aid - recipient: $48.4 million (1995)
Currency: Bahraini dinar (BHD)
Currency code: BHD
Exchange rates: Bahraini dinars per US dollar - 0.3760 (fixed rate pegged to the US dollar)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Bahrain Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 152,000 (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 58,543 (1997)
Telephone system: general assessment: modern system
domestic: modern fiber-optic integrated services; digital network with rapidly growing use of mobile cellular telephones
international: tropospheric scatter to Qatar and UAE; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia; submarine cable to Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat (1997)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998)
Radios: 338,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 4 (1997)
Televisions: 275,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .bh
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)
Internet users: 37,500 (2000)
Bahrain Transportation
Railways: 0 km
Highways: total: 3,164 km
paved: 2,433 km
unpaved: 731 km
note: there is a paved causeway connecting Bahrain to Saudi Arabia (1997)
Waterways: none
Pipelines: crude oil 56 km; petroleum products 16 km; natural gas 32 km
Ports and harbors: Manama, Mina' Salman, Sitrah
Merchant marine: total: 7 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 175,609 GRT/207,652 DWT
ships by type: bulk 2, cargo 3, container 2 (2000 est.)
Airports: 3 (2000 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 2
over 3,047 m: 2 (2000 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.)
Heliports: 1 (2000 est.)
Bahrain Military
Military branches: Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard,
Police Force
Military manpower - military age: 15 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15–49: 222,141 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15–49: 121,833 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 5,926 (2001 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $318 million (FY99)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 5.2% (FY99)
Bahrain Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: in March of 2001, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded the Hawar Islands to Bahrain and also adjusted Bahrain's maritime boundary with Qatar
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@Baker Island
Baker Island Introduction
Background: The US took possession of the island in 1857, and its guano deposits were mined by US and British companies during the second half of the 19th century. In 1935, a short-lived attempt at colonization was begun on this island - as well as on nearby Howland Island - but was disrupted by World War II and thereafter abandoned. Presently the island is a National Wildlife Refuge run by the US Department of the Interior; a day beacon is situated near the middle of the west coast.
Baker Island Geography
Location: Oceania, atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia
Geographic coordinates: 0 13 N, 176 31 W
Map references: Oceania
Area: total: 1.4 sq km
land: 1.4 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative: about 2.5 times the size of The Mall in
Washington, DC
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 4.8 km
Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM
Climate: equatorial; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun
Terrain: low, nearly level coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 8 m
Natural resources: guano (deposits worked until 1891), terrestrial and aquatic wildlife
Land use: arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 100%
Irrigated land: 0 sq km (1993)
Natural hazards: the narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime hazard
Environment - current issues: no natural fresh water resources
Geography - note: treeless, sparse, and scattered vegetation consisting of grasses, prostrate vines, and low growing shrubs; primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife
Baker Island People
Population: uninhabited
note:
