Compare Terrain (2003) - Terrain (2008)

Compare Terrain (2003) with Terrain (2008)

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	Terrain (2003)	Terrain (2008)
Arctic Ocean	central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that averages about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge)	central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that, on average, is about 3 meters thick, although pressure ridges may be three times that thickness; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge)
Bassas da India	volcanic rock	-
British Indian Ocean Territory	flat and low (most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation)	flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation)
East Timor	mountainous	-
Europa Island	low and flat	-
European Union	-	fairly flat along the Baltic and Atlantic coast; mountainous in the central and southern areas
France	mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west; remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east	metropolitan France: mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in north and west; remainder is mountainous, especially Pyrenees in south, Alps in east French Guiana: low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains Guadeloupe: Basse-Terre is volcanic in origin with interior mountains; Grande-Terre is low limestone formation; most of the seven other islands are volcanic in origin Martinique: mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano Reunion: mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast
French Guiana	low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains	-
French Southern and Antarctic Lands	volcanic	Ile Amsterdam (Ile Amsterdam et Ile Saint-Paul): a volcanic island with steep coastal cliffs; the center floor of the volcano is a large plateau Ile Saint-Paul (Ile Amsterdam et Ile Saint-Paul): triangular in shape, the island is the top of a volcano, rocky with steep cliffs on the eastern side; has active thermal springs Iles Crozet: a large archipelago formed from the Crozet Plateau is divided into two groups of islands Iles Kerguelen: the interior of the large island of Ile Kerguelen is composed of rugged terrain of high mountains, hills, valleys, and plains with a number of peninsulas stretching off its coasts Bassas da India (Iles Eparses): atoll, awash at high tide; shallow (15 m) lagoon Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island: low, flat, and sandy Tromelin Island (Iles Eparses): low, flat, sandy; likely volcanic seamount
Glorioso Islands	low and flat	-
Guadeloupe	Basse-Terre is volcanic in origin with interior mountains; Grande-Terre is low limestone formation; most of the seven other islands are volcanic in origin	-
Guatemala	mostly mountains with narrow coastal plains and rolling limestone plateau (Peten)	mostly mountains with narrow coastal plains and rolling limestone plateau
Holy See (Vatican City)	low hill	urban; low hill
Juan de Nova Island	low and flat	-
Kosovo	-	flat fluvial basin with an elevation of 400-700 m above sea level surrounded by several high mountain ranges with elevations of 2,000 to 2,500 m
Macedonia	-	mountainous territory covered with deep basins and valleys; three large lakes, each divided by a frontier line; country bisected by the Vardar River
Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of	mountainous territory covered with deep basins and valleys; three large lakes, each divided by a frontier line; country bisected by the Vardar River	-
Martinique	mountainous with indented coastline; dormant volcano	-
Montenegro	-	highly indented coastline with narrow coastal plain backed by rugged high limestone mountains and plateaus
Nepal	Terai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south, central hill region, rugged Himalayas in north	Tarai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south, central hill region, rugged Himalayas in north
Puerto Rico	mostly mountains, with coastal plain belt in north; mountains precipitous to sea on west coast; sandy beaches along most coastal areas	mostly mountains with coastal plain belt in north; mountains precipitous to sea on west coast; sandy beaches along most coastal areas
Reunion	mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast	-
Saint Barthelemy	-	hilly, almost completely surrounded by shallow-water reefs, with 20 beaches
Saint Helena	Saint Helena - rugged, volcanic; small scattered plateaus and plains note: the other islands of the group have a volcanic origin	the islands of this group result from volcanic activity associated with the Atlantic Mid-Ocean Ridge Saint Helena: rugged, volcanic; small scattered plateaus and plains Ascension: surface covered by lava flows and cinder cones of 44 dormant volcanoes; ground rises to the east Tristan da Cunha: sheer cliffs line the coastline of the nearly circular island; the flanks of the central volcanic peak are deeply dissected; narrow coastal plain lies between The Peak and the coastal cliffs
Samoa	narrow coastal plain with volcanic, rocky, rugged mountains in interior	two main islands (Savaii, Upolu) and several smaller islands and uninhabited islets; narrow coastal plain with volcanic, rocky, rugged mountains in interior
Serbia	-	extremely varied; to the north, rich fertile plains; to the east, limestone ranges and basins; to the southeast, ancient mountains and hills
Serbia and Montenegro	extremely varied; to the north, rich fertile plains; to the east, limestone ranges and basins; to the southeast, ancient mountains and hills; to the southwest, extremely high shoreline with no islands off the coast	-
Southern Ocean	the Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 meters over most of its extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400 to 800 meters (the global mean is 133 meters); the Antarctic icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million square kilometers in March to about 18.8 million square kilometers in September, better than a sixfold increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (21,000 km in length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers	the Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 m over most of its extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400 to 800 m (the global mean is 133 m); the Antarctic icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million sq km in March to about 18.8 million sq km in September, better than a sixfold increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (21,000 km in length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers
Timor-Leste	-	mountainous
Tromelin Island	low, flat, and sandy; likely volcanic	-
United States Pacific Island Wildlife Refuges	-	low and nearly level sandy coral islands with narrow fringing reefs that have developed at the top of submerged volcanic mountains, which in most cases rise steeply from the ocean floor
Vanuatu	mostly mountains of volcanic origin; narrow coastal plains	mostly mountainous islands of volcanic origin; narrow coastal plains
Wake Island	atoll of three coral islands built up on an underwater volcano; central lagoon is former crater, islands are part of the rim	atoll of three low coral islands, Peale, Wake, and Wilkes, built up on an underwater volcano; central lagoon is former crater, islands are part of the rim