Table Of ContentA R C TIC
o
C £ A N
Greenland
Estonia
latvia
lithuania
Belarus
~ Czech Repub
Slovakia
Austria
Northern Ireland Hungary
Ireland Romania
Netherlands Moldova
Belgium Bullaria
kraine
luxembourl-:=~~:;~~~
Germany-
:===:r;:::;:=:i.~~:iiJ} o<:..r::~~
liSecwhitteznersltaenind
MMoanarcoi no':t~~~~F;t~~
San
Andorra
Vatican City State
Portugal
U nit e d
S
Senegal
Gambia
Cape Verde Islands
Guinea-Biss~~_-.l;;;;:;'~
Guinea
Sierra leone __~ ~ __. .J
Barbuda -t.. Burkina Faso
l iberia -""'.--.cv----~.,.
C(
,.I
Equatorial Guinea ','
RIC A Democratic Republic
o oflhc Congo
Bra ~ i I
P A elF I C
Swaziland
lesotho
o C £ A N
ALASKA
a. Slove~ia Russia
b. Croa~laa nd Herzelovina
c. Bosma . Serbia)
d. YU'OSlavla(< MonICneIl'O)
e. YUloslavla
f. Macedoma
,
P 'A c I F I c
0. Nonhcrn Marianas o c E A N
... .. .... ...•. - . . Marshall I stands
F~atcd Sc:"es o
ibouli or Microneu
)maliland
~~ Kiribati
Maldives~: •
Nauru
'.:Tuvalu
.. -. S-
Islands " Fiji
eychelles o. :Tonp
Vaauatu
I N D I A N
4Maurilius A u s I r a 1
0 C £ A N
Anlarclica
POLITICAL HANDBOOK
OF THE WORLD: 1998
Governments and Intergovernmental Organizations
as of January 1, 1998
(with major political developments noted through April 1, 1998)
EDITED BY
Arthur S. Banks
Thomas C. Muller
ASSOCIATE EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR
Sean M. Phelan Hal Smith
CONSULTING EDITOR FOR UNITED KINGDOM AND
SELECTED COMMONWEALTH NATIONS
Andrew J. Milnor
INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION EDITOR
Eric J. Kimmelman
CONSUL TING EDITORS
Volkan Aytar, Matthew J. Twetten, Joseph P. Willey
PRODUCTION EDITOR
Elaine Tallman
CSA Publications
Binghamton University
State University of New York
Binghamton, New York 13902-6000
PUBLISHING HISTORY OF THE Political Handbook
A Political Handbook of Europe, 1927, ed. Malcolm W. Davis. Council on Foreign
Relations.
A Political Handbook of the World: 1928, ed. Malcolm W. Davis and Walter H.
Mallory. Harvard University Press and Yale University Press.
Political Handbook of the World: 1929, ed. Malcolm W. Davis and Walter H.
Mallory. Yale University Press.
Political Handbook of the World: 1930-1931, ed. Walter H. Mallory. Yale
University Press.
Political Handbook of the World: 1932-1962, ed. Walter H. Mallory. Harper &
Brothers.
Political Handbook and Atlas of the World: 1963 -1967, ed. Walter H. Mallory.
Harper & Row.
Political Handbook and Atlas of the World: 1968, ed. Walter H. Mallory. Simon and
Schuster.
Political Handbook and A tlas of the World: 1970, ed. Richard P. Stebbins and Alba
Amoia. Simon and Schuster.
The World This Year: 1971 -1973 (supplements to the Political Handbook and Atlas
of the World: 1970), ed. Richard P. Stebbins and Alba Amoia. Simon and
Schuster.
Political Handbook of the World: 1975, ed. Arthur S. Banks and Robert S. Jordan.
McGraw-Hill.
Political Handbook of the World: 1976 -1979, ed. Arthur S. Banks. McGraw-Hill.
Political Handbook of the World: 1980-1983, ed. Arthur S. Banks and William
Overstreet. McGraw-Hill.
Political Handbook of the World: 1984-1995, ed. Arthur S. Banks. CSA
Publications.
Political Handbook of the World: 1995 -1997, ed. Arthur S. Banks, Alan J. Day, and
Thomas C. Muller. CSA Publications.
Political Handbook of the World: 1998, ed. Arthur S. Banks and Thomas C. Muller.
CSA Publications.
(all issues annual, except for 1982-1983 and 1984-1985, which were biennial)
Copyright~ 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1983, 1981,
1980,1979,1978,1977,1976,1975 by The Research Foundation of the State University of New York. All
rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be
reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval system, without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover Ist edition 1998
Photo credits: Laurent Kabila in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Corinne Dutka (Reuters/Archive
Photos); Pol Pot on trial, Nate Thayer (Reuters/Archive Photos); starving children in North Korea, Justin
Killcullen (Trocaire/Sygma); victims of the" Asian Flu", Koji Sasahara (APlWide World Photos); Tony
Blair, Ian Waldie (Reuters/Archive Photos); Deng Xiaoping in state (Agence France-Presse); Lionel Jospin,
Bob Edme (AP/Wide World Photos); Hong Kong ceremony (Agence France-Presse).
