Atlantic Ocean (2001) | Guernsey (2005) | |
Administrative divisions | - | none (British crown dependency); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 10 parishes including Saint Peter Port, Saint Sampson, Vale, Castel, Saint Saviour, Saint Pierre du Bois, Torteval, Forest, Saint Martin, Saint Andrew |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years: 15.4% (male 5,084/female 4,937)
15-64 years: 66.9% (male 21,611/female 22,002) 65 years and over: 17.8% (male 4,882/female 6,712) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | - | tomatoes, greenhouse flowers, sweet peppers, eggplant, fruit; Guernsey cattle |
Airports | - | 2 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | - | total: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
76.762 million sq km note: includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, part of the Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, almost all of the Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
total: 78 sq km
land: 78 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Alderney, Guernsey, Herm, Sark, and some other smaller islands |
Area - comparative | slightly less than 6.5 times the size of the US | about one-half the size of Washington, DC |
Background | The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, but larger than the Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). The Kiel Canal (Germany), Oresund (Denmark-Sweden), Bosporus (Turkey), Strait of Gibraltar (Morocco-Spain), and the St. Lawrence Seaway (Canada-US) are important strategic access waterways. The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth world ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Atlantic Ocean south of 60 degrees south. | The island of Guernsey and the other Channel Islands represent the last remnants of the medieval Dukedom of Normandy, which held sway in both France and England. The islands were the only British soil occupied by German troops in World War II. |
Birth rate | - | 9.01 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues: $539.2 million
expenditures: $448.3 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2002 est.) |
Capital | - | Saint Peter Port |
Climate | tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December, but are most frequent from August to November | temperate with mild winters and cool summers; about 50% of days are overcast |
Coastline | 111,866 km | 50 km |
Constitution | - | unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice |
Country name | - | conventional long form: Bailiwick of Guernsey
conventional short form: Guernsey |
Death rate | - | 9.95 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $NA |
Dependency status | - | British crown dependency |
Diplomatic representation from the US | - | none (British crown dependency) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | - | none (British crown dependency) |
Disputes - international | some maritime disputes (see littoral states) | none |
Economic aid - recipient | - | NA |
Economy - overview | The Atlantic Ocean provides some of the world's most heavily trafficked sea routes, between and within the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Other economic activity includes the exploitation of natural resources, e.g., fishing, the dredging of aragonite sands (The Bahamas), and production of crude oil and natural gas (Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and North Sea). | Financial services - banking, fund management, insurance - account for about 55% of total income in this tiny, prosperous Channel Island economy. Tourism, manufacturing, and horticulture, mainly tomatoes and cut flowers, have been declining. Light tax and death duties make Guernsey a popular tax haven. The evolving economic integration of the EU nations is changing the environment under which Guernsey operates. |
Electricity - consumption | - | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2002) |
Electricity - production | - | NA kWh |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench -8,605 m highest point: sea level 0 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Sark 114 m |
Environment - current issues | endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales; drift net fishing is hastening the decline of fish stocks and contributing to international disputes; municipal sludge pollution off eastern US, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea | NA |
Ethnic groups | - | UK and Norman-French descent with small percentages from other European countries |
Exchange rates | - | Guernsey pounds per US dollar - 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003), 0.6672 (2002), 0.6947 (2001), 0.6609 (2000)
note: the Guernsey pound is at par with the British pound |
Executive branch | - | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief Lt. Gen. Sir John FOLEY (since NA 2000)
head of government: Chief Minister Laurie MORGAN (since 1 May 2004) cabinet: Policy Council elected by the States of Deliberation elections: the monarch is hereditary; lieutenant governor appointed by the monarch; chief minister is elected by States of Delibertion election results: Laurie MORGAN elected chief minister, percent of vote of the States of Deliberation NA% |
Exports | - | $NA |
Exports - commodities | - | tomatoes, flowers and ferns, sweet peppers, eggplant, other vegetables |
Exports - partners | - | UK (regarded as internal trade) |
Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
Flag description | - | white with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) extending to the edges of the flag and a yellow equal-armed cross of William the Conqueror superimposed on the Saint George cross |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 3%
industry: 10% services: 87% (2000) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $40,000 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 3% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 0 00 N, 25 00 W | 49 28 N, 2 35 W |
Geography - note | major chokepoints include the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar, access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic straits include the Strait of Dover, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage, The Sound (Oresund), and Windward Passage; the Equator divides the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean | large, deepwater harbor at Saint Peter Port |
Highways | - | total: NA km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | - | $NA |
Imports - commodities | - | coal, gasoline, oil, machinery and equipment |
Imports - partners | - | UK (regarded as internal trade) |
Independence | - | none (British crown dependency) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | NA% |
Industries | - | tourism, banking |
Infant mortality rate | - | total: 4.71 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.26 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.13 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 4.9% (2004 est.) |
International organization participation | - | UPU |
Irrigated land | - | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | - | Royal Court |
Labor force | - | 32,290 (2001) |
Land boundaries | - | 0 km |
Land use | - | arable land: NA%
permanent crops: NA% other: NA% |
Languages | - | English, French, Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts |
Legal system | - | English law and local statutes; justice is administered by the Royal Court |
Legislative branch | - | unicameral States of Deliberation (45 seats; members are elected by popular vote for 4 years); note - Alderney and Sark have their own parliaments
elections: last held 21 April 2004 (next to be held NA 2008) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - all independents |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: 80.3 years
male: 77.3 years female: 83.41 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | body of water between Africa, Europe, the Southern Ocean, and the Western Hemisphere | Western Europe, islands in the English Channel, northwest of France |
Map references | World | Europe |
Maritime claims | - | territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the UK |
National holiday | - | Liberation Day, 9 May (1945) |
Nationality | - | noun: Channel Islander(s)
adjective: Channel Islander |
Natural hazards | icebergs common in Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from February to August and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme northern Atlantic from October to May; persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to September; hurricanes (May to December) | NA |
Natural resources | oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones | cropland |
Net migration rate | - | 3.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | - | none; all independents |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | none |
Population | - | 65,228 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | NA% |
Population growth rate | - | 0.29% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Alexandria (Egypt), Algiers (Algeria), Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Casablanca (Morocco), Colon (Panama), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dakar (Senegal), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Montevideo (Uruguay), Montreal (Canada), Naples (Italy), New Orleans (US), New York (US), Oran (Algeria), Oslo (Norway), Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Stockholm (Sweden) | Saint Peter Port, Saint Sampson |
Radio broadcast stations | - | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Religions | - | Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist, Congregational, Methodist |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | - | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | - | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: 1 submarine cable |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | 55,000 (2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 31,500 (2001) |
Television broadcast stations | - | 1 (1997) |
Terrain | surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and Baltic Sea from October to June; clockwise warm-water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the northern Atlantic, counterclockwise warm-water gyre in the southern Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin | mostly level with low hills in southwest |
Total fertility rate | - | 1.38 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | - | 0.5% (1999 est.) |