The 2010 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

914 m: 8 (2010)

      Heliports:

      1 (2010)

      Pipelines:

      condensate 1 km; gas 3,361 km; oil 1,424 km (2009)

      Railways:

      total: 2,918 km country comparison to the world: 57 broad gauge: 2,918 km 1.520-m gauge (1,278 km electrified) (2009)

      Roadways:

      total: 59,141 km country comparison to the world: 76 paved: 29,210 km

      unpaved: 29,931 km (2004)

      Merchant marine:

      total: 92 country comparison to the world: 54 by type: cargo 27, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 9, petroleum tanker 48, roll on/roll off 3, specialized tanker 3

      foreign-owned: 1 (Turkey 1)

      registered in other countries: 2 (Malta 1, Panama 1) (2010)

      Ports and terminals:

      Baku (Baki)

      Military ::Azerbaijan

      Military branches:

      Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces (2010)

      Military service age and obligation:

      men between 18 and 35 are liable for military service; 18 years of age for voluntary military service; length of military service is 18 months and 12 months for university graduates (2006)

      Manpower available for military service:

      males age 16–49: 2,336,611

      females age 16–49: 2,329,275 (2010 est.)

      Manpower fit for military service:

      males age 16–49: 1,753,878

      females age 16–49: 1,958,408 (2010 est.)

      Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

      male: 84,441

      female: 78,905 (2010 est.)

      Military expenditures:

      2.6% of GDP (2005 est.) country comparison to the world: 54

      Transnational Issues ::Azerbaijan

      Disputes - international:

      Armenia supports ethnic Armenian secessionists in Nagorno-Karabakh and since the early 1990s has militarily occupied 16% of Azerbaijan; over 800,000 mostly ethnic Azerbaijanis were driven from the occupied lands and Armenia; about 230,000 ethnic Armenians were driven from their homes in Azerbaijan into Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh; Azerbaijan seeks transit route through Armenia to connect to Naxcivan exclave; Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) continues to mediate dispute; Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia have ratified Caspian seabed delimitation treaties based on equidistance, while Iran continues to insist on an even one-fifth allocation and challenges Azerbaijan's hydrocarbon exploration in disputed waters; bilateral talks continue with Turkmenistan on dividing the seabed and contested oilfields in the middle of the Caspian; Azerbaijan and Georgia continue to discuss the alignment of their boundary at certain crossing areas

      Refugees and internally displaced persons:

      refugees (country of origin): 2,400 (Russia)

      IDPs: 580,000–690,000 (conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh) (2007)

      Trafficking in persons:

      current situation: Azerbaijan is primarily a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; women and some children from Azerbaijan are trafficked to Turkey and the UAE for the purpose of sexual exploitation; men and boys are trafficked to Russia for the purpose of forced labor; Azerbaijan serves as a transit country for victims from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Moldova trafficked to Turkey and the UAE for sexual exploitation

      tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Azerbaijan is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons, particularly efforts to investigate, prosecute, and punish traffickers; to address complicity among law enforcement personnel; and to adequately identify and protect victims in Azerbaijan; the government has yet to develop a much-needed mechanism to identify potential trafficking victims and refer them to safety and care; poor treatment of trafficking victims in courtrooms continues to be a problem (2008)

      Illicit drugs:

      limited illicit cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; small government eradication program; transit point for Southwest Asian opiates bound for Russia and to a lesser extent the rest of Europe

      page last updated on January 18, 2011

      ======================================================================

      @Bahamas, The (Central America and Caribbean)

      Introduction ::Bahamas, The

      Background:

      Lucayan Indians inhabited the islands when Christopher COLUMBUS first set foot in the New World on San Salvador in 1492. British settlement of the islands began in 1647; the islands became a colony in 1783. Since attaining independence from the UK in 1973, The Bahamas has prospered through tourism and international banking and investment management. Because of its geography, the country is a major transshipment point for illegal drugs, particularly shipments to the US and Europe, and its territory is used for smuggling illegal migrants into the US.

      Geography ::Bahamas, The

      Location:

      Caribbean, chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Florida, northeast of Cuba

      Geographic coordinates:

      24 15 N, 76 00 W

      Map references:

      Central America and the Caribbean

      Area:

      total: 13,880 sq km country comparison to the world: 160 land: 10,010 sq km

      water: 3,870 sq km

      Area - comparative:

      slightly smaller than Connecticut

      Land boundaries:

      0 km

      Coastline:

      3,542 km

      Maritime claims:

      territorial sea: 12 nm

      exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

      Climate:

      tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream

      Terrain:

      long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills

      Elevation extremes:

      lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m

      highest point: Mount Alvernia on Cat Island 63 m

      Natural resources:

      salt, aragonite, timber, arable land

      Land use:

      arable land: 0.58%

      permanent crops: 0.29%

      other: 99.13% (2005)

      Irrigated land:

      10 sq km (2003)

      Total renewable water resources:

      NA

      Natural hazards:

      hurricanes and other tropical storms cause extensive flood and wind