The 2008 CIA World Factbook, United States. Central Intelligence Agency [primary phonics books .TXT] 📗

years of age, universal and compulsory;
  married persons regardless of age; note - members of the armed
  forces and national police cannot vote

Ecuador
  18 years of age; universal, compulsory for literate persons
  ages 18-65, optional for other eligible voters

Egypt
  18 years of age; universal and compulsory

El Salvador
  18 years of age; universal

Equatorial Guinea
  18 years of age; universal

Eritrea
  18 years of age; universal

Estonia
  18 years of age; universal for all Estonian citizens

Ethiopia
  18 years of age; universal

European Union
  18 years of age; universal

Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
  18 years of age; universal

Faroe Islands
  18 years of age; universal

Fiji
  21 years of age; universal

Finland
  18 years of age; universal

France
  18 years of age; universal

French Polynesia
  18 years of age; universal

Gabon
  21 years of age; universal

Gambia, The
  18 years of age; universal

Georgia
  18 years of age; universal

Germany
  18 years of age; universal

Ghana
  18 years of age; universal

Gibraltar
  18 years of age; universal; and British citizens who have
  been residents six months or more

Greece
  18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Greenland
  18 years of age; universal

Grenada
  18 years of age; universal

Guam
  18 years of age; universal; US citizens, but do not vote in US
  presidential elections

Guatemala
  18 years of age; universal; note - active duty members of
  the armed forces may not vote and are restricted to their barracks
  on election day

Guernsey
  18 years of age; universal

Guinea
  18 years of age; universal

Guinea-Bissau
  18 years of age; universal

Guyana
  18 years of age; universal

Haiti
  18 years of age; universal

Holy See (Vatican City)
  limited to cardinals less than 80 years old

Honduras
  18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Hong Kong
  direct election - 18 years of age for a number of
  non-executive positions; universal for permanent residents living in
  the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years; indirect
  election - limited to about 220,000 members of functional
  constituencies and an 800-member election committee drawn from broad
  regional groupings, central government bodies, and municipal
  organizations

Hungary
  18 years of age; universal

Iceland
  18 years of age; universal

India
  18 years of age; universal

Indonesia
  17 years of age; universal and married persons regardless
  of age

Iran
  16 years of age; universal

Iraq
  18 years of age; universal

Ireland
  18 years of age; universal

Isle of Man
  16 years of age; universal

Israel
  18 years of age; universal

Italy
  18 years of age; universal (except in senatorial elections,
  where minimum age is 25)

Jamaica
  18 years of age; universal

Japan
  20 years of age; universal

Jersey
  16 years of age; universal

Jordan
  18 years of age; universal

Kazakhstan
  18 years of age; universal

Kenya
  18 years of age; universal

Kiribati
  18 years of age; universal

Korea, North
  17 years of age; universal

Korea, South
  19 years of age; universal

Kosovo
  18 years of age; universal

Kuwait
  NA years of age; universal (adult); note - males in the
  military or police are not allowed to vote; adult females were
  allowed to vote as of 16 May 2005; all voters must have been
  citizens for 20 years

Kyrgyzstan
  18 years of age; universal

Laos
  18 years of age; universal

Latvia
  18 years of age; universal for Latvian citizens

Lebanon
  21 years of age; compulsory for all males; authorized for
  women at age 21 with elementary education

Lesotho
  18 years of age; universal

Liberia
  18 years of age; universal

Libya
  18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Liechtenstein
  18 years of age; universal

Lithuania
  18 years of age; universal

Luxembourg
  18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Macau
  direct election 18 years of age for some non-executive
  positions, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the
  past seven years; indirect election limited to organizations
  registered as "corporate voters" (257 are currently registered) and
  a 300-member Election Committee drawn from broad regional groupings,
  municipal organizations, and central government bodies

Macedonia
  18 years of age; universal

Madagascar
  18 years of age; universal

Malawi
  18 years of age; universal

Malaysia
  21 years of age; universal

Maldives
  21 years of age; universal

Mali
  18 years of age; universal

Malta
  18 years of age; universal

Marshall Islands
  18 years of age; universal

Mauritania
  18 years of age; universal

Mauritius
  18 years of age; universal

Mayotte
  18 years of age; universal

Mexico
  18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced)

Micronesia, Federated States of
  18 years of age; universal

Moldova
  18 years of age; universal

Monaco
  18 years of age; universal

Mongolia
  18 years of age; universal

Montenegro
  18 years of age; universal

Montserrat
  18 years of age; universal

Morocco
  18 years of age; universal (as of January 2003)

