Cocos (Keeling) Islands (2006) | Slovakia (2003) | |
Administrative divisions | none (territory of Australia) | 8 regions (kraje, singular - kraj); Banskobystricky, Bratislavsky, Kosicky, Nitriansky, Presovsky, Trenciansky, Trnavsky, Zilinsky |
Age structure | 0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA (2006 est.) |
0-14 years: 17.8% (male 495,316; female 471,823)
15-64 years: 70.5% (male 1,903,335; female 1,924,065) 65 years and over: 11.7% (male 238,912; female 396,582) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | vegetables, bananas, pawpaws, coconuts | grains, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, cattle, poultry; forest products |
Airports | 1 (2006) | 37 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2006) |
total: 20
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 9 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 17
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 7 (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: 48,845 sq km
land: 48,800 sq km water: 45 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 24 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC | about twice the size of New Hampshire |
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 Slovaks joined the closely related Czechs to form Czechoslovakia. Following the chaos of World War II, Czechoslovakia became a Communist nation within Soviet-ruled Eastern Europe. Soviet influence collapsed in 1989 and Czechoslovakia once more became free. The Slovaks and the Czechs agreed to separate peacefully on 1 January 1993. Slovakia was invited to join NATO and the EU in 2002. |
Birth rate | NA | 10.1 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA |
revenues: $5.2 billion
expenditures: $5.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999) |
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) |
Bratislava |
Climate | tropical with high humidity, moderated by the southeast trade winds for about nine months of the year | temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters |
Coastline | 26 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act of 1955 (23 November 1955) as amended by the Territories Law Reform Act of 1992 | ratified 1 September 1992, fully effective 1 January 1993; changed in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president; amended February 2001 to allow Slovakia to apply for NATO and EU membership |
Country name | conventional long form: Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands
conventional short form: Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
conventional long form: Slovak Republic
conventional short form: Slovakia local long form: Slovenska Republika local short form: Slovensko |
Currency | - | Slovak koruna (SKK) |
Death rate | NA deaths/1,000 population | 9.22 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $9.6 billion (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 Ronald WEISER
embassy: Hviezdoslavovo Namestie 4, 81102 Bratislava mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [421] (2) 5443-3338 FAX: [421] (2) 5441-5148 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (territory of Australia) | chief of mission: Ambassador Rastislav KACER
chancery: 3523 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 237-1054 FAX: [1] (202) 237-6438 |
Disputes - international | none | small boundary changes made with Poland in 2003; Hungary has yet to amend status law extending special social and cultural benefits to ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia, who protest the law |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | ODA $113 million (2000),; $92 million EU structural adjustment funds (2000 est.) |
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. | Slovakia has mastered much of the difficult transition from a centrally planned economy to a modern market economy. The DZURINDA government has made excellent progress in 2001-03 in macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform. Major privatizations are nearly complete, the banking sector is almost completely in foreign hands, and foreign investment has picked up. Slovakia's economy exceeded expectations in 2001-03, despite the general European slowdown. Unemployment, at an unacceptable 15% in 2003, remains the economy's Achilles heel. The government faces other strong challenges in 2004, especially the cutting of budget and current account deficits, the containment of inflation, and the strengthening of the health care system. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 24.41 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | - | 5.141 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | - | 1.381 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | - | 30.29 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 30.3%
hydro: 16% nuclear: 53.6% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 m |
lowest point: Bodrok River 94 m
highest point: Gerlachovsky Stit 2,655 m |
Environment - current issues | fresh water resources are limited to rainwater accumulations in natural underground reservoirs | air pollution from metallurgical plants presents human health risks; acid rain damaging forests |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | Europeans, Cocos Malays | Slovak 85.7%, Hungarian 10.6%, Roma 1.6% (the 1992 census figures underreport the Gypsy/Romany community, which is about 500,000), Czech, Moravian, Silesian 1.1%, Ruthenian and Ukrainian 0.6%, German 0.1%, Polish 0.1%, other 0.2% (1996) |
Exchange rates | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001) | koruny per US dollar - 45.33 (2002), 48.35 (2001), 46.04 (2000), 41.36 (1999), 35.23 (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 Rudolf SCHUSTER (since 15 June 1999)
head of government: Prime Minister Mikulas DZURINDA (since 30 October 1998); Deputy Prime Minister Pavol RUSKO (since 24 September 2003) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by direct, popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 29 May 1999 (next to be held NA May/June 2004); following National Council elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president election results: Rudolf SCHUSTER elected president in the first direct, popular election; percent of vote - Rudolf SCHUSTER 57%; Mikulas DZURINDA reelected prime minister October 2002 note: government coalition - SDKU, SMK, KDH, ANO |
Exports | $NA | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | copra | machinery and transport equipment 39.4%, intermediate manufactured goods 27.5%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 13%, chemicals 8% (1999) |
Exports - partners | Australia (2004) | Germany 30.1%, Czech Republic 16.4%, Austria 10.7%, Italy 7.2%, Poland 5.7%, Hungary 4.6% (2002) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | calendar year |
Flag description | the flag of Australia is used | three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red superimposed with the Slovak cross in a shield centered on the hoist side; the cross is white centered on a background of red and blue |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $67.34 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: 4.5%
industry: 34.1% services: 61.4% (2000) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $12,400 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 4.4% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 12 30 S, 96 50 E | 48 40 N, 19 30 E |
Geography - note | islands are thickly covered with coconut palms and other vegetation | landlocked; most of the country is rugged and mountainous; the Tatra Mountains in the north are interspersed with many scenic lakes and valleys |
Heliports | - | 1 (2002) |
