Part 485

Debt - external: $2.1 billion (1994 est.)

Economic aid: recipient: ODA, $NA

Currency: 1 Liberian dollar (L$) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Liberian dollars (L$) per US$1 - 1.0000 (officially fixed rate since 1940); market exchange rate: Liberian dollars (L$) per US$1 - 50 (October 1995), 7 (January 1992); market rate floats against the US dollar

Fiscal year: calendar year

@Liberia:Communications

Telephones: less than 25,000 (1991 est.)

Telephone system: telephone and telegraph service via microwave radio relay network; main center is Monrovia; most telecommunications services inoperable due to insurgency domestic: NA international : satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 4, shortwave 0

Radios: 622,000 (1992 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 5 (1987 est.)

Televisions: 51,000 (1992 est.)

@Liberia:Transportation

Railways: total: 490 km (single track); note - three rail systems owned and operated by foreign steel and financial interests in conjunction with Liberian Government; one of these, the Lamco Railroad, closed in 1989 after iron ore production ceased; the other two have been shut down by the civil war standard gauge : 345 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 145 km 1.067-m gauge

Highways: total: 10,300 km paved: 628 km unpaved : 9,672 km (1995 est.)

Ports and harbors: Buchanan, Greenville, Harper, Monrovia

Merchant marine: total : 1,616 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 60,081,452 GRT/99,395,792 DWT ships by type: barge carrier 3, bulk 418, cargo 121, chemical tanker 117, combination bulk 29, combination ore/oil 58, container 151, liquefied gas tanker 83, multifunction large-load carrier 1, oil tanker 450, passenger 36, refrigerated cargo 68, roll-on/roll-off cargo 29, short-sea passenger 1, specialized tanker 11, vehicle carrier 40 note: a flag of convenience registry; includes ships from 56 countries among which are Germany 179, US 176, Norway 166, Japan 154, Greece 147, Hong Kong 120, China 45, UK 40, Monaco 39, and Cyprus 33 (1996 est.)

Airports: 36 (1996 est.)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 30 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m : 1 under 914 m: 28 (1996 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways: total : 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 4 (1996 est.)

Military

Military branches: NA; the ultimate structure of the Liberian military force will depend on who is the victor in the ongoing civil war

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49 : 592,730 (1997 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males: 316,906 (1997 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $14 million (1993)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.9% (1993)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: none