Mozambique
  18 years of age; universal

Namibia
  18 years of age; universal

Nauru
  20 years of age; universal and compulsory

Nepal
  18 years of age; universal

Netherlands
  18 years of age; universal

Netherlands Antilles
  18 years of age; universal

New Caledonia
  18 years of age; universal

New Zealand
  18 years of age; universal

Nicaragua
  16 years of age; universal

Niger
  18 years of age; universal

Nigeria
  18 years of age; universal

Niue
  18 years of age; universal

Norfolk Island
  18 years of age; universal

Northern Mariana Islands 18 years of age; universal; indigenous inhabitants are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections

Norway
  18 years of age; universal

Oman
  21 years of age; universal; note - members of the military and
  security forces are not allowed to vote

Pakistan
  18 years of age; universal; joint electorates and reserved
  parliamentary seats for women and non-Muslims

Palau
  18 years of age; universal

Panama
  18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Papua New Guinea
  18 years of age; universal

Paraguay
  18 years of age; universal and compulsory up to age 75

Peru
  18 years of age; universal and compulsory until the age of 70;
  note - for the first time in recent elections, members of the
  military and national police were eligible to vote in the 2006
  elections

Philippines
  18 years of age; universal

Pitcairn Islands 18 years of age; universal with three years residency

Poland
  18 years of age; universal

Portugal
  18 years of age; universal

Puerto Rico
  18 years of age; universal; island residents are US
  citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections

Qatar
  18 years of age; universal

Romania
  18 years of age; universal

Russia
  18 years of age; universal

Rwanda
  18 years of age; universal

Saint Barthelemy
  18 years of age, universal

Saint Helena
  NA years of age

Saint Kitts and Nevis
  18 years of age; universal

Saint Lucia
  18 years of age; universal

Saint Martin
  18 years of age, universal

Saint Pierre and Miquelon
  18 years of age; universal

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  18 years of age; universal

Samoa
  21 years of age; universal

San Marino
  18 years of age; universal

Sao Tome and Principe
  18 years of age; universal

Saudi Arabia
  21 years of age; male

Senegal
  18 years of age; universal

Serbia
  18 years of age; universal

Seychelles
  17 years of age; universal

Sierra Leone
  18 years of age; universal

Singapore
  21 years of age; universal and compulsory

Slovakia
  18 years of age; universal

Slovenia
  18 years of age; universal (16 years of age, if employed)

Solomon Islands
  21 years of age; universal

Somalia
  18 years of age; universal

South Africa
  18 years of age; universal

Spain
  18 years of age; universal

Sri Lanka
  18 years of age; universal

Sudan
  17 years of age; universal

Suriname
  18 years of age; universal

Swaziland
  18 years of age

Sweden
  18 years of age; universal

Switzerland
  18 years of age; universal

Syria
  18 years of age; universal

Taiwan
  20 years of age; universal

Tajikistan
  18 years of age; universal

Tanzania
  18 years of age; universal

Thailand
  18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Timor-Leste
  17 years of age; universal

Togo
  NA years of age; universal (adult)

Tokelau
  21 years of age; universal

Tonga
  21 years of age; universal

Trinidad and Tobago
  18 years of age; universal

Tunisia
  18 years of age; universal except for active government
  security forces (including the police and the military), people with
  mental disabilities, people who have served more than three months
  in prison (criminal cases only), and people given a suspended
  sentence of more than six months

Turkey
  18 years of age; universal

Turkmenistan
  18 years of age; universal

Turks and Caicos Islands
  18 years of age; universal

Tuvalu
  18 years of age; universal

Uganda
  18 years of age; universal

Ukraine
  18 years of age; universal

United Arab Emirates
  none

United Kingdom
  18 years of age; universal

United States
  18 years of age; universal

Uruguay
  18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Uzbekistan
  18 years of age; universal

Vanuatu
  18 years of age; universal

Venezuela
  18 years of age; universal

Vietnam
  18 years of age; universal

Virgin Islands
  18 years of age; universal; island residents are US
  citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections

Wallis and Futuna
  18 years of age; universal

Western Sahara
  none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign
  not yet completed

Yemen
  18 years of age; universal

Zambia
  18 years of age; universal

Zimbabwe
  18 years of age; universal

This page was last updated on 18 December 2008

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@2124 Telephone system

Afghanistan
  general assessment: limited landline telephone service;
  an increasing number of Afghans utilize mobile-cellular phone
  networks in major cities
  domestic: aided by the presence of multiple providers,
  mobile-cellular telephone service is improving rapidly
  international: country code - 93; five VSAT's installed in Kabul,
  Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandahar, and Jalalabad provide international
  and domestic voice and data connectivity (2007)

