orce; principal crops -
turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets, wheat; livestock - meat and
dairy products; 85% self-sufficient in food; food shortages include
bread grain, fruits, vegetables
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for hashish from North Africa to the UK and
Netherlands
Economic aid:
donor:
ODA commitments (1980-89), $90 million
Currency:
1 Irish pound (#Ir) = 100 pence
Exchange rates:
Irish pounds (#Ir) per US$1 - 0.6978 (January 1994), 0.6816 (1993),
0.5864 (1992), 0.6190 (1991), 0.6030 (1990), 0.7472 (1989)
Fiscal year:
calendar year

@Ireland, Communications

Railroads:
Irish National Railways (CIE) operates 1,947 km 1.602-meter gauge,
government owned; 485 km double track; 37 km electrified
Highways:
total:
92,294 km
paved:
87,422 km
unpaved:
gravel, crushed stone 4,872 km
Inland waterways:
limited for commercial traffic
Pipelines:
natural gas 225 km
Ports:
Cork, Dublin, Waterford
Merchant marine:
53 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 139,278 GRT/173,325 DWT, bulk 4,
cargo 32, chemical tanker 2, container 4, oil tanker 3, refrigerated
cargo 2, short-sea passenger 3, specialized tanker 3
Airports:
total:
44
usable:
42
with permanent-surface runways:
14
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
2
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
7
Telecommunications:
modern system using cable and digital microwave circuits; 900,000
telephones; broadcast stations - 9 AM, 45 FM, 86 TV; 2 coaxial
submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

@Ireland, Defense Forces

Branches:
Army (including Naval Service and Air Corps), National Police (Garda
Siochana)
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 914,052; fit for military service 739,288; reach
military age (17) annually 33,809 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $500 million, 1.3% of GDP (1993)

@Israel

Header
Affiliation:
(also see separate Gaza Strip and West Bank entries)
Note:
The territories occupied by Israel since the 1967 war are not included
in the data below. In keeping with the framework established at the
Madrid Conference in October 1991, bilateral negotiations are being
conducted between Israel and Palestinian representatives, Syria, and
Jordan to determine the final status of the occupied territories. On
25 April 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai pursuant to the 1979
Israel-Egypt Pe