Azeris and Christian Armenians, makes foreign investors wary. Azerbaijan
accounts for 1.5% to 2% of the capital stock and output of the former Soviet
Union. Although immediate economic prospects are not favorable because of
civil strife, lack of economic reform, political disputes about new economic
arrangements, and the skittishness of foreign investors, Azerbaijan's
economic performance was the best of all former Soviet republics in 1991
largely because of its reliance on domestic resources for industrial output.
GDP:
$NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate —0.7% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
87% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Budget:
revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992)
Exports:
$780 million (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
oil and gas, chemicals, oilfield equipment, textiles, cotton (1991)
partners:
mostly CIS countries
Imports:
$2.2 billion (c.i.f., 1990)
commodities:
machinery and parts, consumer durables, foodstuffs, textiles (1991)
External debt:
$1.3 billion (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 3.8% (1991)
Electricity:
6,025,000 kW capacity; 23,300 million kWh produced, 3,280 kWh per capita
(1991)
Industries:
petroleum and natural gas, petroleum products, oilfield equipment; steel,
iron ore, cement; chemicals and petrochemicals; textiles
Agriculture:
cotton, grain, rice, grapes, fruit, vegetables, tea, tobacco; cattle, pigs,
sheep and goats
Illicit drugs:
illicit producer of cannabis and opium; mostly for domestic consumption;
status of government eradication programs unknown; used as transshipment
points for illicit drugs to Western Europe
Economic aid:
NA
Currency:
as of May 1992, retaining ruble as currency
Exchange rates:
NA
Fiscal year:
calendar year
:Azerbaijan Communications
Railroads:
2,090 km (includes NA km electrified); does not include industrial lines
(1990)
Highways:
36,700 km total (1990); 31,800 km hard surfaced; 4,900 km earth
Inland waterways:
NA km perennially navigable
Pipelines:
NA
Ports:
inland - Baku (Baky)
Merchant marine:
none - landlocked
Civil air:
none
Airports:
NA
Telecommunications:
quality of local telephone service is poor; connections to other former USSR
republics by landline or microwave and to countries beyond the former USSR
via the Moscow international gateway switch; Azeri and Russian TV broadcasts
are received; Turkish and Iranian TV broadcasts are received from INTELSAT
through a TV receive-only earth station
:Azerbaijan Defense Forces
Branches:
Republic Security Forces (internal and border troops), National Guard; CIS
Forces (Ground, Navy, Air, Air Defense)
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, NA; NA fit for military service; NA reach military age (18)
annually
Defense expenditures:
$NA million, NA% of GDP
:The Bahamas Geography
Total area:
13,940 km2
Land area:
10,070 km2
Comparative area:
slightly larger than Connecticut
Land boundaries:
none
Coastline:
3,542 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf:
200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive fishing zone:
200 nm
Territorial sea:
3 nm
Disputes:
none
Climate:
tropical marine; moderated by warm waters of Gulf Stream
Terrain:
long, flat coral formations with some low rounded hills
Natural resources:
salt, aragonite, timber
Land use:
arable land 1%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures NEGL%; forest
and woodland 32%; other 67%
Environment:
subject to hurricanes and other tropical storms that cause extensive flood
damage
Note:
strategic location adjacent to US and Cuba; extensive island chain
:The Bahamas People
Population:
255,811 (July 1992), growth rate 1.4% (1992)
Birth rate:
19 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
5 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
0 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
19 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
69 years male, 76 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
2.2 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun—Bahamian(s); adjective—Bahamian
Ethnic divisions:
black 85%, white 15%
Religions:
Baptist 32%, Anglican