**MARCH 2005**

**Asia/Asians**

Seventeen million square miles of real estate make Asia the world\'s
largest continent and home to 3.3 billion people, three-fifths of the
world\'s population.  Besides the world\'s highest peak (Mt. Everest)
and its lowest point (the Dead Sea), Asia\'s topography includes high
plateaus, great peninsulas, deserts, swamps, offshore islands, the
longest rivers, largest lakes, and greatest mountain ranges of the
world.  The climate ranges from torrid heat to arctic cold and from
torrential rains to extreme aridity.

Asia can be divided into six regions, each with distinctive physical,
cultural, economic, and political characteristics.  Southwest Asia
consist of Asia Minor, Arabia and the Fertile Crescent.  South Asia
refers to Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent.  Southeast Asia
consists of the southeast peninsula, the East Indies, and the
Philippines.  East Asia includes China, Mongolia, Korea, and the islands
of Taiwan and Japan.  Russian Asia comprises the northern third of the
continent and includes the vast region of Siberia and the Russian Far
East.  Central Asia includes a group of independent former republics of
the Soviet Union.

![](media/image1.png){width="6.495833333333334in"
height="4.628472222222222in"}

**Continent Size:** 44,579,000 sq km (*17,212,000 sq miles*)
![](media/image2.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}**Percent of Earth\'s Land:** 30%
![](media/image2.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}**Population:** 3,701,000,000 (*2003
est)*

**Asian and Pacific Islander Population Profile:** The Census Bureau of
the U.S. Commerce Department conducted a Current Population Survey (CPS)
in March, 2000.  Not to be confused with the 2000 Census, the CPS
provides data on age, marital status, family type and size, education,
labor force participation and employment status, occupation, income and
earning, poverty, and tenure (owner/renter).  Highlights of the Asian
and Pacific Islander CPS include:

-   80% of Asian and Pacific Islander family households were maintained
    by married couples and 42% of these households had incomes of
    \$75,000 or more.

-   44% of Asian and Pacific Islanders age 25 and over had a bachelor\'s
    degree or higher and 86% had at least a high school diploma in 2000.

-   In 1999, Asian and Pacific Islanders had a record-low poverty rate
    of 10.7%

-   There were 2.5 million Asian and Pacific Islander families; women
    maintained 13% with no spouse present and men 7% with no spouse
    present.

-   Asian and Pacific Islander families tend to be relatively large; 23%
    of Asian and Pacific Islander married-couples families had five or
    more members.

-   53% of Asian and Pacific Islander households owned their own homes.

![](media/image3.png){width="1.4277777777777778in"
height="0.7166666666666667in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Afghanistan)

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** Islamic republic

**CAPITAL: Kabul**

**PROFILE:** Afghanistan\'s recent history is a story of war and civil
unrest. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979, but was forced to withdraw 10
years later by anti-Communist mujahidin forces. The Communist regime in
Kabul collapsed in 1992. Fighting that subsequently erupted among the
various mujahidin factions eventually helped to spawn the Taliban, a
hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that fought to end the warlordism
and civil war which gripped the country. The Taliban seized Kabul in
1996 and were able to capture most of the country outside of Northern
Alliance srongholds primarily in the northeast. Following the 11
September 2001 terrorist attacks, a US, Allied, and Northern Alliance
military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Osama BIN LADIN. In
late 2001, a conference in Bonn, Germany, established a process for
political reconstruction that ultimately resulted in the adoption of a
new constitution and presidential election in 2004. On 9 October 2004,
Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of
Afghanistan. The new Afghan government\'s next task is to hold National
Assembly elections, tentatively scheduled for April 2005.

**LOCATION:** Southern Asia, north and west of Pakistan, east of Iran

![](media/image4.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.7194444444444446in"}

**POPULATION:** 28,513,677 (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak
4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4%

**RELIGION:** Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi\'a Muslim 19%, other 1%

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** arid to semiarid; cold winters and hot summers,
mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest

**LANGUAGES:** Pashtu (official) 35%, Afghan Persian (Dari) 50%, Turkic
languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages
(primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 36%, *male:* 51%, *female:* 21% (1999 est.)

**ECONOMY**: Afghanistan\'s economic outlook has improved significantly
over the past two years because of the infusion of over \$2 billion in
international assistance, dramatic improvements in agricultural
production, and the end of a four-year drought in most of the country.
However, Afghanistan remains extremely poor, landlocked, and highly
dependent on foreign aid, farming, and trade with neighboring countries.
It will probably take the remainder of the decade and continuing donor
aid and attention to raise Afghanistan\'s living standards up from its
current status among the lowest in the world. Much of the population
continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity,
medical care, and jobs, but the Afghan government and international
donors remain committed to improving access to these basic necessities
by prioritizing infrastructure development, education, housing
development, jobs programs, and economic reform over the next year.
Growing political stability and continued international commitment to
Afghan reconstruction create an optimistic outlook for maintaining
improvements to the Afghan economy in 2004. The replacement of the opium
trade - which may account for one-third of GDP - is one of several
potential spoilers for the economy over the long term.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** opium, wheat, fruits, nuts, wool, mutton,
sheepskins, lambskins

**INDUSTRIES:** small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture,
shoes, fertilizer, cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper

**CURRENCY:** afghani (AFA)

**BRIEF HISTORY:** A study of the history of Afghanistan reveals how a
nation can be effected by its geography. For centuries Afghanistan
remained a gateway to the Indian subcontinent and who ever wanted to
conquer the region and take possession of its vast treasures had to deal
with Afghanistan before setting his foot on the subcontinent. Over the
centuries people from different regions settled in Afghanistan and made
it their home land. People came from such culturally divergent countries
such as Iran, Middle East, Anatolia, Greece, Macedonia, China, India,
Mongolia, Central Russia and settled there. They added diversity to the
population but rarely lived in peace. 

It is difficult to believe that the history of this small and poor
country is dotted with such famous names as Darius the Great, Alexander,
Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, Kanishka, Menander, Attila the Hun, Genghis
Khan, Timur,  Mahmud Ghazni, Mahmud Ghori, Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Nadir
Shah. It is also interesting to note that those who came to Afghanistan
rarely managed to hold on to their victories or keep the land under
their possession for long.

Because of its strategic location, some times Afghanistan became a
buffer between two hostile nations. It happened during the Mughal and
the British rule. Some times it also provided sanctuary to the fleeing
rebels or the vanquished rulers from the central plains of India. It
happened many times during the Muslim and Mughal rule. At the height of
its glory, the British army fought  two serious wars in Afghanistan.
Both times they suffered heavy causalities. In recent times the
Russians  fought in Afghanistan for 10 long years and withdrew having
exhausted all the available alternatives to bring the mountains under
their control.

**5000 BC - 2500 BC**: Indus Valley Civilization. Although no
excavations have been made and no archaeological evidence exists as on
date, we strongly believe that the Indus people were familiar with this
region and might have established some settlements there. Reader\'s
attention is drawn to the fact that the North Dravidian languages namely
Kurukh, Malto, and Brahui, are spoken by more than 2 million speakers in
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the border areas of India to this day.

**2500 BC- 1000 BC** Expansion of the Aryan base. The original
inhabitants of this region were pushed towards eastern India where new
schools of thoughts and a new imperial culture would emerge in course of
time.

**328 BC**: The invasion of Alexander the Great.

**303 BC**: The defeat of Seleucus 1 by Chandragupta Maurya.

**250 BC**: The reign of Ashoka

**250 -128 B.C**. : Greaco-Bactrian kingdom at Balkh.

**AD 127-41**: Ptolemy\'s mention of Kabul as Kabura.

**50 - 250 A.D** : Emergence of the Kushana power under Kanishka.

**225 - 600 A.D** : Sassanids occupy and establish their rule.

**652-664 AD**: Invasion of the Arabs and the first contact with Islam.

**8th - 10th century** : The reign of Hindushahis who ruled Kabul and
eastern part of Afghan territory.

**997-1150 AD**: The rule of Ghaznavids 

**998-1030 AD** : The reign of Mahmud  Ghazni. Probably the best period
for Afghanistan.

**1219-1222 AD**: The invasion of Mongols  under Genghis Khan and
destruction of cities and agriculture. 

**1227 AD**: Death of the tyrant: Genghis Khan 

**1370 AD**: Timor Len crowned in Balkh

**16th Century**: Babur invades and rules from Kabul

**1747AD** :Ahmad Shah Sadozai Durani comes to power supported by
Pashthun tribal council. 

**1775 AD** :Timor Shah shifted the capital from Kabul to  Kandahar.

**1818 AD**: Civil War leading to the division of Afghanistan into two
political entities until 1835

**1838 AD**: Said Jamal-ul Din Afghan credited with the Pan-Islamic
movements in the region 

**1839-42 AD**: First Anglo Afghan war

**1826-63 AD**: consolidation of power by Dost Muhammad Khan

**1868-1879 AD:** Amir Shir Ali Khan

**1878-80 AD**: Second Anglo Afghan war

**1880-1901AD**: Rule of Dost Muhammad\'s grandson, Abdur Rahman Khan

**1919-29 AD**: Amanullah Shah 

**1921 AD**: End of British involvement in Afghan affairs

**1933 to 1973 AD**: The long reign of Zahir Shah

**1973 to 1978 AD**: Zahir Shah\'s political reforms fail and his cousin
Mohammad Daud Khan seizes power in a nearly bloodless coup. Zahir Shah
went into exile in Europe.

**April 1978**: Marxist coup. Mohammad Daud was killed in the coup. The
People\'s Democratic party of Afghanistan (PDPA) headed by Nur Mohammad
Taraki comes to power.

**1979**: End of Taraki. He was removed from power. Hafizullah Amin his
lieutenant takes over and kills Taraki.

**December 1979**: Soviet Russia marches into Afghanistan. Amin was
executed and replaced by Barbak Kamal.

**Early 1980\'s**: Mujahideen\'s capture vast territories supported by
foreign powers.

**1986**: Soviet decision to withdraw from Afghanisthan in phases.
Barbak Kamal replaced by Najibullah Government.

**Feb. 15, 1989**: The Russians finally withdraw. However Najibullah
continues while the battle with Mujahideen goes on.

**April 1992**: Occupation of Kabul by Mujahideen and declaration of
Islamic state. Soon a power struggle ensued in the new government
between the two factions: one led by Burhanuddin Rabban and the other
led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Rabbani became the president in December
1992 by a constituent assembly while Hekmatyar became prime minister
under a March 1993 peace accord. The two groups continued fight
resulting in heavy casualties.

**1995** The rise of the Taliban in the southern, Pathan region. 

**Sept. 24, 1996** : The Taliban captured Kabul. 

(The following information is reproduced from the CIA Factbook)

**Present Position**: The Taliban were able to capture most of the
country, aside from Northern Alliance strongholds primarily in the
northeast, until US and allied military action in support of the
opposition following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks forced the
group\'s downfall. In late 2001, major leaders from the Afghan
opposition groups and diaspora met in Bonn, Germany and agreed on a plan
for the formulation of a new government structure that resulted in the
inauguration of Hamid KARZAI as Chairman of the Afghan Interim Authority
(AIA) on 22 December 2001. 

The AIA held a nationwide Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly) in June 2002, and
KARZAI was elected President by secret ballot of the Transitional
Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA). The Transitional Authority has an
18-month mandate to hold a nationwide Loya Jirga to adopt a constitution
and a 24-month mandate to hold nationwide elections. 

In December 2002, the TISA marked the one-year anniversary of the fall
of the Taliban. In addition to occasionally violent political jockeying
and ongoing military action to root out remaining terrorists and Taliban
elements, the country suffers from enormous poverty, a crumbling
infrastructure, and widespread land mines. 

![](media/image5.png){width="1.3083333333333333in"
height="0.8833333333333333in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Kingdom of Cambodia (Cambodia)

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** multiparty democracy under a constitutional
monarchy established in September 1993

**CAPITAL:** Phnom Penh

**PROFILE:** Most Cambodians consider themselves to be Khmers, whose
Angkor Empire extended over much of Southeast Asia and reached its
zenith between the 10th and 13th centuries. Subsequently, attacks by the
Thai and Cham (from present-day Vietnam) weakened the empire ushering in
a long period of decline. In 1863, the king of Cambodia placed the
country under French protection; it became part of French Indochina in
1887. Following Japanese occupation in World War II, Cambodia became
independent within the French Union in 1949 and fully independent in
1953. After a five-year struggle, Communist Khmer Rouge forces captured
Phnom Penh in April 1975 and ordered the evacuation of all cities and
towns; at least 1.5 million Cambodians died from execution, enforced
hardships, or starvation during the Khmer Rouge regime under POL POT. A
December 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove the Khmer Rouge into the
countryside, led to a 10-year Vietnamese occupation, and touched off
almost 13 years of civil war. The 1991 Paris Peace Accords mandated
democratic elections and a ceasefire, which was not fully respected by
the Khmer Rouge. UN-sponsored elections in 1993 helped restore some
semblance of normalcy and the final elements of the Khmer Rouge
surrendered in early 1999. Factional fighting in 1997 ended the first
coalition government, but a second round of national elections in 1998
led to the formation of another coalition government and renewed
political stability. The July 2003 elections were relatively peaceful,
but it took one year of negotiations between contending political
parties before a coalition government was formed. Nation-wide local
elections are scheduled for 2007 and national elections for 2008.

**LOCATION:** Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, between
Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos

![](media/image6.png){width="6.492361111111111in" height="2.24375in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** tropical; rainy, monsoon season (May to November);
dry season (December to April); little seasonal temperature variation.
Mostly low, flat plains, mountains in southwest and north.

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** oil and gas, timber, gemstones, some iron ore,
manganese, phosphates, hydropower potential

**POPULATION:** 13,363,421\
*note:* estimates for this country take into account the effects of
excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy,
higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population growth rates,
and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would
otherwise be expected (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Khmer 90%, Vietnamese 5%, Chinese 1%, other 4%

**RELIGION:** Theravada Buddhist 95%, other 5%

**LANGUAGES:** Khmer (official) 95%, French, English

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 69.4%, *male:* 80.8%, *female:* 59.3% (2002)

**ECONOMY**: Cambodia\'s economy slowed dramatically in 1997-1998 due to
the regional economic crisis, civil violence, and political infighting.
Foreign investment and tourism fell off. In 1999, the first full year of
peace in 30 years, progress was made on economic reforms. Growth resumed
and has remained about 5.0% during 2000-2003. Tourism was Cambodia\'s
fastest growing industry, with arrivals up 34% in 2000 and up another
40% in 2001 before the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the US.
Cambodia expects 1 million foreign tourists in 2004. Economic growth has
been largely driven by expansion in the clothing sector and tourism.
Clothing exports were fostered by the U.S.-Cambodian Bilateral Textile
Agreement signed in 1999. Even given Cambodia\'s recent growth, the
long-term development of the economy after decades of war remains a
daunting challenge. The population lacks education and productive
skills, particularly in the poverty-ridden countryside, which suffers
from an almost total lack of basic infrastructure. Fear of renewed
political instability and a dysfunctional legal system coupled with
government corruption discourage foreign investment. The Cambodian
government continues to work with bilateral and multilateral donors to
address the country\'s many pressing needs. The major economic challenge
for Cambodia over the next decade will be fashioning an economic
environment in which the private sector can create enough jobs to handle
Cambodia\'s demographic imbalance. About 60% of the population is 20
years or younger; most of these citizens will seek to enter the
workforce over the course of the next 10 years.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** rice, rubber, corn, vegetables, cashews,
tapioca

**INDUSTRIES:** tourism, garments, rice milling, fishing, wood and wood
products, rubber, cement, gem mining, textiles

**CURRENCY:** riel (KHR)

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Very little is known about prehistoric Cambodia,
although archeological evidence has established that prior to 1000 BC
Cambodians subsisted on a diet of fish and rice and lived in houses on
stilts, as they still do today. From the 1st to the 6th centuries, much
of Cambodia belonged to the Southeast Asian kingdom of Funan, which
played a vital role in developing the political institutions, culture
and art of later Khmer states. However, it was the Angkorian era,
beginning in the 8th century that really transformed the kingdom into an
artistic and religious power.

Forces of the Thai kingdom of Ayudhya sacked Angkor in 1431, leaving the
Khmers plagued by dynastic rivalries and continual warfare with the
Thais for a century and a half. The Spanish and Portuguese, who had
recently become active in the region, also played a part in these wars
until resentment of their power led to the massacre of the Spanish
garrison at Phnom Penh in 1599. A series of weak kings ruled from 1600
until the French arrived in 1863. After some gunboat diplomacy and the
signing of a treaty of protectorate in 1863, the French went on to force
King Norodom to sign another treaty, this time turning his country into
a virtual colony in 1884.

Following the arrival of the French, a relatively peaceful period
followed (even the peasant uprising of 1916 was considered peaceful). In
1941 the French installed 19-year-old Prince Sihanouk on the Cambodian
throne, on the assumption that he would prove suitably pliable. This
turned out to be a major miscalculation as the years after 1945 were
strife-torn, with the waning of French colonial power aided by the
proximity of the Franco-Viet Minh War that raged in Vietnam and Laos.
Cambodian independence was eventually proclaimed in 1953, the enigmatic
King Norodom Sihanouk going on to dominate national politics for the
next 15 years before being overthrown by the army.

In 1969, the United States carpet-bombed suspected communist base camps
in Cambodia, killing thousands of civilians and dragging the country
unwillingly into the US-Vietnam conflict. American and South Vietnamese
troops invaded the country in 1970 to eradicate Vietnamese communist
forces but were unsuccessful; they did manage, however, to push
Cambodia\'s leftist guerillas (the Khmer Rouge) further into the
country\'s interior. Savage fighting soon engulfed the entire country,
with Phnom Penh falling to the Khmer Rouge in April 1975.

Over the next four years the Khmer Rouge, under Pol Pot\'s leadership,
systematically killed an estimated two million Cambodians (targeting the
educated in particular) in a brutal bid to turn Cambodia into a Maoist,
peasant-dominated agrarian cooperative. Currency was abolished, postal
services were halted, the population became a work force of slave
laborers and the country was almost entirely cut off from the outside
world. Responding to recurring armed incursions into their border
provinces, Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1978, forcing the Khmer Rouge to
flee to the relative sanctuary of the jungles along the Thai border.
From there, they conducted a guerilla war against the Vietnamese-backed
government throughout the late 1970s and 80s.

In mid-1993, UN-administered elections led to a new constitution and the
reinstatement of Norodom Sihanouk as king. The Khmer Rouge boycotted the
elections, rejected peace talks and continued to buy large quantities of
arms from the Cambodian military leadership. In the months following the
election, a government-sponsored amnesty secured the first defections
from Khmer ranks, with more defections occurring from 1994 when the
Khmer Rouge was finally outlawed by the Cambodian government.

The uneasy coalition of Prince Ranariddh\'s National United Front and
Hun Sen\'s Cambodian People\'s Party fell violently apart in July 1997,
and when the dust settled Hun Sen assumed sole leadership of Cambodia.
Elections in mid-98 returned Hun Sen to this position, despite grumbling
from opposition candidates about dodgy electoral practices. While his
democratic credentials are far from impressive, the one-eyed strong man
has proved to be something of a stabilizing force for Cambodia.

Pol Pot\'s death in April 1998 from an apparent heart attack was greeted
with anger (that he was never brought to trial) and skepticism (he has
been reported dead many times before). The UN has pulled out of trials
of other surviving \'top level\' Khmer Rouge leaders on war crimes
charges because the independence of the tribunals is doubtful.

Future stability is tied to improving the country\'s long-suffering
economy, eradicating the entrenched culture of corruption, reducing the
size of the military and answering the troubled question of royal
succession.

Prime Minister Hun Sen\'s Cambodian People\'s Party won elections in
2003, but political stalemate lasted until June 2004, when Hun Sen found
a coalition partner and could resume his prime ministership. In October
2004, King Sihanouk announced his intention to abdicate on account of
ill health and annoyance at the country\'s political infighting.

![](media/image7.png){width="1.3041666666666667in"
height="0.8680555555555556in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** People's Republic of China (China)

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** Communist Republic

**CAPITAL:** Beijing

**PROFILE:** For centuries China stood as a leading civilization,
outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the
19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest,
major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War
II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist
system that, while ensuring China\'s sovereignty, imposed strict
controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of
people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders
focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had
quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved
dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet
political controls remain tight.

**LOCATION:** Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay,
Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam

![](media/image8.png){width="6.497222222222222in"
height="2.2430555555555554in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic
in north. Mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains,
deltas, and hills in east.

**POPULATION:** 1,298,847,624 (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan,
Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%

**RELIGION:** Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%\
*note:* officially atheist (2002 est.)

**LANGUAGES:** Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the
Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou),
Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority
languages (see Ethnic groups entry)

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and write

*total population:* 90.9%, *male:* 95.1%, *female:* 86.5% (2002)

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury,
tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite,
aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world\'s largest)

**ECONOMY**: In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the
economy from a sluggish, inefficient, Soviet-style centrally planned
economy to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates
within a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic
influence of non-state organizations and individual citizens has been
steadily increasing. The authorities switched to a system of household
and village responsibility in agriculture in place of the old
collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and plant
managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale
enterprises in services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy
to increased foreign trade and investment. The result has been a
quadrupling of GDP since 1978. Measured on a purchasing power parity
(PPP) basis, China in 2003 stood as the second-largest economy in the
world after the US, although in per capita terms the country is still
poor.

Agriculture and industry have posted major gains especially in coastal
areas near Hong Kong, opposite Taiwan, and in Shanghai, where foreign
investment has helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. The
leadership, however, often has experienced - as a result of its hybrid
system - the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and
of capitalism (growing income disparities and rising unemployment).
China thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls
at intervals. The government has struggled to (a) sustain adequate jobs
growth for tens of millions of workers laid off from state-owned
enterprises, migrants, and new entrants to the work force; (b) reduce
corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large
state-owned enterprises, many of which had been shielded from
competition by subsidies and had been losing the ability to pay full
wages and pensions. From 80 to 120 million surplus rural workers are
adrift between the villages and the cities, many subsisting through
part-time, low-paying jobs. Popular resistance, changes in central
policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have weakened China\'s
population control program, which is essential to maintaining long-term
growth in living standards. Another long-term threat to growth is the
deterioration in the environment, notably air pollution, soil erosion,
and the steady fall of the water table especially in the north. China
continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic
development. Beijing says it will intensify efforts to stimulate growth
through spending on infrastructure - such as water supply and power
grids - and poverty relief and through rural tax reform. Accession to
the World Trade Organization helps strengthen its ability to maintain
strong growth rates but at the same time puts additional pressure on the
hybrid system of strong political controls and growing market
influences. China has benefited from a huge expansion in computer
internet use. Foreign investment remains a strong element in China\'s
remarkable economic growth. Growing shortages of electric power and raw
materials will hold back the expansion of industrial output in 2004.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea,
millet, barley, cotton, oilseed, pork, fish

**INDUSTRIES:** iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments,
textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers, footwear,
toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics,
telecommunications

**CURRENCY:** yuan (CNY), *note::* also referred to as the Renminbi
(RMB)

**BRIEF HISTORY:** The Chinese claim a history of 5000 years. The first
dynasty, the Xia, is yet to be archaeologically verified but is accepted
as lasting from 2200 to 1700 BC, and is described in legends as having
been preceded by a succession of god-like sovereigns who bestowed the
gifts of life, hunting and agricultural knowledge. The existence of
ensuing dynasties is similarly hazy, but clarity increases with each
era, revealing agricultural societies who practiced ancestor worship.

The Zhou period (1100-221 BC) saw the emergence of Confucianism and the
establishment of the \'mandate of heaven\' whereby the right to rule was
given to the just and denied to the evil and corrupt, leading to the
later Taoist view that heaven\'s disapproval was expressed through
natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and insect plagues.

The Chinese were united for the first time during the Qin dynasty
(221-207 BC). The dynasty standardized the writing system and completed
construction of the Great Wall. The ensuing Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD)
featured much military conflict and the creation of the Three Kingdoms.
Curiously, these war-torn centuries also saw the flowering of Buddhism
and the arts.

Unity arose out of the chaos under the Sui dynasty (581-618) and was
consolidated under the Tang (618-907), commonly regarded as the most
glorious period of Chinese history. Military conquests re-established
Chinese control of the silk routes and society was \'internationalized\'
to an unprecedented degree. Buddhism flourished under the Tang,
splitting into two distinct schools: the Chan (Zen) and Pure Land
(Chinese Buddhist).

The Song dynasty (960-1279) was marked by a revival of Confucianism and
urban and commercial revolutions - it was during the 13th century that
Marco Polo commented on the grand scale of China\'s prosperous cities.
Genghis\' grandson Kublai Khan\'s Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) established a
capital at what is now Beijing and militarized the nation\'s
administration. The novice Buddhist Hongwu established the Ming dynasty
(1368-1644), with capitals at Beijing and Nanjing.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in China, anchoring
off the coast in 1516. A trade mission was established in Macau by 1557,
but it was not until 1760 that other powers gained secure access to
Chinese markets via a base in Guangzhou. Trade flourished, but in
China\'s favor, as British purchases of silk and tea far outweighed
Chinese purchases of wool and spices. In 1773 the British decided to
balance the books by encouraging the sale of opium. By 1840 the Opium
Wars were on.

The resulting treaties signed in British favor led to the cession of
Hong Kong and the signing of the humiliating Treaty of Nanking. A
subsequent land-grabbing spree by Western powers saw China carved up
into spheres of influence. The Chinese agreed to the US-proposed
free-trade Open Door Policy and all of China\'s colonial possessions
soon evaporated, with Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia falling to the French,
Burma to the British, and Korea and Taiwan to Japan.

The first half of the 20th century was a period of utter chaos.
Intellectuals searched for a new philosophy to replace Confucianism,
while warlords attempted to grab imperial power. Sun Yatsen\'s
Kuomintang (KMT, or Nationalist Party) established a base in southern
China and began training a National Revolutionary Army (NRA). Meanwhile,
talks between the Soviet Comintern and prominent Chinese Marxists
resulted in the formation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921.
Hopes of the CCP aligning with the KMT were dashed by Sun Yatsen\'s
death and the rise from the KMT of Chiang Kaishek in Beijing, who
favored a capitalist state supported by a military dictatorship.

The Communists were split between those who focused on urban revolt and
those who believed victory lay in uniting the countryside. Mao Zedong
established his forces in the mountains of Jinggang Shan, and by 1930
had marshaled a guerrilla army of 40,000. Chiang mounted four Communists
extermination campaigns, each time resulting in Communist victories.
Chiang\'s fifth campaign was very nearly successful because the
Communists ill-advisedly met the KMT head-on in battle. Hemmed in, the
Communists retreated from Jiagnxi north to Shaanxi - the Long March of
1934. En route the Communists armed peasants and redistributed land, and
Mao was recognized as the CCP\'s paramount leader.

In 1931 the Japanese had taken advantage of the chaos in China to invade
Manchuria. Chiang Kaishek did little to halt the Japanese, who by 1939
had overrun most of eastern China. After WWII, China was in the grip of
civil war. On 1 October 1949 Mao Zedong proclaimed the foundation of the
People\'s Republic of China (PRC), while Chiang Kaishek fled to Taiwan.
The USA continued to recognize Chiang as the legitimate ruler of China.

The PRC began its days as a bankrupt nation, but the 1950s ushered in an
era of great confidence. The people were bonded by the Korean War, and
by 1953 inflation had been halted, industrial production was restored to
prewar levels, the redistribution of land had been carried out and the
first Five Year Plan had been launched. The most tragic consequence of
the Party\'s dominance was the \'liberation\' of Tibet in 1950. Beijing
oversaw the enforced exile of the Tibetan spiritual leader and initiated
the genocide of a precious culture. Today, the destruction is by no
means over.

The next plan was the Great Leap Forward, aimed at jump-starting the
economy into first-world standards. Despite oodles of revolutionary
zeal, the plan was stalled by inefficient management, coupled with
floods, droughts and, in 1960, the withdrawal of all Soviet aid. The
Cultural Revolution (1966-70) attempted to draw attention away from
these disasters by increasing Mao\'s personal presence via his Little
Red Book of quotations, the purging of opponents and the launch of the
Red Guard. Universities were closed, intellectuals were killed, temples
were ransacked and reminders of China\'s capitalist past were destroyed.

Beijing politics were divided between moderates Zhou Enlai and Deng
Xiaoping and radicals and Maoists led by Mao\'s wife, Jiang Qing. The
radicals gained the upper hand when Zhou died in 1976. Hua Guofeng,
Mao\'s chosen successor, became acting premier. Public anger at Jiang
Qing and her clique culminated in a gathering of protesters in Tiananmen
Square, and a brutal crackdown led to the disappearance of Deng, who was
blamed for the \'counter-revolutionary\' gathering. Deng returned to
public life in 1977, eventually forming a six-member Standing Committee
of the CCP.

With Deng at the helm, and the signing of the 1984 Sino-British Joint
Declaration, China set a course towards economic reconstruction,
although political reform was almost nil. General dissatisfaction with
the Party, soaring inflation and increased demands for democracy have
led to widespread social unrest, typified by the demonstrations of 1989
that resulted in the bloody Tiananmen Square massacre.

With the handover of Hong Kong and Macau, China\'s \'one country, two
systems\' plan shifted up a gear. Jiang Zemin\'s leadership charted a
new course based on economic growth, and his successor Hu Jintao is set
to follow the path of economic modernization more aggressively still.
Continued civil rights abuses, official corruption and the stagnant
rural economy are the sharpest thorns in the country\'s side, but
membership of the World Trade Organization is a great leap forward -
though probably not one Chairman Mao would have envisaged.

The biggest barrier to the \'One China\' model is the tiny rogue island
of Taiwan, which has agreed in principle to the model but paradoxically
interprets it in its idiosyncratic, Taiwanese way. China has retorted
with rhetoric about \'brothers and sisters\' and, just to prove that all
families have their problems, have backed it up with a show of military
muscle. It\'s the equivalent of a Chinese burn administered by an older
and stronger brother.

![](media/image9.png){width="1.375in" height="0.9201388888888888in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic India
(India)

**CAPITAL:** New Delhi

**PROFILE:** The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the
world, dates back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest
invaded about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier inhabitants
created the classical Indian culture. Arab incursions starting in the
8th century and Turkish in the 12th were followed by European traders,
beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th century, Britain had
assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands. Indian armed
forces in the British army played a vital role in both World Wars.
Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism under Mohandas GANDHI and
Jawaharlal NEHRU led to independence in 1947. The subcontinent was
divided into the secular state of India and the smaller Muslim state of
Pakistan. A third war between the two countries in 1971 resulted in East
Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. Fundamental
concerns in India include the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over
Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive
poverty, and ethnic and religious strife, all this despite impressive
gains in economic investment and output.

