Albania, Economy
Overview:
  An extremely poor country by European standards, Albania is making the
  difficult transition to a more open-market economy. The economy
  rebounded in 1993 after a severe depression accompanying the collapse
  of the previous centrally planned system in 1990 and 1991.
  Stabilization policies, including public sector layoffs and reduced
  social services, have improved the government's fiscal situation and
  reduced inflation. The recovery was spurred by the remittances of some
  5% of the population which works abroad, mostly in Greece and Italy.
  Foreign assistance and humanitarian aid also supported the recovery.
  Most agricultural land was privatized in 1992, substantially improving
  peasant incomes. Albania's limited industrial sector, now less than
  one-sixth of GDP, continued to decline in 1993. A sharp fall in
  chromium prices reduced hard currency receipts from the mining sector.
  Large segments of the population, especially those living in urban
  areas, continue to depend on humanitarian aid to meet basic food
  requirements. Unemployment remains a severe problem accounting for
  approximately one-fifth of the work force. Growth is expected to
  continue in 1994, but could falter if Albania becomes involved in the
  conflict in the former Yugoslavia, workers' remittances from Greece
  are reduced, or foreign assistance declines.
National product:
  GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $3.3 billion (1993 est.)
National product real growth rate:
  11% (1993)
National product per capita:
  $1,100 (1993 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  31% (1993 est.)
Unemployment rate:
  18% (1993 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
  $1.1 billion
expenditures:
  $1.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $70 million (1991
  est.)
Exports:
  $70 million (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities:
  asphalt, metals and metallic ores, electricity, crude oil, vegetables,
  fruits, tobacco
partners:
  Italy, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece,
  Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary
Imports:
  $524 million (f.o.b., 1992)
commodities:
  machinery, consumer goods, grains
partners:
  Italy, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany,
  Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece
External debt:
  $724 million (1993 est.)
Industrial production:
  growth rate -10% (1993 est.); accounts for 16% of GDP (1993 est.)
Electricity:
capacity:
  1,690,000 kW
production:
  5 billion kWh
consumption per capita:
  1,520 kWh (1992)
Industries:
  food processing, textiles and clothing, lumber, oil, cement,
  chemicals, mining, basic metals, hydropower
Agriculture:
  accounts for 55% of GDP; arable land per capita among lowest in
  Europe; 80% of arable land now in private hands; one-half of work
  force engaged in farming; produces wide range of temperate-zone crops
  and livestock
Illicit drugs:
  transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin transiting the Balkan
  route; limited opium production
Economic aid:
recipient:
  $190 million humanitarian aid; $94 million in loans/guarantees/credits
Currency:
  1 lek (L) = 100 qintars
Exchange rates:
  leke (L) per US$1 - 99 (January 1994), 97 (January 1993), 50 (January
  1992), 25 (September 1991)
Fiscal year:
  calendar year

Albania, Communications

Railroads:
  543 km total; 509 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, single track and 34
  km narrow gauge, single track (1990); line connecting Titograd (Serbia
  and Montenegro) and Shkoder (Albania) completed August 1986
Highways:
total:
  16,700 km
paved:
  6,700 km
unpaved:
  earth 10,000 km (1990)
Inland waterways:
  43 km plus Albanian sections of Lake Scutari, Lake Ohrid, and Lake
  Prespa (1990)
Pipelines:
  crude oil 145 km; petroleum products 55 km; natural gas 64 km (1991)
Ports:
  Durres, Sarande, Vlore
Merchant marine:
  11 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 52,967 GRT/76,887 DWT
Airports:
total:
  12
usable:
  10
with permanent-surface runways:
  3
with runways over 3,659 m:
  0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
  6
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  4
Telecommunications:
  inadequate service; 15,000 telephones; broadcast stations - 13 AM, 1
  TV; 514,000 radios, 255,000 TVs (1987 est.)

Albania, Defense Forces

Branches:
  Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Interior Ministry Troops
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 906,938; fit for military service 746,945; reach
  military age (19) annually 33,184 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  215 million leke, NA% of GNP (1993 est.); note - conversion of defense
  expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could
  produce misleading results


Algeria, Geography

Location:
  Northern Africa, along the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and
  Tunisia
Map references:
  Africa, Europe
Area:
total area:
  2,381,740 sq km
land area:
  2,381,740 sq km
comparative area:
  slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas
Land boundaries:
  total 6,343 km, Libya 982 km, Mali 1,376 km, Mauritania 463 km,
  Morocco 1,559 km, Niger 956 km, Tunisia 965 km, Western Sahara 42 km
Coastline:
  998 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea:
  12 nm
International disputes:
  Libya claims part of southeastern Algeria; land boundary dispute with
  Tunisia settled in 1993
Climate:
  arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers along coast;
  drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau; sirocco is a
  hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer
Terrain:
  mostly high plateau and desert; some mountains; narrow, discontinuous
  coastal plain
Natural resources:
  petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc
Land use:
arable land:
  3%
permanent crops:
  0%
meadows and pastures:
  13%
forest and woodland:
  2%
other:
  82%
Irrigated land:
  3,360 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues:
  soil erosion from overgrazing and other poor farming practices;
  desertification; dumping of untreated sewage, petroleum refining
  wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading to the pollution of
  rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in particular, becoming
  polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff; limited
  supply of potable water
natural hazards:
  mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes
international agreements:
  party to - Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental
  Modification, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands;
  signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test
  Ban
Note:
  second-largest country in Africa (after Sudan)

