The 2002 CIA World Factbook | Page 8

cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semi-precious gems
Exports - partners: Pakistan 32%, India 8%, Belgium 7%, Germany 5%,
Russia 5%, UAE 4% (1999)
Imports: $1.3 billion (2001 est.)
Imports - commodities: capital goods, food and petroleum products;
most consumer goods

Imports - partners: Pakistan 19%, Japan 16%, Kenya 9%, South Korea
7%, India 6%, Turkmenistan 6% (1999)
Debt - external: $5.5 billion (1996 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: international pledges made by more than 60
countries and international financial institutions at the Tokyo Donors
Conference for Afghan reconstruction in January 2002 reached $4.5
billion through 2006, with $1.8 billion allocated for 2002; according to
a joint preliminary assessment conducted by the World Bank, the Asian
Development Bank, and the UN Development Program, rebuilding
Afghanistan will cost roughly $15 billion over the next ten years
Currency: afghani (AFA)
Currency code: AFA
Exchange rates: afghanis per US dollar - 4,700 (January 2000), 4,750
(February 1999), 17,000 (December 1996), 7,000 (January 1995),
1,900 (January 1994), 1,019 (March 1993), 850 (1991); note - these
rates reflect the free market exchange rates rather than the official
exchange rate, which was fixed at 50.600 afghanis to the dollar until
1996, when it rose to 2,262.65 per dollar, and finally became fixed
again at 3,000.00 per dollar in April 1996
Fiscal year: 21 March - 20 March
Communications Afghanistan
Telephones - main lines in use: 29,000 (1998)
Telephones - mobile cellular: NA
Telephone system: very limited telephone and telegraph service
domestic: Herat, Kandahar, Jalalabad, and Kabul through satellite and
microwave systems international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat
(Indian Ocean) linked only to Iran and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean
region); commercial satellite telephone center in Ghazni

Radio broadcast stations: AM 7 (6 are inactive; the active station is in
Kabul), FM 1, shortwave 1 (broadcasts in Pashtu, Afghan Persian
(Dari), Urdu, and English) (1999)
Radios: 167,000 (1999)
Television broadcast stations: at least 10 (one government-run central
television station in Kabul and regional stations in nine of the 32
provinces; the regional stations operate on a reduced schedule; also, in
1997, there was a station in Mazar-e Sharif reaching four northern
Afghanistan provinces) (1998)
Televisions: 100,000 (1999)
Internet country code: .af
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)
Internet users: NA
Transportation Afghanistan
Railways: total: 24.6 km broad gauge: 9.6 km 1.524-m gauge from
Gushgy (Turkmenistan) to Towraghondi; 15 km 1.524-m gauge from
Termiz (Uzbekistan) to Kheyrabad transshipment point on south bank
of Amu Darya (2001)
Highways: total: 21,000 km paved: 2,793 km unpaved: 18,207 km
(1998 est.)
Waterways: 1,200 km note: chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels
up to 500 DWT (2001)
Pipelines: natural gas 180 km note: product pipelines from Uzbekistan
and Turkmenistan have been in disrepair and disuse for years (2002)
Ports and harbors: Kheyrabad, Shir Khan
Airports: 46 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 10 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047
m: 4 under 914 m: 1 (2001) 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
Airports - with unpaved runways: 7 1,524 to 2,437 m: Heliports: 2
(2001)
Military Afghanistan
Military branches: NA; note - the December 2001 Bonn Agreement
calls for all militia forces to come under Afghan Interim Authority
(AIA) control, but formation of a national army is likely to be a gradual
process; Afghanistan's forces continue to be factionalized largely along
ethnic lines
Military manpower - military age: 22 years of age (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 6,896,623 (2002
est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49:
3,696,379 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 252,869
(2002 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: NA%
Transnational Issues Afghanistan
Disputes - international: close ties with Pashtuns in Pakistan make long
border difficult to control
Illicit drugs: poppy ban cut 2001 cultivation by 97% to 1,695 hectares,
with potential production of 74 tons of opium; a major source of
hashish; many heroin-processing laboratories throughout the country;
major political factions in the country profit from the drug trade

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Algeria
Introduction
Algeria
Background: After a century of rule by France, Algeria became
independent in 1962. The surprising first round success of the
fundamentalist FIS (Islamic Salvation Front) party in the December
1991 balloting caused the army to intervene, crack down on the FIS,
and postpone the subsequent elections. The FIS response has resulted
in a continuous low-grade civil conflict with the secular state apparatus,
which nonetheless has allowed elections featuring pro-government and
moderate religious-based parties. FIS's armed wing, the Islamic
Salvation Army, disbanded itself in January 2000 and many armed
militants surrendered under an amnesty program designed to promote
national reconciliation. Nevertheless, residual fighting continues. Other
concerns include Berber unrest, large-scale unemployment, a shortage
of housing, and the need to