and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island,Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island
and McDonald Islands, Norfolk Island
1 China—Hong Kong
2 Denmark—Faroe Islands, Greenland
16 France—Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Europa Island,
French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern and
Antarctic Lands, Glorioso Islands, Guadeloupe, Juan de
Nova Island, Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Reunion,
Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Tromelin Island, Wallis and
Futuna
2 Netherlands—Aruba, Netherlands Antilles
3 New Zealand—Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau
3 Norway—Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard
1 Portugal—Macau
15 UK—Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory,
British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands,
Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat,
Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the
South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands
14 US—American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island,
Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway
Islands, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra
Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Wake Atoll
MISCELLANEOUS
6 Antarctica, Gaza Strip, Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands, West Bank, Western Sahara
OTHER ENTITIES
4 oceans—Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean,
Pacific Ocean
1 World
266 Tota
l
Environment—current issues: This entry lists the most
pressing and important environmental problems.
Environment—international agreements: This entry separates country participation in international environmental agreements into two levels—party to and signed but not ratified. Agreements are listed in alphabetical order by the abbreviated form of the full name.
Environmental agreements: This information is presented in Appendix D: Selected International Environmental Agreements, which includes the name, abbreviation, date opened for signature, date entered into force, objective, and parties by category.
Ethnic groups: This entry provides a rank ordering of ethnic groups starting with the largest and normally includes the percent of total population.
Exchange rates: This entry provides the official value of a country's monetary unit at a given date or over a given period of time, as expressed in units of local currency per US dollar and as determined by international market forces or official fiat.
Executive branch: This entry includes several subfields. Chief of state includes the name and title of the titular leader of the country who represents the state at official and ceremonial functions but may not be involved with the day-to-day activities of the government. Head of government includes the name and title of the top administrative leader who is designated to manage the day-to-day activities of the government. Cabinet includes the official name for this body of high-ranking advisers and the method for selection of members. Elections includes the nature of election process or accession to power, date of the last election, and date of the next election. Election results includes the percent of vote for each candidate in the last election. In the UK, the monarch is the chief of state, and the prime minister is the head of government. In the US, the president is both the chief of state and the head of government.
Exports: This entry provides the total US dollar amount of exports on an f.o.b. (free on board) basis.
Exports—commodities: This entry provides a rank ordering of exported products starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
Exports—partners: This entry provides a rank ordering of trading partners starting with the most important; it sometimes includes the percent of total dollar value.
Fiscal year: This entry identifies the beginning and ending months for a country's accounting period of 12 months, which often is the calendar year but which may begin in any month. FY93/94 refers to the fiscal year that began in calendar year 1993 and ended in calendar year 1994. All yearly references are for the calendar year (CY) unless indicated as a noncalendar fiscal year (FY).
Flag description: This entry provides a written flag description produced from actual flags or the best information available at the time the entry was written. The flags of independent states are used by their dependencies unless there is an officially recognized local flag. Some disputed and other areas do not have flags.
Flag graphic: Most versions of the Factbook include a color flag at the beginning of the country profile. The flag graphics were produced from actual flags or the best information available at the time of preparation. The flags of independent states are used by their dependencies unless there is an officially recognized local flag. Some disputed and other areas do not have flags.
GDP: This entry gives the gross domestic product (GDP) or value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year. GDP dollar estimates in the Factbook are derived from purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations. See the note on GDP methodology for more information.
GDP methodology: In the Economy section, GDP dollar estimates for all countries are derived from purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations rather than from conversions at official currency exchange rates. The PPP method involves the use of standardized international dollar price weights, which are applied to the quantities of final goods and services produced in a given economy. The data derived from the PPP method provide the best available starting point for comparisons of economic strength and well-being between countries. The division of a GDP estimate in domestic currency by the corresponding PPP estimate in dollars gives the PPP conversion rate. Whereas PPP estimates for OECD countries are quite reliable, PPP estimates for developing countries are often rough approximations. Most of the GDP estimates are based on extrapolation of PPP numbers published by the UN International Comparison Program (UNICP) and by Professors Robert Summers and Alan Heston of the University of Pennsylvania and their colleagues. In contrast, currency exchange rates depend on a variety of international and domestic financial forces that often have little relation to domestic output. In developing countries with weak currencies the exchange rate estimate of GDP in dollars is typically one-fourth to one-half the PPP estimate. Furthermore, exchange rates may suddenly go up or down by 10% or more because of market forces or official fiat whereas real output has remained unchanged. On 12 January 1994, for example, the 14 countries of the African Financial Community