**GEOGRAPHY:** Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of
Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan.

![](media/image10.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.7194444444444446in"}

**POPULATION:** 1,065,070,607 (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3%
(2000).

**LANGUAGES:** English enjoys associate status but is the most important
language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is
the national language and primary tongue of 30% of the people; there are
14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu,
Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri,
Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu
spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language.

**RELIGION:** Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other
groups including Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5% (2000)

**EDUCATION/LITERARY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 59.5%, *male:* 70.2%, *female:* 48.3% (2003 est.)

**GOVERNMENT:** Federal Republic, 28 states and 7 union territories\*;
Andaman and Nicobar Islands\*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Bihar, Chandigarh\*, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli\*, Daman and
Diu\*, Delhi\*, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and
Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep\*, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa,
Pondicherry\*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura,
Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal.

**CLIMATE:** varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in
north.

**TERRAIN:** upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling
plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in north.

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron
ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas,
diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable land.

**NATURAL HAZARDS:** droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and
destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe thunderstorms;
earthquakes.

**BRIEF HISTROY:** **I**ndia\'s extraordinary history is intimately tied
to its geography. A meeting ground between the East and the West, it has
always been an invader\'s paradise, while at the same time its natural
isolation and magnetic religions allowed it to adapt to and absorb many
of the peoples who penetrated its mountain passes. No matter how many
Persians, Greeks, Chinese nomads, Arabs, Portuguese, British and other
raiders had their way with the land, local Hindu kingdoms invariably
survived their depradations, living out their own sagas of conquest and
collapse. All the while, these local dynasties built upon the roots of a
culture well established since the time of the first invaders, the
Aryans. In short, India has always been simply too big, too complicated,
and too culturally subtle to let any one empire dominate it for long.

True to the haphazard ambiance of the country, the discovery of India\'s
most ancient civilization literally happened by accident. British
engineers in the mid-1800\'s, busy constructing a railway line between
Karachi and Punjab, found ancient, kiln-baked bricks along the path of
the track. This discovery was treated at the time as little more than a
curiosity, but archaeologists later revisited the site in the 1920\'s
and determined that the bricks were over 5000 years old. Soon afterward,
two important cities were discovered: Harappa on the Ravi river, and
Mohenjodaro on the Indus.

The civilization that laid the bricks, one of the world\'s oldest, was
known as the Indus. They had a written language and were highly
sophisticated. Dating back to 3000 BC, they originated in the south and
moved north, building complex, mathematically-planned cities. Some of
these towns were almost three miles in diameter and contained as many as
30,000 residents. These ancient municipalities had granaries, citadels,
and even household toilets. In Mohenjodaro, a mile-long canal connected
the city to the sea, and trading ships sailed as far as Mesopotamia. At
its height, the Indus civilization extended over half a million square
miles across the Indus river valley, and though it existed at the same
time as the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Sumer, it far outlasted
them.

The first group to invade India was the Aryans, who came out of the
north in about 1500 BC. The Aryans brought with them strong cultural
traditions that, miraculously, still remain in force today. They spoke
and wrote in a language called Sanskrit, which was later used in the
first documentation of the Vedas. Though warriors and conquerors, the
Aryans lived alongside Indus, introducing them to the *caste* system and
establishing the basis of the Indian religions. The Aryans inhabited the
northern regions for about 700 years, then moved further south and east
when they developed iron tools and weapons. They eventually settled the
Ganges valley and built large kingdoms throughout much of northern
India.

The second great invasion into India occurred around 500 BC, when the
Persian kings Cyrus and Darius, pushing their empire eastward, conquered
the ever-prized Indus Valley. Compared to the Aryans, the Persian
influence was marginal, perhaps because they were only able to occupy
the region for a relatively brief period of about 150 years. The
Persians were in turn conquered by the Greeks under Alexander the Great,
who swept through the country as far as the Beas River, where he
defeated King Porus and an army of 200 elephants in 326 BC. The
tireless, charismatic conqueror wanted to extend his empire even further
eastward, but his own troops (undoubtedly exhausted) refused to
continue. Alexander returned home, leaving behind garrisons to keep the
trade routes open.

While the Persians and Greeks subdued the Indus Valley and the
northwest, Aryan-based kingdoms continued developing in the East. In the
5th century BC, Siddhartha Gautama founded the religion of Buddhism, a
profoundly influential work of human thought still espoused by much of
the world. As the overextended Hellenistic sphere declined, a king known
as Chandragupta swept back through the country from Magadha (Bihar) and
conquered his way well into Afghanistan. This was the beginning of one
India\'s greatest dynasties, the Maurya. Under the great king Ashoka
(268-31 BC), the Mauryan empire conquered nearly the entire
subcontinent, extending itself as far south as Mysore. When Ashoka
conquered Orissa, however, his army shed so much blood that the
repentant king gave up warfare forever and converted to Buddhism.
Proving to be as tireless a missionary as he had been as conqueror,
Asoka brought Buddhism to much of central Asia. His rule marked the
height of the Maurya empire, and it collapsed only 100 years after his
death. After the demise of the Maurya dynasty, the regions it had
conquered fragmented into a mosaic of kingdoms and smaller dynasties.
The Greeks returned briefly in 150 BC and conquered the Punjab, and by
this time Buddhism was becoming so influential that the Greek king
Menander forsook the Hellenistic pantheon and became a Buddhist himself.
The local kingdoms enjoyed relative autonomy for the next few hundred
years, occasionally fighting (and often losing to) invaders from the
north and China, who seemed to come and go like the monsoons. Unlike the
Greeks, the Romans never made it to India, preferring to expand west
instead.

In AD 319, Chandragupta II founded the Imperial Guptas dynasty, which
conquered and consolidated the entire north and extended as far south as
the Vindya mountains. When the Guptas diminished, a golden age of six
thriving and separate kingdoms ensued, and at this time some of the most
incredible temples in India were constructed in Bhubaneshwar, Konarak,
and Khahurajo. It was time of relative stability, and cultural
developments progressed on all fronts for hundreds of years, until the
dawn of the Muslim era.

Arab traders had visited the western coast since 712, but it wasn\'t
until 1001 that the Muslim world began to make itself keenly felt. In
that year, Arab armies swept down the Khyber pass and hit like a storm.
Led by Mahmud of Ghazi, they raided just about every other year for 26
years straight. They returned home each time, leaving behind them ruined
cities, decimated armies, and probably a very edgy native population.
Then they more or less vanished behind the mountains again for nearly
150 years, and India once again went on its way.

But the Muslims knew India was still there, waiting with all its riches.
They returned in 1192 under Mohammed of Ghor, and this time they meant
to stay. Ghor\'s armies laid waste to the Buddhist temples of Bihar, and
by 1202 he had conquered the most powerful Hindu kingdoms along the
Ganges. When Ghor died in 1206, one of his generals, Qutb-ud-din, ruled
the far north from the Sultanate of Delhi, while the southern majority
of India was free from the invaders. Turkish kings ruled the Muslim
acquisition until 1397, when the Mongols invaded under Timur Lang
(Tamerlane) and ravaged the entire region. One historian wrote that the
lightning speed with which Tamerlane\'s armies struck Delhi was prompted
by their desire to escape the stench of rotting corpses they were
leaving behind them.

Islamic India fragmented after the brutal devastation Timur Lang left in
Delhi, and it was every Muslim strongman for himself. This would change
in 1527, however, when the Mughal (Persian for Mongol) monarch Babur
came into power. Babur was a complicated, enlightened ruler from Kabul
who loved poetry, gardening, and books. He even wrote cultural treatises
on the Hindus he conquered, and took notes on local flora and fauna.
Afghan princes in India asked for his help in 1526, and he conquered the
Punjab and quickly asserted his own claim over them by taking Delhi.
This was the foundation of the Mughal dynasty, whose six emperors would
comprise most influential of all the Muslim dynasties in India.

Babur died in 1530, leaving behind a harried and ineffective son,
Humayun. Humayun\'s own son, Akbar, however, would be the greatest
Mughal ruler of all. Unlike his grandfather, Akbar was more warrior than
scholar, and he extended the empire as far south as the Krishna river.
Akbar tolerated local religions and married a Hindu princess,
establishing a tradition of cultural acceptance that would contribute
greatly to the success of the Mughal rule. In 1605, Akbar was succeed by
his son Jahangir, who passed the expanding empire along to his own son
Shah Jahan in 1627.

Though he spent much of his time subduing Hindu kingdoms to the south,
Shah Jahan left behind the colossal monuments of the Mughal empire,
including the Taj Majal (his favorite wife\'s tomb), the Pearl Mosque,
the Royal Mosque, and the Red Fort. Jahan\'s campaigns in the south and
his flare for extravagant architecture necessitated increased taxes and
distressed his subjects, and under this scenario his son Aurungzebe
imprisoned him, seeking power for himself in 1658.

Unlike his predecessors, Aurungzebe wished to eradicate indigenous
traditions, and his intolerance prompted fierce local resistance. Though
he expanded the empire to include nearly the entire subcontinent, he
could never totally subdue the Mahrattas of the Deccan, who resisted him
until his death in 1707. Out of the Mahrattas\' doggedness arose the
legendary figure of Shivagi, a symbol Hindu resistance and nationalism.
Aurungzebe\'s three sons disputed over succession, and the Mughal empire
crumbled, just as the Europeans were beginning to flex their own
imperialistic muscles.

The Portuguese had traded in Goa as early as 1510, and later founded
three other colonies on the west coast in Diu, Bassein, and Mangalore.
In 1610, the British chased away a Portuguese naval squadron, and the
East India Company created its own outpost at Surat. This small outpost
marked the beginning of a remarkable presence that would last over 300
years and eventually dominate the entire subcontinent. Once in India,
the British began to compete with the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the
French. Through a combination of outright combat and deft alliances with
local princes, the East India Company gained control of all European
trade in India by 1769.

How a tiny island nation, thousands of miles away, came to administer a
huge territory of 300 million people is one of history\'s great
spectacles. A seemingly impossible task, it was done through a highly
effective and organized system called the Raj. Treaties and agreements
were signed with native princes, and the Company gradually increased its
role in local affairs. The Raj helped build infrastructure and trained
natives for its own military, though in theory they were for India\'s
own defense. In 1784, after financial scandals in the Company alarmed
British politicians, the Crown assumed half-control of the Company,
beginning the transfer of power to royal hands.

In 1858, a rumor spread among Hindu soldiers that the British were
greasing their bullets with the fat of cows and pigs, the former sacred
animals to Hindus and the latter unclean animals to Muslims. A year-long
rebellion against the British ensued. Although the Indian Mutiny was
unsuccessful, it prompted the British government to seize total control
of all British interests in India in 1858, finally establishing a
seamless imperialism. Claiming to be only interested in trade, the Raj
steadily expanded its influence until the princes ruled in name only.

The Raj\'s demise was partially a result of its remarkable success. It
had gained control of the country by viewing it as a source of profit.
Infrastructure had been developed, administration established, and an
entire structure of governance erected. India had become a profitable
venture, and the British were loath to allow the Indian population any
power in a system that they viewed as their own accomplishment. The
Indians didn\'t appreciate this much, and as the 20th century dawned
there were increasing movements towards self-rule.

Along with the desire for independence, tensions between Hindus and
Muslims had also been developing over the years. The Muslims had always
been a minority, and the prospect of an exclusively Hindu government
made them wary of independence; they were as inclined to mistrust Hindu
rule as they were to resist the Raj. In 1915, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
came onto the scene, calling for unity between the two groups in an
astonishing display of leadership that would eventually lead the country
to independence.

The profound impact Gandhi had on India and his ability to gain
independence through a totally non-violent mass movement made him one of
the most remarkable leaders the world has ever known. He led by example,
wearing homespun clothes to weaken the British textile industry and
orchestrating a march to the sea, where demonstrators proceeded to make
their own salt in protest against the British monopoly. Indians gave him
the name Mahatma, or Great Soul. The British promised that they would
leave India by 1947.

Independence came at great cost. While Gandhi was leading a largely
Hindu movement, Mohammed Ali Jinnah was fronting a Muslim one through a
group called the Muslim League. Jinnah advocated the division of India
into two separate states: Muslim and Hindu, and he was able to achieve
his goal. When the British left, they created the separate states of
Pakistan and Bangladesh (known at that time as East Pakistan), and
violence erupted when stranded Muslims and Hindu minorities in the areas
fled in opposite directions. Within a few weeks, half a million people
had died in the course of the greatest migration of human beings in the
world\'s history. The aging Gandhi vowed to fast until the violence
stopped, which it did when his health was seriously threatened. At the
same time, the British returned and helped restore order. Excepting
Kashmir, which is still a disputed area (and currently unsafe for
tourists), the division reached stability.

India\'s history since independence has been marked by disunity and
intermittent periods of virtual chaos. In 1948, on the eve of
independence, Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic. His right-hand
man, Jawarhalal Nehru, became India\'s first Prime Minister. Nehru was a
successful leader, steering the young nation through a period of peace
that was contrasted by the rule of Lal Bahadur Shastri, who fought
Pakistan after it invaded two regions of India. Shastri died in 1966
after only 20 months in power, and he was succeeded by Nehru\'s
daughter, Indira Gandhi.

With the name Gandhi (though no relation to Mahatma), Indira was a
powerful, unchallenged leader, and opposition remained negligible until
she abused her power by trying to suppress the press. When the rising
opposition began to threaten her power, she called a state of emergency
and continued to reform the nation, actually making some positive
economic and political changes despite her questionable tactics. Her
most unpopular policy was forced sterilization, and she was eventually
defeated at the polls in 1977 by Morarji Desai of the Jenata party. She
won back power in \'79, however, but was later assassinated in 1984 by a
Sikh terrorist. Although India\'s political climate remains divisive,
the country has attained apparent stability in recent years. Today,
India seems poised to realize its potential as an international economic
power.

![](media/image11.png){width="1.3875in" height="0.9368055555555556in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Republic of Indonesia

**CAPITAL:** Jakarta

**PROFILE:** Indonesia is the world\'s largest archipelago; it achieved
independence from the Netherlands in 1949. Current issues include:
alleviating widespread poverty, implementing IMF-mandated reforms of the
banking sector, effecting a transition to a popularly-elected government
after four decades of authoritarianism, addressing charges of cronyism
and corruption, holding the military and police accountable for human
rights violations, and resolving growing separatist pressures in Aceh
and Papua.

**GEOGRAPHY:** Located in South Asia, archipelago of more than 17,000
islands (6,000 inhabited); straddles Equator; strategic location astride
or along major sea lanes from Indian Ocean to Pacific Ocean. The country
spans almost 2 million square kilometers between Asia and Australia.
![](media/image2.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}![](media/image2.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}It\'s positioned across a region of
immense volcanic activity, and Indonesia has some 400 volcanoes, with at
least 70 still active.
![](media/image2.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}This tropical country and its many
islands (*including Bali*) is one of the most beautiful (*and popular*)
exotic tourism destinations on the planet.

![](media/image12.png){width="6.498611111111111in"
height="2.2402777777777776in"}

**POPULATION:** 238,452,952 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE/SEASON:** Tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands.

**TERRAIN:** mostly coastal lowlands; larger islands have interior
mountains

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m; highest point:
Puncak Jaya 5,030 m

**FLORA AND FAUNA:** Straddling the equator and marking the interface
between the Asian and Australasian worlds, Indonesian has the richest
flora and fauna of any country is South East Asia. Although it accounts
for only 1.3% of the earth land area, Indonesia supports 10% of the
worlds flowering plants (25,000 species), 12% of mammal species (500)
16% of the worlds amphibian and reptile species, 17% of bird species
(1,600) and 25% of the world's species of fish (8,500). In total there
are 816 endemic species of fauna -- animals found nowhere else in the
world except Indonesia -- including 210 mammal species, 430 bird, and
150 reptile.

**AGRICULTURE:** rice, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, rubber, cocoa,
coffee, palm oil, copra, poultry, beef, pork, eggs.

**INDUSTRIES:** petroleum and natural gas, textiles, apparel, footwear,
mining, cement, chemical fertilizers, plywood, rubber, food, tourism.

**LANGUAGES:** Bahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay),
English, Dutch, local dialects, the most widely spoken of which is
Javanese

**RELIGION:** Muslim 88%, Protestant 5%, Roman Catholic 3%, Hindu 2%,
Buddhist 1% (1998)

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** Indonesian rupiah (IDR) (1US dollar equals -
9,311.19 Rupiah (2002)

**GOVERNMENT:** Republic.

**CONTITUTION:** August 1945, abrogated by Federal Constitution of 1949
and Provisional Constitution of 1950, restored 5 July 1959

**LEGAL SYSTEM:** based on Roman-Dutch law, substantially modified by
indigenous concepts and by new criminal procedures code; has not
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

**SUFFRAGE:** 17 years of age; universal and married persons regardless
of age

**VOLCANOES:** Indonesia has more active volcanoes than any other
country -- 13% of the world's total. It has also experienced more
eruptions known to have affected people and their activities (156) than
any country. Over the last 20 years an estimated 175,000 people have
died form volcano activity in Indonesia and between 1985 and 1995 alone
the country experienced no fewer than 38 eruptions.

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** definition: age 15 and over can read and write,
total population: 88.5%, male: 92.9%, female: 84.1% (2003 est.)

**HEALTH:** Indonesia is inevitable exposed to health risks not
encountered in North America, Western Europe or Australian. Medical care
is very variable, medical culture is quite different from the other
neighboring countries, although there are some good hospitals in Jakarta
and other main cities. The likelihood of finding a doctor who speaks
English and a good standard of care diminishes very rapidly as you move
away from the cities.

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Although hundreds of ethnic groups have been know as
the indigenous of Indonesia for hundreds and thousands of years,
Indonesia did not exist in its present form until the turn of the 20th
century.

Of the so-called natives of Indonesia, archaeologists have speculated
that the first people to populate Indonesia migrated from mainland China
some 1,000 years ago and inhabited a stretch of islands along the
equator, later known as Nusantara.

Over the centuries they built and refined their statecraft in the form
of kingdoms and principalities. Sharing similar characteristics with
other Southeast Asian kingdoms, these Nusantara kingdoms based their
conception of state more on people than on space or territory. But
intercourse with the western world changed the course of history in
Nusantara.

In 1511, the Portuguese conquered Malacca, located on the Malay
peninsula, which was then still an inseparable part of Nusantara. The
Dutch followed in 1512 and landed on Banten shore in Java. At first, the
Dutch came more as traders under the trading umbrella of the Royal East
Indies Company *(Vereniging Oost Indische Compagnie*, VOC). For the next
two centuries, the Dutch conducted business with the natives, although
in many cases the trade was not on equal terms. Often, trade was
accompanied by violent pacification processes.

Then the VOC went bankrupt and the Dutch government took over the
business in Nusantara (called the East Indies by the Dutch). Starting
from about the mid-seventh century and lasting until the arrival of the
Japanese in 1942, was the \"real colonization\" called \"high
colonialism\" in literature. The period was disrupted briefly when the
British took over colonial rule in 1811 to 1814. Among other things that
the natives learned from colonization was statecraft based on
territorial conception rather than on people.

In the early 20th century, the natives of Nusantara learned that as
diverse as their ethnicities were, they could imagine themselves as a
unified community. Nationalism had grown in a process that Benedict
Anderson, a doyen of Indonesian studies, calls an \"imagined
community\". During the first half of 20th century Nusantara, its people
built an imaginary nation called Indonesia \-- the name itself was
borrowed from the West. By the end of the 1930s, it was clear that the
end of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia was only a matter of time.

During World War II, 1942-1945, the Japanese occupied Indonesia.
Although short-lived, the occupation enabled Indonesians to arm
themselves for the very first time. Shortly after Japan\'s defeat in
WWII, Sukarno and Hatta proclaimed Indonesia an independent state, and
they became the founding fathers of the new country. The largest
archipelago in the world, with over 17,000 islands \-- only 3,000 of
which are inhabited \-- has emerged into a new Indonesia.

When the Dutch returned and tried to reestablish colonial rule, armed
Indonesians resisted. The Dutch were forced to recognize an independent
Indonesia in 1949.

The new Indonesia adopted a federal system of governance for a short
time. But for a longer period, within a five-year span (1950-1955),
leaders of the new country were eager to adopt a liberal system of
government. Although there is no proof that the system ruined the
economy, it was clear that the elite\'s political stability was shaky.
The longest serving prime minister was only two years in office.

The government then held a general election in 1955, the first and only
democratic general election Indonesia ever had. But feeling that the
country was still unstable two years after the election, president
Sukarno, backed by the Army, declared the 1950 Provisional Constitution
void and reintroduced the 1945 Constitution. The latter provided an
ample opportunity for Sukarno, popularly known as *Bung* Karno (Comrade
Sukarno), to balance three political powers \-- the Indonesian Communist
Party, the Army and himself.

In the first half of the 1960s, *Bung* Karno leaned toward the left. On
domestic politics, he was trying hard to balance the communists and the
Army; on the international stage he was establishing himself as leader
of a new world, free from Cold War antagonism. But economic decline and
mounting conflicts, especially between communists and non-communists,
the latter of which was backed by the Army, caused him to lose control
over the situation.

On Sept. 30, 1965, an abortive coup occurred. There are two conflicting
versions of events surrounding the attempted coup. The official Army
version insists that the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was behind the
coup attempt, while the communist version asserts that the coup was an
internal matter of the Army. In fact, several members of PKI\'s central
bureau were involved, as well as many Army officers and personnel.

The abortive coup cost Indonesia dearly. It took the lives of seven
high-ranking Army generals, followed by a pogrom of communists \-- a
moderate estimate ranges between 300 thousand and 500 thousand alleged
members of PKI. Soeharto, who then was a major general and commander of
the Army Strategic Reserves Command, took over leadership and deposed
*Bung* Karno from his presidential seat.

In 1966, Soeharto received a letter known as the March 11 Letter of
Instruction which reportedly transferred state power from Sukarno to
him.

In 1967, Soeharto unseated Sukarno as president in the special session
of the Provisional People\'s Consultative Assembly (MPRS).

Consolidating his power under a new regime called the New Order,
Soeharto launched a \"regime cleansing\" against the Old Order.

Together with Hamengkubuwono IX, the sultan of Yogyakarta, and Adam
Malik \-- the three were known as the triumvirate \-- Soeharto divided
the tasks for economic and political reconstruction. Sultan
Hamengkubuwono was assigned to lead efforts for economic recovery, Adam
Malik was assigned to redirect Indonesia\'s foreign policy toward the
West, and Soeharto himself was \"assigned\" to rebuild the lamentable
domestic politics.

Soeharto was determined to change Indonesia\'s course, from its emphasis
on politics to prioritizing economic development. He set up the trilogy
of development: political stability, economic growth and equality.

To gain political legitimacy, perceived as a prerequisite to economic
growth, the government conducted a general election in 1971. The
election, however, was far from democratic. Soeharto introduced the
\"floating mass\" concept that banned political parties from operating
at village level.

From the 1971 election and throughout the New Order period, the
Functional Group (Golongan Karya, or Golkar) served as Soeharto\'s main
political machinery. Golkar legally operated not as a political party,
although in fact it was a party. Golkar ran in the 1971 elections
against 10 other political parties \-- including PKI and Masyumi which
were two of the four biggest parties in 1955 but which had been out of
political scene \-- and won 62 percent of the vote.

In 1974, Soeharto forced all political parties to merge into three:
Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI). Again, legally speaking Golkar was not a political party.
Five more elections were conducted every five years. During those years,
Soeharto tightly controlled politics; not even the slightest room was
available for opposition.

There were several cases of serious opposition during the New Order
regime. The first came rather as a blow in 1974, when students protested
against Japanese investments. Added by political rivalry between Gen.
Soemitro and Maj. Gen. Ali Moertopo, student protests in Jakarta turned
into riots. The movement ended with the removal of Soemitro from his
powerful position as deputy commander of the Armed Forces and chief of
staff of the Operation Command for the Restoration of Security and Order
(Kopkamtib).

The second serious opposition movement came in 1978. Again it came from
students, who protested Soeharto\'s bid for a second term in office,
which would be decided upon by the People\'s Consultative Assembly in
its General Session in March 1978.

Several retired Army officers backed the students, while factionalism
was apparent within the Armed Forces. Soeharto moved fast to crush the
movement. Hundreds of opposition and student leaders were arrested,
dozens of newspapers and magazines were closed down. The movement lost
its momentum, and after that Soeharto enjoyed an incontestable position.

If Golkar served as Soeharto\'s main political machinery, the Army
functioned as guardian of the state. And since the state was
personalized around Soeharto alone, the Army also served to protect him.
Under its dual function role doctrine \-- the doctrine argues that the
duties of a professional Indonesian Armed Forces includes attending to
nonmilitary business, especially if it has to do with politics \-- the
military intervened in almost all sectors of public life. At its peak,
the number of military personnel serving in nonmilitary affairs reached
over 40,000. Later, history witnessed excesses of the doctrine.

Some businesspeople, many of whom were of Chinese descent, enjoyed state
protection and sometimes two-digit economic growth; some grew to become
tycoons and magnates. The privileges that these businesspeople enjoyed
sparked resentment from other communities. As a result, racial tension
grew.

But Chinese businesspeople were not the only ones to enjoy state
protection and preference. Some indigenous businesspeople also enjoyed
similar privileges. In general, what Kunio Yoshihara calls \"ersatz
capitalism\", or pseudo-capitalism, grew. Those \"capitalists\" were not
real capitalists.

Then the financial crisis came. It first hit in mid-1997, and many
believe it was a direct result of Thailand\'s economic crisis. The
crisis worsen with the scheduling of the People\'s Consultative
Assembly\'s General Session in March 1998, with the main agenda being to
\"elect\" a \"new\" national leadership. It eventually turned into a
political crisis too. But Soeharto was determined to run for his seventh
consecutive five-year term in office. Supported by his political
machine, Soeharto, as expected, became president again.

The economic and political crises made the political climate like a
house of cards. Lacking sensitivity, Soeharto filled his new Cabinet
with cronies, and appointed one of his daughters minister of social
affairs. Less than two months after the formation of the new Cabinet,
political tension mounted to an unbearable level. On May 12, four
Trisakti University students were shot dead following a peaceful
demonstration.

The shootings immediately sparked the emotions of the masses. To the
majority of people, the New Order regime had become soulless. Within a
week, Indonesia experienced one of its most tumultuous periods in
history. For three days, from May 13 through to May 15, six of the
country\'s largest cities were hit by massive riots, probably the
largest riots in Indonesia\'s history. Days later, hundreds of thousand
students and members of the public poured into the streets. Chanting and
demanding total reform, thousands marched to the legislative building in
Jakarta and occupied it for several days.

This forced Soeharto to step down. Instead of returning the presidential
mandate to the People\'s Consultative Assembly (MPR) he gave the mandate
to vice president B.J. Habibie. The new president is weak, but his
weakness is one of his strengths. Everyone close to him feels that they
can use him, and thus balancing the power is everyone\'s interest. The
government scheduled another general election on June 7, 1999, only two
years after the last election.

Forty-eight political parties, instead of three, competed for 462 seats
in the House of Representatives, with the remaining 38 seats going to
the military. The election was the first democratic poll since 1965, and
the results should have a long-term effect on domestic political
stability. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan)
won a majority in the House (DPR) with 35 percent of seats, followed by
Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party
(PKB), the Crescent and Stars Party (PBB) and the National Mandate Party
(PAN).

Despite its position as a simple majority party, PDI Perjuangan lost the
political battle to install chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri as
president. In a tight race against a strategic coalition of Golkar and
the Axis Force, a coalition of various Islamic parties, PDI Perjuangan
also lost the strategic posts of speakers of the House and People\'s
Consultative Assembly. After losing out on the presidency, Megawati was
elected as vice president.

![](media/image13.png){width="1.5270833333333333in"
height="0.8555555555555555in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran)

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** Theocratic republic

**CAPITAL:** Tehran

**PROFILE:** Known as Persia until 1935, Iran became an Islamic republic
in 1979 after the ruling monarchy was overthrown and the shah was forced
into exile. Conservative clerical forces established a theocratic system
of government with ultimate political authority nominally vested in a
learned religious scholar. Iranian-US relations have been strained since
a group of Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran on 4
November 1979 and held it until 20 January 1981. During 1980-88, Iran
fought a bloody, indecisive war with Iraq that eventually expanded into
the Persian Gulf and led to clashes between US Navy and Iranian military
forces between 1987-1988. Iran has been designated a state sponsor of
terrorism for its activities in Lebanon and elsewhere in the world and
remains subject to US economic sanctions and export controls because of
its continued involvement. Following the elections of a reformist
President and Majlis in the late 1990s, attempts to foster political
reform in response to popular dissatisfaction have floundered as
conservative politicians have prevented reform measures from being
enacted, increased repressive measures, and consolidated their control
over the government.

**LOCATION:** Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf,
and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan

![](media/image14.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.7194444444444446in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** mostly arid or semiarid, subtropical along Caspian
coast, rugged, mountainous rim; high, central basin with deserts,
mountains; small, discontinuous plains along both coasts.

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** petroleum, natural gas, coal, chromium, copper,
iron ore, lead, manganese, zinc, sulfur

**POPULATION:** 69,018,924 (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Persian 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%,
Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%

**RELIGION:** Shi\'a Muslim 89%, Sunni Muslim 9%, Zoroastrian, Jewish,
Christian, and Baha\'i 2%

**LANGUAGES:** Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic and Turkic
dialects 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%,
other 2%

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 79.4%, *male:* 85.6%, *female:* 73% (2003 est.)

