|
Soviet Union [USSR] TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: In 1986 about 145,600 kilometers of track, of
which 50,600 kilometers electrified, almost all wide gauge; 3.8
trillion ton-kilometers of freight and 4.3 billion passenger fares,
of which 3.9 billion on suburban lines, transported in 1986.
Highways: 1,609,900 kilometers in 1987, of which
1,196,000 kilometers hard-surfaced (asphalt, concrete, stone block,
asphalt-treated, gravel, or crushed stone) and 413,600 kilometers
earth; 488.5 billion ton-kilometers of freight transported by
trucks, primarily on short hauls for agricultural sector in 1986;
48.8 billion passengers boarded, primarily commuters transported by
bus. Use of private automobiles limited.
Inland Waterways: 122,500 kilometers in 1987, exclusive
of Caspian Sea; 255.6 billion ton-kilometers of freight transported
by inland waterways in 1986.
Pipelines: 81,500 kilometers for oil and 185,000
kilometers for natural gas in 1986.
Ports: Over 100 major maritime and river ports, including
Archangel, Astrakhan', Baku, Leningrad, Moscow, Murmansk, Odessa,
Riga, Tallin, and Vladivostok. Many maritime ports on Arctic Ocean,
northern Pacific Ocean, and Baltic Sea closed annually because of
ice. Many river ports also closed for varying periods annually.
Civil Aviation: 4,500 major transport aircraft.
Airfields: 4,530 usable; 1,050 with permanent surface runways; 30
with runways over 3,659 meters, 490 with runways 2,440 to 3,659
meters; and 660 with runways 1,220-2,439 meters.
Communications: Mass media controlled and directed by
CPSU. More than 8,000 daily newspapers in about 60 languages with
combined circulation of about 170 million. Nearly 5,500 weekly,
monthly, and quarterly magazines and journals with a combined
circulation of about 160 million. About 83,500 books and brochures
published in 1986 in 2.2 million copies. Radio broadcasting 1,400
hours of daily programs in seventy languages. Main programming
emanated from Moscow's eight radio channels. 162 million radio
sets. Television broadcasting, mainly from Moscow, by way of 350
stations and 1,400 relay facilities to 75 million households with
television sets.
Data as of May 1989
|
