Cameroon has a large youth population, with more than 60% of the populace under the age of 25 as of 2020. Fertility is falling but remains at a high level, especially among poor, rural, and uneducated women, in part because of inadequate access to contraception. Life expectancy remains low at about 55 years due to the prevalence of HIV and AIDs and an elevated maternal mortality rate, which has remained high since 1990. Cameroon, particularly the northern region, is vulnerable to food insecurity largely because of government mismanagement, corruption, high production costs, inadequate infrastructure, and natural disasters. Despite economic growth in some regions, poverty is on the rise, and is most prevalent in rural areas, which are especially affected by a shortage of jobs, declining incomes, poor school and health care infrastructure, and a lack of clean water and sanitation. Underinvestment in social safety nets and ineffective public financial management also contribute to Cameroon’s high rate of poverty. The activities of Boko Haram, other armed groups, and counterinsurgency operations have worsened food insecurity in the Far North region.
International migration has been driven by unemployment (including fewer government jobs), poverty, the search for educational opportunities, and corruption. The US and Europe are preferred destinations, but, with tighter immigration restrictions in these countries, young Cameroonians are increasingly turning to neighboring states, such as Gabon and Nigeria, South Africa, other parts of Africa, and the Near and Far East. Cameroon’s limited resources make it dependent on UN support to host more than 480,000 refugees and asylum seekers as of December 2022. These refugees and asylum seekers are primarily from the Central African Republic and Nigeria. Internal and external displacement have grown dramatically in recent years. Boko Haram's attacks and counterattacks by government forces in the Far North since 2014 have increased the number of internally displaced people. Armed conflict between separatists and Cameroon's military in the Northwest and Southwest since 2016 have displaced hundreds of thousands of the country's Anglophone minority.
" @@ -1279,7 +1279,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "354,423 (Central African Republic), 120,934 (Nigeria) (2024)" + "text": "354,725 (Central African Republic), 121,172 (Nigeria) (2024)" }, "IDPs": { "text": "1.066 million (2023) (includes far north, northwest, and southwest)" diff --git a/africa/ct.json b/africa/ct.json index 71e1355f..cf7608a2 100644 --- a/africa/ct.json +++ b/africa/ct.json @@ -354,13 +354,13 @@ "text": "age 15 and over can read and write" }, "total population": { - "text": "37.4%" + "text": "37.5%" }, "male": { - "text": "49.5%" + "text": "49.2%" }, "female": { - "text": "25.8% (2018)" + "text": "26.2% (2020)" } }, "School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)": { @@ -1165,7 +1165,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "13,844 (Sudan) (refugees since 15 April 2023), 6,686 (Democratic Republic of Congo) (2023)" + "text": "28,217 (Sudan) (refugees since 15 April 2023), 6,700 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (2024)" }, "IDPs": { "text": "490,868 (clashes between army and rebel groups since 2005; tensions between ethnic groups) (2023)" diff --git a/africa/eg.json b/africa/eg.json index 6019c511..be6bc8c4 100644 --- a/africa/eg.json +++ b/africa/eg.json @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ { "Introduction": { "Background": { - "text": "The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation provided by deserts to the east and west, allowed for the development of one of the world's great civilizations. A unified kingdom arose circa 3200 B.C., and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty fell to the Persians in 341 B.C., who in turn were replaced by the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. Arab conquerors introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the 7th century and ruled for the next six centuries. A local military caste, the Mamluks took control about 1250 and continued to govern after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. Completion of the Suez Canal in 1869 elevated Egypt as an important world transportation hub. Ostensibly to protect its investments, Britain seized control of Egypt's government in 1882, but nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Egypt gained partial independence from the UK in 1922 and acquired full sovereignty from Britain in 1952. British forces evacuated the Suez Canal Zone in 1956. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasser have reaffirmed the time-honored place of the Nile River in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world), limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all continue to overtax resources and stress society. The government has struggled to meet the demands of Egypt's fast-growing population as it implements large-scale infrastructure projects, energy cooperation, and foreign direct investment appeals.
Inspired by the 2010 Tunisian revolution, Egyptian opposition groups led demonstrations and labor strikes countrywide, culminating in President Hosni MUBARAK's ouster in 2011. Egypt's military assumed national leadership until a new legislature was in place in early 2012; later that same year, Muslim Brotherhood candidate Muhammad MURSI won the presidential election. Following protests throughout the spring of 2013 against MURSI's government and the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian Armed Forces intervened and removed MURSI from power in July 2013 and replaced him with interim president Adly MANSOUR. Simultaneously, the government began enacting laws to limit freedoms of assembly and expression. In January 2014, voters approved a new constitution by referendum and in May 2014 elected former defense minister Abdelfattah ELSISI president. Egypt elected a new legislature in December 2015, its first House of Representatives since 2012. ELSISI was reelected to a second four-year term in March 2018. In April 2019, Egypt approved via national referendum a set of constitutional amendments extending ELSISI’s term in office through 2024 and possibly through 2030 if reelected for a third term. The amendments would also allow future presidents up to two consecutive six-year terms in office, reestablish an upper legislative house, allow for one or more vice presidents, establish a 25% quota for female legislators, reaffirm the military’s role as guardian of Egypt, and expand presidential authority to appoint the heads of judicial councils. Successful legislative elections were held in October-November 2020, having been delayed for six months.
" + "text": "
The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation provided by deserts to the east and west, allowed for the development of one of the world's great civilizations. A unified kingdom arose circa 3200 B.C., and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia. The last native dynasty fell to the Persians in 341 B.C., who in turn were replaced by the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. Arab conquerors introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the 7th century and ruled for the next six centuries. A local military caste, the Mamluks took control about 1250 and continued to govern after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. Completion of the Suez Canal in 1869 elevated Egypt as an important world transportation hub. Ostensibly to protect its investments, Britain seized control of Egypt's government in 1882, but nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Egypt gained partial independence from the UK in 1922 and acquired full sovereignty from Britain in 1952. British forces evacuated the Suez Canal Zone in 1956. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasser have reaffirmed the time-honored place of the Nile River in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world), limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all continue to overtax resources and stress society. The government has struggled to meet the demands of Egypt's fast-growing population as it implements large-scale infrastructure projects, energy cooperation, and foreign direct investment appeals.
Inspired by the 2010 Tunisian revolution, Egyptian opposition groups led demonstrations and labor strikes countrywide, culminating in President Hosni MUBARAK's ouster in 2011. Egypt's military assumed national leadership until a new legislature was in place in early 2012; later that same year, Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed MORSI won the presidential election. Following protests throughout the spring of 2013 against MORSI's government and the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian Armed Forces intervened and removed MORSI from power in July 2013 and replaced him with interim president Adly MANSOUR. Simultaneously, the government began enacting laws to limit freedoms of assembly and expression. In January 2014, voters approved a new constitution by referendum and in May 2014 elected former defense minister Abdel Fattah EL-SISI president. Egypt elected a new legislature in December 2015, its first House of Representatives since 2012. ELSISI was reelected to a second four-year term in March 2018. In April 2019, Egypt approved via national referendum a set of constitutional amendments extending ELSISI’s term in office through 2024. The amendments also allow future presidents up to two consecutive six-year terms in office, reestablish an upper legislative house, allow for one or more vice presidents, establish a 25% quota for female legislators, reaffirm the military’s role as guardian of Egypt, and expand presidential authority to appoint the heads of judicial councils. EL-SISI was reelected for a third term in December 2023. Legislative elections were held in October-November 2020.
" } }, "Geography": { @@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ }, "Executive branch": { "chief of state": { - "text": "President Abdelfattah ELSISI (since 8 June 2014)" + "text": "President Abdel Fattah EL-SISI (since 8 June 2014)" }, "head of government": { "text": "Prime Minister Mostafa MADBOULY (since 7 June 2018)" @@ -579,10 +579,10 @@ "text": "Cabinet ministers nominated by the executive branch and approved by the House of Representatives" }, "elections/appointments": { - "text": "president elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 6-year term (eligible for 3 consecutive terms); election last held on 26 to 28 March 2018 (next to be held 10 to 12 December 2023); prime minister appointed by the president, approved by the House of Representatives; note - following a constitutional amendment approved by referendum in April 2019, the presidential term was extended from 4 to 6 years and eligibility extended to 3 consecutive terms" + "text": "president elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 6-year term (eligible for 3 consecutive terms); election last held on 10 to 12 December 2023; next to held in 2029); prime minister appointed by the president, approved by the House of Representatives" }, "election results": { - "text": "Abdelfattah ELSISI reelected president in first round; percent of valid votes cast - Abdelfattah ELSISI (independent) 97.1%, Moussa Mostafa MOUSSA (El Ghad Party) 2.9%; note - more than 7% of ballots cast were deemed invalid" + "text": "Abdel Fattah EL-SISI reelected president in first round; percent of valid votes cast - Abdel Fattah EL-SISI (independent) 89.6%, Hazam OMAR (Republican People’s Party) 4.5%, Farid ZAHRAN (Egyptian Social Democratic Party 4%, Abdel-Samad YAMAMA 1.9%" } }, "Legislative branch": { @@ -608,7 +608,7 @@ } }, "Political parties and leaders": { - "text": "Al-Nour [Yunis MAKHYUN]
The area that is modern-day Ethiopia is rich in cultural and religious diversity with more than 80 ethnic groups. The oldest hominid yet found comes from Ethiopia, and Ethiopia was the second country to officially adopt Christianity in the 4th century A.D. A series of monarchies ruled the area that is now Ethiopia from 980 B.C. to 1855, when the Amhara kingdoms of northern Ethiopia united in an empire under Tewodros II. Many Ethiopians still speak reverently about the Battle of Adwa in 1896, when they defeated Italian forces and thus retained their freedom from colonial rule.
Emperor Haile SELASSIE became an internationally renowned figure in 1935, when he unsuccessfully appealed to the League of Nations to prevent Italy from occupying Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941. SELASSIE survived an attempted coup in 1960, annexed modern-day Eritrea in 1962, and played a leading role in establishing the Organization of African Unity in 1963. However, in 1974, a military junta, the Derg, deposed him and established a socialist state. Torn by bloody coups, uprisings, drought, and massive displacement, the Derg regime was toppled in 1991 by a coalition of opposing forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The EPRDF became an ethno-federalist political coalition that ruled Ethiopia from 1991 until its dissolution in 2019. Ethiopia adopted its constitution in 1994 and held its first multiparty elections in 1995.
A two-and-a-half-year border war with Eritrea in the late 1990s ended with a peace treaty in December 2000. Ethiopia subsequently rejected the 2007 Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission demarcation. This intransigence resulted in more than a decade of a tense “no peace, no war” stalemate between the two countries. In 2012, longtime leader Prime Minister MELES Zenawi died in office and was replaced by his Deputy Prime Minister HAILEMARIAM Desalegn, marking the first peaceful transition of power in decades. Following a wave of popular dissent and anti-government protest that began in 2015, HAILEMARIAM resigned in 2018 and ABIY Ahmed Ali took office the same year as Ethiopia's first ethnic Oromo prime minister. In 2018, ABIY promoted a rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea that was marked with a peace agreement and a reopening of their shared border. In November 2019, Ethiopia's nearly 30-year ethnic-based ruling coalition, the EPRDF, merged into a single unity party called the Prosperity Party; however, the lead coalition party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), declined to join. In November 2020, a military conflict erupted between forces aligned with the TPLF and the Ethiopian military. The conflict - which was marked by atrocities committed by all parties - ended in November 2022 with a cessation of hostilities agreement between the Tigrayan leaders and the Ethiopian Government. However, Ethiopia continues to experience ethnic-based violence as other groups - including the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and Amhara militias - seek concessions from the Ethiopian Government.