**ECONOMY**: Iran\'s economy is marked by a bloated, inefficient state
sector, over reliance on the oil sector, and statist policies that
create major distortions throughout. Most economic activity is
controlled by the state. Private sector activity is typically
small-scale - workshops, farming, and services. President KHATAMI has
continued to follow the market reform plans of former President
RAFSANJANI, with limited progress. Relatively high oil prices in recent
years have enabled Iran to amass some \$22 billion in foreign exchange
reserves, but have not eased economic hardships such as high
unemployment and inflation. In December 2003 a major earthquake
devastated the city of Bam in southeastern Iran, killing more than
30,000 people.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** wheat, rice, other grains, sugar beets,
fruits, nuts, cotton; dairy products, wool; caviar

**INDUSTRIES:** petroleum, petrochemicals, textiles, cement and other
construction materials, food processing (particularly sugar refining and
vegetable oil production), metal fabricating, armaments

**CURRENCY:** Iranian rial (IRR)

**BRIEF HISTORY:** The first distinct people to emerge on the Iranian
plateau were probably the Elamites, who established a city at Shush in
the far south-west. The Aryans came to the region in the second
millennium BC, bringing with them some agricultural and domestic skills.
It wasn\'t until the middle of the 6th century BC, when the Achaemenian
king Cyrus the Great ruled the region, that Persian history was
documented. The Achaemenian Dynasty is recognised as the founder of the
Persian Empire, leading to the eventual creation of Iran.

In the 4th century BC Alexander the Great invaded Persia after
conquering most of Greece, Egypt, Turkey and Iraq. Despite three
conciliatory offers from Darius III for a negotiated peace, Alexander
entered Shush. From there, he took some time to cross the mountains to
the east, but eventually entered Persepolis. After Alexander\'s death in
323 BC, the empire was divided into three squabbling dynasties, with
Persia controlled by the Macedonian Seleucids. But the Seleucids had
problems controlling the numerous feisty ethnic minorities, in
particular the nomadic Parthians who came to control most of Persia
until the 3rd century AD. The Sassanians came from the central regions
of Persia not under direct control of the Parthians. They were an
industrious Zoroastrian gang who promoted urban development and
encouraged trade, but who eventually fell to squabbling and were overrun
by the Arabs in 637.

The Arabs ruled until 1050, converting most of the population to Islam
and introducing the new Persian script and Islamic culture. They were
brought down by a Turkish dynasty, which captured Esfahan in 1051.
Despite numerous rebellions, the Turks hung onto power until they were
swept clean away by Genghis Khan\'s rampaging Mongols in the early 13th
century. When the Mongols ran out of leaders in the late 14th century,
the Timurid Dynasty filled the breach, but was then pressured by Turkmen
tribes, Ottoman Turks and European colonialists such as Portugal.

The ensuing Safavid Dynasty (1502-1722) was one of the great Persian
empires. The brilliant Shah Abbas I and his successors enshrined
Shi\'ism and rebuilt Esfahan, but the dynasty\'s decline was hastened by
Afghan invasions in the early 18th century. The Afghans couldn\'t hold
power and Iran was ruled by a succession of variously mad, bad and
benevolent rulers until the even badder Agha Muhammed Khan, a eunuch,
united the Turkish Ghajars in 1779 and went on to establish a capital in
Tehran. The Ghajar kings ruled a relatively peaceful Iran until 1921,
managing to remain neutral during WWI, but were not able to prevent a
partial occupation by British forces keen to ensure a constant supply of
oil.

One of the last Ghajar kings introduced the idea of elections and a
legislative assembly (called the Majlis), but it wasn\'t until the
charismatic Persian Reza Khan came along in 1923 that the idea stuck.
Reza became prime minister, and commenced the huge task of dragging the
country into the 20th century. Iran (the name was officially adopted in
1934) was again neutral during WWII but Britain and Russia established
spheres of influence there to shut out Germany. In 1941, Reza was forced
into exile in South Africa and his son, Mohammed Reza, succeeded him.
After the war, the USA helped persuade the Russians to leave, the young
Shah regained absolute power and Iran became firmly aligned with the
West.

Over the next 30 years, there was a build up of resistance to Reza, who
had adopted the title of Shah, and his regime of repression and
modernization. As the economy went from bad to worse under the Shah\'s
post oil-boom mismanagement, the growing opposition made its presence
felt with sabotage and massive demonstrations. The Shah\'s responses
became increasingly desperate and brutal, US support wavered, and he
finally fled on 16 January 1979. A couple of weeks later, the
acknowledged leader of the Shah\'s opponents, Ayatollah Khomeini,
returned from exile to be greeted by adoring millions. The Ayatollah\'s
fiery brand of nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism led to the
efficient establishment of a clergy-dominated Islamic Republic, where
the USA was styled as the \'Great Satan\' and Israel fared not much
better.

Not long after the Ayatollah was proclaimed Emam (leader), Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein made an opportunistic land grab in Khuzestan
province. It was a disastrous move, embroiling the two countries in a
hideous war that killed hundreds of thousands before an unsatisfactory
ceasefire was negotiated in 1988. The Western powers and the USSR
supported Iraq, using \'lesser of two evils\' logic, and weapons were
only sold to Iran at vastly inflated prices.

On 4 June 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini died, leaving an uncertain legacy.
Two months later Hojjat-ol-Eslam Rafsanjani was elected president, a
post which had previously been largely ceremonial, and Khomeini\'s
position as Supreme Leader was taken by the former president, Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei. A trade embargo was implemented against Iran by the USA,
who alleged that Iran had sponsored terrorist groups throughout the
region and destabilized the peace process in the Middle East.

Following the 1997 landslide election of the moderate Iranian President
Mohammed Khatami, many hoped that relations with the outside world would
improve. However, relations with Germany (and most of Europe) hit rock
bottom in 1997 after a German court ruled that the Iranian government
had been involved in the assassination of Iranian Kurds in Germany
several years earlier. Iran\'s international position was further
destabilized when the US president George W. Bush lumped it into his
\'axis of evil\'.

Khatami\'s re-election encouraged Iranian reformers, but real power
still remained with the Islamic clerics despite reformist rumblings and
international pressure. In the 2004 elections the conservatives won
control of parliament in a process marked by controversy - the hard-line
Council of Guardians had disqualified many reform-minded candidates
prior to the poll.

In 2003, Iran came under pressure from the International Atomic Energy
Agency over its nuclear energy program. Subsequent IAEA inspections that
year concluded there was no evidence that Iran had a nuclear weapons
program.

Then in 2003 the country was hit by one of the catastrophic earthquakes
to which it has historically been prone. Centered around the city of Bam
in southeastern Iran, it killed 40,000 people and left the city in
ruins.

![](media/image15.png){width="1.4291666666666667in"
height="0.9527777777777777in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Republic of Iraq

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** none; note - the Iraqi Interim Government (IG) was
appointed on 1 June 2004, held a free election on January 30, 2005.

**CAPITAL:** Baghdad

**PROFILE:** Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq was occupied by
Britain during the course of World War I; in 1920, it was declared a
League of Nations mandate under UK administration. In stages over the
next dozen years, Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932. A
\"republic\" was proclaimed in 1958, but in actuality a series of
military strongmen ruled the country, the latest was Saddam Husayn.
Territorial disputes with Iran led to an inconclusive and costly
eight-year war (1980-88). In August 1990, Iraq seized Kuwait, but was
expelled by US-led, UN coalition forces during the Gulf War of
January-February 1991. Following Kuwait\'s liberation, the UN Security
Council (UNSC) required Iraq to scrap all weapons of mass destruction
and long-range missiles and to allow UN verification inspections.
Continued Iraqi noncompliance with UNSC resolutions over a period of 12
years resulted in the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the
ouster of the regime. Coalition forces remain in Iraq, helping to
restore degraded infrastructure and facilitating the establishment of a
freely elected government, while simultaneously dealing with a robust
insurgency.

**LOCATION:** Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and
Kuwait

![](media/image16.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.6909722222222223in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** Mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot,
cloudless summers; northern mountainous regions along Iranian and
Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows
that melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive flooding in
central and southern Iraq. Mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along
Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along
borders with Iran and Turkey.

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur

**POPULATION:** 25,374,691 (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Arab 75%-80%, Kurdish 15%-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian or
other 5%

**RELIGION:** Muslim 97% (Shi\'a 60%-65%, Sunni 32%-37%), Christian or
other 3%

**LANGUAGES:** Arabic, Kurdish (official in Kurdish regions), Assyrian,
Armenian

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 40.4%, *male:* 55.9%, *female:* 24.4% (2003 est.)

**ECONOMY**: Iraq\'s economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has
traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. In the
1980s financial problems caused by massive expenditures in the
eight-year war with Iran and damage to oil export facilities by Iran led
the government to implement austerity measures, borrow heavily, and
later reschedule foreign debt payments; Iraq suffered economic losses
from that war of at least \$100 billion. After hostilities ended in
1988, oil exports gradually increased with the construction of new
pipelines and restoration of damaged facilities. Iraq\'s seizure of
Kuwait in August 1990, subsequent international economic sanctions, and
damage from military action by an international coalition beginning in
January 1991 drastically reduced economic activity. Although government
policies supporting large military and internal security forces and
allocating resources to key supporters of the regime have hurt the
economy, implementation of the UN\'s oil-for-food program beginning in
December 1996 helped improve conditions for the average Iraqi citizen.
Iraq was allowed to export limited amounts of oil in exchange for food,
medicine, and some infrastructure spare parts. In December 1999, the UN
Security Council authorized Iraq to export under the program as much oil
as required to meet humanitarian needs. The drop in GDP in 2001-02 was
largely the result of the global economic slowdown and lower oil prices.
Per capita food imports increased significantly, while medical supplies
and health care services steadily improved. Per capita output and living
standards were still well below the pre-1991 level, but any estimates
have a wide range of error. The military victory of the US-led coalition
in March-April 2003 resulted in the shutdown of much of the central
economic administrative structure, but with the loss of a comparatively
small amount of capital plant. The rebuilding of oil, electricity, and
other production is proceeding steadily at the start of 2004 with
foreign support and despite the continuation of severe internal strife.
A joint UN and World Bank report released in the fall of 2003 estimated
that Iraq\'s key reconstruction needs through 2007 would cost \$55
billion. In October 2003, international donors pledged assistance worth
more than \$33 billion toward this rebuilding effort.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** wheat, barley, rice, vegetables, dates,
cotton; cattle, sheep

**INDUSTRIES:** petroleum, chemicals, textiles, construction materials,
food processing

**CURRENCY:** New Iraqi dinar (NID) as of 22 January 2004

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Iraq\'s mantle as the \'cradle of civilisation\' is
more than well-deserved. The region once known as Mesopotamia gave birth
to the Sumerian, Akkadian, Aramean Babylonian and Aramean Assyrian
civilisations, and thus played crucial roles in the development of
agrarian society, codes of writing, religion and art.

The region subsequently fell into a decline and came under the tutelage
of various Persian and Seleucid dynasties for some centuries. The region
rose in importance for a second time however with the rise of Islam.
Muslim Arabs stormed Mesopotamia in AD 656 as part of their rampage
throughout the region. The strategic importance of the region\'s
waterways played a key part in the political consolidation of the
vigorous new monotheistic parvenu. By 762, the Abassid Caliphate had
moved to Baghdad, which - as the descendant of nearby Babylon - soon
came to rival its progenitor\'s historical fame as one of the world\'s
great centers of power, religion, art and learning. Baghdad remained a
site of contestation for some time. The area now known as Iraq was
dominated in the late 1300s and early 1400s by the Black Sheep Turkmen,
until the rival White Sheep Turkmen took over in 1466. Finally the
Ottomans established suzerainty over the region and incorporated it into
their Istanbul-centric empire in 1534.

Britain took control of Iraq following the collapse of the Ottoman
empire, and the country became independent in 1932. On 14 July 1958, the
monarchy was overthrown in a military coup and Iraq became a republic,
ushering in a period of instability characterized by a series of coups
and countercoups that continued throughout the 1960s.

The Arab-Israeli conflict of 1967 caused Iraq to turn to the Soviet
Union for support, accusing the USA and UK of supporting Israel. On 17
July 1968, a bloodless coup by the Ba\'ath Party, a secular socialist
party founded in Syria in 1942, put General Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr in
power. The 1970s represented a period of relative stability. In 1975,
Iraq and Iran decided to settle their differences, and a boundary line
was drawn down the middle of the Shatt al-Arab waterway.

The period also saw a rapprochement between the Kurds and Iraqi
authorities, conflict between whom had been simmering since 1961. Iraq
became a more stable country, and the economy improved on the back of
growing oil revenues.

In 1979 Saddam Hussein replaced Al-Bakr as president, the revolution in
Iran took place and relations between the two countries quickly sank to
an all-time low. Iraq reignited the Shatt al-Arab waterway dispute. The
Sunni-dominated Iraqi government was increasingly concerned about the
threat of an Iran-style Shia-majority revolution in his own country.

Clashes took place along the border during 1980 and full-scale war broke
out on 22 September when Iraqi forces entered Iran. The eight years of
war that followed were brutal and bloody, all for little territorial
gain. On the waters of the Guld, oil and other supply ships were
destroyed. In March 1988 Kurdish guerrillas occupied
government-controlled territory in Iraqi Kurdistan; in response, the
Iraqi government killed thousands of civilians, forcing many more to
escape to Iran and Turkey, and allegedly used chemical weapons.

Hostilities ceased in August 1988. In the eight years of war, a million
lives had been lost on both sides, and Iraq\'s economic burden was
estimated at more than US\$100 billion. As Iraq started to emerge from
the ravages of the war, relations with neighboring Kuwait began to sour.
In July 1990, Hussein accused the Kuwaitis (with some justification) of
waging \'economic warfare\' against Iraq by attempting to artificially
hold down the price of oil, and of stealing oil from the Iraqi portion
of an oilfield straddling the border.

Arab attempts to mediate a peaceful end to the dispute failed and on 2
August 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait, thinking it enjoyed tacit US approval.
Though the UN condemned the move, Iraq annexed the emirate as its 19th
province.

Western countries, led by the USA, imposed a trade embargo and more than
half a million troops from 27 countries flooded into Saudi Arabia as the
diplomatic stand-off over Kuwait deepened.

Despite frantic last-minute attempts by international leaders to broker
a deal, the UN\'s 15 January deadline for withdrawal passed, the Iraqis
did not budge. A barrage of Tomahawk cruise missiles signaled the start
of the Gulf War. Allied (mostly US) aircraft began a five week bombing
campaign over Iraq and Kuwait. In contrast, the subsequent ground
offensive lasted only 100 hours. While there were relatively few
casualties on the Allied side, estimates of civilian and military deaths
on the Iraqi side range from 10,000 to more than 100,000.

A ceasefire was announced on 28 February 1991. The Security Council
demanded the eradication of all weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and
WMD-development programs before UN sanctions would be lifted.

The elite remnants of the Iraqi army turned their guns on Kurdish and
Shiite uprisings in the north and south, leading the Allied forces to
impose two \'no-fly\' zones. As malnutrition increased and medical care
became inadequate throughout Iraq, the oil-for-food plan was introduced
in 1996. Meanwhile, the US and UK used the no-fly zones to launch
regular bombing raids into Iraqi territory.

Though its people continued to suffer, Iraq dropped out of the Western
media\'s gaze until the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11,
2001. The US-led war on terror initially focused on Afghanistan, but it
wasn\'t long before Iraq was once more enemy number one on the White
House hit-list. Though UN inspection teams found little to indicate a
weapons of mass destruction program, Washington deemed that Iraq had run
out of time. In the face of strong international condemnation, the
\'coalition of the willing\' invaded Iraq on 20 March 2003.

The Iraqi forces more or less capitulated. On April 9 2003, US forces
took central Baghdad, Saddam\'s statue was toppled and with it went his
regime. The resultant power-vacuum saw the country tip over into chaos.
The transition to a new Iraqi government was slow, costly and often
violent, with numerous Shia militia insurgencies, car bombings, ambush
attacks on coalition troops and kidnappings of foreign civilians taking
a high toll on all and sundry.

An interim government took charge in June 2004, but Iraq was a long way
from stabilizing. The country\'s future remained very much in the
balance.

![](media/image17.png){width="1.3486111111111112in"
height="0.9902777777777778in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** State of Israel (Israel)

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** Parliamentary democracy

**CAPITAL:** Jerusalem; note - Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its
capital in 1950, but the US, like nearly all other countries, maintains
its Embassy in Tel Aviv.

**PROFILE:** Following World War II, the British withdrew from their
mandate of Palestine, and the UN partitioned the area into Arab and
Jewish states, an arrangement rejected by the Arabs. Subsequently, the
Israelis defeated the Arabs in a series of wars without ending the deep
tensions between the two sides. The territories occupied by Israel since
the 1967 war are not included in the Israel country profile, unless
otherwise noted. On 25 April 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai
pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Israel and Palestinian
officials signed on 13 September 1993 a Declaration of Principles (also
known as the \"Oslo accords\") guiding an interim period of Palestinian
self-rule. Outstanding territorial and other disputes with Jordan were
resolved in the 26 October 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace. In
addition, on 25 May 2000, Israel withdrew unilaterally from southern
Lebanon, which it had occupied since 1982. In keeping with the framework
established at the Madrid Conference in October 1991, bilateral
negotiations were conducted between Israel and Palestinian
representatives and Syria to achieve a permanent settlement. On 24 June
2002, US President Bush laid out a \"road map\" for resolving the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which envisions a two-state solution.
However, progress toward a permanent status agreement has been
undermined by Palestinian-Israeli violence ongoing since September 2000.
The conflict may have reached a turning point with the election in
January 2005 of Mahmud Abbas as the new Palestinian leader following the
November 2004 death of Yasser Arafat.

**LOCATION:** Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between
Egypt and Lebanon

![](media/image18.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.7194444444444446in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** Temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern
desert areas, Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central
mountains; Jordan Rift Valley

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas,
phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand

**POPULATION:** 6,199,008\
*note:* includes about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, about
20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, more than 5,000 in the
Gaza Strip, and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Jewish 80.1% (Europe/America-born 32.1%, Israel-born
20.8%, Africa-born 14.6%, Asia-born 12.6%), non-Jewish 19.9% (mostly
Arab) (1996 est.)

**RELIGION:** Jewish 80.1%, Muslim 14.6% (mostly Sunni Muslim),
Christian 2.1%, other 3.2% (1996 est.)

**LANGUAGES:** Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab
minority, English most commonly used foreign language

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 95.4%, *male:* 97.3%, *female:* 93.6% (2003 est.)

**ECONOMY**: Israel has a technologically advanced market economy with
substantial government participation. It depends on imports of crude
oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited
natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and
industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Israel imports substantial
quantities of grain but is largely self-sufficient in other agricultural
products. Cut diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural
products (fruits and vegetables) are the leading exports. Israel usually
posts sizable current account deficits, which are covered by large
transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the
government\'s external debt is owed to the US, which is its major source
of economic and military aid. The bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict;
difficulties in the high-technology, construction, and tourist sectors;
and fiscal austerity in the face of growing inflation led to small
declines in GDP in 2001 and 2002. The economy grew at 1% in 2003, with
improvements in tourism and foreign direct investment. In 2004, rising
business and consumer confidence - as well as higher demand for Israeli
exports - boosted GDP by 2.7%.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry,
dairy products

**INDUSTRIES:** high-technology projects (including aviation,
communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical
electronics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food,
beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, diamond cutting

**CURRENCY:** new Israeli shekel (ILS); note - NIS is the currency
abbreviation; ILS is the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) code for the NIS

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Thickly literary, packed full of household names, and
always tumultuous, Israel\'s history seeps from the past into the
present, in a country where everyday interactions are shaped by
thousand-year-old conflicts. It all began around 1800 BC when Abraham
led a group of nomads from Mesopotamia and settled in the mountains of
Canaan. By 1023 BC the Israelites had formed a kingdom, led by Saul and
then David, who captured Jerusalem and made it his capital. In around
950 BC, David\'s son Solomon built one of Judaism\'s most important
sites, the First Temple of Jerusalem. The Temple was destroyed in 586 BC
by the invading Babylonians, but was eventually rebuilt. The unstoppable
Roman Empire took Israel in 63 BC and placed it under the control of a
series of consuls, including Herod the Great and Pontius Pilate. This is
when Jesus was believed to have lived and preached in Israel. The
increasing insanity of the Empire under Caligula prompted a Jewish
uprising, which lasted four years but was finally crushed when the
Temple was again destroyed. After a second revolt, Jerusalem itself was
razed, a new city (Aelia Capitolina) built on its ruins, and the
province of Palestine decreed. This defeat marked the end of the Jewish
state and the beginning of the Diaspora, the scattering of the Jewish
people.

In 331 AD Emperor Constantine became a Christian and gave his official
stamp of approval to the previously illegal religion. Suddenly everyone
wanted to know about the Holy Land, and a rash of buildings, including
the churches of the Holy Sepulchre and the Nativity, sprang up all over
Israel to mark sites of religious importance. But Christianity\'s hold
over the country was not to last long - in 638 AD Jerusalem fell to
Caliph Omar and was declared a Holy City of Islam, on the grounds that
the Prophet Mohammed had ascended to heaven from atop the Temple Mount.
Christians around the world raised their hackles at this desecration,
and by 1099 they\'d scrounged an army together and occupied Jerusalem,
murdering everyone they could get their hands on and beginning nearly
100 years of Christian rule. But by 1187 the Muslims again had the upper
hand - after decades of Christian/Muslim scuffling, the Islamic Mamluks
knocked over the last Crusader stronghold in 1291.

The next 500 years were some of the quietest Israel has seen. Empires
rose and fell, and control of the country changed hands with monotonous
regularity, but very little of the fighting took place on Israeli soil -
for the average Israelite, it was business as usual. The only blip
occurred in the 16th century, when the Ottoman Empire took over the
reins and Suleyman the Magnificent rebuilt Jerusalem\'s city walls. By
the mid-19th century the Ottomans were losing their grip and world
interest once again focused on Israel. Britain opened a consulate in
Jerusalem, and in 1839 Sir Moses Montefiore, a British Jew, began
promoting the idea of a Jewish state. In 1878 the first Jewish colony
was founded, and before long the first Aliyah, or wave of immigrants,
had started. At the same time, the Arab population of Palestine was
becoming strongly nationalistic and anti-European, which did not bode
well for the new arrivals.

At the time of WWI, Britain promised Arabs they\'d recognize an Arab
state, and Jews they\'d support a Jewish homeland in Palestine. When the
war ended, Britain was given a mandate to rule the country, and as
Europe moved towards WWII, Britain decided to stop all migration to
Israel. Desperate illegal immigrants continued to arrive, and the Arab
population responded violently. By 1947 the situation had reached an
impasse, Britain gave up its mandate and a resolution was passed to
divide the country between Arabs and Jews. On 14 May 1948 Israel came
into being. Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon invaded soon after but were
defeated and when a ceasefire was declared in May 1949, Israel had
extended the territory under its control in Palestine. Citizenship was
offered to any Jewish person wishing to immigrate and the country began
to fill with new arrivals.

In 1956, in response to Egyptian moves to take control of the Suez,
Israeli, British and French armies invaded Egypt\'s Sinai Peninsula.
Under strong international pressure, Israel handed back the Sinai and
British and French troops withdrew.

Hostilities continued to percolate between Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan
and Lebanon. On June 5, 1967 Israel reacted preemptively to the threats
surrounding it and launched attacks against Arab troops along its
borders. In the ensuing \'six day war\' Israel extended its territory
into the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai
Peninsula. In response, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO),
founded in 1964, reformed under Yasser Arafat. The PLO claimed to be the
sole representative of the Palestinian people and it vowed to regain
their land and destroy the Israeli state.

In 1979, after having unsuccessfully attempted to regain the Sinai from
Israel in the Yom Kippur war (1973), Egypt signed a mutual recognition
pact with Israel and the Sinai was handed back. Tensions with Lebanon
and Syria deteriorated and in 1981, Lebanon was invaded and the Golan
Heights were formally annexed. Israel withdrew in 1985 but the area
along its border in south Lebanon remained an occupied \'security zone\'
until 2000. A peace deal with Jordan was signed.

In 1987 a Palestinian popular uprising, the intifada, aimed at ending
the encroachment of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. It
employed guerrilla warfare against Israeli forces. In 1993, the Oslo
Peace Accord put mutual recognition between Israel and the PLO on the
agenda. It also offered limited Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank
and Gaza. The chances of success were scuttled when, in 1995, Rabin was
assassinated. His replacement, Binyamin Netanyahu, toed a hard line in
negotiations. During his time, Israeli settlements spread in the West
Bank and Gaza and terrorist activity increased.

Ehud Barak was elected in 1999 promising to withdraw from the \'Security
Zone\' in southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops and Hezbollah
guerrillas had been lobbing artillery at one another. As troops began
evacuating in May 2000, the Hezbollah moved in rapidly and forced
Israeli soldiers into a chaotic retreat under heavy fire. Nevertheless,
it seemed that with Barak at the helm, Israel was closer to resolving
its disputes with the Palestinians than at any time since 1967. At Camp
David, far-reaching proposals were put on the table in exchange for a
guarantee of safety and security and a cessation of terrorist violence.
The Palestinians rejected the offer, with a stalemate on the status of
Jerusalem, the right of return of Palestinian refugees and the need for
a final settlement. The opportunity missed, the situation rapidly
deteriorated. Following a provocative visit by Ariel Sharon to the
al-Aqsa/Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem, vicious fighting broke out in
the West Bank between Palestinian Authority police and Israeli soldiers.
This left many dead and wounded, the fallout resulting in 300 dead by
the end of 2000.

In 2001, hardliner Ariel Sharon replaced Barak, marking a shift in
policy. The events of September 11 hardened the Israeli mood further as
Palestinian aggression was dubbed the \'second intifada\'. Sharon\'s
pursuit of what were called Palestinian terrorists did little to stymie
the wave of Palestinian suicide bombings.

Both sides blamed the other for each outbreak of bloodshed. As
Palestinian suicide bombers killed or wounded scores of innocent people,
the Israelis clamped down on the Palestinians, launching assaults
against what it deemed were terrorist cells, and claiming innocent lives
in the process - the ratio of Palestinian to Israeli casualties was
about three to one.

Living conditions in the Palestinian Territories declined. The ageing
Arafat resisted attempts to loosen his grip on power and was
increasingly isolated. Israeli settlers on Palestinian land grew to
number more than 250,000. Construction of a \'security fence\' - more of
a wall isolating Palestinians - was ruled illegal by the UN High Court
and helped shred the much-vaunted US roadmap to peace.

![](media/image19.png){width="1.4326388888888888in"
height="0.9590277777777778in"}

**COUNTRY NAME: Japan**

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** Constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary
government

**CAPITAL:** Tokyo

**PROFILE:** In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship)
ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to
secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy
stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Following the
Treaty of Kanagawa with the United States in 1854, Japan opened its
ports and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. During the
late 19th and early 20th centuries, Japan became a regional power that
was able to defeat the forces of both China and Russia. It occupied
Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and southern Sakhalin Island. In 1933 Japan
occupied Manchuria and in 1937 it launched a full-scale invasion of
China. Japan attacked US forces in 1941 - triggering America\'s entry
into World War II - and soon occupied much of East and Southeast Asia.
After its defeat in World War II, Japan recovered to become an economic
power and a staunch ally of the US. While the emperor retains his throne
as a symbol of national unity, actual power rests in networks of
powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and business executives. The economy
experienced a major slowdown starting in the 1990s following three
decades of unprecedented growth, but Japan still remains a major
economic power, both in Asia and globally. In 2005, Japan began a
two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

**LOCATION:** Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean
and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula

![](media/image20.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.7194444444444446in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** varies from tropical in south to cool temperate in
north, mostly rugged mountains.

**POPULATION:** 127,333,002 (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Japanese 99%, others 1% (Korean 511,262, Chinese
244,241, Brazilian 182,232, Filipino 89,851, other 237,914), *note:* up
to 230,000 Brazilians of Japanese origin migrated to Japan in the 1990s
to work in industries; some have returned to Brazil (2004)

**RELIGION:** observe both Shinto and Buddhist 84%, other 16% (including
Christian 0.7%)

**LANGUAGES:** Japanese

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and write
*total population:* 99%, *male:* 99%, *female:* 99% (2002)

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** negligible mineral resources, fish

**ECONOMY**: Government-industry cooperation, a strong work ethic,
mastery of high technology, and a comparatively small defense allocation
(1% of GDP) helped Japan advance with extraordinary rapidity to the rank
of second most technologically-powerful economy in the world after the
US and third-largest economy after the US and China. One notable
characteristic of the economy is the working together of manufacturers,
suppliers, and distributors in closely-knit groups called keiretsu. A
second basic feature has been the guarantee of lifetime employment for a
substantial portion of the urban labor force. Both features are now
eroding. Industry, the most important sector of the economy, is heavily
dependent on imported raw materials and fuels. The much smaller
agricultural sector is highly subsidized and protected, with crop yields
among the highest in the world.

Usually self-sufficient in rice, Japan must import about 50% of its
requirements of other grain and fodder crops. Japan maintains one of the
world\'s largest fishing fleets and accounts for nearly 15% of the
global catch. For three decades overall real economic growth had been
spectacular: a 10% average in the 1960s, a 5% average in the 1970s, and
a 4% average in the 1980s. Growth slowed markedly in the 1990s,
averaging just 1.7%, largely because of the after effects of
overinvestment during the late 1980s and contractionary domestic
policies intended to wring speculative excesses from the stock and real
estate markets. Government efforts to revive economic growth have met
with little success and were further hampered in 2000-2003 by the
slowing of the US, European, and Asian economies. Japan\'s huge
government debt, which totals more than 150% of GDP, and the ageing of
the population are two major long-run problems. Robotics constitutes a
key long-term economic strength with Japan possessing 410,000 of the
world\'s 720,000 \"working robots.\" Internal conflict over the proper
way to reform the ailing banking system continues.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit, pork,
poultry, dairy products, eggs, fish

**INDUSTRIES**: among world\'s largest and technologically advanced
producers of motor vehicles, electronic equipment, machine tools, steel
and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, processed foods

**CURRENCY:** yen (JPY)

BRIEF HISTORY: Japan\'s earliest settlers were fishers, hunters and
gatherers who slogged over the land bridges from Korea to the west and
Siberia to the north. It\'s also thought that seafaring migrants from
Polynesia were part of the ethnic blend. By AD 300, the sun-worshipping
Yamato kingdom had loosely unified the nation through conquest and
alliance. Buddhism was introduced from China in the mid-6th century and
soon became the state religion. Rivalry between Buddhism and Shintō, the
traditional religion of Japan, was diffused by presenting Shintō deities
as manifestations of Buddha.

