Jersey (2003) | Arctic Ocean (2006) | |
Administrative divisions | none (British crown dependency) | - |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 17.8% (male 8,292; female 7,744)
15-64 years: 67.2% (male 30,178; female 30,410) 65 years and over: 15% (male 5,858; female 7,674) (2003 est.) |
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Agriculture - products | potatoes, cauliflower, tomatoes; beef, dairy products | - |
Airports | 1 (2002) | - |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002) |
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Area | total: 116 sq km
land: 116 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 14.056 million sq km
note: includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies |
Area - comparative | about 0.7 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US |
Background | The island of Jersey and the other Channel Islands represent the last remnants of the medieval Dukedom of Normandy that held sway in both France and England. These islands were the only British soil occupied by German troops in World War II. | The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the recently delimited Southern Ocean). The Northwest Passage (US and Canada) and Northern Sea Route (Norway and Russia) are two important seasonal waterways. A sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes circumscribes the Arctic Ocean. |
Birth rate | 10.44 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | - |
Budget | revenues: $601 million
expenditures: $588 million, including capital expenditures of $98 million (2000 est.) |
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Capital | Saint Helier | - |
Climate | temperate; mild winters and cool summers | polar climate characterized by persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow |
Coastline | 70 km | 45,389 km |
Constitution | unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice | - |
Country name | conventional long form: Bailiwick of Jersey
conventional short form: Jersey |
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Currency | British pound (GBP); note - there is also a Jersey pound | - |
Death rate | 9.17 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | - |
Debt - external | none | - |
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 | some maritime disputes (see littoral states) |
Economic aid - recipient | none | - |
Economy - overview | The economy is based largely on international financial services, agriculture, and tourism. Potatoes, cauliflower, tomatoes, and especially flowers are important export crops, shipped mostly to the UK. The Jersey breed of dairy cattle is known worldwide and represents an important export income earner. Milk products go to the UK and other EU countries. In 1996 the finance sector accounted for about 60% of the island's output. Tourism, another mainstay of the economy, accounts for 24% of GDP. In recent years, the government has encouraged light industry to locate in Jersey, with the result that an electronics industry has developed alongside the traditional manufacturing of knitwear. All raw material and energy requirements are imported, as well as a large share of Jersey's food needs. Light taxes and death duties make the island a popular tax haven. | Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals. |
Electricity - imports | NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by France | - |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 143 m |
lowest point: Fram Basin -4,665 m
highest point: sea level 0 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | endangered marine species include walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage; thinning polar icepack |
Ethnic groups | UK and Norman-French descent | - |
Exchange rates | Jersey pounds per US dollar - 0.6661 (2002), 0.6944 (2001), 0.6596 (2000), 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998); the Jersey pound is at par with the British pound | - |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Lieutenant Governor and Commander in Chief Air Chief Marshall Sir John CHESHIRE (since 24 January 2001) and Bailiff Philip Martin BAILHACHE (since NA February 1995) cabinet: committees appointed by the Assembly of the States elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; lieutenant governor and bailiff appointed by the monarch |
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Exports | $NA | - |
Exports - commodities | light industrial and electrical goods, foodstuffs, textiles | - |
Exports - partners | UK | - |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | - |
Flag description | white with a diagonal red cross extending to the corners of the flag and in the upper quadrant, surmounted by a yellow crown, a red shield holding the three lions of England in yellow | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $2.2 billion (1999 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 5%
industry: 2% services: 93% (1996) |
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GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $24,800 (1999 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | NA% | - |
Geographic coordinates | 49 15 N, 2 10 W | 90 00 N, 0 00 E |
Geography - note | largest and southernmost of Channel Islands; about 30% of population concentrated in Saint Helier | major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia; floating research stations operated by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean; snow cover lasts about 10 months |
Highways | total: 577 km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
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Imports | $NA | - |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, foodstuffs, mineral fuels, chemicals | - |
Imports - partners | UK | - |
Independence | none (British crown dependency) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | - |
Industries | tourism, banking and finance, dairy | - |
Infant mortality rate | total: 5.43 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.8 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 4.7% (1998) | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | NA | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | - |
Judicial branch | Royal Court (judges elected by an electoral college and the bailiff) | - |
Labor force | 57,050 (1996) | - |
Land boundaries | 0 km | - |
Land use | arable land: NEGL%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
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Languages | English (official), French (official), Norman-French dialect spoken in country districts | - |
Legal system | English law and local statute; justice is administered by the Royal Court | - |
Legislative branch | unicameral Assembly of the States (55 voting members - 12 senators (elected for 6-year terms), 12 constables or heads of parishes (elected for 3-year terms), 29 deputies (elected for 3-year terms); the bailiff and the deputy bailiff; and 3 non-voting members - the Dean of Jersey, the Attorney General, and the Solicitor General all appointed by the monarch)
elections: last held NA (next to be held NA) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 52 |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population: 78.93 years
male: 76.48 years female: 81.57 years (2003 est.) |
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Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
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Location | Western Europe, island in the English Channel, northwest of France | body of water between Europe, Asia, and North America, mostly north of the Arctic Circle |
Map references | Europe | Arctic Region |
Maritime claims | exclusive fishing zone: 12 NM
territorial sea: 3 NM |
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Merchant marine | none (2002 est.) | - |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | - |
National holiday | Liberation Day, 9 May (1945) | - |
Nationality | noun: Channel Islander(s)
adjective: Channel Islander |
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Natural hazards | NA | ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually ice locked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May |
Natural resources | arable land | sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales) |
Net migration rate | 2.77 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | - |
Political parties and leaders | none; all independents | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | - |
Population | 90,156 (July 2003 est.) | - |
Population below poverty line | NA% | - |
Population growth rate | 0.4% (2003 est.) | - |
Ports and harbors | Gorey, Saint Aubin, Saint Helier | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM NA, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) | - |
Railways | 0 km | - |
Religions | Anglican, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Congregational New Church, Methodist, Presbyterian | - |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.08 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
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Suffrage | NA years of age; universal adult | - |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: 3 submarine cables |
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Telephones - main lines in use | 65,500 (1997) | - |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 4,400 (1997) | - |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (1997) | - |
Terrain | gently rolling plain with low, rugged hills along north coast | central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that, on average, is about 3 meters thick, although pressure ridges may be three times that thickness; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonosov Ridge) |
Total fertility rate | 1.57 children born/woman (2003 est.) | - |
Transportation - note | - | sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Eurasia) are important seasonal waterways |
Unemployment rate | 0.7% (1998 est.) | - |
Waterways | none | - |