Overview:
The agricultural sector accounts for 25% of GDP, employs about 40% of the
labor force, and contributes about 66% to total exports. Coffee is the major
commercial crop, accounting for 45% of export earnings. The manufacturing
sector, based largely on food and beverage processing, accounts for 18% of
GDP and 15% of employment. Economic losses because of guerrilla sabotage
total more than $2 billion since 1979. The costs of maintaining a large
military seriously constrain the government's efforts to provide essential
social services. Nevertheless, growth in national output during the period
1990-91 exceeded growth in population for the first time since 1987.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $5.5 billion, per capita $1,010; real growth rate
3% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
19% (1990)
Unemployment rate:
10% (1989)
Budget:
revenues $751 million; expenditures $790 million, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1990 est.)
Exports:
$580 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
commodities:
coffee 45%, sugar, cotton, shrimp
partners:
US 49%, Germany 24%, Guatemala 7%, Costa Rica 4%, Japan 4%
Imports:
$1.2 billion (c.i.f., 1990 est.)
commodities:
petroleum products, consumer goods, foodstuffs, machinery, construction
materials, fertilizer
partners:
US 40%, Guatemala 12%, Venezuela 7%, Mexico 7%, Germany 5%, Japan 4%
External debt:
$2.0 billion (December 1990 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 2.4% (1990); accounts for 22% of GDP
Electricity:
682,000 kW capacity; 1,927 million kWh produced, 356 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
food processing, textiles, clothing, beverages, petroleum, tobacco products,
chemicals, furniture
Agriculture:
accounts for 25% of GDP and 40% of labor force (including fishing and
forestry); coffee most important commercial crop; other products -
sugarcane, corn, rice, beans, oilseeds, beef, dairy products, shrimp; not
self-sufficient in food
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for cocaine
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-90), $2.95 billion; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $525 million
Currency:
Salvadoran colon (plural - colones); 1 Salvadoran colon (C) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates:
Salvadoran colones (C) per US$1 - 8.1 (January 1992), floating rate since
mid-1990); 5.0000 (fixed rate 1986 to mid-1990)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
:El Salvador Communications
Railroads:
602 km 0.914-meter gauge, single track
Highways:
10,000 km total; 1,500 km paved, 4,100 km gravel, 4,400 km improved and
unimproved earth
Inland waterways:
Rio Lempa partially navigable
Ports:
Acajutla, Cutuco
Civil air:
7 major transport aircraft
Airports:
107 total, 77 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways
over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
nationwide trunk radio relay system; connection into Central American
Microwave System; 116,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 77 AM, no FM, 5
TV, 2 shortwave; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
:El Salvador Defense Forces
Branches:
Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard, National Police, Treasury Police
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, 1,265,149; 809,419 fit for military service; 68,445 reach
military age (18) annually
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $220 million, 3.6% of GDP (1991)
:Equatorial Guinea Geography
Total area:
28,050 km2
Land area:
28,050 km2
Comparative area:
slightly larger than Maryland
Land boundaries:
539 km; Cameroon 189 km, Gabon 350 km
Coastline:
296 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
Territorial sea:
12 nm
Disputes:
maritime boundary dispute with Gabon because of disputed sovereignty over
islands in Corisco Bay
Climate:
tropical; always hot, humid
Terrain:
coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic
Natural resources:
timber, crude oil, small unexploited deposits of gold, manganese, uranium
Land use:
arable land 8%; permanent crops 4%; meadows and pastures 4%; forest and
woodland 51%; other 33%
Environment:
subject to violent windstorms
Note:
insular and continental regions rather widely separated
:Equatorial Guinea People
Population:
388,799 (July 1992), growth rate 2.6% (1992)
Birth rate:
42 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
15 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
107 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
49 years male, 53 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
5.4 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Equatorial Guinean(s) or Equatoguinean(s); adjective - Equatorial
Guinean or Equatoguinean
Ethnic divisions:
indigenous population of Bioko, primarily Bubi, some Fernandinos; Rio Muni,
primarily Fang; less than 1,000 Europeans, mostly Spanish
Religions:
natives all nominally Christian and predominantly Roman Catholic; some pagan
practices retained
Languages:
Spanish (official), pidgin English, Fang, Bubi, Ibo
Literacy:
50% (male 64%, female 37%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
172,000 (1986 est.); agriculture 66%, services 23%, industry 11% (1980);
labor shortages on plantations; 58% of population of working age (1985)
Organized labor:
no formal trade unions
:Equatorial Guinea Government