1986 Edition

Agriculture

cotton (main crop), sugar, livestock

main products — cereals, oilseed, livestock products; major world exporter of temperate zone foodstuffs

little production

Aid

economic — bilateral commitments, ODA and OOF (1970-80) from Western (non-US) countries, $20 million; no military aid

Aircraft

none 1000 km Land 2,766,889 km2; four times the size of Texas; 57% agricultural (46% natural meadow, 11% crop, improved pasture, and fallow); 25% forest; 18% mountain, urban, or waste

Airfield

government-owned airport east of Oranjestad

Airfields

2 total, 1 usable; 1 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m

1,827 total, 1,663 usable; 125 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,695 m, 32 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 327 with runways 1,2202,439 m

Branches

Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force, Royal Antigua and Barbuda Police Force

executive (President, Vice President, Cabinet); legislative (National Congress— Senate, Chamber of Deputies); national judiciary

Argentine Army, Navy of the Argentine Republic, Argentine Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Argentine Naval Prefecture, National Aeronautical Police

Budget

(current) revenues, $40 million (1984); expenditures, $44 million (1984)

(1984) general government revenues $16.9 billion; expenditures $21.7 billion at official exchange rate

Capital

Buenos Aires

Civil air

10 major transport aircraft

54 major transport aircraft

Coastline

4,989 km People

Communists

some 70,000 members in various party organizations, including a small nucleus of activists

Elections

general elections held 30 October 1983; Senate elections scheduled for 1986

Electric power

27,000 kW capacity (1985); 60.5 million kWh produced (1985), 756 kWh per capita

15,210,000 kW capacity (1985); 40.5 billion kWh produced (1985), 1, 319 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

approximately 85% white, 15% mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups

85% mixed African; remainder Carib Indian, European, Latin, and Oriental

Exports

$41 million (1984 prelim.); clothing, rum, lobsters

$8.1 billion (f.o.b., 1984); wheat, corn, oilseed, hides, wool

Fiscal year

1 April-30 March Communications

calendar year Communications

Fishing

catch 290,000 metric tons (1984); exports $139.7 million (1984)

GDP

$158 million (1984), $1,990 per capita

$74.4 billion (1984), $2,470 per capita; 80% consumption, 15% investment; 5% net exports; 2.0% real GDP growth rate (1984)

Government leader

Felipe TROMP, Governor (since January 1986); Henny EMAN, Prime Minister (since January 1986)

Government leaders

Raul ALFONSIN, President (since December 1983); Victor MARTINEZ, Vice President (since December 1983)

Highways

240 km main

208,100 km total, of which 47,550 km paved, 39,500 km gravel, 101,000 km improved earth, 20,300 km unimproved earth

Imports

$146.9 million (c.i.f., 1984 prelim.); fuel, food, machinery

$4.1 billion (f.o.b., 1984); chemical products, machinery, metallurgical products, fuel and lubricants

Infant mortality rate

36/1,000 (1983)

Inland waterways

1 1,000 km navigable

Labor force

16.8 million (1984 prelim.); 15.9% agriculture, 24.3% manufacturing, 13.2% commerce, 11.5% transport and communications, 7.7% finance and banking, 4.4% utilities, 3.6% construction, 2.7% mining, 16.8% services and other; 4.6% unemployment (1984)

30% oil refining; 10% unemployment Government

Land boundaries

9,414 km Water

Language

Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French

Dutch (official), Papiamento (a Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English dialect), English (widely spoken), Spanish

Legal system

mixture of US and West European legal systems; constitution adopted 1853 is in effect; legal education at University of Buenos Aires and other public and private universities; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

based on Dutch civil law system, with some English common law influence

Life expectancy

68

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

200 nm (continental shelf, including sovereignty over superjacent waters); overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm

Literacy

94%

95%

Main town

Oranjestad

Major ground units

Defense Force

Major industries

tourism 15.2%, construction 7.7%, manufacturing 0.5%

food processing (especially meat packing), motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals, printing, and metallurgy

petrochemicals, oil refining, petroleum transshipment facilities, tourism, light manufacturing Communications

