389 lines
31 KiB
Plaintext
389 lines
31 KiB
Plaintext
SOVIET UNION
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GEOGRAPHY
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Total area: 22,402,200 km2; land area: 22,272,000 km2
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Comparative area: slightly less than 2.5 times the size of US
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Land boundaries: 19,933 km total; Afghanistan 2,384 km,
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Czechoslovakia 98 km, China 7,520 km, Finland 1,313 km, Hungary 135 km,
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Iran 1,690 km, North Korea 17 km, Mongolia 3,441 km, Norway 196 km,
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Poland 1,215 km, Romania 1,307 km, Turkey 617 km
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Coastline: 42,777 km
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Maritime claims:
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Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploitation;
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Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
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Territorial sea: 12 nm
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Disputes: bilateral negotiations are under way to resolve
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disputed sections of the boundary with China; US Government has not
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recognized the incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into
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the Soviet Union; Etorofu, Kunashiri, and Shikotan Islands and the
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Habomai island group occupied by Soviet Union since 1945, claimed by
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Japan; maritime dispute with Norway over portion of Barents Sea; has made
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no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so)
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and does not recognize the claims of any other nation; Kurdish question
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among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR
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Climate: mostly temperate to arctic continental; winters vary from
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cool along Black Sea to frigid in Siberia; summers vary from hot in
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southern deserts to cool along Arctic coast
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Terrain: broad plain with low hills west of Urals; vast coniferous
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forest and tundra in Siberia, deserts in Central Asia, mountains in south
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Natural resources: self-sufficient in oil, natural gas, coal,
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and strategic minerals (except bauxite, alumina, tantalum, tin, tungsten,
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fluorspar, and molybdenum), timber, gold, manganese, lead, zinc, nickel,
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mercury, potash, phosphates; note--the USSR is the world's largest
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producer of oil and natural gas, third in coal
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Land use: arable land 10%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
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pastures 17%; forest and woodland 41%; other 32%; includes irrigated 1%
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Environment: despite size and diversity, small percentage of land
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is arable and much is too far north; some of most fertile land is water
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deficient or has insufficient growing season; many better climates have
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poor soils; hot, dry, desiccating sukhovey wind affects south;
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desertification; continuous permafrost over much of Siberia is a major
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impediment to development
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Note: largest country in world, but unfavorably located in
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relation to major sea lanes of world
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PEOPLE
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Population: 293,047,571 (July 1991), growth rate 0.7% (1991)
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Birth rate: 17 births/1,000 population (1991)
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Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
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Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
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Infant mortality rate: 23 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
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Life expectancy at birth: 65 years male, 74 years female (1991)
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Total fertility rate: 2.4 children born/woman (1991)
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Nationality: noun--Soviet(s); adjective--Soviet
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Ethnic divisions: Russian 50.78%, Ukrainian 15.45%, Uzbek 5.84%,
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Belorussian (Byelorussian) 3.51%, Kazakh 2.85%, Azeri 2.38%, Armenian
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1.62%, Tajik 1.48%, Georgian 1.39%, Moldovan 1.17%, Lithuanian 1.07%,
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Turkmen 0.95%, Kirghiz 0.89%, Latvian 0.51%, Estonian 0.36%, other 9.75%
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Religion: Russian Orthodox 20%, Muslim 10%, Protestant, Georgian
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Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Roman Catholic 7%, Jewish less than 1%,
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atheist 60% (est.)