Algeria, People

Population:
  27,895,068 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
  2.29% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
  29.71 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
  6.22 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
  -0.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  52.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
  67.68 years
male:
  66.63 years
female:
  68.77 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
  3.83 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
  Algerian(s)
adjective:
  Algerian
Ethnic divisions:
  Arab-Berber 99%, European less than 1%
Religions:
  Sunni Muslim (state religion) 99%, Christian and Jewish 1%
Languages:
  Arabic (official), French, Berber dialects
Literacy:
  age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
total population:
  57%
male:
  70%
female:
  46%
Labor force:
  6.2 million (1992 est.)
by occupation:
  government 29.5%, agriculture 22%, construction and public works
  16.2%, industry 13.6%, commerce and services 13.5%, transportation and
  communication 5.2% (1989)

Algeria, Government

Names:
conventional long form:
  Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria
conventional short form:
  Algeria
local long form:
  Al Jumhuriyah al Jaza'iriyah ad Dimuqratiyah ash Shabiyah
local short form:
  Al Jaza'ir
Digraph:
  AG
Type:
  republic
Capital:
  Algiers
Administrative divisions:
  48 provinces (wilayast, singular - wilaya); Adrar, Ain Defla, Ain
  Temouchent, Alger, Annaba, Batna, Bechar, Bejaia, Biskra, Blida, Bordj
  Bou Arreridj, Bouira, Boumerdes, Chlef, Constantine, Djelfa, El
  Bayadh, El Oued, El Tarf, Ghardaia, Guelma, Illizi, Jijel, Khenchela,
  Laghouat, Mascara, Medea, Mila, Mostaganem, M'Sila, Naama, Oran,
  Ouargla, Oum el Bouaghi, Relizane, Saida, Setif, Sidi Bel Abbes,
  Skikda, Souk Ahras, Tamanghasset, Tebessa, Tiaret, Tindouf, Tipaza,
  Tissemsilt, Tizi Ouzou, Tlemcen
Independence:
  5 July 1962 (from France)
National holiday:
  Anniversary of the Revolution, 1 November (1954)
Constitution:
  19 November 1976, effective 22 November 1976; revised 3 November 1988
  and 23 February 1989
Legal system:
  socialist, based on French and Islamic law; judicial review of
  legislative acts in ad hoc Constitutional Council composed of various
  public officials, including several Supreme Court justices; has not
  accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state:
  President Lamine ZEROUAL (since 31 January 1994); next election to be
  held after a three-year transition period which began on 31 January
  1994
head of government:
  Prime Minister Mokdad SIFI (since 11 April 1994)
cabinet:
  Council of Ministers; appointed by the prime minister
Legislative branch:
  unicameral
National People's Assembly (Al-Majlis Ech-Chaabi Al-Watani):
  elections first round held on 26 December 1991 (second round canceled
  by the military after President BENDJEDID resigned 11 January 1992,
  effectively suspending the Assembly); results - percent of vote by
  party NA; seats - (281 total); the fundamentalist FIS won 188 of the
  231 seats contested in the first round; note - elections (municipal
  and wilaya) were held in June 1990, the first in Algerian history;
  results - FIS 55%, FLN 27.5%, other 17.5%, with 65% of the voters
  participating
Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Political parties and leaders:
  Islamic Salvation Front (FIS, outlawed April 1992), Ali BELHADJ, Dr.
  Abassi MADANI, Abdelkader HACHANI (all under arrest), Rabeh KEBIR
  (self-exile in Germany); National Liberation Front (FLN), Abdelhamid
  MEHRI, Secretary General; Socialist Forces Front (FFS), Hocine Ait
  AHMED, Secretary General
note:
  the government established a multiparty system in September 1989 and,
  as of 31 December 1990, over 50 legal parties existed
Member of:
  ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, AMU, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-24,
  G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT,
  INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAPEC, OAS (observer),
  OAU, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNTAC,
  UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission:
  Ambassador Nourredine Yazid ZERHOUNI
chancery:
  2118 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone:
  (202) 265-2800
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission:
  Ambassador Mary Ann CASEY
embassy:
  4 Chemin Cheikh Bachir El-Ibrahimi, Algiers
mailing address:
  B. P. Box 549, Alger-Gare, 16000 Algiers
telephone:
  [213] (2) 601-425, 255, 186
FAX:
  [213] (2) 603979
consulate(s):
  Oran
Flag:
  two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and white with a red
  five-pointed star within a red crescent; the crescent, star, and color
  green are traditional symbols of Islam (the state religion)