The 1999 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

waits on a 200,000-person list for telephone service; Internet and E-mail service are available in Baku domestic: local—the majority of telephones are in Baku or other industrial centers; intercity—about 700 villages still do not have public phone service; all long distance service must use Azertel's (Ministry of Communications) lines; satellite service connects Baku to a modern switch in its separated enclave to Nakhichevan international: the old Soviet system of cable and microwave is still serviceable; satellite service between Baku and Turkey provides access to 200 countries; additional satellite providers supply services between Baku and specific countries; Azerbaijan is a signator of the Trans-Asia-Europe Fiber-Optic Line (TAE); their lines are not laid but the Turkish satellite and a microwave between Azerbaijan and Iran can provide Azerbaijan worldwide access through this system

      Radio broadcast stations: AM 10, FM 17, shortwave 1 (Azerbaijan's single shortwave station transmits its programs to the Middle East in eight languages)

      Radios: NA

      Television broadcast stations: 2; note—the Ministry of

       Communications is the monopoly broadcaster and rebroadcaster of

       television in Azerbaijan; Azerbaijani, Russian, Armenian, Iranian,

       British broadcasting companies, Voice of America, and other European

       channels are available via satellite; television is broadcast to

       Nakhichevan by satellite

      Televisions: NA

      Transportation

      Railways:

       total: 2,125 km in common carrier service; does not include

       industrial lines

       broad gauge: 2,125 km 1.520-m gauge (1,278 km electrified) (1993)

      Highways:

       total: 57,770 km

       paved: 54,188 km

       unpaved: 3,582 km (1995 est.)

      Pipelines: crude oil 1,130 km; petroleum products 630 km; natural

       gas 1,240 km

      Ports and harbors: Baku (Baki)

      Merchant marine:

       total: 57 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 251,404 GRT/ 306,264 DWT

       ships by type: cargo 12, oil tanker 42, roll-on/roll-off cargo 2,

       short-sea passenger 1 (1998 est.)

      Airports: 69 (1996 est.)

      Airports—with paved runways: total: 29 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 17 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 (1996 est.)

      Airports—with unpaved runways: total: 40 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 33 (1996 est.)

      Military

      Military branches: Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Border

       Guards

      Military manpower—military age: 18 years of age

      Military manpower—availability:

       males age 15–49: 2,041,863 (1999 est.)

      Military manpower—fit for military service:

       males age 15–49: 1,639,144 (1999 est.)

      Military manpower—reaching military age annually:

       males: 73,486 (1999 est.)

      Military expenditures—dollar figure: $121 million (1999)

      Military expenditures—percent of GDP: 2.6% (1999)

      Transnational Issues

      Disputes—international: Armenia supports ethnic Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan in the longstanding, separatist conflict against the Azerbaijani Government; Caspian Sea boundaries are not yet determined among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan

      Illicit drugs: limited illicit cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; limited government eradication program; transshipment point for opiates via Iran, Central Asia, and Russia to Western Europe

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

      @Bahamas, The——————

      Geography

      Location: Caribbean, chain of islands in the North Atlantic

       Ocean, southeast of Florida

      Geographic coordinates: 24 15 N, 76 00 W

      Map references: Central America and the Caribbean

      Area:

       total: 13,940 sq km

       land: 10,070 sq km

       water: 3,870 sq km

      Area—comparative: slightly smaller than Connecticut

      Land boundaries: 0 km

      Coastline: 3,542 km

      Maritime claims:

       continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

       exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

       territorial sea: 12 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

      Land use:

       arable land: 1%

       permanent crops: 0%

       permanent pastures: 0%

       forests and woodland: 32%

       other: 67% (1993 est.)

      Irrigated land: NA sq km

      Natural hazards: hurricanes and other tropical storms that cause extensive flood and wind damage

      Environment—current issues: coral reef decay; solid waste disposal

      Environment—international agreements:

       party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species,

       Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer

       Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

       signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

      Geography—note: strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba;

       extensive island chain

      People

      Population: 283,705 (July 1999 est.)

      Age structure:

       0–14 years: 27% (male 39,271; female 38,740)

       15–64 years: 67% (male 92,830; female 96,814)

       65 years and over: 6% (male 6,696; female 9,354) (1999 est.)

      Population growth rate: 1.36% (1999 est.)

      Birth rate: 20.58 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

      Death rate: 5.43 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

      Net migration rate: −1.55 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

      Sex ratio:

       at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female

       under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

       15–64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female

       65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female

       total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

      Infant mortality rate: 18.38 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

      Life