Tier 2 Watch List — The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; the DRC was upgraded to Tier 2 Watch List because of several accomplishments; the government drafted and launched its first national anti-trafficking action plan; authorities increased law enforcement efforts, including investigating and prosecuting more trafficking crimes; a number of traffickers were convicted, including a high-ranking army officer and the leader of an armed group; however, authorities continued to lack standard operating procedures for identifying victims and referring them to care; there were credible allegations that the army abducted women and girls for sexual slavery and recruited and used child soldiers (2020)
" + "text": "Tier 2 Watch List — The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; the government finalized standard operating procedures for victim identification and referral for services and partnered with NGOs to identify more trafficking victims; the DRC investigated, prosecuted, and convicted traffickers, including complicit officials; however, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared with the previous year; Congolese National Army officers continued coordinating with an armed group allegedly engaged in forcibly recruiting and using children; authorities penalized victims for committing unlawful acts traffickers compelled them to commit, and official complicity in trafficking crimes remains a significant concern; the government did not adopt comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation for the third consecutive year; because the DRC has devoted sufficient resources to a plan that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to meet the minimum standards, it was granted a waiver per the TVPA from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3, therefore the DRC remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year (2022)
" }, "trafficking profile": { - "text": "human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Congolese abroad; most trafficking is internal and involves the forced labor of men, women, and children in artisanal mining, agriculture, domestic servitude, sex trafficking, or child recruitment by armed groups; some traffickers are family members or others who promise victims or victims’ families educational or job opportunities and instead force victims to work as domestic servants, street vendors, gang members, or in commercial sex; some Congolese women and girls who migrate to other countries in Africa or the Middle East are exploited in sex trafficking or forced labor in agriculture, diamond mines, or domestic service; they may be fraudulently recruited by traffickers with false promises of jobs or education" + "text": "human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Congolese abroad; most trafficking is internal and involves the forced labor of men, women, and children in artisanal mining, agriculture, domestic servitude, sex trafficking, or child recruitment by armed groups; some traffickers are family members or others who promise victims or victims’ families educational or job opportunities and instead force victims to work as domestic servants, street vendors, gang members, or in commercial sex; some Congolese women and girls who migrate to other countries in Africa or the Middle East are exploited in sex trafficking or forced labor in agriculture, diamond mines, or domestic service; they may be fraudulently recruited by traffickers with false promises of jobs or education (2022)
" } }, "Illicit drugs": { diff --git a/africa/cm.json b/africa/cm.json index 5ffa6356..8a8eeb31 100644 --- a/africa/cm.json +++ b/africa/cm.json @@ -532,13 +532,13 @@ }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { - "text": "246.8 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "250 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "industrial": { - "text": "104.6 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "100 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "agricultural": { - "text": "737 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "740 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { diff --git a/africa/cn.json b/africa/cn.json index c0e26c50..83510a32 100644 --- a/africa/cn.json +++ b/africa/cn.json @@ -1127,10 +1127,10 @@ }, "Trafficking in persons": { "tier rating": { - "text": "Tier 3 — Comoros does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the Anti-Trafficking Task Force met for the first time since 2017 and began drafting a national action plan for combatting trafficking; the government took steps to ratify the 2000 UN TIP Protocol and supported centers that would identify and provide care to victims of crime and would include trafficking victims; however, authorities continued to lack an understanding of trafficking and did not make any anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts; the government did not investigate, prosecute, or convict any alleged traffickers or officials suspected of complicity in trafficking; the government did not develop any standard operating procedures for identifying trafficking victims and referring them to limited care providers; no public awareness campaigns were conducted (2020)" + "text": "Tier 2 Watch List — Comoros does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; officials have made key achievements, and therefore, Comoros was upgraded to Tier 2 Watch List; the government has investigated trafficking crimes for the first time since 2014 and initiated its first trafficking prosecution; authorities have been identifying victims and referring them to protective services; Comoros partnered with an international organization and implemented standard operating procedures for victim identification and provided training for officials; the government also conducted anti-trafficking awareness campaigns; despite these achievements, the government has never reported convicting a trafficker, lacks a national referral mechanism, did not finalize a national action plan to combat trafficking, and did not allocate funds for anti-trafficking efforts (2022)" }, "trafficking profile": { - "text": "human traffickers may exploit domestic and foreign victims in Comoros and Comorians abroad; some Comorian and Malagasy women are subject to forced labor in the Middle East; adults and children may be forced to work in agriculture, construction, or as domestics in Mayotte; children abandoned by parents who left to seek jobs abroad are vulnerable to exploitation in domestic service, vending, baking, fishing, and agriculture; children from poor families whose parents place them with a relative or acquaintance for educational opportunities are vulnerable to domestic servitude and physical and sexual abuse; some children in Koranic schools may experience forced labor in agriculture or domestic servitude; inadequate border controls; government corruption, and international crime networks leave Comorians vulnerable to international trafficking" + "text": "human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Comoros and Comorians abroad; some Comorian women and children are subject to forced labor and may be vulnerable to sex trafficking; adults may be forced to work in agriculture, construction, or as domestics on Mayotte, a French department, and continental Africa; children on Anjouan, including some abandoned by parents who left to seek jobs abroad, are vulnerable to exploitation in domestic service, vending, baking, fishing, and agriculture; children from poor families whose parents place them with a relative or acquaintance for educational opportunities are vulnerable to domestic servitude and physical and sexual abuse; some children in Koranic schools may experience forced labor in agriculture or domestic servitude; inadequate border controls; government corruption, and international crime networks leave Comorians vulnerable to international trafficking (2022)" } } } diff --git a/africa/ct.json b/africa/ct.json index a350ba6e..7891ce5d 100644 --- a/africa/ct.json +++ b/africa/ct.json @@ -498,10 +498,10 @@ }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { - "text": "60.1 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "60 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "industrial": { - "text": "12 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "10 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "agricultural": { "text": "400,000 cubic meters (2017 est.)" diff --git a/africa/cv.json b/africa/cv.json index 6c6d7f8d..a95af445 100644 --- a/africa/cv.json +++ b/africa/cv.json @@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ "text": "400,000 cubic meters (2017 est.)" }, "agricultural": { - "text": "25 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "30 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { diff --git a/africa/eg.json b/africa/eg.json index b354f5c1..465fb045 100644 --- a/africa/eg.json +++ b/africa/eg.json @@ -662,7 +662,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Daniel RUBINSTEIN (since 23 August 2022)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Daniel RUBINSTEIN (since 23 August 2022)" }, "embassy": { "text": "5 Tawfik Diab St., Garden City, Cairo" diff --git a/africa/ek.json b/africa/ek.json index 71518649..05ef1480 100644 --- a/africa/ek.json +++ b/africa/ek.json @@ -1174,10 +1174,10 @@ }, "Trafficking in persons": { "tier rating": { - "text": "Tier 2 Watch List — Equatorial Guinea does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; authorities investigated, and for the first time since 2010, initiated the prosecution of alleged human traffickers; the government partnered with an international organization to provide training for more than 700 officials and civil society actors; authorities developed and implemented formal screening procedures to identify victims within vulnerable populations, an effort that had stalled for five years; however, the government still has not convicted a trafficker or any complicit government employees under its 2004 anti-trafficking law; a lack of training among judicial officials has resulted in potential trafficking crimes being tried under related statutes; victim services remained inadequate; authorities did not report referring any trafficking victims to government housing that was supposed to serve as temporary shelter (2020)
" + "text": "Tier 2 Watch List — Equatorial Guinea does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; the government increased anti-trafficking awareness campaigns, as well as finalized and began implementing an updated 2022-2024 national action plan and standard operating procedures on victim protection and care; officials improved internal coordination, trained local leaders and law enforcement officials in trafficking indicators, victim identification, and investigation; however, the government did not demonstrate overall increased anti-trafficking efforts compared with the previous year; officials have never convicted a trafficker under its 2004 anti-trafficking law, did not prosecute traffickers or identify victims during the reporting period, and the law did not criminalize all forms of trafficking; senior government officials allegedly were complicit in trafficking crimes; because the government devoted sufficient resources to a plan that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to meet minimum standards, Equatorial Guinea was granted a waiver per the TVPA from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3, and therefore remained on Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year (2022)
