Cocos (Keeling) Islands (2006) | Israel (2007) | |
Administrative divisions | none (territory of Australia) | 6 districts (mehozot, singular - mehoz); Central, Haifa, Jerusalem, Northern, Southern, Tel Aviv |
Age structure | 0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA (2006 est.) |
0-14 years: 26.1% (male 858,246/female 818,690)
15-64 years: 64.2% (male 2,076,649/female 2,046,343) 65 years and over: 9.8% (male 269,483/female 357,268) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | vegetables, bananas, pawpaws, coconuts | citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry, dairy products |
Airports | 1 (2006) | 53 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2006) |
total: 30
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 10 under 914 m: 6 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 23
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 20 (2007) |
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: 20,770 sq km
land: 20,330 sq km water: 440 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 24 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC | slightly smaller than New Jersey |
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. | Following World War II, the British withdrew from their mandate of Palestine, and the UN partitioned the area into Arab and Jewish states, an arrangement rejected by the Arabs. Subsequently, the Israelis defeated the Arabs in a series of wars without ending the deep tensions between the two sides. The territories Israel occupied since the 1967 war are not included in the Israel country profile, unless otherwise noted. On 25 April 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Israel and Palestinian officials signed on 13 September 1993 a Declaration of Principles (also known as the "Oslo Accords") guiding an interim period of Palestinian self-rule. Outstanding territorial and other disputes with Jordan were resolved in the 26 October 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace. In addition, on 25 May 2000, Israel withdrew unilaterally from southern Lebanon, which it had occupied since 1982. In keeping with the framework established at the Madrid Conference in October 1991, bilateral negotiations were conducted between Israel and Palestinian representatives and Syria to achieve a permanent settlement. In April 2003, US President BUSH, working in conjunction with the EU, UN, and Russia - the "Quartet" - took the lead in laying out a roadmap to a final settlement of the conflict by 2005, based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to two states, Israel and a democratic Palestine. However, progress toward a permanent status agreement was undermined by Israeli-Palestinian violence between September 2003 and February 2005. An Israeli-Palestinian agreement reached at Sharm al-Sheikh in February 2005, along with an internally-brokered Palestinian ceasefire, significantly reduced the violence. In the summer of 2005, Israel unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza Strip, evacuating settlers and its military. The election of HAMAS in January 2006 to head the Palestinian Legislative Council froze relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Ehud OLMERT became prime minister in March 2006; following an Israeli military operation in Gaza in June-July 2006, he shelved plans to unilaterally evacuate from most of the West Bank. The kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Lebanese Hizballah led to a 34-day conflict in Lebanon in June-August 2006. |
Birth rate | NA | 17.71 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA |
revenues: $48.38 billion
expenditures: $49.62 billion (2006 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) |
name: Jerusalem
geographic coordinates: 31 46 N, 35 14 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Friday in March; ends the Sunday between the holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur note: Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950, but the US, like nearly all other countries, maintains its Embassy in Tel Aviv |
Climate | tropical with high humidity, moderated by the southeast trade winds for about nine months of the year | temperate; hot and dry in southern and eastern desert areas |
Coastline | 26 km | 273 km |
Constitution | Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act of 1955 (23 November 1955) as amended by the Territories Law Reform Act of 1992 | no formal constitution; some of the functions of a constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the Basic Laws of the parliament (Knesset), and the Israeli citizenship law; note - since May 2003 the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee of the Knesset has been working on a draft constitution |
Country name | conventional long form: Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands
conventional short form: Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
conventional long form: State of Israel
conventional short form: Israel local long form: Medinat Yisra'el local short form: Yisra'el |
Death rate | NA deaths/1,000 population | 6.17 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $83.01 billion (2006 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 Richard H. JONES
embassy: 71 Hayarkon Street, Tel Aviv 63903 mailing address: PSC 98, Box 29, APO AE 09830 telephone: [972] (3) 519-7575 FAX: [972] (3) 516-4390 consulate(s) general: Jerusalem; note - an independent US mission, established in 1928, whose members are not accredited to a foreign government |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (territory of Australia) | chief of mission: Ambassador Salai MERIDOR
chancery: 3514 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 364-5500 FAX: [1] (202) 364-5607 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco |
Disputes - international | none | West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel withdrew its settlers and military from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the West Bank in August 2005; Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied (Lebanon claims the Shab'a Farms area of Golan Heights); since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) headquartered in Jerusalem monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | $240 million from US (FY06) |
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. | Israel has a technologically advanced market economy with substantial, though diminishing, government participation. It depends on imports of crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Israel imports substantial quantities of grain, but is largely self-sufficient in other agricultural products. Cut diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products (fruits and vegetables) are the leading exports. Israel usually posts sizable trade deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's external debt is owed to the US, which is its major source of economic and military aid. The bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict; difficulties in the high-technology, construction, and tourist sectors; and fiscal austerity in the face of growing inflation led to small declines in GDP in 2001 and 2002. The economy rebounded in 2003-05, growing at a 4% to 5.2% rate each year, as the government tightened fiscal policy and implemented structural reforms to boost competition and efficiency in the markets. The conflict with Lebanon in summer 2006 slightly dampened GDP growth, but continuing strong foreign investment, tax revenue, and private consumption levels helped the economy recover quickly. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 43.28 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | - | 1.663 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | - | 46.85 billion kWh (2005) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 m |
lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Har Meron 1,208 m |
Environment - current issues | fresh water resources are limited to rainwater accumulations in natural underground reservoirs | limited arable land and natural fresh water resources pose serious constraints; desertification; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; groundwater pollution from industrial and domestic waste, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation |
Ethnic groups | Europeans, Cocos Malays | Jewish 76.4% (of which Israel-born 67.1%, Europe/America-born 22.6%, Africa-born 5.9%, Asia-born 4.2%), non-Jewish 23.6% (mostly Arab) (2004) |
Exchange rates | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001) | new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.4565 (2006), 4.4877 (2005), 4.482 (2004), 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002) |
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 Shimon PERES (since 15 July 2007)
head of government: Prime Minister Ehud OLMERT (since May 2006); Deputy Prime Minister Tzipora "Tzipi" LIVNI (since May 2006); Ehud OLMERT won the right to lead the government when his Kadima Party won 29 seats in elections held on 28 March 2006 cabinet: Cabinet selected by prime minister and approved by the Knesset elections: president is largely a ceremonial role and is elected by the Knesset for a seven-year term (no term limits); election last held 13 June 2007 (next to be held in 2014 but can be called earlier); following legislative elections, the president assigns a Knesset member - traditionally the leader of the largest party - the task of forming a governing coalition note: government coalition - Kadima, Labor Party, GIL (Pensioners), Shas,and Yisrael Beiteinu election results: Shimon PERES elected president; number of votes in first round - Shimon PERES 58, Reuven RIVLIN 37, Colette AVITAL 21; PERES elected president in second round with 86 votes (unopposed) |
Exports | $NA | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | copra | machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel |
Exports - partners | Australia (2004) | US 38.4%, Belgium 6.5%, Hong Kong 5.9% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | calendar year |
Flag description | the flag of Australia is used | white with a blue hexagram (six-pointed linear star) known as the Magen David (Shield of David) centered between two equal horizontal blue bands near the top and bottom edges of the flag |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 2.5%
industry: 30.3% services: 67.2% (2006 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 5.1% (2006 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 12 30 S, 96 50 E | 31 30 N, 34 45 E |
Geography - note | islands are thickly covered with coconut palms and other vegetation | there are 242 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the West Bank, 42 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 0 in the Gaza Strip, and 29 in East Jerusalem (August 2005 est.); Sea of Galilee is an important freshwater source |
Heliports | - | 3 (2007) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 28.3% (2005) |
Illicit drugs | - | increasingly concerned about ecstasy, cocaine, and heroin abuse; drugs arrive in country from Lebanon and, increasingly, from Jordan; money-laundering center |
Imports | $NA | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs | raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, grain, consumer goods |
Imports - partners | Australia (2004) | US 12.4%, Belgium 8.2%, Germany 6.7%, Switzerland 5.9%, UK 5.1%, China 5.1% (2006) |
Independence | none (territory of Australia) | 14 May 1948 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 8.6% (2006 est.) |
Industries | copra products and tourism | high-technology projects (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics, fiber optics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, construction, metals products, chemical products, plastics, diamond cutting, textiles, footwear |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total: 6.75 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.45 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 2.1% (2006 est.) |
International organization participation | none | BIS, BSEC (observer), CERN (observer), EBRD, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, OAS (observer), OPCW (signatory), OSCE (partner), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Irrigated land | NA | 1,940 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Magistrate's Court | Supreme Court (justices appointed by Judicial Selection Committee - made up of all three branches of the government; mandatory retirement age is 70) |
Labor force | NA | 2.81 million (2006 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | note: the Cocos Islands Cooperative Society Ltd. employs construction workers, stevedores, and lighterage workers; tourism employs others | agriculture, forestry, and fishing 1.8%, manufacturing 15.7%, construction 5.3%, wholesale and retail trade 12.9%, transport, storage, and communications 6.3%, finance and business 16.9%, personal and other services 11.5%, public services 28.6% (1996) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 1,017 km
