Overview:
Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country of which 20% is intensely
cultivated, irrigated river valleys. It is one of the poorest states
of the former USSR with 60% of its population living in overpopulated
rural communities. Nevertheless, Uzbekistan is the world's third
largest cotton exporter, a major producer of gold and natural gas, and
a regionally significant producer of chemicals and machinery. Since
independence, the government has sought to prop up the Soviet-style
command economy with subsidies and tight controls on prices and
production. Such policies have buffered the economy from the sharp
declines in output and high inflation experienced by many other former
Soviet republics. By late 1993, however, they had become increasingly
unsustainable as inflation soared and Russia forced the Uzbek
Government to introduce its own currency. Faced with mounting economic
problems, the government has increased its cooperation with
international financial institutions, announced an acceleration of
privatization, and stepped up efforts to attract foreign investors.
Nevertheless, the regime is likely to resist full-fledged market
reforms.
National product:
GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $53.7 billion (1993 estimate from
the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991 and
published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as
extrapolated to 1993 using official Uzbek statistics, which are very
uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990)
National product real growth rate:
-3.5% (1993 est.)
National product per capita:
$2,430 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
18% per month (1993)
Unemployment rate:
0.2% includes only officially registered unemployed; large numbers of
underemployed workers
Budget:
revenues:
$NA
expenditures:
$NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
$706.5 million to outside the FSU countries (1993)
commodities:
cotton, gold, natural gas, mineral fertilizers, ferrous metals,
textiles, food products
partners:
Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, US
Imports:
$947.3 million from outside the FSU countries (1993)
commodities:
grain, machinery and parts, consumer durables, other foods
partners:
principally other FSU countries, Czech Republic
External debt:
$NA
Industrial production:
growth rate -7% (1993)
Electricity:
capacity:
11,950,000 kW
production:
50.9 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
2,300 kWh (1992)
Industries:
textiles, food processing, machine building, metallurgy, natural gas
Agriculture:
livestock, cotton, vegetables, fruits, grain
Illicit drugs:
illicit cultivator of cannabis and opium poppy; mostly for CIS
consumption; limited government eradication programs; used as
transshipment points for illicit drugs to Western Europe
Economic aid:
recipient:
$125 million by yearend 1993; future commitments for about $500
million
Currency:
introduced provisional som-coupons 10 November 1993 which circulated
parallel to the Russian rubles; became the sole legal currency 31
January 1994; will be replaced in July 1994 by the som currency
Exchange rates:
NA
Fiscal year:
calendar year
@Uzbekistan, Communications
Railroads:
3,460 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)
Highways:
total:
78,400 km
paved and gravel:
67,000 km
unpaved:
earth 11,400 km (1990)
Pipelines:
crude oil 250 km; petroleum products 40 km; natural gas 810 km (1992)
Ports:
none; landlocked
Airports:
total:
265
usable:
74
with permanent-surface runways:
30
with runways over 3,659 m:
2
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
20
with runways 1,060-2,439 m:
19
note:
a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip
Telecommunications:
poorly developed; 1,458,000 telephone circuits with 68.75 circuits per
1,000 persons (1991); linked by landline or microwave with CIS member
states and by leased connection via the Moscow international gateway
switch to other countries; new INTELSAT links to Tokyo and Ankara give
Uzbekistan international access independent of Russian facilities;
satellite earth stations - Orbita and INTELSAT; NMT-450 analog
cellular network established in Tashkent
@Uzbekistan, Defense Forces
Branches:
Army, National Guard, Republic Security Forces (internal and border
troops)
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 5,388,456; fit for military service 4,403,497; reach
military age (18) annually 222,405 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
$NA, NA% of GDP
@Vanuatu, Geography
Location:
Oceania, Melanesia, 5,750 km southwest of Honolulu in the South
Pacific Ocean, about three-quarters of the way between Hawaii and
Australia
Map references:
Oceania, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
14,760 sq km
land area:
14,760 sq km
comparative area:
slightly larger than Connecticut
note:
includes more than 80 islands
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
2,528 km
Maritime claims:
measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
contiguous zone:
24 nm
continental shelf:
200 nm or the edge of continental margin
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
territorial sea:
12 nm
International disputes:
none
Climate:
tropical; moderated by southeast trade winds
Terrain:
mostly mountains of volcanic origin; narrow coastal plains
Natural resources:
manganese, hardwood forests, fish
Land use:
arable land:
1%
permanent crops:
5%
meadows and pastures:
2%
forest and woodland:
1%
other:
91%
Irrigated land:
NA sq km
Environment:
current issues:
NA
natural hazards:
subject to tropical cyclones or typhoons (January to April); volcanism
causes minor earthquakes
international agreements:
party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Marine Dumping, Ship
Pollution; signed, but not ratified - Law of the Sea
@Vanuatu, People
Population:
169,776 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.29% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
32.21 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
9.31 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
68.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
59.25 years
male:
57.51 years
female:
61.09 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.31 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Ni-Vanuatu (singular and plural)
adjective:
Ni-Vanuatu
Ethnic divisions:
indigenous Melanesian 94%, French 4%, Vietnamese, Chinese, Pacific
Islanders
Religions:
Presbyterian 36.7%, Anglican 15%, Catholic 15%, indigenous beliefs
7.6%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6.2%, Church of Christ 3.8%, other 15.7%
Languages:
English (official), French (official), pidgin (known as Bislama or
Bichelama)
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1979)
total population:
53%
male:
57%
female:
48%
Labor force:
NA
by occupation:
NA
@Vanuatu, Government