The area that is modern-day Ethiopia is rich in cultural and religious diversity with more than 80 ethnic groups. The oldest hominid yet found comes from Ethiopia, and Ethiopia was the second country to officially adopt Christianity in the 4th century A.D. A series of monarchies ruled the area that is now Ethiopia from 980 B.C. to 1855, when the Amhara kingdoms of northern Ethiopia united in an empire under Tewodros II. Many Ethiopians still speak reverently about the Battle of Adwa in 1896, when they defeated Italian forces and thus retained their freedom from colonial rule.
Emperor Haile SELASSIE became an internationally renowned figure in 1935, when he unsuccessfully appealed to the League of Nations to prevent Italy from occupying Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941. SELASSIE survived an attempted coup in 1960, annexed modern-day Eritrea in 1962, and played a leading role in establishing the Organization of African Unity in 1963. However, in 1974, a military junta, the Derg, deposed him and established a socialist state. Torn by bloody coups, uprisings, drought, and massive displacement, the Derg regime was toppled in 1991 by a coalition of opposing forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The EPRDF became an ethno-federalist political coalition that ruled Ethiopia from 1991 until its dissolution in 2019. Ethiopia adopted its constitution in 1994 and held its first multiparty elections in 1995.
A two-and-a-half-year border war with Eritrea in the late 1990s ended with a peace treaty in December 2000. Ethiopia subsequently rejected the 2007 Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission demarcation. This resulted in more than a decade of a tense “no peace, no war” stalemate between the two countries. In 2012, longtime leader Prime Minister MELES Zenawi died in office and was replaced by his Deputy Prime Minister HAILEMARIAM Desalegn, marking the first peaceful transition of power in decades. Following a wave of popular dissent and anti-government protest that began in 2015, HAILEMARIAM resigned in 2018 and ABIY Ahmed Ali took office the same year as Ethiopia's first ethnic Oromo prime minister. In 2018, ABIY promoted a rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea that was marked with a peace agreement and a reopening of their shared border. In November 2019, Ethiopia's nearly 30-year ethnic-based ruling coalition, the EPRDF, merged into a single unity party called the Prosperity Party; however, the lead coalition party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), declined to join. In November 2020, a military conflict erupted between forces aligned with the TPLF and the Ethiopian military. The conflict - which was marked by atrocities committed by all parties - ended in November 2022 with a cessation of hostilities agreement between the TPLF and the Ethiopian Government. However, Ethiopia continues to experience ethnic-based violence as other groups - including the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and Amhara militia Fano - seek concessions from the Ethiopian Government.
Group of Young Malagasy Patriots (Groupe des Jeunes Malgaches Patriotes) or GJMP
I Love Madagascar (Tiako I Madagasikara) or TIM [Marc RAVALOMANANA]
Malagasy Aware (Malagasy Tonga Saina) or MTS [Roland RATSIRAKA]
Malagasy Tia Tanindrazana or MATITA or ANGADY [Hyacinthe Befeno TODIMANANA]
Movement for Democracy in Madagascar (Mouvement pour la Démocratie à Madagascar) or MDM [Pierrot RAJAONARIVELO]
Rally for Democratic Socialism (Rassemblement pour Socialisme Démocratique - Nauveau) or RPSD Vaovao [Evariste MARSON]
Young Malagasies Determined (Tanora Malagasy Vonona) or TGV [Andry RAJOELINA]
Note: Only parties with seats in the National Assembly included
Group of Young Malagasy Patriots (Groupe des Jeunes Malgaches Patriotes) or GJMP [Jean Nicolas RANDRIANASOLO]
I Love Madagascar (Tiako I Madagasikara) or TIM [Marc RAVALOMANANA]
Isika Rehetra Miaraka amin'i Andry Rajoelina coalition or IRD (electoral coalition includes TGV and other parties)
Malagasy Aware (Malagasy Tonga Saina) or MTS [Roland RATSIRAKA]
Malagasy Tia Tanindrazana or MATITA or ANGADY [Hyacinthe Befeno TODIMANANA]
Movement for Democracy in Madagascar (Mouvement pour la Démocratie à Madagascar) or MDM [Pierrot RAJAONARIVELO]
Rally for Democratic Socialism (Rassemblement pour Socialisme Démocratique - Nouveau) or RPSD Vaovao [Siteny RANDRIANASOLONIAIKO]
Young Malagasies Determined (Tanora Malagasy Vonona) or TGV [Andry RAJOELINA]
Note: Only coalitions/parties with seats in the National Assembly included
significant transit country for illicit drugs in East Africa; international drug trafficking organizations and courier networks transit illicit drugs through mainland Tanzania to markets in Europe and North America; cultivates cannabis and khat for domestic consumption and regional and international distribution; domestic drug use continues increasing including methamphetamine use
(2021)" + "text": "significant transit country for illicit drugs in East Africa; international drug trafficking organizations and courier networks transit illicit drugs through mainland Tanzania to markets in within Africa, Europe and North America; cultivates cannabis and khat for domestic consumption and regional and international distribution; domestic drug use continues increasing including methamphetamine heroin use (2023)" } } } \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/antarctica/ay.json b/antarctica/ay.json index 807c0ff7..67c0c21d 100644 --- a/antarctica/ay.json +++ b/antarctica/ay.json @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ { "Introduction": { "Background": { - "text": "Speculation over the existence of a \"southern land\" was not confirmed until the early 1820s when British and American commercial operators and British and Russian national expeditions began exploring the Antarctic Peninsula region and other areas south of the Antarctic Circle. Not until 1840 was it established that Antarctica was indeed a continent and not merely a group of islands or an area of ocean. Several exploration \"firsts\" were achieved in the early 20th century, but generally the area saw little human activity. Following World War II, however, the continent experienced an upsurge in scientific research. A number of countries have set up a range of year-round and seasonal stations, camps, and refuges to support scientific research in Antarctica. Seven have made territorial claims and two maintain the basis for a claim, but most countries do not recognize these claims. In order to form a legal framework for the activities of nations on the continent, an Antarctic Treaty was negotiated that neither denies nor gives recognition to existing territorial claims; signed in 1959, it entered into force in 1961. Also relevant to Antarctic governance are the Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty and the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources." + "text": "Speculation over the existence of a \"southern land\" was not confirmed until the early 1820s when British and American commercial operators and British and Russian national expeditions began exploring the Antarctic Peninsula region and other areas south of the Antarctic Circle. Not until 1840 was it established that Antarctica was indeed a continent and not merely a group of islands or an area of ocean. Several exploration \"firsts\" were achieved in the early 20th century, but generally the area saw little human activity. Following World War II, however, the continent experienced an upsurge in scientific research. A number of countries have set up a range of year-round and seasonal stations, camps, and refuges to support scientific research in Antarctica. Seven have made territorial claims and two maintain the basis for a claim, but most countries do not recognize these claims. In order to form a legal framework for the activities of nations on the continent, an Antarctic Treaty was negotiated that neither denies nor gives recognition to existing territorial claims; signed in 1959, it entered into force in 1961. Also relevant to Antarctic governance are the Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty and the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources." } }, "Geography": { @@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ "note": "note: the lowest known land point in Antarctica is hidden in the Denman Glacier; at its surface is the deepest ice yet discovered and the world's lowest elevation not under seawater" }, "Natural resources": { - "text": "iron ore, chromium, copper, gold, nickel, platinum and other minerals, and coal and hydrocarbons have been found in small noncommercial quantities; mineral exploitation except for scientific research is banned by the Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty; krill, icefish, toothfish, and crab have been taken by commercial fisheries, which are managed through the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Living Marine Resources (CCAMLR)" + "text": "iron ore, chromium, copper, gold, nickel, platinum and other minerals, and coal and hydrocarbons have been found in small noncommercial quantities; mineral exploitation except for scientific research is banned by the Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty; krill, icefish, toothfish, and crab have been taken by commercial fisheries, which are managed through the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)" }, "Land use": { "agricultural land": { @@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ }, "People and Society": { "Population": { - "text": "no indigenous inhabitants, but there are both year-round and summer-only staffed research stationsAntarctic Treaty Summary - the Antarctic region is governed by a system known as the Antarctic Treaty system; the system includes: 1. the Antarctic Treaty, signed on 1 December 1959 and entered into force on 23 June 1961, which establishes the legal framework for the management of Antarctica, 2. Measures, Decisions, and Resolutions adopted at Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings, 3. The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (1972), 4. The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (1980), and 5. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (1991); the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings operate by consensus (not by vote) of all consultative parties at annual Treaty meetings; by January 2022, there were 54 treaty member nations: 29 consultative and 25 non-consultative; consultative (decision-making) members include the seven nations that claim portions of Antarctica as national territory (some claims overlap) and 22 non-claimant nations; the US and Russia have reserved the right to make claims; the US does not recognize the claims of others; Antarctica is administered through meetings of the consultative member nations; measures adopted at these meetings are carried out by these member nations (with respect to their own nationals and operations) in accordance with their own national laws; the years in parentheses indicate when a consultative member-nation acceded to the Treaty and when it was accepted as a consultative member, while no date indicates the country was an original 1959 treaty signatory; claimant nations are - Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and the UK; nonclaimant consultative nations are - Belgium, Brazil (1975/1983), Bulgaria (1978/1998), China (1983/1985), Czechia (1962/2014), Ecuador (1987/1990), Finland (1984/1989), Germany (1979/1981), India (1983/1983), Italy (1981/1987), Japan, South Korea (1986/1989), Netherlands (1967/1990), Peru (1981/1989), Poland (1961/1977), Russia, South Africa, Spain (1982/1988), Sweden (1984/1988), Ukraine (1992/2004), Uruguay (1980/1985), and the US; non-consultative members, with year of accession in parentheses, are - Austria (1987), Belarus (2006), Canada (1988), Colombia (1989), Cuba (1984), Denmark (1965), Estonia (2001), Greece (1987), Guatemala (1991), Hungary (1984), Iceland (2015), Kazakhstan (2015), North Korea (1987), Malaysia (2011), Monaco (2008), Mongolia (2015), Pakistan (2012), Papua New Guinea (1981), Portugal (2010), Romania (1971), Slovakia (1962/1993), Slovenia (2019), Switzerland (1990), Turkey (1996), and Venezuela (1999); note - Czechoslovakia acceded to the Treaty in 1962 and separated into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993; Article 1 - area to be used for peaceful purposes only; military activity, such as weapons testing, is prohibited, but military personnel and equipment may be used for scientific research or any other peaceful purpose; Article 2 - freedom of scientific investigation and cooperation