Major trade partners

exports — 47% Trinidad and Tobago, 8% Barbados, 1% US (1983); imports— 49% US, 13% UK, 4% Jamaica, 2% Trinidad and Tobago (1983)

(1984) exports— 15% USSR, 11% Netherlands, 11% US, 6% Brazil, 5% Italy, 4% FRG, 3% Japan; imports— 20% US, 19% Brazil, 12% FRG, 9% Bolivia, 8% Japan, 5% France

Member of

CARICOM, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ILO, IMF, ISO, OAS, UN, UNESCO, WHO, WMO Economy

FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDE— Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, ISO, ITU, IWC— International Whaling Commission, IWC — International Wheat Council, LAIA, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO, WSG Economy

Military budget

revised defense budget for fiscal year ending 31 December 1985, $1.0 billion; 7% of central government budget Caribbean Sea ORANJESTAD regional roip III Land 193 km2; larger than Washington, D.C. People

Military manpower

males 15-49, 7,719,000; 6,264,000 fit for military service; 255,000 reach military age (20) annually

Monetary conversion rate

2.70 East Caribbean (EC)dollars=US$l (February 1984)

0.8 australes=US$l (December 1985); Argentina introduced a new currency, the austral, in June 1985; new currency to be exchanged for the peso argentine at 1,000 pesos to the austral

National holiday

Independence Day, 25 May

Nationality

noun — Argentine(s); adjective— Argentine

noun — Aruban(s); adjective — Aruban

Natural resources

negligible

pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron, manganese, oil, uranium

Official name

Argentine Republic

Aruba

Organized labor

3 million; about 33% of labor force (est.) Government

Other political or pressure groups

Peronistdominated labor movement, General Confederation of Labor (Peronist-leaning association of small businessmen), Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association), Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association), business organizations, students, the Catholic Church

Pipelines

4,090 km crude oil; 2,200 km refined products; 9,918 km natural gas

Political parties

operate under statute passed in 1983 that sets out criteria for participation in national elections; Radical Civic Union (UCR) — moderately left of center; Justicialist Party (JP) — Peronist umbrella political organization; Movement for Industrial Development (MID); Intransigent Party (PI); several provincial parties

Political subdivisions

22 provinces, 1 district (Federal Capital), and 1 territory

Population

31, 186,000 (July 1986), average annual growth rate 1.5%

67,014 (1986 est.)

Ports

1 major (St. John's), 1 minor

1 major, 30 minor

2 (Oranjestad, Sint Nicolaas)

Railroads

64 km 0.760-meter narrow gauge, 13 km 0.610-meter gauge, employed almost exclusively for handling cane

35,476 km total; 3,086 km 1.435meter standard gauge, 22,788 km 1.676meter broad gauge, 13,461 km 1.000-meter gauge, 403 km 0.750-meter gauge; of total in country, 142 km are electrified

Religion

90% nominally Roman Catholic (less than 20% practicing), 2% Protestant, 2% Jewish, 6% other

82% Roman Catholic, 8% Protestant; also small Hindu, Muslim, Confucian, and Jewish minority

Steel

2.6 million metric tons produced (1984)

Suffrage

universal over age 18 Political parties and leaders: People's Electoral Movement (MEP), G. F. "Betico" Croes; Aruban Patriotic Party (PPA), Benny Nisbet; Aruban People's Party (A VP), Henny Eman; Democratic Party of Aruba (PDA), Dr. Leo Berlinski; National Democratic Action Party (ADN), John Booi Economy

Telecommunications

good automatic telephone system; 6,700 telephones (9.2 per 100 popl.); tropospheric scatter links with Saba and Guadeloupe; 6 AM and 2 FM stations; 1 TV station; 1 coaxial submarine cable; 1 satellite ground station Defense Forces

extensive modern system; 3.23 million telephones (10.3 per 100 popl.), radio relay widely used; 2 satellite stations with 3 Atlantic Ocean antennas; 163 AM and 190 TV stations; 30-station domestic satellite network Aruba Defense Forces

facilities, which include extensive interisland radio-relay links, are generally adequate; 49,600 telephones Defense Defense is the responsibility of the Netherlands until 1996

Type

republic

self-governing until complete independence from the Netherlands is granted in