s of early 2006; just over
one million refugees were repatriated in the same period; other
sources of contention include access to water and mineral
(especially hydrocarbon) resources, fisheries, and arable land;
armed conflict prevails not so much between the uniformed armed
forces of independent states as between stateless armed entities
that detract from the sustenance and welfare of local populations,
leaving the community of nations to cope with resultant refugees,
hunger, disease, impoverishment, and environmental degradation

Yemen
Saudi Arabia has reinforced its concrete-filled security
barrier along sections of the fully demarcated border with Yemen to
stem illegal cross-border activities

Zambia
in 2004, Zimbabwe dropped objections to plans between
Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi River,
thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly delimited,
Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river; 42,250 Congolese refugees in
Zambia are offered voluntary repatriation in November 2006, most of
whom are expected to return in the next two years; Angolan refugees
too have been repatriating but 26,450 still remain with 90,000
others from other neighboring states in 2006

Zimbabwe
Botswana built electric fences and South Africa has placed
military along the border to stem the flow of thousands of
Zimbabweans fleeing to find work and escape political persecution;
Namibia has supported, and in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections to,
plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi
River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly
delimited, Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river

This page was last updated on 18 December 2008

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@2075 Ethnic groups (%)

Afghanistan
Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%,
Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, other 4%

Albania
Albanian 95%, Greek 3%, other 2% (Vlach, Roma (Gypsy), Serb,
Macedonian, Bulgarian) (1989 est.)
note: in 1989, other estimates of the Greek population ranged from
1% (official Albanian statistics) to 12% (from a Greek organization)

Algeria
Arab-Berber 99%, European less than 1%
note: almost all Algerians are Berber in origin, not Arab; the
minority who identify themselves as Berber live mostly in the
mountainous region of Kabylie east of Algiers; the Be