shall continue; Article 3 - free exchange of information and personnel, cooperation with the UN and other international agencies; Article 4 - does not recognize, dispute, or establish territorial claims and no new claims shall be asserted while the treaty is in force; Article 5 - prohibits nuclear explosions or disposal of radioactive wastes; Article 6 - includes under the treaty all land and ice shelves south of 60 degrees 00 minutes south and reserves high seas rights; Article 7 - treaty-state observers have free access, including aerial observation, to any area and may inspect all stations, installations, and equipment; advance notice of all expeditions and of the introduction of military personnel must be given; Article 8 - allows for jurisdiction over observers and scientists by their own states; Article 9 - frequent consultative meetings take place among member nations; Article 10 - treaty states will discourage activities by any country in Antarctica that are contrary to the treaty; Article 11 - disputes to be settled peacefully by the parties concerned or, ultimately, by the International Court of Justice; Articles 12, 13, 14 - deal with upholding, interpreting, and amending the treaty among involved nations; other agreements - some 200 measures adopted at treaty consultative meetings and approved by governments; the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was signed 4 October 1991 and entered into force 14 January 1998; this agreement provides for the protection of the Antarctic environment and includes five annexes that have entered into force: 1) environmental impact assessment, 2) conservation of Antarctic fauna and flora, 3) waste disposal and waste management, 4) prevention of marine pollution, 5) area protection and management; a sixth annex addressing liability arising from environmental emergencies has yet to enter into force; the Protocol prohibits all activities relating to mineral resources except scientific research; a permanent Antarctic Treaty Secretariat was established in 2004 in Buenos Aires, Argentina
" + "text": "Antarctic Treaty Summary - the Antarctic region is governed by a system known as the Antarctic Treaty system; the system includes: 1. the Antarctic Treaty, signed on 1 December 1959 and entered into force on 23 June 1961, which establishes the legal framework for the management of Antarctica, 2. Measures, Decisions, and Resolutions adopted at Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings, 3. The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (1972), 4. The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (1980), and 5. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (1991); the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings operate by consensus (not by vote) of all consultative parties at annual Treaty meetings; by January 2024, there were 56 treaty member nations: 29 consultative and 27 non-consultative; consultative (decision-making) members include the seven nations that claim portions of Antarctica as national territory (some claims overlap) and 22 non-claimant nations; the US and Russia have reserved the right to make claims; the US does not recognize the claims of others; Antarctica is administered through meetings of the consultative member nations; measures adopted at these meetings are carried out by these member nations (with respect to their own nationals and operations) in accordance with their own national laws; the years in parentheses indicate when a consultative member-nation acceded to the Treaty and when it was accepted as a consultative member, while no date indicates the country was an original 1959 treaty signatory; claimant nations are - Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and the UK; nonclaimant consultative nations are - Belgium, Brazil (1975/1983), Bulgaria (1978/1998), China (1983/1985), Czechia (1962/2014), Ecuador (1987/1990), Finland (1984/1989), Germany (1979/1981), India (1983/1983), Italy (1981/1987), Japan, South Korea (1986/1989), Netherlands (1967/1990), Peru (1981/1989), Poland (1961/1977), Russia, South Africa, Spain (1982/1988), Sweden (1984/1988), Ukraine (1992/2004), Uruguay (1980/1985), and the US; non-consultative members, with year of accession in parentheses, are - Austria (1987), Belarus (2006), Canada (1988), Colombia (1989), Costa Rica (2022) Cuba (1984), Denmark (1965), Estonia (2001), Greece (1987), Guatemala (1991), Hungary (1984), Iceland (2015), Kazakhstan (2015), North Korea (1987), Malaysia (2011), Monaco (2008), Mongolia (2015), Pakistan (2012), Papua New Guinea (1981), Portugal (2010), Romania (1971), San Marino (2023), Slovakia (1962/1993), Slovenia (2019), Switzerland (1990), Turkey (1996), and Venezuela (1999); note - Czechoslovakia acceded to the Treaty in 1962 and separated into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993; Article 1 - area to be used for peaceful purposes only; military activity, such as weapons testing, is prohibited, but military personnel and equipment may be used for scientific research or any other peaceful purpose; Article 2 - freedom of scientific investigation and cooperation shall continue; Article 3 - free exchange of information and personnel, cooperation with the UN and other international agencies; Article 4 - does not recognize, dispute, or establish territorial claims and no new claims shall be asserted while the treaty is in force; Article 5 - prohibits nuclear explosions or disposal of radioactive wastes; Article 6 - includes under the treaty all land and ice shelves south of 60 degrees 00 minutes south and reserves high seas rights; Article 7 - treaty-state observers have free access, including aerial observation, to any area and may inspect all stations, installations, and equipment; advance notice of all expeditions and of the introduction of military personnel must be given; Article 8 - allows for jurisdiction over observers and scientists by their own states; Article 9 - frequent consultative meetings take place among member nations; Article 10 - treaty states will discourage activities by any country in Antarctica that are contrary to the treaty; Article 11 - disputes to be settled peacefully by the parties concerned or, ultimately, by the International Court of Justice; Articles 12, 13, 14 - deal with upholding, interpreting, and amending the treaty among involved nations; other agreements - some 200 measures adopted at treaty consultative meetings and approved by governments; the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was signed 4 October 1991 and entered into force 14 January 1998; this agreement provides for the protection of the Antarctic environment and includes five annexes that have entered into force: 1) environmental impact assessment, 2) conservation of Antarctic fauna and flora, 3) waste disposal and waste management, 4) prevention of marine pollution, 5) area protection and management; a sixth annex addressing liability arising from environmental emergencies has yet to enter into force; the Protocol prohibits all activities relating to mineral resources except scientific research; a permanent Antarctic Treaty Secretariat was established in 2004 in Buenos Aires, Argentina
" }, "Legal system": { - "text": "Antarctica is administered through annual meetings - known as Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings - which include consultative member nations, non-consultative member nations, observer organizations, and expert organizations; decisions from these meetings are carried out by these member nations (with respect to their own nationals and operations) in accordance with their own national laws; more generally, the Antarctic Treaty area, that is to all areas between 60 and 90 degrees south latitude, is subject to a number of relevant legal instruments and procedures adopted by the states party to the Antarctic Treaty; note - US law, including certain criminal offenses by or against US nationals, such as murder, may apply extraterritoriality; some US laws directly apply to Antarctica; for example, the Antarctic Conservation Act, 16 U.S.C. section 2401 et seq., provides civil and criminal penalties for the following activities unless authorized by regulation or statute: the taking of native mammals or birds; the introduction of nonindigenous plants and animals; entry into specially protected areas; the discharge or disposal of pollutants; and the importation into the US of certain items from Antarctica; violation of the Antarctic Conservation Act carries penalties of up to $10,000 in fines and one year in prison; the National Science Foundation and Department of Justice share enforcement responsibilities; Public Law 95-541, the US Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978, as amended in 1996, requires expeditions from the US to Antarctica to notify, in advance, the Office of Oceans and Polar Affairs, Room 2665, Department of State, Washington, DC 20520, which reports such plans to other nations as required by the Antarctic Treaty; for more information, contact antarctica@state.gov" + "text": "Antarctica is administered through annual meetings - known as Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings - which include consultative member nations, non-consultative member nations, observer organizations, and expert organizations; decisions from these meetings are carried out by these member nations (with respect to their own nationals and operations) in accordance with their own national laws; more generally, the Antarctic Treaty area and all areas south of 60 degrees south latitude, including all ice shelves and islands, are subject to a number of relevant legal instruments and procedures adopted by the states party to the Antarctic Treaty; note - US law, including certain criminal offenses by or against US nationals, such as murder, may apply extraterritoriality; some US laws directly apply to Antarctica; for example, the Antarctic Conservation Act, 16 U.S.C. section 2401 et seq., provides civil and criminal penalties for the following activities unless authorized by regulation or statute: the taking of native mammals or birds; the introduction of nonindigenous plants and animals; entry into specially protected areas; the discharge or disposal of pollutants; and the importation into the US of certain items from Antarctica; violation of the Antarctic Conservation Act carries penalties of up to $10,000 in fines and one year in prison; the National Science Foundation and Department of Justice share enforcement responsibilities; Public Law 95-541, the US Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978, as amended in 1996, requires expeditions from the US to Antarctica to notify, in advance, the Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs, Room 2665, Department of State, Washington, DC 20520, which reports such plans to other nations as required by the Antarctic Treaty; for more information, contact antarctica@state.gov" }, "Flag description": { "text": "unofficial; a True South flag, created in 2018, has quickly become popular for its simple yet elegant design and has been used by various National Antarctic Programs, Antarctic nonprofits, and expedition teams; the flag's meaning is described as: horizontal stripes of navy and white represent the long days and nights at Antarctica's extreme latitude; in the center, a lone white peak erupts from a field of snow and ice, echoing those of the bergs, mountains, and pressure ridges that define the Antarctic horizon; the long shadow it casts forms the unmistakable shape of a compass arrow pointed south, an homage to the continent's legacy of exploration; together, the two center shapes create a diamond, symbolizing the hope that Antarctica will continue to be a center of peace, discovery, and cooperation for generations to come" @@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ "Communications": { "Telecommunication systems": { "general assessment": { - "text": "scientists with the United States Antarctic Program at McMurdo Station have now got their hands on a Starlink terminal of their own, where it is said to be improving connectivity as they carry out their research; this was made possible through laser links between the SpaceX satellites in orbit that eliminate the need for ground stations at the poles, and makes Antarctica the seventh and final continent to receive Starlink internet coverage (2022)" + "text": "general assessment: scientists with the United States Antarctic Program at McMurdo Station have a designated Starlink terminal, which has improved connectivity to carry out research; this was made possible through laser links between the SpaceX satellites in orbit that eliminate the need for ground stations at the poles, and makes Antarctica the seventh and final continent to receive Starlink internet coverage (2022)
