Railways: total: 2,993 km standard gauge: 2,993 km 1.435-m gauge note:
of the total route length, 461 km have been taken out of service and
460 km are in only partial use; moreover, not all lines offer passenger
service (2001)

Highways: total: 8,764 km paved: 7,800 km unpaved: 964 km (2001)

Waterways: 1,600 km (used by coastal and shallow-draft river craft)

Ports and harbors: Colonia, Fray Bentos, Juan La Caze, La Paloma,
Montevideo, Nueva Palmira, Paysandu, Punta del Este, Piriapolis

Merchant marine: total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 7,752
GRT/5,228 DWT note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as
a flag of convenience: Argentina 4, Greece 1 (2002 est.) ships by type:
petroleum tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1

Airports: 64 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: 5 914 to 1,523 m: Airports - with unpaved
runways: total: 49 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 16 under 914 m:
31 (2001)

Military Uruguay

Military branches: Army, Navy (including Naval Air Arm, Coast Guard,
Marines), Air Force, Police (Coracero Guard, Grenadier Guard)

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 824,395 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 666,880
(2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $250 million (1999)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.1% (2000)

Transnational Issues Uruguay

Disputes - international: uncontested dispute with Brazil over islands
in the Rio Quarai (Rio Cuareim) and the Arroio Invernada (Arroyo de
la Invernada)

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Uzbekistan

Introduction

Uzbekistan

Background: Russia conquered Uzbekistan in the late 19th century. Stiff
resistance to the Red Army after World War I was eventually suppressed
and a socialist republic set up in 1924. During the Soviet era,
intensive production of "white gold" (cotton) and grain led to overuse
of agrochemicals and the depletion of water supplies, which have
left the land poisoned and the Aral Sea and certain rivers half dry.
Independent since 1991, the country seeks to gradually lessen its
dependence on agriculture while developing its mineral and petroleum
reserves. Current concerns include insurgency by Islamic militants
based in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, a nonconvertible currency, and the
curtailment of human rights and democratizat