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Finland-The Finnish Civil War

Finland Index

Victory parade by German and Finnish White Guard troops, Helsinki, May 1918
Courtesy Embassy of Finland, Washington

The Revolution that was underway in Russia by March 8, 1917, spread to Helsinki on March 16, when the Russian fleet in Helsinki mutinied. The Provisional Government promulgated the so- called March Manifesto, which cancelled all previous unconstitutional legislation of the tsarist government regarding Finland. The Finns overwhelmingly favored independence, but the Provisional Government granted them neither independence nor any real political power, except in the realm of administration. As during the Revolution of 1905, most actual power in Finland was wielded by the local strike committees, of which there were usually two: one, middle-class; the other, working-class. Also as before, each of the two factions in Finnish society had its own private army: the middle-class, the Civil Guard; and the workers, the Red Guard. The disintegration of the normal organs of administration and order, especially the police, and their replacement by local strike committees and militias unsettled society and led to a growing sense of unease.

Contention among political factions grew. The SDP first sought to use its parliamentary majority to increase its power at the expense of the Provisional Government. In July 1917, it passed the so-called Power Act, which made the legislature supreme in Finland, and which reserved only matters of foreign affairs and defense for the Provisional Government. The latter thereupon dissolved the Finnish parliament and called for new elections. The campaign for these new elections was bitterly fought between the socialists and the nonsocialists. Violence between elements of the middle class and the working class escalated at this time, and murders were committed by both sides. The nonsocialists won in the election, reducing the socialist contingent in the parliament to 92 of 200 seats, below the threshold of an absolute majority.

Meanwhile, the socialists were becoming disillusioned with parliamentary politics. Their general failure to accomplish anything, using parliamentary action, from 1907 to 1917 contrasted strongly with their successes in the 1905 to 1906 period, using direct action. By autumn 1917, the trend in the SDP was for the rejection of parliamentary means in favor of revolutionary action. The high unemployment and the serious food shortages suffered, in particular, by the Finnish urban workers accelerated the growth of revolutionary fervor. The SDP proposed a comprehensive program of social reform, known as the We Demand (Me vaadimme) in late October 1917, but it was rejected by parliament, now controlled by the middle class. Acts of political violence then became more frequent. Finnish society was gradually dividing into two camps, both armed, and both intent on total victory.

The Bolshevik takeover in Russia in November 1917 heightened emotions in Finland. For the middle classes, the Bolsheviks aroused the specter of living under revolutionary socialism. Workers, however, were inspired by the apparent efficacy of revolutionary action. The success of the Bolsheviks emboldened the Finnish workers to begin a general strike on November 14, 1917, and within forty-eight hours they controlled most of the country. The most radical workers wanted to convert the general strike into a full seizure of power, but they were dissuaded by the SDP leaders, who were still committed to democratic procedures and who helped to bring an end to the strike by November 20. Already there were armed clashes between the Red Guards and the White Guards; during and after the general strike, a number of people were killed.

Following the general strike, the middle and the upper classes were in no mood for compromise, particularly because arms shipments and the return of some jaegers from Germany were transforming the White Guard into a credible fighting force. In November a middle-class government was established under the tough and uncompromising Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, and on December 6, 1917, it declared Finland independent. Since then, December 6 has been celebrated in Finland as Independence Day. True to his April Theses that called for the self-determination of nations, Lenin's Bolshevik government recognized Finland's independence on December 31.

Throughout December 1917 and January 1918, the Svinhufvud government demonstrated that it would make no concessions to the socialists and that it would rule without them. The point of no return probably was passed on January 9, 1918, when the government authorized the White Guard to act as a state security force and to establish law and order in Finland. That decision in turn encouraged the workers to make a preemptive strike, and in the succeeding days, revolutionary elements took over the socialist movement and called for a general uprising to begin on the night of January 27-28, 1918. Meanwhile, the government had appointed a Swedish-speaking Finn and former tsarist general, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (1867-1951), as the commander of its military forces, soon to be called the Whites. Independently of the Reds, Mannerheim also called for military action to begin on the night of January 27-28. Whether or not the civil war was avoidable has been debated ever since, but both sides must share in the responsibility for its outbreak because of their unwillingness to compromise.