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Language: Russian (official); more than 200 languages and dialects
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(at least 18 with more than 1 million speakers); Slavic group 75%,
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other Indo-European 8%, Altaic 12%, Uralian 3%, Caucasian 2%
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Literacy: 98% (male 99%, female 97%) age 15 and over can
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read and write (1989)
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Labor force: 152,300,000 civilians; industry and other
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nonagricultural fields 80%, agriculture 20%; shortage of skilled labor
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(1989)
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Organized labor: the vast majority of workers are union members;
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official unions are organized within the General Confederation of Trade
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Unions (GCTU) and still operate within general guidelines set up by the
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CPSU and Soviet Government; a large number of independent trade unions
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have been formed since President Gorbachev came to power; most are
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locally or regionally based and represent workers from one enterprise
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or a group of enterprises; there are a few independent unions that claim
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a nationwide following, the most prominent of which is Independent Miners
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Trade Union set up by the country's coal miners
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GOVERNMENT
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Long-form name: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; abbreviated
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USSR
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Type: in transition to multiparty federal system
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Capital: Moscow
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Administrative divisions: 1 soviet federative socialist republic*
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(sovetskaya federativnaya sotsialistcheskaya respublika) and 14 soviet
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socialist republics (sovetskiye sotsialisticheskiye respubliki,
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singular--sovetskaya sotsialisticheskaya respublika);
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Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic,
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Belorussian (Byelorussian) Soviet Socialist Republic,
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Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic,
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Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic,
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Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic,
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Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic*,
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Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova, Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic,
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Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic,
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Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic; note--Russian Soviet Federative
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Socialist Republic is often abbreviated RSFSR and Soviet Socialist
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Republic is often abbreviated SSR; the parliaments in Armenia,
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Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, and Lithuania have removed the
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words Soviet Socialist from the names of their republics, but the central
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government has not recognized those changes; the parliament in Kirghiziya
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changed the name Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic to Republic of
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Kyrgyzstan, but the central government has not recognized that change
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Independence: 30 December 1922 (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
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established)
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Constitution: 7 October 1977
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Legal system: civil law system as modified by Communist legal
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theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted
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compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
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National holiday: Great October Socialist Revolution,
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7-8 November (1917)
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Executive branch: president
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Legislative branch: the Congress of People's Deputies (S'ezd
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Narodnykh Deputatov) is the supreme organ of USSR state power and
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selects the bicameral Supreme Soviet (Verkhovnyi Sovyet) which
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consists of two coequal houses--Soviet of the Union (Soviet Soiuza)
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and Soviet of Nationalities (Soviet Natsional'nostei)
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Judicial branch: Supreme Court of the USSR
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Leaders:
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Chief of State--President Mikhail Sergeyevich GORBACHEV
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(since 14 March 1990; former General Secretary of the Central Committee
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of the Communist Party since 11 March 1985--resigned August 1991);
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Head of Government--Prime Minister (vacant); Chairman of the
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Committee for the Operational Management of the USSR National
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Economy Ivan SILAYEV (since 24 August 1991)
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Political parties and leaders: nascent multiparty system
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Suffrage: universal at age 18
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Elections:
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President--last held 14 March 1990 (next to be held NA 1995);
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results--Mikhail Sergeyevich GORBACHEV was elected by the Congress of
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People's Deputies;
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Congress of People's Deputies--last held 17 December 1990
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(next to be held NA);
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results--NA;
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seats--(2,250 total) CPSU NA, non-CPSU NA;
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note--dissolved September 1991
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USSR Supreme Soviet--consists of the Council of the Union and
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the Council of Republics;
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Council of the Union--last held Spring 1991
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(next to be held Fall 1991);
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results--NA;
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seats--(271 total) CPSU NA, non-CPSU NA;
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Council of Republics--last held Spring 1991
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(next to be held Fall 1991);
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results--NA;
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seats--(271 total) CPSU NA, non-CPSU NA;
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note--to be reconstituted as a new legislature--date not set
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Communists: prior to August 1991 about 15 million party members,
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with membership declining
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Other political or pressure groups: formal parties, regional
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popular fronts, trade unions, and informal organizations
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Member of: CSCE, ECE, ESCAP, IAEA, IBEC, ICAO, ICFTU,
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IIB, ILO, IMO, INMARSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN, UNCTAD,
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UNESCO, UNIDO, UN Security Council, UN Trusteeship Council, UNTSO, UPU,
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WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
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Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Viktor KOMPLEKTOV;
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Chancery at 1125 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20036;
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telephone (202) 628-7551 or 8548; there is a Soviet Consulate General
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in San Francisco;
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US--Ambassador Robert S. STRAUSS; Embassy at Ulitsa Chaykovskogo
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19/21/23, Moscow (mailing address is APO New York 09862);
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telephone 7 (095) 252-2450 through 59; there is a US Consulate General
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in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad)
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Flag: red with the yellow silhouette of a crossed hammer and sickle
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below a yellow-edged five-pointed red star in the upper hoist-side corner
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ECONOMY
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Overview: The first six years of perestroyka (economic and
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political restructuring) have undermined the institutions and processes
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of the Soviet command economy without replacing them with efficiently
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functioning markets. The initial reforms have featured greater authority
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for enterprise managers over prices, wages, product mix, investment,
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sources of supply, and customers. But in the absence of effective market
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discipline, the result has been the disappearance of low-price goods,
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excessive wage increases, an even larger volume of unfinished
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construction projects, and, in general, continued economic stagnation.
