or force: NA
by occupation: most employment is in the tourist industry (1996)

Unemployment rate: 0.6% (1996 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $376 million
expenditures: $409 million, including capital expenditures of $107
million (1997 est.)

Industries: tourism, transshipment facilities, oil refining

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity-capacity: 90,000 kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 340 million kWh (1995)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 5,154 kWh (1995)

Agriculture-products: aloes; livestock; fishing

Exports:
total value: $1.7 billion (including oil re-exports) (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: mostly refined petroleum products
partners: US 64%, EU

Imports:
total value: $2 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: food, consumer goods, manufactures, petroleum products,
crude oil for refining and reexport
partners: US 8%, EU

Debt-external: $669 million (December 1995)

Economic aid: the Netherlands provided a 1996 aid package of $224
million to Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles, and Suriname

Currency: 1 Aruban florin (Af.) = 100 cents

Exchange rates: Aruban florins (Af.) per US$1-1.7900 (fixed rate since
1986)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones: 22,922 (1993 est.)

Telephone system:
domestic: more than adequate
international: 1 submarine cable to Sint Maarten (Netherlands
Antilles); extensive interisland microwave radio relay links

Radio broadcast stations: AM 4, FM 4, shortwave 0

Radios: NA

Television broadcast stations: 1

Televisions: 19,000 (1993 est.)

@Aruba:Transportation

Railways: 0 km

Highways:
total: NA km
paved: NA km
unpaved: NA km
note: most coastal roads are paved, while unpaved roads serve large
tracts of the interior

Ports and harbors: Barcadera, Oranjestad, Sint Nicolaas

Merchant marine:
total: 2 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 18,365 GRT/29,170
DWT (1997 est.)

Airports: 2 (1997 est.)

Airports-with paved runways:
total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (1997 est.)

@Aruba:Military

Military-note: defense is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands

@Aruba:Transnational Issues

Disputes-international: none

Illicit drugs: drug money-laundering center and transit point for
narcotics bound for the US and Europe; added to the US list of major
drug producing or drug transit countries in December 1996

______________________________________________________________________

ASHMOR