Arctic Ocean (2001) | Norfolk Island (2002) | |
Administrative divisions | - | none (territory of Australia) |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years: 20.2%
15-64 years: 63.9% 65 years and over: 15.9% (1996) |
Agriculture - products | - | Norfolk Island pine seed, Kentia palm seed, cereals, vegetables, fruit; cattle, poultry |
Airports | - | 1 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | - | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002) |
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: 34.6 sq km
land: 34.6 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US | about 0.2 times 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. | 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 births/1,000 population |
Budget | - | revenues: $4.6 million
expenditures: $4.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY92/93) |
Capital | - | Kingston |
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 | subtropical, mild, little seasonal temperature variation |
Coastline | 45,389 km | 32 km |
Constitution | - | Norfolk Island Act of 1979 |
Country name | - | conventional long form: Territory of Norfolk Island
conventional short form: Norfolk Island |
Currency | - | Australian dollar (AUD) |
Death rate | - | NA deaths/1,000 population |
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 | 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. | 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 |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: NA%
hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Fram Basin -4,665 m highest point: sea level 0 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Bates 319 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 | NA |
Ethnic groups | - | descendants of the Bounty mutineers, Australian, New Zealander, Polynesians |
Exchange rates | - | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.9354 (January 2002), 1.9320 (2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998), 1.3439 (1997) |
Executive branch | - | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and Australia are represented by Administrator Anthony J. MESSNER (since 4 August 1997)
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 29 November 2001 (next to be held by December 2004) election results: Geoffrey Robert GARDNER elected chief minister; percent of Legislative Assembly vote - NA% |
Exports | - | $1.5 million f.o.b. (FY91/92) |
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 | - | purchasing power parity - $NA |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $NA |
GDP - real growth rate | - | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 90 00 N, 0 00 E | 29 02 S, 167 57 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 | 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 |
Infant mortality rate | - | NA deaths/1,000 live births |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | NA% |
International organization participation | - | none |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 2 (2000) |
Irrigated land | - | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court; Court of Petty Sessions |
Labor force | - | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | - | tourism NA%, subsistence agriculture NA% |
Land boundaries | - | 0 km |
Land use | - | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
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 29 November 2001 (next to be held by December 2004) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 9 |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: NA years
male: NA years female: NA years |
Literacy | - | NA |
Location | body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia |
Map references | Arctic Region | Oceania |
Maritime claims | - | exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | none (2002 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of Australia |
National holiday | - | Pitcairners Arrival Day, 8 June (1856) |
Nationality | - | noun: Norfolk Islander(s)
adjective: Norfolk Islander(s) |
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 | typhoons (especially May to July) |
Natural resources | sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales) | fish |
Net migration rate | - | NA migrant(s)/1,000 population |
Political parties and leaders | - | none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | none |
Population | - | 1,866 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | NA% |
Population growth rate | - | -0.69% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US) | none; loading jetties at Kingston and Cascade |
Radio broadcast stations | - | AM 0, FM 3, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | 2,500 (1996) |
Railways | - | 0 km |
Religions | - | Anglican 37.4%, Uniting Church in Australia 14.5%, Roman Catholic 11.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 3.1%, none 12.2%, unknown 17.4%, other 3.9% (1996) |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: NA male(s)/female
under 15 years: NA male(s)/female 15-64 years: NA male(s)/female 65 years and over: NA male(s)/female total population: NA male(s)/female |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | - | general assessment: adequate
domestic: NA international: radiotelephone service with Sydney (Australia) |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | 1,087 (1983) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 0 (1983) |
Television broadcast stations | - | 1 (local programming station plus two repeaters that bring in Australian programs by satellite) (1998) |
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) | volcanic formation with mostly rolling plains |
Total fertility rate | - | NA children born/woman |
Unemployment rate | - | NA% |
Waterways | - | none |