Rica Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 450,000 (1998)
note: 584,000 installed in 1997, but only about 450,000 were in use 1998
Telephones - mobile cellular: 143,000 (2000)
Telephone system: general assessment: very good domestic telephone service
domestic: point-to-point and point-to-multi-point microwave, fiber-optic, and coaxial cable link rural areas; Internet service is available
international: connected to Central American Microwave System; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); two submarine cables (1999)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 50, FM 43, shortwave 19 (1998)
Radios: 980,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 6 (plus 11 repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 525,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .cr
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (of which only one is legal) (2000)
Internet users: 150,000 (2000)
Costa Rica Transportation
Railways: total: 950 km
narrow gauge: 950 km 1.067-m gauge (260 km electrified) (2000)
Highways: total: 37,273 km
paved: 7,827 km
unpaved: 29,446 km (1998 est.)
Waterways: 730 km (seasonally navigable)
Pipelines: petroleum products 176 km
Ports and harbors: Caldera, Golfito, Moin, Puerto Limon, Puerto
Quepos, Puntarenas
Merchant marine: total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,716
GRT/NA DWT
ships by type: passenger 1 (2000 est.)
Airports: 152 (2000 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 29
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 19
under 914 m: 7 (2000 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 123
914 to 1,523 m: 28
under 914 m: 95 (2000 est.)
Costa Rica Military
Military branches: Coast Guard, Air Section, Ministry of Public
Security Force (Fuerza Publica)
note: Costa Rica has no military, only domestic police forces, including the Coast Guard and Air Section
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15–49: 1,035,090 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15–49: 692,973 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 39,411 (2001 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $69 million (FY99)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.6% (FY99)
Costa Rica Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: legal dispute over navigational rights of
Rio San Juan on border with Nicaragua
Illicit drugs: transshipment country for cocaine and heroin from South America; illicit production of cannabis on small, scattered plots; domestic cocaine consumption is rising, particularly crack cocaine; those who previously only trafficked are now becoming users
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@Cote d'Ivoire
Cote d'Ivoire Introduction
Background: Close ties to France since independence in 1960, the development of cocoa production for export, and foreign investment made Cote d'Ivoire one of the most prosperous of the tropical African states. Falling cocoa prices and political turmoil, however, sparked an economic downturn in 1999 and 2000. On 25 December 1999, a military coup - the first ever in Cote d'Ivoire's history - overthrew the government led by President Henri Konan BEDIE. Presidential and legislative elections held in October and December 2000 provoked violence due to the exclusion of opposition leader Alassane OUATTARA. In October 2000, Laurent GBAGBO replaced junta leader Robert GUEI as president, ending 10 months of military rule.
Cote d'Ivoire Geography
Location: Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia
Geographic coordinates: 8 00 N, 5 00 W
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 322,460 sq km
land: 318,000 sq km
water: 4,460 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than New Mexico
Land boundaries: total: 3,110 km
border countries: Burkina Faso 584 km, Ghana 668 km, Guinea 610 km, Liberia 716 km, Mali 532 km
Coastline: 515 km
Maritime claims: continental shelf: 200 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM
Climate: tropical along coast, semiarid in far north; three seasons - warm and dry (November to March), hot and dry (March to May), hot and wet (June to October)
Terrain: mostly flat to undulating plains; mountains in northwest
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Gulf of Guinea 0 m
highest point: Mont Nimba 1,752 m
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 8%
permanent crops: 4%
permanent pastures: 41%
forests
