tions

Telephones: 900,000 (1987 est.)

Telephone system: modern digital system using cable and microwave
radio relay
domestic: microwave radio relay
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 9, FM 45, shortwave 0

Radios: 2.2 million (1991 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 86 (1987 est.)

Televisions: 1.025 million (1990 est.)

@Ireland:Transportation

Railways:
total: 1,947 km
broad gauge: 1,947 km 1.600-m gauge (37 km electrified; 485 km double
track) (1996)

Highways:
total: 92,430 km
paved : 86,884 km (including 70 km of expressways)
unpaved: 5,546 km (1995 est.)

Waterways: limited for commercial traffic

Pipelines: natural gas 225 km

Ports and harbors: Arklow, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Foynes, Galway,
Limerick, New Ross, Waterford

Merchant marine:
total : 39 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 130,029 GRT/148,516 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 27, chemical tanker 2, container 5, oil
tanker 1, short-sea passenger 3 (1996 est.)

Airports: 40 (1996 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 37
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m : 3
914 to 1,523 m: 3
under 914 m: 29 (1996 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 3 (1996 est.)

Military

Military branches: Army (includes Naval Service and Air Corps),
National Police (Garda Siochana)

Military manpower - military age: 17 years of age

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 959,807 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males : 778,234 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males : 36,560 (1997 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $618 million (1994)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.3% (1994)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: Northern Ireland question with the UK;
Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark, Iceland, and the
UK (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall
area)

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for and consumer of hashish from
North Africa to the UK and Netherlands and of European-produced
synthetic drugs; transshipment point for heroin and cocaine
______________________________________________________________________

ISRAEL

(also see separate Gaza Strip and West Bank entries)

Introduction

Current issues: The territories occupied by Israel since the 1967 war
are not