Puerto Rico (continued)
Elections: Governor—last held 8 November 1988 (next to be held November 1992); results—Rafael Hernández Colón (PPD) 48.7%, Baltasar Corrada Del Rio (PNP) 45.8%, Rubén Barríos Martínez (PIP) 5.5%;
Senate—last held 8 November 1988 (next to be held November 1992); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(27 total) PPD 18, PNP 8, PIP 1;
House of Representatives—last held 8 November 1988 (next to be held November 1992); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(53 total) PPD 36, PNP 15, PIP 2
Other political or pressure groups: all have engaged in terrorist activities—Armed Forces for National Liberation (FALN), Volunteers of the Puerto Rican Revolution, Boricua Popular Army (also known as the Macheteros), Armed Forces of Popular Resistance
Diplomatic representation: none (commonwealth associated with the US)
Flag: five equal horizontal bands of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side bears a large white five-pointed star in the center; design based on the US flag
Economy
Overview: Puerto Rico has one of the most
dynamic economies in the Caribbean
region. Industry has surpassed agriculture
as the primary sector of economic activity
and income. Encouraged by duty-free
access to the US and by tax incentives, US
firms have invested heavily in Puerto Rico
since the 1970s. Important new industries
include pharmaceuticals, electronics,
textiles, petrochemicals, and processed foods.
Sugar production has lost out to dairy
production and other livestock products as
the main source of income in the agricultural
sector. Tourism has traditionally
been an important source of income for
the island.
GNP: $18.4 billion, per capita $5,574; real growth rate 4.9% (FY88)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 33% (December 1987-88)
Unemployment rate: 12.8% (December 1988)
Budget: revenues $4.9 million; expenditures $4.9 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY88)
Exports: $13.2 billion (f.o.b., FY88); commodities—sugar, coffee, petroleum products, chemical, metal products, textiles, electronic equipment; partners—US 87%
Imports: $11.8 billion (c.i.f., FY88); commodities—chemicals, clothing, food, fish products, crude oil; partners—US 60%
External debt: $NA
Industrial production: growth rate 5.8% (FY87)
Electricity: 4,149,000 kW capacity; 14,050 million kWh produced, 4,260 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: tourism, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food processing, petroleum refining
Agriculture: accounts for 4% of labor force; crops—sugarcane, coffee, pineapples, tobacco, bananas; livestock—cattle, chickens; imports a large share of food needs
Aid: none
Currency: US currency is used
Exchange rates: US currency is used
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
Communications
Railroads: 100 km rural narrow-gauge
system for hauling sugarcane; no passenger
railroads
Highways: 13,762 km paved
Ports: San Juan, Ponce, Mayaguez, Arecibo
Airports: 33 total; 23 usable; 19 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 4 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: 2,000,000 radio receivers; 810,000 TV receivers; 769,140 telephones; stations—69 AM, 42 FM, 24 TV (1984)
Defense Forces
Note: defense is the responsibility of the
US; paramilitary National Guard; police
force of 10,050 men and women (1984)
Qatar
_Qatar.jpg)
See regional map VI
Geography
Total area: 11,000 km²; land area: 11,000
km²
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Connecticut
Land boundaries: 60 km total; Saudi Arabia 40 km, UAE 20 km
Coastline: 563 km
Maritime claims:
- Continental shelf: not specific
- Exclusive fishing zone: as delimited with neighboring states, or to limit of shelf, or to median line
- Extended economic zone: to median line
- Territorial sea: 3 nm
Disputes: boundary with UAE is in dispute; territorial dispute with Bahrain over the Ḥawār Islands
Climate: desert; hot, dry; humid and sultry in summer
Terrain: mostly flat and barren desert covered with loose sand and gravel
Natural resources: crude oil, natural gas, fish
Land use: NEGL% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 5% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 95% other
Environment: haze, duststorms, sandstorms common; limited freshwater resources mean increasing dependence on large-scale desalination facilities
Note: strategic location in central Persian Gulf near major crude oil sources
People
Population: 490,897 (July 1990), growth
rate 5.7% (1990)
Birth rate: 22 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 3 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 38 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
