Compare Ashmore and Cartier Islands (2002) - Indian Ocean (2003)

Compare Ashmore and Cartier Islands (2002) z Indian Ocean (2003)

	Ashmore and Cartier Islands (2002)	Indian Ocean (2003)

Area	total: 5 sq km land: 5 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Ashmore Reef (West, Middle, and East Islets) and Cartier Island	total: 68.556 million sq km note: includes Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Flores Sea, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Java Sea, Mozambique Channel, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Savu Sea, Strait of Malacca, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies
Area - comparative	about eight times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC	about 5.5 times the size of the US
Background	These uninhabited islands came under Australian authority in 1931; formal administration began two years later. Ashmore Reef supports a rich and diverse avian and marine habitat; in 1983 it became a National Nature Reserve. Cartier Island, a former bombing range, is now a marine reserve.	The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean). Four critically important access waterways are the Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen), Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia). The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Indian Ocean south of 60 degrees south.
Climate	tropical	northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon (June to October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June and October/November in the northern Indian Ocean and January/February in the southern Indian Ocean
Coastline	74.1 km	66,526 km
Country name	conventional long form: Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands conventional short form: Ashmore and Cartier Islands	-
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)
Economy - overview	no economic activity	The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Its fish are of great and growing importance to the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for shrimp and tuna. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and western Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean. Beach sands rich in heavy minerals and offshore placer deposits are actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly India, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location 3 m	lowest point: Java Trench -7,258 m highest point: sea level 0 m
Environment - current issues	NA	endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea
Flag description	the flag of Australia is used	-
Geographic coordinates	12 14 S, 123 05 E	20 00 S, 80 00 E
Geography - note	Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve established in August 1983	major chokepoints include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Malacca, southern access to the Suez Canal, and the Lombok Strait
Irrigated land	0 sq km (1998 est.)	-
Land boundaries	0 km	-
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (all grass and sand) (1998 est.)	-
Legal system	the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia and the laws of the Northern Territory of Australia, where applicable, apply	-
Location	Southeastern Asia, islands in the Indian Ocean, northwest of Australia	body of water between Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia, and Australia
Map references	Southeast Asia	Political Map of the World
Maritime claims	contiguous zone: 12 NM continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM	-
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of Australia; periodic visits by the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force	-
Natural hazards	surrounded by shoals and reefs that can pose maritime hazards	occasional icebergs pose navigational hazard in southern reaches
Natural resources	fish	oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules
People - note	the landing of illegal immigrants from Indonesia's Rote Island has become an ongoing problem	-
Population	no indigenous inhabitants note: Indonesian fishermen are allowed access to the lagoon and fresh waster at Ashmore Reef's West Island	-
Ports and harbors	none; offshore anchorage only	Chennai (Madras; India), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Durban (South Africa), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kolkata (Calcutta; India) Melbourne (Australia), Mumbai (Bombay; India), Richards Bay (South Africa)
Terrain	low with sand and coral	surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the southern Indian Ocean; unique reversal of surface currents in the northern Indian Ocean; low atmospheric pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents, while high pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest winds and currents; ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge and subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninetyeast Ridge
Waterways	none	-

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