Norfolk Island (2005) | West Bank (2004) | |
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.) |
0-14 years: 43.8% (male 518,470; female 493,531)
15-64 years: 52.8% (male 623,785; female 595,376) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 34,226; female 45,816) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | Norfolk Island pine seed, Kentia palm seed, cereals, vegetables, fruit; cattle, poultry | olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products |
Airports | 1 (2004 est.) | 3 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 34.6 sq km
land: 34.6 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 5,860 sq km
land: 5,640 sq km water: 220 sq km note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem No Man's Land are also included only as a means of depicting the entire area occupied by Israel in 1967 |
Area - comparative | about 0.2 times the size of Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Delaware |
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 Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993, provided for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Under the DOP, Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority, which includes the Palestinian Legislative Council elected in January 1996, as part of the interim self-governing arrangements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and in additional areas of the West Bank pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. The DOP provides that Israel will retain responsibility during the transitional period for external and internal security and for public order of settlements and Israeli citizens. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and West Bank that began in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, were derailed by a second intifadah that broke out in September 2000. The resulting widespread violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's military response, and instability within the Palestinian Authority continue to undermine progress toward a permanent agreement. Following the death of longtime Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT in November 2004, the election of his successor Mahmud ABBAS in January 2005 could bring a turning point in the conflict. |
Birth rate | NA | 33.21 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $20 million
expenditures: $20 million, including capital expenditures of $2 million (FY99/00) |
revenues: $676.6 million
expenditures: $1.155 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (includes Gaza Strip) (2003 est.) |
Capital | Kingston | - |
Climate | subtropical; mild, little seasonal temperature variation | temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters |
Coastline | 32 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
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: West Bank |
Currency | - | new Israeli shekel (ILS); Jordanian dinar (JOD) |
Death rate | NA | 4.07 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | NA | $108 million (includes Gaza Strip) (1997 est.) |
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 | West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation |
Economic aid - recipient | NA | $2 billion (includes Gaza Strip) (2001-02 est.) |
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. | Real per capita GDP for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996 due to the combined effect of falling aggregate incomes and rapid population growth. The downturn in economic activity was largely the result of Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border closures in response to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted labor and commodity market relationships between Israel and the WBGS. The most serious social effect of this downturn was rising unemployment, which in the WBGS during the 1980s was generally under 5%; by 1995 it had risen to over 20%. Israel's use of comprehensive closures during the next three years decreased and, in 1998, Israel implemented new policies to reduce the impact of closures and other security procedures on the movement of Palestinian goods and labor. These changes fueled an almost three-year-long economic recovery in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; real GDP grew by 5% in 1998 and 6% in 1999. Recovery was upended in the last quarter of 2000 with the outbreak of violence, which triggered tight Israeli closures of Palestinian self-rule areas and severely disrupted trade and labor movements. In 2001, and even more severely in 2002, Israeli military measures in Palestinian Authority areas resulted in the destruction of much capital plant and administrative structure, widespread business closures, and a sharp drop in GDP. Including Gaza Strip, the UN estimates that more than 100,000 Palestinians out of the 125,000 who used to work in Israel, in Israeli settlements, or in joint industrial zones have lost their jobs. In addition, about 80,000 Palestinian workers inside the Territories are losing their jobs. International aid of $2 billion in 2001-02 to the West Bank and Gaza Strip prevented the complete collapse of the economy. In 2004, on-going border issues and the death of Yasser ARAFAT continued to complicate the economic situation. |
Electricity - consumption | NA kWh | NA kWh |
Electricity - imports | - | NA kWh |
Electricity - production | NA kWh | NA kWh; note - most electricity imported from Israel; East Jerusalem Electric Company buys and distributes electricity to Palestinians in East Jerusalem and its concession in the West Bank; the Israel Electric Company directly supplies electricity to most Jewish residents and military facilities; some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin, generate their own electricity from small power plants |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Bates 319 m |
lowest point: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment |
Ethnic groups | descendants of the Bounty mutineers, Australian, New Zealander, Polynesians | Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17% |
Exchange rates | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001), 1.7248 (2000) | new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001), 4.0773 (2000), 4.1397 (1999); Jordanian dinars per US dollar - fixed rate of 0.7090 (from 1996) |
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% |
- |
Exports | $1.5 million f.o.b. (FY99/00) | $603 million f.o.b., includes Gaza Strip |
Exports - commodities | postage stamps, seeds of the Norfolk Island pine and Kentia palm, small quantities of avocados | olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone |
Exports - partners | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | calendar year (since 1 January 1992) |
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 | - | purchasing power parity - $1.7 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: NA |
agriculture: 9%
industry: 28% services: 63% note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - NA | purchasing power parity - $800 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA | -22% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 29 02 S, 167 57 E | 32 00 N, 35 15 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 | landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 244 West Bank settlements and 29 East Jerusalem settlements in addition to at least 20 occupied outposts(August 2003 est.) |
Highways | total: 80 km
paved: 53 km unpaved: 27 km (2001) |
total: 4,500 km
paved: 2,700 km unpaved: 1,800 km note: Israelis have developed many highways to service Jewish settlements (1997 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Imports | $17.9 million c.i.f. (FY91/92) | $1.9 billion c.i.f., includes Gaza Strip |
Imports - commodities | NA | food, consumer goods, construction materials |
Imports - partners | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2000) |
Independence | none (territory of Australia) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | NA |
Industries | tourism, light industry, ready mixed concrete | generally small family businesses that produce cement, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some small-scale, modern industries in the settlements and industrial centers |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total: 20.16 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 22.28 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.91 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA | 2.2% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | UPU | - |
Irrigated land | NA | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Court of Petty Sessions | - |
Labor force | 1,345 | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | tourism 90%, subsistence agriculture 10% | agriculture 13%, industry 21%, services 66% (1996) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 404 km
border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001) |
arable land: 16.9%
permanent crops: 18.97% other: 64.13% (2001) |
Languages | English (official), Norfolk a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood) |
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) |
- |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total population: 72.88 years
male: 71.14 years female: 74.72 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | NA | definition: NA
total population: NA male: NA female: NA |
Location | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia | Middle East, west of Jordan |
Map references | Oceania | Middle East |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
none (landlocked) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of Australia | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | NA |
National holiday | Bounty Day (commemorates the arrival of Pitcairn Islanders), 8 June (1856) | - |
Nationality | noun: Norfolk Islander(s)
adjective: Norfolk Islander(s) |
noun: NA
adjective: NA |
Natural hazards | typhoons (especially May to July) | droughts |
Natural resources | fish | arable land |
Net migration rate | NA | 2.98 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | none | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | - |
Population | 1,828 (July 2005 est.) | 2,311,204
note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | 60% (2003 est.) |
Population growth rate | -0.01% (2005 est.) | 3.21% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none; loading jetties at Kingston and Cascade | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 3, shortwave 0 (2005) | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0
note: the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts from an AM station in Ramallah on 675 kHz; numerous local, private stations are reported to be in operation (2000) |
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) | Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8% |
Sex ratio | NA | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
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 |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: NA note: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for communication services in the West Bank |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2,532; note - a mix of analog (2500) and digital (32) circuits (2004) | 301,600 (total for West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (proposed cellular service disallowed in August 2002 island referendum) (2002) | 480,000 (cellular subscribers in both West Bank and Gaza Strip) (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (local programming station plus two repeaters that bring in Australian programs by satellite) (2005) | NA |
Terrain | volcanic formation with mostly rolling plains | mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east |
Total fertility rate | NA | 4.52 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 0% | 50% (includes Gaza Strip) (2002 est.) |