Within a few days of the outbreak of the civil war, the front lines had stabilized. The Whites, whose troops were mostly farmers, controlled the northern and more rural part of the country. The Reds, who drew most of their support from the urban working class, controlled the southern part of the country, as well as the major cities and industrial centers and about one- half of the population. The Red forces numbered 100,000 to 140,000 during the course of the war, whereas the Whites mustered at most about 70,000.

The soldiers of both armies displayed great heroism on the battlefield; nevertheless, the Whites had a number of telling advantages--probably the most important of which was professional leadership--that made them the superior force. Mannerheim, the Whites' military leader, was a professional soldier who was experienced in conducting large-scale operations, and his strategic judgment guided the White cause almost flawlessly. He was aided by the influx of jaegers from Germany, most of whom were allowed to return to Finland in February 1918. The White side also had a number of professional Swedish military officers, who brought military professionalism even to the small-unit level. In addition, beginning in February, the Whites had better equipment, most of which was supplied by Germany. Finally, the Whites had the benefit of more effective foreign intervention on their side. The approximately 40,000 Russian troops remaining in Finland in January 1918 helped the Finnish Reds to a small extent, especially in such technical areas as artillery, but these troops were withdrawn after the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918, and thus were gone before fighting reached the crucial stage. On the White side, however, the Germans sent not only the jaegers and military equipment but also a reinforced division of first-rate troops, the Baltic Division, which proved superior to the Reds.

The Red Guards suffered from several major disadvantages: poor leadership, training, and equipment; food shortages; the practice of electing officers democratically, which made discipline lax; and the general unwillingness of the Red troops to go on offensive operations or even to operate outside their local areas. Ultimately, the Reds suffered most from a lack of dynamic leadership. There was no Finnish Lenin to direct the revolution, and there was no Finnish Trotsky to vitalize the Red armed forces. These Red disadvantages became apparent in late March and early April 1918, when the Whites won a decisive victory by reducing the Red stronghold of Tampere, the major inland industrial center. At about the same time, German forces landed along the southern coast, quickly driving all before them, securing Helsinki on April 13 and, in the process, destroying about half of the remaining effective strength of the Red Guards. The last Red strongholds in southeastern Finland were cleared out in late April and early May 1918, and thousands of Finnish Reds, including the Red leadership, escaped into the Soviet Union. On May 16, 1918, General Mannerheim entered Helsinki, formally marking the end of the conflict. Each year thereafter, until World War II, May 16 was celebrated by the Whites as a kind of second independence day.

The tragedy of the civil war was compounded by a reign of terror that was unleashed by each side. In Red-dominated areas, 1,649 people, mostly businessmen, independent farmers, and other members of the middle class were murdered for political reasons. This Red Terror appears not to have been a systematic effort to liquidate class enemies, but rather to have been generally random. The Red Terror was disavowed by the Red leadership and illustrated the extent to which the Red Guard evaded the control of the leadership. More than anything else, the Red Terror helped to alienate the populace from the Red cause; it also harmed the morale of the Reds.

The Red Terror confirmed the belief of the Whites that the Reds were criminals and traitors and were therefore not entitled to the protection of the rules of war. As a consequence, the Whites embarked on their own reign of terror, the White Terror, which proved much more ferocious than the Red Terror. First, there were reprisals against defeated Reds, in the form of mass executions of Red prisoners. These killings were carried on by local White commanders over the opposition of White leadership. At least 8,380 Reds were killed, more than half after the Whites' final victory. Another component of the White Terror was the suffering of the Reds imprisoned after the war. The Whites considered these Reds to be criminals and feared that they might start another insurrection. By May 1918, they had captured about 80,000 Red troops, whom they could neither house nor feed. Placed in a number of detention camps, the prisoners suffered from malnutrition and general neglect, and within a few months an estimated 12,000 of them had died. The third aspect of the White Terror was legal repression. As a result of mass trials, approximately 67,000 Reds were convicted of participating in the war, and of these 265 were executed; the remainder lost their rights of citizenship, although many sentences were later suspended or commuted.

The civil war was a catastrophe for Finland. In only a few months, about 30,000 Finns perished, less than a quarter of them on the battlefield, the rest in summary executions and in detention camps. These deaths amounted to about 1 percent of the total population of Finland. By comparison, the bloodiest war in the history of the United States, the Civil War, cost the lives of about 2 percent of the population, but that loss was spread out over four years.

