Compare Arctic Ocean (2001) - Christmas Island (2006)

Compare Arctic Ocean (2001) z Christmas Island (2006)

	Arctic Ocean (2001)	Christmas Island (2006)

Administrative divisions	-	none (territory of Australia)
Age structure	-	0-14 years: NA 15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	NA
Airports	-	1 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways	-	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2006)
Area	total: 14.056 million sq km note: includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies	total: 135 sq km land: 135 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US	about three-quarters the size of Washington, DC
Background	The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the recently delimited Southern Ocean). The Northwest Passage (US and Canada) and Northern Sea Route (Norway and Russia) are two important seasonal waterways. A sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes circumscribes the Arctic Ocean.	Named in 1643 for the day of its discovery, the island was annexed and settlement began by the UK in 1888. Phosphate mining began in the 1890s. The UK transferred sovereignty to Australia in 1958. Almost two-thirds of the island has been declared a national park.
Birth rate	-	NA
Budget	-	revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA
Capital	-	name: The Settlement geographic coordinates: 18 44 N, 64 19 W time difference: UTC+7 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate	polar climate characterized by persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow	tropical with a wet and dry season; heat and humidity moderated by trade winds; wet season (December to April)
Coastline	45,389 km	138.9 km
Constitution	-	Christmas Island Act of 1958-59 (1 October 1958) as amended by the Territories Law Reform Act of 1992
Country name	-	conventional long form: Territory of Christmas Island conventional short form: Christmas Island
Death rate	-	NA
Dependency status	-	non-self governing territory of Australia; administered by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services
Diplomatic representation from the US	-	none (territory of Australia)
Diplomatic representation in the US	-	none (territory of Australia)
Disputes - international	some maritime disputes (see littoral states)	none
Economic aid - recipient	-	$NA
Economy - overview	Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.	Phosphate mining had been the only significant economic activity, but in December 1987 the Australian Government closed the mine. In 1991, the mine was reopened. With the support of the government, a $34 million casino opened in 1993. The casino closed in 1998. The Australian Government in 2001 agreed to support the creation of a commercial space-launching site on the island, projected to begin operations in the near future.
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Fram Basin -4,665 m highest point: sea level 0 m	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Murray Hill 361 m
Environment - current issues	endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage; thinning polar icepack	loss of rainforest; impact of phosphate mining
Ethnic groups	-	Chinese 70%, European 20%, Malay 10% note: no indigenous population (2001)
Exchange rates	-	Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001)
Executive branch	-	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by the Australian governor general head of government: Administrator Neil LUCAS (since 30 January 2006) elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the governor general of Australia and represents the monarch and Australia
Exports	-	$NA
Exports - commodities	-	phosphate
Exports - partners	-	Australia, NZ (2004)
Fiscal year	-	1 July - 30 June
Flag description	-	territorial flag; divided diagonally from upper hoist to lower fly; the upper triangle is green with a yellow image of the Golden Bosun Bird superimposed, while the lower triangle is blue with the Southern Cross constellation, representing Australia, superimposed; a centered yellow disk displays a green map of the island; the flag of Australia is used for official purposes
Geographic coordinates	90 00 N, 0 00 E	10 30 S, 105 40 E
Geography - note	major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia; floating research stations operated by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean; snow cover lasts about 10 months	located along major sea lanes of Indian Ocean
Imports	-	$NA
Imports - commodities	-	consumer goods
Imports - partners	-	principally Australia (2004)
Independence	-	none (territory of Australia)
Industries	-	tourism, phosphate extraction (near depletion)
Infant mortality rate	-	total: NA male: NA female: NA
International organization participation	-	none
Irrigated land	-	NA
Judicial branch	-	Supreme Court; District Court; Magistrate's Court
Labor force	-	NA
Land boundaries	-	0 km
Land use	-	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (mainly tropical rainforest; 63% of the island is a national park) (2005)
Languages	-	English (official), Chinese, Malay
Legal system	-	under the authority of the governor general of Australia and Australian law
Legislative branch	-	unicameral Christmas Island Shire Council (9 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: held every two years with half the members standing for election; last held in May 2005 (next to be held in May 2007) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - independents 9
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: NA male: NA female: NA
Literacy	-	NA
Location	body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle	Southeastern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of Indonesia
Map references	Arctic Region	Southeast Asia
Maritime claims	-	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Military - note	-	defense is the responsibility of Australia
National holiday	-	Australia Day, 26 January (1788)
Nationality	-	noun: Christmas Islander(s) adjective: Christmas Island
Natural hazards	ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually ice locked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May	the narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime hazard
Natural resources	sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales)	phosphate, beaches
Net migration rate	-	NA
Political parties and leaders	-	none
Political pressure groups and leaders	-	none
Population	-	1,493 (July 2006 est.)
Population growth rate	-	0% (2006 est.)
Ports and harbors	Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US)	-
Radio broadcast stations	-	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2006)
Religions	-	Buddhist 36%, Muslim 25%, Christian 18%, other 21% (1997)
Sex ratio	-	NA
Telephone system	-	general assessment: service provided by the Australian network domestic: GSM mobile telephone service replaced older analog system in February 2005 international: country code - 61-8; satellite earth stations - one INTELSAT earth station provides telephone and telex service (2005)
Telephones - main lines in use	-	NA
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	NA
Television broadcast stations	-	0; note - TV broadcasts received via satellite from mainland Australia (2006)
Terrain	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)	steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau
Total fertility rate	-	NA

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