1984 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1984 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Agriculture
- rice, corn, barley, wheat, potatoes, fruit
- food imported; some dates, alfalfa, vegetables, fruit, tobacco raised
- mixed farming predominates; main products — wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, livestock, dairy products; 62% self-sufficient (1982); dependent on imports for more than half of consumption of refined sugar, butter, oils and fats, and bacon and ham
Aid
donor — bilateral economic aid committed (ODA and OOF) (1970-81), $15.5 billion Budget (national and local government): FY84 (proj.) revenues, 180 billion pounds; expenditures, 188 billion pounds; deficit, including nationalized industries, 8 billion pounds
Airfields
- 2 total; 2 usable; 1 with permanentsurface runways 1,220-2,439 m
- 48 total, 31 usable; 20 with permanent-surface runways; 5 with runways over 3,659 m, 2 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 7 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Branches
- The Bermuda Regiment Land 46,620 km2; 70% forest; 15% agricultural; 15% desert, waste, urban
- appointed ministers and indirectly elected National Assembly consisting of village elders, monastic representatives, and all district and senior government administrators
- Royal Bhutan Army
- Army, Navy, Air Force
- legislative authority resides in Parliament (House of Lords, House of Commons); executive authority lies with collectively responsible Cabinet led by Prime Minister; House of Lords is supreme judicial authority and highest court of appeal
Budget
- total receipts $48.5 million, expenditures $50.9 million (FY82/83 est.)
- (1982 est.) current expenditures $8.6 billion, development $2.4 billion, revenue $10.2 billion
Capital
- Thimphu Bolivia
- London
Civil air
- no major transport aircraft
- 4 major transport aircraft
Coastline
12,429 km People
Communists
- no overt Communist presence
- 15,961
Crude steel
13.7 million metric tons produced (1982); 244 kg per capita (1982); 25.4 million tons capacity (1981)
Elections
- popular elections on village level held every three years
- at discretion of Prime Minister, but must be held before expiration of a five-year electoral mandate; last election 9 June 1983 Political parties and leaders: Conservative, Margaret Thatcher; Labor, Neil Kinnock; Liberal, David Steel; Social Democratic, David Owen; Communist, Gordon McLennan; Scottish National, Gordon Wilson; Plaid Cymru, Dafydd Wigley; Official Unionist, James Molyneaux; Democratic Unionist, Ian Paisley; Social Democratic and Labor, John Hume; Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams
Electric power
- 15,680 kW capacity (1983); 9 million kWh produced (1983), 7 kWh per capita
- 4,474,900 kW capacity (1983); 12.346 billion kWh produced (1983), 8,985 kWh per capita
- 86,015,000 kW capacity (1983); 275.343 billion kWh produced (1983), 4,910 kWh per capita
Ethnic divisions
- 60% Bhote, 25% ethnic Nepalese, 15% indigenous or migrant tribes
- 30% Quechua, 25% Aymara, 25-30% mixed, 5-15% European
- 81.5% English, 9.6% Scottish, 2.4% Irish, 1.9% Welsh, 1.8% Ulster, 0.8% other; West Indian, Indian, Pakistani over 2%
Exports
- $20.2 million (FY81/82); agricultural and forestry products, coal
- $18.2 billion (f.o.b., 1982 est.); $14.5 billion in crude oil, $3.7 billion consisting mostly of gas, reexports, dried fish, dates
- $96.5 billion (f.o.b., 1982); machinery, transport equipment, petroleum, manufactured goods, chemicals, foodstuffs
Fiscal year
- 1 April-31 March Communications
- calendar year Communications
- 1 April-31 March Communications
Fishing
catch 727,500 metric tons (1981); imports $707 million (1982), exports $283 million (1982)
Freight carried
not available, very light traffic
GDP
- $131 million (FY81/82), $109 per capita; 9.4% growth in FY81/82
- $30 billion (1982 est), $30,000 per capita
GNP
$482.7 billion (1982), $8,620 per capita; 60.6% consumption, 15.3% investment, 21.8% government; —0.4% stockbuilding, — 2.2% net foreign balance, real growth -4.2% (1982)
Government leader
- Jigme Singye WANGCHUCK, King
- ELIZABETH II, Queen (Chief of State); Margaret THATCHER, Prime Minister (Head of Government)
Highways
- 1,304 km total; 418 km surfaced, 515 km improved, 371 km unimproved earth
- 1,085 km total; 885 km bituminous, 200 km gravel and graded earth
Imports
- (from India) $50.8 million (FY81/82); textiles, cereals, vehicles, fuels, machinery
- $8.1 billion (f.o.b., 1982 est.); food, consumer, and capital goods
- $99.0 billion (c.i.f., 1982); machinery, foodstuffs, petroleum, manufactured goods, chemicals, crude materials
Labor force
- 95% agriculture, 1% industry and commerce (1983); massive lack of skilled labor Government
- 1.7 million (1983); 47% agriculture, 23% services, 19% industry and commerce, 11% government
- (1982) 26.08 million; 54.4% industry and commerce, 29.9% services, 7.6% self-employed, 6.6% government, 1.5% agriculture; 12.5% unemployed (early 1984)
Land boundaries
- about 870 km People
- 6,083 km People
- 360 km Water
Language
- Bhotes speak various Tibetan dialects— most widely spoken dialect is Dzongkha (official); Nepalese speak various Nepalese dialects
- Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara (all official)
- English, Welsh (about 26% of population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)
Legal system
- based on Indian law and English common law; in 1964 the monarch assumed full power — no constitution existed beforehand; a Supreme Court hears appeals from district administrators; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
- common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
3 nm (fishing 200 nm)
Literacy
- 5%
- est. 75%
- 99%
Major industries
- cement, chemical products, mining, distilling, food processing, handicrafts
- machinery and transport equipment, metals, food processing, paper and paper products, textiles, chemicals, clothing
Major trade partner
India
Major trade partners
- Japan, EC, US
- 44.4% EC, 12.6% US, 12.5% FRG, 10.3% Commonwealth, 8.4% France; 2.1% Communist (September 1983)
Member of
- ADB, Colombo Plan, FAO, G-77, IBRD, IDA, IFAD, IMF, NAM, UNESCO, UPU, UN, WHO Economy
- ADB, CENTO, Colombo Plan, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, ELDO, ESRO, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB— Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC — International Whaling Commission, IWC — International Wheat Council, NATO, OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG Economy
Military budget
for fiscal year ending 31 December 1983, $1.9 billion; 37% of central government budget Atlantic Ocean Land 243,977 km2; 50% meadow and pasture, 30% arable, 12% waste or urban, 7% forest, 1% inland water
Military manpower
- males 15-49, 350,000; 188,000 fit for military service; about 17,000 reach military age (18) annually
- males 15-49, 547,000; 379,000 fit for military service
Monetary conversion rate
- both ngultrums and Indian rupees are legal tender; 10.224 ngultrums= 10.224 Indian rupees=US$l (October 1983)
- 3.679 UAE dirhams=US$l (February 1984)
- .7062 pounds sterling=US$l (February 1984)
National holiday
- 17 December
- celebration of birthday of the Queen, 16 June
Nationality
- noun — Bhutanese (sing., pi.); adjective — Bhutanese
- noun — Bolivian(s); adjective — Bolivian
- noun — Briton(s), British (collective pi.); adjective — British
Official name
- Kingdom of Bhutan
- Republic of Bolivia
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Organized labor
- 150,000-200,000, concentrated in mining, industry, construction, and transportation Government
- 40% of labor force Government
Other political or pressure groups
- Buddhist clergy
- Trades Union Congress, Confederation of British Industry, National Farmers' Union, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Pipelines
830 km crude oil; 370 km natural gas, including natural gas liquids
Political parties
no legal parties
Political subdivisions
- 4 regions(east, central, west, south), further divided into 17 districts
- 650 parliamentary constituencies
Population
- 1,417,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 2.2%
- 6,037,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 2.6%
- 56,023,000 (July 1984), average annual growth rate 0.0%
Ports
4 major, 18 minor
Railroads
- none
- Great Britain— 17,249 km total; British Railways (BR) operates 17,230 km 1.435-meter standard gauge (3,718 km electrified, 12,591 km double or multiple track), and 19 km 0.597-meter gauge; several. additional small standard gauge and narrow gauge lines are privately owned; Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) operates 332 km 1.600-meter gauge, 190 km double track
Religion
- 75% Lamaistic Buddhism, 25% Buddhist-influenced Hinduism
- 95% Roman Catholic; active Protestant minority, especially Methodist
- 27.0 million Anglican, 5.3 million Roman Catholic, 2.0 million Presbyterian, 760,000 Methodist, 450,000 Jewish (registered)
Suffrage
- each family has one vote
- universal over age 18
Supply
dependent on India Land 1,098,160 km2; 45% urban, desert, waste, or other; 40% forest; 11% pasture and meadow; 2% cultivated and fallow; 2% inland water
Telecommunications
- facilities inadequate; 1,300 telephones (0.1 per 100 pop!.); 11,000 est. radio sets; no TV sets; 20 AM stations and no TV stations Defense Forces
- adequate system of radio relay and coaxial cable; key centers are Abu Dhabi and Dubai; 208,900 telephones (20.0 per 100 popl.); 8 AM, 3 FM, and 9 TV stations; 3 INTELSAT stations with 1 Atlantic and 2 Indian Ocean antennas; plan submarine cables to India and Pakistan Defense Forces
Type
- monarchy; special treaty relationship with India
- republic
- constitutional monarchy
Voting strength
(1983 election) House of Commons — Conservative, 397 seats (42.4%); Labor, 209 seats (27.6%); Social DemocraticLiberal Alliance, 23 seats (17 Liberal, 6 SDP) (25.4%); Scottish National Party, 2seats; Plaid Cymru (Welsh Nationalist), 2 sedts; Official Unionist (Northern Ireland), 1 1 seats; Democratic Unionist (Northern Ireland), 3 seats; Ulster Popular Unionist (Northern Ireland), 1 seat; Social Democratic and Labor (Northern Ireland), 1 seat; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland), 1 seat