The memory of the injuries perpetrated during the war divided the society into two camps; victors and vanquished. The working class had suffered the deaths of about 25,000 from battle, execution, or prison, and thousands of others had been imprisoned or had lost their political rights. Almost every working-class family had a direct experience of suffering or death at the hands of the Whites, and perhaps as much as 40 percent of the population was thereby alienated from the system. As a result, for several generations thereafter, a large number of Finns expressed their displeasure with the system by voting communist; and until the 1960s, the communists often won a fifth or more of the vote in Finland's national elections, a higher percentage than they did in most Western democracies.

The divisions in society that resulted from the conflict were so intense that the two sides could not even agree on what it ought to be called. The right gave it the name "War of Independence," thereby stressing the struggle against Russian rule, for they had feared that a Red victory could well lead to the country's becoming a Soviet satellite. Leftists emphasized the domestic dimensions of the conflict, referring to it by the term "Civil War." Their feelings about the course of the hostilities were so intense that, until the late 1930s, Social Democrats refused to march in the Independence Day parade. Today, with the passing of decades, historians have generally come to define the clash as a civil war.

Data as of December 1988

Background		Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries, and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809. It won its complete independence in 1917. During World War II, it was able to successfully defend its freedom and resist invasions by the Soviet Union - albeit with some loss of territory. In the subsequent half century, the Finns made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is now among the highest in Western Europe. A member of the European Union since 1995, Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999.
Location		Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Sweden and Russia
Area(sq km)		total: 338,145 sq km land: 303,815 sq km water: 34,330 sq km
Geographic coordinates		64 00 N, 26 00 E
Land boundaries(km)		total: 2,654 km border countries: Norway 727 km, Sweden 614 km, Russia 1,313 km
Coastline(km)		1,250 km
Climate		cold temperate; potentially subarctic but comparatively mild because of moderating influence of the North Atlantic Current, Baltic Sea, and more than 60,000 lakes
Elevation extremes(m)		lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m highest point: Haltiatunturi 1,328 m
Natural resources		timber, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, nickel, gold, silver, limestone
Land use(%)		arable land: 6.54% permanent crops: 0.02% other: 93.44% (2005)
Irrigated land(sq km)		640 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources(cu km)		110 cu km (2005)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)		total: 2.33 cu km/yr (14%/84%/3%) per capita: 444 cu m/yr (1999)
Natural hazards		NA
Environment - current issues		air pollution from manufacturing and power plants contributing to acid rain; water pollution from industrial wastes, agricultural chemicals; habitat loss threatens wildlife populations
Environment - international agreements		party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note		long boundary with Russia; Helsinki is northernmost national capital on European continent; population concentrated on small southwestern coastal plain
Population		5,250,275 (July 2009 est.)
Age structure(%)		0-14 years: 16.4% (male 438,425/female 422,777) 15-64 years: 66.8% (male 1,773,495/female 1,732,792) 65 years and over: 16.8% (male 357,811/female 524,975) (2009 est.)
Median age(years)		total: 42.1 years male: 40.5 years female: 43.7 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate(%)		0.098% (2009 est.)
Birth rate(births/1,000 population)		10.38 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate(deaths/1,000 population)		10.07 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population)		0.68 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Urbanization(%)		urban population: 63% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 0.8% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Sex ratio(male(s)/female)		at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate(deaths/1,000 live births)		total: 3.47 deaths/1,000 live births male: 3.78 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.15 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth(years)		total population: 78.97 years male: 75.48 years female: 82.61 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate(children born/woman)		1.73 children born/woman (2009 est.)
Nationality		noun: Finn(s) adjective: Finnish
Ethnic groups(%)		Finn 93.4%, Swede 5.6%, Russian 0.5%, Estonian 0.3%, Roma (Gypsy) 0.1%, Sami 0.1% (2006)
Religions(%)		Lutheran Church of Finland 82.5%, Orthodox Church 1.1%, other Christian 1.1%, other 0.1%, none 15.1% (2006)
Languages(%)		Finnish 91.2% (official), Swedish 5.5% (official), other 3.3% (small Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities) (2007)
Country name		conventional long form: Republic of Finland conventional short form: Finland local long form: Suomen tasavalta/Republiken Finland local short form: Suomi/Finland
Government type		republic