" }, "trafficking profile": { - "text": "human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Equatorial Guinea and Equatoguineans abroad; the majority of trafficking victims are subjected to forced domestic service and commercial sex in cities, particularly in the hospitality and restaurant sector; local and foreign women, including Latin Americans, are exploited in commercial sex domestically, while some Equatoguinean women are sex trafficked in Spain; some children from rural areas have been forced into domestic servitude; children from nearby countries are forced to labor as domestic workers, market workers, vendors, and launderers; individuals recruited from African countries and temporary workers from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela are sometimes exploited in forced labor and sex trafficking" + "text": "human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Equatorial Guinea and Equatoguineans abroad; the majority of trafficking victims are subjected to forced domestic service and commercial sex in cities, particularly in the hospitality and restaurant sector; local and foreign women, including Latin Americans, are exploited in commercial sex domestically, while some Equatoguinean women are sex trafficked in Spain; some children from rural areas have been forced into domestic servitude; children from nearby countries are forced to labor as domestic workers, market workers, vendors, and launderers; individuals recruited from African countries and temporary workers from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela are sometimes exploited in forced labor and sex trafficking; observers report LGBTQI+ youth are often left homeless and stigmatized by family and society, increasing their vulnerability to trafficking (2022)" } } } diff --git a/africa/er.json b/africa/er.json index fe7d1384..eb5eeb07 100644 --- a/africa/er.json +++ b/africa/er.json @@ -589,7 +589,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation in the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Berhane Gebrehiwet SOLOMON (since 15 March 2011)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Berhane Gebrehiwet SOLOMON (since 15 March 2011)" }, "chancery": { "text": "1708 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009" @@ -606,7 +606,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Steven C. WALKER (since December 2019)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Steven C. WALKER (since December 2019)" }, "embassy": { "text": "179 Alaa Street, Asmara" @@ -1196,10 +1196,10 @@ }, "Trafficking in persons": { "tier rating": { - "text": "Tier 3 — Eritrea does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government engaged in critical bilateral and multilateral partnerships to build its capacity for anti-trafficking initiatives; officials participated in a UN-sponsored regional anti-trafficking workshop and committed to produce a regional plan of action to combat trafficking; however, a government policy or pattern of forced labor existed; the government continued to subject its nationals to forced labor in its compulsory national service and citizen militia by forcing them to serve indefinitely or for arbitrary periods; authorities did not report any trafficking investigations, prosecutions, or convictions, including complicit government employees, nor did they report identifying victims and referring them to care; the government has no action plan to combat human trafficking (2020)" + "text": "Tier 3 — Eritrea does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; a government policy or pattern of human trafficking existed; the government continued to exploit its nationals in forced labor in its compulsory national service and citizen militia by forcing them to serve indefinitely or for arbitrary periods; the government did not demonstrate any efforts to address human trafficking (2022)" }, "trafficking profile": { - "text": "human traffickers export domestic victims in Eritrea or abroad; National Service is mandatory at age 18 and may take a variety of forms, including military service and physical labor but also government office jobs and teaching; Eritreans who flee the country, usually with the aim of reaching Europe, seek the help of paid smugglers and are vulnerable to trafficking when they cross the border clandestinely into Sudan, Ethiopia, and to a lesser extent Djibouti; Eritreans are subject to forced labor and sex trafficking mainly in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Libya" + "text": "human traffickers exploit domestic victims in Eritrea and abroad; National Service is mandatory at age 18 and may take a variety of forms, including military service and physical labor but also government office jobs and teaching; the 18-month limit on compulsory national service was suspended since the 1998-2000 Eritrean-Ethiopian border conflict, blocking the demobilization of most individuals who are forced to serve indefinitely under threats of detention, torture, or familial reprisal; Eritreans who flee the country, usually with the aim of reaching Europe, seek the help of paid smugglers and are vulnerable to trafficking when they cross the border clandestinely into Sudan and Ethiopia; Eritreans are subject to forced labor and sex trafficking mainly in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Libya (2022)" } } } diff --git a/africa/et.json b/africa/et.json index e9e67a84..76084fe8 100644 --- a/africa/et.json +++ b/africa/et.json @@ -701,7 +701,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Ambassador Tracey Ann JACOBSON (since 25 February 2022)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Ambassador Tracey Ann JACOBSON (since 25 February 2022)" }, "embassy": { "text": "Entoto Street, P.O. Box 1014, Addis Ababa" diff --git a/africa/gb.json b/africa/gb.json index e0c25d95..a3f3ae88 100644 --- a/africa/gb.json +++ b/africa/gb.json @@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Samuel R. WATSON; note - also accredited to Sao Tome and Principe" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Samuel R. WATSON; note - also accredited to Sao Tome and Principe" }, "embassy": { "text": "Sabliere, B.P. 4000, Libreville" diff --git a/africa/gh.json b/africa/gh.json index 1898a9ea..0e596e4a 100644 --- a/africa/gh.json +++ b/africa/gh.json @@ -1282,7 +1282,7 @@ "note": "note: since sending a contingent of troops to the Congo in 1960, the military has been a regular contributor to African- and UN-sponsored peacekeeping missions" }, "Military - note": { - "text": "the Ghanaian military’s primary missions are external/border defense, assisting with internal security, and protecting the country’s territorial waters, particularly its offshore oil and gas infrastructure; it has benefited from cooperation with foreign partners, such as the UK and the US, and experience gained from participation in multiple international peacekeeping missions; the government in recent years has committed to an increase in funding for equipment acquisitions, including armored vehicles and special forces capabilities for the Army, light attack aircraft for the Air Force, and more modern coastal patrol vessels for the Navythe International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Niger Delta and Gulf of Guinea remain a very high risk for piracy and armed robbery of ships; in 2021, there were 34 reported incidents of piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Gulf of Guinea region; although a significant decrease from the total number of 81 incidents in 2020, it included the one hijacking and three of five ships fired upon worldwide; while boarding and attempted boarding to steal valuables from ships and crews are the most common types of incidents, almost a third of all incidents involve a hijacking and/or kidnapping; in 2021, 57 crew members were kidnapped in seven separate incidents in the Gulf of Guinea, representing 100% of kidnappings worldwide; Nigerian pirates in particular are well armed and very aggressive, operating as far as 200 nm offshore; the Maritime Administration of the US Department of Transportation has issued a Maritime Advisory (2022-001 - Gulf of Guinea-Piracy/Armed Robbery/Kidnapping for Ransom) effective 4 January 2022, which states in part, \"Piracy, armed robbery, and kidnapping for ransom continue to serve as significant threats to US-flagged vessels transiting or operating in the Gulf of Guinea\"
" diff --git a/africa/gv.json b/africa/gv.json index 55bddff7..c426bfd8 100644 --- a/africa/gv.json +++ b/africa/gv.json @@ -646,7 +646,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation in the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d’Affaires Oumou Thiam HANN, Minister Counselor (since 23 February 2022)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d’Affaires Oumou Thiam HANN, Minister Counselor (since 23 February 2022)
" }, "chancery": { "text": "2112 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008" @@ -1265,10 +1265,10 @@ }, "Trafficking in persons": { "tier rating": { - "text": "Tier 2 Watch List — Guinea does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however it is making significant efforts to do so; the government drafted a new anti-trafficking action plan, provided support to eight victims exploited in the Middle East, and incorporated anti-trafficking training into the law enforcement curriculum; however, the government did not overall increase efforts compared to the last rating period; investigations and prosecutions of trafficking crimes decreased, victim identification was inadequate, and NGO’s providing victim services did not receive government support; for the fourth year, resources for the anti-trafficking committee or the Office for the Protection of Gender, Children and Morals were inadequate; a Quranic teacher was not prosecuted for allegedly forcing child begging; Guinea was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List (2020)" + "text": "Tier 2 Watch List — Guinea does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; the government initiated more investigations, identified and referred more victims to services, and issued an emergency anti-trafficking national action plan (NAP) to supplement the 2020-2022 NAP; officials established a hotline and allocated resources to the anti-trafficking committee; however, the government did not demonstrate overall increased efforts compared to the last year; substantial personnel turnover related to the September 2021 coup d’état hindered anti-trafficking efforts; no data was provided on prosecution of trafficking cases, and while more traffickers were convicted than previously, their sentences did not serve to deter the crime; fines in lieu of imprisonment for sex trafficking remain in the penal code; shelter services for victims remained insufficient, and NGO’s providing victim services did not receive government support; Quranic teachers have not been prosecuted for allegedly forcing child begging; Guinea was granted a waiver per the TVPA from an otherwise required downgraded to Tier 3, therefore Guinea remained on the Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year (2022)" }, "trafficking profile": { - "text": "Guinea is a source, transit, and, to a lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; the majority of trafficking victims are Guinean children; Guinean girls are subjected to domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation, while boys are forced to beg, work as street vendors, shoe shiners, or miners; some Guinean children are forced to mine in Senegal, Mali, and possibly other West African countries; Guinean women and girls are subjected to domestic servitude and sex trafficking in Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Senegal, Greece, and Spain, while Chinese and Vietnamese women are reportedly forced into prostitution in Guinea" + "text": "human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Guinea and Guineans abroad; Guinea is a source, transit, and, to a lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; vulnerable populations include adults and children working in the informal labor sector, homeless and orphaned children, artisanal miners, children and adults with albinism, and the mentally ill; Guinean women and girls are subjected to domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation, while boys are forced to beg, work as street vendors and shoe shiners, or work in mining, herding, fishing, and agriculture; North Koreans working in mining, construction, fishing, and health sectors and Cuban medical professionals working in Guinea may have been forced to work by their respective governments, while Chinese women are reportedly forced into prostitution in Guinea; Guinean women and girls have been exploited in domestic service and sex trafficking in West Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States (2022)" } }, "Illicit drugs": { diff --git a/africa/iv.json b/africa/iv.json index e1360a18..54d4dfe7 100644 --- a/africa/iv.json +++ b/africa/iv.json @@ -520,13 +520,13 @@ }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { - "text": "320 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "340 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "industrial": { - "text": "242 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "240 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "agricultural": { - "text": "600 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "600 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { diff --git a/africa/ke.json b/africa/ke.json index e8bfec41..bbbf01e8 100644 --- a/africa/ke.json +++ b/africa/ke.json @@ -1300,7 +1300,7 @@ "note": "note: in November 2022, Kenya sent approximately 900 troops to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as part of a newly formed East Africa Community Regional Force (EACRF) to assist the DRC military against the rebel group M23; the force is led by Kenya" }, "Military - note": { - "text": "the KDF is considered to be an experienced, effective, and professional force; it has conducted operations in neighboring Somalia since 2011 and taken part in numerous regional peacekeeping and security missions; it is a leading member of the Africa Standby Force; the KDF trains regularly, participates in multinational exercises, and has ties to a variety of foreign militaries, including those of France, the UK, and the US; its chief security concerns and missions include protecting the country’s sovereignty and territory, regional disputes, the threat posed by the al-Shabaab terrorist group based in neighboring Somalia, maritime crime and piracy, and assisting civil authorities in responding to emergency, disaster, or political unrest as requested
