Compare Heard Island and McDonald Islands (2003) - Spratly Islands (2002)

Compare Heard Island and McDonald Islands (2003) z Spratly Islands (2002)

	Heard Island and McDonald Islands (2003)	Spratly Islands (2002)

Airports	-	4 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways	-	total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2002)
Area	total: 412 sq km land: 412 sq km water: 0 sq km	total: less than 5 sq km land: less than 5 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes 100 or so islets, coral reefs, and sea mounts scattered over an area of nearly 410,000 sq km of the central South China Sea
Area - comparative	slightly more than two times the size of Washington, DC	NA
Background	These uninhabited, barren, sub-Antarctic islands were transferred from the UK to Australia in 1947. Populated by large numbers of seal and bird species, the islands have been designated a nature preserve.	This archipelago - surrounded by rich fishing grounds and potentially by gas and oil deposits - is claimed in its entirety by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, while portions are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines. All five parties occupy certain islands or reefs.
Climate	antarctic	tropical
Coastline	101.9 km	926 km
Country name	conventional long form: Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands conventional short form: Heard Island and McDonald Islands	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Spratly Islands
Dependency status	territory of Australia; administered from Canberra by the Australian Antarctic Division of the Department of the Environment and Heritage	-
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (territory of Australia)	-
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (territory of Australia)	-
Disputes - international	none	all of the Spratly Islands are claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam; parts of them are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines; in 1984, Brunei established an exclusive fishing zone that encompasses Louisa Reef in the southern Spratly Islands, but has not publicly claimed the island; in 2000, China joined ASEAN discussions towards creating a South China Sea "code of conduct" - a non-legally binding confidence building measure
Economy - overview	No indigenous economic activity, but the Australian Government allows limited fishing around the islands.	Economic activity is limited to commercial fishing. The proximity to nearby oil- and gas-producing sedimentary basins suggests the potential for oil and gas deposits, but the region is largely unexplored, and there are no reliable estimates of potential reserves; commercial exploitation has yet to be developed.
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Mawson Peak, on Big Ben 2,745 m	lowest point: South China Sea 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Southwest Cay 4 m
Environment - current issues	NA	NA
Flag description	the flag of Australia is used	-
Geographic coordinates	53 06 S, 72 31 E	8 38 N, 111 55 E
Geography - note	-	strategically located near several primary shipping lanes in the central South China Sea; includes numerous small islands, atolls, shoals, and coral reefs
Irrigated land	0 sq km (1998 est.)	0 sq km (1998 est.)
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.)	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.)
Legal system	the laws of Australia, where applicable, apply	-
Location	islands in the Indian Ocean, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica	Southeastern Asia, group of reefs and islands in the South China Sea, about two-thirds of the way from southern Vietnam to the southern Philippines
Map references	Antarctic Region	Southeast Asia
Maritime claims	exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM	NA
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of Australia; Australia conducts fisheries patrols	Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs, of which about 45 are claimed and occupied by China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam
Natural hazards	Mawson Peak, an active volcano, is on Heard Island	typhoons; serious maritime hazard because of numerous reefs and shoals
Natural resources	fish	fish, guano, undetermined oil and natural gas potential
Population	uninhabited (July 2003 est.)	no indigenous inhabitants note: there are scattered garrisons occupied by personnel of several claimant states (July 2002 est.)
Ports and harbors	none; offshore anchorage only	none; offshore anchorage only
Terrain	Heard Island - 80% ice-covered, bleak and mountainous, dominated by a large massif (Big Ben) and an active volcano (Mawson Peak); McDonald Islands - small and rocky	flat
Waterways	none	none

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