000 (1993 est.)

Transportation

Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: 4,450 km
paved: 3,587 km
unpaved: 863 km (1996 est.)

Pipelines: crude oil 877 km; petroleum products 40 km; natural
gas 165 km

Ports and harbors: Ash Shu'aybah, Ash Shuwaykh, Kuwait, Mina'
'Abd Allah, Mina' al Ahmadi, Mina' Su'ud

Merchant marine:
total: 49 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,509,061 GRT/4,046,739
DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 10, container 6, liquefied gas tanker
7, livestock carrier 3, oil tanker 22 (1998 est.)

Airports: 8 (1998 est.)

Airports--with paved runways:
total: 4
over 3,047 m: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 (1998 est.)

Airports--with unpaved runways:
total: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 2 (1998 est.)

Heliports: 1 (1998 est.)

Military

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Police Force,
National Guard, Coast Guard

Military manpower--military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower--availability:
males age 15-49: 718,061 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 425,126 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--reaching military age annually:
males: 20,854 (1999 est.)

Military expenditures--dollar figure: $2.7035 billion (FY98/99)

Military expenditures--percent of GDP: 7.9% (FY98/99)

Transnational Issues

Disputes--international: in November 1994, Iraq formally accepted
the UN-demarcated border with Kuwait which had been spelled out in
Security Council Resolutions 687 (1991), 773 (1993), and 883 (1993);
this formally ends earlier claims to Kuwait and to Bubiyan and
Warbah islands; ownership of Qaruh and Umm al Maradim islands
disputed by Saudi Arabia

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@Kyrgyzstan
----------

Introduction

Background: A country of incredible natural beauty and proud
nomadic traditions, Kyrgyzstan became part of the Russian empire in
1864. In the Czarist and Soviet periods, Russian managers and
technicians were sent to Kyrgyzstan and have recently made up more
than one-fifth of the population. Many Russians have been returning
home since Kyrgyzstan gained its independence in 1991 when the USSR
collapsed. Privatization of state-owned enterprises, expansion of
democracy and political freedoms, and inter-ethnic relations are
current issues.

Geography