(2022)" }, "domestic": { "text": "commercial cellular networks operating in a small number of locations (2019)" diff --git a/australia-oceania/cw.json b/australia-oceania/cw.json index 40db933d..66c12abf 100644 --- a/australia-oceania/cw.json +++ b/australia-oceania/cw.json @@ -111,14 +111,14 @@ } }, "Ethnic groups": { - "text": "Cook Island Maori (Polynesian) 81.3%, part Cook Island Maori 6.7%, other 11.9% (2011 est.)" + "text": "Cook Island Maori 77.4%, part Cook Island Maori 8.3%, Fijian 3.6%, New Zealand Maori/European 3.4%, Filipino 2.9%, other Pacific Islands 1.8%, other 2.6% (2021 est.)" }, "Languages": { "text": "English (official) 86.4%, Cook Islands Maori (Rarotongan) (official) 76.2%, other 8.3% (2011 est.)", "note": "note: shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census" }, "Religions": { - "text": "Protestant 62.8% (Cook Islands Christian Church 49.1%, Seventh Day Adventist 7.9%, Assemblies of God 3.7%, Apostolic Church 2.1%), Roman Catholic 17%, Church of Jesus Christ 4.4%, other 8%, none 5.6%, no response 2.2% (2011 est.)" + "text": "Protestant 55% (Cook Islands Christian Church 43.1%, Seventh Day Adventist 8.3%, Assemblies of God 3.6%), Roman Catholic 16.7%, Church of Jesus Christ 3.9%, Jehovah's Witness 2.2%, Apostolic Church 2.1%, other 4.5%, none/unspecified 15.6% (2021 est.)" }, "Age structure": { "0-14 years": { diff --git a/australia-oceania/ne.json b/australia-oceania/ne.json index 82aa9c4c..5cc3cb9f 100644 --- a/australia-oceania/ne.json +++ b/australia-oceania/ne.json @@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ }, "Executive branch": { "chief of state": { - "text": "King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022); represented by Governor-General of New Zealand Cindy KIRO (since 21 October 2021); the UK and New Zealand are represented by New Zealand High Commissioner Helen TUNNAH (since July 2020)" + "text": "King CHARLES III (since 8 September 2022); represented by Governor-General of New Zealand Cindy KIRO (since 21 October 2021); the UK and New Zealand are represented by New Zealand High Commissioner Mark GIBBS (since 5 March 2024)" }, "head of government": { "text": "Premier Dalton TAGELAGI (since 10 June 2020)" diff --git a/central-america-n-caribbean/cj.json b/central-america-n-caribbean/cj.json index 80c3c1d0..9d4c3ff3 100644 --- a/central-america-n-caribbean/cj.json +++ b/central-america-n-caribbean/cj.json @@ -115,7 +115,8 @@ "note": "note: data represent population by country of birth" }, "Languages": { - "text": "English (official) 88.8%, Spanish 3.9%, Filipino 3.8%, other 2.8%, unspecified 0.7% (2021 est.)" + "text": "English (official) 88.8%, Spanish 3.9%, Filipino 3.8%, other 2.8%, unspecified 0.7% (2021 est.)", + "note": "note: data represent main language spoken at home" }, "Religions": { "text": "Protestant 60.8% (includes Church of God 19.5%, Seventh Day Adventist 8.7%, non-denominational 8.3%, Baptist 6.9%, Pentecostal 6.8%, Presbyterian/United Church 5.7%, Anglican 2.8%, Wesleyan Holiness 1.5%, Methodist 0.5%), Roman Catholic 13.6%, Hindu 1.7%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, other 4.8%, none 16.7%, unspecified 1.4% (2021 est.)" diff --git a/central-america-n-caribbean/gj.json b/central-america-n-caribbean/gj.json index ddd4e527..65c538a0 100644 --- a/central-america-n-caribbean/gj.json +++ b/central-america-n-caribbean/gj.json @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ { "Introduction": { "Background": { - "text": "Carib Indians inhabited Grenada when Christopher COLUMBUS landed on the island in 1498, but it remained uncolonized for more than a century. The French settled Grenada in the 17th century, established sugar estates, and imported large numbers of African slaves. Britain took the island in 1762 and vigorously expanded sugar production. In the 19th century, cacao eventually surpassed sugar as the main export crop; in the 20th century, nutmeg became the leading export. In 1967, Britain gave Grenada autonomy over its internal affairs. Full independence was attained in 1974, making Grenada one of the smallest independent countries in the Western Hemisphere. In 1979, a leftist New Jewel Movement seized power under Maurice BISHOP, ushering in the Grenada Revolution. On 19 October 1983, factions within the revolutionary government overthrew and killed BISHOP and members of his party. Six days later, the island was invaded by US forces and those of six other Caribbean nations, which quickly captured the ringleaders and their hundreds of Cuban advisers. The rule of law was restored, and democratic elections were reinstituted the following year and have continued since then." + "text": "The indigenous Carib people inhabited Grenada when Christopher COLUMBUS landed on the island in 1498, but it remained uncolonized for more than a century. The French settled Grenada in the 17th century, established sugar estates, and imported large numbers of African slaves. Britain took the island in 1762 and vigorously expanded sugar production. In the 19th century, cacao eventually surpassed sugar as the main export crop; in the 20th century, nutmeg became the leading export. In 1967, Britain gave Grenada autonomy over its internal affairs. Full independence was attained in 1974, making Grenada one of the smallest independent countries in the Western Hemisphere. In 1979, a leftist New Jewel Movement seized power under Maurice BISHOP, ushering in the Grenada Revolution. On 19 October 1983, factions within the revolutionary government overthrew and killed BISHOP and members of his party. Six days later, US forces and those of six other Caribbean nations intervened, quickly capturing the ringleaders and their hundreds of Cuban advisers. Rule of law was restored, and democratic elections were reinstituted the following year and have continued since." } }, "Geography": { diff --git a/central-america-n-caribbean/ha.json b/central-america-n-caribbean/ha.json index bfa5b2f1..cbe9b93e 100644 --- a/central-america-n-caribbean/ha.json +++ b/central-america-n-caribbean/ha.json @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ { "Introduction": { "Background": { - "text": "The native Taino - who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when Christopher COLUMBUS first landed on it in 1492 - were virtually wiped out by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola. In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean but relied heavily on the forced labor of enslaved Africans and environmentally degrading practices. In the late 18th century, Toussaint L'OUVERTURE led a revolution of Haiti's nearly half a million slaves that ended France's rule on the island. After a prolonged struggle, and under the leadership of Jean-Jacques DESSALINES, Haiti became the first country in the world led by former slaves after declaring its independence in 1804, but it was forced to pay an indemnity of 100 million francs (equivalent to $22 billion USD in March 2023) to France for more than a century and was shunned by other countries for nearly 40 years. On 12 July 1862, the US officially recognized Haiti, but foreign economic influence and internal political instability induced the US to occupy Haiti from 1915-1934. Subsequently, Francois \"Papa Doc\" DUVALIER and then his son Jean-Claude \"Baby Doc\" DUVALIER led repressive and corrupt regimes that ruled Haiti in 1957-1971 and 1971-1986, respectively. President Jovenel MOISE was assassinated on 7 July 2021, leading the country further into an extra-constitutional governance structure and contributing to the country’s growing fragility. On 20 July 2021, the Government of Haiti installed Ariel HENRY - whom President MOISE had nominated shortly before his death - as prime minister.
On 29 February 2024, a significant escalation of gang violence occurred on the 20th anniversary of the overthrow of former President ARISTIDE and after the announcement that Prime Minister HENRY would not be holding elections until August 2025. After several days of fighting, armed gangs stormed the country’s two largest prisons in the capital and freed approximately 4,000 prisoners. Prime Minister HENRY’s return from an overseas trip was diverted to Puerto Rico when the airport closed due to gang violence. With control of much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, gang leaders called for the ouster of HENRY’S government. On 12 March 2024, Haiti’s continued violence, HENRY’S inability to return to the country, and increasing pressure from the international community led Prime Minister HENRY to pledge to resign effective when the new transitional presidential council appoints a new interim prime minister. Since January 2023, Haiti has had no sitting elected officials.
The country has long been plagued by natural disasters. In January 2010, a major 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti with an epicenter about 25 km (15 mi) west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Estimates are that over 300,000 people were killed and some 1.5 million left homeless. The earthquake was assessed as the worst in this region over the last 200 years. A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti’s southern peninsula in August 2021, causing well over 2,000 deaths; an estimated 500,000 required emergency humanitarian aid. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, as well as one of the most unequal in wealth distribution.
The native Taino - who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when Christopher COLUMBUS first landed on it in 1492 - were virtually wiped out by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola. In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean but relied heavily on the forced labor of enslaved Africans and environmentally degrading practices. In the late 18th century, Toussaint L'OUVERTURE led a revolution of Haiti's nearly half a million slaves that ended France's rule on the island. After a prolonged struggle, and under the leadership of Jean-Jacques DESSALINES, Haiti became the first country in the world led by former slaves after declaring its independence in 1804, but it was forced to pay an indemnity of 100 million francs (equivalent to $22 billion USD in March 2023) to France for more than a century and was shunned by other countries for nearly 40 years. On 12 July 1862, the US officially recognized Haiti, but foreign economic influence and internal political instability induced the US to occupy Haiti from 1915-1934. Subsequently, Francois \"Papa Doc\" DUVALIER and then his son Jean-Claude \"Baby Doc\" DUVALIER led repressive and corrupt regimes that ruled Haiti in 1957-1971 and 1971-1986, respectively. President Jovenel MOÏSE was assassinated on 7 July 2021, leading the country further into an extra-constitutional governance structure and contributing to the country’s growing fragility. On 20 July 2021, the Government of Haiti installed Ariel HENRY - whom President MOÏSE had nominated shortly before his death - as prime minister.
On 29 February 2024, a significant escalation of gang violence occurred on the 20th anniversary of the overthrow of former President ARISTIDE and after the announcement that Prime Minister HENRY would not be holding elections until August 2025. After several days of fighting, armed gangs stormed the country’s two largest prisons in the capital and freed approximately 4,000 prisoners. Prime Minister HENRY’s return from an overseas trip was diverted to Puerto Rico when the airport closed due to gang violence. With control of much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, gang leaders called for the ouster of HENRY’S government. On 12 March 2024, Haiti’s continued violence, HENRY’S inability to return to the country, and increasing pressure from the international community led Prime Minister HENRY to pledge to resign effective when the new transitional presidential council appoints a new interim prime minister. Since January 2023, Haiti has had no sitting elected officials.
The country has long been plagued by natural disasters. In January 2010, a major 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti with an epicenter about 25 km (15 mi) west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Estimates are that over 300,000 people were killed and some 1.5 million left homeless. The earthquake was assessed as the worst in this region over the last 200 years. A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti’s southern peninsula in August 2021, causing well over 2,000 deaths; an estimated 500,000 required emergency humanitarian aid. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, as well as one of the most unequal in wealth distribution.