Tier 3 — Cuba does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government made some efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict sex traffickers and sex tourists and identified and provided assistance to some victims; however, no efforts were made to address forced labor; there was a government policy or pattern to profit from labor export programs with strong indications of forced labor, particularly in foreign medical missions; authorities did not protect potential trafficking victims, leaving them at risk of being detained or charged for crimes their traffickers forced them to commit (2020)
" + "text": "Tier 3 — Cuba does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; the government made some efforts to investigate, prosecute, and convict sex traffickers, and identify victims; however, there was a government policy or pattern to profit from labor export programs with strong indications of forced labor, particularly in its foreign medical missions program; the government continued to deploy Cuban workers to foreign countries using deceptive and coercive tactics, and failed to address an increasing number of allegations from credible NGOs and foreign governments of labor violations and trafficking, and of Cuban officials’ involvement in abuses; Cuban law did not explicitly prohibit labor trafficking as defined in international law (2022)
" }, "trafficking profile": { - "text": "human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Cuba and Cubans abroad; individuals are forced or coerced into participating and threatened to stay in labor export programs, most notably foreign medical missions; sex trafficking and sex tourism occur within Cuba; traffickers exploit Cubans in sex trafficking and forced labor in South America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean, and the US; foreigners from Africa and Asia are subject to sex trafficking and forced labor in Cuba to pay off travel debts; the government uses high school students in some rural areas to harvest crops without pay, claiming that the work is voluntary" + "text": "human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Cuba and Cubans abroad; individuals are forced or coerced into participating and threatened to stay in labor export programs, most notably foreign medical missions; sex trafficking and sex tourism, including child victims, occur within Cuba; traffickers exploit Cubans in sex trafficking and forced labor in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Latin America, and the United States; foreigners from Africa and Asia are subject to sex trafficking and forced labor in Cuba to pay off travel debts; officials identified children, young women, elderly, and disabled persons as the most vulnerable to trafficking; the government uses high school students in some rural areas to harvest crops without pay, claiming that the work is voluntary (2022)" } }, "Illicit drugs": { diff --git a/central-america-n-caribbean/do.json b/central-america-n-caribbean/do.json index 6ba1fa43..48891c34 100644 --- a/central-america-n-caribbean/do.json +++ b/central-america-n-caribbean/do.json @@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation in the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Judith-Anne ROLLE (since 16 December 2021)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Judith-Anne ROLLE (since 16 December 2021)" }, "chancery": { "text": "3216 New Mexico Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016" diff --git a/central-america-n-caribbean/dr.json b/central-america-n-caribbean/dr.json index 481d18b2..71a3bb41 100644 --- a/central-america-n-caribbean/dr.json +++ b/central-america-n-caribbean/dr.json @@ -650,7 +650,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Robert W. THOMAS (since 20 January 2021)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Robert W. THOMAS (since 20 January 2021)" }, "embassy": { "text": "Av. Republica de Colombia #57, Santo Domingo" diff --git a/central-america-n-caribbean/es.json b/central-america-n-caribbean/es.json index 7c0a3f92..4a274d3f 100644 --- a/central-america-n-caribbean/es.json +++ b/central-america-n-caribbean/es.json @@ -626,7 +626,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Patrick H. VENTRELL" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Patrick H. VENTRELL" }, "embassy": { "text": "Final Boulevard Santa Elena, Antiguo Cuscatlan, La Libertad, San Salvador" diff --git a/central-america-n-caribbean/pm.json b/central-america-n-caribbean/pm.json index ba4bf232..861bd540 100644 --- a/central-america-n-caribbean/pm.json +++ b/central-america-n-caribbean/pm.json @@ -632,7 +632,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant), Charge d'Affaires Stewart TUTTLE (since August 2020)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant), Chargé d'Affaires Stewart TUTTLE (since August 2020)" }, "embassy": { "text": "Building 783, Demetrio Basilio Lakas Avenue, Clayton" diff --git a/central-america-n-caribbean/sc.json b/central-america-n-caribbean/sc.json index 86360c00..cacebf86 100644 --- a/central-america-n-caribbean/sc.json +++ b/central-america-n-caribbean/sc.json @@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation in the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d’Affaires Shanelle Natasha SIMMONDS (since 26 August 2022)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d’Affaires Shanelle Natasha SIMMONDS (since 26 August 2022)" }, "chancery": { "text": "1203 19th St. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20036" diff --git a/central-america-n-caribbean/uc.json b/central-america-n-caribbean/uc.json index d74333ce..d0762ab3 100644 --- a/central-america-n-caribbean/uc.json +++ b/central-america-n-caribbean/uc.json @@ -829,10 +829,10 @@ }, "Trafficking in persons": { "tier rating": { - "text": "Tier 2 Watch List — Curacao does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but it is making significant efforts to do so; the government prosecuted and convicted more traffickers than in the previous reporting period; however, authorities identified fewer victims, and assistance to victims was contingent upon their cooperation with law enforcement in prosecuting traffickers; victims who were in the country illegally, including Venezuelans, were at risk of deportation if they did not participate in trials against their traffickers; the government did not operate centers for trafficking victims but provided some funding to NGOs and international organizations to care for victims (2020)" + "text": "Tier 3 — Curacao does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so, therefore Curacao was downgraded to Tier 3; the government took some steps to address trafficking, including providing pre-trial support to three victims participating in legal proceedings against traffickers, awarding restitution to two victims, and extending the national action plan that expired in December 2021; however, authorities did not convict any traffickers or identify any victims, and continued to condition assistance to foreign victims on their cooperation with law enforcement in cases against traffickers; officials conflated trafficking with migrant smuggling, and the lack of funding remained a primary obstacle to anti-trafficking efforts; limited judiciary familiarity with trafficking contributed to frequent acquittals in trafficking cases (2022)" }, "trafficking profile": { - "text": "human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Curacao; undocumented migrants, including the growing population of Venezuelans, are vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking; Curacaoan and foreign women and girls, mostly Dominican and Venezuelan, are exploited in sex trafficking; migrants from other Caribbean countries, South America, China, and India are subject to forced labor in construction, domestic servitude, landscaping, minimarkets, retail, and restaurants" + "text": "human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Curacao; undocumented migrants, especially the substantial population of Venezuelans, are vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking; traffickers exploit women and girls, particularly from Curacao, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela, in sex trafficking; migrants from other Caribbean countries, South America, China, and India are subject to forced labor in construction, domestic servitude, landscaping, minimarkets, retail, and restaurants (2022)" } }, "Illicit drugs": { diff --git a/central-asia/rs.json b/central-asia/rs.json index 0099773a..4c9e07a9 100644 --- a/central-asia/rs.json +++ b/central-asia/rs.json @@ -683,7 +683,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Elizabeth ROOD (since 5 September 2022)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Elizabeth ROOD (since 5 September 2022)" }, "embassy": { "text": "55,75566° N, 37,58028° E" diff --git a/central-asia/ti.json b/central-asia/ti.json index 7b72b9be..c529591e 100644 --- a/central-asia/ti.json +++ b/central-asia/ti.json @@ -1226,7 +1226,7 @@ "text": "18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service for men; women may volunteer; 24-month conscript service obligation; in August 2021, the Tajik Government began allowing men to pay a fee in order to avoid conscription (2022)" }, "Military - note": { - "text": "Tajikistan has been a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) since 1994 and contributes troops to CSTO's rapid reaction force (2022)" + "text": "Tajikistan has been a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) since 1994 and contributes troops to CSTO's rapid reaction force (2023)" } }, "Terrorism": { diff --git a/central-asia/tx.json b/central-asia/tx.json index 9bac335e..13b23e47 100644 --- a/central-asia/tx.json +++ b/central-asia/tx.json @@ -1187,7 +1187,7 @@ }, "Military and Security": { "Military and security forces": { - "text": "Armed Forces of Turkmenistan: Land Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces; Federal Border Guard Service; Ministry of Internal Affairs: Internal Troops, national police (2022)" + "text": "Armed Forces of Turkmenistan (aka Turkmen National Army): Land Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces; Ministry of Internal Affairs: Internal Troops, national police, Federal/State Border Guard Service (2022)" }, "Military expenditures": { "Military Expenditures 2019": { @@ -1213,7 +1213,7 @@ "text": "the inventory for Turkmenistan's military is comprised largely of older Russian and Soviet-era weapons systems; in recent years however, it has attempted to diversify and purchased equipment from more than a dozen countries, with Turkey as the top supplier (2022)" }, "Military service age and obligation": { - "text": "18-30 years of age for compulsory male military service; 24-month conscript service obligation (30 months for the Navy); 20 years of age for voluntary service (including females); males may enroll in military schools from age 15 (2022)" + "text": "18-27 years of age for compulsory male military service; 24-month conscript service obligation (30 months for the Navy); 20 years of age for voluntary service (including females); males may enroll in military schools from age 15 (2022)" }, "Military - note": { "text": "Turkmenistan has a policy of permanent neutrality and has declined to participate in post-Soviet military groupings such as the Collective Security Treaty Organization military alliance (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO); however, in September 2020, it participated in a Russian-led multinational military exercise held in southern Russia’s Astrakhan region alongside the forces of more than a dozen other countries; Turkmenistan joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program in 1994 and officials from Turkmenistan participate in a range of courses provided by NATO and NATO member states, but it does not offer any armed forces units to NATO-led operationsthe Uzbek armed forces were established in January 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when the newly-established Ministry for Defense Affairs assumed jurisdiction over all former Soviet ground, air, and air defense units, formations, and installations then deployed on its soil; the building hosting the headquarters for the ex-Soviet Turkestan Military District became the headquarters for the Uzbek armed forces; all former Soviet troops departed Uzbekistan by 1995; as of 2022, Uzbekistan continued to maintain bilateral defense ties with Russia based on a 2005 mutual security agreement