Capital		name: Helsinki geographic coordinates: 60 10 N, 24 56 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Administrative divisions		6 provinces (laanit, singular - laani); Ahvenanmaan Laani (Aland), Etela-Suomen Laani (Southern Finland), Ita-Suomen Laani (Eastern Finland), Lansi-Suomen Laani (Western Finland), Lapin Laani (Lapland), Oulun Laani
Constitution		1-Mar-00
Legal system		civil law system based on Swedish law; the president may request the Supreme Court to review laws; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Suffrage		18 years of age; universal
Executive branch		chief of state: President Tarja HALONEN (since 1 March 2000) head of government: Prime Minister Matti VANHANEN (since 24 June 2003); Deputy Prime Minister Jyrki KATAINEN (since 19 April 2007) cabinet: Council of State or Valtioneuvosto appointed by the president, responsible to parliament elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 15 January 2006 (next to be held in January 2012); the president appoints the prime minister and deputy prime minister from the majority party or the majority coalition after parliamentary elections and the parliament must approve the appointment; Prime Minister VANHANEN reelected 17 April 2007 election results: percent of vote - Tarja HALONEN (SDP) 46.3%, Sauli NIINISTO (Kok) 24.1%, Matti VANHANEN (Kesk) 18.6%, Heidi HAUTALA (VIHR) 3.5%; a runoff election between HALONEN and NIINISTO was held 29 January 2006 - HALONEN 51.8%, NIINISTO 48.2%; Matti VANHANEN reelected prime minister; election results 121-71 note: government coalition - Kesk, KOK, VIHR, and SFP
Legislative branch		unicameral Parliament or Eduskunta (200 seats; members are elected by popular vote on a proportional basis to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 18 March 2007 (next to be held March 2011) election results: percent of vote by party - Kesk 23.1%, Kok 22.3%, SDP 21.4%, VAS 8.8%, VIHR 8.5%, KD 4.9%, SFP 4.5%, True Finns 4.1%, other 3.4%; seats by party - Kesk 51, Kok 50, SDP 45, VAS 17, VIHR 15, SFP 9, KD 7, True Finns 5, other 1
Judicial branch		Supreme Court or Korkein Oikeus (judges appointed by the president)
International organization participation		ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G-9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WEU (observer), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Flag description		white with a blue cross extending to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag); the blue represents the thousands of lakes scattered across the country, while the white is for the snow that covers the land in winter
Economy - overview		Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free-market economy with per capita output roughly that of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy. Its key economic sector is manufacturing - principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries. Trade is important; Finland's ratio of exports to GDP has risen from a quarter to 37% over the past 15 years. Finland excels in high-tech exports such as mobile phones. Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imports of raw materials, energy, and some components for manufactured goods. Because of the climate, agricultural development is limited to maintaining self-sufficiency in basic products. Forestry, an important export earner, provides a secondary occupation for the rural population. Although Finland has been one of the best performing economies within the EU in recent years and its banks and financial markets have avoided the worst of global financial crisis, the world slowdown has hit export growth and domestic demand and will serve as a brake on economic growth in 2009 and 2010. The slowdown of construction, other investment, and exports will cause unemployment to rise. During 2009, unemployment will climb to over 8% of the labor force. Long-term challenges include the need to address a rapidly aging population and decreasing productivity that threaten competitiveness, fiscal sustainability, and economic growth.
GDP (purchasing power parity)		$194 billion (2008 est.) $192.4 billion (2007 est.) $184.8 billion (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate)		$271.9 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate(%)		0.8% (2008 est.) 4.1% (2007 est.) 4.9% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP)		$37,000 (2008 est.) $36,700 (2007 est.) $35,300 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector(%)		agriculture: 2.8% industry: 32.4% services: 64.9% (2008 est.)
Labor force		2.703 million (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation(%)		agriculture and forestry 4.5%, industry 18.3%, construction 7.3%, commerce 16%, finance, insurance, and business services 14.5%, transport and communications 7%, public services 32.4% (2008)
Unemployment rate(%)		6.4% (2008 est.) 6.9% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line(%)		NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share(%)		lowest 10%: 3.6% highest 10%: 24.7% (2007)
Distribution of family income - Gini index		29.5 (2007) 25.6 (1991)
Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP)		20.6% of GDP (2008 est.)
Budget		revenues: $143.8 billion expenditures: $132.3 billion (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%)		4.1% (2008 est.) 2.5% (2007 est.)
Stock of money		$NA (31December 2008) $NA (31 December 2007) note: see entry for the European Union for money supply in the euro area; the European Central Bank (ECB) controls monetary policy for the 16 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of money and quasi money circulating within their own borders
