ernment concentration on the external sector, adverse weather conditions, and prolonged strikes. High inflation rates of about 80%, a large domestic debt, and frequent strikes remain major economic problems for the government.
GDP: $8.8 billion, per capita $2,950; real growth rate 1% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 80% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: 9.0% (1989 est.)
Budget: revenues $1.2 billion; expenditures $1.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $165 million (1988)
Exports: $1.5 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities—hides and leather goods 17%, beef 10%, wool 9%, fish 7%, rice 4%; partners—Brazil 17%, US 15%, FRG 10%, Argentina 10% (1987)
Imports: $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities—fuels and lubricants 15%, metals, machinery, transportation equipment, industrial chemicals; partners—Brazil 24%, Argentina 14%, US 8%, FRG 8% (1987)
External debt: $6 billion (1988)
Industrial production: growth rate -2.9% (1988 est.)
Electricity: 1,950,000 kW capacity; 4,330 million kWh produced, 1,450 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: meat processing, wool and hides, sugar, textiles, footwear, leather apparel, tires, cement, fishing, petroleum refining, wine
Agriculture: large areas devoted to extensive livestock grazing; wheat, rice, corn, sorghum; self-sufficient in most basic foodstuffs
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $105 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $263 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $69 million
Currency: new Uruguayan peso (plural—pesos); 1 new Uruguayan peso (N$Ur) = 100 centésimos
Exchange rates: new Uruguayan pesos (N$Ur) per US$1—832.62 (January 1990), 605.62 (1989), 359.44 (1988), 226.67 (1987), 151.99 (1986), 101.43 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Railroads: 3,000 km, all 1.435-meter standard
gauge and government owned
Highways: 49,900 km total; 6,700 km paved, 3,000 km gravel, 40,200 km earth
Inland waterways: 1,600 km; used by coastal and shallow-draft river craft
Ports: Montevideo, Punta del Este
Merchant marine: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 65,212 GRT/116,613 DWT; includes 2 cargo, 1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 container
Civil air: 14 major transport aircraft
Airports: 92 total, 87 usable; 16 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 17 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: most modern facilities concentrated in Montevideo; new nationwide radio relay network; 337,000 telephones; stations—99 AM, no FM, 26 TV, 9 shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 71 1,700; 580,898 fit for military service; no conscription
Defense expenditures: 2.5% of GDP (1986)
Vanuatu
_Vanuatu.jpg)
See regional map X
Geography
Total area: 14,760 km²; land area: 14,760
km²; includes more than 80 islands
Comparative area: slightly larger than Connecticut
Land boundary: none
Coastline: 2,528 km
Maritime claims: (measured from claimed archipelagic baselines)
- Contiguous zone: 24 nm
- Continental shelf: edge of continental margin or 200 nm
- Extended economic zone: 200 nm
- Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; moderated by southeast trade winds
Terrain: mostly mountains of volcanic origin; narrow coastal plains
Natural resources: manganese, hardwood forests, fish
Land use: 1% arable land; 5% permanent crops; 2% meadows and pastures; 1% forest and woodland; 91% other
Environment: subject to tropical cyclones or typhoons (January to April); volcanism causes minor earthquakes
Note: located 5,750 km southwest of Honolulu in the South Pacific Ocean about three-quarters of the way between Hawaii and Australia
People
Population: 165,006 (July 1990), growth
rate 3.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 37 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 36 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 67 years male, 72 years female (1990)
