Isle of Man (2002) | World (2007) | |
Administrative divisions | there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 24 local authorities each with its own elections | 265 nations, dependent areas, and other entities |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 17.5% (male 6,601; female 6,324)
15-64 years: 65.3% (male 24,206; female 24,010) 65 years and over: 17.2% (male 5,097; female 7,635) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years: 27.4% (male 931,551,498/female 875,646,416)
15-64 years: 65.1% (male 2,174,605,518/female 2,124,494,703) 65 years and over: 7.5% (male 217,451,123/female 278,474,917) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cereals, vegetables; cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry | - |
Airports | 1 (2001) | 49,024 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002) |
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Area | total: 572 sq km
land: 572 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land |
Area - comparative | slightly more than three times the size of Washington, DC | land area about 16 times the size of the US |
Background | Part of the Norwegian Kingdom of the Hebrides until the 13th century when it was ceded to Scotland, the isle came under the British crown in 1765. Current concerns include reviving the almost extinct Manx Celtic language. | Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). |
Birth rate | 11.49 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 20.09 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $485 million
expenditures: $463 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY00/01 est. ) |
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Capital | Douglas | - |
Climate | temperate; cool summers and mild winters; overcast about one-third of the time | a wide equatorial band of hot and humid tropical climates - bordered north and south by subtropical temperate zones - that separate two large areas of cold and dry polar climates |
Coastline | 160 km | 356,000 km
note: 94 nations and other entities are islands that border no other countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Baker Island, Barbados, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland Island, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Taiwan |
Constitution | unwritten; note - The Isle of Man Constitution Act, 1961, does not embody the Manx Constitution | - |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Isle of Man |
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Currency | British pound (GBP); note - there is also a Manx pound | - |
Death rate | 11.68 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 8.37 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | $43.42 trillion
note: this figure is the sum total of all countries' external debt, both public and private (2004 est.) |
Dependency status | British crown dependency | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (British crown dependency) | - |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (British crown dependency) | - |
Disputes - international | none | stretching over 250,000 km, the world's 319 international land boundaries separate 193 independent states and 70 dependencies, areas of special sovereignty, and other miscellaneous entities; ethnicity, culture, race, religion, and language have divided states into separate political entities as much as history, physical terrain, political fiat, or conquest, resulting in sometimes arbitrary and imposed boundaries; most maritime states have claimed limits that include territorial seas and exclusive economic zones; overlapping limits due to adjacent or opposite coasts create the potential for 430 bilateral maritime boundaries of which 209 have agreements that include contiguous and non-contiguous segments; boundary, borderland/resource, and territorial disputes vary in intensity from managed or dormant to violent or militarized; undemarcated, indefinite, porous, and unmanaged boundaries tend to encourage illegal cross-border activities, uncontrolled migration, and confrontation; territorial disputes may evolve from historical and/or cultural claims, or they may be brought on by resource competition; ethnic and cultural clashes continue to be responsible for much of the territorial fragmentation and internal displacement of the estimated 6.6 million people and cross-border displacements of 8.6 million refugees around the world as of early 2006; just over one million refugees were repatriated in the same period; other sources of contention include access to water and mineral (especially hydrocarbon) resources, fisheries, and arable land; armed conflict prevails not so much between the uniformed armed forces of independent states as between stateless armed entities that detract from the sustenance and welfare of local populations, leaving the community of nations to cope with resultant refugees, hunger, disease, impoverishment, and environmental degradation |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | ODA, $106.4 billion (2005) |
Economy - overview | Offshore banking, manufacturing, and tourism are key sectors of the economy. The government's policy of offering incentives to high-technology companies and financial institutions to locate on the island has paid off in expanding employment opportunities in high-income industries. As a result, agriculture and fishing, once the mainstays of the economy, have declined in their shares of GDP. Trade is mostly with the UK. The Isle of Man enjoys free access to EU markets. | Global output rose by 5% in 2006, led by China (10.5%), India (8.5%), and Russia (6.6%). The 14 other successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations again experienced widely divergent growth rates; the three Baltic nations continued as strong performers, in the 7%-10% range of growth. Growth results posted by the major industrial countries varied from no gain for Italy to a strong gain by the United States (3.4%). The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that erode gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Iraq, in Indonesia, and in Canada. Externally, the central government is losing decisionmaking powers to international bodies, notably the EU. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from an economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September 2001 accentuated a further growing risk to global prosperity, illustrated, for example, by the reallocation of resources away from investment to anti-terrorist programs. The opening of war in March 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq added new uncertainties to global economic prospects. After the coalition victory, the complex political difficulties and the high economic cost of establishing domestic order in Iraq became major global problems that continued through 2006. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 15.81 trillion kWh (2005 est.) |
Electricity - exports | - | 619.8 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | - | 633.2 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | - | 17.42 trillion kWh (2005 est.) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Irish Sea 0 m
highest point: Snaefell 621 m |
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m
note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m |
Environment - current issues | waste disposal (both household and industrial); transboundary air pollution | large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion; global warming becoming a greater concern |
Ethnic groups | Manx (Norse-Celtic descent), Briton | - |
Exchange rates | Manx pounds per US dollar - 0.6764 (January 2001), 0.6596 (2000), 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998), 0.6106 (1997); the Manx pound is at par with the British pound | - |
Executive branch | chief of state: Lord of Mann Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Lieutenant Governor Ian MACFADYEN (since NA 2002)
head of government: Chief Minister Richard CORKILL (since 6 December 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers elections: the monarch is hereditary; lieutenant governor appointed by the monarch for a five-year term; the Chief Minister is elected by the Tynwald; election last held 6 December 2001 (next to be held NA December 2006) election results: Richard CORKILL elected chief minister by the Tynwald |
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Exports | $NA | 63.76 million bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | tweeds, herring, processed shellfish, beef, lamb | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Exports - partners | UK | US 15.1%, Germany 7.4%, China 5.9%, France 4.6%, UK 4.5%, Japan 4.4% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | - |
Flag description | red with the Three Legs of Man emblem (Trinacria), in the center; the three legs are joined at the thigh and bent at the knee; in order to have the toes pointing clockwise on both sides of the flag, a two-sided emblem is used | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.4 billion (1999 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 1%
industry: 13% services: 86% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 4%
industry: 32% services: 64% (2004 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $18,800 (1999 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 13.5% (1999 est.) | 5.3% (2006 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 54 15 N, 4 30 W | - |
Geography - note | one small islet, the Calf of Man, lies to the southwest, and is a bird sanctuary | the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13.7-billion-year age estimated for the universe |
Heliports | - | 1,359 (2007) |
Highways | total: 800 km
paved: 800 km unpaved: 0 km (1999) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 2.5%
highest 10%: 30.2% (2002 est.) |
Illicit drugs | - | cocaine: worldwide coca leaf cultivation in 2005 amounted to 208,500 hectares; Colombia produced slightly more than two-thirds of the worldwide crop, followed by Peru and Bolivia; potential pure cocaine production rose to 900 from 645 metric tons in 2005 - partially due to improved methodologies used to calculate levels of production; Colombia conducts aggressive coca eradication campaign, but both Peruvian and Bolivian Governments are hesitant to eradicate coca in key growing areas; 551 metric tons of export-quality cocaine (85% pure) is documented to have been seized or destroyed in 2005; US consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been in excess of 380 metric tons
opiates: worldwide illicit opium poppy cultivation reached 208,500 hectares in 2005; potential opium production of 4,990 metric tons was only a 9% decrease over 2004's highest total recorded since estimates began in mid-1980s; Afghanistan is world's primary opium producer, accounting for 90% of the global supply; Southeast Asia - responsible for 9% of global opium - saw marginal increases in production; Latin America produced 1% of global opium, but most was refined into heroin destined for the US market; if all potential opium was processed into pure heroin, the potential global production would be 577 metric tons of heroin in 2005 |
Imports | $NA | 63.18 million bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | timber, fertilizers, fish | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Imports - partners | UK | China 9.8%, Germany 8.8%, US 8.5%, Japan 5.6% (2006) |
Independence | none (British crown dependency) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.2% (FY96/97 ) | 3% (2003 est.) |
Industries | financial services, light manufacturing, tourism | dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems |
Infant mortality rate | 6.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 43.52 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 46.32 deaths/1,000 live births female: 40.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.5% (2000 est.) | developed countries 1% to 4% typically; developing countries 5% to 20% typically; national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from declining prices in Japan to hyperinflation in one Third World countries (Zimbabwe); inflation rates have declined for most countries for the last several years, held in check by increasing international competition from several low wage countries (2005 est.) |
International organization participation | none | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | NA | - |
Irrigated land | 0 sq km (1998 est.) | 2,770,980 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | High Court of Justice (justices are appointed by the Lord Chancellor of England on the nomination of the lieutenant governor) | - |
Labor force | 36,610 (1998) | 3.001 billion (2005 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture, forestry and fishing 3%, manufacturing 11%, construction 10%, transport and communication 8%, wholesale and retail distribution 11%, professional and scientific services 18%, public administration 6%, banking and finance 18%, tourism 2%, entertainment and catering 3%, miscellaneous services 10% | agriculture: 40.9%
industry: 20.6% services: 38.5% (2002 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | the land boundaries in the world total 250,708 km (not counting shared boundaries twice); two nations, China and Russia, each border 14 other countries
note: 44 nations and other areas are landlocked, these include: Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (permanent pastures, forests, mountain, and heathland) (1998 est.) |
arable land: 13.31%
permanent crops: 4.71% other: 81.98% (2005) |
Languages | English, Manx Gaelic | Mandarin Chinese 13.69%, Spanish 5.05%, English 4.84%, Arabic 3.23%, Hindi 2.82%, Portuguese 2.77%, Bengali 2.68%, Russian 2.27%, Japanese 1.99%, Standard German 1.49%, Wu Chinese 1.21% (2004 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only and therefore do not add to 100% |
Legal system | English common law and Manx statute | all members of the UN are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court |
Legislative branch | bicameral Tynwald consists of the Legislative Council (an 11-member body composed of the President of Tynwald, the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man, a nonvoting attorney general, and 8 others named by the House of Keys) and the House of Keys (24 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Keys - last held 22 November 2001 (next to be held NA November 2006) election results: House of Keys - percent of vote by party - Man Labor Party 17.3%, Alliance for Progressive Government 14.6%; seats by party - Man Labor Party 2, Alliance for Progressive Government 3, independents 19 |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population: 77.81 years
male: 74.44 years female: 81.36 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 65.82 years
male: 63.89 years female: 67.84 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 82% male: 87% female: 77% note: over two-thirds of the world's 785 million illiterate adults are found in only eight countries (India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Egypt); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, South and West Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Arab states, where around one-third of the men and half of all women are illiterate (2005 est.) |
Location | Western Europe, island in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland | - |
Map references | Europe | Physical Map of the World, Political Map of the World, Standard Time Zones of the World |
Maritime claims | exclusive fishing zone: 12 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: territorial sea - 12 nm, contiguous zone - 24 nm, and exclusive economic zone - 200 nm; additional zones provide for exploitation of continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total: 212 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,540,100 GRT/9,130,508 DWT
ships by type: bulk 29, cargo 34, chemical tanker 22, combination bulk 2, container 29, liquefied gas 24, petroleum tanker 46, roll on/roll off 20, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 5 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Denmark 45, France 1, Germany 48, Greece 6, Hong Kong 10, Iceland 1, Italy 8, Monaco 7, Netherlands 3, Norway 5, Sweden 4, Switzerland 2, United Kingdom 70, United States 1 (2002 est.) |
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Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | roughly 2% of gross world product (2005 est.) |
National holiday | Tynwald Day, 5 July | - |
Nationality | noun: Manxman (men), Manxwoman (women)
adjective: Manx |
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Natural hazards | NA | large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) |
Natural resources | none | the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address |
Net migration rate | 5.41 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Man Labor Party [leader NA]; Alliance for Progressive Government [leader NA]; Man Nationalist Party [leader NA]
note: most members sit as independents |
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Political pressure groups and leaders | none | - |
Population | 73,873 (July 2002 est.) | 6,602,224,175 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | - |
Population growth rate | 0.52% (2002 est.) | 1.167% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Castletown, Douglas, Peel, Ramsey | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA |
Radios | NA | - |
Railways | total: 68.5 km (43.5 km electrified) (2001) | total: 1,370,782 km (2006) |
Religions | Anglican, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Society of Friends | Christians 33.03% (of which Roman Catholics 17.33%, Protestants 5.8%, Orthodox 3.42%, Anglicans 1.23%), Muslims 20.12%, Hindus 13.34%, Buddhists 5.89%, Sikhs 0.39%, Jews 0.23%, other religions 12.61%, non-religious 12.03%, atheists 2.36% (2004 est.) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.064 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.024 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.781 male(s)/female total population: 1.014 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | - |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: landline, telefax, mobile cellular telephone system international: fiber-optic cable, microwave radio relay, satellite earth station, submarine cable |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 51,000 (1999) | 1,263,367,600 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | NA | 2,168,433,600 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 0 (receives broadcasts from the UK and satellite) (1999) | NA |
Terrain | hills in north and south bisected by central valley | the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean |
Total fertility rate | 1.65 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 2.59 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 0.7% (February 2002 ) | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2006 est.) |
Waterways | none | 671,886 km (2004) |