ington, DC during
Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last
Sunday in October

Constitution:

Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia Order in Council 1960,
effective 16 August 1960, functions as a basic legal document

Legal system:

the Sovereign Base Area Administration has its own court system to
deal with civil and criminal matters; laws applicable to the Cypriot
population are, as far as possible, the same as the laws of the
Republic of Cyprus

Executive branch:

chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Administrator Air Vice-Marshal Richard LACEY
(since 26 April 2006); note - reports to the British Ministry of
Defense
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; the administrator is
appointed by the monarch

Diplomatic representation in the US:

none (overseas territory of the UK)

Diplomatic representation from the US:

none (overseas territory of the UK)

Flag description:

the flag of the UK is used

Economy
Akrotiri

Economy - overview:

Economic activity is limited to providing services to the military
and their families located in Akrotiri. All food and manufactured
goods must be imported.

Currency (code):

euro (EUR) adopted 1 January 2008; note - the Cypriot pound (CYP)
formerly used

Exchange rates:

euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.4286 (2007), 0.46019 (2006), 0.4641
(2005), 0.4686 (2004), 0.5174 (2003)

Communications
Akrotiri

Radio broadcast stations:

AM NA, FM 1, shortwave NA (British Forces Broadcasting Service
(BFBS) provides Radio 1 and Radio 2 service to Akrotiri, Dhekelia,
and Nicosia) (2006)

Television broadcast stations:

0 (British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides multi-channel
satellite service to Akrotiri, Dhekelia, and Nicosia) (2006)

Military
Akrotiri

Military - note:

Akrotiri has a full RAF base, Headquarters for British Forces on
Cyprus, and Episkopi Support Unit

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

======================================================================

@Albania

Introduction
Albania

Background:

Albania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912,
but was conquered by Italy in 1939. Communist partisans took over
the country in 1944. Albania allied itself first with the USSR
(until 1960), and then with China (to 1978). In the earl