)
Fiscal year:
1 April-31 March

:United Kingdom Communications

Railroads:
Great Britain - 16,629 km total; British Railways (BR) operates 16,629 km
1.435-meter (standard) gauge (4,205 km electrified and 12,591 km double or
multiple track); several additional small standard-gauge and narrow-gauge
lines are privately owned and operated; Northern Ireland Railways (NIR)
operates 332 km 1.600-meter gauge, including 190 km double track
Highways:
UK, 362,982 km total; Great Britain, 339,483 km paved (including 2,573 km
limited-access divided highway); Northern Ireland, 23,499 km (22,907 paved,
592 km gravel)
Inland waterways:
2,291 total; British Waterways Board, 606 km; Port Authorities, 706 km;
other, 979 km
Pipelines:
crude oil (almost all insignificant) 933 km, petroleum products 2,993 km,
natural gas 12,800 km
Ports:
London, Liverpool, Felixstowe, Tees and Hartlepool, Dover, Sullom Voe,
Southampton
Merchant marine:
224 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,905,571 GRT/4,840,862 DWT; includes
7 passenger, 21 short-sea passenger, 37 cargo, 27 container, 14
roll-on/roll-off, 10 refrigerated cargo, 1 vehicle carrier, 1 railcar
carrier, 66 petroleum tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 9 liquefied gas, 1
combination ore/oil, 1 specialized tanker, 26 bulk, 1 combination bulk
Civil air:
618 major transport aircraft
Airports:
498 total, 385 usable; 249 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways
over 3,659 m; 37 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 133 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications:
technologically advanced domestic and international system; 30,200,000
telephones; equal mix of buried cables, microwave and optical-fiber systems;
excellent countrywide broadcast systems; broadcast stations - 225 AM, 525
(mostly repeaters) FM, 207 (3,210 repeaters) TV; 40 coaxial submarine
cables; 5 satellite ground stations operating in INTELSAT (7 Atlantic Ocean
and 3 Indian Ocean), MARISAT, and EUTELSAT systems; at least 8 large
international switching centers

:United Kingdom Defense Forces

Branches:
Army, Royal Navy (including Royal Marines), Royal Air Force
Manpower availability:
males 15-49, 14,462,820; 12,122,497 fit for military service; no
conscription
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $42 billion, 4.3% of GDP (FY91)

:United States Geography

Total area:
9,372,610