as of 2022, Uzbekistan was not part of the Russian-sponsored Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) that is comprised of former Soviet Republics; Uzbekistan joined in the 1990s but withdrew in 1999; it returned in 2006 but left again in 2012
" + "text": "the Uzbek armed forces were established in January 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when the newly-established Ministry for Defense Affairs assumed jurisdiction over all former Soviet ground, air, and air defense units, formations, and installations then deployed on its soil; the building hosting the headquarters for the ex-Soviet Turkestan Military District became the headquarters for the Uzbek armed forces; all former Soviet troops departed Uzbekistan by 1995; Uzbekistan continues to maintain bilateral defense ties with Russia based on a 2005 mutual security agreementactive transshipment point for Albanian narco-trafficking organizations moving illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin from Turkey and countries in South America and Asia throughout Europe; significant source country for cannabis production
" diff --git a/europe/au.json b/europe/au.json index 99e6c111..aaf1f056 100644 --- a/europe/au.json +++ b/europe/au.json @@ -462,13 +462,13 @@ }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { - "text": "720 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "720 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "industrial": { - "text": "2.695 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "2.7 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "agricultural": { - "text": "77.1 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "720 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { @@ -600,7 +600,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation in the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Charge d'Affaires Guenther SALZMANN (since 1 August 2022)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Guenther SALZMANN (since 1 August 2022)" }, "chancery": { "text": "3524 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008-3035" diff --git a/europe/be.json b/europe/be.json index 65863d7e..05ed5e5c 100644 --- a/europe/be.json +++ b/europe/be.json @@ -457,13 +457,13 @@ }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { - "text": "739 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "740 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "industrial": { - "text": "3.21 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "3.47 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "agricultural": { - "text": "45 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "50 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { diff --git a/europe/bk.json b/europe/bk.json index 0d26a89f..f2edb8e0 100644 --- a/europe/bk.json +++ b/europe/bk.json @@ -450,10 +450,10 @@ }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { - "text": "360.8 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "310 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "industrial": { - "text": "71.8 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "50 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { @@ -1251,7 +1251,7 @@ "stateless persons": { "text": "48 (2022)" }, - "note": "note: 115,525 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-February 2023)" + "note": "note: 116,264 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-February 2023)" }, "Illicit drugs": { "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/bo.json b/europe/bo.json index 21180d2a..46c757c7 100644 --- a/europe/bo.json +++ b/europe/bo.json @@ -466,13 +466,13 @@ }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { - "text": "523 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "550 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "industrial": { - "text": "443 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "440 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "agricultural": { - "text": "431 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "370 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { @@ -606,7 +606,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation in the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant; recalled by Belarus in 2008); Charge d'Affaires Pavel SHIDLOVSKY (since 9 August 2022)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant; recalled by Belarus in 2008); Chargé d'Affaires Pavel SHIDLOVSKY (since 9 August 2022)" }, "chancery": { "text": "1619 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009" diff --git a/europe/bu.json b/europe/bu.json index b716c08d..1beb7835 100644 --- a/europe/bu.json +++ b/europe/bu.json @@ -464,13 +464,13 @@ }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { - "text": "882 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "870 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "industrial": { - "text": "3.942 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "3.76 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "agricultural": { - "text": "834.5 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "800 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { diff --git a/europe/cy.json b/europe/cy.json index 3912165f..3950808a 100644 --- a/europe/cy.json +++ b/europe/cy.json @@ -553,19 +553,19 @@ }, "Executive branch": { "chief of state": { - "text": "President Nikos ANASTASIADIS (since 28 February 2013); the president is both chief of state and head of government; note - vice presidency reserved for a Turkish Cypriot, but vacant since 1974 because Turkish Cypriots do not participate in the Republic of Cyprus Government" + "text": "President Nikos CHRISTODOULIDES (since 28 February 2023); the president is both chief of state and head of government; note - vice presidency reserved for a Turkish Cypriot, but vacant since 1974 because Turkish Cypriots do not participate in the Republic of Cyprus Government" }, "head of government": { - "text": "President Nikos ANASTASIADIS (since 28 February 2013)" + "text": "President Nikos CHRISTODOULIDES (since 28 February 2023)" }, "cabinet": { "text": "Council of Ministers appointed by the president; note - under the 1960 constitution, 3 of the ministerial posts reserved for Turkish Cypriots, appointed by the vice president; positions currently filled by Greek Cypriots" }, "elections/appointments": { - "text": "president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term; election last held on 28 January 2018 with a runoff on 4 February 2018 (next to be held 5 February 2023 with a runoff on 12 February 2023)" + "text": "president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term; election last held on held 5 February 2023 with a runoff on 12 February 2023 (next to be held in 2028)" }, "election results": { - "text": "2018: Nikos ANASTASIADIS reelected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - Nikos ANASTASIADIS (DISY) 35.5%, Stavros MALAS (AKEL) 30.2%, Nicolas PAPADOPOULOS (DIKO) 25.7%, other 8.6%; percent of vote in second round - Nikos ANASTASIADIS 56%, Stavros MALAS 44%drug trafficking groups are major players in the procurement and transportation of large quantities of cocaine destined for European markets
" diff --git a/europe/mt.json b/europe/mt.json index e3bbd490..e5f4438d 100644 --- a/europe/mt.json +++ b/europe/mt.json @@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Gwendolyn \"Wendy\" GREEN (since August 2020)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Gwendolyn \"Wendy\" GREEN (since August 2020)" }, "embassy": { "text": "Ta' Qali National Park, Attard, ATD 4000" diff --git a/europe/ri.json b/europe/ri.json index ec7e1323..e2ce8884 100644 --- a/europe/ri.json +++ b/europe/ri.json @@ -1274,7 +1274,7 @@ "stateless persons": { "text": "2,594 (includes stateless persons in Kosovo) (2022)" }, - "note": "note: 943,817 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-February 2023); Serbia is predominantly a transit country and hosts an estimated 7,271 migrants and asylum seekers as of November 2022" + "note": "note: 944,624 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-February 2023); Serbia is predominantly a transit country and hosts an estimated 7,271 migrants and asylum seekers as of November 2022" }, "Illicit drugs": { "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/ro.json b/europe/ro.json index 406ed7ba..b5548371 100644 --- a/europe/ro.json +++ b/europe/ro.json @@ -628,7 +628,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires David MUNIZ (since 20 January 2021)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires David MUNIZ (since 20 January 2021)" }, "embassy": { "text": "4-6, Dr. Liviu Librescu Blvd., District 1, Bucharest, 015118" diff --git a/europe/si.json b/europe/si.json index e9d302d7..26946307 100644 --- a/europe/si.json +++ b/europe/si.json @@ -589,7 +589,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation in the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Andrej MEDICA (since 25 October 2022)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Andrej MEDICA (since 25 October 2022)" }, "chancery": { "text": "2410 California Street NW, Washington, DC 20008" diff --git a/europe/sp.json b/europe/sp.json index 076e6968..8e7df23a 100644 --- a/europe/sp.json +++ b/europe/sp.json @@ -1292,7 +1292,7 @@ "stateless persons": { "text": "6,489 (2022)" }, - "note": "note: 281,682 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals, including Canary Islands (January 2015-February 2023)" + "note": "note: 281,945 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals, including Canary Islands (January 2015-February 2023)" }, "Illicit drugs": { "text": "primary transit point in Europe for cocaine from South America and for hashish from Morocco; cocaine is shipped in raw or liquid form with mixed cargo to avoid detection; traffickers ship methamphetamine via express mail; increasing indoor cannabis production; illegal labs cutting, mixing, and reconstituting cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine labs; synthetic drugs, including ketamine and MDMA (ecstasy) transit from Spain to the US" diff --git a/europe/up.json b/europe/up.json index 07fe4f2d..b1458619 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 achieved independence in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy and prosperity remained elusive as the legacy of state control 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 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 parliamentary (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 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 driving an armed conflict with the Ukrainian Government that continues to this day. Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the unrecognized Russian proxy republics signed the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum in September 2014 to end 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. Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, the unrecognized Russian proxy republics, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe also meet regularly to facilitate implementation of the peace deal. 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 invading 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 21 February, 2023, approximately 18.84 million people had fled Ukraine, and 5.35 million people were internally displaced as of January 2023. Nearly 19,000 civilian casualties had been reported, as of 12 February 2023. The invasion of Ukraine remains one of the two largest displacement crises worldwide (the other is the conflict in Syria).
" + "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 achieved independence in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, democracy and prosperity remained elusive as the legacy of state control 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 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 parliamentary (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 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 driving an armed conflict with the Ukrainian Government that continues to this day. Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the unrecognized Russian proxy republics signed the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum in September 2014 to end 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. Representatives from Ukraine, Russia, the unrecognized Russian proxy republics, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe also meet regularly to facilitate implementation of the peace deal. 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 invading 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 28 February, 2023, approximately 19.08 million people had fled Ukraine, and 5.35 million people were internally displaced as of January 2023. Nearly 19,000 civilian casualties had been reported, as of 12 February 2023. The invasion of Ukraine remains one of the two largest displacement crises worldwide (the other is the conflict in Syria).
" } }, "Geography": { diff --git a/middle-east/ae.json b/middle-east/ae.json index 3ed2e584..3d6d2277 100644 --- a/middle-east/ae.json +++ b/middle-east/ae.json @@ -611,7 +611,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Sean MURPHY (since January 2021)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Sean MURPHY (since January 2021)" }, "embassy": { "text": "Embassies District, Plot 38, Sector W59-02, Street No. 4, Abu Dhabi" diff --git a/middle-east/aj.json b/middle-east/aj.json index 1ba5cf3b..adb4e414 100644 --- a/middle-east/aj.json +++ b/middle-east/aj.json @@ -456,13 +456,13 @@ }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { - "text": "449.6 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "400 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "industrial": { - "text": "3.062 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "570 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "agricultural": { - "text": "9.27 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "11.6 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { diff --git a/middle-east/ba.json b/middle-east/ba.json index ec747a2e..9433c93e 100644 --- a/middle-east/ba.json +++ b/middle-east/ba.json @@ -449,13 +449,13 @@ }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { - "text": "275.6 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "280 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "industrial": { - "text": "14.1 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "10 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "agricultural": { - "text": "144.7 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "140 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { diff --git a/middle-east/ir.json b/middle-east/ir.json index df94ea1b..1b3b4476 100644 --- a/middle-east/ir.json +++ b/middle-east/ir.json @@ -1273,10 +1273,10 @@ }, "Trafficking in persons": { "tier rating": { - "text": "Tier 3 — Iran does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; therefore, Iran remained in Tier 3; the government continued a policy of recruiting and using child soldiers, government officials perpetrated sex trafficking of adults and children and continued trafficking both in Iran and overseas; the government continued to force or coerce children and adults to fight for Iranian-led militias operating in Syria and provided financial support to militias fighting in armed conflicts in the region using child soldiers; authorities failed to identify and protect trafficking victims among vulnerable populations; law enforcement treated trafficking victims as criminals, facing severe punishment or death for unlawful acts traffickers compelled them to commit (2020)" + "text": "Tier 3 — Iran does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; therefore, Iran remained in Tier 3; the government took some steps to address trafficking, including forming an anti-trafficking committee to develop strategies and programs to combat trafficking; however, the government continued a policy of recruiting and using child soldiers and coercing adults to fight for Iranian-led militias in Syria; officials continued to perpetrate and condone trafficking crimes; authorities failed to identify and protect trafficking victims among vulnerable populations and continued to treat trafficking victims as criminals; victims continued to face severe punishment or death for unlawful acts traffickers compelled them to commit (2022)" }, "trafficking profile": { - "text": "Iran is a presumed source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor; Iranian and Afghan boys and girls are forced into prostitution domestically; Iranian women are subjected to sex trafficking in Iran, Pakistan, the Persian Gulf, and Europe; Azerbaijani women and children are also sexually exploited in Iran; Afghan migrants and refugees and Pakistani men and women are subjected to conditions of forced labor in Iran; NGO reports indicate that criminal organizations play a significant role in human trafficking in Iran" + "text": "human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Iran, and Iranians are exploited abroad; the continuing decline of the Iranian economy has significantly exacerbated human trafficking, particularly for vulnerable and marginalized groups such as ethnic minorities, refugee and migrants, women, and children; women and girls, as well as some men, are highly vulnerable to sex trafficking in Iran; Iranian and Afghan boys and girls are forced into prostitution domestically; Iranian women, boys, and girls are vulnerable to sex trafficking in Afghanistan, Armenia, Georgia, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates; Iranian and Afghan refugee and migrant children, orphans, and homeless children increasingly are vulnerable to forced labor in Iran; criminal groups reportedly play a significant role in human trafficking in Iran, including kidnaping or purchasing Iranian and migrant children for forced labor and sexual exploitation; Afghan refugees and migrants, as well as Pakistani migrants, are vulnerable to abuse and labor exploitation (2022)" } }, "Illicit drugs": { diff --git a/middle-east/is.json b/middle-east/is.json index 2c9dc799..8e388659 100644 --- a/middle-east/is.json +++ b/middle-east/is.json @@ -624,7 +624,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "ambassador Thomas NIDES (since 5 December 2021)" + "text": "Ambassador Thomas NIDES (since 5 December 2021)" }, "embassy": { "text": "14 David Flusser Street, Jerusalem, 9378322" diff --git a/middle-east/iz.json b/middle-east/iz.json index 74c9dc80..f3ec0b48 100644 --- a/middle-east/iz.json +++ b/middle-east/iz.json @@ -628,7 +628,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation in the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Mohammed Husham Malik AL FITYAN (since 22 March 2022)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Mohammed Husham Malik AL FITYAN (since 22 March 2022)" }, "chancery": { "text": "3421 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007" diff --git a/middle-east/jo.json b/middle-east/jo.json index 1c81df49..042c35c2 100644 --- a/middle-east/jo.json +++ b/middle-east/jo.json @@ -1269,7 +1269,7 @@ }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { - "text": "2,307,011 (Palestinian refugees) (2020); 12,866 (Yemen), 6,013 Sudan (2021); 33,951 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022); 661,670 (Syria) (2023)" + "text": "2,307,011 (Palestinian refugees) (2020); 12,866 (Yemen), 6,013 Sudan (2021); 33,951 (Iraq) (mid-year 2022); 661,854 (Syria) (2023)" }, "stateless persons": { "text": "64 (2022)" diff --git a/middle-east/ku.json b/middle-east/ku.json index 21cb96e9..c17b3a36 100644 --- a/middle-east/ku.json +++ b/middle-east/ku.json @@ -540,10 +540,10 @@ }, "Executive branch": { "chief of state": { - "text": "Ahmad al-NAWAF al-Sabah (since 24 July 2022); Crown Prince Mishal al-AHMAD al-Sabah, born in 1940, is the brother of Amir Nawaf al-AHMAD al-Jabir al-Sabah" + "text": "Amir NAWAF al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah (since 24 July 2022); Crown Prince Mishal al-AHMAD al-Sabah, born in 1940, is the brother of Amir NAWAF al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah" }, "head of government": { - "text": "Prime Minister Sheikh Muhammad al-Sabah al-SALIM al-Sabah (since 19 July 2022); First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ahmed al-NAWAF al-Sabah (since 22 March 2022), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Talal al-KHALID al-Sabah (since 1 August 2022), and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Dr. Mohammed al-FARIS (since 22 March 2022)" + "text": "Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad NAWAF Al-Ahmad al-Sabah (reappointed 5 March 2023); First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Talal Khalid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (since 16 October 2022); Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Barak Ali Barak Al-Sheton (since 16 October 2022); Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil Bader Hamed Yusef Al-Mula (since 16 October 2022)" }, "cabinet": { "text": "Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister, approved by the amir" diff --git a/middle-east/le.json b/middle-east/le.json index 86e98c49..cfa9b7ea 100644 --- a/middle-east/le.json +++ b/middle-east/le.json @@ -605,7 +605,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation in the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Wael HACHEM, Counselor (since 15 March 2021)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Wael HACHEM, Counselor (since 15 March 2021)" }, "chancery": { "text": "2560 28th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008" diff --git a/middle-east/qa.json b/middle-east/qa.json index 890c0429..ee1f0988 100644 --- a/middle-east/qa.json +++ b/middle-east/qa.json @@ -548,7 +548,7 @@ "text": "Amir TAMIM bin Hamad Al Thani (since 25 June 2013)" }, "head of government": { - "text": "Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh KHALID bin Khalifa bin Abdul Aziz Al Thani (since 28 January 2020); Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs KHALID bin Mohamed AL Attiyah (since 14 November 2017); Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs MOHAMED bin Abdulrahman Al Thani (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 Mohamed AL Attiyah (since 14 November 2017)" }, "cabinet": { "text": "Council of Ministers appointed by the amir" @@ -607,7 +607,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Evyenia SIDEREAS" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Evyenia SIDEREAS" }, "embassy": { "text": "22 February Street, Al Luqta District, P.O. Box 2399, Doha" diff --git a/middle-east/sa.json b/middle-east/sa.json index 85f21cc3..c282b7f0 100644 --- a/middle-east/sa.json +++ b/middle-east/sa.json @@ -609,7 +609,7 @@ }, "Diplomatic representation from the US": { "chief of mission": { - "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Martina STRONG (since February 2021)" + "text": "Ambassador (vacant); Chargé d'Affaires Martina STRONG (since February 2021)" }, "embassy": { "text": "Riyadh 11564" diff --git a/north-america/bd.json b/north-america/bd.json index 798d2a0c..57557dce 100644 --- a/north-america/bd.json +++ b/north-america/bd.json @@ -919,7 +919,7 @@ "text": "25,000 (2020 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { - "text": "40 (2020 est.)" + "text": "39 (2020 est.)" } }, "Telephones - mobile cellular": { @@ -927,7 +927,7 @@ "text": "68,000 (2020 est.)" }, "subscriptions per 100 inhabitants": { - "text": "109 (2020 est.)" + "text": "103 (2020 est.)" } }, "Telecommunication systems": { @@ -935,7 +935,7 @@ "text": "the telecom sector has seen a decline in subscriber numbers (particularly for prepaid mobile services the mainstay of short term visitors) and revenue; fixed and mobile broadband services are two areas that have benefited from the crisis as employees and students have resorted to working from home; one area of the telecom market that is not prepared for growth is 5G mobile; governments, regulators, and even the mobile network operators have shown that they have not been investing in 5G opportunities at the present time; network expansion and enhancements remain concentrated around improving LTE coverage (2021)" }, "domestic": { - "text": "the system has a high fixed-line teledensity nearing 40 per 100, coupled with a mobile-cellular teledensity of roughly 109 per 100 persons (2020)" + "text": "the system has a fixed-line teledensity of 39 per 100, coupled with a mobile-cellular teledensity of roughly 106 per 100 persons (2020)" }, "international": { "text": "country code - 1-441; landing points for the GlobeNet, Gemini Bermuda, CBUS, and the CB-1 submarine cables to the Caribbean, South America and the US; satellite earth stations - 3 (2019)" diff --git a/north-america/ca.json b/north-america/ca.json index 34a1b1c1..86a5aed8 100644 --- a/north-america/ca.json +++ b/north-america/ca.json @@ -482,13 +482,13 @@ }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { - "text": "4.888 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "4.87 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "industrial": { - "text": "28.07 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "27.51 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "agricultural": { - "text": "2.639 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "3.8 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { diff --git a/south-america/ar.json b/south-america/ar.json index 3ddc072e..89b7a24a 100644 --- a/south-america/ar.json +++ b/south-america/ar.json @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ { "Introduction": { "Background": { - "text": "
In 1816, the United Provinces of the Rio Plata declared their independence from Spain. After Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay went their separate ways, the area that remained became Argentina. The country's population and culture were heavily shaped by immigrants from throughout Europe, with Italy and Spain providing the largest percentage of newcomers from 1860 to 1930. Up until about the mid-20th century, much of Argentina's history was dominated by periods of internal political unrest and conflict between civilian and military factions.
After World War II, an era of populism under former President Juan Domingo PERON - the founder of the Peronist political movement - and direct and indirect military interference in subsequent governments was followed by a military junta that took power in 1976. Democracy returned in 1983 after a failed bid to seize the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) by force, and has persisted despite numerous challenges, the most formidable of which was a severe economic crisis in 2001-02 that led to violent public protests and the successive resignations of several presidents. The years 2003-15 saw Peronist rule by Nestor KIRCHNER (2003-07) and his spouse Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER (2007-15), who oversaw several years of strong economic growth (2003-11) followed by a gradual deterioration in the government’s fiscal situation and eventual economic stagnation and isolation. Argentina underwent a brief period of economic reform and international reintegration under Mauricio MACRI (2015-19), but a recession in 2018-19 and frustration with MACRI’s economic policies ushered in a new Peronist government in 2019 led by President Alberto FERNANDEZ and Vice President FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER. Presidential elections will take place next in 2023.
" + "text": "In 1816, the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata declared their independence from Spain. After Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay went their separate ways, the area that remained became Argentina. The country's population and culture were heavily shaped by immigrants from throughout Europe, with Italy and Spain providing the largest percentage of newcomers from 1860 to 1930. Up until about the mid-20th century, much of Argentina's history was dominated by periods of internal political unrest and conflict between civilian and military factions.
After World War II, an era of populism under former President Juan Domingo PERÓN - the founder of the Peronist political movement - and direct and indirect military interference in subsequent governments was followed by a military junta that took power in 1976. Democracy returned in 1983 after a failed bid to seize the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) by force, and has persisted despite numerous challenges, the most formidable of which was a severe economic crisis in 2001-02 that led to violent public protests and the successive resignations of several presidents. The years 2003-15 saw Peronist rule by Néstor KIRCHNER (2003-07) and his spouse Cristina FERNÁNDEZ DE KIRCHNER (2007-15), who oversaw several years of strong economic growth (2003-11) followed by a gradual deterioration in the government’s fiscal situation and eventual economic stagnation and isolation. Argentina underwent a brief period of economic reform and international reintegration under Mauricio MACRI (2015-19), but a recession in 2018-19 and frustration with MACRI’s economic policies ushered in a new Peronist government in 2019 led by President Alberto FERNÁNDEZ and Vice President FERNÁNDEZ DE KIRCHNER. Presidential elections will take place next in 2023.
" } }, "Geography": { @@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ "text": "Cerro Aconcagua (located in the northwestern corner of the province of Mendoza; highest point in South America) 6,962 m" }, "lowest point": { - "text": "Laguna del Carbon (located between Puerto San Julian and Comandante Luis Piedra Buena in the province of Santa Cruz) -105 m" + "text": "Laguna del Carbón (located between Puerto San Julián and Comandante Luis Piedra Buena in the province of Santa Cruz) -105 m" }, "mean elevation": { "text": "595 m" @@ -98,29 +98,29 @@ }, "Major lakes (area sq km)": { "fresh water lake(s)": { - "text": "Lago Buenos Aires (shared with Chile) - 2,240 sq km; Lago Argentino - 1,410 sq km; Lago Viedma - 1,090 sq km; Lago San Martin (shared with Chile) - 1,010 sq km; Lago Colhue Huapi - 800 sq km; Lago Fagnano (shared with Chile) - 590 sq km; Lago Nahuel Huapi - 550 sq km" + "text": "Lago Buenos Aires (shared with Chile) - 2,240 sq km; Lago Argentino - 1,410 sq km; Lago Viedma - 1,090 sq km; Lago San Martín (shared with Chile) - 1,010 sq km; Lago Colhué Huapi - 800 sq km; Lago Fagnano (shared with Chile) - 590 sq km; Lago Nahuel Huapi - 550 sq km" }, "salt water lake(s)": { "text": "Laguna Mar Chiquita - 1,850 sq km;" } }, "Major rivers (by length in km)": { - "text": "Rio de la Plata/Parana river mouth (shared with Brazil [s], Paraguay, and Uruguay) - 4,880 km; Paraguay (shared with Brazil [s], and Paraguay [m]) - 2,549 km; Uruguay (shared with Brazil [s] and Uruguay [m]) - 1,610 kmSan Miguel de Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the pampas and northeast; heavy flooding in some areas
volcanism: volcanic activity in the Andes Mountains along the Chilean border; Copahue (2,997 m) last erupted in 2000; other historically active volcanoes include Llullaillaco, Maipo, Planchon-Peteroa, San Jose, Tromen, Tupungatito, and Viedma
" + "text": "San Miguel de Tucumán and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the pampas and northeast; heavy flooding in some areas
volcanism: volcanic activity in the Andes Mountains along the Chilean border; Copahue (2,997 m) last erupted in 2000; other historically active volcanoes include Llullaillaco, Maipo, Planchón-Peteroa, San José, Tromen, Tupungatito, and Viedma
" }, "Geography - note": { - "text": "note 1: second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage); diverse geophysical landscapes range from tropical climates in the north to tundra in the far south; Cerro Aconcagua is the Western Hemisphere's tallest mountain, while Laguna del Carbon is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere; shares Iguazu Falls, the world's largest waterfalls system, with BrazilAvanza Libertad or AL [Jose Luis ESPERT]
Civic Coalition ARI or CC-ARI [Elisa CARRIO, Maximiliano FERRARO]
Federal Consensus or CF [Roberto LAVAGNA, Juan Manuel URTUBEY]
Frente Civico por Santiago (Civic Front for Santiago) [Gerardo ZAMORA]
Frente de Izquierda (Workers' Left Front) or FIT-U [Nicolas DEL CANO, Miriam BREGMAN] (coalition of leftist parties in lower house; includes PTS, PO, and MST)
Frente de la Concordia Misionero (Front for the Renewal of Social Concord) or FRCS [Carlos Eduardo ROVIRA]
Frente de Todos (Everyone's Front) or FdT [Alberto FERNANDEZ] (includes FR, La Campora, and PJ); note - ruling coalition since 2019; includes several national and provincial Peronist political parties
Frente Renovador (Renewal Front) or FR [Sergio MASSA, Pablo MIROLO]
Generacion por un Encuentro Nacional (Generation for a National Encounter) or GEN [Margarita STOLBIZER]
Hacemos por Cordoba (We do for Cordoba) or HC [Juan SCHIARETTI]
Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change) or JxC [Horacio Rodríguez LARRETA] (includes CC-ARI, PRO, and UCR); note - primary opposition coalition since 2019
Juntos Somos Rio Negro (Together We Are Rio Negro) or JSRN [Alberto WERETILNECK]
Justicialist Party or PJ [Alberto Angel FERNANDEZ]
La Campora [Maximo KIRCHNER]
La Libertad Avanza or LLA [Javier MILEI]
Movimiento Popular Neuquino (Neuquen People's Movement) or MPN [Omar GUTIERREZ]
Partido Socialista or PS [Monica Haydee FEIN]
Propuesta Republicana or PRO [Mauricio MACRI]
Radical Civic Union or UCR [Gerardo MORALES]
Socialist Workers' Party or PTS [Nicolas DEL CANO]
Unidad Federal (coalition of provencial parties in the lower house; includes FRCS and JSRN)
Workers' Party or PO [Gabriel SOLANO]
Workers' Socialist Movement or MST [Alejandro BODART]
Vamos con Vos (Let's Go with You) or VcV [Florencio RANDAZZO]
Avanza Libertad or AL [José Luis ESPERT]
Civic Coalition ARI or CC-ARI [Elisa CARRIÓ, Maximiliano FERRARO]
Consenso Federal (Federal Consensus) or CF [Roberto LAVAGNA, Juan Manuel URTUBEY]
Frente Cívico por Santiago (Civic Front for Santiago) [Gerardo ZAMORA]
Frente de Izquierda y de los Trabajadores – Unidad (Workers' Left Front) or FIT-U [Nicolás DEL CAÑO, Miriam BREGMAN] (coalition of leftist parties in lower house; includes PTS, PO, and MST)
Frente de la Concordia Misionero (Front for the Renewal of Social Concord) or FRCS [Carlos Eduardo ROVIRA]
Frente de Todos (Everyone's Front) or FdT [Alberto FERNÁNDEZ] (includes FR, La Campora, and PJ); note - ruling coalition since 2019; includes several national and provincial Peronist political parties
Frente Renovador (Renewal Front) or FR [Sergio MASSA, Pablo MIROLO]
Generación por un Encuentro Nacional (Generation for a National Encounter) or GEN [Margarita STOLBIZER]
Hacemos por Córdoba (We do for Cordoba) or HC [Juan SCHIARETTI]
Juntos por el Cambio (Together for Change) or JxC [Horacio Rodríguez LARRETA] (includes CC-ARI, PRO, and UCR); note - primary opposition coalition since 2019
Juntos Somos Río Negro (Together We Are Rio Negro) or JSRN [Alberto WERETILNECK]
Justicialist Party or PJ [Alberto Angel FERNÁNDEZ]
La Cámpora [Maximo KIRCHNER]
La Libertad Avanza (The Liberty Advances) or LLA [Javier MILEI]
Movimiento Popular Neuquino (Neuquén People's Movement) or MPN [Omar GUTIÉRREZ]
Movimiento Socialista de los Trabajadores (Workers' Socialist Movement) or MST [Vilma RIPOLL, Alejandro BODART]
Partido de los Trabajadores Socialistas (Socialist Workers' Party) or PTS [Nicolás DEL CAÑO]
Partido Obrero (Workers' Party) or PO [Gabriel SOLANO]
Partido Socialista or PS [Mónica Haydée FEIN]
Propuesta Republicana (Republican Proposal) or PRO [Mauricio MACRI]
Unidad Federal (coalition of provencial parties in the lower house; includes FRCS and JSRN)
Unión Cívica Radical (Radical Civic Union) or UCR [Gerardo Rubén MORALES]
Vamos con Vos (Let's Go with You) or VcV [Florencio RANDAZZO]
" diff --git a/south-asia/bg.json b/south-asia/bg.json index 97b5a968..e9162634 100644 --- a/south-asia/bg.json +++ b/south-asia/bg.json @@ -511,13 +511,13 @@ }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { - "text": "3.6 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "3.6 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "industrial": { - "text": "770 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "770 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "agricultural": { - "text": "31.5 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "31.5 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { diff --git a/south-asia/bt.json b/south-asia/bt.json index 6b8e0f92..3676fafa 100644 --- a/south-asia/bt.json +++ b/south-asia/bt.json @@ -418,13 +418,13 @@ }, "Total water withdrawal": { "municipal": { - "text": "17 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "20 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "industrial": { - "text": "3 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "3 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" }, "agricultural": { - "text": "318 million cubic meters (2017 est.)" + "text": "320 million cubic meters (2019 est.)" } }, "Total renewable water resources": { @@ -525,7 +525,7 @@ "text": "bicameral Parliament or Chi Tshog consists of:
The surface of the Earth is approximately 70.9% water and 29.1% land. The former portion is divided into large bodies termed oceans. The World Factbook recognizes and describes five oceans, which are in decreasing order of size: the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean. Because of their immense size, the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are generally divided at the equator into the North and South Pacific Oceans and the North and South Atlantic Oceans, thus creating seven major water bodies - the so-called \"Seven Seas.\"
Some 97.5% of the Earth's water is saltwater. Of the 2.5% that is fresh, about two-thirds is frozen mostly locked up in the Antarctic ice sheets and mountain glaciers worldwide. If all the surface ice on earth fully melted, the sea level would rise about 70 m (230 ft).
In a 100-year period, a water molecule spends 98 years in the ocean, 20 months as ice, about two weeks in lakes and rivers, and less than a week in the atmosphere. Groundwater can take 50 years to just traverse 1 km (0.6 mi).
Earth's land portion is generally divided into several, large, discrete landmasses termed continents. Depending on the convention used, the number of continents can vary from five to seven. The most common classification recognizes seven, which are (from largest to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. Asia and Europe are sometimes lumped together into a Eurasian continent resulting in six continents. Alternatively, North and South America are sometimes grouped as simply the Americas, resulting in a continent total of six (or five, if the Eurasia designation is used).
North America is commonly understood to include the island of Greenland, the isles of the Caribbean, and to extend south all the way to the Isthmus of Panama. The easternmost extent of Europe is generally defined as being the Ural Mountains and the Ural River; on the southeast the Caspian Sea; and on the south the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean. Portions of five countries - Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey - fall within both Europe and Asia, but in every instance the larger section is in Asia. These countries are considered part of both continents. Armenia and Cyprus, which lie completely in Western Asia, are geopolitically European countries.
Asia usually incorporates all the islands of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The islands of the Pacific are often lumped with Australia into a \"land mass\" termed Oceania or Australasia. Africa's northeast extremity is frequently delimited at the Isthmus of Suez, but for geopolitical purposes, the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula is often included as part of Africa.
Although the above groupings are the most common, different continental dispositions are recognized or taught in certain parts of the world, with some arrangements more heavily based on cultural spheres rather than physical geographic considerations.
Based on the seven-continent model, and grouping islands with adjacent continents, Africa has the most countries with 54. Europe contains 49 countries and Asia 48, but these two continents share five countries: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey. North America consists of 23 sovereign states, Oceania has 14, and South America 12.
countries by continent: Africa (54): Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe;
Europe (49): Albania, Andorra, Austria, Azerbaijan*, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia*, Germany, Greece, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan*, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia*, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey*, Ukraine, United Kingdom (* indicates part of the country is also in Asia);
Asia (48): Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan*, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Georgia*, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan*, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia*, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkey*, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen (* indicates part of the country is also in Europe);
North America (23): Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United States;
Oceania (14): Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu;
South America (12): Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
Three of the states described above – France, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom – consist of smaller political entities that are referred to as countries. France considers French Polynesia an overseas country; the Kingdom of the Netherlands refers to all four of its constituent parts (Netherlands [proper], and the islands of Aruba, Curacao, and Sint Maarten) as countries; and the United Kingdom comprises the countries of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. While not recognized as sovereign states, The World Factbook does includes descriptive entries for the French and Dutch island \"countries.\"
the world from space: Earth is the only planet in the Solar System to have water in its three states of matter: liquid (oceans, lakes, and rivers), solid (ice), and gas (water vapor in clouds); from a distance, Earth would be the brightest of the eight planets in the Solar System; this luminous effect would be because of the sunlight reflected by the planet's water
Earth is also the only planet in the Solar System known to be active with earthquakes and volcanoes; these events form the landscape, replenish carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and erase impact craters caused by meteors
Earth has a slight equatorial bulge - a difference between its equatorial and polar diameters - because of the centrifugal force exerted by the rotation of the planet about its axis. The equatorial diameter is 12,756 km, but the polar diameter is 12,714 km. This results in the Earth's circumference at the equator being 40,075 km, while the polar circumference is 40,008 km.
The surface of the Earth is approximately 70.9% water and 29.1% land. The former portion is divided into large bodies termed oceans. The World Factbook recognizes and describes five oceans, which are in decreasing order of size: the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean. Because of their immense size, the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are generally divided at the equator into the North and South Pacific Oceans and the North and South Atlantic Oceans, thus creating seven major water bodies - the so-called \"Seven Seas.\"
Some 97.5% of the Earth's water is saltwater. Of the 2.5% that is fresh, about two-thirds is frozen mostly locked up in the Antarctic ice sheets and mountain glaciers worldwide. If all the surface ice on earth fully melted, the sea level would rise about 70 m (230 ft).
In a 100-year period, a water molecule spends 98 years in the ocean, 20 months as ice, about two weeks in lakes and rivers, and less than a week in the atmosphere. Groundwater can take 50 years to just traverse 1 km (0.6 mi).
Earth's land portion is generally divided into several, large, discrete landmasses termed continents. Depending on the convention used, the number of continents can vary from five to seven. The most common classification recognizes seven, which are (from largest to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. Asia and Europe are sometimes lumped together into a Eurasian continent resulting in six continents. Alternatively, North and South America are sometimes grouped as simply the Americas, resulting in a continent total of six (or five, if the Eurasia designation is used).
North America is commonly understood to include the island of Greenland, the isles of the Caribbean, and to extend south all the way to the Isthmus of Panama. The easternmost extent of Europe is generally defined as being the Ural Mountains and the Ural River; on the southeast the Caspian Sea; and on the south the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean. Portions of five countries - Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey - fall within both Europe and Asia, but in every instance the larger section is in Asia. These countries are considered part of both continents. Armenia and Cyprus, which lie completely in Western Asia, are geopolitically European countries.
Asia usually incorporates all the islands of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The islands of the Pacific are often lumped with Australia into a \"land mass\" termed Oceania or Australasia. Africa's northeast extremity is frequently delimited at the Isthmus of Suez, but for geopolitical purposes, the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula is often included as part of Africa.
Although the above groupings are the most common, different continental dispositions are recognized or taught in certain parts of the world, with some arrangements more heavily based on cultural spheres rather than physical geographic considerations.
Based on the seven-continent model, and grouping islands with adjacent continents, Africa has the most countries with 54. Europe contains 49 countries and Asia 48, but these two continents share five countries: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey. North America consists of 23 sovereign states, Oceania has 14, and South America 12.
countries by continent: Africa (54): Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe;
Europe (49): Albania, Andorra, Austria, Azerbaijan*, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia*, Germany, Greece, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan*, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia*, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey*, Ukraine, United Kingdom (* indicates part of the country is also in Asia);
Asia (48): Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan*, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, Cyprus, Georgia*, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan*, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia*, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkey*, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen (* indicates part of the country is also in Europe);
North America (23): Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United States;
Oceania (14): Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu;
South America (12): Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Three of the states described above – France, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom – consist of smaller political entities that are referred to as countries. France considers French Polynesia an overseas country; the Kingdom of the Netherlands refers to all four of its constituent parts (Netherlands [proper], and the islands of Aruba, Curacao, and Sint Maarten) as countries; and the United Kingdom comprises the countries of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. While not recognized as sovereign states, The World Factbook does includes descriptive entries for the French and Dutch island \"countries.\"
the world from space: Earth is the only planet in the Solar System to have water in its three states of matter: liquid (oceans, lakes, and rivers), solid (ice), and gas (water vapor in clouds). From a distance, Earth would be the brightest of the eight planets in the Solar System; this luminous effect would be because of the sunlight reflected by the planet's water.
Earth is also the only planet in the Solar System known to be active with earthquakes and volcanoes due to plate tectonics; these events form the landscape, replenish carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and erase impact craters caused by meteors.
Earth has a slight equatorial bulge - a difference between its equatorial and polar diameters - because of the centrifugal force exerted by the rotation of the planet about its axis. The equatorial diameter is 12,756 km, but the polar diameter is 12,714 km; this results in the Earth's circumference at the equator being 40,075 km, while the polar circumference is 40,008 km.
large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones); natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)
volcanism: volcanism is a fundamental driver and consequence of plate tectonics, the physical process reshaping the Earth's lithosphere; the world is home to more than 1,500 potentially active volcanoes, with over 500 of these having erupted in historical times; an estimated 500 million people live near these volcanoes; associated dangers include lava flows, lahars (mudflows), pyroclastic flows, ash clouds, ash fall, ballistic projectiles, gas emissions, landslides, earthquakes, and tsunamis; in the 1990s, the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, created a list of 16 Decade Volcanoes worthy of special study because of their great potential for destruction: Avachinsky-Koryaksky (Russia), Colima (Mexico), Etna (Italy), Galeras (Colombia), Mauna Loa (United States), Merapi (Indonesia), Nyiragongo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Rainier (United States), Sakurajima (Japan), Santa Maria (Guatemala), Santorini (Greece), Taal (Philippines), Teide (Spain), Ulawun (Papua New Guinea), Unzen (Japan), Vesuvius (Italy); see second note under \"Geography - note\"
", - "note": "Volcano superlatives:note 1: the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13.8-billion-year age estimated for the universe; the earliest widely accepted date for life appearing on earth is 3.48 billion years ago, but this date is conservative and may get pushed back further
note 2: although earthquakes can strike anywhere at any time, the vast majority occur in three large zones of the earth; the world's greatest earthquake belt, the Circum-Pacific Belt (popularly referred to as the Ring of Fire), is the zone of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; about 90% of the world's earthquakes (81% of the largest earthquakes) and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire; the belt extends northward from Chile, along the South American coast, through Central America, Mexico, the western US, southern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, to Japan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, island groups in the southwestern Pacific, and New Zealand
the second prominent belt, the Alpide, extends from Java to Sumatra, northward along the mountains of Burma, then eastward through the Himalayas, the Mediterranean, and out into the Atlantic Ocean; it accounts for about 17% of the world's largest earthquakes; the third important belt follows the long Mid-Atlantic Ridge
note 3: information on the origin sites for many of the world's major food crops may be found in the \"Geography - note\" for the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, and the United States