Compare Christmas Island (2006) - Arctic Ocean (2006)

Compare Christmas Island (2006) z Arctic Ocean (2006)

	Christmas Island (2006)	Arctic Ocean (2006)

Administrative divisions	none (territory of Australia)	-
Age structure	0-14 years: NA 15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA (2006 est.)	-
Agriculture - products	NA	-
Airports	1 (2006)	-
Airports - with paved runways	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2006)	-
Area	total: 135 sq km land: 135 sq km water: 0 sq km	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
Area - comparative	about three-quarters the size of Washington, DC	slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US
Background	Named in 1643 for the day of its discovery, the island was annexed and settlement began 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.	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.
Birth rate	NA	-
Budget	revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA	-
Capital	name: The Settlement geographic coordinates: 18 44 N, 64 19 W time difference: UTC+7 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)	-
Climate	tropical with a wet and dry season; heat and humidity moderated by trade winds; wet season (December to April)	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
Coastline	138.9 km	45,389 km
Constitution	Christmas Island Act of 1958-59 (1 October 1958) as amended by the Territories Law Reform Act of 1992	-
Country name	conventional long form: Territory of Christmas Island conventional short form: Christmas Island	-
Death rate	NA	-
Dependency status	non-self governing 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	none	some maritime disputes (see littoral states)
Economic aid - recipient	$NA	-
Economy - overview	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.	Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Murray Hill 361 m	lowest point: Fram Basin -4,665 m highest point: sea level 0 m
Environment - current issues	loss of rainforest; impact of phosphate mining	endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage; thinning polar icepack
Ethnic groups	Chinese 70%, European 20%, Malay 10% note: no indigenous population (2001)	-
Exchange rates	Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001)	-
Executive branch	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by the Australian governor general head of government: Administrator Neil LUCAS (since 30 January 2006) 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 (2004)	-
Fiscal year	1 July - 30 June	-
Flag description	territorial flag; divided diagonally from upper hoist to lower fly; the upper triangle is green with a yellow image of the Golden Bosun Bird superimposed, while the lower triangle is blue with the Southern Cross constellation, representing Australia, superimposed; a centered yellow disk displays a green map of the island; the flag of Australia is used for official purposes	-
Geographic coordinates	10 30 S, 105 40 E	90 00 N, 0 00 E
Geography - note	located along major sea lanes of Indian Ocean	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
Imports	$NA	-
Imports - commodities	consumer goods	-
Imports - partners	principally Australia (2004)	-
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	-
Judicial branch	Supreme Court; District Court; Magistrate's Court	-
Labor force	NA	-
Land boundaries	0 km	-
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (mainly tropical rainforest; 63% of the island is a national park) (2005)	-
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 in May 2005 (next to be held in May 2007) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - independents 9	-
Life expectancy at birth	total population: NA male: NA female: NA	-
Literacy	NA	-
Location	Southeastern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of Indonesia	body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle
Map references	Southeast Asia	Arctic Region
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	the narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime hazard	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
Natural resources	phosphate, beaches	sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales)
Net migration rate	NA	-
Political parties and leaders	none	-
Political pressure groups and leaders	none	-
Population	1,493 (July 2006 est.)	-
Population growth rate	0% (2006 est.)	-
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2006)	-
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 - 61-8; satellite earth stations - one INTELSAT earth station provides telephone and telex service (2005)	-
Telephones - main lines in use	NA	-
Telephones - mobile cellular	NA	-
Television broadcast stations	0; note - TV broadcasts received via satellite from mainland Australia (2006)	-
Terrain	steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau	central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that, on average, is about 3 meters thick, although pressure ridges may be three times that thickness; 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)
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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