Compare British Virgin Islands (2005) - South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2001)

Compare British Virgin Islands (2005) z South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2001)

	British Virgin Islands (2005)	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2001)

Administrative divisions	none (overseas territory of the UK)	-
Age structure	0-14 years: 21% (male 2,400/female 2,358) 15-64 years: 73.9% (male 8,607/female 8,115) 65 years and over: 5.1% (male 614/female 549) (2005 est.)	-
Agriculture - products	fruits, vegetables; livestock, poultry; fish	-
Airports	3 (2004 est.)	none
Airports - with paved runways	total: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)	-
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.)	-
Area	total: 153 sq km land: 153 sq km water: 0 sq km note: comprised of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands; includes the island of Anegada	total: 3,903 sq km land: 3,903 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Shag Rocks, Black Rock, Clerke Rocks, South Georgia Island, Bird Island, and the South Sandwich Islands, which consist of some nine islands
Area - comparative	about 0.9 times the size of Washington, DC	slightly larger than Rhode Island
Background	First settled by the Dutch in 1648, the islands were annexed in 1672 by the English. The economy is closely tied to the larger and more populous US Virgin Islands to the west; the US dollar is the legal currency.	The islands lie approximately 1,000 km east of the Falkland Islands. Grytviken, on South Georgia, was a 19th and early 20th century whaling station. The famed explorer Ernest SHACKLETON stopped there in 1914 en route to his ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica on foot. He returned some 20 months later with a few companions in a small boat and arranged a successful rescue for the rest of his crew, stranded off the Antarctic Peninsula. He died in 1922 on a subsequent expedition and is buried in Grytviken. Today, the station houses a small military garrison. The islands have large bird and seal populations and, recognizing the importance of preserving the marine stocks in adjacent waters, the UK, in 1993, extended the exclusive fishing zone from 12 miles to 200 miles around each island.
Birth rate	14.96 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)	-
Budget	revenues: $121.5 million expenditures: $115.5 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1997)	revenues: $291,777 expenditures: $451,000, including capital expenditures of $NA (1988 est.)
Capital	Road Town	-
Climate	subtropical; humid; temperatures moderated by trade winds	variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow
Coastline	80 km	NA km
Constitution	1 June 1977	adopted 3 October 1985
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: British Virgin Islands abbreviation: BVI	conventional long form: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands conventional short form: none
Death rate	4.42 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)	-
Debt - external	$36.1 million (1997)	-
Dependency status	overseas territory of the UK; internal self-governing	overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by UK civil commissioner Donald A. LAMONT, representing Queen ELIZABETH II; Grytviken, formerly a whaling station on South Georgia, is the garrison town
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (overseas territory of the UK)	none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)
Disputes - international	none	claimed by Argentina
Economic aid - recipient	NA	-
Economy - overview	The economy, one of the most stable and prosperous in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, generating an estimated 45% of the national income. An estimated 350,000 tourists, mainly from the US, visited the islands in 1998. Tourism suffered in 2002 because of the lackluster US economy. In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate substantial revenues. Roughly 400,000 companies were on the offshore registry by yearend 2000. The adoption of a comprehensive insurance law in late 1994, which provides a blanket of confidentiality with regulated statutory gateways for investigation of criminal offenses, is expected to make the British Virgin Islands even more attractive to international business. Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Because of traditionally close links with the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the dollar as its currency since 1959.	Some fishing takes place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from harvesting fin fish and krill. The islands receive income from postage stamps produced in the UK.
Electricity - consumption	33.74 million kWh (2002)	NA kWh
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2002)	-
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2002)	-
Electricity - production	36.28 million kWh (2002)	-
Electricity - production by source	-	fossil fuel: NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA%
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Mount Sage 521 m	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Paget (South Georgia) 2,934 m
Environment - current issues	limited natural fresh water resources (except for a few seasonal streams and springs on Tortola, most of the islands' water supply comes from wells and rainwater catchments)	NA
Ethnic groups	black 83%, white, Indian, Asian and mixed	-
Exchange rates	the US dollar is used	-
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor Tom MACAN (since 14 October 2002) head of government: Chief Minister Orlando D. SMITH (since 17 June 2003) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor from members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed chief minister by the governor	-
Exports	NA	-
Exports - commodities	rum, fresh fish, fruits, animals; gravel, sand	-
Exports - partners	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US	-
Fiscal year	1 April - 31 March	-
