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Compare Arctic Ocean (2003) - Christmas Island (2005)
Compare Arctic Ocean (2003) z Christmas Island (2005)
| Arctic Ocean (2003) | Christmas Island (2005) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | - | none (territory of Australia) |
| Age structure | - | 0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA |
| Agriculture - products | - | NA |
| Airports | - | 1 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with paved 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: 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 was begun 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, including capital expenditures of NA |
| Capital | - | The Settlement |
| 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) |
| Country name | - | conventional long form: Territory of Christmas Island
conventional short form: Christmas Island |
| Death rate | - | NA |
| Dependency status | - | 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 | NA |
| Ethnic groups | - | Chinese 70%, European 20%, Malay 10%
note: no indigenous population (2001) |
| Exchange rates | - | 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 the Australian governor general
head of government: Administrator Evan WILLIAMS (since 1 November 2003) 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 |
| Fiscal year | - | 1 July - 30 June |
| Flag description | - | the flag of Australia is used; note - in early 1986, the Christmas Island Assembly held a design competition for an island flag, however, the winning design has never been formally adopted as the official flag of the territory |
| GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: NA |
| GDP - real growth rate | - | NA |
| 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 |
| Highways | - | total: 240 km
paved: 30 km unpaved: 210 km (2000) |
| Imports | - | NA |
| Imports - commodities | - | consumer goods |
| Imports - partners | - | principally Australia |
| 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 sq km |
| Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court; District Court; Magistrate's Court |
| Labor force | - | NA |
| Labor force - by occupation | - | NA |
| Land boundaries | - | 0 km |
| Land use | - | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% note: mainly tropical rainforest; 63% of the island is a national park (2001) |
| 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 3 May 2003 (next to be held in 2005) 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 |
| People - note | - | the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports a population of 1,508 as of the 2001 Census |
| Political parties and leaders | - | none |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | - | none |
| Population | - | 361 (July 2005 est.) |
| Population growth rate | - | 0% (2005 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US) | Flying Fish Cove |
| Radio broadcast stations | - | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004) |
| 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 - 61-891; satellite earth stations - one Intelsat earth station provides telephone and telex service (2000) |
| Telephones - main lines in use | - | NA |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | - | NA |
| Television broadcast stations | - | NA |
| 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 |
| Transportation - note | sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Eurasia) are important seasonal waterways | - |
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