With the empire more or less stable, particularly after the conquest of
the indigenous Ainu in the 9th century, Japan\'s emperors began to
devote more time to leisure and scholarly pursuits and less time to
government. Important court posts were dominated by the noble but
corrupt Fujiwara family. Out in the provinces, a new power was on the
rise: the samurai, or warrior class, readily turned to arms to defend
its autonomy, and began to muscle in on the capital, Heian (modern-day
Kyoto). The Taira clan briefly eclipsed the Fujiwara, and were ousted in
turn by the Minamoto family in 1185. After assuming the rank of *shōgun*
(military leader), Minamoto Yoritomo set up his HQ in Kamakura, while
the emperor remained the nominal ruler in Kyoto. This was the beginning
of a long period of feudal rule by successive samurai families which
lingered until imperial power was restored in 1868.

The feudal centuries can be chunkily split into five main periods. The
Kamakura Period (1185-1333) saw repeated invasions by Kublai Khan\'s
Mongol armies. Japan managed to stave off the Mongols, but a weakened
leadership lost the support of the samurai. Emperor Go-Daigo presided
over the beginning of the Muromachi Period (1333-1576), until a revolt
masterminded by the disgruntled warrior Ashikaga Takauji saw him flee to
the hills. Ashikaga and his descendants ruled with gradually diminishing
efficiency and Japan slipped into civil war and chaos. The various
factions were pacified and unified during the Momoyama Period
(1576-1600) by Oda Nobunaga and his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The
quick spread of Christianity during the Christian Century (1543-1640)
was tolerated at first, then ferociously quashed as the interloping
religion came to be seen as a threat. During the Tokugawa Period
(1600-1867), Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated Hideyoshi\'s young heir and set up
his headquarters at Edo (now Tokyo). The emperor continued to exercise
purely nominal authority in Kyoto while the Tokugawa family led Japan
into a period of national seclusion. Japanese were forbidden to travel
overseas or to trade abroad and foreigners were placed under strict
supervision. The rigid emphasis of these times on submitting
unquestioningly to rules of obedience and loyalty has lasted, some would
say, to the present day.

By the turn of the 19th century, the Tokugawa government was stagnant
and corrupt. Foreign ships started to probe Japan\'s isolation with
increasing insistence, and famine and poverty weakened support for the
government. In 1868 the ruling shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, resigned and
Emperor Meiji resumed control of state affairs, seeing Japan through a
crash course in Westernization and industrialization. In 1889 Japan
created a Western-style constitution, the tenets of which seeped into
national consciousness along with a swing back to traditional values.
Japan\'s growing confidence was demonstrated by the ease with which it
trounced China in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-5) and Russia in the
Russo-Japanese War (1904-5). Under Meiji\'s son, Yoshihito, Japan sided
with the Allies in WWI. Rather than become heavily involved in the
conflict, however, Japan took the opportunity, through shipping and
trade, to expand its economy at top speed. Emperor Hirohito ascended to
the throne in 1926. A rising tide of nationalism was quickened by the
world economic depression that began in 1930. Popular unrest led to a
strong increase in the power of the militarists: Japan invaded Manchuria
in 1931 and entered into full-scale hostilities against China in 1937.

Japan signed a tripartite pact with Germany and Italy in 1940 and, when
diplomatic attempts to gain US neutrality failed, the Japanese launched
themselves into WWII with a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7
December 1941. At first Japan scored rapid successes, pushing its battle
fronts across to India, down to the fringes of Australia and out into
the mid-Pacific. The Battle of Midway opened the US counterattack,
puncturing Japanese naval superiority and turning the tide of war
against Japan. By August 1945, with Japan driven back on all fronts, a
declaration of war by the Soviet Union and the release of atomic bombs
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was all over. Emperor Hirohito announced
unconditional surrender. Japan was occupied until 1952 by Allied forces
who aimed to demilitarize the country and dismantle the power of the
emperor. A recovery program enabled the economy to expand rapidly, and
Japan became the world\'s most successful export economy, generating
massive trade surpluses and dominating such fields as electronics,
robotics, computing, car production and banking.

With the arrival of the 1990s, the old certainties seemed to vanish:
Japan\'s legendary economic growth slowed to a virtual standstill; the
conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was swept out of power and
then back in again the next year; a massive earthquake in 1995 brought
Kobe to its knees (a disaster made worse by a government that was slow
to react); and to top it off, a millennial cult with doomsday ambitions
engineered a poison gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.

Things began to look up with the appointment of Keizo Obuchi, who took
over after Prime Minister Hashimoto was ousted by a voter backlash over
the shrinking economy. Obuchi ushered in a few brief years of economic
vitality, but the job took its toll and he died while still in office
from a massive stroke. His successor, LDP stalwart Yoshiro Mori, held
the dubious honor of possessing the lowest approval rating of any leader
in recent Japanese history, until he announced his resignation in early
April 2001. Mori\'s successor was the eccentric Junichiro Koizumi, who
brought a beguiling mix of nationalism and reform to Japan\'s top job.
Promising to end the culture of high-level nepotism that had in part led
to the deflation, he distinguishes himself with his charisma and dashing
haircut. His energies seem to be paying off: Japan\'s economy's
ever-so-slowly climbing out of its deflationary hole in the ground.

![](media/image21.png){width="1.6777777777777778in"
height="0.8361111111111111in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Jordan)

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** Constitutional monarchy

**CAPITAL:** Amman

**PROFILE:** For most of its history since independence from British
administration in 1946, Jordan was ruled by King Hussein (1953-99). A
pragmatic ruler, he successfully navigated competing pressures from the
major powers (US, USSR, and UK), various Arab states, Israel, and a
large internal Palestinian population, despite several wars and coup
attempts. In 1989 he reinstituted parliamentary elections and gradual
political liberalization; in 1994 he signed a formal peace treaty with
Israel. King Abdullah II - the eldest son of King Hussein and Princess
Muna - assumed the throne following his father\'s death in February
1999. Since then, he has consolidated his power and undertaken an
aggressive economic reform program. Jordan acceded to the World Trade
Organization in 2000, and began to participate in the European Free
Trade Association in 2001. After a two-year delay, parliamentary and
municipal elections took place in the summer of 2003. The Prime Minister
and government appointed in October 2004 declared their commitment to
accelerated economic and political reforms and the new cabinet includes
an unprecedented four women as ministers.

**LOCATION:** Middle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia

![](media/image22.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.7194444444444446in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** mostly arid desert; rainy season in west (November
to April). mostly desert plateau in east, highland area in west; Great
Rift Valley separates East and West Banks of the Jordan River

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** phosphates, potash, shale oil

**POPULATION:** 5,611,202 (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Arab 98%, Circassian 1%, Armenian 1%

**RELIGION:** Sunni Muslim 92%, Christian 6% (majority Greek Orthodox,
but some Greek and Roman Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox,
Armenian Orthodox, and Protestant denominations), other 2% (several
small Shi\'a Muslim and Druze populations) (2001 est.)

**LANGUAGES:** Arabic (official), English widely understood among upper
and middle classes

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 91.3%\
*male:* 95.9%\
*female:* 86.3% (2003 est.)

**ECONOMY**: Jordan is a small Arab country with inadequate supplies of
water and other natural resources such as oil. Debt, poverty, and
unemployment are fundamental problems, but King ABDALLAH, since assuming
the throne in 1999, has undertaken some broad economic reforms in a
long-term effort to improve living standards. \'Amman in the past three
years has worked closely with the IMF, practiced careful monetary
policy, and made substantial headway with privatization. The government
also has liberalized the trade regime sufficiently to secure Jordan\'s
membership in the WTrO (2000), a free trade accord with the US (2000),
and an association agreement with the EU (2001). These measures have
helped improve productivity and have put Jordan on the foreign
investment map. The US-led war in Iraq in 2003 dealt an economic blow to
Jordan, which was dependent on Iraq for discounted oil (worth
\$300-\$600 million a year). Several Gulf nations have provided
temporary aid to compensate for the loss of this oil; when this foreign
aid expires, the Jordanian government has pledged to raise retail
petroleum product prices and the sales tax base. Other ongoing
challenges include fiscal adjustment to reduce the budget deficit,
broader investment incentives to promote job-creating ventures, and the
encouragement of tourism.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** wheat, barley, citrus, tomatoes, melons,
olives; sheep, goats, poultry

**INDUSTRIES:** phosphate mining, pharmaceuticals, petroleum refining,
cement, potash, light manufacturing, tourism

**CURRENCY:** Jordanian dinar (JOD)

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Until the early 20th century, Jordan was part of
Palestine, most of which is now the State of Israel. The area is home to
one of the oldest civilizations in the world - archaeological finds from
the west bank of the Jordan River have been dated at around 9000 BC.
From 3000 BC the area was inhabited by the Canaanites and Amorites, and
after them the armies of Sargon, king of Sumer and Akkad. Around 1800 BC
Abraham led a group of nomads from Mesopotamia and settled in the
mountains of Canaan (which roughly corresponds to present-day Israel).
By 1023 BC the Israelites had formed a kingdom, led by Saul and then
David, who captured Jerusalem and made it his capital. The unstoppable
Roman Empire took Israel in 63 BC and placed it under the control of a
series of consuls, including Herod the Great and Pontius Pilate. It was
at this time that Jesus was believed to have lived and preached in the
area. The increasing insanity of the Empire under Caligula prompted a
series of Jewish uprisings, which lasted for years but were finally
crushed when Jerusalem was razed and the province of Palestine decreed.
This defeat marked the end of the Jewish state and the beginning of the
Diaspora, the scattering of the Jewish people.

In 331 AD Emperor Constantine became a Christian and gave his official
stamp of approval to the previously illegal religion. Suddenly everyone
wanted to know about the Holy Land, and a rash of buildings, including
the churches of the Holy Sepulchre and the Nativity, sprang up all over
Palestine to mark sites of religious importance. But Christianity\'s
hold over the country was not to last long - in 638 AD Jerusalem fell to
Caliph Omar and was declared a Holy City of Islam, on the grounds that
the Prophet Mohammed had ascended to heaven from atop the Temple Mount.
Christians around the world raised their hackles at this desecration,
and by 1099 they\'d scrounged together a crusading army and occupied
Jerusalem, murdering everyone they could get their hands on and
beginning nearly 100 years of Christian rule. But by 1187 the Muslims
again had the upper hand - after decades of Christian/Muslim scuffling,
the Islamic Mamluks knocked over the last Crusader stronghold in 1291.

The next 500 years were some of the quietest Palestine has seen. Empires
rose and fell, and control of the country changed hands with monotonous
regularity, eventually coming to rest in the hands of the Ottoman
Empire. Much of desert Jordan sidestepped all this change and remained a
Bedouin stronghold.

When the Ottoman Empire collapsed after WWI, Britain took control of
Palestine and created the state of Transjordan, under the rule of King
Abdullah.

In 1948 Israeli Arabs and Jews went to war with one another. While
everyone was distracted, Transjordan snapped up the West Bank and part
of Jerusalem, then renamed itself Jordan. In 1953 King Hussein took the
throne and Jordan entered a boom period, with a rise in tourism and
plenty of aid flowing in from the USA. The Six Day War of 1967 put paid
to Jordan\'s burgeoning tourist industry when Israel retook the West
Bank and half of that huge drawcard, Jerusalem. In six days Jordan lost
its money spinner and its agricultural land, and replaced them with a
few thousand refugees as Palestinians streamed in from the Occupied
Territories. By the 1970s, the PLO component of the refugee population
was threatening King Hussein\'s power, and a bloody internal war began,
ending when most of the radicals moved to Lebanon.

In 1994 Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty, agreeing to drop
economic barriers and cooperate on security and water. This has raised
concerns among Palestinians that they will be eased out of the region,
as Israel and Jordan divide the spoils between themselves. At the same
time, Jordan has been increasing its links with Yasser Arafat\'s
Palestine National Authority and working toward agreements with them. In
recent years Jordan has also restored relations - cut during the 1991
Gulf War - with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. King Hussein had begun moving
the country towards democracy; the Islamic Action Front (with its links
to the Muslim Brotherhood and fairly fundamentalist policies) has been
the most successful party so far, but his death in February 1999 has
left the future uncertain. King Hussein had named his eldest son, King
Abdullah II, successor to the throne just weeks before dying, although
the Constitution stipulates that both parents of the king must be Arab
and Muslim by birth (Abdullah\'s mother was a British citizen who
embraced Islam prior to marrying King Hussein).

King Abdullah, the sort of monarch who enjoys dressing up as a taxi
driver and talking with his subjects incognito, has the growing support
of the international community as well as most Jordanians, including the
large and influential Palestinian community. Under his reign, Jordan has
moved closer to Israel with a 2002 deal to pipe water from the Red Sea
to the shrinking Dead Sea at a cost of 800000000, and a 2004 deal to
develop a desert science centre on their mutual border. At the same
time, ties with Egypt and Syria have been strengthened.

The first independent elections in 2003 saw a majority of seats go to
independent royalist candidates. There were signs, however, that
Jordan\'s \'each-way bet\' foreign policy was under pressure. In October
2002 a senior US diplomat was assassinated in Amman, and the Jordanian
embassy in Baghdad was bombed in August 2003, killing 11 people. The
following month the central bank reversed its decision to freeze Hamas
bank accounts.

![](media/image23.png){width="1.4006944444444445in"
height="0.9534722222222223in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Republic of Korea (South Korea)

**CAPITAL:** Seoul

**PROFILE:** The Korean peninsula extends southward from the eastern end
of the Asian continent. The peninsula is roughly 1,030 km (612 miles)
long and 175 km (105 miles) wide at its narrowest point. Mountains cover
70% of Korea's land mass, making it one of the most mountainous regions
in the world. The lifting and folding of Korea's granite and limestone
base has created breathtaking landscapes of scenic hills and valleys.
The mountain range that stretches the length of the east coast plunges
steeply into the East Sea, while along the southern and western coasts,
the mountains descend gradually to the coastal plains that produce the
bulk of Korea's agricultural crops, especially rice.

**GEOGRAPHY:** Eastern Asia, southern half of the Korean Peninsula
bordering the East Sea and the Yellow Sea.

![](media/image24.png){width="6.558333333333334in"
height="2.7368055555555557in"}

**POPULATION:** 48,598,175 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE/SEASONS:** Korea\'s climate is regarded as a continental
climate from a temperate standpoint and a monsoonal climate from a
precipitation standpoint. The climate of Korea is characterized by four
distinct seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter.

**FLORA**: The national flower of Korea is the mugunghwa, rose of
Sharon, blossoms graces the entire country. Various flowers, including
the picturesque cherry blossom, azaleas, forsythia, bamboos,
chrysanthemum, peonies, lilies, orchids, roses, evergreen and deciduous
trees cover the nation\'s mountains and fields in Spring to Fall.

**FAUNA**: Korean (Siberia) tiger, bovine, goat, swine, horses, fish,
water fowls, etc.

**LANGUAGES:** Korean (Hangeul). Hangeul written in syllabic units made
up of two, three, or four letters. English is widely taught in schools.

**RELIGION:** Christian 49%, Buddhist 47%, Confucianist 3%, Shamanist,
Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way), and other 1%

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** South Korean Won (KRW). 1 US dollar equals
approximately 1,150 Korean Won.

**GOVERNMENT:** Republic. Administratively, the Republic of Korea
consists of nine provinces ; the capital Seoul; and the six metropolitan
cities of Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon and Ulsan. In total,
there are 77 cities and 88 counties.

**CONSTITUTION:** Adapted on 17 July 1948. Legal system combines
elements of continental European civil law systems, Anglo-American law,
and Chinese classical thought. Suffrage is 20 years of age; universal.

**PRINCIPAL RIVERS:** Nakdonggang, 522 km (313 miles); Hangang, 782 km
(289 miles); Geumgang, 396 km (238 miles).

**AGRICULTURE**: rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle,
pigs, chickens, milk, eggs and fish.

**INDUSTRIES:** electronics, automobile production, chemicals,
shipbuilding, steel, textiles, clothing, footwear, food processing.
**Exports:** electronic products, machinery and equipment, motor
vehicles, steel, ships; textiles, clothing, footwear; fish, \$165
billion.

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** age 15 and over can read and write, *total
population:* 98.1%, *male:* 99.3%, *female:* 97% (2003 est.)

**CULTURE:** Pottery, Traditional Music, Traditional Dance, Traditional
Clothing, Traditional Houses, Sports, Movies, Museums, Paintings and
Writing.

**NATURAL RESOURECS:** coal, tungsten, graphite, molybdenum, lead,
hydropower potential

**LAND USE:** *arable land:* 17.44%, *permanent crops:* 2.05%, *other:*
80.51% (1998 est.)

**LOCAL DIET/TRADITIONAL FOOD:** Cereals, rice, barley, everyday side
dishes are mainly made of vegetables. Preservation foods such as Kimchi,
pickles, salt-fermented seafoods, soybean-based sauces, fish, seaweeds,
mountain-greens, shellfish, garlic, ginger, onions and other spices.

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Archaeological findings have indicated that the first
settlements on the Korean Peninsula occurred 700,000 years ago.

According to the Koreans, the first of their kin was born in 2333 BC.
Scientists with slightly less respect for Korean mythology believe Korea
was first inhabited around 30,000 BC, when tribes from central and
northern Asia stumbled on the peninsula. Under constant pressure from
China, these tribes banded together to found Korea\'s first kingdom -
Goguryeo - in the 1st century AD.

The next four centuries were known as the Three Kingdoms Period;
Goguryeo (north), Baekje (southwest) and Silla (southeast). The period
was marked by a remarkable flowering of the arts, architecture,
literature and statecraft. It was also during this period that the
formative influence of Buddhism took hold, established in Goguryeo and
Baekje in the late 4th century and in Silla in the early 6th century. By
700 AD the Silla Kingdom of Korea was hitting its cultural stride,
littering the country with palaces, pagodas and pleasure gardens and
influencing the development of Japan\'s culture. But in the early 13th
century the Mongols reached Korea and gave it their customary
scorched-earth treatment. When the Mongol Empire collapsed, the Choson
Dynasty took over and a Korean script was developed.

In 1592 Japan invaded, followed by China - the Koreans were routed and
the Chinese Manchu Dynasty moved in. Turning its back on the mean and
nasty world, Korea closed its doors to outside influence until the early
20th century.

Japan invaded the peninsula in 1904, and officially annexed it in 1910.
The Japanese, who hung on until the end of WWII, were harsh masters, and
anti-Japanese sentiment was strong. After the war, the USA occupied the
south of the peninsula, while the USSR took over the north. Elections to
decide the fate of the country were held only in the south, and when the
south declared its independence, the north invaded. The ensuing war
lasted until 1953 (or is still continuing, if you count *MASH* re-runs).

By the time the war ended, two million people had died and the country
had been officially divided. After a few years of semi-democracy in the
South, martial law was declared in 1972. The next 15 years
roller-coastered between democracy and repressive martial law, hitting a
stomach-heaving low in 1980 when 200 student protesters were killed in
the Gwangju massacre. By the late 1980s the country was at flashpoint -
student protests were convulsing the country and workers all over Korea
were walking off the job to join them. Among the demands were democratic
elections, freedom of the press and the release of political prisoners.
The government wasn\'t budging and civil war looked imminent until, to
everyone\'s jaw-dropping surprise, President Chun suddenly decided that
everything the protesters were asking for was alright by him.

In 1988 - the year Seoul hosted the Olympic Games - elections were held
and Roh Tae-woo, another military figure, was elected president. Student
protests continued apace, but, contrary to expectations, Roh
significantly freed up the political system. Relations were
re-established with China and the Soviet Union. In 1992, Roh was
replaced by Kim Young-sam and his Democratic Liberal Party. Kim\'s hobby
horse was corruption, and during his term of office several politicians
were prosecuted for abusing the system. Most notably, ex-presidents Chun
and Roh were brought to book for their role in the Gwangju massacre. Roh
was sentenced to 22 years, Chun to death, but in December 1997, Kim
granted them a presidential pardon and the two were released from
prison. 1997 was a very bad year for South Korea\'s economy, with the
won taking a tumble and tourism dropping dramatically. In February 1998,
former dissident Kim Dae-jung became president, the first time a
non-conservative had headed the country in its 50 years of independence.
Kim promised to introduce economic and democratic reforms and improve
relations with North Korea.

By mid-1998 the South Korean economy was actually shrinking - something
that hadn\'t occurred for nearly two decades. Rising bankruptcies and
soaring unemployment led to large-scale labour unrest, but the economy
is now on the move again.

Making good on promises of more neighbourly relations with North Korea,
Kim made an historic visit to shake the hand of reclusive North Korean
leader, Kim Jong Il, in June 2000. As a sign of good faith he allowed
the North Korean government to arrange for his security. In October 2000
he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and as part of a partnership with
Japan and the USA continues to pursue a policy of cooperation with North
Korea. In December 2001 he became the first Asian leader to speak before
the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

A naval battle early the following year against North Korea that left
four dead (and claimed an estimated 30 North Korean victims) highlighted
the fragility of the rapprochement. In December 2002, Roh Moo-hyun won
the presidency, but by early 2004 he was hanging on to power by a
thread. Parliament voted to impeach him, but its decision was reversed
by the Constitutional Court. Meanwhile, a site for the country\'s new
capital city was chosen in the Yeongi-Kongju area and the US announced
plans to reduce its troop numbers by a third.

![](media/image25.png){width="1.679861111111111in"
height="0.8395833333333333in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** State of Kuwait (Kuwait)

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** Nominal constitutional monarchy

**CAPITAL:** Kuwait

**PROFILE:** Britain oversaw foreign relations and defense for the
ruling Kuwaiti AL-SABAH dynasty from 1899 until independence in 1961.
Kuwait was attacked and overrun by Iraq on 2 August 1990. Following
several weeks of aerial bombardment, a US-led, UN coalition began a
ground assault on 23 February 1991 that liberated Kuwait in four days.
Kuwait spent more than \$5 billion to repair oil infrastructure damaged
during 1990-91.

**LOCATION:** Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iraq and
Saudi Arabia

![](media/image26.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.6909722222222223in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** Dry desert; intensely hot summers; short, cool
winters. Flat to slightly undulating desert plain

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** petroleum, fish, shrimp, natural gas

**POPULATION:** 2,257,549\
*note:* includes 1,291,354 non-nationals (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Kuwaiti 45%, other Arab 35%, South Asian 9%, Iranian
4%, other 7%

**RELIGION:** Muslim 85% (Sunni 70%, Shi\'a 30%), Christian, Hindu,
Parsi, and other 15%

**LANGUAGES:** Arabic (official), English widely spoken

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 83.5%\
*male:* 85.1%\
*female:* 81.7% (2003 est.)

**ECONOMY**: Kuwait is a small, rich, relatively open economy with
proved crude oil reserves of about 98 billion barrels - 10% of world
reserves. Petroleum accounts for nearly half of GDP, 95% of export
revenues, and 80% of government income. Kuwait\'s climate limits
agricultural development. Consequently, with the exception of fish, it
depends almost wholly on food imports. About 75% of potable water must
be distilled or imported. Kuwait continues its discussions with foreign
oil companies to develop fields in the northern part of the country.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** Practically no crops; fish

**INDUSTRIES:** Petroleum, petrochemicals, desalination, food
processing, construction materials

**CURRENCY:** Kuwaiti dinar (KWD)

**BRIEF HISTORY:** The headland now occupied by Kuwait City was settled
only 300 years ago. In the early 18th century, Kuwait was nothing more
than a few tents clustered around a storehouse-cum-fort. Eventually the
families living around the fort divided among themselves the
responsibilities attached to the new settlement. The Al-Sabah family,
whose descendants now rule Kuwait, were appointed to handle local law
and order. The small settlement grew quickly. By 1760, when the town\'s
first wall was built, Kuwait\'s dhow fleet was reckoned to be 800 and
its camel caravans traveled regularly to Baghdad and Damascus.

By the early 19th century, Kuwait was a thriving trading port. But
trouble was always, literally, just over the horizon. It was often
unclear whether Kuwait was part of the Ottoman Empire or not, though
official Kuwaiti history is adamant that the sheikhdom was always
independent of the Ottomans. During the second half of the 19th century,
the Kuwaitis generally got on well with the Ottomans. They skillfully
managed to avoid being absorbed into the empire as the Turks sought to
solidify their control of eastern Arabia (then known as Al-Hasa). They
did, however, agree to take the role of provincial governors of Al-Hasa.

That decision led to the rise of the pivotal figure in the history of
modern Kuwait: Sheikh Mubarak al-Sabah al-Sabah, commonly known as
Mubarak the Great, who reigned from 1896 to 1915. Mubarak was deeply
suspicious of Turkey and was convinced that Constantinople planned to
annex Kuwait. He overthrew and murdered his brother, the emir, did away
with another brother and installed himself as ruler. In 1899 Mubarak
signed an agreement with Britain: in exchange for the British navy\'s
protection, he promised not to give away territory to, take support from
or negotiate with any other foreign power without British consent.
Britain\'s motive for signing the treaty was a desire to keep Germany,
then the main ally and financial backer of Turkey, out of the Gulf. The
Ottomans continued to claim sovereignty over Kuwait, but they were now
in no position to enforce it.

Kuwait spent the early 1920s fighting off the army commanded by Abdul
Aziz bin Abdul Rahman Al-Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia. In
1923 the fighting ended with a British-brokered treaty. As a result, an
oil concession was granted in 1934 to a US-British joint venture known
as the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC). The first wells were sunk in 1936, and
by 1938 it was obvious that Kuwait was virtually floating on oil. The
outbreak of WWII forced the KOC to suspend operations, but when oil
exports took off after the war so did Kuwait\'s economy. As the country
became wealthy, health care, education and the general standard of
living improved dramatically.

On 19 June 1961, Kuwait became an independent state. Elections for the
first National Assembly were held the following year. Although
representatives of the country\'s leading merchant families won the bulk
of the seats, radicals had a toehold in the government from its
inception. In August 1976, the cabinet resigned, claiming the assembly
had made day-to-day governance impossible. The emir suspended the
constitution, dissolved the assembly and asked the crown prince (who, by
tradition, also serves as prime minister) to form a new cabinet. New
elections were not held until 1981, but the assembly\'s new majority
proved just as troublesome as the last and parliament was dissolved
again in 1986.

Despite political and economic tensions, by mid-1990 the country\'s (and
the Gulf\'s) economic prospects looked bright, particularly when the
eight-year Iran-Iraq war ended. So it came as a shock when on 16 July
1990 Iraq sent a letter to the secretary-general of the Arab League
accusing Kuwait of exceeding its OPEC quota and of stealing oil from the
Iraqi portion of an oil field straddling the border. Iraqi president
Saddam Hussein threatened military action. Over the next two weeks a
series of envoys bent over backwards to offer Iraq a graceful way out of
the dispute. But it was to no avail: Iraqi tanks were in Kuwait City
before dawn on 2 August, and by noon they had reached the Saudi
frontier. The emir and his cabinet fled to Saudi Arabia.

The United Nations quickly passed a series of resolutions calling on
Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. The Iraqis responded with the claim that
they had been invited in by a group of Kuwaiti rebels who had overthrown
the emir. On 8 August Iraq annexed the emirate. Western countries, led
by the US, began to enforce a UN embargo on trade with Iraq, and in the
months that followed more than half a million foreign troops flooded
into Saudi Arabia.

At the end of November, the US and the UK secured a UN resolution
authorizing the use of force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait if the Iraqis
did not leave voluntarily before 15 January 1991. The deadline passed,
the Iraqis didn\'t budge and within hours waves of Allied (mostly US)
aircraft began a five-week bombing campaign of Iraq and Kuwait. The
ground offensive, when it finally came, was something of an anticlimax:
Iraq\'s army disintegrated in a mere 100 hours. At the end of February,
Allied forces arrived in a Kuwait City choked by clouds of acrid black
smoke from the hundreds of oil wells the Iraqis had torched as they
retreated.

The government set about not simply rebuilding Kuwait, but rebuilding it
exactly as it had been before the invasion. Meanwhile, a heated debate
began over the country\'s political future. In keeping with a promise
the opposition had extracted from the emir during the occupation,
elections for a new National Assembly took place in October 1992. The
opposition shocked the government by winning over 30 of the new
parliament\'s 50 seats, and opposition MPs secured six of the 16 seats
in the Cabinet, though the Al-Sabah family retained control of the key
defence, foreign affairs and interior ministries. By the second
anniversary of the invasion, Kuwait had largely succeeded in erasing the
physical scars of war and occupation, although tensions with Iraq
remained high.

In 1994, Kuwait convicted several Iraqis on charges of attempting to
assassinate former US president George Bush when he visited the emirate
the previous year. The plot, according to the Kuwaitis, was uncovered
and foiled at the last minute.

Today, many resources are being used to remove land mines and clean up
environmental damage left over from the Iraqi retreat, subsidized by the
UN to the tune of US\$5.9 billion. Ten percent of oil revenues are, by
law, put into a trust to prepare for the day that Kuwait\'s massive oil
reserves dry up. Also on the political agenda are women\'s rights: in
May 1999, the Emir decreed that women would for the first time be able
to vote and run for office in the 2003 general elections, subject to
approval by the parliament. It was not approved. That same year saw
Kuwait hit the world\'s centre stage once again, when great numbers of
mainly US and British troops gathered in the emirate in readiness for
the invasion of Iraq. As a result, pro-Islamic groups gained ground in
parliamentary elections later that same year.

![](media/image27.png){width="1.4291666666666667in"
height="0.9590277777777778in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Lebanese Republic (Lebanon)

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** Republic

**CAPITAL:** Beirut

**PROFILE:** Lebanon has made progress toward rebuilding its political
institutions since 1991 and the end of the devastating 15-year civil
war. Under the Ta\'if Accord - the blueprint for national
reconciliation - the Lebanese have established a more equitable
political system, particularly by giving Muslims a greater say in the
political process while institutionalizing sectarian divisions in the
government. Since the end of the war, the Lebanese have conducted
several successful elections, most of the militias have been weakened or
disbanded, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have extended central
government authority over about two-thirds of the country. Hizballah, a
radical Shia organization, retains its weapons. Syria maintains about
16,000 troops in Lebanon, based mainly east of Beirut and in the Bekaa
Valley. Syria\'s troop deployment was legitimized by the Arab League
during Lebanon\'s civil war and in the Ta\'if Accord. Damascus justifies
its continued military presence in Lebanon by citing Beirut\'s requests
and the failure of the Lebanese Government to implement all of the
constitutional reforms in the Ta\'if Accord. Israel\'s withdrawal from
southern Lebanon in May 2000, however, encouraged some Lebanese groups
to demand that Syria withdraw its forces as well. The passage of UNSCR
1559 in early October 2004 - a resolution calling for Syria to withdraw
from Lebanon and end its interference in Lebanese affairs - further
emboldened Lebanese groups opposed to Syria\'s presence in Lebanon.

