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Compare Australia (2001) - World (2003)

Compare Australia (2001) z World (2003)

 Australia (2001)World (2003)
 AustraliaWorld
Administrative divisions 6 states and 2 territories*; Australian Capital Territory*, New South Wales, Northern Territory*, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia 268 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries
Age structure 0-14 years:
20.64% (male 2,045,892; female 1,948,949)

15-64 years:
66.86% (male 6,538,096; female 6,405,014)

65 years and over:
12.5% (male 1,059,107; female 1,360,536) (2001 est.)
0-14 years: 29.2% (male 932,581,592; female 885,688,851)


15-64 years: 63.7% (male 2,009,997,089; female 1,964,938,201)


65 years and over: 7.1% (male 193,549,180; female 247,067,032) (2003 est.)


note: some countries do not maintain age structure information, thus a slight discrepancy exists between the total world population and the total for world age structure
Agriculture - products wheat, barley, sugarcane, fruits; cattle, sheep, poultry -
Airports 411 (2000 est.) -
Airports - with paved runways total:
271

over 3,047 m:
10

2,438 to 3,047 m:
12

1,524 to 2,437 m:
118

914 to 1,523 m:
122

under 914 m:
9 (2000 est.)
-
Airports - with unpaved runways total:
140

1,524 to 2,437 m:
17

914 to 1,523 m:
112

under 914 m:
11 (2000 est.)
-
Area total:
7,686,850 sq km

land:
7,617,930 sq km

water:
68,920 sq km

note:
includes Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island
total: 510.072 million sq km


land: 148.94 million sq km


water: 361.132 million sq km


note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land
Area - comparative slightly smaller than the contiguous 48 states of the US land area about 16 times the size of the US
Background Australia became a commonwealth of the British Empire in 1901. It was able to take advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop its agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort in World Wars I and II. Long-term concerns include pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef. A referendum to change Australia's status, from a commonwealth headed by the British monarch to an independent republic, was defeated in 1999. Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war).
Birth rate 12.86 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) 20.43 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Budget revenues:
$94 billion

expenditures:
$103 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.)
-
Capital Canberra -
Climate generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east; tropical in north two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones form a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates
Coastline 25,760 km 356,000 km
Constitution 9 July 1900, effective 1 January 1901 -
Country name conventional long form:
Commonwealth of Australia

conventional short form:
Australia
-
Currency Australian dollar (AUD) -
Death rate 7.18 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) 8.83 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Debt - external $220.6 billion (2000) $2 trillion for less developed countries (2002 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US chief of mission:
Ambassador Edward W. GNEHM, Jr.

embassy:
Moonah Place, Yarralumla, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2600

mailing address:
APO AP 96549

telephone:
[61] (02) 6214-5600

FAX:
[61] (02) 6214-5970

consulate(s) general:
Sydney

consulate(s):
Melbourne and Perth
-
Diplomatic representation in the US chief of mission:
Ambassador Michael THAWLEY

