or distances up
to 600 miles in a single hop; additional hops can extend the range of
this system for very long distances.
trunk network - a network of switching centers, connected by
multichannel trunk lines.
UHF - ultra high frequency; any radio frequency in the 300- to
3,000-MHz range.
VHF - very high frequency; any radio frequency in the 30- to 300-
MHz range.

Telephones - main lines in use
This entry gives the total number of main telephone lines in use.

Telephones - mobile cellular
This entry gives the total number of mobile cellular telephones in use.

Television - broadcast stations
This entry gives the total number of separate broadcast stations plus
any repeater stations.

Terminology
Due to the highly structured nature of the Factbook database, some
collective generic terms have to be used. For example, the word Country
in the Country name entry refers to a wide variety of dependencies,
areas of special sovereignty, uninhabited islands, and other entities
in addition to the traditional countries or independent states.
Military is also used as an umbrella term for various civil defense,
security, and defense activities in many entries. The Independence
entry includes the usual colonial independence dates and former ruling
states as well as other significant nationhood dates such as the
traditional founding date or the date of unification, federation,
confederation, establishment, or state succession that are not strictly
independence dates. Dependent areas have the nature of their dependency
status noted in this same entry.

Terrain
This entry contains a brief description of the topography.

Total fertility rate
This entry gives a figure for the average number of children that would
be born per woman if all women lived to the end of their childbearing
years and bore children according to a given fertility rate at each
age. The total fertility rate is a more direct measure of the level of
fertility than the crude birth rate, since it refers to births per
woman. This indicator shows the potential for population growth in the
country. High rates will also place some limits on the labor force
participation rates for women. Large numbers of children born to women
indicate large family sizes that might limit the ability of the
families to feed and educate their children.

Transnational Issues
This category includes only two entries at the present time - Disputes
- international and Il