**LOCATION:** Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between
Israel and Syria

![](media/image28.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.7194444444444446in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot,
dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows. Narrow
coastal plain; El Beqaa (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and
Anti-Lebanon Mountains

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in
a water-deficit region, arable land

**POPULATION:** 3,777,218 (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%

**RELIGION:** Muslim 59.7% (Shi\'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma\'ilite, Alawite
or Nusayri), Christian 39% (Maronite Catholic, Melkite Catholic,
Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Roman Catholic,
Protestant), other 1.3%\
*note:* seventeen religious sects recognized

**LANGUAGES:** Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 87.4%\
*male:* 93.1%\
*female:* 82.2% (2003 est.)

**ECONOMY**: The 1975-91 civil war seriously damaged Lebanon\'s economic
infrastructure, cut national output by half, and all but ended
Lebanon\'s position as a Middle Eastern entrepot and banking hub. Peace
enabled the central government to restore control in Beirut, begin
collecting taxes, and regain access to key port and government
facilities. Economic recovery was helped by a financially sound banking
system and resilient small- and medium-scale manufacturers. Family
remittances, banking services, manufactured and farm exports, and
international aid provided the main sources of foreign exchange.
Lebanon\'s economy made impressive gains since the launch in 1993 of
\"Horizon 2000,\" the government\'s \$20 billion reconstruction program.
Real GDP grew 8% in 1994, 7% in 1995, 4% in 1996 and in 1997, but slowed
to 1.2% in 1998, -1.6% in 1999, -0.6% in 2000, 0.8% in 2001, 1.5% in
2002, and 3% in 2003. During the 1990s, annual inflation fell to almost
0% from more than 100%. Lebanon has rebuilt much of its war-torn
physical and financial infrastructure. The government nonetheless faces
serious challenges in the economic arena. It has funded reconstruction
by borrowing heavily - mostly from domestic banks. In order to reduce
the ballooning national debt, the re-installed HARIRI government began
an economic austerity program to rein in government expenditures,
increase revenue collection, and privatize state enterprises. The HARIRI
government met with international donors at the Paris II conference in
November 2002 to seek bilateral assistance restructuring its domestic
debt at lower rates of interest. While privatization of state-owned
enterprises had not occurred by the end of 2003, massive receipts from
donor nations stabilized government finances in 2002-04.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** citrus, grapes, tomatoes, apples, vegetables,
potatoes, olives, tobacco; sheep, goats

**INDUSTRIES:** banking; food processing; jewelry; cement; textiles;
mineral and chemical products; wood and furniture products; oil
refining; metal fabricating

**CURRENCY:** Lebanese pound (LBP)

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Lebanon was the biblical \'land of milk and honey\',
and conquerors have always been attracted to its abundant natural
resources, the safe anchorages on the coastline and the defensive
possibilities of the high mountains. This has turned the country\'s
history into a who\'s who of interlopers, pillagers and big-noters.

The shores of Lebanon attracted settlers from about 10,000 BC onwards,
and by about 3000 BC their villages had evolved into prototype cities.
By around 2500 BC the coast had been colonized by people who later
became known as the Phoenicians, one of the Mediterranean\'s greatest
early civilizations. The Phoenicians never unified politically: they
dominated as a result of enterprise and intellectual endeavors emanating
from a string of independent city states. They ruled the sea with their
superior vessels and navigational skills, were exceptional craftspeople
and created the first real alphabet.

In the 9th century BC, the Assyrians clomped in, breaking the
Phoenician\'s monopoly on Mediterranean trade. They yielded to the
Neo-Babylonians, who were in turn overcome by the Persians (whom the
Phoenicians regarded as liberators). The Phoenicians finally declined
when Alexander the Great swept through the Middle East in the 4th
century BC and Phoenicia was gradually Hellenised. In 64 BC, Pompey the
Great conquered Phoenicia and it became part of the Roman province of
Syria. Beirut became an important centre under Herod the Great and
splendid temples were built at Baalbek.

As the Roman empire crumbled, Christianity gained momentum and Lebanon
became part of the eastern Byzantine Empire in the 4th century AD, with
its capital at Constantinople (modern Istanbul). The imposition of
orthodox Christianity didn\'t sit well, and when Muslims brought the
word of Allah from the south, they faced little resistance in Lebanon.

The Umayyuds, the first great Muslim dynasty, held sway in Lebanon for
about a century, but faced opposition from indigenous Jews and
Christians, especially the Syrian Maronite sect who took refuge around
Mount Lebanon. After the Umayyuds fell to the Abbasids in 750, Lebanon
became a backwater of the Persian-flavoured Abbasid Empire. This empire
lasted until the 11th century before being tipped out by the Fatimid
dynasty, who struggled on until the rise of the Crusaders. The Crusaders
had their sights set on Jerusalem, but marched down the Syrian and
Lebanese coast, linking up with the Maronites, before savaging the Holy
City.

The Muslim Ayyubids got their claws into Syria, Egypt, western Arabia
and parts of Yemen until they were overthrown by the strange
soldier-slave kings known as Mamluks, who ruled Lebanon from the end of
the 13th century for the best part of 300 years. The Mamluks faded with
the rise of the Ottoman Empire and Lebanon\'s tribal leaders - the
Tanukhid *emirs* (Druze) of central Lebanon and the Maronites - formed
conflicting alliances with various local factions.

The Ottoman Sultan Selim I conquered Lebanon in 1516-17 but was
temporarily undermined by Fakhreddine (Fakhr ad-Din II, 1586-1635).
Fakhreddine was not only ambitious, he was also wily and politically
smart, talents that allowed him to unite, for the first time, the area
that became known as modern Lebanon. In fact he was a little too smart
for his own good, and his paymasters executed him. Fakhreddine was
followed by his nephew Ahmad Maan, who was not quite the talent his
uncle was, although he did play the game well enough to be \'awarded\'
an emirate by the Ottomans. When Ahmad Maan died, power passed to the
Shihab family, who reigned until 1840, when internal power struggles
brought the age of emirs to an end.

In 1842, the Ottomans divided Mount Lebanon into two administrative
regions, one Druze and the other Maronite. That they immediately set to
squabbling was anticipated and encouraged by the Ottomans, who practised
a \'divide and rule\' policy. By 1845, there was open war, not only
between Druze and Maronite, but also between peasants and their supposed
feudal leaders.

The Ottomans, under pressure from Europe, created a single Lebanese
administrative unit under an Ottoman Christian governor and the feudal
system was abolished. The system worked, producing stability and
economic prosperity until WWI, when Lebanon came under Turkish military
rule and suffered a serious famine. Following the Allied victory in
1918, Lebanon came under French rule.

During WWII Lebanon became fully independent and developed into a major
trade centre. Lebanon\'s fatal flaw was that power rested with the
right-wing Christian population while the Muslims (almost half the
population) felt they were excluded from real government. Add large
numbers of displaced Palestinians and there were all the ingredients for
conflict. Civil war broke out in 1975 between a predominantly Muslim
leftist coalition and Christian right-wing militias. Over the next
20-plus years, insanely complicated civil and international wars, and
high-profile hostage-taking, were pretty much standard fare.

An eye-glazing summary follows: the Syrians intervened at the request of
the Lebanese president to force an uneasy peace between Muslims and
Christians, the Israelis marched in and set up a surrogate militia to
protect northern Israel from the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO), and the UN sent in peacekeepers to quell internal
Christian-Muslim fighting. Israel laid siege to Beirut in 1982, with the
stated aim of eradicating the PLO. Israel also supported Christian
militias who massacred Palestinian civilians. The PLO was partially
evacuated by the USA, and a Multinational Force (MNF) of US and Western
European troops was deployed to protect Palestinian and Muslim
civilians. When the Israelis withdrew, fighting broke out between Druze
Muslim militias and Christian forces, and between Lebanese army units
and Muslim militiamen. The MNF suffered heavy casualties and withdrew in
early 1984.

The Syrians slowly brought the Muslim areas of Lebanon under their
control, but in 1988 Lebanon\'s new military government sought to expel
Syria. The attempt failed and fighting continued until Elias Hrawi, a
moderate Maronite in good standing with Syria, seized the presidential
reins. By 1992 all foreign hostages were released and Syrian troops
began to withdraw. In August 1992 parliamentary elections were held for
the first time in 20 years, and Muslim fundamentalists of the
Iranian-backed Hezbollah party won the largest number of seats. Rafiq
Hariri became the new prime minister. Prime minister Hariri was replaced
in 1998 by Selim al-Hoss, and returned to power in 2000. Bickering
between President Emile Lahoud and Hariri centres on issues of public
spending and privatisation. This frosty relationship sets the scene for
a showdown ahead of November 2004 elections.

Skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israeli soldiers continued through
1993, culminating in Operation Grapes of Wrath (1996) - an Israeli
bombardment of 80 villages in southern Lebanon. Trouble flared up again
in April 1996 when Israel launched more air strikes on southern Lebanon
and Beirut. International response condemned Israel, and the UN swiftly
negotiated a cease-fire. The long war cost some 150,000 Lebanese lives
and left the country in a ruinous state.

Lebanon\'s infrastructure and economy remained at the mercy of greater,
regional forces. Over previous decades, many of the players in Middle
Eastern affairs had used Lebanon as their battleground, be it the PLO,
the Syrians, the Iranians, the Israelis or the UN.

The Israelis withdrew from the \'security zone\' in southern Lebanon in
May of 2000, despite Syria\'s concerns with the Israeli-occupied Golan
Heights. As troops began evacuating, the Hezbollah moved in rapidly and
forced Israeli soldiers into a chaotic retreat. The withdrawal was
celebrated within Lebanon. Hezbollah engineers soon restored power and
water to civilians who\'d gone without during the occupation.

Tensions with Israel remained high; in 2002, Israel protested Lebanon\'s
diversion of water from the Wazzani River, which provides 10% of
Israel\'s drinking water. International pressure on Syria to withdraw
from Lebanon continued but with little effect: in September 2004
parliament - dominated by Syrian allies - voted to extend the
president\'s term by three years.

![](media/image27.png){width="1.4291666666666667in"
height="0.9590277777777778in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Lebanese Republic (Lebanon)

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** Republic

**CAPITAL:** Beirut

**PROFILE:** Lebanon has made progress toward rebuilding its political
institutions since 1991 and the end of the devastating 15-year civil
war. Under the Ta\'if Accord - the blueprint for national
reconciliation - the Lebanese have established a more equitable
political system, particularly by giving Muslims a greater say in the
political process while institutionalizing sectarian divisions in the
government. Since the end of the war, the Lebanese have conducted
several successful elections, most of the militias have been weakened or
disbanded, and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have extended central
government authority over about two-thirds of the country. Hizballah, a
radical Shia organization, retains its weapons. Syria maintains about
16,000 troops in Lebanon, based mainly east of Beirut and in the Bekaa
Valley. Syria\'s troop deployment was legitimized by the Arab League
during Lebanon\'s civil war and in the Ta\'if Accord. Damascus justifies
its continued military presence in Lebanon by citing Beirut\'s requests
and the failure of the Lebanese Government to implement all of the
constitutional reforms in the Ta\'if Accord. Israel\'s withdrawal from
southern Lebanon in May 2000, however, encouraged some Lebanese groups
to demand that Syria withdraw its forces as well. The passage of UNSCR
1559 in early October 2004 - a resolution calling for Syria to withdraw
from Lebanon and end its interference in Lebanese affairs - further
emboldened Lebanese groups opposed to Syria\'s presence in Lebanon.

**LOCATION:** Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between
Israel and Syria

![](media/image28.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.7194444444444446in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot,
dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows. Narrow
coastal plain; El Beqaa (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and
Anti-Lebanon Mountains

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in
a water-deficit region, arable land

**POPULATION:** 3,777,218 (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%

**RELIGION:** Muslim 59.7% (Shi\'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma\'ilite, Alawite
or Nusayri), Christian 39% (Maronite Catholic, Melkite Catholic,
Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Roman Catholic,
Protestant), other 1.3%\
*note:* seventeen religious sects recognized

**LANGUAGES:** Arabic (official), French, English, Armenian

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 87.4%\
*male:* 93.1%\
*female:* 82.2% (2003 est.)

**ECONOMY**: The 1975-91 civil war seriously damaged Lebanon\'s economic
infrastructure, cut national output by half, and all but ended
Lebanon\'s position as a Middle Eastern entry port and banking hub.
Peace enabled the central government to restore control in Beirut, begin
collecting taxes, and regain access to key port and government
facilities. Economic recovery was helped by a financially sound banking
system and resilient small- and medium-scale manufacturers. Family
remittances, banking services, manufactured and farm exports, and
international aid provided the main sources of foreign exchange.
Lebanon\'s economy made impressive gains since the launch in 1993 of
\"Horizon 2000,\" the government\'s \$20 billion reconstruction program.
Real GDP grew 8% in 1994, 7% in 1995, 4% in 1996 and in 1997, but slowed
to 1.2% in 1998, -1.6% in 1999, -0.6% in 2000, 0.8% in 2001, 1.5% in
2002, and 3% in 2003. During the 1990s, annual inflation fell to almost
0% from more than 100%. Lebanon has rebuilt much of its war-torn
physical and financial infrastructure. The government nonetheless faces
serious challenges in the economic arena. It has funded reconstruction
by borrowing heavily - mostly from domestic banks. In order to reduce
the ballooning national debt, the re-installed HARIRI government began
an economic austerity program to rein in government expenditures,
increase revenue collection, and privatize state enterprises. The HARIRI
government met with international donors at the Paris II conference in
November 2002 to seek bilateral assistance restructuring its domestic
debt at lower rates of interest. While privatization of state-owned
enterprises had not occurred by the end of 2003, massive receipts from
donor nations stabilized government finances in 2002-04.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** citrus, grapes, tomatoes, apples, vegetables,
potatoes, olives, tobacco; sheep, goats

**INDUSTRIES:** banking; food processing; jewelry; cement; textiles;
mineral and chemical products; wood and furniture products; oil
refining; metal fabricating

**CURRENCY:** Lebanese pound (LBP)

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Lebanon was the biblical \'land of milk and honey\',
and conquerors have always been attracted to its abundant natural
resources, the safe anchorages on the coastline and the defensive
possibilities of the high mountains. This has turned the country\'s
history into a who\'s who of interlopers, pillagers and big-noters.

The shores of Lebanon attracted settlers from about 10,000 BC onwards,
and by about 3000 BC their villages had evolved into prototype cities.
By around 2500 BC the coast had been colonized by people who later
became known as the Phoenicians, one of the Mediterranean\'s greatest
early civilizations. The Phoenicians never unified politically: they
dominated as a result of enterprise and intellectual endeavors emanating
from a string of independent city states. They ruled the sea with their
superior vessels and navigational skills, were exceptional craftspeople
and created the first real alphabet.

In the 9th century BC, the Assyrians clomped in, breaking the
Phoenician\'s monopoly on Mediterranean trade. They yielded to the
Neo-Babylonians, who were in turn overcome by the Persians (whom the
Phoenicians regarded as liberators). The Phoenicians finally declined
when Alexander the Great swept through the Middle East in the 4th
century BC and Phoenicia was gradually Hellenized. In 64 BC, Pompey the
Great conquered Phoenicia and it became part of the Roman province of
Syria. Beirut became an important centre under Herod the Great and
splendid temples were built at Baalbek.

As the Roman Empire crumbled, Christianity gained momentum and Lebanon
became part of the eastern Byzantine Empire in the 4th century AD, with
its capital at Constantinople (modern Istanbul). The imposition of
orthodox Christianity didn\'t sit well, and when Muslims brought the
word of Allah from the south, they faced little resistance in Lebanon.

The Umayyuds, the first great Muslim dynasty, held sway in Lebanon for
about a century, but faced opposition from indigenous Jews and
Christians, especially the Syrian Maronite sect who took refuge around
Mount Lebanon. After the Umayyuds fell to the Abbasids in 750, Lebanon
became a backwater of the Persian-favored Abbasid Empire. This empire
lasted until the 11th century before being tipped out by the Fatimid
dynasty, who struggled on until the rise of the Crusaders. The Crusaders
had their sights set on Jerusalem, but marched down the Syrian and
Lebanese coast, linking up with the Maronites, before savaging the Holy
City.

The Muslim Ayyubids got their claws into Syria, Egypt, western Arabia
and parts of Yemen until they were overthrown by the strange
soldier-slave kings known as Mamluks, who ruled Lebanon from the end of
the 13th century for the best part of 300 years. The Mamluks faded with
the rise of the Ottoman Empire and Lebanon\'s tribal leaders - the
Tanukhid *emirs* (Druze) of central Lebanon and the Maronites - formed
conflicting alliances with various local factions.

The Ottoman Sultan Selim I conquered Lebanon in 1516-17 but was
temporarily undermined by Fakhreddine (Fakhr ad-Din II, 1586-1635).
Fakhreddine was not only ambitious, he was also wily and politically
smart, talents that allowed him to unite, for the first time, the area
that became known as modern Lebanon. In fact he was a little too smart
for his own good, and his paymasters executed him. Fakhreddine was
followed by his nephew Ahmad Maan, who was not quite the talent his
uncle was, although he did play the game well enough to be \'awarded\'
an emirate by the Ottomans. When Ahmad Maan died, power passed to the
Shihab family, who reigned until 1840, when internal power struggles
brought the age of emirs to an end.

In 1842, the Ottomans divided Mount Lebanon into two administrative
regions, one Druze and the other Maronite. That they immediately set to
squabbling was anticipated and encouraged by the Ottomans, who practised
a \'divide and rule\' policy. By 1845, there was open war, not only
between Druze and Maronite, but also between peasants and their supposed
feudal leaders.

The Ottomans, under pressure from Europe, created a single Lebanese
administrative unit under an Ottoman Christian governor and the feudal
system was abolished. The system worked, producing stability and
economic prosperity until WWI, when Lebanon came under Turkish military
rule and suffered a serious famine. Following the Allied victory in
1918, Lebanon came under French rule.

During WWII Lebanon became fully independent and developed into a major
trade centre. Lebanon\'s fatal flaw was that power rested with the
right-wing Christian population while the Muslims (almost half the
population) felt they were excluded from real government. Add large
numbers of displaced Palestinians and there were all the ingredients for
conflict. Civil war broke out in 1975 between a predominantly Muslim
leftist coalition and Christian right-wing militias. Over the next
20-plus years, insanely complicated civil and international wars, and
high-profile hostage-taking, were pretty much standard fare.

An eye-glazing summary follows: the Syrians intervened at the request of
the Lebanese president to force an uneasy peace between Muslims and
Christians, the Israelis marched in and set up a surrogate militia to
protect northern Israel from the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO), and the UN sent in peacekeepers to quell internal
Christian-Muslim fighting. Israel laid siege to Beirut in 1982, with the
stated aim of eradicating the PLO. Israel also supported Christian
militias who massacred Palestinian civilians. The PLO was partially
evacuated by the USA, and a Multinational Force (MNF) of US and Western
European troops was deployed to protect Palestinian and Muslim
civilians. When the Israelis withdrew, fighting broke out between Druze
Muslim militias and Christian forces, and between Lebanese army units
and Muslim militiamen. The MNF suffered heavy casualties and withdrew in
early 1984.

The Syrians slowly brought the Muslim areas of Lebanon under their
control, but in 1988 Lebanon\'s new military government sought to expel
Syria. The attempt failed and fighting continued until Elias Hrawi, a
moderate Maronite in good standing with Syria, seized the presidential
reins. By 1992 all foreign hostages were released and Syrian troops
began to withdraw. In August 1992 parliamentary elections were held for
the first time in 20 years, and Muslim fundamentalists of the
Iranian-backed Hezbollah party won the largest number of seats. Rafiq
Hariri became the new prime minister. Prime minister Hariri was replaced
in 1998 by Selim al-Hoss, and returned to power in 2000. Bickering
between President Emile Lahoud and Hariri centres on issues of public
spending and privatization. This frosty relationship sets the scene for
a showdown ahead of November 2004 elections.

Skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israeli soldiers continued through
1993, culminating in Operation Grapes of Wrath (1996) - an Israeli
bombardment of 80 villages in southern Lebanon. Trouble flared up again
in April 1996 when Israel launched more air strikes on southern Lebanon
and Beirut. International response condemned Israel, and the UN swiftly
negotiated a cease-fire. The long war cost some 150,000 Lebanese lives
and left the country in a ruinous state.

Lebanon\'s infrastructure and economy remained at the mercy of greater,
regional forces. Over previous decades, many of the players in Middle
Eastern affairs had used Lebanon as their battleground, be it the PLO,
the Syrians, the Iranians, the Israelis or the UN.

The Israelis withdrew from the \'security zone\' in southern Lebanon in
May of 2000, despite Syria\'s concerns with the Israeli-occupied Golan
Heights. As troops began evacuating, the Hezbollah moved in rapidly and
forced Israeli soldiers into a chaotic retreat. The withdrawal was
celebrated within Lebanon. Hezbollah engineers soon restored power and
water to civilians who\'d gone without during the occupation.

Tensions with Israel remained high; in 2002, Israel protested Lebanon\'s
diversion of water from the Wazzani River, which provides 10% of
Israel\'s drinking water. International pressure on Syria to withdraw
from Lebanon continued but with little effect: in September 2004
parliament - dominated by Syrian allies - voted to extend the
president\'s term by three years.

> ![](media/image29.png){width="1.6243055555555554in"
> height="0.8173611111111111in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Malaysia

**CAPITAL:** Kuala Lumpur

**GEOGRAPHY:** Southeastern Asia, peninsula bordering Thailand and
northern one-third of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia, Brunei,
and the South China Sea, south of Vietnam.

![](media/image30.png){width="6.500694444444444in"
height="2.7194444444444446in"}

**POPULATION:** The estimated population of Malaysia is 23,522,482 (July
2004 est.) This encompasses several major ethnic groups: Malay and other
indigenous 58%, Chinese 24%, Indian 8%, others 10% (2000).

**PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Malaysia\'s cultural mosaic is marked by many
different cultures, but several in particular have had especially
lasting influence on the country. Chief among these is the ancient Malay
culture, and the cultures of Malaysia\'s two most prominent trading
partners throughout history\--the Chinese, and the Indians. These three
groups are joined by a dizzying array of indigenous tribes, many of
which live in the forests and coastal areas of Borneo. Although each of
these cultures has vigorously maintained its traditions and community
structures, they have also blended together to create contemporary
Malaysia\'s uniquely diverse heritage. 

**GOVERNMENT:** Malaysia's form of government is a constitutional
monarchy, with the unusual provision that the office of the King is not
hereditary but is for a fixed term of five years and on a rotational
system among the Rulers from the States. It provides that for the
purposes of the appointment of the King, the order of precedence among
the nine Rulers (based on the length of time the Rulers had reigned in
their States) at the time of Independence, be followed. The
constitutional form of government relies on a British-styled parliament
with a prime minister.

**LANGUAGES:** Bahasa Melayu (official), English, Chinese dialects
(Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu,
Malayalam, Punjabi, Thai.

**RELIGION:** Muslim, Buddhist, Daoist, Hindu, Christian, Sikh; note -
in addition, Shamanism is practiced in East Malaysia

**CLIMATE:** Tropical; annual southwest (April to October) and northeast
(October to February) monsoons.

**AGRICULTURE: (**Natural Resources, Crops, etc): Peninsular Malaysia -
rubber, palm oil, cocoa, rice; Sabah - subsistence crops, rubber,
timber, coconuts, rice; Sarawak - rubber, pepper; timber

**LOCAL DIET/TRADITIONAL FOOD:** Malaysia is deservedly well-known for
its delightfully diverse foods. The cuisines of India, China, and
Polynesia blend nicely with the traditional dishes of the Malays, some
of which are contemporary versions of ancient recipes carried to the
region by Arabian traders. Rice is the staple food and occurs in many
varieties, as well as being ground into rice flour to produce noodles
and cakes. Curries, seafood dishes, vegetarian meals, and highly local
"hawker foods" combine to make Malaysia a gustatory paradise.

**PRIMARY EXPORTS:** Commodities valued at about \$95.2 billion were
exported in 2002. These included electronic equipment, petroleum and
liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber,
textiles, chemicals.

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** The unit of currency is the Malaysian ringgit. The
value of the ringit has been fixed at 3.8 ringgit to the U.S. dollar for
the past half decade.

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** Approximately 90 per cent of Malaysians aged 15
are literate. Malaysia has a well organized system of public education,
augmented by numerous private parochial schools. Classes may be taught
in Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese (Mandarin), Indian dialects (primarily
Tamil), or English, but all students must study Bahasa Malaysia as a
required course.

Schools are organized along the lines of the British School System, with
rigorous examinations required in order to move from one level to the
next. Tertiary education is provided by a system of 15 universities and
numerous technical colleges and institutes.

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Situated** **in the heart of Southeast Asia at one of
the world\'s major crossroads, Malaysia has always been pivotal to trade
routes from Europe, the Orient, India and China. Its warm tropical
climate and abundant natural blessings made it a
congenial** **destination for immigrants as early as 5,000 years ago
when the ancestors of the Orang Asli, the indigenous peoples of
Peninsular Malaysia, settle here, probably the pioneers of a general
movement from China and Tibet. They were followed by the Malays, who
brought with them skills in farming and the use of metals. Around the
first century BC, strong trading links were established with China and
India, and these had a major impact on the culture, language and social
customs of the country. Evidence of a Hindu-Buddhist period in the
history of Malaysia can today be found in the temple sites of the Bujang
Valley and Merbok Estuary in Kedah in the north west of Peninsular
Malaysia, near the Thai border. The spread of Islam, introduced by Arab
and Indian traders, brought the Hindu-Buddhist era to an end by the 13th
century. With the conversion of the Malay-Hindu rulers of the Melaka
Sultanate (the Malay kingdom which ruled both side of the Straits of
Malaka for over a hundred years), Islam was established as the religion
of the Malays, and had profound effect on Malay society.

The arrival of Europeans in Malaysia brought a dramatic change to the
country. In 1511, the Portuguese captured Malaka and the rulers of the
Melaka Sultanate fled south to Johor where they tried to establish a new
kingdom. They were resisted not only by the Europeans but by the
Acehnese, Minangkabau and the Bugis, resulting in the sovereign units of
the present-day states of Peninsular Malaysia. The Portuguese were in
turn defeated in 1641 by the Dutch, who colonized Melaka until the
advent of the British in the Dutch exerted any profound influence on
Malay society. The British acquired Melaka from the Dutch in 1824 in
exchange for Bencoolen in Sumatra. From their new bases in Malaka,
Penang and Singapore, collectively known as the Straits Settlements, the
British, through their influence and power, began the process of
political integration of the Malay states of Peninsular
Malaysia.**                            **\
\
After World War II and the Japanese occupation from 1941-45, the British
created the Malayan Union 1946.This was abandoned in 1948 and the
Federation of Malaya emerged in its place. The Federation gained its
independence from Britain on 31 August 1957.In September 1963, Malaya,
Sarawak, Sabah, and initially Singapore united to form Malaysia, a
country whose potpourri of society and customs derives from its rich
heritage from four of the world\'s major cultures - Chinese, Indian,
Islamic and Western.

![](media/image31.png){width="1.6777777777777778in"
height="0.8361111111111111in"}

**COUNTRY NAME: Mongolia**

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** mixed parliamentary/presidential

**CAPITAL:** Ulaanbaatar

**PROFILE:** The Mongols gained fame in the 13th century when under
Chinggis KHAN they conquered a huge Eurasian empire. After his death the
empire was divided into several powerful Mongol states, but these broke
apart in the 14th century. The Mongols eventually retired to their
original steppe homelands and later came under Chinese rule. Mongolia
won its independence in 1921 with Soviet backing. A Communist regime was
installed in 1924. During the early 1990s, the ex-Communist Mongolian
People\'s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) gradually yielded its monopoly on
power to the Democratic Union Coalition (DUC), which defeated the MPRP
in a national election in 1996. Since then, parliamentary elections
returned the MPRP overwhelmingly to power in 2000 and produced a
coalition government in 2004.

**LOCATION:** Northern Asia, between China and Russia

![](media/image32.png){width="6.333333333333333in" height="1.78125in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** desert; continental (large daily and seasonal
temperature ranges), vast semi-desert and desert plains, grassy steppe,
mountains in west and southwest; Gobi Desert in south-central

**POPULATION:** 2,751,314 (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Mongol (mostly Khalkha) 94.9%, Turkic (mostly Kazakh)
5%, other (including Chinese and Russian) 0.1% (2000)

**RELIGION:** Buddhist Lamaist 50%, none 40%, Shamanist and Christian
6%, Muslim 4% (2004)

**LANGUAGES:** Khalkha Mongol 90%, Turkic, Russian (1999)

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 97.8%, *male:* 98%, *female:* 97.5% (2002)

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** oil, coal, copper, molybdenum, tungsten,
phosphates, tin, nickel, zinc, fluorspar, gold, silver, iron

**ECONOMY**: Economic activity traditionally has been based on
agriculture and breeding of livestock. Mongolia also has extensive
mineral deposits; copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold
account for a large part of industrial production. Soviet assistance, at
its height one-third of GDP, disappeared almost overnight in 1990-91 at
the time of the dismantlement of the USSR. Mongolia was driven into deep
recession, prolonged by the Mongolian People\'s Revolutionary Party\'s
(MPRP) reluctance to undertake serious economic reform. The Democratic
Union Coalition (DUC) government embraced free-market economics, eased
price controls, liberalized domestic and international trade, and
attempted to restructure the banking system and the energy sector. Major
domestic privatization programs were undertaken, as well as the
fostering of foreign investment through international tender of the oil
distribution company, a leading cashmere company, and banks. Reform was
held back by the ex-Communist MPRP opposition and by the political
instability brought about through four successive governments under the
DUC. Economic growth picked up in 1997-99 after stalling in 1996 due to
a series of natural disasters and declines in world prices of copper and
cashmere. In August and September 1999, the economy suffered from a
temporary Russian ban on exports of oil and oil products, and Mongolia
remains vulnerable in this sector. Mongolia joined the World Trade
Organization (WTrO) in 1997. The international donor community pledged
over \$300 million per year at the Consultative Group Meeting, held in
Ulaanbaatar in June 1999. The MPRP government, elected in July 2000, was
anxious to improve the investment climate; it also had to deal with a
heavy burden of external debt. Falling prices for Mongolia\'s mainly
primary sector exports, widespread opposition to privatization, and
adverse effects of weather on agriculture in early 2000 and 2001
restrained real GDP growth. Despite drought problems in 2002, GDP rose
4.0%, followed by a solid 5.0% increase in 2003. The first applications
under the land privatization law have been marked by a number of
disputes over particular sites. Russia claims Mongolia owes it \$11
billion from the Soviet period; any settlement could substantially
increase Mongolia\'s foreign debt burden.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** wheat, barley, potatoes, forage crops, sheep,
goats, cattle, camels, horses

**INDUSTRIES:** construction materials; mining (coal, copper,
molybdenum, fluorspar, and gold); oil; food and beverages; processing of
animal products

**CURRENCY:** togrog/tugrik (MNT)

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Archeological digs have uncovered human remains in
the Gobi and other regions of Mongolia dating back nearly 500,000 years.
Despite Mongolia\'s short summers, wheat growing has co-existed for
thousands of years with nomadic herding, which the Mongols took up after
they tamed horses, yaks and camels.