chancery:
1601 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036

telephone:
[1] (202) 797-3000

FAX:
[1] (202) 797-3168

consulate(s) general:
Atlanta, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco
-
Disputes - international territorial claim in Antarctica (Australian Antarctic Territory) Globally, there are over 250,000 km of international land boundaries that separate the world's 192 independent states, along with 70 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities. Maritime states have claimed limits and have so far established over 130 maritime boundaries and joint development zones to allocate ocean resources and to provide for their national security at sea. On land, ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries. All of these factors have contributed to a wide array of boundary, borderland, and territorial disagreements that vary in intensity from unresolved or dormant to outright war. Territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural animosities, or they may be brought on by resource competition. Ethnic clashes continue to be responsible for territorial fragmentation around the world. Undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and political confrontation over boundary allocations. Other sources of contention include the use of water and mineral (especially petroleum) resources, fisheries, dams, and nuclear power plants. Many islands or island groups are also disputed, including those at sea and in streams. Nonetheless, many nations are actively cooperating to clarify, delineate, and demarcate their international borders. The tragic aspect of international discord is the impact on the sustenance and welfare of populations caught in the conflict. It is frequently left to members of the world community to cope with enormous refugee situations, and the resultant hunger, disease, and impoverishment that they create.
Economic aid - donor ODA, $1.43 billion (FY97/98) -
Economic aid - recipient - official development assistance (ODA) $50 billion
Economy - overview Australia has a prosperous Western-style capitalist economy, with a per capita GDP at the level of the four dominant West European economies. Rich in natural resources, Australia is a major exporter of agricultural products, minerals, metals, and fossil fuels. Commodities account for 57% of the value of total exports, so that a downturn in world commodity prices can have a big impact on the economy. The government is pushing for increased exports of manufactured goods, but competition in international markets continues to be severe. While Australia has suffered from the low growth and high unemployment characterizing the OECD countries in the early 1990s and during the recent financial problems in East Asia, the economy has expanded at a solid 4% annual growth pace in the last five years. Canberra's emphasis on reforms is a key factor behind the economy's resilience to the regional crisis and its stronger than expected growth rate. Growth in 2001 will depend on key international commodity prices, the extent of recovery in nearby Asian economies, and the strength of US and European markets. Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) fell from 4.8% in 2000 to 2.2% in 2001 and 2.7% in 2002. The causes: sluggishness in the US economy (21% of GWP) and in the 15 EU economies (19% of GWP); continued stagnation in the Japanese economy (7.2% of GWP); and spillover effects in the less developed regions of the world. China, the second-largest economy in the world (12% of GWP), proved an exception, continuing its rapid annual growth, officially announced as 8% but estimated by many observers as perhaps two percentage points lower. Russia (2.6% of GWP), with 4% growth, continued to make uneven progress, its GDP per capita still only one-third that of the leading industrial nations. The other 14 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations continued as strong performers, in the 5% range of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that erode gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decision-making powers to international bodies. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuate a further growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic prospects. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2002, see the individual country entries.)
Electricity - consumption 178.306 billion kWh (1999) 13.93 trillion kWh (2001 est.)
Electricity - exports 0 kWh (1999) -
Electricity - imports 0 kWh (1999) -
Electricity - production 191.727 billion kWh (1999) 14.85 trillion kWh (2001 est.)
Electricity - production by source fossil fuel:
89.93%

hydro:
8.36%

nuclear:
0%

other:
1.71% (1999)
fossil fuel: NA%


hydro: NA%


nuclear: NA%


other: NA%
Elevation extremes lowest point:
Lake Eyre -15 m

highest point:
Mount Kosciuszko 2,229 m
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m


note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean


highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.)
Environment - current issues soil erosion from overgrazing, industrial development, urbanization, and poor farming practices; soil salinity rising due to the use of poor quality water; desertification; clearing for agricultural purposes threatens the natural habitat of many unique animal and plant species; the Great Barrier Reef off the northeast coast, the largest coral reef in the world, is threatened by increased shipping and its popularity as a tourist site; limited natural fresh water resources large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion
Environment - international agreements party to:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
-
Ethnic groups Caucasian 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1% -
Exchange rates Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.7995 (January 2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998), 1.3439 (1997), 1.2773 (1996) -
Executive branch chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Rev. Peter HOLLINGSWORTH (since 29 June 2001)

head of government:
Prime Minister John Winston HOWARD (since 11 March 1996); Deputy Prime Minister John ANDERSON (since NA)

cabinet:
Cabinet selected from among the members of Federal Parliament by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister

elections:
none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general for a three-year term

note:
government coalition - Liberal Party and National Party
-
Exports $69 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) 703.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Exports - commodities coal, gold, meat, wool, alumina, iron ore, wheat, machinery and transport equipment the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Exports - partners Japan 19%, EU 14%, ASEAN 12%, US 9%, South Korea, NZ, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China (1999) US 17.4%, Germany 7.6%, UK 5.4%, France 5.1%, Japan 4.8%, China 4% (2002)
Fiscal year 1 July - 30 June -
Flag description blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and a large seven-pointed star in the lower hoist-side quadrant; the remaining half is a representation of the Southern Cross constellation in white with one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars -
GDP purchasing power parity - $445.8 billion (2000 est.) GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $49 trillion (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture:
3%

industry:
26%

services:
71% (1999 est.)
agriculture: 4%


industry: 32%


services: 64% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $23,200 (2000 est.) purchasing power parity - $7,900 (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 4.7% (2000 est.) 2.7% (2001 est.)
Geographic coordinates 27 00 S, 133 00 E -
Geography - note world's smallest continent but sixth-largest country; population concentrated along the eastern and southeastern coasts; regular, tropical, invigorating, sea breeze known as "the Doctor" occurs along the west coast in the summer the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13-billion-year age estimated for the universe
Highways total:
913,000 km

paved:
353,331 km (including 1,363 km of expressways)

unpaved:
559,669 km (1996)
total: NA km


paved: NA km


unpaved: NA km
Household income or consumption by percentage share lowest 10%:
2%

highest 10%:
25.4% (1994)
lowest 10%: NA%


highest 10%: NA%
Illicit drugs Tasmania is one of the world's major suppliers of licit opiate products; government maintains strict controls over areas of opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate cocaine: worldwide, coca is grown on an estimated 205,450 hectares - almost exclusively in South America with 70% in Colombia; potential cocaine production during 2002 is estimated at 938 metric tons (or 1,200 metric tons of export quality cocaine at an average of 78% purity); coca eradication programs continue in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru, and 292 metric tons of export quality cocaine are documented to have been seized in 2002; consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been 875 metric tons


opiates: cultivation of opium poppy occurred on an estimated 141,213 hectares in 2002 and potentially produced 2,183 metric tons of opium - which conceivably could be converted to the equivalent of 238 metric tons of pure heroin; opium eradication programs have been undertaken in Afghanistan, Burma, Colombia, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam, and the annual average for opiates seized worldwide over the past five years (1998-2002) has been 45 metric tons of pure heroin equivalent; estimates for average annual consumption over this time period are 315 metric tons pure heroin equivalent
Imports $77 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) 697.5 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Imports - commodities machinery and transport equipment, computers and office machines, telecommunication equipment and parts; crude oil and petroleum products the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
Imports - partners EU 24%, US 22%, Japan 14%, ASEAN 13% (1999) US 11.2%, Germany 9.2%, China 7%, Japan 6.8%, France 4.7%, UK 4% (2002)
Independence 1 January 1901 (federation of UK colonies) -
Industrial production growth rate 1.5% (1999 est.) 3% (2002 est.)
Industries mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals, steel dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems
Infant mortality rate 4.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) total: 51.38 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 53.81 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 48.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 1.4% (2000 est.) developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in several Third World countries
International organization participation ANZUS, APEC, ARF (dialogue partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, C, CCC, CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OECD, OPCW, PCA, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNMEE, UNTAET, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC -
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 264 (2000) 10,350 (2000 est.)
Irrigated land 21,070 sq km (1993 est.) 2,714,320 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch High Court (the chief justice and six other justices are appointed by the governor general) -
Labor force 9.5 million (December 1999) NA
Labor force - by occupation services 73%, industry 22%, agriculture 5% (1997 est.) agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%
Land boundaries 0 km the land boundaries in the world total 250,472 km (not counting shared boundaries twice)
Land use arable land:
6%

permanent crops:
0%

permanent pastures:
54%

forests and woodland:
19%

other:
21% (1993 est.)
arable land: 10.58%


permanent crops: 1%


other: 88.42% (1998 est.)
Languages English, native languages Chinese, Mandarin 14.37%, Hindi 6.02%, English 5.61%, Spanish 5.59%, Bengali 3.4%, Portuguese 2.63%, Russian 2.75%, Japanese 2.06%, German, Standard 1.64%, Korean 1.28%, French 1.27% (2000 est.)


note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Legal system based on English common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court
Legislative branch bicameral Federal Parliament consists of the Senate (76 seats - 12 from each of the six states and two from each of the two territories; one-half of the members elected every three years by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (148 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve three-year terms; no state can have fewer than five representatives)

elections:
Senate - last held 3 October 1998 (next to be held by October 2001); House of Representatives - last held 3 October 1998 (next to be held by October 2001)

election results:
Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Liberal Party-National Party coalition 35, Australian Labor Party 29, Australian Democratic Party 9, Green Party 1, One Nation Party 1, independent 1; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Liberal Party-National Party coalition 80, Australian Labor Party 67, independent 1
-
Life expectancy at birth total population:
79.87 years

male:
77.02 years

female:
82.87 years (2001 est.)
total population: 63.95 years


male: 62 years


female: 70.23 years (2003 est.)
Literacy definition:
age 15 and over can read and write

