193.88 (2003),190.67 (2002), 187.32 (2001), 182.43 (2000)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications Guyana
Telephones - main lines in use:
80,400 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
87,300 (2002)
Telephone system:
general assessment: fair system for long-distance service
domestic: microwave radio relay network for trunk lines
international: country code - 592; tropospheric scatter to Trinidad;
satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 3, FM 3, shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios:
420,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 3 (one public station; two private stations which relay US satellite services) (1997)
Televisions:
46,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.gy
Internet hosts:
613 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
3 (2000)
Internet users:
125,000 (2002)
Transportation Guyana
Railways:
total: 187 km
standard gauge: 139 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge: 48 km 0.914-m gauge
note: all dedicated to ore transport (2001 est.)
Highways:
total: 7,970 km
paved: 590 km
unpaved: 7,380 km (1999 est.)
Waterways:
1,077 km
note: Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo rivers are navigable by
oceangoing vessels for 150 km, 100 km, and 80 km respectively (2004)
Ports and harbors:
Georgetown
Merchant marine:
total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 7,475 GRT/8,758 DWT
by type: cargo 5, refrigerated cargo 1
registered in other countries: 3 (2005)
Airports:
49 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 8
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 41 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 8 under 914 m: 32 (2004 est.)
Military Guyana
Military branches:
Guyana Defense Force: Ground Forces, Coast Guard, Air Corps, Guyana
People's Militia
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18–49: 206,098 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18–49: 137,964 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$6.5 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
0.9% (2004)
Transnational Issues Guyana
Disputes - international:
all of the area west of the Essequibo (river) is claimed by
Venezuela preventing any discussion of a maritime boundary; Guyana
has expressed its intention to join Barbados in asserting claims
before UNCLOS that Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary with
Venezuela extends into their waters; Suriname claims a triangle of
land between the New and Kutari/Koetari rivers in a historic dispute
over the headwaters of the Courantyne; Guyana seeks UNCLOS
arbitration to resolve the long-standing dispute with Suriname over
the axis of the territorial sea boundary in potentially oil-rich
waters
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for narcotics from South America - primarily
Venezuela - to Europe and the US; producer of cannabis
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Haiti
Introduction Haiti
Background:
The native Arawak Amerindians - who inhabited the island of
Hispaniola when it was discovered by Columbus in 1492 - were
virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the
early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola,
and in 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the
island - Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and
sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the
Caribbean, but only through the heavy importation of African slaves
