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Exchange rates:

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003) note: since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro

Communications

Benin

Telephones - main lines in use:

110,300 (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

1.895 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: inadequate; fixed-line network characterized by aging, deteriorating equipment with fixed-line teledensity stuck at 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone subscribership is increasing domestic: system of open-wire, microwave radio relay, and cellular connections; multiple mobile-cellular providers international: country code - 229; landing point for the SAT-3/WASC fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe and Asia; satellite earth stations - 7 (Intelsat-Atlantic Ocean) (2007)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 1, FM 34, shortwave 1 (2007)

Radios:

660,000 (2000)

Television broadcast stations:

6 (2007)

Televisions:

66,000 (2000)

Internet country code:

.bj

Internet hosts:

848 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

4 (2002)

Internet users:

150,000 (2007)

Transportation

Benin

Airports:

5 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2007)

Railways:

total: 758 km narrow gauge: 758 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)

Roadways:

total: 16,000 km paved: 1,400 km unpaved: 14,600 km (2006)

Waterways:

150 km (on River Niger along northern border) (2005)

Ports and terminals:

Cotonou

Military

Benin

Military branches:

Benin Armed Forces (FAB): Army (l'Arme de Terre), Benin Navy (Forces

Navales Beninois, FNB), Benin People's Air Force (Force Aerienne

Populaire de Benin, FAPB) (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

21 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; in practice, volunteers may be taken at the age of 18; both sexes are eligible for military service; conscript tour of duty - 18 months (2006)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16–49: 1,908,457 females age 16–49: 1,882,421 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16–49: 1,173,742 females age 16–49: 1,162,113 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 97,543 female: 94,008 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

1.7% of GDP (2006)

Transnational Issues

Benin

Disputes - international:

in September 2007, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intervened to attempt to resolve the dispute over two villages along the Benin-Burkina Faso border that remain from 2005 ICJ decision; much of Benin-Niger boundary, including tripoint with Nigeria, remains undemarcated; in 2005, Nigeria ceded thirteen villages to Benin, but border relations remain strained by rival cross-border gang clashes; talks continue between Benin and Togo on funding the Adjrala hydroelectric dam on the Mona River

Refugees and internally displaced persons:

refugees (country of origin): 9,444 (Togo) (2007)

Illicit drugs:

transshipment point used by Nigerian traffickers for narcotics destined for Western Europe; vulnerable to money laundering due to poorly enforced financial regulations

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Bermuda

Introduction

Bermuda

Background:

Bermuda was first settled in 1609 by shipwrecked English colonists headed for Virginia. Tourism to the island to escape North American winters first developed in Victorian times. Tourism continues to be important to the island's economy, although international business has overtaken it in recent years. Bermuda has developed into a highly successful offshore financial center. Although a referendum on independence from the UK was soundly defeated in 1995, the present government has reopened debate on the issue.

Geography

Bermuda

Location:

North America, group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, east of

South Carolina (US)

Geographic coordinates: