Cocos (Keeling) Islands (2006) | Croatia (2003) | |
Administrative divisions | none (territory of Australia) | 20 counties (zupanije, zupanija - singular) and 1 city* (grad - singular); Bjelovarsko-Bilogorska Zupanija, Brodsko-Posavska Zupanija, Dubrovacko-Neretvanska Zupanija, Istarska Zupanija, Karlovacka Zupanija, Koprivnicko-Krizevacka Zupanija, Krapinsko-Zagorska Zupanija, Licko-Senjska Zupanija, Medimurska Zupanija, Osjecko-Baranjska Zupanija, Pozesko-Slavonska Zupanija, Primorsko-Goranska Zupanija, Sibensko-Kninska Zupanija, Sisacko-Moslavacka Zupanija, Splitsko-Dalmatinska Zupanija, Varazdinska Zupanija, Viroviticko-Podravska Zupanija, Vukovarsko-Srijemska Zupanija, Zadarska Zupanija, Zagreb*, Zagrebacka Zupanija |
Age structure | 0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA (2006 est.) |
0-14 years: 18.3% (male 415,873; female 394,414)
15-64 years: 66.1% (male 1,465,488; female 1,454,778) 65 years and over: 15.6% (male 258,943; female 432,752) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | vegetables, bananas, pawpaws, coconuts | wheat, corn, sugar beets, sunflower seed, barley, alfalfa, clover, olives, citrus, grapes, soybeans, potatoes; livestock, dairy products |
Airports | 1 (2006) | 59 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2006) |
total: 16
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 9 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 43
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 8 under 914 m: 34 (2002) |
Area | total: 14 sq km
land: 14 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the two main islands of West Island and Home Island |
total: 56,542 sq km
land: 56,414 sq km water: 128 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 24 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC | slightly smaller than West Virginia |
Background | There are 27 coral islands in the group. Captain William KEELING discovered the islands in 1609, but they remained uninhabited until the 19th century. Annexed by the UK in 1857, they were transferred to the Australian Government in 1955. The population on the two inhabited islands generally is split between the ethnic Europeans on West Island and the ethnic Malays on Home Island. | In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal independent Communist state under the strong hand of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998. |
Birth rate | NA | 12.76 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA |
revenues: $8.6 billion
expenditures: $9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
Capital | name: West Island
geographic coordinates: 12 10 S, 96 55 E time difference: UTC+6.5 (11.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Zagreb |
Climate | tropical with high humidity, moderated by the southeast trade winds for about nine months of the year | Mediterranean and continental; continental climate predominant with hot summers and cold winters; mild winters, dry summers along coast |
Coastline | 26 km | 5,835 km (mainland 1,777 km, islands 4,058 km) |
Constitution | Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act of 1955 (23 November 1955) as amended by the Territories Law Reform Act of 1992 | adopted on 22 December 1990 |
Country name | conventional long form: Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands
conventional short form: Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
conventional long form: Republic of Croatia
conventional short form: Croatia local long form: Republika Hrvatska local short form: Hrvatska |
Currency | - | kuna (HRK) |
Death rate | NA deaths/1,000 population | 11.25 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $16.5 billion (yearend 2002 est.) |
Dependency status | non-self governing territory of Australia; administered from Canberra by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (territory of Australia) | chief of mission: Ambassador Ralph FRANK
embassy: Thomasa Jeffersona 2, 10010 Zagreb mailing address: use street address telephone: [385] (1) 661-2200 FAX: [385] (1) 661-2373 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (territory of Australia) | chief of mission: Ambassador Ivan GRDESIC
chancery: 2343 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 588-5899 FAX: [1] (202) 588-8936 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York |
Disputes - international | none | discussions continue with Bosnia and Herzegovina on sections of the Una River and villages at the base of Mount Pljesevica; parliamentarians are far from ratifying the Croatia-Slovenia land and maritime boundary agreement, which would have ceded most of Pirin Bay and maritime access to Slovenia and several villages to Croatia; in late 2002, Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro adopted an interim agreement to settle the disputed Prevlaka Peninsula, allowing the withdrawal of the UN monitoring mission (UNMOP), but discussions could be complicated by the inability of Serbia and Montenegro to come to an agreement on the economic aspects of the new federal union; Croatia and Italy continue to debate bilateral property and ethnic minority rights issues stemming from border changes after the Second World War |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | ODA $66 million (2000) |
Economy - overview | Grown throughout the islands, coconuts are the sole cash crop. Small local gardens and fishing contribute to the food supply, but additional food and most other necessities must be imported from Australia. There is a small tourist industry. | Before the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the Republic of Croatia, after Slovenia, was the most prosperous and industrialized area, with a per capita output perhaps one-third above the Yugoslav average. The economy emerged from its mild recession in 2000 with tourism the main factor, but massive structural unemployment remains a key negative element. The government's failure to press the economic reforms needed to spur growth is largely the result of coalition politics and public resistance, particularly from the trade unions. Opponents fear reforms would cut jobs, wages, and social benefits. The government has a heavy backload of civil cases, many involving tenure land. The country is likely to experience only moderate growth without disciplined fiscal and structural reform. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 14.27 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | - | 386 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | - | 3.386 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | - | 12.12 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 33.6%
hydro: 66% nuclear: 0% other: 0.4% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 m |
lowest point: Adriatic Sea 0 m
highest point: Dinara 1,830 m |
Environment - current issues | fresh water resources are limited to rainwater accumulations in natural underground reservoirs | air pollution (from metallurgical plants) and resulting acid rain is damaging the forests; coastal pollution from industrial and domestic waste; landmine removal and reconstruction of infrastructure consequent to 1992-95 civil strife |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | Europeans, Cocos Malays | Croat 89.6%, Serb 4.5%, Bosniak 0.5%, Hungarian 0.4%, Slovene 0.3%, Czech 0.2%, Roma 0.2%, Albanian 0.1%, Montenegrin 0.1%, others 4.1% (2001) |
Exchange rates | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001) | kuna per US dollar - 7.87 (2002), 8.34 (2001), 8.28 (2000), 7.11 (1999), 6.36 (1998) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by the Australian governor general
head of government: Administrator (nonresident) Neil LUCAS (since 30 January 2006) cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the governor general of Australia and represents the monarch and Australia |
chief of state: President Stjepan (Stipe) MESIC (since 18 February 2000)
head of government: Prime Minister Ivica RACAN (since 27 January 2000); Deputy Prime Ministers Goran GRANIC (since 27 January 2000), Ante SIMONIC (since 30 July 2002), Zeljka ANTUNOVI (since 27 January 2000), Slavko LINIC (since 27 January 2000) cabinet: Council of Ministers named by the prime minister and approved by the House of Representatives elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 7 February 2000 (next to be held NA 2005); prime minister nominated by the president in line with the balance of power in the Assembly election results: Stjepan MESIC elected president; percent of vote - Stjepan MESIC (HNS) 56%, Drazen BUDISA (HSLS) 44% note: government coalition - SDP, HSLS, HSS, LP, HNS; a sixth party, the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS), withdrew in June 2001 |
Exports | $NA | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | copra | transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, foodstuffs, fuels |
Exports - partners | Australia (2004) | Italy 22.4%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 14.4%, Germany 12.5%, Slovenia 8%, Austria 7.3% (2002) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | calendar year |
Flag description | the flag of Australia is used | red, white, and blue horizontal bands with Croatian coat of arms (red and white checkered) |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $43.12 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 9%
industry: 33% services: 58% (2002 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $9,800 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 5.2% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 12 30 S, 96 50 E | 45 10 N, 15 30 E |
Geography - note | islands are thickly covered with coconut palms and other vegetation | controls most land routes from Western Europe to Aegean Sea and Turkish Straits |
Heliports | - | 1 (2002) |
Highways | - | total: 28,123 km
paved: 23,792 km (including 410 km of expressways) unpaved: 4,331 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: 3.7%
highest 10%: 23.3% (1998) |
Illicit drugs | - | transit point along the Balkan route for Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe; has been used as a transit point for maritime shipments of South American cocaine bound for Western Europe |
Imports | $NA | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs | machinery, transport and electrical equipment, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | Australia (2004) | Italy 16.8%, Germany 16.4%, Slovenia 7.8%, Russia 6.8%, Austria 6.7%, France 5.2% (2002) |
Independence | none (territory of Australia) | 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 2.8% (2002 est.) |
Industries | copra products and tourism | chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metal, electronics, pig iron and rolled steel products, aluminum, paper, wood products, construction materials, textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum and petroleum refining, food and beverages; tourism |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total: 6.92 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.78 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 2.2% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | none | BIS, CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (observer), OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMOGIP, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 9 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA | 30 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Magistrate's Court | Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; judges for both courts appointed for eight-year terms by the Judicial Council of the Republic, which is elected by the House of Representatives |
Labor force | NA | 1.7 million (2001) |
Labor force - by occupation | note: the Cocos Islands Cooperative Society Ltd. employs construction workers, stevedores, and lighterage workers; tourism employs others | agriculture 13.2% NA, industry 25.4% NA, services 46.4% NA (2002) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 2,197 km
border countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina 932 km, Hungary 329 km, Serbia and Montenegro (north) 241 km, Serbia and Montenegro (south) 25 km, Slovenia 670 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005) |
arable land: 23.55%
permanent crops: 2.24% other: 74.21% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Malay (Cocos dialect), English | Croatian 96%, other 4% (including Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, and German) |
Legal system | based upon the laws of Australia and local laws | based on civil law system |
Legislative branch | unicameral Cocos (Keeling) Islands Shire Council (7 seats)
elections: held every two years with half the members standing for election; last held in May 2005 (next to be held in May 2007) |
unicameral Assembly or Sabor (152 seats; note - one seat was added in the November Parliamentary elections; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); note - House of Counties was abolished in March 2001
elections: Assembly - last held 23 November 2003 (next to be held in 2007) election results: Assembly (then referred to as the House of Representatives) - percent of vote by party - HDZ 43.4%, SDP 23%, HNS 7.4%, HSS 6.57%, HSP 6%; seats by party - HDZ 66, SDP 34, HNS 10, HSS 9, HSP 7; note - these are preliminary results |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total population: 74.37 years
male: 70.76 years female: 78.2 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | NA | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98.5% male: 99.4% female: 97.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southeastern Asia, group of islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Indonesia, about halfway from Australia to Sri Lanka | Southeastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia |
Map references | Southeast Asia | Europe |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total: 56 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 765,830 GRT/1,188,948 DWT
ships by type: bulk 14, cargo 16, chemical tanker 4, combination bulk 5, multi-functional large-load carrier 3, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 2, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 6, short-sea passenger 3 note: includes a foreign-owned ship registered here as a flag of convenience: Hong Kong 1 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of Australia; the territory has a five-person police force | - |
Military branches | - | Ground Forces (Hrvatska Vojska, HV), Naval Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $520 million (2002 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 2.39% (2002 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 1,081,135 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 856,946 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 19 years of age (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 30,096 (2003 est.) |
National holiday | Australia Day, 26 January (1788) | Statehood Day, 25 June (1991) |
Nationality | noun: Cocos Islander(s)
adjective: Cocos Islander |
noun: Croat(s), Croatian(s)
adjective: Croatian |
Natural hazards | cyclone season is October to April | destructive earthquakes |
Natural resources | fish | oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, hydropower |
Net migration rate | NA | 1.61 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 1,374 km; oil 583 km (2003) |
Political parties and leaders | none | Croatian Bloc or HB [Ivic PASALIC]; Croatian Christian Democratic Union or HKDU [Anto KOVACEVIC]; Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ [Ivo SANADER]; Croatian Party of Rights or HSP [Anto DJAPIC]; Croatian Peasant Party or HSS [Zlatko TOMCIC]; Croatian People's Party or HNS [Vesna PUSIC]; Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS [Drazen BUDISA]; Croatian True Revival Party or HIP [Miroslav TUDJMAN]; Democratic Centre or DC [Mate GRANIC]; Istrian Democratic Assembly or IDS [Ivan JAKOVCIC]; Liberal Party or LS [Ivo BANAC]; Party of Liberal Democrats or LIBRA [Goran GRANIC]; Social Democratic Party of Croatia or SDP [Ivica RACAN]
note: the Social Democratic Party or SDP and the Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS formed a coalition as did the HSS, HNS, LP, and IDS, which together defeated the Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ in the 2000 lower house parliamentary election; the IDS subsequently left the governing coalition in June 2001 over its inability to win greater autonomy for Istria |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | NA |
Population | 574 (July 2006 est.) | 4,422,248 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0% (2006 est.) | 0.31% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Dubrovnik, Dugi Rat, Omisalj, Ploce, Pula, Rijeka, Sibenik, Split, Vukovar (inland waterway port on Danube), Zadar |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2004) | AM 16, FM 98, shortwave 5 (1999) |
Railways | - | total: 2,296 km
standard gauge: 2,296 km 1.435-m gauge (983 km electrified) (2002) |
Religions | Sunni Muslim 80%, other 20% (2002 est.) | Roman Catholic 87.8%, Orthodox 4.4%, Muslim 1.3%, Protestant 0.3%, others and unknown 6.2% (2001) |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | NA | 18 years of age; universal (16 years of age, if employed) |
Telephone system | general assessment: connected within Australia's telecommunication system
domestic: NA international: country code - 61; telephone, telex, and facsimile communications with Australia and elsewhere via satellite; 1 INTELSAT satellite earth station |
general assessment: NA
domestic: reconstruction plan calls for replacement of all analog circuits with digital and enlarging the network; a backup will be included in the plan for the main trunk international: digital international service is provided through the main switch in Zagreb; Croatia participates in the Trans-Asia-Europe (TEL) fiber-optic project, which consists of two fiber-optic trunk connections with Slovenia and a fiber-optic trunk line from Rijeka to Split and Dubrovnik; Croatia is also investing in ADRIA 1, a joint fiber-optic project with Germany, Albania, and Greece (2000) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 287 (1992) | 1,721,139 (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | note - analog cellular service available | 1.3 million (2001) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 36 (plus 321 repeaters) (September 1995) |
Terrain | flat, low-lying coral atolls | geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border, low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands |
Total fertility rate | NA | 1.93 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 60% (2000 est.) | 21.7% (2002 est.) |
Waterways | - | 785 km
note: (perennially navigable; large sections of Sava blocked by downed bridges, silt, and debris) |