LOPEZ Baldizon]; Alternative for Change or AC [Orlando TARDENCILLA Espinoza]; Central American Unionist Party or PUCA [Blanca ROJAS]; Conservative Party or PC [Azalia AVILES Salmeron]; Independent Liberal Party or PLI [Anibal MARTINEZ Nunez, Pedro REYES Vallejos]; Independent Liberal Party for National Unity or PLIUN [Carlos GUERRA Gallardo]; Liberal Constitutionalist Party or PLC [Jorge CASTILLO Quant]; Liberal Salvation Movement or MSL [Eliseo NUNEZ Hernandez]; New Liberal Party or PALI [Adolfo GARCIA Esquivel]; Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance or ALN [Eduardo MONTEALEGRE]; Nicaraguan Resistance Party or PRN [Salvador TALAVERA]; Sandinista National Liberation Front or FSLN [Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra]; Sandinista Renovation Movement or MRS [Dora Maria TELLEZ] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | National Workers Front or FNT is a Sandinista umbrella group of eight labor unions including - Farm Workers Association or ATC, Health Workers Federation or FETASALUD, Heroes and Martyrs Confederation of Professional Associations or CONAPRO, National Association of Educators of Nicaragua or ANDEN, National Union of Employees or UNE, National Union of Farmers and Ranchers or UNAG, Sandinista Workers Central or CST, and Union of Journalists of Nicaragua or UPN; Permanent Congress of Workers or CPT is an umbrella group of four non-Sandinista labor unions including - Autonomous Nicaraguan Workers Central or CTN-A, Confederation of Labor Unification or CUS, Independent General Confederation of Labor or CGT-I, and Labor Action and Unity Central or CAUS; Nicaraguan Workers' Central or CTN is an independent labor union; Superior Council of Private Enterprise or COSEP is a confederation of business groups |
Population | 12,491,501
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 and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
5,675,356 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 36% (1997 est.) | 48% (2005) |
Population growth rate | 2.25% (2001 est.) | 1.855% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Kampong Saom (Sihanoukville), Kampot, Krong Kaoh Kong, Phnom Penh | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 7, FM 3, shortwave 3 (1999) | AM 63, FM 32, shortwave 1 (1998) |
Radios | 1.34 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
603 km narrow gauge: 603 km 1.000-m gauge |
total: 6 km
narrow gauge: 6 km 1.067-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | Theravada Buddhist 95%, other 5% | Roman Catholic 72.9%, Evangelical 15.1%, Moravian 1.5%, Episcopal 0.1%, other 1.9%, none 8.5% (1995 census) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.89 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.038 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.993 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.784 male(s)/female total population: 1.001 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 16 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
adequate landline and/or cellular service in Phnom Penh and other provincial cities; rural areas have little telephone service domestic: NA international: adequate but expensive landline and cellular service available to all countries from Phnom Penh and major provincial cities; satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) |
general assessment: system being upgraded by foreign investment; nearly all installed telecommunications capacity now uses digital technology, owing to investments since privatization of the formerly state-owned telecoms company
domestic: since privatization, access to fixed-line and mobile-cellular services has improved but teledensity still lags behind other Central American countries; connected to Central American Microwave System international: country code - 505; the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) fiber optic submarine cable provides connectivity to South and Central America, parts of the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) and 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 21,800 (mid-1998) | 247,900 (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 80,000 (2000) | 1.83 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 5 (1999) | 3 (plus 7 repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly low, flat plains; mountains in southwest and north | extensive Atlantic coastal plains rising to central interior mountains; narrow Pacific coastal plain interrupted by volcanoes |
Total fertility rate | 4.74 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 2.69 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 2.8% (1999 est.) | 5.6% plus underemployment of 46.5% (2007 est.) |
Waterways | 3,700 km
note: navigable all year to craft drawing 0.6 m or less; 282 km navigable to craft drawing as much as 1.8 m |
2,220 km (including lakes Managua and Nicaragua) (2007) |