050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and
4,160 km in North America; note--fastest speed in daily service is
300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer
Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV)--Atlantique line
broad gauge: 251,153 km
standard gauge: 710,754 km
narrow gauge: 239,430 km

Highways:
total: NA km
paved: NA km
unpaved: NA km

Ports and harbors: Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille,
Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama

Merchant marine:
total: 28,310 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 495,299,489
GRT/764,129,056 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 23, bulk 5,745, cargo 8,766, chemical
tanker 1,326, combination bulk 319, combination ore/oil 227,
container 2,615, liquefied gas tanker 802, livestock carrier 60,
multifunction large-load carrier 90, oil tanker 4,521, passenger
392, passenger-cargo 126, railcar carrier 19, refrigerated cargo
1,067, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1,117, short-sea passenger 484,
specialized tanker 118, vehicle carrier 493 (1998 est.)

Military

Military branches: ground, maritime, and air forces at all levels
of technology

Military expenditures--dollar figure: aggregate real expenditure
on arms worldwide in 1998 remained at approximately the 1997 level,
about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1998 est.)

Military expenditures--percent of GDP: roughly 2% of gross world
product (1998 est.)

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

@Yemen
-----

Geography

Location: Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden,
and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia

Geographic coordinates: 15 00 N, 48 00 E

Map references: Middle East

Area:
total: 527,970 sq km
land: 527,970 sq km
water: 0 sq km
note: includes Perim, Socotra, the former Yemen Arab Republic (YAR
or North Yemen), and the former People's Democratic Republic of
Yemen (PDRY or South Yemen)

Area--comparative: slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming

Land boundaries:
total: 1,746 km
border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km

Coastline: 1,906 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 18 nm in the North; 24 nm in the South
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: mostly desert; hot and humid