ISBN 978-1-349-14953-7 ISBN 978-1-349-14951-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-14951-3
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 81-643916
(ISBN 978-0-333-74608-0)
CONTENTS
PREFACE . . • • • . . • • • • • . • • • • • . . • . . • • • . • . •• vii
GOVERNMENTS
Intergovernmental Organization Abbreviations • . • • . . .. 2
Afghanistan .............................. 3 Colombia ................................ 195
Albania. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Comoro Islands ........................... 201
Algeria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Democratic Republic of the Congo . . . . . . . . . . .. 206
Andorra. ............... .. ....... ........ 24 Republic of the Congo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 216
Angola................ ......... ......... 26 Costa Rica ............................... 223
Antarctica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Cote d'Ivoire ............................. 227
Antigua and Barbuda. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Croatia .................................. 232
Argentina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Cuba .................................... 237
Contested Territory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 46 Cyprus .................................. 241
Armenia......................... ........ 47 Turkish Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 246
Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Czech Republic ........................... 249
Related Territories ...................... 57 Denmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 254
Austria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Related Territories ...................... 259
Azerbaijan ............................... 62 Djibouti ................................. 260
Bahamas. ........................ ........ 65 Dominica ................................ 265
Bahrain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Dominican Republic ....................... 268
Bangladesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Ecuador ................................. 271
Barbados ................................ 77 Egypt ................................... 277
Belarus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 EI Salvador . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 285
Belgium... .. ... .. .. .. .. ....... ...... .... 84 Equatorial Guinea ......................... 290
Belize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Eritrea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 295
Benin ................................... 91 Estonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 298
Bhutan... ............... ....... ......... 96 Ethiopia ................................. 303
Bolivia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Fiji ..................................... 310
Bosnia and Herzegovina .................... 104 Finland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 314
Botswana ................................ 113 France ................................... 318
Brazil ................................... 115 Related Territories ...................... 328
Brunei .................................. 121 Gabon ................................... 333
Bulgaria ................................. 123 Gambia .................................. 338
Burkina Faso ............................. 130 Georgia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 342
Burundi ................................ 135 Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 347
Cambodia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 141 Ghana ................................... 356
Cameroon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 146 Greece .................................. 361
Canada .................................. 153 Grenada ................................. 366
Cape Verde Islands ........................ 160 Guatemala ............................... 370
Central African Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 162 Guinea .................................. 377
Chad .................................... 168 Guinea-Bissau ............................ 381
Chile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 176 Guyana .................................. 385
China ................................... 181 Haiti. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 389
People's Republic of China ............... 182 Honduras ................................ 395
Taiwan ................................ 189 Hungary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 400
CONTENTS iv CONTENTS
Iceland ................................... 406 Oman ................................... 694
India .................................... 409 Pakistan ................................. 697
Indonesia ................................ 422 Related Territories ...................... 706
Annexed Territories ..................... 427 Palau .................................... 707
Iran ..................................... 428 Panama .................................. 709
Iraq ..................................... 436 Related Territory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 713
Ireland .................................. 444 Papua New Guinea ......................... 714
Israel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 449 Paraguay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 719
Occupied and Previously Occupied Areas .... 459 Peru .................................... 723
Italy .................................... 462 Philippines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 731
Jamaica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 470 Poland .................................. 738
Japan ................................... 473 Portugal ................................. 747
Jordan ................................... 482 Related Territories ...................... 752
Kazakhstan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 489 Qatar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 753
Kenya ................................... 492 Romania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 756
Kiribati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 500 Russia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 764
Korea ................................... 502 Rwanda ................................. 776
Democratic People's Republic of Korea ..... 504 St. Kitts and Nevis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 781
Republic of Korea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 507 St. Lucia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 784
Kuwait .................................. 513 St. Vincent and the Grenadines ............... 786
Kyrgyzstan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 517 Samoa ................................... 788
Laos .................................... 520 San Marino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 791
Latvia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 524 Sao Tome and Principe ..................... 793
Lebanon ................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 528 Saudi Arabia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 796
Lesotho. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 537 Senegal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 800
Liberia .................................. 541 Seychelles ............................... 806
Libya ................................... 547 Sierra Leone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 811
Liechtenstein ............................. 552 Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 816
Lithuania ................................ 554 Slovakia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 820
Luxembourg .............................. 558 Slovenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 826
Macedonia ............................... 561 Solomon Islands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 830
Madagascar .............................. 565 Somalia ................................. 833
Malawi .................................. 570 Somaliland ............................ 838
Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 575 South Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 841
Maldives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 582 Spain ................................... 851
Mali .................................... 584 Related Territories ...................... 861
Malta ................................... 588 Sri Lanka ................................ 861
Marshall Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 591 Sudan ................................... 868
Mauritania ............................... 592 Suriname ................................ 876
Mauritius ................................ 598 Swaziland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 881
Mexico .................................. 603 Sweden .................................. 884
Federated States of Micronesia. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 610 Switzerland .............................. 889
Moldova . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 612 Syria .................................... 894
Monaco ................................. 617 Tajikistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 898
Mongolia ................................ 619 Tanzania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 902
Morocco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 622 Thailand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 908
Mozambique ............................. 630 Togo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 913
Myanmar (Burma) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 636 Tonga ................................... 919
Namibia ................................. 641 Trinidad and Tobago ....................... 921
Nauru ................................... 647 Tunisia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 925
Nepal ................................... 649 Turkey .................................. 930
Netherlands .............................. 653 Turkmenistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 938
Aruba ................................. 658 Tuvalu .................................. 941
Netherlands Antilles ..................... 659 Uganda .................................. 942
New Zealand ............................. 662 Ukraine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 948
Related Territories ...................... 667 United Arab Emirates ...................... 955
Nicaragua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 668 United Kingdom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 958
Niger ................................... 675 Related Territories ...................... 968
Nigeria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 682 Northern Ireland ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 973
Norway .................................. 689 United States ............................. 981
Related Territories ...................... 693 Related Territories ...................... 992
CONTENTS v CONTENTS
Uruguay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 995 yemen ................................. 1022
Uzbekistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1000 Yugoslavia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1028
Vanuatu ................................ 1004 Zambia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1036
Vatican City State ........................ 1008 Zimbabwe .............................. 1041
Venezuela. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1011
Vietnam ................................ 1016 Palestine Liberation Organization . . . . . . . . . . .. 1048
INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
Agency For Cultural and Technical Cooperation European Organization for Nuclear Research . .. 1095
(ACCT) ............................. 1059 European Organization for the Safety of Air
Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Navigation (Eurocontrol) ............... 1096
in Latin America (OPANAL) ............ 1060 European Space Agency (ESA) . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1097
Andean Community of Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1061 European Union (EU) ..................... 1098
ANZUS ................................ 1063 European Coal and Steel Community
Arab League . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1063 (ECSC/CECA) ....................... 1104
Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) ............... 1065 European Community (EC/CE) ............. 1105
Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1066 European Atomic Energy Community
Arctic Council (AC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1067 (EuratomiCEEA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1108
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) .. , 1067 Group of Ten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1109
Association of Caribbean States (ACS) . . . . . . .. 1068 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ............ 1111
Association of Southeast Asian Nations Indian Ocean Commission (lOC) ............ 1112
(ASEAN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1069 Inter-Governmental Authority on Development
Bank for International Settlements (BIS/BIZ) . .. 1071 (lGAD) ............................. 1113
Benelux Economic Union .................. 1072 International Criminal Police Organization
Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) ..... 1074 (ICPOlInterpol) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1114
Caribbean Community and Common Market International Energy Agency (lEA) . . . . . . . . . .. 1115
(Caricom) ........................... 1074 International Mobile Satellite Organization
Central African Customs and Economic Union (Inmarsat) ........................... 1116
(UDEAC) ........................... 1076 International Organization for Migration
Central American Common Market (IOM/OIM) .......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1117
(CACM/MCCA) ...................... 1077 International Telecommunications Satellite
Central European Initiative (CEI) ............ 1078 Organization (lntelsat) ................. 1118
Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic and Latin American Economic System (LAES/SELA) 1120
Social Development in Asia and the Pacific. 1079 Latin American Integration Association
The Commonwealth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1080 (LAINA LADI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1121
Commonwealth ofIndependent States (CIS) ... 1081 Mano River Union. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1122
Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries Nonaligned Movement (NAM) .............. 1123
(CPLP) ............................. 1083 Nordic Council. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1125
Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU) . . . .. 1084 North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Council of Europe ........................ 1085 (NATOIOTAN) . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1126
Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) . . . . . .. 1086 Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Council of the Entente. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1087 Development (OECD/OCDE) . . . . . . . . . . .. 1130
Customs Co-operation Council (CCC) ........ 1088 Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Economic Community of Central African States Europe(OSCE) ....................... 1132
(CEEAC) ............................ 1089 Organization of African Unity (OAU/OUA) . . .. 1134
Economic Community of the Great Lakes Organization of American States (OAS/OEA) .. 1136
Countries (CEPGL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1090 Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting
Economic Community of West African States Countries (OAPEC) ................... 1138
(ECOWAS/CEDEAO) ................. 1091 Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) . . .. 1093 (OECS) ............................. 1139
European Free Trade Association (EFTA) ..... 1093 Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) .. 1140
