The 1992 CIA World Factbook

by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

Infant mortality rate: The number of deaths to infants under one year old in a given year per l,000 live births occurring in the same year.

Land use: Human use of the land surface is categorized as arable land - land cultivated for crops that are replanted after each harvest (wheat, maize, rice); permanent crops - land cultivated for crops that are not replanted after each harvest (citrus, coffee, rubber); meadows and pastures - land permanently used for herbaceous forage crops; forest and woodland - land under dense or open stands of trees; and other - any land type not specifi- cally mentioned above (urban areas, roads, desert). The percentage figure for irrigated land refers to the portion of the entire amount of land area that is artificially supplied with water.

Leaders: The chief of state is the titular leader of the country who represents the state at official and ceremonial funcions but is not involved with the day-to-day activities of the government. The head of government is the administrative leader who manages the day-to-day activities of the government. In the UK, the monarch is the chief of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of government. In the US, the President is both the chief of state and the head of government.

Life expectancy at birth: The average number of years to be lived by a group of people all born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future.

Literacy: There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise noted, all rates are based on the most common definition - the ability to read and write at a specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of this publication.

Maps: All maps will be available only in the printed version for the fore- seeable future.

Maritime claims: The proximity of neighboring states may prevent some national claims from being fully extended.

Merchant marine: All ships engaged in the carriage of goods. All commercial vessels (as opposed to all nonmilitary ships), which excludes tugs, fishing vessels, offshore oil rigs, etc.; also, a grouping of merchant ships by nationality or register.

Captive register - A register of ships maintained by a territory, possession, or colony primarily or exclusively for the use of ships owned in the parent country; also referred to as an offshore register, the offshore equivalent of an internal register. Ships on a captive register will fly the same flag as the parent country, or a local variant of it, but will be subject to the maritime laws and taxation rules of the offshore territory. Although the nature of a captive register makes it especially desirable for ships owned in the parent country, just as in the internal register, the ships may also be owned abroad. The captive register then acts as a flag of convenience register, except that it is not the register of an independent state.

Flag of convenience register - A national register offering registration to a merchant ship not owned in the flag state. The major flags of convenience (FOC) attract ships to their register by virtue of low fees, low or nonexistent taxation of profits, and liberal manning requirements. True FOC registers are characterized by having relatively few of the ships registered actually owned in the flag state. Thus, while virtually any flag can be used for ships under a given set of circumstances, an FOC register is one where the majority of the merchant fleet is owned abroad. It is also referred to as an open register.