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The Gorbachev regime has made at least four serious errors in economic
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policy in these six years: the unpopular and short-lived antialcohol
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campaign; the initial cutback in imports of consumer goods; the failure
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to act decisively at the beginning for the privatization of agriculture;
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and the buildup of a massive overhang of unspent rubles in the hands of
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households and enterprises. The regime has vacillated among a series of
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ambitious economic policy prescriptions put forth by leading economists
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and political leaders. The plans vary from proposals for (a) quick
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marketization of the economy; (b) gradual marketization; (c) a period
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of retrenchment to ensure a stable base for future marketization; and
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(d) a return to disciplined central planning and allocation. The
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economy, caught between two systems, is suffering from even greater
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mismatches between what is being produced and what would serve the best
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interests of enterprises and households. Meanwhile, the seething
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nationality problems have been dislocating regional patterns of economic
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specialization and pose a further major threat to growth prospects over
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the next few years. Official Soviet statistics report GNP fell by 2% in
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1990, but the actual decline was substantially greater. Whatever the
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numerical decline, it does not capture the increasing disjointures in the
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economy evidenced by emptier shelves, longer lines, increased barter, and
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widespread strikes.
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GNP: approximately $2,660 billion, per capita $9,130;
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real growth rate - 2.4% to - 5.0% (1990 est. based on a reconstruction
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of official Soviet statistics); note--because of the continued
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unraveling of Soviet economic and statistical controls, the estimate
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is subject to even greater uncertainties than in earlier years; the
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dollar estimates most likely overstate Soviet GNP to some extent because
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of an incomplete allowance for the poor quality, narrow assortment, and
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low performance characteristics of Soviet goods and services; the
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- 2.4% growth figure is based on the application of CIA's usual
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estimating methods whereas the - 5.0% figure is corrected for
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measurement problems that worsened sharply in 1990
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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 14% (1990 est.)
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Unemployment rate: official Soviet statistics imply an unemployment
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rate of 1 to 2 percent in 1990; USSR's first official unemployment
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estimate, however, is acknowledged to be rough
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Budget: revenues 422 billion rubles; expenditures 510 billion
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rubles, including capital expenditures of 53 billion rubles (1990 est.)
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Exports: $109.3 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
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commodities--petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, metals,
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wood, agricultural products, and a wide variety of manufactured goods
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(primarily capital goods and arms);
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partners--Eastern Europe 46%, EC 16%, Cuba 6%, US, Afghanistan
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(1989)
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Imports: $114.7 billion (c.i.f., 1989);
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commodities--grain and other agricultural products, machinery and
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equipment, steel products (including large-diameter pipe), consumer
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manufactures;
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partners--Eastern Europe 50%, EC 13%, Cuba, China, US (1989)
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External debt: $55 billion (1990)
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Industrial production: growth rate - 2.4% (1990 est.)
