Arctic Ocean (2001) | Tokelau (2003) | |
Administrative divisions | - | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years: 42%
15-64 years: 53% 65 years and over: 5% (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | coconuts, copra, breadfruit, papayas, bananas; pigs, poultry, goats |
Airports | - | none; lagoon landings are possible by amphibious aircraft (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: 10 sq km
land: 10 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US | about 17 times the size of The Mall in 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. | Originally settled by Polynesian emigrants from surrounding island groups, the Tokelau Islands were made a British protectorate in 1889. They were transferred to New Zealand administration in 1925. |
Birth rate | - | NA births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues: $430,830
expenditures: $2.8 million, including capital expenditures of $37,300 (1987 est.) |
Capital | - | none; each atoll has its own administrative center |
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; moderated by trade winds (April to November) |
Coastline | 45,389 km | 101 km |
Constitution | - | administered under the Tokelau Islands Act of 1948, as amended in 1970 |
Country name | - | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Tokelau |
Currency | - | New Zealand dollar (NZD) |
Death rate | - | NA deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $0 |
Dependency status | - | self-administering territory of New Zealand; note - Tokelauans are drafting a constitution and developing institutions and patterns of self-government as Tokelau moves toward free association with New Zealand |
Diplomatic representation from the US | - | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | - | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Disputes - international | some maritime disputes (see littoral states) | none |
Economic aid - recipient | - | from New Zealand about $4 million annually |
Economy - overview | Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals. | Tokelau's small size (three villages), isolation, and lack of resources greatly restrain economic development and confine agriculture to the subsistence level. The people rely heavily on aid from New Zealand - about $4 million annually - to maintain public services, with annual aid being substantially greater than GDP. The principal sources of revenue come from sales of copra, postage stamps, souvenir coins, and handicrafts. Money is also remitted to families from relatives in New Zealand. |
Electricity - consumption | - | NA kWh |
Electricity - production | - | NA kWh |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Fram Basin -4,665 m highest point: sea level 0 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 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 | very limited natural resources and overcrowding are contributing to emigration to New Zealand |
Ethnic groups | - | Polynesian |
Exchange rates | - | New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 2.154 (2002), 2.3776 (2001), 2.1863 (2000), 1.8886 (1999), 1.8632 (1998), 1.5083 (1997) |
Executive branch | - | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and New Zealand are represented by Administrator Lindsay WATT (since NA March 1993)
head of government: Aliki Faipule Pio TUIA (since NA 2002) cabinet: the Council of Faipule, consisting of three elected leaders - one from each atoll - functions as a cabinet elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand; the head of government is chosen from the Council of Faipule and serves a one-year term |
Exports | - | $98,000 f.o.b. (1983) |
Exports - commodities | - | stamps, copra, handicrafts |
Exports - partners | - | NZ (2000) |
Fiscal year | - | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | - | the flag of New Zealand is used |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $1.5 million (1993 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $1,000 (1993 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 90 00 N, 0 00 E | 9 00 S, 172 00 W |
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 | consists of three atolls, each with a lagoon surrounded by a number of reef-bound islets of varying length and rising to over three meters above sea level |
Highways | - | total: NA km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | - | $323,000 c.i.f. (1983) |
Imports - commodities | - | foodstuffs, building materials, fuel |
Imports - partners | - | NZ (2000) |
Independence | - | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | NA% |
Industries | - | small-scale enterprises for copra production, woodworking, plaited craft goods; stamps, coins; fishing |
Infant mortality rate | - | total: NA%
male: NA% female: NA% |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | NA% |
International organization participation | - | SPC, UNESCO (associate), WHO (associate) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | - | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court in New Zealand exercises civil and criminal jurisdiction in Tokelau |
Labor force | - | NA |
Land boundaries | - | 0 km |
Land use | - | arable land: 0% (soil is thin and infertile)
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
Languages | - | Tokelauan (a Polynesian language), English |
Legal system | - | New Zealand and local statutes |
Legislative branch | - | unicameral General Fono (48 seats; members chosen by each atoll's Council of Elders or Taupulega to serve three-year terms); note - the Tokelau Amendment Act of 1996 confers limited legislative power on the General Fono |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: NA years
male: 68 years female: 70 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | - | NA |
Location | body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle | Oceania, group of three atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand |
Map references | Arctic Region | Oceania |
Maritime claims | - | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | none (2002 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of New Zealand |
National holiday | - | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) |
Nationality | - | noun: Tokelauan(s)
adjective: Tokelauan |
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 | lies in Pacific typhoon belt |
Natural resources | sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales) | NEGL |
Net migration rate | - | NA migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | - | none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | none |
Population | - | 1,418 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | NA% |
Population growth rate | - | 0.01% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US) | none; offshore anchorage only |
Radio broadcast stations | - | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
note: each atoll has a radio broadcast station of unknown type that broadcasts shipping and weather reports (1998) |
Railways | - | 0 km |
Religions | - | Congregational Christian Church 70%, Roman Catholic 28%, other 2%
note: on Atafu, all Congregational Christian Church of Samoa; on Nukunonu, all Roman Catholic; on Fakaofo, both denominations, with the Congregational Christian Church predominant |
Sex ratio | - | NA (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 21 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | - | general assessment: adequate
domestic: radiotelephone service between islands international: radiotelephone service to Samoa; government-regulated telephone service (TeleTok), with 3 satellite earth stations, established in 1997 |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 0 (2001) |
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) | low-lying coral atolls enclosing large lagoons |
Total fertility rate | - | NA children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | - | NA% |
Waterways | - | none |