Flag description	blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Virgin Islander coat of arms centered in the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms depicts a woman flanked on either side by a vertical column of six oil lamps above a scroll bearing the Latin word VIGILATE (Be Watchful)	the flag of the UK is used
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 1.8% industry: 6.2% services: 92% (1996 est.)	-
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $38,500 (2004 est.)	-
GDP - real growth rate	1% (2002 est.)	-
Geographic coordinates	18 30 N, 64 30 W	54 30 S, 37 00 W
Geography - note	strong ties to nearby US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico	the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays, which provide good anchorage; reindeer, introduced early in this century, live on South Georgia
Highways	total: 177 km paved: 177 km unpaved: 0 km (2000)	-
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA highest 10%: NA	-
Illicit drugs	transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe; large offshore financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering	-
Imports	NA	-
Imports - commodities	building materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, machinery	-
Imports - partners	Virgin Islands (US), Puerto Rico, US	-
Independence	none (overseas territory of the UK)	-
Industrial production growth rate	NA%	-
Industries	tourism, light industry, construction, rum, concrete block, offshore financial center	-
Infant mortality rate	total: 18.05 deaths/1,000 live births male: 21.02 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.95 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)	-
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	2.5% (2003)	-
International organization participation	Caricom (associate), CDB, Interpol (subbureau), IOC, OECS (associate), UNESCO (associate), UPU	-
Irrigated land	NA	0 sq km (1993)
Judicial branch	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary Jurisdiction	-
Labor force	12,770 (2004)	-
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture NA%, industry NA%, services NA%	-
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 20% permanent crops: 6.67% other: 73.33% (2001)	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 100% (largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation consisting of grass, moss, and lichen)
Languages	English (official)	-
Legal system	English law	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply
Legislative branch	unicameral Legislative Council (13 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote, one member from each of 9 electoral districts, four at-large members; members serve four-year terms) elections: last held 16 May 2003 (next to be held NA 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NDP 8, VIP 5	-
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 76.49 years male: 75.41 years female: 77.62 years (2005 est.)	-
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97.8% (1991 est.) male: NA% female: NA%	-
Location	Caribbean, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico	Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the tip of South America
Map references	Central America and the Caribbean	Antarctic Region
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm	exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM
Merchant marine	total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 83,825 GRT/155,909 DWT by type: cargo 1 registered in other countries: 7 (2005)	-
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of the UK	defense is the responsibility of the UK
National holiday	Territory Day, 1 July	Liberation Day, 14 June (1982)
Nationality	noun: British Virgin Islander(s) adjective: British Virgin Islander	-
Natural hazards	hurricanes and tropical storms (July to October)	the South Sandwich Islands have prevailing weather conditions that generally make them difficult to approach by ship; they are also subject to active volcanism
Natural resources	NEGL	fish
Net migration rate	10.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)	-
Political parties and leaders	Concerned Citizens Movement or CCM [Ethlyn SMITH]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Orlando SMITH]; United Party or UP [Gregory MADURO]; Virgin Islands Party or VIP [Ralph T. O'NEAL]	-
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	-
Population	22,643 (July 2005 est.)	no indigenous inhabitants note: the small military garrison on South Georgia withdrew in March 2001, to be replaced by a permanent group of scientists of the British Antarctic Survey which also has a biological station on Bird Island; the South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited (July 2001 est.)
Population below poverty line	NA	-
Population growth rate	2.06% (2005 est.)	-
Ports and harbors	Road Town	Grytviken
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2004)	none
Religions	Protestant 86% (Methodist 33%, Anglican 17%, Church of God 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 6%, Baptist 4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2%, other 15%), Roman Catholic 10%, none 2%, other 2% (1991)	-
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.12 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2005 est.)	-
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	-
Telephone system	general assessment: worldwide telephone service domestic: NA international: country code - 1-284; submarine cable to Bermuda	general assessment: NA domestic: NA international: coastal radiotelephone station at Grytviken
Telephones - main lines in use	11,700 (2002)	-
Telephones - mobile cellular	8,000 (2002)	-
Television broadcast stations	1 (plus one cable company) (1997)	0 (1997)
Terrain	coral islands relatively flat; volcanic islands steep, hilly	most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous; South Georgia is largely barren and has steep, glacier-covered mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some active volcanoes
Total fertility rate	1.72 children born/woman (2005 est.)	-
Unemployment rate	3% (1995)	-
Waterways	-	none

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