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Electricity: 350,000,000 kW capacity; 1,740,000 million kWh
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produced, 5,920 kWh per capita (1990)
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Industries: diversified, highly developed capital goods and defense
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industries; comparatively less developed consumer goods industries
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Agriculture: accounts for roughly 20% of GNP and labor force;
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production based on large collective and state farms; inefficiently
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managed; wide range of temperate crops and livestock produced; world's
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third-largest grain producer after the US and China; shortages of grain,
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oilseeds, and meat; world's leading producer of sawnwood and roundwood;
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annual fish catch among the world's largest
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Illicit drugs: illegal producer of cannabis and opium poppy,
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mostly for domestic consumption; government has begun eradication
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program to control cultivation; used as a transshipment country
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for illicit drugs to Western Europe
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Economic aid: donor--extended to non-Communist less developed
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countries (1954-89), $49.6 billion; extended to other Communist countries
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(1954-89), $154 billion
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Currency: ruble (plural--rubles); 1 ruble (R) = 100 kopeks
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Exchange rates: rubles (R) per US$1--0.580 (1990),
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0.629 (1989), 0.629 (1988), 0.633 (1987), 0.704 (1986), 0.838 (1985);
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note--as of 1 April 1991 the official exchange rate remained
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administratively set; it should not be used indiscriminately to convert
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domestic rubles to dollars; in November 1990 the USSR introduced a
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commercial exchange rate of 1.8 rubles to the dollar used for accounting
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purposes within the USSR and which was still in force on 1 April 1991;
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on 1 April 1991 the USSR introduced a new foreign-currency
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market for foreign companies and individuals; the rate will be fixed
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twice a week based on supply and demand; as of 4 April 1991 the rate
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was 27.6 rubles to the dollar; Soviet citizens traveling abroad
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are restricted to buying $200 a year at prevailing rates
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Fiscal year: calendar year
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COMMUNICATIONS
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Railroads: 147,400 km total; 53,900 km electrified; does not
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include industrial lines (1989)
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Highways: 1,757,000 km total; 1,310,600 km hard-surfaced (asphalt,
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concrete, stone block, asphalt treated, gravel, crushed stone);
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446,400 km earth (1989)
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Inland waterways: 123,700 km navigable, exclusive of Caspian
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Sea (1989)
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Pipelines: 82,000 km crude oil and refined products; 206,500 km
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natural gas (1987)
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Ports: St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad), Riga, Tallinn,
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Kaliningrad, Liepaja, Ventspils, Murmansk, Arkhangel'sk, Odessa,
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Novorossiysk, Il'ichevsk, Nikolayev, Sevastopol', Vladivostok, Nakhodka;
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inland ports are Astrakhan', Baku, Nizhniy Novgorod (Gor'kiy), Kazan',
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Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kuybyshev, Moscow, Rostov, Volgograd, Kiev
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Merchant marine: 1,565 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling
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15,243,228 GRT/20,874,488 DWT; includes 52 passenger, 898 cargo,
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52 container, 11 barge carrier, 4 roll-on/float off cargo, 5 railcar
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carrier, 114 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 230 petroleum, oils, and lubricants
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(POL) tanker, 5 liquefied gas, 17 combination ore/oil, 4 specialized
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liquid carrier, 13 chemical tanker, 160 bulk; note--594 merchant ships
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are based in Black Sea, 366 in Baltic Sea, 398 in Soviet Far East, and
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207 in Barents Sea and White Sea; the Soviet Union has been transferring
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merchant ships to a variety of flags of convenience; at the beginning
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of 1991 the USSR had 64 ships under foreign flags (Cyprus 52, Malta 7,
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Panama 2, Vanuatu 2, and Honduras 1)
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Civil air: 4,000 major transport aircraft
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Airports: 7,192 total, 4,607 usable; 1,163 with permanent-surface
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runways; 33 with runways over 3,659 m; 491 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
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661 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
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Telecommunications: 37 million telephone subscribers; phone
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density of 37 per 100 households; urban phone density is 9.2 phones
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per 100 residents; rural phone density is 2.9 per 100 residents (June
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1990);
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automatic telephone dialing with 70 countries and between 25 Soviet
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cities (April 1989);
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stations--457 AM, 131 FM, over 900 TV; 90 million TVs (December 1990)
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DEFENSE FORCES
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Branches: Ground Forces, Navy, Air Forces, Air Defense Forces,
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Strategic Rocket Forces, Command and General Support, Security Forces
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Manpower availability: males 15-49, 70,058,651; 55,931,817 fit for
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military service; 2,265,935 reach military age (18) annually
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(down somewhat from 2,500,000 a decade ago); approximately 35-40% receive
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deferments for health, education, or other reasons
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Defense expenditures: 63.9 billion rubles, NA% of GDP
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