xamples: President PUTIN and President
CLINTON are chiefs of state. In Russia, the president is chief of
state and the premier is the head of the government, while in the US,
the president is both chief of state and head of government.

Pipelines: This entry gives the lengths and types of pipelines for
transporting products like natural gas, crude oil, or petroleum
products.

Political parties and leaders: This entry includes a listing of
significant political organizations and their leaders.

Political pressure groups and leaders: This entry includes a listing
of organizations with leaders involved in politics, but not standing
for legislative election.

Population: This entry gives an estimate from the US Bureau of the
Census based on statistics from population censuses, vital statistics
registration systems, or sample surveys pertaining to the recent past
and on assumptions about future trends. The total population presents
one overall measure of the potential impact of the country on the
world and within its region. Note: starting with the 1993 Factbook,
demographic estimates for some countries (mostly African) have
explicitly taken into account the effects of the growing impact of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic. These countries are currently: The Bahamas, Benin,
Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon,
Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic
of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guyana, Haiti,
Honduras, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria,
Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda,
Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Population below poverty line: National estimates of the percentage of
the population lying below the poverty line are based on surveys of
sub-groups, with the results weighted by the number of people in each
group. Definitions of poverty vary considerably among nations. For
example, rich nations generally employ more generous standards of
poverty than poor nations.

Population growth rate: The average annual percent change in the
population, resulting from a surplus (or deficit) of births over
deaths and the balance of migrants entering and leaving a country. The
rate may be positive or negative. The growth rate is a factor in
determining how great a burden would be imposed on a country by the
changing needs of its people for infrastructure (e.g., schools,
hospitals, housing, roads), resources (e.g., food