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telephone: [263] (4) 250-593 and 250-594

FAX: [263] (4) 796-488

Flag description:

seven equal horizontal bands of green, yellow, red, black, red, yellow, and green with a white isosceles triangle edged in black with its base on the hoist side; a yellow Zimbabwe bird representing the long history of the country is superimposed on a red five-pointed star in the center of the triangle, which symbolizes peace; green symbolizes agriculture, yellow - mineral wealth, red - blood shed to achieve independence, and black stands for the native people

Economy Zimbabwe

Economy - overview:

The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems as it struggles with an unsustainable fiscal deficit, an overvalued official exchange rate, hyperinflation, and bare store shelves. Its 1998-2002 involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy. The government's land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, has badly damaged the commercial farming sector, the traditional source of exports and foreign exchange and the provider of 400,000 jobs, turning Zimbabwe into a net importer of food products. The EU and the US provide food aid on humanitarian grounds. Badly needed support from the IMF has been suspended because of the government's arrears on past loans and the government's unwillingness to enact reforms that would stabilize the economy. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe routinely prints money to fund the budget deficit, causing the official annual inflation rate to rise from 32% in 1998, to 133% in 2004, 585% in 2005, passed 1000% in 2006, and 26000% in November 2007. Private sector estimates of inflation in 2007 are well above 100,000%. Meanwhile, the official exchange rate fell from approximately 1 (revalued) Zimbabwean dollar per US dollar in 2003 to 30,000 per US dollar in 2007.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$2.211 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$1.726 billion

note: hyperinflation and the plunging value of the Zimbabwean dollar makes Zimbabwe's GDP at the official exchange rate a highly inaccurate statistic (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

-6.1% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$200 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 18.1%

industry: 22.6%

services: 59.3% (2007 est.)

Labor force:

4.032 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 66%

industry: 10%

services: 24% (1996)

Unemployment rate:

80% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line:

68% (2004)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2%

highest 10%: 40.4% (1995)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

50.1 (2006)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

10,453% official data; private sector estimates are much higher (2007 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):

16.9% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $2.442 billion

expenditures: $3.017 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt:

211.9% of GDP (2007 est.)

Agriculture - products:

corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs

Industries:

mining (coal, gold, platinum, copper, nickel, tin, clay, numerous metallic and nonmetallic ores), steel; wood products, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, clothing and footwear, foodstuffs, beverages

Industrial production growth rate:

0.2% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:

9.95 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 47%

hydro: 53%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption:

12.27 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:

0 kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:

3.013 billion kWh (2005)

Oil - production:

0 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:

16,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - exports:

0 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - imports:

13,370 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - proved reserves:

0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

Natural gas - production:

0 cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

0 cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2005 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

0 cu m (2005)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:

-$116 million (2005 est.)

Exports:

$1.52 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

platinum, cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing

Exports - partners:

South Africa 24.8%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 17.6%, Botswana 15.7%, US 10.4% (2006)

Imports:

$2.183 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels

Imports - partners:

South Africa 40.8%, Zambia 29.6%, US 4.9% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:

$367.7 million (2005 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$120 million (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:

$5.155 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$NA

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$NA

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$26.56 billion (2006)

Currency (code):

Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD)

Currency code:

ZWD

Exchange rates:

Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar - 30,000 (2007), 162.07 (2006), 77.965 (2005), 5.729 (2004), 0.824 (2003)

note: these are official exchange rates; non-official rates vary significantly

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Communications Zimbabwe

Telephones - main lines in use:

331,700 (2006)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

832,500 (2006)

Telephone system:

general assessment: system was once one of the best in Africa, but now suffers from poor maintenance; more than 100,000 outstanding requests for connection despite an equally large number of installed but unused main lines

domestic: consists of microwave radio relay links, open-wire lines, radiotelephone communication stations, fixed wireless local loop installations, and a substantial mobile-cellular network; Internet connection is available in Harare and planned for all major towns and for some of the smaller ones

international: country code - 263; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat; 2 international digital gateway exchanges (in Harare and Gweru)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 7, FM 20 (plus 17 repeater stations), shortwave 1 (1998)

Radios:

1.14 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

16 (1997)

Televisions:

370,000 (1997)

Internet country code:

.zw

Internet hosts:

15,507 (2007)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

6 (2000)

Internet users:

1.22 million (2006)

Transportation Zimbabwe

Airports:

341 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 19

over 3,047 m: 3

2,438 to 3,047 m: 2

1,524 to 2,437 m: 4

914 to 1,523 m: 10 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 322

1,524 to 2,437 m: 4

914 to 1,523 m: 152

under 914 m: 166 (2007)