The name \'Mongol\' was first recorded by the Chinese during the Tang
dynasty (618-907 AD). At that time Mongolia was dominated by a Turkic
people called the Uighurs. The Uighurs were influenced by Christianity
and, after taking control of Mongolia, went on to save the ailing Tang
rulers of China from an internal revolt. The Uighurs controlled most of
Mongolia until 840 AD, when they were defeated by the Kyrgyz, who now
live in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.

The Mongols had little inclination to ally with other nomadic peoples of
northern Asia. They remained little more than a loose confederation of
rival clans until the late 12th century, when a 20-year-old Mongol named
Temujin emerged and managed to unite most of the Mongol tribes. In 1189
he was given the honorary name of Genghis Khan, meaning \'universal
king\'. The Genghis Khan imprinted in the memory of the west bears
little relation to the Chinggis Khaan revered by Mongolians. Not only
the spelling is different: to Europeans, the name epitomizes merciless
warmongering; to the Mongolians, it embodies strength, unity, law and
order. Genghis set up his capital in present-day Kharkhorin, and
launched his vital cavalry - built on Mongolia\'s prized *takhi*
horses - against China and Russia. By the time of his death in 1227, the
Mongol empire extended from Beijing to the Caspian Sea.

Genghis\' grandson, Kublai Khan (circa 1216-94), completed the
subjugation of China, ending the Song dynasty (960-1279) and becoming
emperor of China\'s Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). Kublai soon realized,
though, that the Mongol empire had reached the limits of its expansion.
Instead of looking for more wars to fight, he concentrated on keeping
the vast empire together. This was the height of the Mongols\' glory:
the empire stretched from Korea to Hungary and as far south as Vietnam,
making it the largest empire the world has ever known.

After Kublai Khan\'s death in 1294, the Mongols became increasingly
dependent on the people they ruled. They were deeply resented as an
elite, privileged class exempt from taxation, and the empire became
ridden with factions vying for power. The Mongols were expelled from
Beijing by the first emperor of the Ming dynasty in the mid 14th
century. The collapse of the Yuan dynasty caused over 60,000 Mongols to
return to Mongolia. Their unity dissolved and frequent clan warfare and
a long period of decline followed. Manchu rule over China was reasonably
benign until around 1800; thereafter the Qing emperors became
increasingly corrupt and despotic.

In 1911 China\'s Qing dynasty crumbled. The Mongols quickly saw their
opportunity and independence from China was declared on 1 December 1911,
with a theocratic government under the leadership of the 8th Jebtzun
Damba (Living Buddha). On 25 May 1915, the Treaty of Kyakhta, which
granted Mongolia limited autonomy, was signed by Mongolia, China and
Russia.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 shocked Mongolia\'s aristocracy. Taking
advantage of Russia\'s weakness, a Chinese warlord sent his troops into
Mongolia in 1919 and occupied the capital. In early 1921, retreating
White Russian anticommunist troops entered Mongolia and expelled the
Chinese. The brutality of both the Chinese and Russian forces inflamed
the Mongolians\' desire for independence. As the Russian Bolsheviks were
steadily advancing against the White Russian forces in Siberia,
Mongolian nationalists asked the Bolsheviks for help. Together they
recaptured Ulaan Baatar in July 1921. The country\'s Buddhist leader was
retained as a figurehead and the newly formed Mongolian People\'s Party
(the first political party in the country\'s history, and the only one
for the next 69 years) took over the government. On 26 November 1924,
the Mongolian People\'s Republic (MPR) was declared and Mongolia became
the world\'s second communist country.

Mongolian communism remained fairly independent of Moscow until Stalin
gained absolute power in the late 1920s. The Stalinist purges that
followed swept Mongolia into a totalitarian nightmare, with the
government\'s campaign against religion being particularly ruthless. In
1937 a reign of terror was launched against the monasteries, and
thousands of monks were executed. It\'s believed that by 1939 some
27,000 people had been executed, three per cent of Mongolia\'s
population at the time.

As the Soviet regime faltered in the early 1980s, Mongolia came under
the leadership of Jambyn Batmonkh, a decentralizer heartened by the
Soviet reforms under Mikhail Gorbachev. Batmonkh instigated a cautious
attempt at perestroika and glasnost in 1986. By 1989 full diplomatic
relations were established with China. The unraveling of the Soviet
Union resulted in decolonization by default. Few in Mongolia were ready
for the speed of the collapse or prepared to seize the moment.

In March 1990, large pro-democracy protests erupted in the square in
front of the parliament building in Ulaan Baatar and hunger strikes were
held. Things then happened quickly: Batmonkh lost power; new political
parties sprang up; and hunger strikes and protests continued. In May the
government amended the constitution to permit multiparty elections but,
ironically, rural areas voted overwhelmingly to stay under the
protective shelter of the communist party. The communist party were
forced into making concessions that snowballed into the election of the
Mongolian Democratic Coalition on 30 June 1996, ending 75 years of
unbroken communist rule.

Over the next few years, successive Mongolian governments pursued
Western-style policies of reform and privatization and courted foreign
investment, but by 1998 poverty was still on the rise. Mongolia joined
the World Trade Organization in 1997 but membership didn\'t make much of
an immediate dent in the country\'s wide-scale poverty and famine. A
couple of particularly harsh winters in 2000 and 2001 impacted badly on
the nomadic Mongolian way of life and brought the country to its knees.

Foreign aid - including low-interest loans from the UN in 2001 and a
massive annulment of Russian debt in 2004 - relieved some of the
economic burden but Mongolia was still struggling with the fiscal
implications of its new-found freedom. Meanwhile, forays into the world
of international diplomacy saw a visit from the Dalai Lama in 2002
bitterly condemned by China and 300 troops sent to Iraq in 2003 as part
of a peacekeeping force.

![](media/image33.png){width="1.1979166666666667in"
height="0.7229166666666667in"}

**COUNTRY NAME: ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN**

**CAPITAL:** Islamabad

**PROFILE:** Pakistan displays some of Asia's most magnificent
landscapes as it stretches from the Arabian Sea, its southern border, to
some of the world's most spectacular mountain ranges in the north.
Pakistan is also home to sites that date back to the world's earliest
settlements rivaling those of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.

**GEOGRAPHY:** Located in South Asia, Pakistan shares an eastern border
with India and a north-eastern border with China. Iran makes up the
country's south-west border, and Afghanistan runs along its western and
northern edge. The Arabian Sea is Pakistan's southern boundary with
1,064 km of coastline.

![](media/image34.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.7194444444444446in"}

**POPULATION:** 159,196,336 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE/SEASONS:** All four seasons; Home to the world\'s second
highest peak, K2, Pakistan is among the world\'s premier mountain
trekking destinations, with ample stretches of the mighty Himalayas.

**FLORA:** Pine, Oak, Poplar, Deodar, Maple, Mulberry

**FAUNA:** The Pheasant, Leopard, Deer, Ibex, Chinkara, Black Buk,
Neelgai, Markhor, Marcopolo, Sheep, Green Turtles, River and Sea Fish,
Crocodiles, Water Fowl.

**LANGUAGES:** Urdu (National Language) Punjabi 48%; Sindhi 12%; Siraiki
(a Punjabi variant) 10%; Pashtu 8%; Urdu (official) 8%; Balochi 3%;
Hindko 2%; Brahui 1%; English (official and lingua franca of Pakistani
elite and most government ministries)

**RELIGION:** Islam (Ethnic Composition: 95% Muslims, 5% Christian,
Hindu and others)

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** Pakistan Rupee (1US dollar equals approximately 55
Pakistani Rupees).

**GOVERNMENT:** Federal Republic. Parliamentary form of government.

**CONSTITUTION:** The parliament consists of two houses; the Senate
(Upper House) and the National Assembly (Lower House). The Senate is a
permanent legislative body and symbolizes a process of continuity in the
national affairs. It consists of 87 members. The four provincial
assemblies, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and Federal Capital,
form its electoral college. The National Assembly has a total membership
of 342 elected through adult suffrage.

**PRINCIPAL RIVER:** The Indus River, the longest river in southwest
Asia, flows 1900 miles before emptying into the Arabian Sea. After
leaving the Tibet Plateau, the river flows onto the Punjab Plains where
it receives its major tributary, the Panjnad (five streams), which
carries the united waters of the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej.
The largest flow of the Indus occurs between June and late September,
the summer monsoon season. The waters are used primarily for irrigation
of agricultural crops; dams have been built to provide flood control and
hydroelectricity.

**AGRICULTURE:** Major crops are Wheat, Cotton, Rice and Sugarcane.

**INDUSTRIES:** Textiles, cement, fertilizer, steel, sugar, electronic
goods, shipbuilding; Exports: Cotton, textile goods, rice, leather
items, carpets, sports goods, fruits, handicrafts, sea food (fisheries)

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** Literacy rate is 42.7%- Primary Schools:
150,963; Middle Schools: 14,595; High Schools: 9,808; Arts and Science
Colleges: 798; Professional Colleges: 161; Universities: 35

**HEALTH:** Hospitals: 830; Beds: 86,921; Doctors (registered): 74,229;
Dentists (registered): 2,938; Nurses (registered): 22,810

**BRIEF HISTORY:** While Pakistan as a country is relatively new, the
Indus River region is known as a cradle of civilization. Archaeologists
have found fossils of Homo sapiens in the area which date back 50,000
years. An urban society known as the Indus Civilization developed around
3,000 BC and flourished for a period of about fifteen hundred years. One
of the reasons for the rise and the prosperity of the Indus Civilization
was its situation right along a natural trade route between central Asia
and the Indian subcontinent. While this position encouraged the rise of
an urban trading society, it also encouraged wave after wave of
invasion, making Pakistan\'s history a mind-boggling tapestry of
successive conquests.

The first of these incursions was that of the Aryans, who arrived from
Central Asia around 1,700 BC, displacing the Indus Civilization and
bringing Hinduism to the region. Twelve hundred years later, the Aryans
yielded in turn to the armies of Cyrus the Great, and the Indus region
became a part of his Achaemenid Persian Empire. The next conqueror to
arrive was Alexander the Great, who passed through the Khyber Pass in
326 BC, built a fleet of ships, and sailed down the Indus to conquer
what is now the Punjab state. It was in the Punjab that Alexander\'s
soldiers refused to go any further east, prompting an enormously
difficult march homeward through the harsh desert regions of
Baluchistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.

Alexander\'s successors, the Seleucids, survived for about a century,
until they capitulated to Ashoka, emperor of the great Mauryan Empire of
India. It was Ashoka who, in an act of remorse for the suffering caused
by his many conquests, brought Buddhism to Pakistan (and to much of
Asia). The Mauryans were then succeeded by the Bactrians, the Saka
(Scythian nomads), the Parthians, and, in the 2nd century AD, by the
Kushans. Kanishka, the greatest of the Kushan kings, ruled from Peshawar
over an empire that stretched across much of India. Islam was introduced
in the 8th century and quickly spread throughout the region. The Turkish
rulers of Afghanistan invaded Pakistan as they began their conquest of
India. Pakistan then passed under the control of the Muslim sultans of
Delhi.

Early in the 16th century, Pakistan became part of the Mughal Empire.
Under the emperors Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan, art and architecture
flourished. By the early 19th century, the Sikhs had consolidated their
power and declared Lahore their capital. Within a few decades, however,
the Sikhs were defeated in battle by the English, and Pakistan became
part of the British Raj. When India prepared for independence from the
British in the 1940s, Muslim Indians pushed for their own independent
state, and the republic of Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947
as a Muslim homeland.

![](media/image35.png){width="1.6256944444444446in"
height="0.7916666666666666in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Republic of the Philippines

**CAPITAL:** Manila

**PROFILE:** The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands and
islets. The first people to inhabit the Philippine Islands migrated from
various regions of Asia and the pacific around the 3^rd^ Century BC. A
Filipino civilization emerged from the mixture of cultures around the
5^th^ Century AD. From the 13th to the early 16th century, the region
was ruled by independent tribes of peoples. The Philippines was
discovered by the Spaniards in 1521 and became a colony of Spain for
about 333 years beginning in 1565. The Philippines was ceded to the US
in 1899 and the Americans ruled the country as a US territory for 48
years. In 1942, World War II broke out and the Japanese occupied the
Philippines for three years. After the war, the Philippines received its
independence in 1946.

**GEOGRAPHY:** Southeastern Asia archipelago just above the equator
between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea; south of Taiwan;
north of Indonesia and Malaysia.

![](media/image36.png){width="6.368055555555555in"
height="2.6638888888888888in"}

**POPULATION:** 86,241,697 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE:** Tropical marine; northeast monsoon (November to April);
southwest monsoon (May to October).

**LANGUAGES:** Two official languages - Filipino (based on Tagalog) and
English; eight major dialects - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Ilonggo,
Bicolano, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinense.

**RELIGION:** Roman Catholic 83%, Protestant 9%, Islam 5%, Other 3%

**GOVERNMENT:** Republic with three branches of government; President is
both chief of state and head of government; Bicameral congress
consisting of Senate and House of Representatives; Supreme Court
Justices appointed by the president.

**NATURAL RESOURCES**: timber, petroleum, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold,
salt, copper

**PRIMARY EXPORT:** electronic equipment, machinery and transport
equipment, garments, coconut and other agricultural products, chemicals

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** Philippine Peso

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write, male: 92.5%,

female: 92.7% (2002)

**ECONOMY:** The Philippines was less severely affected by the Asian
financial crisis of 1998 than its neighbors, aided in part by annual
remittances of \$6-7 billion from overseas workers. From a 0.6% decline
in 1998, GDP expanded by 2.4% in 1999, and 4.4% in 2000, but slowed to
3.2% in 2001 in the context of a global economic slowdown, an export
slump, and political and security concerns. GDP growth accelerated to
4.4% in 2002 and 4.2% in 2003, reflecting the continued resilience of
the service sector, gains in industrial output, and improved exports.
Nonetheless, it will take a higher, sustained growth path to make
appreciable progress in poverty alleviation given the Philippines\' high
annual population growth rate and unequal distribution of income. The
MACAPAGAL-ARROYO Administration has promised to continue economic
reforms to help the Philippines match the pace of development in the
newly industrialized countries of East Asia. The strategy includes
improving the infrastructure, strengthening tax collection to bolster
government revenues, furthering deregulation and privatization of the
economy, enhancing the viability of the financial system, and increasing
trade integration with the region. Prospects for 2004 will depend on the
economic performance of two major trading partners, the US and Japan,
and on increased confidence on the part of the international investment
community.

**BRIEF HISTORY:** The first inhabitants of the Philippines arrived
around 250,000 years ago, probably migrating over a land bridge from the
Asian mainland. The Negrito people arrived 25,000 years ago, but they
were driven back by several waves of immigrants from Indonesia, followed
by maritime immigrations of Malayan people. In 1380, the Arab-taught
Makdum arrived in the Sulu archipelago and began to establish what
became a powerful Islamic sphere of influence over the next hundred
years.

Ferdinand Magellan arrived in 1521 and claimed the archipelago for
Spain. Magellan was killed by local chiefs who quite naturally
disapproved of this notion. Roy Lopez de Villalobos followed in 1543 and
named the territory Filipinas after King Philip II of Spain. Permanent
Spanish occupation began in 1565, and by 1571 the entire country, except
for the strictly Islamic Sulu archipelago, was under Spanish control.

A Filipino independence movement grew in the 19th century and Filipinos
fought on the side of the Americans in 1898 during the Spanish-American
War. When the Spanish were defeated, General Aguinaldo declared the
Philippines independent. The USA, however, had other plans, and promptly
purchased the islands from the Spanish for US\$20 million.

The USA eventually recognized the Filipinos\' desire for independence
and Manuel L Quezon was sworn in as President of the Philippine
Commonwealth in 1935 as part of a transitional phase pending full
independence. Japan invaded the Philippines in 1942, brutally
interrupting this process and ruled until the USA re-invaded two years
later. The Philippines received full independence in 1946.

Ferdinand Marcos was elected president in 1965, declared martial law in
1972 and ruled virtually as a dictator until 1986. His regime was
attacked by both communist and Muslim guerrillas, and he was accused of
ballot-rigging and fraud. The assassination of prominent opposition
figure Benigno \'Ninoy\' Aquino Jr in 1983 sparked massive
anti-government protests. A snap election in 1986 saw the opposition
parties rally around Aquino\'s widow, Cory. Both parties claimed
victory, but Aquino was widely believed to have polled most votes. She
initiated a program of non-violent civil unrest which resulted in Marcos
fleeing the country.

Aquino re-established the democratic institutions of the country, but
failed to tackle economic problems or win over the military and the
powerful Filipino elite. US strategic influence in the country
diminished following the 1991 Mt Pinatubo eruption which destroyed the
US Clark Airbase, and after the Philippine Senate refused to ratify the
lease on the Subic Bay Naval Station. Aquino survived seven coups in six
years and was succeeded by her defence minister, Fidel Ramos, in 1992.
Ramos aimed to revitalize the economy, attract foreign investment,
cleanse corruption and expand provision of utilities.

The Philippines government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)
signed a peace accord in September 1996 ending, formally at least, the
MNLF\'s 24-year struggle for autonomy in Mindanao. The peace agreement
foresaw the MNLF being granted considerable autonomy in many of the
island\'s provinces. Peace in the area remains elusive, however,
following the rise of a splinter group, the militant Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF), which opposes the agreement. The government
continues to conduct military operations in MILF-held areas in Basilan
and Sulu.

In 1998, Ramos was replaced as president by the Philippines\' answer to
Bruce Willis, Joseph Estrada. Estrada, a former movie star elected more
because of the popularity of his on-screen persona than because of any
political experience, promised a lot economically and delivered it -
straight into his own pocket. He was impeached and brought to trial in
late 2000 on charges of taking bribes from gambling syndicates, and
using the proceeds to line his own dens and build extravagant houses for
his mistresses. When Estrada and his political allies tried to derail
the trial by blocking prosecutors\' access to his financial accounts,
the people decided they\'d had enough and staged mass demonstrations in
the streets of Manila.

Estrada finally threw in the towel on 19 January 2001 and the next day
his former vice-president, Gloria Arroyo, was sworn in as the new
president of the Philippines. In an inauguration speech which must have
sounded eerily familiar to the people of the Philippines, Arroyo
promised to wipe out poverty and corruption; she refused to grant
Estrada an amnesty for his crimes with the intention of letting the
courts decide his fate. He stands accused of perjury and of dishonestly
amassing four billion pesos.

Since then, Arroyo\'s presidency has been sorely tested. Various
separatist movements in the south have been linked to global terrorism,
prompting the US to send military assistance. A military coup attempt on
27 July 2003 underscored the tensions below the surface in the country.
A standoff lasting 20 hours ended when Arroyo issued a five-hour
ultimatum. In June 2004 she won a second term as president.

![](media/image37.png){width="1.4291666666666667in"
height="0.9527777777777777in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** Monarchy

**CAPITAL:** Riyadh

**PROFILE:** In 1902, Abd Al-Aziz bin Abd al-Rahman Al Saud captured
Riyadh and set out on a 30-year campaign to unify the Arabian Peninsula.
Today, the monarchy is ruled by a son of Abd Al-Aziz, and the country\'s
Basic Law stipulates that the throne shall remain in the hands of the
aging sons and grandsons of the kingdom\'s founder. Following Iraq\'s
invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia accepted the Kuwaiti royal
family and 400,000 refugees while allowing Western and Arab troops to
deploy on its soil for the liberation of Kuwait the following year. The
continuing presence of foreign troops on Saudi soil after Operation
Desert Storm remained a source of tension between the royal family and
the public until the US military\'s near-complete withdrawal to
neighboring Qatar in 2003. The first major terrorist attacks in Saudi
Arabia in several years, which occurred in May and November 2003,
prompted renewed efforts on the part of the Saudi government to counter
domestic terrorism and extremism, which also coincided with a slight
upsurge in media freedom and announcement of government plans to phase
in partial political representation. A burgeoning population, aquifer
depletion, and an economy largely dependent on petroleum output and
prices are all ongoing governmental concerns.

**LOCATION:** Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea,
north of Yemen

![](media/image38.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.6909722222222223in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** Harsh, dry desert with great temperature extremes,
mostly uninhabited, sandy desert.

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, copper

**POPULATION:** 25,795,938\
*note:* includes 5,576,076 non-nationals (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Arab 90%, Afro-Asian 10%

**RELIGION:** Muslim 100%

**LANGUAGES:** Arabic

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 78.8%, *male:* 84.7%, *female:* 70.8% (2003 est.)

**ECONOMY**: This is an oil-based economy with strong government
controls over major economic activities. Saudi Arabia has the largest
reserves of petroleum in the world (25% of the proved reserves), ranks
as the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading role in OPEC.
The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 75% of budget revenues, 45% of
GDP, and 90% of export earnings. About 40% of GDP comes from the private
sector. Roughly five and a half million foreign workers play an
important role in the Saudi economy, for example, in the oil and service
sectors. The government in 1999 announced plans to begin privatizing the
electricity companies, which follows the ongoing privatization of the
telecommunications company. The government is encouraging private sector
growth to lessen the kingdom\'s dependence on oil and increase
employment opportunities for the swelling Saudi population. Priorities
for government spending in the short term include additional funds for
education and for the water and sewage systems. Economic reforms proceed
cautiously because of deep-rooted political and social conservatism.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** wheat, barley, tomatoes, melons, dates,
citrus; mutton, chickens, eggs, milk

**INDUSTRIES:** crude oil production, petroleum refining, basic
petrochemicals, cement, construction, fertilizer, plastics

**CURRENCY:** Saudi riyal (SAR)

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Parts of what is now eastern Saudi Arabia were first
settled in the fourth or fifth millennium BC by migrants from what is
now southern Iraq. The Nabateans had the biggest of the early empires,
stretching as far as Damascus around the first century BC.

In the early 18th century the Al-Saud, the ruling family of modern Saudi
Arabia, were the ruling sheikhs of the oasis village of Dir\'aiyah, near
modern Riyadh. When they formed an alliance, in the mid-18th century,
with Mohammed bin Abdul Wahhab, the result was Wahhabism, the
back-to-basics religious movement that is still Saudi Arabia\'s official
form of Islam. By 1806, the converting armies of Wahhabism had conquered
most of modern Saudi Arabia as well as a large part of southern Iraq.

None of this went down well in Constantinople, as western Arabia was, at
least in theory, part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1812 the empire retook
western Arabia, and by the end of the 19th century the Al-Saud had
retreated to Kuwait, where they were given sanctuary.

Enter stage left one of the great Al-Saud leaders, known as Ibn Saud,
who brewed up an irresistible combination of piety, strategy and
diplomacy and retook Riyadh and then, in 1925, Jeddah.

In 1938, Chevron found commercial quantities of oil in Saudi Arabia, and
when WWII started, oil production really took off. By 1950 the
kingdom\'s royalties were running at about 1000000.00 a week, and by
1960, 80% of the government\'s revenues came from oil. The Arab oil
embargo, in 1973-74, increased the price of oil fourfold and Saudi
Arabia became something of a world power. As the government raked in the
cash, a building boom began and Saudi Arabia became one immense
construction site. But the oil boom attracted a lot of interest from
outside the country, and Saudi Arabia\'s relations with its neighbors
became increasingly strained. The massacre of 400 Iranian pilgrims at
the 1987 *hajj* resulted in Iran boycotting the pilgrimage for several
years.

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, the Saudis started getting nervous,
and asked the USA to send troops to defend the kingdom. Although Saudi
Arabia was not invaded, the crisis stirred up demands for political
change, and in 1993 the king set up a Consultative Council - members are
appointed by the king and can comment on proposed laws.

The days of easy oil money are just a fond memory and the country\'s
population is growing rapidly (the average Saudi woman bears six
children), presenting Saudi Arabia and the aging King Fahd with an
impressive challenge. Two generations of generous public assistance
haven\'t inculcated the country\'s youth with the strongest work ethic,
either.

In 1999, the first high-end tour groups entered the difficult-to-visit
nation, but visas remain officially restricted to business travelers,
Muslims making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, and those few
lucky folk able to convince a Saudi national to sponsor their visit.

The terrorist attacks in the US in September 2001 were something of a
landmark event for Saudis too. The involvement of Saudi nationals and
the rumors of state sponsorship of terrorism tainted the monarchy. The
US military pulled out of the country in 2003 hoping to ease tensions in
the kingdom.

Popular discontent within the country at the House of Saud - especially
in relation to undemocratic nature and its ties with the US - saw
Islamic fundamentalism terror groups become more active. The
liberalization of aspects of the criminal justice system in 2002 was
greeted with cynicism. In 2003, suicide bombers reportedly linked to
al-Qaeda killed 35 people in Riyadh.

The reform movement gathered momentum in late 2003, prompting the
monarchy to announce municipal elections to be held within a year and
that to grant the Consultative Council the power to propose legislation
without royal consent, but to little effect. In 2004, numerous
foreigners were kidnapped and executed, and violence marred the Hajj
pilgrimage - 251 pilgrims were killed in a stampede.

![](media/image39.png){width="1.56875in" height="0.7895833333333333in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka)

# CAPITAL: Columbo, note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital.

**PROFILE**: The Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka late in the 6th century
B.C., probably from northern India. Buddhism was introduced beginning in
about the mid-third century B.C., and a great civilization developed at
the cities of Anuradhapura (kingdom from circa 200 B.C. to circa A.D.
1000) and Polonnaruwa (from about 1070 to 1200). In the 14th century, a
south Indian dynasty seized power in the north and established a Tamil
kingdom. Occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and by the Dutch
in the 17th century, the island was ceded to the British in 1796, became
a crown colony in 1802, and was united under British rule by 1815. As
Ceylon, it became independent in 1948; its name was changed to Sri Lanka
in 1972. Tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists
erupted into war in 1983. Tens of thousands have died in an ethnic
conflict that continues to fester. After two decades of fighting, the
government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam formalized a cease-fire
in February 2002, with Norway brokering peace negotiations.

**GEOGRAPHY:** Sri Lanka, located south of India, has an area of
approximately 65,000 sq km, which is slightly larger than West Virginia.
The terrain is mostly low, flat to rolling plain, with mountains in the
south central interior.

![](media/image40.png){width="6.376388888888889in"
height="2.667361111111111in"}

**POPULATION**: 19,905,165\
*note:* since the outbreak of hostilities between the government and
armed Tamil separatists in the mid-1980s, several hundred thousand Tamil
civilians have fled the island; as of yearend 2000, approximately 65,000
were housed in 131 refugee camps in south India, another 40,000 lived
outside the Indian camps, and more than 200,000 Tamils have sought
refuge in the West (July 2004 est.) The life expectancy at birth is 73
years, the literacy rate is 92%, and the population growth rate is 0.8%.
Education is totally free but university admission is highly
competitive. Sri Lanka has one of the highest Physical Quality of Life
Index for developing countries.

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 92.3%, *male:* 94.8%, *female:* 90% (2003 est.)

**CLIMATE:** Primarily two seasons. It rains heavily during the tropical
monsoon seasons: northeast monsoon (December to March); southwest
monsoon (June to October).

**LANGUAGES:** Sinhala (official and national language) 74%, Tamil
(national language) 18%, and other 8%. English is commonly used and is
spoken competently by many.

**RELIGION:** Buddhist 70%, Hindu 15%, Christian 8%, and Muslim 7%.

**MAJOR FESTIVALS:** Sinhala and Tamil New Year (April 13/14), Wesak
(Lord Buddha's birthday on the full moon day in the month of May),
Thaipongal (Tamil harvest festival on January 13-15), Christmas and
Ramadan (ninth month of the Muslim year).

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** Sri Lankan Rupee (1US dollar equals approximately
Rs.100 Sri Lankan).

**GOVERNMENT:** A republic, after the most recent constitution adopted
in August 1978. The President, who is the chief of state and head of
government, is elected directly by the people. The Parliament elected
under a modified proportional representation system selects the Prime
Minister. In 1960, Sri Lanka elected Mrs. Bandaranayke, the word's first
democratically elected woman Prime Minister.

**ECONOMY**: The foundation for economic development was laid in the
second half of the 19th century, when coffee and tea plantations were
established in the hill country surrounding Nuwara Eliya. The national
economy is heavily dependent upon agricultural exports. Tea is by far
the principal export crop. Others are rubber, coconuts, and spices,
especially cinnamon. The principal ports are Colombo and Galle. Breeding
grounds of the pearl oyster are located in the Gulf of Mannar off the
northwest coast.

More than 80 percent of the people work on small subsistence farms,
where the main food crop is rice. Rice output grew in the 1980s as a
result of the expansion of land available for cultivation and from the
impact of the Green Revolution. The nation has been self-sufficient in
rice since the mid-1980s.

Sri Lanka is rich in industrial rocks and minerals such as graphite,
mica, silica sand, quartz, feldspar, and gemstones. The nation is the
world\'s largest producer of graphite, a form of carbon that is used in
the making of pencils. Long known as a land of gems, the island has
dozens of varieties of precious and semiprecious gemstones. Mined around
Ratnapura, the gems include sapphires, rubies, aquamarines, moonstones,
topazes, garnets, amethysts, and zircons.

The island state of Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon until 1972. Like
India, it was for a long time a colony of Great Britain; and like India
it developed a strong nationalist movement early in the 20th century. A
Ceylon National Congress was formed in 1919. In response to pressure the
British government allowed a new constitution to be issued in 1920,
which satisfied some nationalist demands for self-government.