Albania
  general assessment: despite new investment in fixed lines,
  the density of main lines remains low with roughly 10 lines per 100
  people; cellular telephone use is widespread and generally
  effective; combined fixed line and mobile telephone density is
  approximately 75 telephones per 100 persons
  domestic: offsetting the shortage of fixed line capacity, mobile
  phone service has been available since 1996; by 2003, two companies
  were providing mobile services at a greater density than some of
  Albania's neighbors; Internet broadband services initiated in 2005;
  Internet cafes are popular in Tirana and have started to spread
  outside the capital
  international: country code - 355; submarine cable provides
  connectivity to Italy, Croatia, and Greece; the Trans-Balkan Line, a
  combination submarine cable and land fiber-optic system, provides
  additional connectivity to Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Turkey;
  international traffic carried by fiber-optic cable and, when
  necessary, by microwave radio relay from the Tirana exchange to
  Italy and Greece (2007)

Algeria
  general assessment: a weak network of fixed-main lines,
  which remains low at less than 10 telephones per 100 persons, is
  partially offset by the rapid increase in mobile cellular
  subscribership; in 2007, combined fixed-line and mobile telephone
  density surpassed 90 telephones per 100 persons
  domestic: privatization of Algeria's telecommunications sector began
  in 2000; three mobile cellular licenses have been issued and, in
  2005, a consortium led by Egypt's Orascom Telecom won a 15-year
  license to build and operate a fixed-line network in Algeria; the
  license will allow Orascom to develop high-speed data and other
  specialized services and contribute to meeting the large unfulfilled
  demand for basic residential telephony; Internet broadband services
  began in 2003 with approximately 200,000 subscribers in 2006
  international: country code - 213; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-4
  fiber-optic submarine cable system that provides links to Europe,
  the Middle East, and Asia; microwave radio relay to Italy, France,
  Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia; coaxial cable to Morocco and Tunisia;
  participant in Medarabtel; satellite earth stations - 51 (Intelsat,
  Intersputnik, and Arabsat) (2007)

American Samoa
  general assessment: NA
  domestic: good telex, telegraph, facsimile, and cellular telephone
  services; domestic satellite system with 1 Comsat earth station
  international: country code - 1-684; satellite earth station - 1
  (Intelsat-Pacific Ocean)

Andorra
  general assessment: NA
  domestic: modern system with microwave radio relay connections
  between exchanges
  international: country code - 376; landline circuits to France and
  Spain

Angola
  general assessment: system inadequate; fewer than one
  fixed-line per 100 persons; combined fixed line and mobile telephone
  density exceeded 25 telephones per 100 persons in 2007
  domestic: state-owned telecom had monopoly for fixed-lines until
  2005; demand outstripped capacity, prices were high, and services
  poor; Telecom Namibia, through an Angolan company, became the first
  private licensed operator in Angola's fixed-line telephone network;
  Angola Telecom established mobile-cellular service in Luanda in 1993
  and the network has been extended to larger towns; a
  privately-owned, mobile-cellular service provider began operations
  in 2001
  international: country code - 244; landing point for the SAT-3/WASC
  fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe and
  Asia; satellite earth stations - 29 (2007)

Anguilla
  general assessment: NA
  domestic: modern internal telephone system
  international: country code - 1-264; landing point for the East
  Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) submarine cable with links to 13 other
  islands in the eastern Caribbean extending from the British Virgin
  Islands to Trinidad; microwave radio relay to island of Saint Martin
  (Guadeloupe and Netherlands Antilles) (2007)

Antarctica
  general assessment: local systems at some research
  stations
  domestic: commercial cellular networks operating in a small number
  of locations
  international: country code - none allocated; via satellite
  (including mobile Inmarsat and Iridium systems) to and from all
  research stations, ships, aircraft, and most field parties (2007)

Antigua and Barbuda
  general assessment: NA
  domestic: good automatic telephone system
  international: country code - 1-268; landing point for the East
  Caribbean Fiber System (ECFS) submarine cable with links to 13 other
  islands in the eastern Caribbean extending from the British Virgin
  Islands to Trinidad; satellite earth stations - 2; tropospheric
  scatter to Saba (Netherlands Antilles) and Guadeloupe (2007)

Argentina
  general assessment: by opening the telecommunications
  market to competition and foreign investment with