a source country for cannabis and an active transshipment point for Albanian narco-trafficking organizations moving illicit drugs into European markets
" diff --git a/europe/au.json b/europe/au.json index 8a77a927..5774cff8 100644 --- a/europe/au.json +++ b/europe/au.json @@ -1235,7 +1235,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "68,700 (Syria), 43,725 (Afghanistan), 10,110 (Iraq), 8,684 (Somalia), 7,294 (Iran), 6,124 (Russia) (mid-year 2022); 84,135 (Ukraine) (as of 31 January 2024)" + "text": "68,700 (Syria), 43,725 (Afghanistan), 10,110 (Iraq), 8,684 (Somalia), 7,294 (Iran), 6,124 (Russia) (mid-year 2022); 84,135 (Ukraine) (as of 11 March 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "3,219 (2022)" diff --git a/europe/be.json b/europe/be.json index 22051849..519afe73 100644 --- a/europe/be.json +++ b/europe/be.json @@ -1201,10 +1201,10 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "1.13% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "1.2% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "1.2% of GDP (2022 est.)" + "text": "1.2% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "1.1% of GDP (2021)" @@ -1255,7 +1255,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "20,086 (Syria), 7,049 (Afghanistan), 5,769 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022); 75,055 (Ukraine) (as of 31 January 2024)" + "text": "20,086 (Syria), 7,049 (Afghanistan), 5,769 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022); 75,030 (Ukraine) (as of 29 February 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "1,190 (2022)" diff --git a/europe/bk.json b/europe/bk.json index b7f0fad5..4d055a2d 100644 --- a/europe/bk.json +++ b/europe/bk.json @@ -526,16 +526,16 @@ }, "Executive branch": { "chief of state": { - "text": "Chairman of the Presidency Zeljko KOMSIC (chairman since 16 July 2023; presidency member since 20 November 2018 - Croat seat); Zeljka CVIJANOVIC (presidency member since 16 November 2022 - Serb seat); Denis BECIROVIC (presidency member since 16 November 2022 - Bosniak seat)" + "text": "Chairperson of the Presidency Denis BECIROVIC (chairperson since 16 March 2024; presidency member since 16 November 2022 - Bosniak seat); Zeljka CVIJANOVIC (presidency member since 16 November 2022 - Serb seat); Zeljko KOMSIC (presidency member since 20 November 2018 - Croat seat)" }, "head of government": { - "text": "Chairman of the Council of Ministers Borjana KRISTO (since 25 January 2023)" + "text": "Chairperson of the Council of Ministers Borjana KRISTO (since 25 January 2023)" }, "cabinet": { - "text": "Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairman, approved by the state-level House of Representatives" + "text": "Council of Ministers nominated by the council chairperson, approved by the state-level House of Representatives" }, "elections/appointments": { - "text": "3-member presidency (1 Bosniak and 1 Croat elected from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 1 Serb elected from the Republika Srpska) directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term but then ineligible for 4 years); the presidency chairpersonship rotates every 8 months with the new member of the presidency elected with the highest number of votes starting the new mandate as chair; election last held on 2 October 2022 (next to be held in October 2026); the chairman of the Council of Ministers appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the state-level House of Representatives" + "text": "3-member presidency (1 Bosniak and 1 Croat elected from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 1 Serb elected from the Republika Srpska) directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a 4-year term (eligible for a second term but then ineligible for 4 years); the presidency chairpersonship rotates every 8 months with the new member of the presidency elected with the highest number of votes starting the new mandate as chair; election last held on 2 October 2022 (next to be held in October 2026); the chairperson of the Council of Ministers appointed by the presidency and confirmed by the state-level House of Representatives" }, "election results": { "text": "drug trafficking groups are major players in the procurement and transportation of large quantities of cocaine destined for European markets
" diff --git a/europe/bu.json b/europe/bu.json index 5299a740..eb5a6186 100644 --- a/europe/bu.json +++ b/europe/bu.json @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ { "Introduction": { "Background": { - "text": "The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878, and all of Bulgaria became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. The country joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007." + "text": "The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century, the Ottoman Turks overran the country. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878, and all of Bulgaria became independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. The country joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007." } }, "Geography": { @@ -1207,7 +1207,7 @@ "text": "1.9% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "1.7% of GDP (2022)" + "text": "1.6% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "1.6% of GDP (2021)" @@ -1252,12 +1252,12 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "22,226 (Syria) (mid-year 2022); 67,770 (Ukraine) (as of 14 February 2024)" + "text": "22,226 (Syria) (mid-year 2022); 72,775 (Ukraine) (as of 8 March 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "1,129 (2022)" }, - "note": "note: 100,671 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-August 2023); Bulgaria is predominantly a transit country" + "note": "note: 106,227 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-January 2024); Bulgaria is predominantly a transit country" }, "Trafficking in persons": { "tier rating": { diff --git a/europe/cy.json b/europe/cy.json index 42754738..e2cd9c19 100644 --- a/europe/cy.json +++ b/europe/cy.json @@ -1212,7 +1212,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "10,869 (Syria) (mid-year 2022); 17,270 (Ukraine) (as of 14 January 2024)" + "text": "10,869 (Syria) (mid-year 2022); 17,270 (Ukraine) (as of 11 February 2024)" }, "IDPs": { "text": "246,000 (both Turkish and Greek Cypriots; many displaced since 1974) (2022)" diff --git a/europe/da.json b/europe/da.json index 3bde93ac..189c0e5e 100644 --- a/europe/da.json +++ b/europe/da.json @@ -1181,13 +1181,13 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "1.7% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "2% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "1.4% of GDP (2022 est.)" + "text": "1.4% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { - "text": "1.4% of GDP (2021)" + "text": "1.3% of GDP (2021)" }, "Military Expenditures 2020": { "text": "1.4% of GDP (2020)" @@ -1204,7 +1204,7 @@ }, "Military service age and obligation": { "text": "18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscripts serve an initial training period that varies from 4 to 12 months depending on specialization; former conscripts are assigned to mobilization units; women eligible to volunteer for military service; in addition to full time employment, the Danish military offers reserve contracts in all three branches (2023)", - "note": "note 1: women have been able serve in all military occupations, including combat arms, since 1988; as of 2022, they made up about 9% of the military's full-time personnel; conscientious objectors can choose to instead serve 6 months in a non-military position, for example in Beredskabsstyrelsen (dealing with non-military disasters like fires, flood, pollution, etc.) or overseas foreign aid workimportant gateway for drug trafficking; organized crime groups allied with Colombian and Spanish groups trafficking cocaine to Europe
" diff --git a/europe/lg.json b/europe/lg.json index a25abff1..4b1ff851 100644 --- a/europe/lg.json +++ b/europe/lg.json @@ -1163,10 +1163,10 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "2.3% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "2.4% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "2.1% of GDP (2022 est.)" + "text": "2.1% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "2.1% of GDP (2021)" @@ -1201,7 +1201,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "43,825 (Ukraine) (as of 31 December 2023)" + "text": "47,615 (Ukraine) (as of 6 March 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "195,354 (2022); note - individuals who were Latvian citizens prior to the 1940 Soviet occupation and their descendants were recognized as Latvian citizens when the country's independence was restored in 1991; citizens of the former Soviet Union residing in Latvia who have neither Latvian nor other citizenship are considered non-citizens (officially there is no statelessness in Latvia) and are entitled to non-citizen passports; children born after Latvian independence to stateless parents are entitled to Latvian citizenship upon their parents' request; non-citizens cannot vote or hold certain government jobs and are exempt from military service but can travel visa-free in the EU under the Schengen accord like Latvian citizens; non-citizens can obtain naturalization if they have been permanent residents of Latvia for at least five years, pass tests in Latvian language and history, and know the words of the Latvian national anthem" diff --git a/europe/lh.json b/europe/lh.json index 44c61a53..4504203a 100644 --- a/europe/lh.json +++ b/europe/lh.json @@ -1196,10 +1196,10 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "2.5% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "2.8% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "2.5% of GDP (2022 est.)" + "text": "2.5% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "2% of GDP (2021)" @@ -1243,7 +1243,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "52,670 (Ukraine) (as of 31 January 2024)" + "text": "41,490 (Ukraine) (as of 11 March 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "2,720 (2022)" diff --git a/europe/lo.json b/europe/lo.json index e667b255..7c541828 100644 --- a/europe/lo.json +++ b/europe/lo.json @@ -1170,10 +1170,10 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "2% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "2.1% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "1.8% of GDP (2022 est.)" + "text": "1.8% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "1.7% of GDP (2021)" @@ -1218,7 +1218,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "115,875 (Ukraine) (as of 4 February 2024)" + "text": "117,265 (Ukraine) (as of 3 March 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "2,940 (2022)" diff --git a/europe/lu.json b/europe/lu.json index e5cb1668..745113e6 100644 --- a/europe/lu.json +++ b/europe/lu.json @@ -1139,10 +1139,10 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "0.7% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "1% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "0.6% of GDP (2022 est.)" + "text": "0.6% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "0.5% of GDP (2021)" diff --git a/europe/md.json b/europe/md.json index bd21bc7a..bbaf6754 100644 --- a/europe/md.json +++ b/europe/md.json @@ -1178,7 +1178,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "116,195 (Ukraine) (as of 18 February 2024)" + "text": "116,855 (Ukraine) (as of 10 March 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "1,701 (2022)" diff --git a/europe/mk.json b/europe/mk.json index 314f3352..bfb15d17 100644 --- a/europe/mk.json +++ b/europe/mk.json @@ -1117,7 +1117,7 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "1.9% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "1.7% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { "text": "1.6% of GDP (2022 est.)" @@ -1158,12 +1158,12 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "18,915 (Ukraine) (as of 28 January 2024)" + "text": "18,915 (Ukraine) (as of 22 February 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "521 (2022)" }, - "note": "note: 562,235 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-October 2023)" + "note": "note: 577,980 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-February 2024)" }, "Illicit drugs": { "text": "major transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and hashish; minor transit point for South American cocaine destined for Europe; although not a financial center and most criminal activity is thought to be domestic, money laundering is a problem due to a mostly cash-based economy and weak enforcement" diff --git a/europe/nl.json b/europe/nl.json index b3335500..64e6ce83 100644 --- a/europe/nl.json +++ b/europe/nl.json @@ -1206,10 +1206,10 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "1.7% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "1.6% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "1.6% of GDP (2022 est.)" + "text": "1.5% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "1.4% of GDP (2021)" @@ -1261,7 +1261,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "53,496 (Syria), 19,204 (Eritrea), 7,106 (Turkey), 5,593 (Iran), 5,152 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022); 149,015 (Ukraine) (as of 31 January 2024)" + "text": "53,496 (Syria), 19,204 (Eritrea), 7,106 (Turkey), 5,593 (Iran), 5,152 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022); 117,950 (Ukraine) (as of 21 February 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "4,570 (2022)" diff --git a/europe/no.json b/europe/no.json index 74c56099..a3c2346a 100644 --- a/europe/no.json +++ b/europe/no.json @@ -1172,7 +1172,7 @@ "text": "1.8% of GDP (2024 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "1.7% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "1.8% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { "text": "1.5% of GDP (2022)" @@ -1221,7 +1221,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "15,901 (Syria), 10,883 (Eritrea) (mid-year 2022); 68,060 (Ukraine) (as of 2 February 2024)" + "text": "15,901 (Syria), 10,883 (Eritrea) (mid-year 2022); 70,085 (Ukraine) (as of 8 March 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "3,901 (2022)" diff --git a/europe/po.json b/europe/po.json index dc9e4b3e..f5f6996b 100644 --- a/europe/po.json +++ b/europe/po.json @@ -540,7 +540,7 @@ "text": "President Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA (since 9 March 2016)" }, "head of government": { - "text": "Prime Minister Antonio Luis Santos da COSTA (since 24 November 2015); note - da COSTA resigned on 7 November 2023 but remains in caretaker status until new elections are held on 10 March 2024" + "text": "Prime Minister Antonio Luis Santos da COSTA (since 24 November 2015); note - da COSTA resigned on 7 November 2023 but remains in caretaker status until new prime minister is selected following the elections held on 10 March 2024" }, "cabinet": { "text": "Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister" @@ -1231,7 +1231,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "59,350 (Ukraine) (as of 31 December 2023)" + "text": "59,920 (Ukraine) (as of 31 January 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "55 (2022)" diff --git a/europe/ri.json b/europe/ri.json index 582bd8b8..5f0aed0e 100644 --- a/europe/ri.json +++ b/europe/ri.json @@ -1225,7 +1225,7 @@ "stateless persons": { "text": "2,594 (includes stateless persons in Kosovo) (2022)" }, - "note": "note: 1,043,607 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-February 2024)" + "note": "note: 1,044,722 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-March 2024)" }, "Trafficking in persons": { "tier rating": { diff --git a/europe/ro.json b/europe/ro.json index 52ed65d7..bf403da5 100644 --- a/europe/ro.json +++ b/europe/ro.json @@ -1206,10 +1206,10 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "2.4% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "1.6% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "1.7% of GDP (2022 est.)" + "text": "1.7% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "1.9% of GDP (2021)" @@ -1258,12 +1258,12 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "78,745 (Ukraine) (as of 19 February 2024)" + "text": "77,250 (Ukraine) (as of 10 March 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "297 (2022)" }, - "note": "note: 16,027 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-February 2024)" + "note": "note: 16,085 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-March 2024)" }, "Illicit drugs": { "text": "a source country for cannabis