Highways | - | total: 42,717 km
paved: 37,036 km (including 296 km of expressways) unpaved: 5,681 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: 5.1%
highest 10%: 18.2% (1992) |
Illicit drugs | - | transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin bound for Western Europe; producer of synthetic drugs for regional market |
Imports | $NA | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs | machinery and transport equipment 37.7%, intermediate manufactured goods 18%, fuels 13%, chemicals 11%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 9.5% (1999) |
Imports - partners | Australia (2004) | Germany 24.8%, Czech Republic 16%, Russia 13.5%, Austria 7%, Italy 6.4%, France 4% (2002) |
Independence | none (territory of Australia) | 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 4.4% (2002 est.) |
Industries | copra products and tourism | metal and metal products; food and beverages; electricity, gas, coke, oil, nuclear fuel; chemicals and manmade fibers; machinery; paper and printing; earthenware and ceramics; transport vehicles; textiles; electrical and optical apparatus; rubber products |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total: 8.55 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 9.39 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.66 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 3.3% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | none | Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMISET, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 6 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA | 1,740 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Magistrate's Court | Supreme Court (judges are elected by the National Council); Constitutional Court (judges appointed by president from group of nominees approved by the National Council) |
Labor force | NA | 3 million (1999) |
Labor force - by occupation | note: the Cocos Islands Cooperative Society Ltd. employs construction workers, stevedores, and lighterage workers; tourism employs others | industry 29.3%, agriculture 8.9%, construction 8%, transport and communication 8.2%, services 45.6% (1994) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 1,524 km
border countries: Austria 91 km, Czech Republic 215 km, Hungary 677 km, Poland 444 km, Ukraine 97 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005) |
arable land: 30.74%
permanent crops: 2.64% other: 66.62% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Malay (Cocos dialect), English | Slovak (official), Hungarian |
Legal system | based upon the laws of Australia and local laws | civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory |
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 National Council of the Slovak Republic or Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky (150 seats; members are elected on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20-21 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - HZDS-LS 19.5%, SDKU 15.1%, SMER 13.5%, SMK 11.2%, KDH 8.3%, ANO 8%, KSS 6.3%; seats by party - governing coalition 78 (SDKU 28, SMK 20, KDH 15, ANO 15), opposition 72 (HZDS 36, SMER 25, KSS 11) (as of February 2003, 12 deputies had split from HZDS and formed an independent faction) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total population: 74.43 years
male: 70.44 years female: 78.64 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | NA | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Southeastern Asia, group of islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Indonesia, about halfway from Australia to Sri Lanka | Central Europe, south of Poland |
Map references | Southeast Asia | Europe |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | - | total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 11,574 GRT/16,330 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 1 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of Australia; the territory has a five-person police force | - |
Military branches | - | Army (Ground Forces), Air and Air Defense Forces, Home Guards (Territorial Defense Forces), Civil Defense Force, Railway Armed Forces (subordinate to the Ministry of Transportation, Post, and Telecommunications) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $406 million (2002) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.89% (2002) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 1,484,950 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 1,135,612 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 44,287 (2003 est.) |
National holiday | Australia Day, 26 January (1788) | Constitution Day, 1 September (1992) |
Nationality | noun: Cocos Islander(s)
adjective: Cocos Islander |
noun: Slovak(s)
adjective: Slovak |
Natural hazards | cyclone season is October to April | NA |
Natural resources | fish | brown coal and lignite; small amounts of iron ore, copper and manganese ore; salt; arable land |
Net migration rate | NA | 0.53 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 6,769 km; oil 449 km (2003) |
Political parties and leaders | none | Christian Democratic Movement or KDH [Pavol HRUSOVSKY]; Democratic Party or DS [Ludovit KANIK]; Direction (Smer) [Robert FICO]; Movement for a Democratic Slovakia-People's Party or HZDS-LS [Vladimir MECIAR]; New Citizens Alliance or ANO [Pavol RUSKO]; Party of the Hungarian Coalition or SMK [Bela BUGAR]; Slovak Communist Party or KSS [Jozef SEVC]; Slovak Democratic and Christian Union or SDKU [Mikulas DZURINDA]; Slovak National Party or SNS [Jan SLOTA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | Association of Employers of Slovakia; Association of Towns and Villages or ZMOS; Confederation of Trade Unions or KOZ; Metal Workers Unions or KOVO and METALURG |
Population | 574 (July 2006 est.) | 5,430,033 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0% (2006 est.) | 0.14% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Bratislava, Komarno |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2004) | AM 15, FM 78, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Railways | - | total: 3,668 km
broad gauge: 106 km 1.520-m gauge standard gauge: 3,511 km 1.435-m gauge (1,567 km electrified) narrow gauge: 51 km (46 km 1,000-m gauge; 5 km 0.750-m gauge) (2002) |
Religions | Sunni Muslim 80%, other 20% (2002 est.) | Roman Catholic 60.3%, atheist 9.7%, Protestant 8.4%, Orthodox 4.1%, other 17.5% |
Sex ratio | - | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2003 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: a modernization and privatization program is increasing accessibility to telephone service, reducing the waiting time for new subscribers, and generally improving service quality
domestic: predominantly an analog system that is now receiving digital equipment and is being enlarged with fiber-optic cable, especially in the larger cities; mobile cellular capability has been added international: three international exchanges (one in Bratislava and two in Banska Bystrica) are available; Slovakia is participating in several international telecommunications projects that will increase the availability of external services |
Telephones - main lines in use | 287 (1992) | 1,934,558 (1998) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | note - analog cellular service available | 736,662 (April 1999) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 38 (plus 864 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | flat, low-lying coral atolls | rugged mountains in the central and northern part and lowlands in the south |
Total fertility rate | NA | 1.25 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 60% (2000 est.) | 17.2% (2002 est.) |
Waterways | - | 172 km (all on the Danube) |