st Asia, Europe, and the U.S. There are a total of 2,525 kilometers of highways, four ports, and one airport.
Burma. According to the CIA World FactBook (Online), Burma has a population of about 43 million with a median age of 26 and a literacy rate of 85 percent. The official language is Burmese. Burma is a resource-rich country that suffers from government controls and abject rural poverty with 25 percent of the population living below the poverty line. The phone system barely meets minimum requirements for local and intercity service for business and government; international service is fair. There are 28,200 kilometers of roads of which only 3440 are paved. Burma has nine ports, and nine paved airports.
Cambodia. According to the BBC New Country Profiles (Online), Cambodia has a population of about 13.3 million people. The median age is 19.5 years. The official language is Khmer and the literacy rate is 69 percent. Cambodia's economy slowed dramatically in 1997-1998 due to the regional economic crisis, civil violence, and political infighting. 36 percent of its population lives below the poverty line. Telephone service includes adequate landline and/or cellular service in Phnom Penh and other provincial cities; mobile phone coverage is rapidly expanding in rural areas. There are six major ports and five paved airports. Cambodia has 12,323 kilometers of highways of which 1,996 kilometers are paved.
China. According to the BBC New Country Profiles (Online), China's population is approaching 1.3 billion, with a median age of 32 years. The literacy rate is 92 percent with standard Chinese or Mandarin as the official language. In 1978, the Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish, inefficient, Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic influence of non-state organizations a...