" diff --git a/europe/si.json b/europe/si.json index 4e27a888..b45bb392 100644 --- a/europe/si.json +++ b/europe/si.json @@ -1180,7 +1180,7 @@ "text": "1.3% of GDP (2024 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "1.4% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "1.3% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { "text": "1.3% of GDP (2022)" @@ -1216,7 +1216,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "10,865 (Ukraine) (as of 2 February 2024)" + "text": "11,035 (Ukraine) (as of 1 March 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "10 (2020)" diff --git a/europe/sp.json b/europe/sp.json index 68406a04..f12190d5 100644 --- a/europe/sp.json +++ b/europe/sp.json @@ -1210,10 +1210,10 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "1.3% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "1.2% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "1.1% of GDP (2022 est.)" + "text": "1.2% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "1% of GDP (2021)" @@ -1268,12 +1268,12 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "14,994 (Syria) (mid-year 2022); 438,400 (Venezuela) (economic and political crisis; includes Venezuelans who have claimed asylum, are recognized as refugees, or have received alternative legal stay) (2022); 192,405 (Ukraine) (as of 31 January 2024)" + "text": "14,994 (Syria) (mid-year 2022); 438,400 (Venezuela) (economic and political crisis; includes Venezuelans who have claimed asylum, are recognized as refugees, or have received alternative legal stay) (2022); 192,390 (Ukraine) (as of 29 February 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "6,489 (2022)" }, - "note": "note: 349,417 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals, including Canary Islands (January 2015-February 2024)" + "note": "note: 349,931 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals, including Canary Islands (January 2015-March 2024)" }, "Illicit drugs": { "text": "a European transit point for cocaine from South America and for hashish from Morocco; cocaine is shipped in raw or liquid form with mixed cargo to avoid detection or altered to escape detection after which chemists within Spain extract and reconstitute any altered form of cocaine, preparing it for distribution within Europe; minor domestic drug production; occasionally synthetic drugs, including ketamine, new psychoactive substances (NPS), and MDMA transit through Spain to the United States
" diff --git a/europe/sw.json b/europe/sw.json index aa6697c4..dd16055d 100644 --- a/europe/sw.json +++ b/europe/sw.json @@ -1253,7 +1253,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "113,213 (Syria), 26,857 (Afghanistan), 25,849 (Eritrea), 10,464 (Iraq), 9,315 (Somalia), 7,146 (Iran) (mid-year 2022); 42,040 (Ukraine) (as of 25 January 2024)" + "text": "113,213 (Syria), 26,857 (Afghanistan), 25,849 (Eritrea), 10,464 (Iraq), 9,315 (Somalia), 7,146 (Iran) (mid-year 2022); 43,710 (Ukraine) (as of 28 February 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "46,515 (2022); note - the majority of stateless people are from the Middle East and Somalia" diff --git a/europe/sz.json b/europe/sz.json index 394c5fa5..a2f530b6 100644 --- a/europe/sz.json +++ b/europe/sz.json @@ -1248,7 +1248,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "14,726 (Eritrea), 11,441 (Afghanistan), 8,039 (Syria), (mid-year 2022); 66,025 (Ukraine) (as of 6 February 2024)" + "text": "14,726 (Eritrea), 11,441 (Afghanistan), 8,039 (Syria), (mid-year 2022); 65,615 (Ukraine) (as of 5 March 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "891 (2022)" diff --git a/europe/uk.json b/europe/uk.json index 9f765d76..6d48ceef 100644 --- a/europe/uk.json +++ b/europe/uk.json @@ -1208,10 +1208,10 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "2.1% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "2.3% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "2.2% of GDP (2022 est.)" + "text": "2.3% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "2.3% of GDP (2021)" @@ -1266,7 +1266,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "21,904 (Iran), 15,615 (Eritrea), 11,371 (Sudan), 12,155 (Syria), 10,259 (Afghanistan), 8,009 (Pakistan), 7,699 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022); 253,160 (Ukraine) (as of 6 February 2024)" + "text": "21,904 (Iran), 15,615 (Eritrea), 11,371 (Sudan), 12,155 (Syria), 10,259 (Afghanistan), 8,009 (Pakistan), 7,699 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022); 255,060 (Ukraine) (as of 12 March 2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "5,483 (2022)" diff --git a/europe/up.json b/europe/up.json index 066d56c1..942011f7 100644 --- a/europe/up.json +++ b/europe/up.json @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ { "Introduction": { "Background": { - "text": "Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine achieved a short-lived period of independence (1917-20) but was reconquered and endured a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two forced famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although Ukraine overwhelmingly voted for independence in 1991 around the time of the dissolution of the USSR, democracy and prosperity remained elusive as the legacy of state control, patronage politics, and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties.
A peaceful mass protest referred to as the \"Orange Revolution\" in the closing months of 2004 and early 2005 forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO. Subsequent internal squabbles in the YUSHCHENKO camp allowed his rival Viktor YANUKOVYCH to stage a comeback in legislative (Rada) elections, become prime minister in August 2006, and be elected president in February 2010. In October 2012, Ukraine held Rada elections, widely criticized by Western observers as flawed due to use of government resources to favor ruling party candidates, interference with media access, and harassment of opposition candidates. President YANUKOVYCH's backtracking on a trade and cooperation agreement with the EU in November 2013 - in favor of closer economic ties with Russia - and subsequent use of force against students, civil society activists, and other civilians in favor of the agreement and fed up with blatant corruption led to a three-month protest occupation of Kyiv's central square. The government's use of violence to break up the protest camp in February 2014 led to all out pitched battles, scores of deaths, international condemnation, a failed political deal, and the president's abrupt departure for Russia. New elections in the spring allowed pro-West president Petro POROSHENKO to assume office in June 2014; he was succeeded by Volodymyr ZELENSKY in May 2019.
Shortly after YANUKOVYCH's departure in late February 2014, Russian President PUTIN ordered the invasion of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula falsely claiming the action was to protect ethnic Russians living there. Two weeks later, a \"referendum\" was held regarding the integration of Crimea into the Russian Federation. The \"referendum\" was condemned as illegitimate by the Ukrainian Government, the EU, the US, and the UN General Assembly (UNGA). In response to Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea, 100 members of the UN passed UNGA resolution 68/262, rejecting the \"referendum\" as baseless and invalid and confirming the sovereignty, political independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine. In mid-2014, Russia began supplying proxies in two of Ukraine's eastern provinces with manpower, funding, and materiel beginning an armed conflict with the Ukrainian Government. Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the unrecognized Russian proxy republics signed the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum in September 2014 with the aim of ending the conflict. However, this agreement failed to stop the fighting or find a political solution. In a renewed attempt to alleviate ongoing clashes, leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany negotiated a follow-on Package of Measures in February 2015 to implement the Minsk agreements, but this effort failed as well. By early 2022, more than 14,000 civilians were killed or wounded as a result of the Russian intervention in eastern Ukraine.
On 24 February 2022, Russia escalated its conflict with Ukraine by launching a full-scale invasion of the country on several fronts in what has become the largest conventional military attack on a sovereign state in Europe since World War II. The invasion has received near universal international condemnation, and many countries have imposed sanctions on Russia and supplied humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. Russia made substantial gains in the early weeks of the invasion but underestimated Ukrainian resolve and combat capabilities. By the end of 2022, Ukrainian forces had regained all territories in the north and northeast and made some advances in the east and south. Nonetheless, Russia in late September 2022 unilaterally declared its annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts - Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia - even though none was fully under Russian control. The annexations remain unrecognized by the international community.
The invasion has also created Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. As of 15 February 2024, there were 6.5 million Ukrainian refugees recorded globally, and 3.67 million people were internally displaced as of September 2023. Nearly 29,600 civilian casualties had been reported, as of January 2024. The invasion of Ukraine remains one of the two largest displacement crises worldwide (the other is the conflict in Syria).
The Ukrainian people continue to fiercely resist Russia’s full-scale invasion, which has targeted civilian and critical infrastructure - including energy - to try to break the Ukrainian will. President ZELENSKYY has focused on the civic identity of Ukrainians, regardless of ethnic or linguistic background, to unite the country behind the goals of ending the war by regaining as much territory as possible and advancing Ukraine’s candidacy for membership in the European Union (EU). Support for joining the EU and NATO has grown significantly, overcoming the historical, and sometimes artificial, divide between eastern and western Ukraine.
Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which during the 10th and 11th centuries was the largest and most powerful state in Europe. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism through subsequent centuries. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, most Ukrainian ethnographic territory was absorbed by the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of czarist Russia in 1917, Ukraine achieved a short-lived period of independence (1917-20) but was reconquered and endured a brutal Soviet rule that engineered two forced famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over 8 million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for 7 to 8 million more deaths. Although Ukraine overwhelmingly voted for independence in 1991 around the time of the dissolution of the USSR, democracy and prosperity remained elusive as the legacy of state control, patronage politics, and endemic corruption stalled efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties.
A peaceful mass protest referred to as the \"Orange Revolution\" in the closing months of 2004 and early 2005 forced the authorities to overturn a rigged presidential election and to allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO. Subsequent internal squabbles in the YUSHCHENKO camp allowed his rival Viktor YANUKOVYCH to stage a comeback in legislative (Rada) elections, become prime minister in August 2006, and be elected president in February 2010. In October 2012, Ukraine held Rada elections, widely criticized by Western observers as flawed due to use of government resources to favor ruling party candidates, interference with media access, and harassment of opposition candidates. President YANUKOVYCH's backtracking on a trade and cooperation agreement with the EU in November 2013 - in favor of closer economic ties with Russia - and subsequent use of force against students, civil society activists, and other civilians in favor of the agreement and fed up with blatant corruption led to a three-month protest occupation of Kyiv's central square. The government's use of violence to break up the protest camp in February 2014 led to all out pitched battles, scores of deaths, international condemnation, a failed political deal, and the president's abrupt departure for Russia. New elections in the spring allowed pro-West president Petro POROSHENKO to assume office in June 2014; he was succeeded by Volodymyr ZELENSKY in May 2019.
Shortly after YANUKOVYCH's departure in late February 2014, Russian President PUTIN ordered the invasion of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula falsely claiming the action was to protect ethnic Russians living there. Two weeks later, a \"referendum\" was held regarding the integration of Crimea into the Russian Federation. The \"referendum\" was condemned as illegitimate by the Ukrainian Government, the EU, the US, and the UN General Assembly (UNGA). In response to Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea, 100 members of the UN passed UNGA resolution 68/262, rejecting the \"referendum\" as baseless and invalid and confirming the sovereignty, political independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine. In mid-2014, Russia began supplying proxies in two of Ukraine's eastern provinces with manpower, funding, and materiel beginning an armed conflict with the Ukrainian Government. Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the unrecognized Russian proxy republics signed the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum in September 2014 with the aim of ending the conflict. However, this agreement failed to stop the fighting or find a political solution. In a renewed attempt to alleviate ongoing clashes, leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany negotiated a follow-on Package of Measures in February 2015 to implement the Minsk agreements, but this effort failed as well. By early 2022, more than 14,000 civilians were killed or wounded as a result of the Russian intervention in eastern Ukraine.
On 24 February 2022, Russia escalated its conflict with Ukraine by launching a full-scale invasion of the country on several fronts in what has become the largest conventional military attack on a sovereign state in Europe since World War II. The invasion has received near universal international condemnation, and many countries have imposed sanctions on Russia and supplied humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. Russia made substantial gains in the early weeks of the invasion but underestimated Ukrainian resolve and combat capabilities. By the end of 2022, Ukrainian forces had regained all territories in the north and northeast and made some advances in the east and south. Nonetheless, Russia in late September 2022 unilaterally declared its annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts - Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia - even though none was fully under Russian control. The annexations remain unrecognized by the international community.
The invasion has also created Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. As of 14 March 2024, there were 6.5 million Ukrainian refugees recorded globally, and 3.69 million people were internally displaced as of December 2023. Nearly 30,460 civilian casualties had been reported, as of January 2024. The invasion of Ukraine remains one of the two largest displacement crises worldwide (the other is the conflict in Syria).
The Ukrainian people continue to fiercely resist Russia’s full-scale invasion, which has targeted civilian and critical infrastructure - including energy - to try to break the Ukrainian will. President ZELENSKYY has focused on the civic identity of Ukrainians, regardless of ethnic or linguistic background, to unite the country behind the goals of ending the war by regaining as much territory as possible and advancing Ukraine’s candidacy for membership in the European Union (EU). Support for joining the EU and NATO has grown significantly, overcoming the historical, and sometimes artificial, divide between eastern and western Ukraine.
Analyzing population trends in Georgia since independence in 1991 has proven difficult due to a lack of reliable demographic statistics. Censuses were fairly accurately and regularly updated through a vital statistics system during Georgia’s period of Soviet rule, but from independence until about 2010, the system broke down as a result of institutional and economic change, social unrest, and large-scale outmigration. The 2002 census is believed to have significantly overestimated the size of Georgia’s population, in part because respondents continued to include relatives living abroad as part of their household count. The 2014 census indicates that Georgia’s population is decreasing and aging. Census data shows that the median age increased from 34.5 years in 2002 to 37.7 years in 2014. The working-age population (ages 15-65 years) was fairly high in 2002 and rose between 2005 and 2011. Nonetheless, Georgia did not reap economic benefits from this age structure, since the working-age population increase seems to have stimulated labor outmigration to Russia, Ukraine, and other neighboring countries.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Georgia has seen its economy grow to its highest level in years due to the influx of Russian businesses, information and communications technology specialists, and money transfers. This growth may only be temporary and conditions could still easily change depending on future events. Meanwhile, the Russian inflow is also a source of concern, as some Georgians fear it could prompt Putin to target their country next. In addition, Ukrainian refugees use Georgia not just as a transit country but also as a destination. Some 25,000 Ukrainians remain in the country as of November 2022; they pose an additional strain on resources in Georgia, which has a significant population of its own displaced citizens – from the 2008 Russian occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia – who continue to need government support.
" diff --git a/middle-east/is.json b/middle-east/is.json index 5130a92b..035c5389 100644 --- a/middle-east/is.json +++ b/middle-east/is.json @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ { "Introduction": { "Background": { - "text": "Israel has become a regional economic and military powerhouse, leveraging its prosperous high-tech sector, large defense industry, and concerns about Iran to foster partnerships around the world. The State of Israel was established in 1948. The UN General Assembly had proposed in 1947 to partition the British Mandate for Palestine into an Arab and Jewish state. The Jews accepted the proposal, but the local Arabs and the Arab states rejected the UN plan and launched a war. The Arabs were subsequently defeated militarily in the 1947-1949 war that followed the UN proposal and the withdrawal of the British on 14 May 1948. Israel was admitted as a member of the UN in 1949 and saw rapid population growth, primarily due to migration by Jewish refugees from Europe and the Middle East, over the following years. Israel and its Arab neighbors fought wars in 1956, 1967 and 1973, and Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. Israel took control of the West Bank, the eastern part of Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights in the course of the 1967 war. It ceded the Sinai back to Egypt in the 1979-1982 period but has continued to administer the other territories since then, and subsequently administered those territories through military authorities. Israel and Palestinian officials signed interim agreements in the 1990s that created an interim period of Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank and Gaza. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. While the most recent formal efforts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to negotiate final status issues occurred in 2013 and 2014, the US continues its efforts to advance peace. Israel signed the US-brokered normalization agreements (the Abraham Accords) with Bahrain, the UAE, and Morocco in 2020 and reached an agreement with Sudan in 2021. Immigration to Israel continues, with more than 44,000 estimated new immigrants, mostly Jewish, in the first 11 months of 2023.Following World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations awarded Britain the mandate to govern much of the Middle East. Britain demarcated a semi-autonomous region of Transjordan from Palestine in 1921 and recognized ABDALLAH I from the Hashemite family as the country's first leader. The Hashemites also controlled the Hijaz, or the western coastal area of modern-day Saudi Arabia until 1925, when they were pushed out by IBN SAUD and Wahhabi tribes. The country gained its independence in 1946 and thereafter became the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The country has had four kings. Jordan's long-time ruler, King HUSSEIN (r. 1953-99), successfully navigated competing pressures from the major powers (US, USSR, and UK), various Arab states, Israel, and Palestinian militants, the latter of which led to a brief civil war in 1970 referred to as \"Black September\" and ended in King HUSSEIN's ouster of the militants from Jordan." + "text": "
Following World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the League of Nations awarded Britain the mandate to govern much of the Middle East. Britain demarcated a semi-autonomous region of Transjordan from Palestine in 1921 and recognized ABDALLAH I from the Hashemite family as the country's first leader. The Hashemites also controlled the Hijaz, or the western coastal area of modern-day Saudi Arabia until 1925, when they were pushed out by IBN SAUD and Wahhabi tribes. The country gained its independence in 1946 and thereafter became the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The country has had four kings. Jordan's long-time ruler, King HUSSEIN (r. 1953-99), successfully navigated competing pressures from the major powers (US, USSR, and UK), various Arab states, Israel, and Palestinian militants, the latter of which led to a brief civil war in 1970 referred to as \"Black September\" and ended in King HUSSEIN's ouster of the militants from Jordan." } }, "Geography": { @@ -1229,7 +1229,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "2.4 million (Palestinian refugees) (2020); 12,866 (Yemen), 6,013 Sudan (2021); 33,951 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022) (2022); 643,199 (Syria) (2024)" + "text": "2.4 million (Palestinian refugees) (2020); 12,866 (Yemen), 6,013 Sudan (2021); 33,951 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022) (2022); 639,552 (Syria) (2024)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "64 (2022)" diff --git a/middle-east/qa.json b/middle-east/qa.json index 753812b8..3800c14f 100644 --- a/middle-east/qa.json +++ b/middle-east/qa.json @@ -530,7 +530,7 @@ "text": "Amir TAMIM bin Hamad Al Thani (since 25 June 2013)" }, "head of government": { - "text": "Prime Minister and Foreign Minister MUHAMMAD bin Abd al-Rahman Al Thani (since 7 March 2023); Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs KHALID bin Mohamed AL Attiyah (since 14 November 2017)" + "text": "Prime Minister and Foreign Minister MUHAMMAD bin Abd al-Rahman Al Thani (since 7 March 2023); Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs KHALID bin Muhammad al-Attiyah (since 14 November 2017)" }, "cabinet": { "text": "Council of Ministers appointed by the amir" @@ -569,7 +569,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation in the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador Meshal Bin Hamad AL THANI (since 24 April 2017)" + "text": "
Ambassador MISHAL bin Hamad bin Muhammad Al Thani (since 24 April 2017)
" }, "chancery": { "text": "2555 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20037" diff --git a/middle-east/sy.json b/middle-east/sy.json index 2c5959e7..f82a1090 100644 --- a/middle-east/sy.json +++ b/middle-east/sy.json @@ -1159,7 +1159,7 @@ "stateless persons": { "text": "160,000 (2022); note - Syria's stateless population consists of Kurds and Palestinians; stateless persons are prevented from voting, owning land, holding certain jobs, receiving food subsidies or public healthcare, enrolling in public schools, or being legally married to Syrian citizens; in 1962, some 120,000 Syrian Kurds were stripped of their Syrian citizenship, rendering them and their descendants stateless; in 2011, the Syrian Government granted citizenship to thousands of Syrian Kurds as a means of appeasement; however, resolving the question of statelessness is not a priority given Syria's ongoing civil war" }, - "note": "note: the ongoing civil war has resulted in nearl 5.1 million registered Syrian refugees - dispersed mainly in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey - as of February 2024" + "note": "note: the ongoing civil war has resulted in more than 5 million registered Syrian refugees - dispersed mainly in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey - as of March 2024" }, "Trafficking in persons": { "tier rating": { diff --git a/middle-east/tu.json b/middle-east/tu.json index 9030ce65..b4849550 100644 --- a/middle-east/tu.json +++ b/middle-east/tu.json @@ -1232,10 +1232,10 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "1.3% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "1.6% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "1.4% of GDP (2022 est.)" + "text": "1.4% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "1.6% of GDP (2021)" @@ -1251,7 +1251,7 @@ "text": "approximately 450,000 active-duty personnel (350,000 Army; 50,000 Navy; 50,000 Air Force); approximately 150,000 Gendarmerie (2023)" }, "Military equipment inventories and acquisitions": { - "text": "the military's inventory is mostly comprised of a mix of domestically produced and Western weapons systems, although in recent years, Turkey has also acquired some Chinese, Russian, and South Korean equipment; over the past decade, Italy, Spain, and the US have been among the leading providers of armaments to Turkey; Turkey has a robust defense industry capable of producing a range of weapons systems for both export and internal use, including armored vehicles, naval vessels, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), although it is heavily dependent on Western technology; Turkey's defense industry also partners with other countries for defense production (2023)" + "text": "the military's inventory is mostly comprised of a mix of domestically produced and Western weapons systems, although in recent years, Turkey has also acquired some Chinese, Russian, and South Korean equipment; over the past decade, Italy, Spain, and the US have been among the leading providers of armaments to Turkey; Turkey has a robust defense industry capable of producing a range of weapons systems for both export and internal use, including armored vehicles, naval vessels, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); Turkey's defense industry also partners with other countries for defense production (2023)" }, "Military service age and obligation": { "text": "mandatory military service for men at age 20; service can be delayed if in university or in certain professions (researchers, professionals, and athletic, or those with artistic talents have the right to postpone military service until the age of 35); 6-12 months service; women may volunteer (2023)", @@ -1289,7 +1289,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "10,244 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022); 41,665 (Ukraine) (as of 15 February 2024) (2023); 3,159,174 (Syria) (2024)" + "text": "10,244 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022); 41,665 (Ukraine) (as of 15 February 2024) (2023); 3,143,365 (Syria) (2024)" }, "IDPs": { "text": "1.099 million (displaced from 1984-2005 because of fighting between the Kurdish PKK and Turkish military; most IDPs are Kurds from eastern and southeastern provinces; no information available on persons displaced by development projects) (2022)" diff --git a/north-america/ca.json b/north-america/ca.json index 156ad697..667e056c 100644 --- a/north-america/ca.json +++ b/north-america/ca.json @@ -1246,10 +1246,10 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "1.4% of GDP (2023)" + "text": "1.3% of GDP (2023)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "1.2% of GDP (2022 est.)" + "text": "1.2% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "1.3% of GDP (2021)" diff --git a/north-america/us.json b/north-america/us.json index e3d2052c..3b933eb2 100644 --- a/north-america/us.json +++ b/north-america/us.json @@ -1219,10 +1219,10 @@ }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2023": { - "text": "3.5% of GDP (2023 est.)" + "text": "3.2% of GDP (2023 est.)" }, "Military Expenditures 2022": { - "text": "3.5% of GDP (2022 est.)" + "text": "3.3% of GDP (2022)" }, "Military Expenditures 2021": { "text": "3.5% of GDP (2021)" @@ -1272,7 +1272,7 @@ }, "Transnational Issues": { "Disputes - international": { - "text": "US-Antarctica: the US has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other states
US-Bahamas: the Bahamas and US have not been able to agree on a maritime boundary; the two countries have met several times to define their maritime boundary
US-Canada: Canada and the United States dispute how to divide the Beaufort Sea and the status of the Northwest Passage but continue to work cooperatively to survey the Arctic continental shelf; because of the dispute over Machias Seal Island and adjoining North Rock, the terminus of the land boundary beyond Canada's Grand Manon Island and the US state of Maine is not defined