total population:
100%

male:
100%

female:
100% (1980 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 77%


male: 83%


female: 71% (1995 est.)
Location Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean -
Map references Oceania Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World
Maritime claims contiguous zone:
24 NM

continental shelf:
200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin

exclusive economic zone:
200 NM

territorial sea:
12 NM
a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims: contiguous zone - 24 NM; continental shelf - 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation, or 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin; exclusive fishing zone - 200 NM; exclusive economic zone - 200 NM; territorial sea - 12 NM; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked
Merchant marine total:
54 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,558,371 GRT/2,038,776 DWT

ships by type:
bulk 26, cargo 3, chemical tanker 5, container 1, liquefied gas 4, passenger 2, petroleum tanker 7, roll on/roll off 6 (2000 est.)
-
Military branches Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Force -
Military expenditures - dollar figure $6.9 billion (FY98/99) aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP 1.9% (FY98/99) roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.)
Military manpower - availability males age 15-49:
4,990,107 (2001 est.)
-
Military manpower - fit for military service males age 15-49:
4,303,966 (2001 est.)
-
Military manpower - military age 17 years of age -
Military manpower - reaching military age annually males:
138,971 (2001 est.)
-
National holiday Australia Day, 26 January (1788) -
Nationality noun:
Australian(s)

adjective:
Australian
-
Natural hazards cyclones along the coast; severe droughts large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)
Natural resources bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas, petroleum the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address
Net migration rate 4.19 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) -
Pipelines crude oil 2,500 km; petroleum products 500 km; natural gas 5,600 km -
Political parties and leaders Australian Democratic Party [Meg LEES]; Australian Labor Party [Kim BEAZLEY]; Green Party [Bob BROWN]; Liberal Party [John Winston HOWARD]; National Party [John ANDERSON]; One Nation Party [Pauline HANSON] -
Political pressure groups and leaders Australian Democratic Labor Party (anti-Communist Labor Party splinter group); Peace and Nuclear Disarmament Action (Nuclear Disarmament Party splinter group) -
Population 19,357,594 (July 2001 est.) 6,302,309,691 (July 2003 est.)
Population below poverty line NA% -
Population growth rate 0.99% (2001 est.) 1.17% (2003 est.)
Ports and harbors Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Devonport (Tasmania), Fremantle, Geelong, Hobart (Tasmania), Launceston (Tasmania), Mackay, Melbourne, Sydney, Townsville Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama
Radio broadcast stations AM 262, FM 345, shortwave 1 (1998) AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA
Radios 25.5 million (1997) -
Railways total:
33,819 km (2,540 km electrified)

broad gauge:
3,719 km 1.600-m gauge

standard gauge:
15,422 km 1.435-m gauge

narrow gauge:
14,506 km 1.067-m gauge

dual gauge:
172 km NA gauges (1999)
total: 1,122,650 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line


broad gauge: 251,153 km


standard gauge: 710,754 km


narrow gauge: 239,430 km
Religions Anglican 26.1%, Roman Catholic 26%, other Christian 24.3%, non-Christian 11% Christians 32.79% (of which Roman Catholics 17.33%, Protestants 5.62%, Orthodox 3.51%, Anglicans 1.31%), Muslims 19.6%, Hindus 13.31%, Buddhists 5.88%, Sikhs 0.38%, Jews 0.24%, other religions 12.83%, non-religious 12.53%, atheists 2.44% (2001 est.)
Sex ratio at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:
1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:
1.02 male(s)/female

65 years and over:
0.78 male(s)/female

total population:
0.99 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female


total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal and compulsory -
Telephone system general assessment:
excellent domestic and international service

domestic:
domestic satellite system; much use of radiotelephone in areas of low population density; rapid growth of mobile cellular telephones

international:
submarine cables to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia; satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (4 Indian Ocean and 6 Pacific Ocean), 2 Inmarsat (Indian and Pacific Ocean regions) (1998)
general assessment: NA


domestic: NA


international: NA
Telephones - main lines in use 9.58 million (1998) NA
Telephones - mobile cellular 6.4 million (1998) NA
Television broadcast stations 104 (1997) NA
Terrain mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean
Total fertility rate 1.77 children born/woman (2001 est.) 2.65 children born/woman (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate 6.4% (2000) 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment
Waterways 8,368 km (mainly used by small, shallow-draft craft) -
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