border countries: Egypt 266 km, Gaza Strip 51 km, Jordan 238 km, Lebanon 79 km, Syria 76 km, West Bank 307 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005) |
arable land: 15.45%
permanent crops: 3.88% other: 80.67% (2005) |
Languages | Malay (Cocos dialect), English | Hebrew (official), Arabic used officially for Arab minority, English most commonly used foreign language |
Legal system | based upon the laws of Australia and local laws | mixture of English common law, British Mandate regulations, and, in personal matters, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim legal systems; in December 1985, Israel informed the UN Secretariat that it would no longer accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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 Knesset (120 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 28 March 2006 (next scheduled to be held in 2010) election results: percent of vote by party - Kadima 22%, Labor 15.1%, SHAS 9.5%, Likud 9%, Yisrael Beiteinu 9%, NU/NRP 7.1%, GIL 5.9%, Torah and Shabbat Judaism 4.7%, Meretz-YAHAD 3.8%, United Arab List 3%, Balad 2.3%, HADASH 2.7%, other 5.9%; seats by party - Kadima 29, Labor 19, Likud 12, SHAS 12, Yisrael Beiteinu 11, NU/NRP 9, GIL 7, Torah and Shabbat Judaism 6, Meretz-YAHAD 5, United Arab List 4, Balad 3, HADASH 3 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total population: 79.59 years
male: 77.44 years female: 81.85 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | NA | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.1% male: 98.5% female: 95.9% (2004 est.) |
Location | Southeastern Asia, group of islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Indonesia, about halfway from Australia to Sri Lanka | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Lebanon |
Map references | Southeast Asia | Middle East |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
territorial sea: 12 nm
continental shelf: to depth of exploitation |
Merchant marine | - | total: 18 ships (1000 GRT or over) 716,382 GRT/845,053 DWT
by type: cargo 2, container 16 registered in other countries: 51 (Bermuda 3, Cyprus 4, Honduras 1, North Korea 1, Liberia 9, Malta 21, Panama 2, Slovakia 6, St Vincent and The Grenadines 4) (2007) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of Australia; the territory has a five-person police force | - |
Military branches | - | Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel Naval Forces (INF), Israel Air Force (IAF) (2007) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 7.3% (2006) |
National holiday | Australia Day, 26 January (1788) | Independence Day, 14 May (1948); note - Israel declared independence on 14 May 1948, but the Jewish calendar is lunar and the holiday may occur in April or May |
Nationality | noun: Cocos Islander(s)
adjective: Cocos Islander |
noun: Israeli(s)
adjective: Israeli |
Natural hazards | cyclone season is October to April | sandstorms may occur during spring and summer; droughts; periodic earthquakes |
Natural resources | fish | timber, potash, copper ore, natural gas, phosphate rock, magnesium bromide, clays, sand |
Net migration rate | NA | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 193 km; oil 442 km; refined products 261 km (2006) |
Political parties and leaders | none | Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (HADASH) [Muhammad BARAKA]; GIL (Pensioners) [Rafael EITAN]; Kadima [Ehud OLMERT]; Labor Party [Ehud BARAK]; The Likud [Binyamin NETANYAHU]; Meretz-YAHAD [Yossi BEILIN]; National Democratic Assembly (Balad) [Azmi BISHARA]; National Union (NU)/National Religious Party (NRP) [Binyamin ELON]; SHAS [Eliyahu YISHAI]; Torah and Shabbat Judaism [Yaakov LITZMAN]; United Arab List [Ibrahim SARSOUR]; Yisrael Beiteinu [Avigdor LIEBERMAN] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | Israeli nationalists advocating Jewish settlement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Peace Now [Yariv OPPENHEIMER, Secretary General] supports territorial concessions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; Yesha Council of Settlements [Bentzi LIEBERMAN, Chairman] promotes settler interests and opposes territorial compromise; B'Tselem monitors human rights abuses |
Population | 574 (July 2006 est.) | 6,426,679
note: includes about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, about 20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | 21.6% (2005) |
Population growth rate | 0% (2006 est.) | 1.154% (2007 est.) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2004) | AM 23, FM 15, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Railways | - | total: 853 km
standard gauge: 853 km 1.435-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | Sunni Muslim 80%, other 20% (2002 est.) | Jewish 76.4%, Muslim 16%, Arab Christians 1.7%, other Christian 0.4%, Druze 1.6%, unspecified 3.9% (2004) |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.048 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.015 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.754 male(s)/female total population: 0.994 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | NA | 18 years of age; universal |
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: most highly developed system in the Middle East although not the largest
domestic: good system of coaxial cable and microwave radio relay; all systems are digital; four privately-owned mobile-cellular service providers with countrywide coverage; mobile-cellular teledensity is more than 130 per 100 persons international: country code - 972; submarine cables provide links to Europe, Cyprus, and parts of the Middle East; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 287 (1992) | 3.005 million (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | note - analog cellular service available | 8.404 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 17 (plus 36 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | flat, low-lying coral atolls | Negev desert in the south; low coastal plain; central mountains; Jordan Rift Valley |
Total fertility rate | NA | 2.38 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 60% (2000 est.) | 8.3% (2006 est.) |