US-Canada-Mexico: the US has intensified domestic security measures and is collaborating closely with its neighbors, Canada and Mexico, to monitor and control legal and illegal personnel, transport, and commodities across the international borders
US-Cuba: the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased from Cuba and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease
US-Haiti: Haiti claims US-administered Navassa Island; the dispute dates to 1857, when the US claimed the Navassa Island under the 1856 Guano Act; Haiti claims it has had ownership over Navassa Island continuously since its 1801 constitution laid claim to “adjacent lands”
US-Marshall Islands: in May 2016, the Marshall Islands filed a declaration of authority with the UN over Wake Island, which is currently a US territory, reaffirming that it considers Wake Island part of its territory; control over Wake Island would drastically increase the Marshall Islands’ exclusive economic zone; the US State Department is assembling a group of experts from both countries to discuss the maritime boundary
US-Russia: 1990 Maritime Boundary Agreement in the Bering Sea still awaits Russian Duma ratification
US-Tokelau: Tokelau included American Samoa's Swains Island among the islands listed in its 2006 draft constitution; Swains Island has been administered by American Samoa since 1925; the 1980 Treaty of Tokehega delineates the maritime boundary between American Samoa and Tokelau; while not specifically mentioning Swains Island, the treaty notes in its preamble that New Zealand does not claim as part of Tokelau any island administered as part of American Samoa
" + "text": "US-Antarctica: the US has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other states
US-Bahamas: the Bahamas and US have not been able to agree on a maritime boundary; the two countries have met several times to define their maritime boundary
US-Canada: unresolved maritime boundary in the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean and differ on the status of the Northwest Passage but continue to work cooperatively
US-Canada-Mexico: the US has intensified domestic security measures and is collaborating closely with its neighbors, Canada and Mexico, to monitor and control legal and illegal personnel, transport, and commodities across the international borders
US-Cuba: the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased from Cuba and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease
US-Haiti: Haiti claims US-administered Navassa Island; the dispute dates to 1857, when the US claimed the Navassa Island under the 1856 Guano Act; Haiti claims it has had ownership over Navassa Island continuously since its 1801 constitution laid claim to “adjacent lands”
US-Marshall Islands: in May 2016, the Marshall Islands filed a declaration of authority with the UN over Wake Island, which is currently a US territory, reaffirming that it considers Wake Island part of its territory; control over Wake Island would drastically increase the Marshall Islands’ exclusive economic zone; the US State Department is assembling a group of experts from both countries to discuss the maritime boundary
US-Russia: 1990 Maritime Boundary Agreement in the Bering Sea still awaits Russian Duma ratification
US-Tokelau: Tokelau included American Samoa's Swains Island among the islands listed in its 2006 draft constitution; Swains Island has been administered by American Samoa since 1925; the 1980 Treaty of Tokehega delineates the maritime boundary between American Samoa and Tokelau; while not specifically mentioning Swains Island, the treaty notes in its preamble that New Zealand does not claim as part of Tokelau any island administered as part of American Samoa
" }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { diff --git a/oceans/xo.json b/oceans/xo.json index 85e0f9b1..e051236a 100644 --- a/oceans/xo.json +++ b/oceans/xo.json @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ { "Introduction": { "Background": { - "text": "The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean). Four critically important access waterways are the Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen), Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia). The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Indian Ocean south of 60 degrees south latitude." + "text": "The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's five ocean basins (after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean). Four critically important access waterways are the Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen), Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia). The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth world ocean basin, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Indian Ocean south of 60 degrees south latitude." } }, "Geography": { @@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ }, "Environment": { "Environment - current issues": { - "text": "marine pollution caused by ocean dumping, waste disposal, and oil spills; deep sea mining; oil pollution in Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea; coral reefs threatened due to climate change, direct human pressures, and inadequate governance, awareness, and political will; loss of biodiversity; endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales" + "text": "marine pollution caused by ocean dumping, improper waste disposal, and oil spills; deep sea mining; oil pollution in Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea; coral reefs threatened due to climate change, direct human pressures, and inadequate governance, awareness, and political will; loss of biodiversity; endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales" }, "Climate": { "text": "northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon (June to October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June and October/November in the northern Indian Ocean and January/February in the southern Indian Ocean" diff --git a/oceans/xq.json b/oceans/xq.json index 974110d9..1f581c66 100644 --- a/oceans/xq.json +++ b/oceans/xq.json @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ { "Introduction": { "Background": { - "text": "The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the Southern Ocean). The Northwest Passage (US and Canada) and Northern Sea Route (Norway and Russia) are two important seasonal waterways. In recent years the polar ice pack has receded in the summer allowing for increased navigation and raising the possibility of future sovereignty and shipping disputes among the six countries bordering the Arctic Ocean (Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Iceland, Norway, Russia, US)." + "text": "The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five ocean basins (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the Southern Ocean). The Northwest Passage (US and Canada) and Northern Sea Route (Norway and Russia) are two important seasonal waterways. In recent years the polar ice pack has receded in the summer allowing for increased navigation and raising the possibility of future sovereignty and shipping disputes among the Arctic coastal states affected (Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Iceland, Norway, Russia, US)." } }, "Geography": { @@ -42,19 +42,19 @@ }, "Bathymetry": { "continental shelf": { - "text": "The continental shelf (see Figure 1), a rather flat area of the sea floor adjacent to the coast that gradually slopes down from the shore to water depths of about 200 m (660 ft). Dimensions can vary: they may be narrow or nearly nonexistent in some places or extend for hundreds of miles in others. The waters along the continental shelf are usually productive in both plant and animal life, both from sunlight and nutrients from ocean upwelling and terrestrial runoff. More than one quarter of the Arctic sea floor is continental shelf. The Eurasian shelf is very wide extending out 1,500 km (930 mi) and is the largest continental shelf in the World. The following are examples of features found on the continental shelf of the Arctic Ocean (see Figure 2).record summer melting of sea ice in the Arctic has renewed interest in maritime shipping lanes and sea floor exploration
Canada-US: dispute how to divide the Beaufort Sea and the status of the Northwest Passage but continue to work cooperatively to survey the Arctic continental shelf
Canada-Denmark (Greenland)-Norway: have made submissions to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental shelf (CLCS)
Norway-Russia: signed a comprehensive maritime boundary agreement in 2010; Russia has augmented its 2001 CLCS submission
Canada-US: unresolved maritime boundary in the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean and differ on the status of the Northwest Passage but continue to work cooperatively
Canada-Denmark (Greenland): Canada and Denmark (with Greenland) concluded an agreement in 2022 that resolved the dispute over Hans Island and the maritime boundary
Norway-Russia: signed a comprehensive maritime boundary agreement in 2010
Following Britain’s victory in the 1865 Duar War, Britain and Bhutan signed the Treaty of Sinchulu, under which Bhutan would receive an annual subsidy in exchange for ceding land to British India. Ugyen WANGCHUCK - who had served as the de facto ruler of an increasingly unified Bhutan and had improved relations with the British toward the end of the 19th century - was named king in 1907. Three years later, a treaty was signed whereby the British agreed not to interfere in Bhutanese internal affairs, and Bhutan allowed Britain to direct its foreign affairs. Bhutan negotiated a similar arrangement with independent India in 1949. The Indo-Bhutanese Treaty of Friendship returned to Bhutan a small piece of the territory annexed by the British, formalized the annual subsidies the country received, and defined India's responsibilities in defense and foreign relations. Under a succession of modernizing monarchs beginning in the 1950s, Bhutan joined the UN in 1971 and slowly continued its engagement beyond its borders.
In 2005, King Jigme Singye WANGCHUCK unveiled the draft of Bhutan's first constitution - which introduced major democratic reforms - and held a national referendum for its approval. The King abdicated the throne in 2006 in favor of his son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel WANGCHUCK. In 2007, India and Bhutan renegotiated their treaty, eliminating the clause that stated that Bhutan would be \"guided by\" India in conducting its foreign policy, although Thimphu continues to coordinate closely with New Delhi. In 2008, Bhutan held its first parliamentary election in accordance with the constitution. Bhutan experienced a peaceful turnover of power following a parliamentary election in 2013, which resulted in the defeat of the incumbent party. In 2018, the incumbent party again lost the parliamentary election. Of the more than 100,000 ethnic Nepali - predominantly Lhotshampa - refugees who fled or were forced out of Bhutan in the 1990s, about 6,500 remain displaced in Nepal.
" + "text": "Following Britain’s victory in the 1865 Duar War, Britain and Bhutan signed the Treaty of Sinchulu, under which Bhutan would receive an annual subsidy in exchange for ceding land to British India. Ugyen WANGCHUCK - who had served as the de facto ruler of an increasingly unified Bhutan and had improved relations with the British toward the end of the 19th century - was named king in 1907. Three years later, a treaty was signed whereby the British agreed not to interfere in Bhutanese internal affairs, and Bhutan allowed Britain to direct its foreign affairs. Bhutan negotiated a similar arrangement with independent India in 1949. The Indo-Bhutanese Treaty of Friendship returned to Bhutan a small piece of the territory annexed by the British, formalized the annual subsidies the country received, and defined India's responsibilities in defense and foreign relations. Under a succession of modernizing monarchs beginning in the 1950s, Bhutan joined the UN in 1971 and slowly continued its engagement beyond its borders.
In 2005, King Jigme Singye WANGCHUCK unveiled the draft of Bhutan's first constitution - which introduced major democratic reforms - and held a national referendum for its approval. The King abdicated the throne in 2006 in favor of his son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel WANGCHUCK. In 2007, India and Bhutan renegotiated their treaty, eliminating the clause that stated that Bhutan would be \"guided by\" India in conducting its foreign policy, although Thimphu continues to coordinate closely with New Delhi. In 2008, Bhutan held its first parliamentary election in accordance with the constitution. Bhutan experienced a peaceful turnover of power following a parliamentary election in 2013, which resulted in the defeat of the incumbent party. In 2018, the incumbent party again lost the parliamentary election. in 2024, of the more than 100,000 ethnic Nepali - predominantly Lhotshampa - refugees who fled or were forced out of Bhutan in the 1990s, about 6,500 remain displaced in Nepal.
" } }, "Geography": { @@ -493,7 +493,7 @@ "text": "King Jigme Khesar Namgyel WANGCHUCK (since 14 December 2006); note - King Jigme Singye WANGCHUCK abdicated the throne on 14 December 2006 to his son" }, "head of government": { - "text": "Prime Minister Lotay TSHERING (since 7 November 2018)" + "text": "Prime Minister Tshering TOBGAY (since 28 January 2024)" }, "cabinet": { "text": "Council of Ministers or Lhengye Zhungtshog members nominated by the monarch in consultation with the prime minister and approved by the National Assembly; members serve 5-year terms" @@ -525,7 +525,7 @@ } }, "Political parties and leaders": { - "text": "Bhutan Alliance Party or Druk Thuendrel Tshogpa or DTT (Kinga TSHERING)
Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party (Druk Phuensum Tshogpa) or DPT [Dorji WANGDI]
Bhutan Tendrel Party or BTP (Dasho Tema CHEWANG)
People's Democratic Party or PDP [Tshering TOBGAY]
United Party of Bhutan (Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa) or DNT [Lotay TSHERING]
Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party (Druk Phuensum Tshogpa) or DPT [Dorji WANGDI]
Bhutan Tendrel Party or BTP (Pema CHEWANG)
Druk Thuendrel Tshogpa or DTT [Kinga TSHERING]
People's Democratic Party or PDP [Tshering TOBGAY]
United Party of Bhutan (Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa) or DNT [Lotay TSHERING]