Administrative divisions | none (territory of Australia) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 20.2%
15-64 years: 63.9% 65 years and over: 15.9% (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | Norfolk Island pine seed, Kentia palm seed, cereals, vegetables, fruit; cattle, poultry |
Airports | 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 34.6 sq km
land: 34.6 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 0.2 times the size of Washington, DC |
Background | Two British attempts at establishing the island as a penal colony (1788-1814 and 1825-55) were ultimately abandoned. In 1856, the island was resettled by Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions. |
Birth rate | NA |
Budget | revenues: $20 million
expenditures: $20 million, including capital expenditures of $2 million (FY99/00) |
Capital | Kingston |
Climate | subtropical; mild, little seasonal temperature variation |
Coastline | 32 km |
Constitution | Norfolk Island Act of 1979 |
Country name | conventional long form: Territory of Norfolk Island
conventional short form: Norfolk Island |
Death rate | NA |
Debt - external | NA |
Dependency status | territory of Australia; Canberra administers Commonwealth responsibilities on Norfolk Island through the Department of Environment, Sport, and Territories |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (territory of Australia) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (territory of Australia) |
Disputes - international | none |
Economic aid - recipient | NA |
Economy - overview | Tourism, the primary economic activity, has steadily increased over the years and has brought a level of prosperity unusual among inhabitants of the Pacific islands. The agricultural sector has become self-sufficient in the production of beef, poultry, and eggs. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh |
Electricity - production | NA kWh |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Bates 319 m |
Environment - current issues | NA |
Ethnic groups | descendants of the Bounty mutineers, Australian, New Zealander, Polynesians |
Exchange rates | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001), 1.7248 (2000) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and Australia are represented by Administrator Grant TAMBLING (since 1 November 2003)
head of government: Assembly President and Chief Minister Geoffrey Robert GARDNER (since 5 December 2001) cabinet: Executive Council is made up of four of the nine members of the Legislative Assembly; the council devises government policy and acts as an advisor to the administrator elections: the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the governor general of Australia; chief minister elected by the Legislative Assembly for a term of not more than three years; election last held 20 Ocotber 2004 (next to be held by December 2007) election results: Geoffrey Robert GARDNER elected chief minister; percent of Legislative Assembly vote - 17.2% |
Exports | $1.5 million f.o.b. (FY99/00) |
Exports - commodities | postage stamps, seeds of the Norfolk Island pine and Kentia palm, small quantities of avocados |
Exports - partners | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June |
Flag description | three vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green with a large green Norfolk Island pine tree centered in the slightly wider white band |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: NA |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - NA |
GDP - real growth rate | NA |
Geographic coordinates | 29 02 S, 167 57 E |
Geography - note | most of the 32-km coastline consists of almost inaccessible cliffs, but the land slopes down to the sea in one small southern area on Sydney Bay, where the capital of Kingston is situated |
Highways | total: 80 km
paved: 53 km unpaved: 27 km (2001) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Imports | $17.9 million c.i.f. (FY91/92) |
Imports - commodities | NA |
Imports - partners | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe |
Independence | none (territory of Australia) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA |
Industries | tourism, light industry, ready mixed concrete |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA |
International organization participation | UPU |
Irrigated land | NA |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Court of Petty Sessions |
Labor force | 1,345 |
Labor force - by occupation | tourism 90%, subsistence agriculture 10% |
Land boundaries | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001) |
Languages | English (official), Norfolk a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian |
Legal system | based on the laws of Australia, local ordinances and acts; English common law applies in matters not covered by either Australian or Norfolk Island law |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Assembly (9 seats; members elected by electors who have nine equal votes each but only four votes can be given to any one candidate; members serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 20 October 2004 (next to be held by December 2007) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 9 (note - no political parties) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Literacy | NA |
Location | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia |
Map references | Oceania |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of Australia |
National holiday | Bounty Day (commemorates the arrival of Pitcairn Islanders), 8 June (1856) |
Nationality | noun: Norfolk Islander(s)
adjective: Norfolk Islander(s) |
Natural hazards | typhoons (especially May to July) |
Natural resources | fish |
Net migration rate | NA |
Political parties and leaders | none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none |
Population | 1,828 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA |
Population growth rate | -0.01% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none; loading jetties at Kingston and Cascade |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 3, shortwave 0 (2005) |
Religions | Anglican 34.9%, Roman Catholic 11.7%, Uniting Church in Australia 11.2%, Seventh-Day Adventist 2.8%, Australian Christian 2.4%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, other 2.7%, unspecified 15.3%, none 18.1% (2001 census) |
Sex ratio | NA |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: adequate
domestic: free local calls international: country code - 672; undersea coaxial cable links with Australia, New Zealand, and Canada; satellite earth station |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2,532; note - a mix of analog (2500) and digital (32) circuits (2004) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (proposed cellular service disallowed in August 2002 island referendum) (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (local programming station plus two repeaters that bring in Australian programs by satellite) (2005) |
Terrain | volcanic formation with mostly rolling plains |
Total fertility rate | NA |
Unemployment rate | 0% |