of bridges, buildings, and factories have been destroyed or damaged by military action or sabotage. Government claims to the contrary, gross domestic product almost certainly is lower than 10 years ago because of the loss of labor and capital and the disruption of trade and transport. Official claims indicate that agriculture grew by 0.7% and industry by 3.5% in 1988.
GDP: $3 billion, per capita $200; real growth rate 0% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): over 50% (1989 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues NA; expenditures $646.7 million, including capital expenditures of $370.2 million (FY87 est.)
Exports: $512 million (f.o.b., FY88); commodities—natural gas 55%, fruits and nuts 24%, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides, and pelts; partners—mostly USSR and Eastern Europe
Imports: $996 million (c.i.f., FY88); commodities—food and petroleum products; partners—mostly USSR and Eastern Europe
External debt: $1.8 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 6.2% (FY89 plan)
Electricity: 480,000 kW capacity; 1,470 million kWh produced, 100 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, and cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, oil, coal, copper
Agriculture: largely subsistence farming and nomadic animal husbandry; cash products—wheat, fruits, nuts, karakul pelts, wool, mutton
Illicit drugs: an illicit producer of opium poppy and cannabis for the international drug trade; world's second largest opium producer (after Burma) and a major source of hashish
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70–88), $265 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970–87), $419 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979–89), $57 million; Communist countries (1970–88), $4.1 billion
Currency: afghani (plural—afghanis); 1 afghani (Af) = 100 puls
Exchange rates: afghanis (Af) per US$1—50.6 (fixed rate since 1982)
Fiscal year: 21 March-20 March
- Communications
Railroads: 9.6 km (single track) 1.524-meter gauge from Kushka (USSR) to
Towraghondi and 15.0 km from Termez (USSR) to Kheyrabad transshipment
point on south bank of Amu Darya
Highways: 21,000 km total (1984); 2,800 km hard surface, 1,650 km bituminous-treated gravel and improved earth, 16,550 km unimproved earth and tracks
Inland waterways: total navigability 1,200 km; chiefly Amu Darya, which handles steamers up to about 500 metric tons
Pipelines: petroleum, oil, and lubricants pipelines—USSR to Bagram and USSR to Shindand; natural gas, 180 km
Ports: Shir Khan and Kheyrabad (river ports)
Civil air: 2 TU-154, 2 Boeing 727, assorted smaller transports
Airports: 38 total, 34 usable; 9 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 10 with runways 2,440–3,659 m; 15 with runways 1,220–2,439 m
Telecommunications: limited telephone, telegraph, and radiobroadcast services; television introduced in 1980; 31,200 telephones; stations—5 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 1 satellite earth station
- Defense Forces
Branches: Armed Forces (Army; Air and Air Defense Forces); Border
Guard Forces; National Police Force (Sarandoi); Ministry of
State Security (WAD); Tribal Militia
Military manpower: males 15–49, 3,880,124; 2,080,725 fit for military service; 168,021 reach military age (22) annually
Defense expenditures: 9.1% of GDP (1984)
——————————————————————————
Country: Albania
- Geography
Total area: 28,750 km2; land area: 27,400 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland
Land boundaries: 768 km total; Greece 282 km, Yugoslavia 486 km
Coastline: 362 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: not specified;
Territorial sea: 15 nm
Disputes: Kosovo question with Yugoslavia; Northern Epirus question with Greece
Climate: mild temperate; cool, cloudy, wet winters; hot, clear, dry summers; interior is cooler and wetter
Terrain: mostly mountains and hills; small plains along coast
Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper, timber, nickel
Land use: 21% arable land; 4% permanent crops; 15% meadows and pastures; 38% forest and woodland; 22% other; includes 1% irrigated
Environment: subject to destructive earthquakes; tsunami occur along southwestern coast; deforestation seems to be slowing
Note: strategic location along Strait of Otranto (links
Adriatic Sea to Ionian Sea and Mediterranean Sea)
- People
Population: 3,273,131 (July 1990), growth rate 1.9% (1990)
Birth rate: 25 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 52 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 78 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.0 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Albanian(s); adjective—Albanian
Ethnic divisions: Albanian 90%, Greeks 8%, other 2% (Vlachs,
Gypsies, Serbs, and Bulgarians) (1989 est.)
Religion: Albania claims to be the world's first atheist state; all churches and mosques were closed in 1967 and religious observances prohibited; pre-1967 estimates of religious affiliation—70% Muslim, 20% Albanian Orthodox, 10% Roman Catholic
Language: Albanian (Tosk is official dialect), Greek
Literacy: 75%
Labor
