Saint Helena (2004) | Tokelau (2007) | |
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Administrative divisions | 1 administrative area and 2 dependencies*; Ascension*, Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha* | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 18.9% (male 710; female 689)
15-64 years: 71.4% (male 2,739; female 2,559) 65 years and over: 9.7% (male 319; female 399) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: 42%
15-64 years: 53% 65 years and over: 5% |
Agriculture - products | corn, potatoes, vegetables; timber; fish, crawfish (on Tristan da Cunha) | coconuts, copra, breadfruit, papayas, bananas; pigs, poultry, goats; fish |
Airports | 1 (2003 est.) | - |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
- |
Area | total: 410 sq km
land: 410 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Saint Helena Island, Ascension, and the island group of Tristan da Cunha, which consists of Tristan da Cunha Island, Gough Island, Inaccessible Island, and the three Nightingale Islands |
total: 10 sq km
land: 10 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly more than twice the size of Washington, DC | about 17 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC |
Background | Uninhabited when first discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, Saint Helena was garrisoned by the British during the 17th century. It acquired fame as the place of Napoleon BONAPARTE's exile, from 1815 until his death in 1821, but its importance as a port of call declined after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Ascension Island is the site of a US Air Force auxiliary airfield; Gough Island has a meteorological station. | Originally settled by Polynesian emigrants from surrounding island groups, the Tokelau Islands were made a British protectorate in 1889. They were transferred to New Zealand administration in 1925. |
Birth rate | 12.68 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | NA |
Budget | revenues: $11.2 million
expenditures: $11 million, including capital expenditures of NA (FY92/93) |
revenues: $430,800
expenditures: $2.8 million (1987 est.) |
Capital | Jamestown | none; each atoll has its own administrative center
time difference: UTC-11 (6 hours behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | Saint Helena - tropical; marine; mild, tempered by trade winds; Tristan da Cunha - temperate; marine, mild, tempered by trade winds (tends to be cooler than Saint Helena) | tropical; moderated by trade winds (April to November) |
Coastline | 60 km | 101 km |
Constitution | 1 January 1989 | administered under the Tokelau Islands Act of 1948; amended in 1970 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Saint Helena |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Tokelau |
Currency | Saint Helenian pound (SHP) | - |
Death rate | 6.47 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | NA |
Debt - external | NA (1996) | - |
Dependency status | overseas territory of the UK | self-administering territory of New Zealand; note - Tokelau and New Zealand have agreed to a draft constitution as Tokelau moves toward free association with New Zealand; a UN sponsored referendum on self governance in October 2007 did not produce the two-thirds majority vote necessary for changing the political status |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Disputes - international | none | Tokelau included American Samoa's Swains Island (Olohega) in its 2006 draft constitution |
Economic aid - recipient | $12.6 million (1995); note - $5.3 million from UK (1997) | NA |
Economy - overview | The economy depends largely on financial assistance from the UK, which amounted to about $5 million in 1997 or almost one-half of annual budgetary revenues. The local population earns income from fishing, the raising of livestock, and sales of handicrafts. Because there are few jobs, 25% of the work force has left to seek employment on Ascension Island, on the Falklands, and in the UK. | Tokelau's small size (three villages), isolation, and lack of resources greatly restrain economic development and confine agriculture to the subsistence level. The people rely heavily on aid from New Zealand - about $4 million annually - to maintain public services with annual aid being substantially greater than GDP. The principal sources of revenue come from sales of copra, postage stamps, souvenir coins, and handicrafts. Money is also remitted to families from relatives in New Zealand. |
Electricity - consumption | 4.65 million kWh (2001) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production | 5 million kWh (2001) | NA kWh |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Queen Mary's Peak on Tristan da Cunha 2,060 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | limited natural resources and overcrowding are contributing to emigration to New Zealand |
Ethnic groups | African descent 50%, white 25%, Chinese 25% | Polynesian |
Exchange rates | Saint Helenian pounds per US dollar - 0.6661 (2002), 0.6944 (2001), 0.6596 (2000), 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998), | New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 1.5408 (2006), 1.4203 (2005), 1.5087 (2004), 1.7221 (2003), 2.1622 (2002) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Governor and Commander in Chief David HOLLAMBY (since 1999); Michael CLANCY (taking office in October 2004) cabinet: Executive Council consists of the governor, two ex officio officers, and six elected members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor is appointed by the monarch |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General of New Zealand Anand SATYANAND (since 23 August 2006); New Zealand is represented by Administrator David PAYTON (since 17 October 2006)
head of government: Kolouei O'BRIEN (2006); note - position rotates annually among the three Faipule (village leaders) cabinet: the Council for the Ongoing Government of Tokelau, consisting of three Faipule (village leaders) and three Pulenuku (village mayors), functions as a cabinet elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand; the head of government is chosen from the Council of Faipule and serves a one-year term |
Exports | NA (2001) | $0 f.o.b. (2002) |
Exports - commodities | fish (frozen, canned, and salt-dried skipjack, tuna), coffee, handicrafts | stamps, copra, handicrafts |
Exports - partners | US 26.7%, Tanzania 21.9%, Indonesia 9.4%, UK 8.7%, Japan 7.4%, Netherlands 7.2%, Nigeria 6.8%, Poland 5%, Spain 4.9% (2003) | New Zealand (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | 1 April - 31 March |