Pipelines:

refined products 270 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 3,077 km

narrow gauge: 3,077 km 1.067-m gauge (313 km electrified) (2006)

Roadways:

total: 97,440 km

paved: 18,514 km

unpaved: 78,926 km (2002)

Waterways:

on Lake Kariba (2005)

Ports and terminals:

Binga, Kariba

Military Zimbabwe

Military branches:

Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF): Zimbabwe National Army, Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ), Zimbabwe Republic Police (2005)

Military service age and obligation:

18-24 years of age for compulsory military service; women are eligible to serve (2007)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 3,264,258

females age 16-49: 3,048,049 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 1,643,036

females age 16-49: 1,404,663 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:

3.8% (2006)

Transnational Issues Zimbabwe

Disputes - international:

Botswana built electric fences and South Africa has placed military along the border to stem the flow of thousands of Zimbabweans fleeing to find work and escape political persecution; Namibia has supported, and in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections to, plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly delimited, Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

refugees (country of origin): 2,500 (Democratic Republic of Congo)

IDPs: 569,685 (MUGABE-led political violence, human rights violations, land reform, and economic collapse) (2007)

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Zimbabwe is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation; large scale migration of Zimbabweans to surrounding countries - as they flee a progressively more desperate situation at home - has increased; rural Zimbabwean men, women, and children are trafficked internally to farms for agricultural labor and domestic servitude and to cities for domestic labor and commercial sexual exploitation; young men and boys are trafficked to South Africa for farm work, often laboring for months in South Africa without pay before "employers" have them arrested and deported as illegal immigrants; young women and girls are lured abroad with false employment offers that result in involuntary domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation; men, women, and children from neighboring states are trafficked through Zimbabwe en route to South Africa

tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Zimbabwe is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of human trafficking, and because the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is significantly increasing; the trafficking situation in the country is worsening as more of the population is made vulnerable by declining socio-economic conditions (2008)

Illicit drugs:

transit point for cannabis and South Asian heroin, mandrax, and methamphetamines en route to South Africa

This page was last updated on 15 July, 2008

The World Factbook

Taiwan

Introduction Taiwan

Background:

In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to Japan. Taiwan reverted to Chinese control after World War II. Following the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established a government using the 1946 constitution drawn up for all of China. Over the next five decades, the ruling authorities gradually democratized and incorporated the local population within the governing structure. In 2000, Taiwan underwent its first peaceful transfer of power from the Nationalist to the Democratic Progressive Party. Throughout this period, the island prospered and became one of East Asia's economic "Tigers." The dominant political issues continue to be the relationship between Taiwan and China - specifically the question of eventual unification - as well as domestic political and economic reform.

Geography Taiwan

Location:

Eastern Asia, islands bordering the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait, north of the Philippines, off the southeastern coast of China

Geographic coordinates:

23 30 N, 121 00 E

Map references:

Southeast Asia

Area:

total: 35,980 sq km

land: 32,260 sq km

water: 3,720 sq km

note: includes the Pescadores, Matsu, and Quemoy islands

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Maryland and Delaware combined

Land boundaries:

0 km

Coastline:

1,566.3 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:

tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon (June to August); cloudiness is persistent and extensive all year

Terrain:

eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to gently rolling plains in west

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: South China Sea 0 m

highest point: Yu Shan 3,952 m

Natural resources:

small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone, marble, and asbestos

Land use:

arable land: 24%

permanent crops: 1%

other: 75% (2001)

Irrigated land:

NA

Total renewable water resources:

67 cu km (2000)

Natural hazards:

earthquakes and typhoons

Environment - current issues:

air pollution; water pollution from industrial emissions, raw sewage; contamination of drinking water supplies; trade in endangered species; low-level radioactive waste disposal

Environment - international agreements:

party to: none of the selected agreements because of Taiwan's international status

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements because of Taiwan's international status

Geography - note:

strategic location adjacent to both the Taiwan Strait and the Luzon Strait

People Taiwan

Population:

22,920,946 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 17.3% (male 2,057,458/female 1,900,449)

15-64 years: 72.3% (male 8,362,038/female 8,204,834)

65 years and over: 10.5% (male 1,167,476/female 1,228,691) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 36 years

male: 35.5 years

female: 36.6 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.238% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

8.99 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

6.65 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

0.04 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.09 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female

total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 5.45 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 5.75 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 5.11 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 77.76 years

male: 74.89 years

female: 80.89 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

1.13 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

NA

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

NA

Nationality:

noun: Taiwan (singular and plural)

note: example - he or she is from Taiwan; they are from Taiwan

adjective: Taiwan

Ethnic groups:

Taiwanese (including Hakka) 84%, mainland Chinese 14%, indigenous 2%