crude oil; partners—US 34%, CARICOM, Japan, UK, Canada
External debt: $635 million (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate - 5.4% (1987 est.)
Electricity: 132,000 kW capacity; 460 million kWh produced, 1,780 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: tourism, sugar, light manufacturing, component assembly for export
Agriculture: accounts for 10% of GDP; major cash crop is sugarcane; other crops—vegetables and cotton; not self-sufficient in food
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70–84), $14 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970–87), $144 million
Currency: Barbadian dollars (plural—dollars); 1 Barbadian dollar
(Bds$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Barbadian dollars (Bds$) per US$1—2.0113 (fixed rate)
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
- Communications
Highways: 1,570 km total; 1,475 km paved, 95 km gravel and earth
Ports: Bridgetown
Merchant marine: 2 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,200
GRT/7,338 DWT
Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft
Airports: 1 with permanent-surface runways 2,440–3,659 m
Telecommunications: islandwide automatic telephone system with 89,000 telephones; tropospheric scatter link to Trinidad and St. Lucia; stations—3 AM, 2 FM, 2 (1 is pay) TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
- Defense Forces
Branches: Royal Barbados Defense Force, Royal Barbados Police Force,
Coast Guard
Military manpower: males 15–49, 67,677; 47,566 fit for military service, no conscription
Defense expenditures: 0.6% of GDP (1986)
——————————————————————————
Country: Bassas da India
(French possession)
- Geography
Total area: undetermined
Comparative area: undetermined
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 35.2 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: claimed by Madagascar
Climate: tropical
Terrain: a volcanic rock 2.4 m high
Natural resources: none
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other (rock)
Environment: surrounded by reefs; subject to periodic cyclones
Note: navigational hazard since it is usually under water during high tide; located in southern Mozambique Channel about halfway between Africa and Madagascar
- People
Population: uninhabited
- Government
Long-form name: none
Type: French possession administered by Commissioner of the Republic
Daniel CONSTANTIN, resident in Reunion
- Economy
Overview: no economic activity
- Communications
Ports: none; offshore anchorage only
- Defense Forces
Note: defense is the responsibility of France
——————————————————————————
Country: Belgium
- Geography
Total area: 30,510 km2; land area: 30,230 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland
Land boundaries: 1,385 km total; France 620 km, Luxembourg 148 km, Netherlands 450 km, FRG 167 km
Coastline: 64 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: not specific;
Exclusive fishing zone: equidistant line with neighbors (extends about 68 km from coast);
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid, cloudy
Terrain: flat coastal plains in northwest, central rolling hills, rugged mountains of Ardennes Forest in southeast
Natural resources: coal, natural gas
Land use: 24% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 20% meadows and pastures; 21% forest and woodland; 34% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: air and water pollution
Note: majority of West European capitals within 1,000 km of Brussels; crossroads of Western Europe; Brussels is the seat of the EC
- People
Population: 9,909,285 (July 1990), growth rate 0.1% (1990)
Birth rate: 12 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 80 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.6 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Belgian(s); adjective—Belgian
Ethnic
