Compare Indian Ocean (2004) - Christmas Island (2007)

Compare Indian Ocean (2004) z Christmas Island (2007)

	Indian Ocean (2004)	Christmas Island (2007)

Administrative divisions	-	none (territory of Australia)
Age structure	-	0-14 years: NA 15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA
Agriculture - products	-	NA
Airports	-	1 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	-	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007)
Area	total: 68.556 million sq km note: includes Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Flores Sea, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Java Sea, Mozambique Channel, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Savu Sea, Strait of Malacca, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies	total: 135 sq km land: 135 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	about 5.5 times the size of the US	about three-quarters the size of Washington, DC
Background	The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean). Four critically important access waterways are the Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen), Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia). The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Indian Ocean south of 60 degrees south.	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.
Birth rate	-	NA
Budget	-	revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA
Capital	-	name: The Settlement geographic coordinates: 10 25 S, 105 43 E time difference: UTC+7 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate	northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon (June to October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June and October/November in the northern Indian Ocean and January/February in the southern Indian Ocean	tropical with a wet season (December to April) and dry season; heat and humidity moderated by trade winds
Coastline	66,526 km	138.9 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 from Canberra 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	some maritime disputes (see littoral states)	none
Economic aid - recipient	-	$NA
Economy - overview	The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Its fish are of great and growing importance to the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for shrimp and tuna. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and western Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean. Beach sands rich in heavy minerals and offshore placer deposits are actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly India, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.	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, but closed in 1998. The Australian Government in 2001 agreed to support the creation of a commercial space-launching site on the island, expected to begin operations in the near future.
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Java Trench -7,258 m highest point: sea level 0 m	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Murray Hill 361 m
Environment - current issues	endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea	loss of rainforest; impact of phosphate mining
Ethnic groups	-	Chinese 70%, European 20%, Malay 10% note: no indigenous population (2001)
Exchange rates	-	Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3285 (2006), 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002)
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 (2006)
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	20 00 S, 80 00 E	10 30 S, 105 40 E
Geography - note	major chokepoints include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Malacca, southern access to the Suez Canal, and the Lombok Strait	located along major sea lanes of Indian Ocean
Imports	-	$NA
Imports - commodities	-	consumer goods
Imports - partners	-	principally Australia (2006)
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 20 October 2007 (next to be held in 2009) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - independents 9
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: NA male: NA female: NA
Literacy	-	NA
Location	body of water between Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia, and Australia	Southeastern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of Indonesia
Map references	Political Map of the World	Southeast Asia
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	occasional icebergs pose navigational hazard in southern reaches	the narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime hazard
Natural resources	oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules	phosphate, beaches
Net migration rate	-	NA
Political parties and leaders	-	none
Political pressure groups and leaders	-	none
Population	-	1,402 (July 2006 est.) (July 2007 est.)
Population growth rate	-	0% (2007 est.)
Ports and harbors	Chennai (Madras; India), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Durban (South Africa), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kolkata (Calcutta; India) Melbourne (Australia), Mumbai (Bombay; India), Richards Bay (South Africa)	-
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 - 1 INTELSAT earth station provides telephone and telex service (2005)
Telephones - main lines in use	-	NA
Television broadcast stations	-	0 (TV broadcasts received via satellite from mainland Australia) (2006)
Terrain	surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the southern Indian Ocean; unique reversal of surface currents in the northern Indian Ocean; low atmospheric pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents, while high pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest winds and currents; ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge and subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninetyeast Ridge	steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau
Total fertility rate	-	NA

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