A second constitution in 1931 opened the political process by granting
some political power to the residents of Ceylon. The experience in
democracy that this constitution provided led to more demands for
independence. A third constitution in 1945 enlarged the areas of
self-government, but Britain still managed foreign policy and defense.
Finally, in 1947, the Ceylon Independence Act made the island a free
state within the
[Commonwealth.](http://members.tripod.com/infctr/other_info.htm#Commonwealth)

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Sri Lanka\'s first settlers were the nomadic Veddahs.
Legend relates them to the Yakkhas, demons conquered by the Sinhalese
around the 5th or 6th century BC. A number of Sinhalese kingdoms,
including Anuradhapura in the north, took root across the island during
the 4th century BC. Buddhism was introduced by Mahinda, son of the
Indian Mauryan emperor Ashoka, in the 3rd century BC, and it quickly
became the established religion and the focus of a strong nationalism.
However, Anuradhapura was not impregnable. Repeated invasions from
southern India over the next 1000 years left Sri Lanka in an ongoing
state of dynastic power struggle.

The Portuguese arrived in Colombo in 1505 and gained a monopoly on the
invaluable spice trade. By 1597, the colonisers had taken formal control
of the island. However, they failed to dislodge the powerful Sinhalese
kingdom in Kandy which, in 1658, enlisted Dutch help to expel the
Portuguese. The Dutch were more interested in trade and profits than
religion or land, and only half-heartedly resisted when the British
arrived in 1796. The Brits wore down Kandy\'s sovereignty and in 1815
became the first European power to rule the entire island. Coffee, tea,
cinnamon and coconut plantations (worked by Tamil laborers imported from
southern India) sprang up and English was introduced as the national
language.

Then known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka finally achieved full independence in
1948. The government adopted socialist policies, but promoted Sinhalese
interests, making Sinhalese the national language and effectively
reserving the best jobs for the Sinhalese, partly to address the
imbalance of power between the majority Sinhalese and the
English-speaking, Christian-educated elite. It prompted the Tamil Hindu
minority to press for greater autonomy in the main Tamil areas in the
north and east.

The country\'s ethnic and religious conflicts escalated as competition
for wealth and work intensified. When Bandaranaike was assassinated in
1959 trying to reconcile the two communities, his widow, Sirimavo,
became the world\'s first female prime minister. She continued her
husband\'s socialist policies, but the economy went from bad to worse. A
Maoist revolt in 1971 led to the death of thousands. One year later, the
country became a republic and made Sri Lanka its official name.

In 1972 the constitution formally made Buddhism the state\'s primary
religion, and Tamil places at university were reduced. Subsequent civil
unrest resulted in a state of emergency in Tamil areas. Sinhalese
security forces faced off against young Tamils, who began the fight for
an independent homeland. Junius Richard Jayewardene was elected in 1977
and promoted Tamil to the status of a \'national language\' in Tamil
areas. He also granted Tamils greater local government control, but
violence escalated.

When Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) secessionists massacred an
army patrol in 1983, Sinhalese mobs went on a two-day rampage, killing
several thousand Tamils and burning and looting property. This marked
the point of no return. Many Tamils moved north into Tamil-dominated
areas, and Sinhalese began to leave the Jaffna area. Tamil secessionists
claimed the northern third of the country and the eastern coast. They
were clearly in the majority in the north but proportionately equal to
the Sinhalese and Muslims in the east. Violence escalated, with both
sides guilty of ethnic cleansing.

By 1985, there were 50,000 internal refugees, 100,000 Tamil exiles in
India, no tourism, slumping tea prices and dwindling aid (because of
human rights abuses). Government gains in 1987 led to Tamil unrest in
India, prompting concerns of an Indian invasion. The two governments
agreed that the Sri Lankan Army would retreat and an Indian Peace
Keeping Force (IPKF) would maintain order in the north and disarm the
Tigers. The agreement led to Sinhalese and Muslim riots in the south
over the government \'sell-out\' and Indian \'occupation\'. Sri Lanka
became a quagmire of inescapable violence.

A 1989 Sinhalese rebellion broke out in the south and the Marxist JVP
orchestrated a series of strikes and political murders. The country was
at a standstill. When the government\'s talks with the JVP failed, it
unleashed death squads that killed JVP suspects and dumped their bodies
in rivers. A three-year reign of terror resulted in at least 30,000
deaths. The IPKF withdrew in 1990. The Tigers had agreed to a ceasefire
but violence flared almost immediately when a breakaway Tamil group
unilaterally declared an independent homeland.

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a Tamil suicide bomber
in 1991 and Premadasa suffered the same fate in 1993. Chandrika
Bandaranaike Kumaratunga became prime minister in 1994, and president in
1995, and for the second time her mother Sirimavo Bandaranaike became
prime minister.

In early 1995, the Tamils broke a truce and the government responded
with a massive military operation that seemed to put Sri Lanka on the
path to peace. But the Tigers regrouped and, by mid-1996, had launched
damaging attacks on government troops stationed in northern Sri Lanka
and terrorist strikes in Colombo.

The massacre in mid-October 2000 of 26 unarmed Tamil prisoners by a
crowd of Sinhalese in the hill country town of Bandarawela resulted in
violent demonstrations and retaliatory attacks.

Chandrika Kumaratunga won a second term in office in December 1999. Days
before the vote, the president and People\'s Alliance coalition leader
was the target of a LTTE suicide bomb attack in which she lost the sight
in one eye. In December 2001, Ranil Wickramasinghe, who lost the 1999
elections, became prime minister when the United National Party swept
parliamentary elections. This could have led to deadlock between
Parliament and the executive in dealing with high inflation, high
unemployment, poor infrastructure and, of course, the 18-year-old civil
war, but unexpectedly promising peace talks with the LTTE have
facilitated cooperation in the political process.

Peace talks brokered by a Norwegian delegation inspired a one-month
cease-fire beginning 24 December 2001 (the first in seven years),
renewed in January 2002. With the lifting of a seven-year-old embargo on
LTTE-controlled territory, it seemed peace was not a pipe dream. But the
peace process stalled in 2003, and fears that it may collapse entirely
were raised in mid-2004 when a suicide bomber blew herself up in a
government building in Colombo.

Devastated by a powerful earthquake-triggered tsunami (*or tidal wave*)
on December 26, 2004, the tropical island of Sri Lanka has a most
interesting and volatile history\
![](media/image2.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}\
![](media/image2.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}First populated by the Sinhalese, it was
eventually occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century and by the
Dutch in the 17th century.
![](media/image2.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}Then, in 1796, it was ceded to the
British, becoming a crown colony in 1802. Long known as Ceylon, it
became independent in 1948, with its name changed to Sri Lanka in 1972.\
![](media/image2.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}\
![](media/image2.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}Tensions between the Sinhalese majority
and Tamil separatists erupted into war in 1983. Tens of thousands have
died in an ethnic conflict that continues to fester, and the once
thriving tourism industry continues to suffer.

![](media/image41.png){width="1.43125in" height="0.9118055555555555in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Syrian Arab Republic (Syria)

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** Republic under military regime since March 1963

**CAPITAL:** Damascus

**PROFILE:** Following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World
War I, Syria was administered by the French until independence in 1946.
In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel.
Since 1976, Syrian troops have been stationed in Lebanon, ostensibly in
a peacekeeping capacity. Over the past decade, Syria and Israel have
held occasional peace talks over the return of the Golan Heights.

**LOCATION:** Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between
Lebanon and Turkey

![](media/image42.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.7194444444444446in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** Mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to
August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast; cold
weather with snow or sleet periodically in Damascus. Primarily semiarid
and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores,
asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower

**POPULATION:** 18,016,874\
*note:* in addition, about 40,000 people live in the Israeli-occupied
Golan Heights - 20,000 Arabs (18,000 Druze and 2,000 Alawites) and about
20,000 Israeli settlers (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%

**RELIGION:** Sunni Muslim 74%, Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim sects
16%, Christian (various sects) 10%, Jewish (tiny communities in
Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo)

**LANGUAGES:** Arabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian
widely understood; French, English somewhat understood

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 76.9%\
*male:* 89.7%\
*female:* 64% (2003 est.)

**ECONOMY**: Syria\'s predominantly statistic economy lately has been
growing more slowly than its 2.4% annual population growth rate. Recent
legislation allows private banks to operate in Syria, although a private
banking sector will take years and further government cooperation to
develop. Factors, including the war between the US-led coalition and
Iraq, probably drove real annual GDP growth levels back below 1% in 2003
following growth of 3.5% in 2001 and 4.5% in 2002. A long-run economic
constraint is the pressure on water supplies caused by rapid population
growth, industrial expansion, and increased water pollution.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** wheat, barley, cotton, lentils, chickpeas,
olives, sugar beets; beef, mutton, eggs, poultry, milk

**INDUSTRIES:** petroleum, textiles, food processing, beverages,
tobacco, phosphate rock mining

**CURRENCY:** Syrian pound (SYP)

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Historically, Syria included Jordan, Israel and
Lebanon, as well as the area now known as Syria. Although the modern
state of Syria is a creation of the 20th century, the region can lay
claim to having one of the oldest civilizations in the world. The
Mesopotamian Akkadians were the first to covet the area, followed by the
Egyptians; then the Hittites came to town. Evidence of the first
alphabets have been found at the ancient site of Ugarit. The country was
in a top strategic spot, and its coastal towns became important
Phoenician trading posts. The region became a prize for every
neighboring warmonger for over 400 years. Later, Syria was a pivotal
part of the Persian, Greek, then Roman empires. After Byzantium went
pear-shaped, the Islamic Umayyads (who for a time made Damascus the
capital of the Muslim world) were followed in 750 by the Abbasids, who
moved to Baghdad, starting a period of decline. The Crusaders arrived
and spread their patented brand of mayhem until their defeat at the
hands of Nureddin (Nur ad-Din), whose son, Saladin (Salah ad-Din),
brought prosperity back to the region. They were followed by the Mamluks
and Mongols until finally, in 1516, the Ottomans took over.

Syria prospered under Ottoman rule except for a brief period in the 19th
century when the Egyptians came a-conquerin\'. They were soon sent
packing and the Ottoman Turks, along with Lebanon, dished it out to
France when the Turkish Empire broke up after WWI. The Syrians weren\'t
too pleased with this arrangement (they had been an independent nation
from 1918-20) and staged an insurrection in 1925-26 that resulted in the
French bombing Damascus.

In 1932 Syria had its first parliamentary elections, and although the
candidates had been picked by the French, they refused to accept
France\'s proposed constitution for the country. In 1939 France granted
Turkey the Syrian province of Alexandretta, further sharpening feeling
against the imperial overlords. France promised independence in 1941 but
didn\'t come through with it until 1946.

Civilian rule didn\'t last long in Syria: in 1954, after several
military coups, the Ba\'athist section of the army took over the
country. The Ba\'ath Party was founded in 1940 by a Christian teacher
and was committed to a form of pan-Arabism under which Syria would
forfeit its sovereignty. This led to the formation of a United Arab
Republic with Egypt in 1958, but several people thought this wasn\'t
such a hot idea, and another series of military coups trundled across
the country. By 1966 the Ba\'ath were back in power, but the
celebrations were curtailed by the 1967 Six Day War with Israel and the
1970 Black September hostilities with Jordan. While everyone was
otherwise occupied, Defense Minister Hafez al-Assad seized power.

After 1971, Assad held onto the presidency with a mixture of ruthless
suppression and guile, and used his position to maneuver Syria into a
position of power in the Middle Eastern peace process. In 1999, he was
elected to a fifth seven-year term with a predictable 99.9% of the vote.
Although falling oil prices instigated much hand-wringing throughout the
Middle East, Assad\'s astute exploitation of the Gulf War in the early
1990s brought improvements in the Syrian economy. During the war, Syria
joined the anti-Iraq coalition and got into the USA\'s good books in an
effort to get off Washington\'s list of states supporting international
terrorism.

In 1997, Syria was removed from the US list of drug-trafficking states,
while Assad moved to strengthen ties with the fledgling EU, Turkey and
the USA. Attempts to diversify the oil-reliant economy, primarily with
investment in agricultural products, have had mixed success. In early
2000, US State Department officials discussed removing Syria from the
terrorism list, admitting that even according to US Intelligence, the
country hadn\'t sponsored any terrorist activity since 1986. The chaotic
withdrawal of Israeli troops from South Lebanon in May 2000, occurring
under fire from the allegedly Syrian-sponsored Hezbollah, would have
probably delayed further talks under the best of circumstances.
President Assad died on 10 June 2000 and his son Bashar was sworn in for
a seven-year term in July 2000.

Bashar al-Assad has shown greater reformist and moderate tendencies than
his father, including releasing dozens of political prisoners and a
visit to Turkey to mend decades of poor relations. However, its links to
militant extremists and a legacy of corruption and government control
mean that greater reform still remains a dream for the majority of
Syrians.

Internationally, Syria\'s hard-line stance vis-à-vis Israel over the
return of the Golan Heights and alleged support for extremist
organizations such as Hezbollah continues to stand in the way of
improved relations with the West.

![](media/image43.png){width="1.4055555555555554in"
height="0.9277777777777778in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Republic of China (Taiwan)

**CAPITAL:** Taipei

**PROFILE:** In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to
Japan. Taiwan reverted to Chinese control after World War II. Following
the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists
fled to Taiwan and established a government using the 1946 constitution
drawn up for all of China. Over the next five decades, the ruling
authorities gradually democratized and incorporated the native
population within the governing structure. In 2000, Taiwan underwent its
first peaceful transfer of power from the Nationalist to the Democratic
Progressive Party. Throughout this period, the island prospered and
became one of East Asia\'s economic \"Tigers.\" The dominant political
issues continue to be the relationship between Taiwan and China -
specifically the question of eventual unification - as well as domestic
political and economic reform.

**LOCATION:** Taiwan is 394 kilometers long and 144 kilometers at its
widest point. It is shaped like a yam and covers a total area of nearly
36,000 square kilometers. Located off the eastern coast of China, Taiwan
is the largest island between Japan and the Philippines. The Taiwan
Strait separates Taiwan and China.

**GEOGRAPHY:** Eastern Asia, islands bordering the East China Sea,
Philippine Sea, South China Sea, and Taiwan Strait, north of the
Philippines, off the southeastern coast of China.

![](media/image44.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.7194444444444446in"}

**POPULATION:** Taiwan\'s total population numbered 22,749,838 (July
2004 est.) Taiwan\'s population density was 623 persons per square
kilometer, making it the second highest in the world after Bangladesh.

**PEOPLE:** Dating back 12,000 to 15,000 years ago, Taiwan\'s earliest
inhabitants came from at least two places, southern China and
Austronesia. These early settlers, which now compose Taiwan\'s
indigenous peoples, make up less than two percent of the population. In
the 16th century, people from China\'s coastal provinces of Fujian and
Guangdong began immigrating to Taiwan in large numbers to build a new
homeland away from war and famine. This group of immigrants today
constitutes about 85 percent of the population, with the Fujianese
outnumbering the Hakka by a ratio of approximately three to one. When
the Kuomintang (KMT) retreated to Taiwan in 1949, it brought a new
influx of Chinese immigrants to Taiwan. These late Chinese immigrants
and their descent make up roughly 13 percent of the population.

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** Taiwan is a constitutional republic. The
government is divided into central, municipal, and county/city levels,
each of which has specifically defined powers. The central government
consists of the Office of the President and five branches (called
\"yuan\"), namely the Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan, Judicial Yuan,
Examination Yuan, and Control Yuan.

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Taiwan is currently drafting a language
equality law aimed at preserving the 14 major languages in Taiwan:
Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka, and 11 indigenous languages.

**RELIGION:** Taiwan\'s society has been dominated by ancestor worship,
Taoism, and Buddhism but has never excluded the addition and development
of other indigenous and foreign religions.

**CLIMATE:** Taiwan\'s climate is subtropical, with an average annual
temperature of 21.7 deg C (71.2 deg F) in the north and 24.1 deg C (75.7
deg F) in the south. Summers, which last from May through September, are
usually hot and humid, with daytime temperatures ranging from 27 deg C
to 35 deg C (80 deg - 90 deg F). Winters, which run from December
through February, are short and mild. Snowfalls only occur on the
island\'s higher elevations.

**AGRICULTURE:** Rice is Taiwan\'s most valuable crop, followed by betel
nuts, pineapples, mangoes, sugar cane, watermelons, tea, bamboo shoots,
pears, and peanuts. Taiwanese people are now eating more wheat-based
foods and dairy products while consuming less rice.

**LOCAL DIET/TRADITIONAL FOOD:** Taiwan's traditional diet itself is
light, simple, easy to prepare, and often liberally spiced with ginger.
Because Taiwan is an island, Taiwanese food features plenty of seafood.
Taiwan\'s centralized location in Asia gives the hungry tourist a wide
variety of different Asian cuisines to sample from, including Thai,
Malay, Japanese, Korean, Indian, and Filipino, as well as Chinese.

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Taiwan\'s main export commodities are electrical
machinery and mechanical appliances. In 2001, Taiwan was the world\'s
14th largest exporter.

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** Taiwan's unit of currency is the New Taiwan Dollar
(NT\$ or NTD). The exchange rate is around NT\$33.5 to US\$1 in April
2004.

**EDUCATION:** Nine years of education has been compulsory since 1968,
and a wide range of other educational options exists in Taiwan for
citizens of all ages.

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Taiwan, isolated and poorly developed, had been a
neglected island before the 17th century. But during the age of
exploration and maritime conquest by Europeans, Taiwan attracted the
world's attention because of its strategic location and natural
resources. The Dutch (1624) and the Spanish (1628) colonized parts of
northern and southern Taiwan. Cheng Chen-gong, who was loyal to the
fallen Ming dynasty, defeated the Dutch in 1662 and set up a government
on Taiwan to defy the Manchus, who had established the Ching dynasty in
China.

The Manchus conquered Taiwan in 1683 and ruled it until 1895, when
Taiwan was ceded to Japan after the First Sino-Japanese War. At the end
of World War II, the Republic of China (ROC) was given permission to
occupy Taiwan by the Allied forces. When the Chinese Communist Party
established the People\'s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the ROC
government, led by the Kuomintang (KMT), retreated to Taiwan, where it
maintained jurisdiction over Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and numerous
other islets. The two sides of the Taiwan Strait have since been
governed as separate territories and developed separate identities.

In the realm of political development, Taiwan has grown into a free and
vibrant democracy. The government was forced to lift the martial law in
1987 and launch a series of political reforms to expand the democratic
process. In 1996, the people of Taiwan completed their first direct
presidential election. The presidential election of 2000 ended five
decades of government under the KMT and peacefully transferred power to
the victorious Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Taiwan has since then
established itself as a powerful working model for democracy.

Democratic progress \-- combined with an entrepreneurial and highly
educated populace, impartial government regulation, and constantly
improving infrastructure \-- has enabled Taiwan to surge ahead and
establish itself as a global economic powerhouse. Its competitive and
dynamic free-market economy has brought unprecedented prosperity to all
levels of society. In January 2002, Taiwan joined the WTO and became an
official partner in the world trading system. The government is now
vigorously promoting a knowledge-based economy and industrial
modernization to transform Taiwan into a \"green silicon island\" of
high value-added production.

In 2004, the Taiwanese president, Chen Shui-Bian, was reelected largely
due to the support generated from the growing consciousness of Taiwan
identity among the people. Taiwanese are prepared to move forward to
rectify the official country name as Taiwan and to develop and institute
a new constitution that will enhance Taiwan's competitiveness in world
society.

![](media/image45.png){width="1.4326388888888888in" height="0.95in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Kingdom of Thailand

**GOVERNMENT TYPE:** Constitutional Monarchy

**CAPITAL:** Bangkok

**PROFILE:** A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th
century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian
country never to have been taken over by a European power. A bloodless
revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with
Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US ally following the
conflict. Thailand is currently facing armed violence in its three
Muslim-majority southernmost provinces.

**LOCATION:** Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf
of Thailand, southeast of Burma

![](media/image46.png){width="6.28125in" height="1.8541666666666667in"}

**CLIMATE/TERRAIN:** Tropical; rainy, warm, cloudy southwest monsoon
(mid-May to September); dry, cool northeast monsoon (November to
mid-March); southern isthmus always hot and humid. Central plain; Khorat
Plateau in the east; mountains elsewhere

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** tin, rubber, natural gas, tungsten, tantalum,
timber, lead, fish, gypsum, lignite, fluorite, arable land

**POPULATION:** 64,865,523\
*note:* estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life
expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population
and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age
and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2004 est.)

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%

**RELIGION:** Buddhism 95%, Muslim 3.8%, Christianity 0.5%, Hinduism
0.1%, other 0.6% (1991)

**LANGUAGES:** Thai, English (secondary language of the elite), ethnic
and regional dialects

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** *definition:* age 15 and over can read and
write\
*total population:* 92.6%\
*male:* 94.9%\
*female:* 90.5% (2002)

**ECONOMY**: Thailand has a free-enterprise economy and welcomes foreign
investment. Exports feature textiles and footwear, fishery products,
rice, rubber, jewelry, automobiles, computers and electrical appliances.
Thailand has recovered from the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis and was
one of East Asia\'s best performers in 2002. Increased consumption and
investment spending and strong export growth pushed GDP growth up to
6.3% in 2003 despite a sluggish global economy. The highly popular
government has pushed an expansionist policy, including major support of
village economic development.

**AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS:** rice, cassava (tapioca), rubber, corn,
sugarcane, coconuts, soybeans

**INDUSTRIES:** tourism, textiles and garments, agricultural processing,
beverages, tobacco, cement, light manufacturing such as jewelry,
electric appliances and components, computers and parts, integrated
circuits, furniture, plastics, world\'s second-largest tungsten
producer, and third-largest tin producer

**CURRENCY:** baht (THB)

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Thailand, or Siam as it was called until 1939, has
never been colonized by a foreign power, unlike its south and Southeast
Asian neighbors. Despite periodic invasion by the Burmese and the
Khmers, and brief occupation by the Japanese in WWII, the kingdom has
never been externally controlled for long enough to dampen the Thai\'s
individualism.

The earliest civilization in Thailand is believed to have been that of
the Monks in central Thailand, who brought a Buddhist culture from the
Indian subcontinent. In the 12th century, this met a Khmer culture
moving from the east, the Sumatran-based Srivijaya culture moving north,
and citizens of the Thai state of Nan Chao, in what is now southern
China, migrating south. Thai princes created the first Siamese capital
in Sukhothai and later centres in Chiang Mai and, notably, Ayuthaya.

The Burmese invaded Siam in 16th and 18th centuries, capturing Chiang
Mai and destroying Ayuthaya. The Thais expelled the Burmese and moved
their capital to Thonburi. In 1782, the current Chakri dynasty was
founded by King Rama I and the capital was moved across the river to
Bangkok.

In the 19th century, Siam remained independent by deftly playing off one
European power against another.

The 20th century brought great change to Thailand. In 1932, a peaceful
coup converted the country into a constitutional monarchy and in 1939
Siam became Thailand. During WWII, the Thai government sided with the
Japanese. After the war, Thailand was dominated by the military and
experienced more than twenty coups and countercoups interspersed with
short-lived experiments with democracy. Democratic elections in 1979
were followed by a long period of stability and prosperity as power
shifted from the military to the business elite.

In February 1991 a military coup ousted the Chatichai government, but
bloody demonstrations in May 1992 led to the reinstatement of a civilian
government with Chuan Leekpai at the helm. This coalition government
collapsed in May 1995 over a land-reform scandal but replacement prime
minister Banharn Silpa-archa was no better. Dubbed a \'walking ATM\' by
the Thai press, he was forced to relinquish the prime ministership just
over a year later after a spate of corruption scandals. Ex-general and
former deputy PM Chavalit Yongchaiyudh headed a dubious coalition until
late 1997, when veteran pragmatist Chuan Leekpai retook the reins.

In 1997 the Thai baht pretty much collapsed, dragging the economy (and
many other Southeast Asian economies) down in a screaming heap. In
August the International Monetary Fund stepped in with a bailout package
of austerity measures, which - although it slowed Thailand\'s growth
dramatically and hit the poor hardest - seemed to have turned things
around by early 1998. By the turn of the new century, Thailand\'s
economy had stopped going into free fall, but rebuilding had only just
begun. Genuine attempts to weed out corruption seem underway, but the
poverty-stricken of Thailand are still wary of promises and agitating
for more reforms.

The relatively new Thai Rak Thai Party (Thais Love Thais), led by
Thaksin Shinawatra, emerged as a force in Thai politics and saw many
sitting MPs defect to its ranks. In parliamentary elections held in
January 2001, Thai Rak Thai trounced Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai\'s
democrats. Although Thaksin has thus far been able broadly to deliver on
his promises, he has faced opposition from anti-reform elements within
his own Thai Rak Thai party, as well as accusations of corruption during
his time as deputy prime minister in 1997. One worrying recent
development has been Thaksin\'s widespread suppression of the Thai
media. As owner of Thailand\'s only independent TV station, he sacked 23
journalists during the election that brought him to power, and has since
come down heavily on all forms of political commentary on radio or TV.
Thaksin also instigated the recent \'war on drugs\', which has left
thousands dead, many apparently victims of a shoot-to-kill policy by the
Thai police.

Thailand\'s future economic growth will depend partly on its ability to
remain peaceful over the next few years. Tourism is now one of the
largest sectors of the Thai economy, but the industry has already
suffered huge losses due the 2003 epidemic of Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS), even though Thailand remained free of the disease
throughout the crisis. The recent arrest of members of the Islamic
fundamentalist group Jemaah Islamiyah has worrying implications for the
future safety of the kingdom. However, Thais continue to glide through
it all with their customary calm.

![](media/image47.png){width="1.1541666666666666in"
height="0.7770833333333333in"}![](media/image48.png){width="1.2597222222222222in"
height="0.7895833333333333in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam)

**CAPITAL:** Hanoi

**PROFILE:** The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was
completed by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887.
Independence was declared after World War II, but the French continued
to rule until 1954 when they were defeated by Communist forces under Ho
Chi Minh, who took control of the North. US economic and military aid to
South Vietnam grew through the 1960s in an attempt to bolster the
government, but US armed forces were withdrawn following a cease-fire
agreement in 1973. Two years later, North Vietnamese forces overran the
South. Despite the return of peace, for over two decades the country
experienced little economic growth because of conservative leadership
policies. Since 2001, Vietnamese authorities have committed to economic
liberalization and enacted structural reforms needed to modernize the
economy and to produce more competitive, export-driven industries. The
country continues to experience protests from the Montagnard ethnic
minority population of the Central Highlands over loss of land to
Vietnamese settlers and religious persecution.

**LOCATION:** Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of
Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia

**GEOGRAPHY:** Vietnam is a long and narrow country, lying completely in
the tropical zone. Its landmass forms the shape the letter **S** on the
east side of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia. Vietnamese
eastern border consists of more than 3,000 km of coastline, facing the
East Sea and the Pacific Ocean. To the north, Vietnam shares its border
with China, while to the west, with Cambodia and Laos.

![](media/image49.png){width="6.492361111111111in"
height="2.7194444444444446in"}

**POPULATION:** 82,689,518 (July 2004 est.) Vietnamese 85%-90%, Chinese,
Hmong, Thai, Khmer, Cham and mountain groups.

**CLIMATE/SEASONS:** Tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot,
rainy season (mid-May to mid-September) and warm, dry season
(mid-October to mid-March)

**FLORA:** The monsoon tropical climate, sunshine and rain have given
Vietnam and abundant and diversified vegetation. The Vietnamese
territory lies at the convergence of atmospheric currents and has
received a great number of seeds from the north, west and south, that is
why the forests have many strains and species of vegetation. Vietnam has
over 800 wood species many of which are precious due to their hardness,
solidity, beautiful grains and colors. The famous wood species comprise
iron wood, oak, teak; thitka on limestone mountains; wood with beautiful
grains such as mahogany, calamander, barian kingwood, aqilaria, species
of peumou, yellow wood pedo-carpus fleuryi, comphor-trees also abound.
The virgin forests have a reserve of wood of over 300 cubic meters per
hectares.

**FAUNA:** A variety of ancient tropical fauna and about 200 species of
animals, 800 species of birds, 100 species of amphibians and over 150
species of reptiles. 1,000 species live in the seas and rivers and 200
species live in fresh water Animals living in fresh waters comprise 250
fish species; brackish water and coastal areas are the habitat of 1,000
species of fishes, 300 species of crabs, 40 species of shrimps and
lobsters, 300 species of oysters and sea snails, clams, sea slugs, sea
turtles, pearl oysters and 300 species of seaweeds.

**LANGUAGE(S):** Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as
a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area
languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian).

**RELIGION:** Buddhist, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly Roman
Catholic, some Protestant), indigenous beliefs and Muslim.

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** Vietnamese Dong (VND). The exchange rate as of
May, 2004, **1 US Dollar = 16,243.0 Vietnamese Dong,** 1 Vietnamese Dong
(VND) = 0.00006156 US Dollar (USD).

**GOVERNMENT:** Communist state. The C*hief of state:* President Tran
Duc LUONG (since 24 September 1997) , The h*ead of government:* Prime
Minister Phan Van KHAI (since 25 September 1997); Cabinet appointed by
the president on the proposal of the prime minister and ratification of
the National Assembly.

**CONSTITUTION:** 15 April 1992. Suffrage: 18 years of age, universal.
Legal system is based on communist legal theory and French civil law
system.

**PRINCIPAL RIVER:** Northern Vietnam has large plains lying in the
river basins of the Red, Lo, and Chay Rivers, which flow in a
northeast-to-southwest direction into Bac Bo Gulf. In order to cultivate
land and earn their living, inhabitants of the north built dikes over
the centuries, resulting in today\'s system of dikes that are thousands
of kilometers long along the river banks. Southern Vietnam has the
Mekong River, which originates in China, and flows through Laos and
Cambodia before entering Vietnam. In Vietnam, the river splits into nine
tributaries before flowing into the East Sea, which is the reason the
Vietnamese call it the Cuu Long (Nine Dragons) River.

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** Phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate,
offshore oil and gas deposits, forests, hydropower.

**AGRICULTURE:** Paddy rice, corn, potatoes, rubber, soybeans, coffee,
tea, bananas, sugar; poultry, pigs and fish.

**INDUSTRIES:** Food processing, garments, shoes, machine-building,
mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, coal, steel and
paper.

**EXPORTS:** Crude oil, marine products, rice, coffee, rubber, tea,
garments and shoes.

**EDUCATION/LITERACY:** In 1997, there were 22 million pupils all over
the country. Among them, 13.2 million in primary schools (accounting for
58%), 4.3 million in secondary schools, and 26,000 in colleges and
universities. The literacy rate in Vietnam was high (92% of the
population). 8% was illiteracy, among them 80% living in remote areas
and 60% female.

