any benefits of flags of convenience
and do not have to be crewed by Norwegians; the majority of ships
(761) under the Norwegian flag are now registered with the NIS
Airports:
total:
103
usable:
102
with permanent-surface runways:
65
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
13
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
15
Telecommunications:
high-quality domestic and international telephone, telegraph, and
telex services; 2 buried coaxial cable systems; 3,102,000 telephones;
broadcast stations - 46 AM, 350 private and 143 government FM, 54
(2,100 repeaters) TV; 4 coaxial submarine cables; 3 communications
satellite earth stations operating in the EUTELSAT, INTELSAT (1
Atlantic Ocean), MARISAT, and domestic systems

@Norway, Defense Forces

Branches:
Norwegian Army, Royal Norwegian Navy, Royal Norwegian Air Force, Home
Guard
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 1,119,405; fit for military service 932,438; reach
military age (20) annually 30,557 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $3.1 billion, 3.2% of GDP (1993)

@Oman, Geography

Location:
Middle East, along the Arabian Sea, between Yemen and the United Arab
Emirates
Map references:
Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
212,460 sq km
land area:
212,460 sq km
comparative area:
slightly smaller than Kansas
Land boundaries:
total 1,374 km, Saudi Arabia 676 km, UAE 410 km, Yemen 288 km
Coastline:
2,092 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
24 nm
continental shelf:
to be defined
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
territorial sea:
12 nm
International disputes:
no defined boundary with most of UAE; Administrative Line with UAE in
far north; a treaty with Yemen defining the Omani-Yemeni boundary was
ratified in December 1992
Climate:
dry desert; hot, humid along coast; hot, dry interior; strong
southwest summer monsoon (May to September) in far south
Terrain:
vast central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and south
Natural resources:
petroleum, copper, asbestos, some marble, limestone, chromium, gypsum,
natural gas
Land use:
arable land:
less than 2%
permanent crops:
0%
meadows and pastures:
5%
forest and woodland:
0%
other:
93%
Irrigated land:
410 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues:
rising soil salinity; beach pollution from oil spills; sparse natural
freshwater