Norfolk Island (2005) | Spratly Islands (2003) | |
Administrative divisions | none (territory of Australia) | - |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 20.2%
15-64 years: 63.9% 65 years and over: 15.9% (2005 est.) |
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Agriculture - products | Norfolk Island pine seed, Kentia palm seed, cereals, vegetables, fruit; cattle, poultry | - |
Airports | 1 (2004 est.) | 3 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
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: 34.6 sq km
land: 34.6 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 | about 0.2 times the size of Washington, DC | NA |
Background | Two British attempts at establishing the island as a penal colony (1788-1814 and 1825-55) were ultimately abandoned. In 1856, the island was resettled by Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions. | The Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 small islands or reefs. They are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and potentially by gas and oil deposits. They are claimed in their entirety by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam, while portions are claimed by Malaysia and the Philippines. About 50 islands are occupied by China (about 450 soldiers), Malaysia (70-90), the Philippines (about 100), and Vietnam (about 1,500). Brunei is a claimant but has no outposts. (2002) |
Birth rate | NA | - |
Budget | revenues: $20 million
expenditures: $20 million, including capital expenditures of $2 million (FY99/00) |
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Capital | Kingston | - |
Climate | subtropical; mild, little seasonal temperature variation | tropical |
Coastline | 32 km | 926 km |
Constitution | Norfolk Island Act of 1979 | - |
Country name | conventional long form: Territory of Norfolk Island
conventional short form: Norfolk Island |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Spratly Islands |
Death rate | NA | - |
Debt - external | NA | - |
Dependency status | territory of Australia; Canberra administers Commonwealth responsibilities on Norfolk Island through the Department of Environment, Sport, and Territories | - |
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; claimants in November 2002 signed the "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea", a mechanism to ease tension but which fell short of a legally binding "code of conduct" |
Economic aid - recipient | NA | - |
Economy - overview | Tourism, the primary economic activity, has steadily increased over the years and has brought a level of prosperity unusual among inhabitants of the Pacific islands. The agricultural sector has become self-sufficient in the production of beef, poultry, and eggs. | 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. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | - |
Electricity - production | NA kWh | - |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Bates 319 m |
lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Southwest Cay 4 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | NA |
Ethnic groups | descendants of the Bounty mutineers, Australian, New Zealander, Polynesians | - |
Exchange rates | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001), 1.7248 (2000) | - |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and Australia are represented by Administrator Grant TAMBLING (since 1 November 2003)
head of government: Assembly President and Chief Minister Geoffrey Robert GARDNER (since 5 December 2001) cabinet: Executive Council is made up of four of the nine members of the Legislative Assembly; the council devises government policy and acts as an advisor to the administrator elections: the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the governor general of Australia; chief minister elected by the Legislative Assembly for a term of not more than three years; election last held 20 Ocotber 2004 (next to be held by December 2007) election results: Geoffrey Robert GARDNER elected chief minister; percent of Legislative Assembly vote - 17.2% |
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Exports | $1.5 million f.o.b. (FY99/00) | - |
Exports - commodities | postage stamps, seeds of the Norfolk Island pine and Kentia palm, small quantities of avocados | - |
Exports - partners | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe | - |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | - |
Flag description | three vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green with a large green Norfolk Island pine tree centered in the slightly wider white band | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: NA |
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GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - NA | - |
GDP - real growth rate | NA | - |
Geographic coordinates | 29 02 S, 167 57 E | 8 38 N, 111 55 E |
Geography - note | most of the 32-km coastline consists of almost inaccessible cliffs, but the land slopes down to the sea in one small southern area on Sydney Bay, where the capital of Kingston is situated | strategically located near several primary shipping lanes in the central South China Sea; includes numerous small islands, atolls, shoals, and coral reefs |
Highways | total: 80 km
paved: 53 km unpaved: 27 km (2001) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
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Imports | $17.9 million c.i.f. (FY91/92) | - |
Imports - commodities | NA | - |
Imports - partners | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe | - |
Independence | none (territory of Australia) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | - |
Industries | tourism, light industry, ready mixed concrete | - |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA | - |
International organization participation | UPU | - |
Irrigated land | NA | 0 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Court of Petty Sessions | - |
Labor force | 1,345 | - |
Labor force - by occupation | tourism 90%, subsistence agriculture 10% | - |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English (official), Norfolk a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian | - |
Legal system | based on the laws of Australia, local ordinances and acts; English common law applies in matters not covered by either Australian or Norfolk Island law | - |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Assembly (9 seats; members elected by electors who have nine equal votes each but only four votes can be given to any one candidate; members serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 20 October 2004 (next to be held by December 2007) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 9 (note - no political parties) |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
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Literacy | NA | - |
Location | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia | 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 | Oceania | Southeast Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
NA |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of Australia | 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 |
National holiday | Bounty Day (commemorates the arrival of Pitcairn Islanders), 8 June (1856) | - |
Nationality | noun: Norfolk Islander(s)
adjective: Norfolk Islander(s) |
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Natural hazards | typhoons (especially May to July) | typhoons; serious maritime hazard because of numerous reefs and shoals |
Natural resources | fish | fish, guano, undetermined oil and natural gas potential |
Net migration rate | NA | - |
Political parties and leaders | none | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | - |
Population | 1,828 (July 2005 est.) | no indigenous inhabitants
note: there are scattered garrisons occupied by personnel of several claimant states (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | - |
Population growth rate | -0.01% (2005 est.) | - |
Ports and harbors | none; loading jetties at Kingston and Cascade | none; offshore anchorage only |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 3, shortwave 0 (2005) | - |
Religions | Anglican 34.9%, Roman Catholic 11.7%, Uniting Church in Australia 11.2%, Seventh-Day Adventist 2.8%, Australian Christian 2.4%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, other 2.7%, unspecified 15.3%, none 18.1% (2001 census) | - |
Sex ratio | NA | - |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | - |
Telephone system | general assessment: adequate
domestic: free local calls international: country code - 672; undersea coaxial cable links with Australia, New Zealand, and Canada; satellite earth station |
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Telephones - main lines in use | 2,532; note - a mix of analog (2500) and digital (32) circuits (2004) | - |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (proposed cellular service disallowed in August 2002 island referendum) (2002) | - |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (local programming station plus two repeaters that bring in Australian programs by satellite) (2005) | - |
Terrain | volcanic formation with mostly rolling plains | flat |
Total fertility rate | NA | - |
Unemployment rate | 0% | - |
Waterways | - | none |