The 2008 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
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Issues
Cyprus
Disputes - international:
hostilities in 1974 divided the island into two de facto autonomous entities, the internationally recognized Cypriot Government and a Turkish-Cypriot community (north Cyprus); the 1,000-strong UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has served in Cyprus since 1964 and maintains the buffer zone between north and south; on 1 May 2004, Cyprus entered the European Union still divided, with the EU's body of legislation and standards (acquis communitaire) suspended in the north; Turkey protests Cypriot Government creating hydrocarbon blocks and maritime boundary with Lebanon in March 2007
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 210,000 (both Turkish and Greek Cypriots; many displaced for over 30 years) (2007)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Cyprus is primarily a destination country for a large number of women trafficked from Eastern and Central Europe, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic for the purpose of sexual exploitation; traffickers continued to fraudulently recruit victims for work as dancers in cabarets and nightclubs on short-term "artiste" visas, for work in pubs and bars on employment visas, or for illegal work on tourist or student visas tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Cyprus is on the Tier 2 Watch List for a third consecutive year for failure to show evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking during 2007; although Cyprus passed a new trafficking law and opened a government trafficking shelter, these efforts are outweighed by its failure to show tangible and critically needed progress in the areas of law enforcement, victim protection, and the prevention of trafficking (2008)
Illicit drugs:
minor transit point for heroin and hashish via air routes and container traffic to Europe, especially from Lebanon and Turkey; some cocaine transits as well; despite a strengthening of anti-money-laundering legislation, remains vulnerable to money laundering; reporting of suspicious transactions in offshore sector remains weak
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
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@Czech Republic
Introduction
Czech Republic
Background:
Following the First World War, the closely related Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years, the new country's leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the Sudeten Germans and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II, a truncated Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize Communist party rule and create "socialism with a human face." Anti-Soviet demonstrations the following year ushered in a period of harsh repression. With the collapse of Soviet authority in 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its freedom through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution." On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a "velvet divorce" into its two national components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.
Geography
Czech Republic
Location:
Central Europe, southeast of Germany
Geographic coordinates:
49 45 N, 15 30 E
Map references:
Europe
Area:
total: 78,866 sq km land: 77,276 sq km water: 1,590 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than South Carolina
Land boundaries:
total: 1,989 km border countries: Austria 362 km, Germany 815 km, Poland 615 km, Slovakia 197 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters
Terrain:
Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Elbe River 115 m highest point: Snezka 1,602 m
Natural resources:
hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber
Land use:
arable land: 38.82% permanent crops: 3% other: 58.18% (2005)
Irrigated land:
240 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
16 cu km (2005)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 1.91 cu km/yr (41%/57%/2%) per capita: 187 cu m/yr (2002)
Natural hazards:
flooding
Environment - current issues:
air and water pollution in areas of northwest Bohemia and in northern Moravia around Ostrava present health risks; acid rain damaging forests; efforts to bring industry up to EU code should improve domestic pollution
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85,
Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands,
Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
landlocked; strategically located astride some of oldest and most significant land routes in Europe; Moravian Gate is a traditional military corridor between the North European Plain and the Danube in central Europe
People
Czech Republic
Population:
10,220,911 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 13.8% (male 723,521/female 684,786) 15–64 years: 71.2% (male 3,653,679/female 3,619,872) 65 years and over: 15.1% (male 604,419/female 934,634) (2008 est.)
Median age:
total: 39.8 years male: 38.2 years female: 41.6 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
−0.082% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
8.89 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate:
10.69 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio: