Part 418

Economic aid: recipient: ODA, $122 million (1993) note: commitments from the West and international institutions, $525 million (1992-95)

Currency: 1 lat = 100 cents; introduced NA March 1993

Exchange rates: lats per US$1 - 0.544 (January 1996), 0.528 (1995), 0.560 (1994), 0.675 (1993), 0.736 (1992)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Transportation --------------

Railways: total: 2,412 km broad gauge: 2,379 km 1.520-m gauge (271 km electrified) (1992) narrow gauge: 33 km 0.750-m gauge (1994)

Highways: total: 66,718 km paved: 12,076 km unpaved: 54,642 km (1992 est.)

Waterways: 300 km perennially navigable

Pipelines: crude oil 750 km; refined products 780 km; natural gas 560 km (1992)

Ports: Daugavpils, Liepaja, Riga, Ventspils

Merchant marine: total: 56 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 519,859 GRT/678,987 DWT ships by type: cargo 7, oil tanker 24, refrigerated cargo 18, roll-on/roll-off cargo 7 (1995 est.)

Airports: total: 50 with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 6 with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 2 with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 1 with paved runways under 914 m: 27 with unpaved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 2 with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 2 with unpaved runways under 914 m: 10 (1994 est.)

Communications --------------

Telephones: 660,000 (1993 est.)

Telephone system: service is better than in most of the other former Soviet republics domestic: an NMT-450 analog cellular telephone network covers 75% of Latvia's population international: international traffic carried by leased connection to the Moscow international gateway switch, through the new Ericsson digital telephone exchange in Riga, and through the Finnish cellular net; Sprint data network carries electronic mail

Radio broadcast stations: AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA; note - there are 25 radio broadcast stations of unknown type

Radios: 1.4 million (1993 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 30

Televisions: 1.1 million (1993 est.)

Defense -------

Branches: Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Security Forces, Border Guard, Home Guard (Zemessardze)

Manpower availability: males age 15-49: 583,134 males fit for military service: 457,067 males reach military age (18) annually: 16,180 (1996 est.)

Defense expenditures: 176 million rubles, 3% to 5% of GDP (1994); note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the prevailing exchange rate could produce misleading results

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@Lebanon -------

Lebanon has made progress toward rebuilding its political institutions and regaining its national sovereignty since the end of the devastating 16-year civil war which began in 1975. Under the Ta'if accord - the blueprint for national reconciliation - the Lebanese have established a more equitable political system, particularly by giving Muslims a greater say in the political process. Since December 1990, the Lebanese have formed four cabinets and conducted the first legislative election in 20 years. Most of the militias have been weakened or disbanded. The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has seized vast quantities of weapons used by the militias during the war and extended central government authority over about one-half of the country. Hizballah, the radical Shi'a party, retains most of its weapons. Foreign forces still occupy areas of Lebanon. Israel maintains troops in southern Lebanon and continues to support a proxy militia, The Army of South Lebanon (ASL), along a narrow stretch of territory contiguous to its border. The ASL's enclave encompasses this self-declared security zone and about 20 kilometers north to the strategic town of Jazzin. Syria maintains about 30,000 troops in Lebanon. These troops are based mainly in Beirut, North Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley. Syria's deployment was legitimized by the Arab League early in Lebanon's civil war and in the Ta'if accord. Citing the continued weakness of the LAF, Beirut's requests, and failure of the Lebanese Government to implement all of the constitutional reforms in the Ta'if accord, Damascus has so far refused to withdraw its troops from Beirut.

Map ---

Location: 33 50 N, 35 50 E -- Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria