The 1999 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
in 1997. Tourism is also a mainstay, accounting for about 70% of GDP and 75% of foreign currency earnings. The tourist industry is aimed at the luxury market and caters mainly to visitors from North America. Total tourist arrivals exceeded 1.2 million visitors in 1997. About 90% of the islands' food and consumer goods must be imported. The Caymanians enjoy one of the highest outputs per capita and one of the highest standards of living in the world.
GDP: purchasing power parity—$930 million (1997 est.)
GDP—real growth rate: 5.5% (1997 est.)
GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity?$24,500 (1997 est.)
GDP—composition by sector: agriculture: 1.4% industry: 3.2% services: 95.4% (1994 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.7% (1997)
Labor force: 19,820 (1995)
Labor force—by occupation: service workers 18.7%, clerical 18.6%, construction 12.5%, finance and investment 6.7%, directors and business managers 5.9% (1979)
Unemployment rate: 5.1% (1996)
Budget:
revenues: $265.2 million
expenditures: $248.9 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1997)
Industries: tourism, banking, insurance and finance,
construction, construction materials, furniture
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity—production: 290 million kWh (1996)
Electricity—production by source: fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1996)
Electricity—consumption: 290 million kWh (1996)
Electricity—exports: 0 kWh (1996)
Electricity—imports: 0 kWh (1996)
Agriculture—products: vegetables, fruit; livestock, turtle farming
Exports: $2.65 million (1996)
Exports—commodities: turtle products, manufactured consumer goods
Exports—partners: mostly US
Imports: $379.4 million (1996)
Imports—commodities: foodstuffs, manufactured goods
Imports—partners: US, Trinidad and Tobago, UK, Netherlands
Antilles, Japan
Debt—external: $70 million (1996)
Economic aid—recipient: $NA
Currency: 1 Caymanian dollar (CI$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Caymanian dollars (CI$) per US$1—0.83 (3 November 1995), 0.85 (22 November 1993)
Fiscal year: 1 April—31 March
Communications
Telephones: 21,584 (1993 est.)
Telephone system:
domestic: NA
international: 1 submarine coaxial cable; satellite earth station—1
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 4 (the four stations have a
total of six frequencies), shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: 28,200 (1992 est.)
Television broadcast stations: NA
Televisions: 6,000 (1992 est.)
Transportation
Railways: 0 km
Highways: total: 406 km paved: 304 km unpaved: 102 km
Ports and harbors: Cayman Brac, George Town
Merchant marine:
total: 76 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,264,113 GRT/1,970,959
DWT
ships by type: bulk 13, cargo 10, chemical tanker 11, container 4,
liquefied gas tanker 1, oil tanker 7, refrigerated cargo 22,
roll-on/roll-off cargo 6, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 1
note: a flag of convenience registry; includes ships from 11
countries among which are: Greece 15, US 5, UK 5, Cyprus 2, Denmark
2, Norway 3 (1998 est.)
Airports: 3 (1998 est.)
Airports—with paved runways:
total: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (1998 est.)
Airports—with unpaved runways:
total: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (1998 est.)
Military
Military branches: Royal Cayman Islands Police Force (RCIPF)
Military—note: defense is the responsibility of the UK
Transnational Issues
Disputes—international: none
Illicit drugs: vulnerable to drug money laundering and drug transshipment
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@Central African Republic————————————
Introduction
Background: In 1996, the country experienced three mutinies by dissident elements of the armed forces, which demanded back pay as well as political and military reforms. Subsequent violence between the government and rebel military groups over pay issues, living conditions, and lack of opposition party representation in the government, destroyed many businesses in the capital, reduced tax revenues, and exacerbated the government's problems in meeting expenses. African peacekeepers restored order in 1997; in April 1998 the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA) assumed responsibility for peacekeeping operations.
Geography
Location: Central Africa, north of Democratic Republic of the
Congo
Geographic coordinates: 7 00 N, 21 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area:
total: 622,980 sq km
land: 622,980 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area—comparative: slightly smaller than Texas
Land boundaries:
total: 5,203 km
border countries: Cameroon 797 km, Chad 1,197 km, Democratic
Republic of the Congo 1,577 km, Republic of the Congo 467 km, Sudan
1,165 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: tropical; hot, dry winters; mild to hot, wet summers
Terrain: vast, flat to rolling, monotonous plateau; scattered hills in northeast and southwest
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Oubangui River 335 m highest point: Mont Ngaoui 1,420 m
Natural resources: diamonds, uranium, timber, gold, oil
Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 5%