Stock of quasi money		$NA (31 December 2008) $NA (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit		$241.1 billion (31 December 2008) $225.4 billion (31 December 2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares		$NA (31 December 2008) $369.2 billion (31 December 2007) $265.5 billion (31 December 2006)
Public debt(% of GDP)		33.7% of GDP (2008 est.) 46.8% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products		barley, wheat, sugar beets, potatoes; dairy cattle; fish
Industries		metals and metal products, electronics, machinery and scientific instruments, shipbuilding, pulp and paper, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, clothing
Industrial production growth rate(%)		0.4% (2008 est.)
Current account balance		$5.518 billion (2008 est.) $10.12 billion (2007 est.)
Exports		$96.62 billion (2008 est.) $90.2 billion (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities(%)		electrical and optical equipment, machinery, transport equipment, paper and pulp, chemicals, basic metals; timber
Exports - partners(%)		Russia 11.6%, Sweden 10%, Germany 10%, US 6.4%, UK 5.5%, Netherlands 5.1% (2008)
Imports		$87.51 billion (2008 est.) $78.22 billion (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities(%)		foodstuffs, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, transport equipment, iron and steel, machinery, textile yarn and fabrics, grains
Imports - partners(%)		Russia 16.3%, Germany 15.7%, Sweden 13.6%, Netherlands 6.3%, China 5.1%, UK 4.2% (2008)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold		$8.346 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $8.385 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external		$339.5 billion (31 December 2008) $314.1 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home		$84.44 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $88.69 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad		$116 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $114.2 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Exchange rates		euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6827 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Currency (code)		euro (EUR)
Telephones - main lines in use		1.65 million (2008)
Telephones - mobile cellular		6.83 million (2008)
Telephone system		general assessment: modern system with excellent service domestic: digital fiber-optic fixed-line network and an extensive cellular network provide domestic needs international: country code - 358; submarine cables provide links to Estonia and Sweden; satellite earth stations - access to Intelsat transmission service via a Swedish satellite earth station, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions); note - Finland shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden)
Internet country code		.fi; note - Aland Islands assigned .ax
Internet users		4.383 million (2008)
Airports		148 (2009)
Pipelines(km)		gas 694 km (2008)
Roadways(km)		total: 78,141 km paved: 50,914 km (includes 700 km of expressways) unpaved: 27,227 km (2009)
Ports and terminals		Hamina, Helsinki, Kokkola, Kotka, Naantali, Pori, Raahe, Rauma, Turku
Military branches		Finnish Defense Forces (FDF): Army, Navy (includes Coastal Defense Forces), Air Force (Suomen Ilmavoimat) (2007)
Military service age and obligation(years of age)		18 years of age for male voluntary and compulsory - and female voluntary - national military and nonmilitary service; service obligation 6-12 months; mandatory retirement at age 60 (2008)
Manpower available for military service		males age 16-49: 1,169,910 females age 16-49: 1,121,187 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service		males age 16-49: 962,479 females age 16-49: 920,297 (2009 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually		male: 33,784 female: 32,621 (2009 est.)
Military expenditures(% of GDP)		2% of GDP (2005 est.)
Disputes - international		various groups in Finland advocate restoration of Karelia and other areas ceded to the Soviet Union, but the Finnish Government asserts no territorial demands
Electricity - production(kWh)		77.24 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - production by source(%)		fossil fuel: 39% hydro: 18.7% nuclear: 30.4% other: 11.8% (2001)
Electricity - consumption(kWh)		86.9 billion kWh (2008)
Electricity - exports(kWh)		3.335 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity - imports(kWh)		16.11 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Oil - production(bbl/day)		9,789 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - consumption(bbl/day)		215,600 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - exports(bbl/day)		133,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - imports(bbl/day)		347,400 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Economic aid - donor		ODA, $1.023 billion (2007)
Oil - proved reserves(bbl)		0 bbl
Natural gas - production(cu m)		0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - consumption(cu m)		4.735 billion cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - exports(cu m)		0 cu m (2008)
Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m)		0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%)		less than 0.1% (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS		2,400 (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths		fewer than 100 (2003 est.)
Literacy(%)		definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100% (2000 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)(years)		total: 17 years male: 17 years female: 18 years (2006)
Education expenditures(% of GDP)		6.4% of GDP (2005)

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