**HEALTH:** With the assistance of humanitarian organizations and of
WHO, the Vietnam has been constructing the public hospitals and the
health stations all over the country. Also thousands of private
surgeries and clinics are available. The traditional Oriental medicine,
acupuncture and acupressure, the practice of exercising to care for
one\'s health, therapeutic exercises, etc., are being encouraged and
practiced. The campaigns for family planning, against AIDS, the controls
of drug addiction are highly visible and publicized.

**BRIEF HISTORY:** The archaeological excavations carried out recently
have proved the presence of human beings in the territory of Vietnam
since the Paleolithic Age or the Old Stone Age (300,000 - 500,000
years). In the Neolithic Age (New Stone Age), Hoa Binh - Bac Son
cultures (about 10,000 BC) had witnessed the development of agriculture
and animal husbandry, including even the technique of paddy rice
cultivation.

The Vietnamese as an ethnic group had been formed and developed early in
the Red river and Ma river delta situated in northern part of the
present-day Vietnam. People moved from highland and mountainous areas to
the plains, developed new lands for cultivation. They constructed a
system of irrigation dams and dykes to tame the mighty Red River.

In the Bronze Age, a unique and distinct civilization had been formed
that reached a high level in technical skill as well as art - the
brilliant Dong Son culture. The recent ethnological, historical and
archaeological studies and researches have asserted the existence of the
Hung Kings\' period in Van Lang Kingdom (later Au Lac Kingdom) about
1000 years BC. In 200 BC, Au Lac Kingdom was invaded and annexed into
the giant empire of the Han Chinese feudalism.

In the 10th century AD, the Vietnamese had won their freedom and built
up an independent state named Dai Viet. Buddhism and Confucianism
entered Dai Viet and brought with them many popular cultural features
and distinct forms.

In the 17th and 18th century, feudalism in Vietnam was weakened.
Peasants ceaselessly rose up in revolts that led to the Tay Son movement
(1771-1802). Tay Son overthrew all regional feudal lordship that divided
the country into two parts, united the country and chased away the Qing
(Manchus) invaders from China, simultaneously implemented many social
and cultural reforms. However, with foreign aid, Nguyen Anh soon took
over the ruling power and the Nguyen Dynasty was established, which was
the last royal dynasty in Vietnam.

In the middle of 19th century (1858), French colonialists began to
invade Vietnam. In1884, French colonists established a protectorate and
a colonial government that controlled the whole territory of Vietnam. In
the early days, resistant movements of the Vietnamese people under the
leadership of intellectual patriots like the literate, cultured people
and scholars broke out everywhere, but they all failed in the end.

Nguyen Ai Quoc, who later became President Ho Chi Minh led the
Vietnamese people to rise up against French colonization and Japanese
occupation and established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on 2nd
September 1945.

Being confronted with France and the United States, the Vietnam fought
the nine-year war of resistance (1945-1954) against France. 1954 Geneva
Agreement on Vietnam, the country was temporarily partitioned into North
Vietnam and South Vietnam by the 17th parallel. The northern part of
Vietnam (the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with its capital Hanoi) was
placed under the control of the Vietnam Workers\' Party. The southern
part (the Republic of Vietnam), which was controlled by a pro-French
administration and later, a pro-American administration, had its capital
in Sai Gon.

In order to maintain the Sai Gon regime, the United States increased its
military aid, in the middle of the \'60s, half-million American troops
and their allied troops were sent to South Vietnam in direct military
intervention. From 5th of August 1964, they started bombarding North
Vietnam. In 1973, Washington signed the Paris Agreement on the
restoration of peace in Vietnam and the withdrawal of all American
troops from Vietnam.

In the spring of 1975 the southern part of Vietnam was liberated and the
country was united as one. On 25th April 1976, the Democratic Republic
of Vietnam was renamed into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which
governs both northern and southern parts in its territory. In 1977,
Vietnam became a member of the United Nations.

Intentionally left blank page

**Pacific Islands/Pacific Islanders**

Measured at its maximum dimensions, the Pacific Ocean is 9,000 miles
long and 11,000 miles wide; approximately 20,000 islands are scattered
throughout the Pacific Ocean.  Early explorers once described this part
of the world as the South Seas and the South Sea Islands.  Today, South
Seas is used synonymously with the term Ocenia which includes
Polynesia-the central and southern most Pacific islands; Melanesia-the
southwest Pacific islands; and Micronesia-the western Pacific islands. 
The largest Pacific islands, such as Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, and the
Malay Archipelago, are structurally part of the Asian continent because
they rise from the continental shelf.  Oceania islands, on the other
hand, are clearly not part of the Asian continent because they are
either high volcanic islands or low coral islands.  These geographic
distinctions explain the use of the all-inclusive designation \'Asian
Pacific Islander\' versus \'Asian\'. 

![](media/image50.png){width="6.417361111111111in"
height="4.9006944444444445in"}

*(Hawaii, Johnson Atoll and Midway Islands are located for reference
only, and are not a part of Oceania.)*

**Melanesia** includes the independent countries of Fiji and Vanuatu, as
well as the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia.
![](media/image2.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}**Micronesia** islands are all part of
the same volcanic zone, and include the Marshall Islands, the nations of
Micronesia (FSM), Palau, Kiribati and Nauru. In addition, it includes
Guam, Saipan, the Northern Mariana Islands, as well as Wake Island.
**Polynesia** contains numerous island groups, including all of French
Polynesia and the Austral, Gambier, Marquesas, Society and Tuamoto
islands. In addition, the Cook Islands, Easter Island, Niue, the
Pitcairn Islands, Tuvalu, and Wallis and Futuna.

![](media/image51.png){width="1.5159722222222223in"
height="0.7861111111111111in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** American Samoa, unincorporated and unorganized
territory of the US

**CAPITAL:** Paga Pago

**PROFILE:** American Samoa and its small group of islands were first
settled by the Polynesians some 3,000 years ago. In 1722 they were
discovered by Jacob Roggeveen, a Dutch explorer.\
![](media/image2.png){width="1.0416666666666666e-2in"
height="1.0416666666666666e-2in"}![](media/image2.png){width="1.0416666666666666e-2in"
height="1.0416666666666666e-2in"}In 1900 it became an unorganized U.S.
territory, and in fact, it\'s today the only U.S. territory located
south of the Equator. These rugged islands (*fringed by reefs*) have
narrow coastal plains. All are volcanic in origin.
![](media/image2.png){width="8.333333333333333e-3in"
height="8.333333333333333e-3in"}The beautiful city of Pago Pago (*the
capital*), pronounced *(pãng\'ó pãng\'ó)*, has a magnificent harbor
ringed by densely forested mountains. The outer islands are widely
considered some of the most beautiful in the South Pacific.

**LOCATION:** Total land area of 199 sq km (76.8 sq miles),
latitude/longitude: 14º 20S, 170º 00W,

**GEOGRAPHY:** Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean,
about half way between Hawaii and New Zealand.

![](media/image52.png){width="6.5in" height="2.7in"}

**CLIMATE:** tropical marine, moderated by southeast trade winds; annual
rainfall averages about 3 m; rainy season from November to April, dry
season from May to October; little seasonal temperature variation.

**TERRAIN:** five volcanic islands with rugged peaks and limited coastal
plains, two coral atolls (Rose Island, Swains Island).

**POPULATION**: 60,100 (July 2004 est.)

**NATURAL RESOURCES:** pumice, pumicite.

**ETHNIC GROUPS:** Samoan (Polynesian) 89%, Caucasian 2%, Tongan 4%,
other 5%

**LANGUAGES**: Samoan, English

**RELIGION:** Christian Congregationalist 50%, Roman Catholic 20%,
Protestant and other 30%

**ECONOMY:** This is a traditional Polynesian economy in which more than
90% of the land is communally owned. Economic activity is strongly
linked to the US, with which American Samoa conducts most of its foreign
trade. Tuna fishing and tuna processing plants are the backbone of the
private sector, with canned tuna the primary export. Transfers from the
US Government add substantially to American Samoa\'s economic
well-being. Attempts by the government to develop a larger and broader
economy are restrained by Samoa\'s remote location, its limited
transportation, and its devastating hurricanes. Tourism is a promising
developing sector.

**AGRICULTURE:** bananas, coconuts, vegetables, taro, breadfruit, yams,
copra, pineapples, papayas; dairy products, livestock.

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** US Dollar

**PORTS/HARBORS:** Aunu\'u (new construction), Auasi, Faleosao, Ofu,
Pago Pago, Ta\'u.

**BRIEF HISTORY:** Linguistic and cultural evidence suggest that the
first Samoa inhabitants  migrated from the West, possibly by way of
Indonesia, Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga, to the eastern tip of Tutuila near
the present village of Tula around 600 B.C..  It is believed that there
was at least an 800 year history of contact with Fiji and Tonga, before
the Samoan islands were \"officially\" discovered by Dutch Explorer
Jacob Roggeveen in 1722.

Initial contact with the outside world came with the introduction of
Christianity by John Williams of the London Missionary Society.  The
adoption of Christianity by the ranking chiefs proved to be successful,
for within 40 years, Samoans were sending missionaries to Melanesia.

Traditional Samoan society is based on a chieftain system of hereditary
rank, and is known as the \"Samoan Way\" or fa\'a Samoa way of life. 
Despite the inroads of modern, Western Civilization, local cultural
institutions are the strongest single influence in American Samoa.  The
*fa\'a Samoa* way of life stems from the *aiga,* the extended family
with a common allegiance to the *matai,* the family chief who regulates
the family\'s activities.  Religious institutions are very influential
in the community and the village minister is accorded a privileged
position, equal in status to a chief or matai.  The Fa\'a Samoa also
reflects a communal lifestyle with non-public ownership and 90% of the
communal lands controlled by the family matai.

American Samoa has been a territory of the United States since the
signing of the April 17, 1900 Deed of Cession.  The Pago Pago Harbor
area was the site of the coaling station and a naval base.  During the
late 1930\'s, the strategic importance of American Samoa proved valuable
in its aggressive retaliation with the Japanese Empire. In 1940, the
Port of Pago Pago became a training and staging area for the U.S. Marine
Corps.  During the War Years, the United States built roads, airstrips,
docks and medical facilities exposing island residents to the American
way of life.  It was also then that American Samoans enlisted in the
U.S. Marine Corps, thereby establishing a home guard unit.  In 1945, the
Marines left the island territory to resume its peaceful lifestyle.

Since World War II, American Samoa has developed into a modern,
self-governing political system.  The government is divided into three
branches, similar to the United States.  The Executive Branch is led by
the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, the Legislative Branch is led by
the local legislature, consisting of the House of Representatives, who
are elected by popular vote and the Senate, who are represented by the
village matai.  The judicial branch is part of the U.S. judicial system,
and American Samoa has a non-voting representative elected to the U.S.
Congress. 

![](media/image53.png){width="1.5097222222222222in"
height="0.7548611111111111in"}

**COUNTRY NAME: Cook Islands**

**CAPITAL**: Avarua

**PROFILE**: Named after Captain Cook, who sighted them in 1770, the
islands became a British protectorate in 1888. By 1900, administrative
control was transferred to New Zealand; in 1965 residents chose
self-government in free association with New Zealand. The emigration of
skilled workers to New Zealand and government deficits are continuing
problems.

**LOCATION**: Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean,
about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand.

![](media/image54.png){width="6.491666666666666in"
height="2.6743055555555557in"}

**POPULATION**: 21,200 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE**: Tropical; moderated by trade winds

**PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Cook Islander

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** Self-governing in free association with New
Zealand;

parliamentary democracy

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Cook Island Maori & English

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Copra, papayas, fresh and canned citrus fruit,
coffee; fish;

pearls and pearl shells; clothing

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** N.Z. Dollar

![](media/image55.png){width="1.5833333333333333in"
height="0.7826388888888889in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** **Fiji**

**CAPITAL:** Suva, Viti Levu

**PROFILE:** Fiji became independent in 1970, after nearly a century as
a British colony. Democratic rule was interrupted by two military coups
in 1987, caused by concern over a government perceived as dominated by
the Indian community (descendants of contract laborers brought to the
islands by the British in the 19th century). A 1990 constitution favored
native Melanesian control of Fiji, but led to heavy Indian emigration;
the population loss resulted in economic difficulties, but ensured that
Melanesians became the majority. Amendments enacted in 1997 made the
constitution more equitable. Free and peaceful elections in 1999
resulted in a government led by an Indo-Fijian, but a coup in May 2000
ushered in a prolonged period of political turmoil. Parliamentary
elections held in August 2001 provided Fiji with a democratically
elected government and gave a mandate to the government of Prime
Minister Laisenia QARASE.

**LOCATION:** Oceania, island group in the South Pacific Ocean, about
two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand

![](media/image56.png){width="6.5in" height="2.691666666666667in"}

**POPULATION:** 880,874 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE**: Tropical marine; only slight seasonal temperature variation

**PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Fijian & Indian

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** Independent republic with Parliamentary system
and Great Council of Chiefs

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Fijian, English, & Hindustani

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Sugar, garments, gold, timber, fish, molasses,
coconut oil

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** Fijian Dollar

![](media/image57.png){width="1.5180555555555555in"
height="0.8520833333333333in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** **French Polynesia**

**CAPITAL:** Papeete

**PROFILE**: The French annexed various Polynesian island groups during
the 19th century. In September 1995, France stirred up widespread
protests by resuming nuclear testing on the Mururoa atoll after a
three-year moratorium. The tests were suspended in January 1996.

**LOCATION:** Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about one

half of the way from South America to Australia.

![](media/image58.png){width="6.491666666666666in" height="2.68125in"}

**POPULATION**: 266,339 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE**: Tropical, but moderate

**PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Tahitian & French

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** French Overseas Territory with internal
autonomy; democratically elected multi--party political system

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Tahitian & French

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Cultured pearls 50%, coconut products,
mother-of-pearl, vanilla, shark meat

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** French Pacific franc

![](media/image59.png){width="1.4465277777777779in"
height="0.7291666666666666in"}

**COUNTRY NAME: Guam,** an unincorporated territory of the United
States, claimed 1898

**CAPITAL**: Hagatna

**PROFILE**: Guam was ceded to the US by Spain in 1898. Captured by the
Japanese in 1941, it was retaken by the US three years later. The
military installation on the island is one of the most strategically
important US bases in the Pacific.

**LOCATION**: Oceania, island in the North Pacific Ocean, about three-

quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines

![](media/image60.png){width="6.375in" height="2.0208333333333335in"}

**POPULATION**: 166,090 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE**: Tropical marine; generally warm and humid, moderated by
northeast trade winds; dry season from January to June, rainy season
from July to December; little seasonal temperature variation

**PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Chamorro

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** Organized, unincorporated territory of the U.S.
The

government has three branches as set up by Congress via the Organic Act
in 1950.

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Chamorro, Japanese, & English

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Mostly transshipments of refined petroleum
products;

construction materials, fish, food and beverage products

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** U.S. Dollar

![](media/image61.png){width="1.5916666666666666in"
height="0.7979166666666667in"}

**STATE OF HAWAII:** Hawaii is named for the traditional home of the
Polynesians, Hawaii or Hawaiki, called \"Owhyhee\".

**CAPITAL:** Honolulu

**PROFILE:** Hawaii was once an independent kingdom. (1810 - 1893) The
flag was designed at the request of King Kamehameha I. It has eight
stripes of white, red and blue that represent the eight main islands.
The flag of Great Britain is emblazoned in the upper left corner to
honor Hawaii\'s friendship with the British. Hawaii was the 50^th^ state
in the USA; it became a state on August 21, 1959.

**GEOGRAPHY:** 10,932 square miles. Hawaii is comprised of 8 main
islands, is located in Polynesia near the center of the Pacific Ocean
just below the Topic of Cancer, is considered one of the most remote
spots on earth, and is 2,930 miles west of San Francisco, California.

![](media/image62.png){width="6.495138888888889in" height="2.36875in"}

**POPULATION:**
[1,211,537](http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/population.shtml)
(as of 2000)

**MAJOR RIVERS/LAKE:** Wailuku River (on the island of Hawaii), Anahulu
River (on the island of Oahu), Salt Lake\
\
**BORDERING BODY OF WATER:** Pacific Ocean

**STATE MOTTO:** \"Ua mau ke ea o ka aina I ka pono\" - The life of the
land is perpetuated in righteousness

**STATE SONG:** Hawaii Ponoi (meaning Hawaii\'s Own)

**BIOLOGY:** Hawaii has a variety of plant and animal life. Many species
are rare and endangered including the Nene Goose (official State Bird)
and the Humpback Whale (official State Marine Mammal). Vegetation zones
include coastal, dryland forest, mixed open forest, rain forest.

**CLIMATE:** Most of Hawaii has 2 seasons: "summer between May and
October and "winter" between October and April. Average rain fall ranges
from 20 to 160 inches. Average temperature ranges from 70 to 85 degrees
F.

**CULTURAL HISTORY:** Hawaii is a multicultural society with major
immigration from Polynesia, United States, China, Japan, Portugal Puerto
Rico, Korea, Philippines.

**ECONOMY:** Hawaii's cost of living is one of America's highest, its
per capita personal income below average. In fact, Hawaii's cost of
living for a family of our is estimated to be approximately 27% higher
than the US average for a comparable standard of living. IN 1999,
Hawaii's average per capita personal income of \$27,544 was 3.5% below
the US average - the price of living in paradise!

**MAJOR INDUSTRIES/SOURCES OF INCOME:** Includes tourism, Federal
Defense spending, agriculture. Hawaii is working to diversify its
economy with a focus on industries such as science and technology,
health and wellness tourism, diversified agriculture, ocean research and
development, and film and television production.

**BRIEF HISTORY:** The exact date is unknown and probably will remain so
forever. But sometime after the beginning of the Christian era,
Polynesians first set foot on these islands. Linguistic and cultural
evidence suggest that the first inhabitants came from the Marquesa
Group, to the north of Tahiti.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, waves of immigrants from Tahiti
overwhelmed and absorbed the original people. Since the earliest
Hawaiians were possibly somewhat smaller than the later immigrants, they
may form the basis for the legends of the menehunes, who were pictured
by the later Hawaiians as hardworking elves.

Captain James Cook, the great Pacific explorer, happened upon the
islands during his third voyage in 1778. Hawaii\'s long isolation ended
at that moment. Soon, [King
Kamehameha](http://www.state.hi.us/about/kamehemeha.htm) the Great
embarked on his successful campaign to unite the islands into one
kingdom. At about the same time, Hawaii assumed importance in the
east-west fur trade and later as the center for the Pacific whaling
industry. In 1820, the brig Thaddeus from Boston arrived with the first
missionary families.

Change came at a rapid pace as both education and commerce assumed
growing importance. The old Hawaiian culture disappeared rapidly under
the onslaught of new ways, new peoples, and new diseases, to which the
previously isolated Hawaiians were all too susceptible. Whaling and the
provisioning of the whaling fleet brought new money to the island
economy. At times, as many as 500 whaling ships wintered in Hawaiian
ports, principally Lahaina and Honolulu.

In 1835, the first commercial production of sugar cane began and this
crop took on ever-increasing economic importance, especially after the
decline of the great whaling fleets. Native Hawaiians did not take
kindly to the tedious labor of a plantation worker and, in any case, the
native population had been seriously depleted by disease. Thus, there
began the importation of labor from Asia and the Philippines and other
areas of the world. It is this varied population that gave rise to the
immense variety of Hawaii\'s present inhabitants.

Threatened constantly by European nations eager to add Hawaii to their
empires, sugar planters and American businessmen began to seek
annexation by the United State. This, too, would give them the
advantages of a sugar market free of tariff duties. Finally, a treaty of
reciprocity was negotiated in 1875 and this brought new prosperity to
Hawaii. American wealth poured into the islands seeking investment.

Political control by Hawaiian royalty and the growing influence of
Americans began to cause conflict. In 1889, there was an uprising of the
native islanders against the constitution which had been forced on King
Kalakaua two years earlier. The rebellion was suppressed.

In 1893, with [Queen
Liliuokalani](http://www.state.hi.us/about/liliuokalani.htm) on the
throne, the Americans formed a Committee of Safety and declared the
monarchy ended. In 1894, the Republic of Hawaii was established. On
August 12, 1898, the government of the Republic transferred sovereignty
to the United States. Hawaii became a territory of the United States in
1900.

The pattern of growth then began to accelerate even more rapidly. The
U.S. Navy set up its giant Pacific headquarters at Pearl Harbor and the
Army built a huge garrison at Schofield Barracks. Pineapple, other
crops, cattle ranching, and tourism slowly began to take on greater
importance in the island economy.

The attack on Pearl Harbor marked America\'s entry into World War II and
Hawaii and its citizens played a major role in the conflict.

The postwar period saw many rapid changes with the descendants of
plantation laborers rising to the highest prominent in business, labor,
and government.

Hawaii proved eager to take on the full responsibilities of statehood.
Under the leadership of Hawaii\'s last delegate to Congress, John A.
Burns, the 86th Congress approved statehood and the bill was signed into
law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 18, 1959. Hawaii was
admitted as the 50th state of the union on August 21, 1959.

![](media/image63.png){width="1.4972222222222222in"
height="0.7486111111111111in"}

**COUNTRY NAME:** **Marshall Islands**

**CAPITAL:** Majuro Atoll

**PROFILE:** After almost four decades under US administration as the
easternmost part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the
Marshall Islands attained independence in 1986 under a Compact of Free
Association. Compensation claims continue as a result of US nuclear
testing on some of the atolls between 1947 and 1962. The Marshall
Islands hosts the US Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Reagan Missile Test
Site, a key installation in the US missile defense network.

**LOCATION**: Oceania, group of atolls and reefs in the North Pacific
Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia.

![](media/image64.png){width="6.491666666666666in"
height="2.6881944444444446in"}

**POPULATION**: 57,738 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE:** Wet season from May to November; hot and humid; islands
border typhoon belt.

**PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Marshallese

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** Independent nation in free association with the
United States

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Marshallese & English

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Copra cake, coconut oil, handicrafts, fish

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** U.S. Dollar

![](media/image65.png){width="1.1541666666666666in"
height="0.7798611111111111in"}

**COUNTRY NAME: New Caledonia**

**CAPITAL:** Noumea

**PROFILE:** Settled by both Britain and France during the first half of
the 19th century, the island was made a French possession in 1853. It
served as a penal colony for four decades after 1864. Agitation for
independence during the 1980s and early 1990s has dissipated.

**LOCATION:** Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of
Australia

![](media/image66.png){width="6.364583333333333in"
height="1.9895833333333333in"}

**POPULATION**: 213,679 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE**: Tropical; modified by southeast trade winds; hot, humid

**PEOPLE/CULTURE**: Melanesian

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** French Overseas Territory with internal
autonomy.

Democratically elected territorial congress, multi-party political
system

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Melanesian & French

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Ferronickels, nickel ore, fish

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** French Pacific franc

![](media/image67.png){width="1.5006944444444446in"
height="0.7423611111111111in"}

**COUNTRY NAME: Niue**

**CAPITAL**: Alofi

**PROFILE:** Niue\'s remoteness, as well as cultural and linguistic
differences between its Polynesian inhabitants and those of the rest of
the Cook Islands, had caused it to be separately administered. The
population of the island continues to drop (from a peak of 5,200 in 1966
to about 2,100 in 2004), with substantial emigration to New Zealand,
2,400 km to the southwest.

**LOCATION:** Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Tonga

![](media/image68.png){width="6.491666666666666in" height="2.68125in"}

**POPULATION**: 2,156 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE**: Tropical; modified by southeast trade winds

**PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Niuean

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** Self-governing democracy in free association
with New Zealand. Niue operates internal affairs; New Zealand
responsible for foreign affairs and defense.

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Niuean & English

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Canned coconut cream, copra, honey, vanilla,
passion fruit products, pawpaws, root crops, limes, footballs, stamps,
handicrafts

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** N.Z. Dollar

> ![](media/image69.png){width="1.4972222222222222in"
> height="0.7486111111111111in"}

**COUNTRY NAME: Northern Mariana Islands**

**CAPITAL:** Saipan

**PROFILE:** Under US administration as part of the UN Trust Territory
of the Pacific, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands decided in
the 1970s not to seek independence but instead to forge closer links
with the US. Negotiations for territorial status began in 1972. A
covenant to establish a commonwealth in political union with the US was
approved in 1975. A new government and constitution went into effect in
1978.

**LOCATION:** Oceania, islands in the North Pacific Ocean, about
three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines

![](media/image70.png){width="6.354166666666667in"
height="2.0104166666666665in"}

**POPULATION:** 78,252 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE:** Tropical marine; moderated by northeast trade winds, little

seasonal temperature variation; dry season December to June, rainy
season July to October

**PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Chamorro & Carolinian

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** Commonwealth in union with the United States; a
U.S.-style

government with three branches established with rights and
responsibilities negotiated in the 1978 Commonwealth Covenant

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Chamorro, Carolinian, & English

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Garments

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** U.S. Dollar

![](media/image71.png){width="1.3118055555555554in"
height="0.8743055555555556in"}

**COUNTRY NAME: Republic of Palau**

**CAPITAL**: Koror

**PROFILE:** After three decades as part of the UN Trust Territory of
the Pacific under US administration, this westernmost cluster of the
Caroline Islands opted for independence in 1978 rather than join the
Federated States of Micronesia. A Compact of Free Association with the
US was approved in 1986, but not ratified until 1993. It entered into
force the following year, when the islands gained independence.

**LOCATION**: Oceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean,
southeast of the Philippines

![](media/image72.png){width="6.491666666666666in"
height="2.6930555555555555in"}

**POPULATION**: 20,016 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE**: Wet season May to November; hot and humid

**PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Palauan

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** Independent nation in free association with the
United States

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Palauan & English

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Shellfish, tuna, copra, garments

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** U.S. Dollar

![](media/image73.png){width="1.5625in" height="0.7895833333333333in"}

**COUNTRY NAME: Samoa**

**CAPITAL:** Apia

**PROFILE:** New Zealand occupied the German protectorate of Western
Samoa at the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It continued to administer
the islands as a mandate and then as a trust territory until 1962, when
the islands became the first Polynesian nation to reestablish
independence in the 20th century. The country dropped the \"Western\"
from its name in 1997.

**LOCATION:** Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean,
about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand.

![](media/image74.png){width="6.5in" height="2.691666666666667in"}

**POPULATION:** 177,714 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE:** Tropical; rainy season (October to March), dry season (May
to October)

**PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Samoan

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** Parliamentary

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Samoan & English

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Fish, coconut oil and cream, copra, taro,
automotive parts, garments, beer

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** Samoan Tala

> ![](media/image75.png){width="1.207638888888889in"
> height="0.8048611111111111in"}
>
> **COUNTRY NAME: Solomon Islands**
>
> **CAPITAL:** Honiara
>
> **PROFILE**: The UK established a protectorate over the Solomon
> Islands in the 1890s. Some of the bitterest fighting of World War II
> occurred on these islands. Self-government was achieved in 1976 and
> independence two years later. Ethnic violence, government malfeasance,
> and endemic crime have undermined stability and civil society. In June
> 2003, Prime Minister Sir Allen KEMAKEZA sought the assistance of
> Australia in reestablishing law and order; the following month, an
> Australian-led multinational force arrived to restore peace and disarm
> ethnic militias. The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon
> Islands (RAMSI) has been very effective in restoring law and order and
> rebuilding government institutions.
>
> **LOCATION**: Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean,
> east of Papua New Guinea.
>
> ![](media/image76.png){width="6.247916666666667in"
> height="2.5868055555555554in"}
>
> **POPULATION**: 523,617 (July 2004 est.)
>
> **PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Melanesians
>
> **TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** Independent member of British Commonwealth.
> Democratically elected government, multi--party system.
>
> **OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Solomon Islands Pidgin & English
>
> **PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Timber, fish, copra, & palm oil
>
> **UNIT OF CURRENCY:** Solomon Islands dollar

![](media/image77.png){width="1.5284722222222222in"
height="0.7638888888888888in"}

**COUNTRY NAME: Tonga**

**CAPITAL**: Nukualofa

**PROFILE:** The archipelago of \"The Friendly Islands\" was united into
a Polynesian kingdom in 1845. It became a constitutional monarchy in
1875 and a British protectorate in 1900. Tonga acquired its independence
in 1970 and became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. It remains
the only monarchy in the Pacific.

**LOCATION**: Oceania, archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, about
two-

thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand

![](media/image78.png){width="6.491666666666666in"
height="2.6847222222222222in"}

**POPULATION**: 110,237 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE**: Tropical; modified by trade winds; warm season (December to

May), cool season (May to December)

**PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Tongan

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** Constitutional Monarchy

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Tongan & English

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Squash, fish, vanilla beans, root crops

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** Paanga

![](media/image79.png){width="1.4972222222222222in"
height="0.7486111111111111in"}

**COUNTRY NAME: Tuvalu**

**CAPITAL**: Funafuti

**PROFILE:** In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of
the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice
Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert
Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate
British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000,
Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name \".tv\"
for \$50 million in royalties over the next dozen years.

**LOCATION**: Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in
the

South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia

![](media/image80.png){width="6.491666666666666in" height="2.68125in"}

**POPULATION**: 11,468 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE**: Tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to
November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)

**PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Tuvaluan

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** Independent, Westminster-style parliamentary
democracy

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Tuvaluan & English

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Copra, fish

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** U.S. Dollar

> ![](media/image81.png){width="1.3756944444444446in"
> height="0.8618055555555556in"}

**COUNTRY NAME: Vanuatu**

**CAPITAL**: Port Vila

**PROFILE:** The British and French, who settled the New Hebrides in the
19th century, agreed in 1906 to an Anglo-French Condominium, which
administered the islands until independence in 1980.

**LOCATION**: Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean,
about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Australia

![](media/image82.png){width="6.491666666666666in"
height="2.6743055555555557in"}

**POPULATION**: 202,609 (July 2004 est.)

**CLIMATE**: Tropical; moderated by southeast trade winds

**PEOPLE/CULTURE:** Melanesian, Ni-Vanuatu

**TYPE OF GOVERNMENT:** Independent republic, member of British
Commonwealth; democratically elected government, multi-party system

**OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S):** Bislama, French, & English

**PRIMARY EXPORT(S):** Copra, beef, cocoa, timber, kava, coffee

**UNIT OF CURRENCY:** Vatu