Airports: 345 total, 292 usable; 202 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 57 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 91 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: poor domestic telephone service, international radio communications adequate; 3,200,000 telephones; stations—170 AM, no FM, 14 TV (government controlled); domestic satellite system for communications and TV; 3 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth stations; submarine cables to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Pakistan
- Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Border Security Forces, Coast Guard,
Paramilitary Forces
Military manpower: males 15-49, 227,436,282; 134,169,114 fit for military service; about 9,403,063 reach military age (17) annually
Defense expenditures: 2.6% of GNP, or $8.7 billion (FY90 est.) —————————————————————————— Country: Indian Ocean - Geography Total area: 73,600,000 km2; Arabian Sea, Bass Strait, Bay of Bengal, Java Sea, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Strait of Malacca, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies
Comparative area: slightly less than eight times the size of the US; third-largest ocean (after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean)
Coastline: 66,526 km
Climate: northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon (June to October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June and October/November in the north Indian Ocean and January/February in the south Indian Ocean
Terrain: surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the south Indian Ocean; unique reversal of surface currents in the north Indian Ocean—low pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents, while high pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest winds and currents; ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge and subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninety East Ridge; maximum depth is 7,258 meters in the Java Trench
Natural resources: oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules