below poverty line: 70% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.2% highest 10%: 33.8% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 43.7 (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 22% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 3.7 million (urban)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate: 14%; note - widespread underemployment (2001 est.)
Budget: revenues: $5.6 billion expenditures: planned $5.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)
Industries: petroleum, food processing, textiles, metal work, paper products, wood products, chemicals, plastics, fishing, lumber
Industrial production growth rate: 5.1% (2001 est.)
Electricity - production: 10.395 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 25.01% hydro: 74.99% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: 9.667 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, manioc (tapioca), plantains, sugarcane; cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products; balsa wood; fish, shrimp
Exports: $4.8 billion (2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: petroleum, bananas, shrimp, coffee, cocoa, cut flowers, fish
Exports - partners: US 38%, Peru 6%, Chile 5%, Colombia 5%, Italy 3% (2000)
Imports: $4.8 billion (2001 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, raw materials, fuels; consumer goods
Imports - partners: US 25%, Colombia 13%, Japan 8%, Venezuela 8%,
Brazil 4% (2000)
Debt - external: $14 billion (2001)
Economic aid - recipient: $120 million (2001)
Currency: US dollar (USD)
Currency code: USD
Exchange rates: sucres per US dollar - 25,000.0 (January 2002), 25,000.0 (2001), 24,988.4 (2000), 11,786.8 (1999), 5,446.6 (1998), 3,988.3 (1997) note: on 13 March 2000, the National Congress approved a new exchange system whereby the US dollar was adopted as the main legal tender in Ecuador for all purposes; on 20 March 2000, the Central Bank of Ecuador started to exchange sucres for US dollars at a fixed rate of 25,000 sucres per US dollar; since 30 April 2000, all transactions are denominated in US dollars
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Ecuador
Telephones - main lines in use: 1,115,272 (1999)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 384,000 (1999)
Telephone system: generally elementary but being expanded domestic: earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 392, FM 35, shortwave 29 (2001)
Radios: 5 million (2001)
Television broadcast stations: 7 (plus 14 repeaters) (2001)
Televisions: 2.5 million (2001)
Internet country code: .ec
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 31 (2001)
Internet users: 180,000 (2001)
Transportation Ecuador
Railways: total: 965 km narrow gauge: 965 km 1.067-m gauge (2000 est.)
Highways: total: 43,197 km paved: 8,165 km unpaved: 35,032 km (2001)
Waterways: 1,500 km
Pipelines: crude oil 800 km; petroleum products 1,358 km
Ports and harbors: Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, La Libertad, Manta, Puerto
Bolivar, San Lorenzo
Merchant marine: total: 33 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 239,876 GRT/393,680 DWT note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Chile 1, Greece 1 (2002 est.) ships by type: cargo 2, chemical tanker 3, liquefied gas 1, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 23, specialized tanker 1
Airports: 205 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 61 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 17 under 914 m: 19 (2001) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 18
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 144 914 to 1,523 m: 31 under 914 m: 113 (2001)
Heliports: 1 (2001)
Military Ecuador
Military branches: Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, National
Police
Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 3,468,678 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 2,337,944 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 132,978 (2002 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $720 million (FY98)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3.4% (FY98)
Transnational Issues Ecuador
Disputes - international: none
Illicit drugs: significant transit country for cocaine originating in Colombia and Peru; importer of precursor chemicals used in production of illicit narcotics; important money-laundering hub; increased activity on the northern frontier by trafficking groups and Colombian insurgents
This page was last updated on 1 January 2002
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Egypt
Introduction
Egypt
Background: Nominally independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty following World War II. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasser have altered the time-honored place of the Nile river in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world), limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all continue to overtax resources and stress
