mineral (especially petroleum) resources, fisheries, and arable
land; nonetheless, most nations cooperate to clarify their
international boundaries and to resolve territorial and resource
disputes peacefully; regional discord today prevails not so much
between the 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
Yemen protests Eritrea fishing around the Hanish Islands
awarded to Yemen by the ICJ in 1999; Saudi Arabia still maintains
the concrete-filled pipe as a security barrier along sections of the
border with Yemen in 2004 to stem illegal cross-border activities;
Yemen protests Saudi erection of a concrete-filled pipe as a
security barrier in 2004 to stem illegal cross-border activities in
sections of the boundary

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

Zimbabwe
Botswana has 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 8 February, 2007

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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 Berbers are also
Muslim but