Compare Arctic Ocean (2001) - Tuvalu (2005)

Compare Arctic Ocean (2001) z Tuvalu (2005)

	Arctic Ocean (2001)	Tuvalu (2005)

Administrative divisions	-	none
Age structure	-	0-14 years: 30.8% (male 1,823/female 1,756) 15-64 years: 64.2% (male 3,620/female 3,847) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 229/female 361) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	coconuts; fish
Airports	-	1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.)
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: 26 sq km land: 26 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US	0.1 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.	In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over the next dozen years.
Birth rate	-	21.91 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	-	revenues: $22.5 million expenditures: $11.2 million, including capital expenditures of $4.2 million (2000 est.)
Capital	-	Funafuti; note - administrative offices are located in Vaiaku Village on Fongafale Islet
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 easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March)
Coastline	45,389 km	24 km
Constitution	-	1 October 1978
Country name	-	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Tuvalu former: Ellice Islands note: "Tuvalu" means "group of eight," referring to the country's eight traditionally inhabited islands
Death rate	-	7.22 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	-	NA
Diplomatic representation from the US	-	the US does not have an embassy in Tuvalu; the US ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tuvalu
Diplomatic representation in the US	-	Tuvalu does not have an embassy in the US - the country's only diplomatic post is in Fiji - Tuvalu does, however, have a UN office located at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400D, New York, New York 10017, telephone: [1] (212) 490-0534
Disputes - international	some maritime disputes (see littoral states)	none
Economic aid - recipient	-	$13 million; note - major donors are Australia, Japan, and the US (1999 est.)
Economy - overview	Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.	Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average, visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and worker remittances. About 1,000 Tuvaluans work in Nauru in the phosphate mining industry. Nauru has begun repatriating Tuvaluans, however, as phosphate resources decline. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this fund has grown from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts of up to 7%. In 1998, Tuvalu began deriving revenue from use of its area code for "900" lines and in 2000, from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. Royalties from these new technology sources could increase substantially over the next decade. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and income from overseas investments.
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	since there are no streams or rivers and groundwater is not potable, most water needs must be met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other); beachhead erosion because of the use of sand for building materials; excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel; damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish; Tuvalu is very concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country's underground water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary
Environment - international agreements	-	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups	-	Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4%
Exchange rates	-	Tuvaluan dollars or 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), represented by Governor General Filoimea TELITO (since 15 April 2005) head of government: Prime Minister Maatia TOAFA (since 11 October 2004) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by and from the members of Parliament; election last held 11 October 2004 (next to be held following parliamentary elections in 2006) election results: Saufatu SOPOANGA resigned parliamentary seat on 27 August 2004 following no-confidence vote on 25 August 2004; succeeded by Deputy Prime Minister Maatia TOAFA in an acting capacity on 27 August 2004; Maatia TOAFA confirmed Prime Minister in a Parliamentary election (8-7 vote) on 11 October 2004
Exports	-	$1 million f.o.b. (2002)
Exports - commodities	-	copra, fish
Exports - partners	-	Germany 56.5%, Fiji 14.3%, Italy 10.9%, UK 7.7%, Poland 4.9% (2004)
Fiscal year	-	calendar year
Flag description	-	light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: NA%
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-	3% (2000 est.)
Geographic coordinates	90 00 N, 0 00 E	8 00 S, 178 00 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	one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon
Highways	-	total: 8 km paved: 0 km unpaved: 8 km (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	-	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA
Imports	-	$79 million c.i.f. (2002)
Imports - commodities	-	food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods
Imports - partners	-	Fiji 50.2%, Japan 18.1%, Australia 9.6%, China 8%, New Zealand 5.5% (2004)
Independence	-	1 October 1978 (from UK)
Industrial production growth rate	-	NA%
Industries	-	fishing, tourism, copra
Infant mortality rate	-	total: 20.03 deaths/1,000 live births male: 22.9 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-	5% (2000 est.)
International organization participation	-	ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, IFRCS (observer), IMO, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO
Irrigated land	-	NA
Judicial branch	-	High Court (a chief justice visits twice a year to preside over its sessions; its rulings can be appealed to the Court of Appeal in Fiji); eight Island Courts (with limited jurisdiction)
Labor force	-	7,000 (2001 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	-	people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly workers in the phosphate industry and sailors)
Land boundaries	-	0 km
Land use	-	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001)
Languages	-	Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui)
Legal system	-	NA
Legislative branch	-	unicameral Parliament or Fale I Fono, also called House of Assembly (15 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 25 July 2002 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 15
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: 68.01 years male: 65.79 years female: 70.33 years (2005 est.)
Literacy	-	definition: NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA%
Location	body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle	Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia
Map references	Arctic Region	Oceania
Maritime claims	-	territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	-	total: 23 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 54,993 GRT/86,048 DWT by type: cargo 20, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 2 foreign-owned: 16 (China 9, Germany 2, Hong Kong 4, Thailand 1) (2005)
Military branches	-	no regular military forces; national police force
Military expenditures - dollar figure	-	NA
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	-	NA
National holiday	-	Independence Day, 1 October (1978)
Nationality	-	noun: Tuvaluan(s) adjective: Tuvaluan
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	severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones; low level of islands make them very sensitive to changes in sea level
Natural resources	sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales)	fish
Net migration rate	-	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Political parties and leaders	-	there are no political parties but members of Parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings
Political pressure groups and leaders	-	none
Population	-	11,636 (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	-	NA
Population growth rate	-	1.47% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US)	Funafuti
Radio broadcast stations	-	AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004)
Religions	-	Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6%
Sex ratio	-	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Suffrage	-	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	-	general assessment: serves particular needs for internal communications domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands international: country code - 688; international calls can be made by satellite
Telephones - main lines in use	-	700 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	0 (2004)
Television broadcast stations	-	0 (2004)
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)	very low-lying and narrow coral atolls
Total fertility rate	-	3 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	-	NA%

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