Flag description | blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Saint Helenian shield centered on the outer half of the flag; the shield features a rocky coastline and three-masted sailing ship | the flag of New Zealand is used |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $18 million (1998 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: NA |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,500 (1998 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | NA | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 15 56 S, 5 42 W | 9 00 S, 172 00 W |
Geography - note | harbors at least 40 species of plants unknown anywhere else in the world; Ascension is a breeding ground for sea turtles and sooty terns | consists of three atolls (Atafu, Fakaofo, Nukunonu), each with a lagoon surrounded by a number of reef-bound islets of varying length and rising to over 3 m above sea level |
Highways | total: 198 km (Saint Helena 138 km, Ascension 40 km, Tristan da Cunha 20 km)
paved: 168 km (Saint Helena 118km, Ascension 40 km, Tristan da Cunha 10 km) unpaved: 30 km (Saint Helena 20 km, Ascension 0 km, Tristan da Cunha 10 km) (2000) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
- |
Imports | NA (2001) | $969,200 c.i.f. (2002) |
Imports - commodities | food, beverages, tobacco, fuel oils, animal feed, building materials, motor vehicles and parts, machinery and parts | foodstuffs, building materials, fuel |
Imports - partners | UK 29.1%, South Africa 24.7%, Spain 16.4%, Italy 8.8%, Tanzania 8.2%, US 5.8% (2003) | New Zealand (2006) |
Independence | none (overseas territory of the UK) | none (territory of New Zealand) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | - |
Industries | construction, crafts (furniture, lacework, fancy woodwork), fishing | small-scale enterprises for copra production, woodworking, plaited craft goods; stamps, coins; fishing |
Infant mortality rate | total: 19.85 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 23.7 deaths/1,000 live births female: 15.81 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.2% (1997 est.) | NA% |
International organization participation | ICFTU, UPU | PIF (observer), SPC, UNESCO (associate), UPU |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | NA |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Magistrate's Court; Small Debts Court; Juvenile Court | Supreme Court in New Zealand exercises civil and criminal jurisdiction in Tokelau |
Labor force | 3,500
note: 1,200 work offshore (1998 est.) |
440 (2001) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture and fishing 6%, industry (mainly construction) 48%, services 46% (1987 est.) | - |
Land boundaries | 0 km | 0 km |
Land use | arable land: 12.9%
permanent crops: 0% other: 87.1% (2001) |
arable land: 0% (soil is thin and infertile)
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005) |
Languages | English | Tokelauan (a Polynesian language), English |
Legal system | NA | New Zealand and local statutes |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Council (16 seats, including the speaker, 3 ex officio and 12 elected members; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 27 June 2001 (next to be held NA June 2005) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - independents 15 |
unicameral General Fono (21 seats; based upon proportional representation from the three islands elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; Nukunonu has six seats, Fakaofo has seven seats, Atafu has eight seats); note - the Tokelau Amendment Act of 1996 confers limited legislative power on the General Fono
elections: last held January 2005 (next to be held January 2008) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 77.57 years
male: 74.67 years female: 80.61 years (2004 est.) |
total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Literacy | definition: age 20 and over can read and write
total population: 97% male: 97% female: 98% (1987 est.) |
NA |
Location | islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, about midway between South America and Africa | Oceania, group of three atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand |
Map references | Africa | Oceania |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | none | - |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | defense is the responsibility of New Zealand |
National holiday | Birthday of Queen ELIZABETH II, second Saturday in June (1926) | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) |
Nationality | noun: Saint Helenian(s)
adjective: Saint Helenian |
noun: Tokelauan(s)
adjective: Tokelauan |
Natural hazards | active volcanism on Tristan da Cunha | lies in Pacific typhoon belt |
Natural resources | fish | NEGL |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | NA |
Political parties and leaders | none | none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | none |
Population | 7,415 (July 2004 est.) | 1,449 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0.62% (2004 est.) | -0.018% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Georgetown (on Ascension), Jamestown | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA (one radio station provides service to all islands) (2002) |
Religions | Anglican (majority), Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic | Congregational Christian Church 70%, Roman Catholic 28%, other 2%
note: on Atafu, all Congregational Christian Church of Samoa; on Nukunonu, all Roman Catholic; on Fakaofo, both denominations, with the Congregational Christian Church predominant |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
NA |
Suffrage | NA years of age | 21 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: can communicate worldwide
domestic: automatic network international: country code - 290; HF radiotelephone from Saint Helena to Ascension Island, which is a major coaxial submarine cable relay point between South Africa, Portugal, and UK; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: modern satellite-based communications system
domestic: radiotelephone service between islands international: country code - 690; radiotelephone service to Samoa; government-regulated telephone service (TeleTok), with 3 satellite earth stations |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2,200 (2002) | 300 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1997) | - |
Television broadcast stations | 0
note: television programs are received in Saint Helena via satellite and distributed by cable (2002) |
- |
Terrain | Saint Helena - rugged, volcanic; small scattered plateaus and plains
note: the other islands of the group have a volcanic origin |
low-lying coral atolls enclosing large lagoons |
Total fertility rate | 1.54 children born/woman (2004 est.) | NA |
Unemployment rate | 14% (1998 est.) | NA% |