Compare South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2008) - European Union (2005)

Compare South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2008) z European Union (2005)

	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2008)	European Union (2005)

Age structure	-	0-14 years: 16.03% (male 37,608,010/female 35,632,351) 15-64 years: 67.17% (male 154,439,536/female 152,479,619) 65 years and over: 16.81% (male 31,515,921/female 45,277,821) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	wheat, barley, oilseeds, sugar beets, wine, grapes, dairy products, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, fish
Airports	-	3,130 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	-	total: 1,834
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 1,296
Area	total: 3,903 sq km land: 3,903 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Shag Rocks, Black Rock, Clerke Rocks, South Georgia Island, Bird Island, and the South Sandwich Islands, which consist of 11 islands	total: 3,976,372 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly larger than Rhode Island	less than one-half the size of the US
Background	The islands, which have large bird and seal populations, lie approximately 1,000 km east of the Falkland Islands and have been under British administration since 1908 - except for a brief period in 1982 when Argentina occupied them. Grytviken, on South Georgia, was a 19th and early 20th century whaling station. Famed explorer Ernest SHACKLETON stopped there in 1914 en route to his ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica on foot. He returned some 20 months later with a few companions in a small boat and arranged a successful rescue for the rest of his crew, stranded off the Antarctic Peninsula. He died in 1922 on a subsequent expedition and is buried in Grytviken. Today, the station houses scientists from the British Antarctic Survey. Recognizing the importance of preserving the marine stocks in adjacent waters, the UK, in 1993, extended the exclusive fishing zone from 12 nm to 200 nm around each island.	Following the two devastating World Wars of the first half of the 20th century, a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became convinced that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief belligerent nations - France and Germany - both economically and politically. In 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed an eventual union of all Europe, the first step of which would be the integration of the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. The following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris. The ECSC was so successful that within a few years the decision was made to integrate other parts of the countries' economies. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the six member states undertook to eliminate trade barriers among themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the institutions of all three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC), creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially selected by national parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections were undertaken and they have been held every five years since. In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership expansion with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation of an economic and monetary union - including a common currency. This further integration created the European Union (EU). In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU, raising the membership total to 15. A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1 January 1999; it become the unit of exchange for all of the EU states except the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens of the 12 euro-area countries began using the euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - bringing the current membership to 25. In order to ensure that the EU can continue to function efficiently with an expanded membership, the 2003 Treaty of Nice set forth rules streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An EU Constitutional Treaty, signed in Rome on 29 October 2004, gave member states two years to ratify the document before it was scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006. Referenda held in France and the Netherlands in May-June 2005 that rejected the constitution suspended the ratification effort. Despite the expansion of membership and functions, "Eurosceptics" in various countries have raised questions about the erosion of national cultures and the imposition of a flood of regulations from the EU capital in Brussels. Failure by all member states to ratify the constitution or the inability of newcomer countries to meet euro currency standards might force a loosening of some EU agreements and perhaps lead to several levels of EU participation. These "tiers" might eventually range from an "inner" core of politically integrated countries to a looser "outer" economic association of members.
Birth rate	-	10 births/1,000 population (July 2005 est.)
Capital	-	Brussels, Belgium note: the Council of the European Union meets in Brussels, the European Parliament meets in Strasbourg, France, and the Court of Justice of the European Communities meets in Luxembourg
Climate	variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow	cold temperate; potentially subarctic in the north to temperate; mild wet winters; hot dry summers in the south
Coastline	NA km	65,413.9 km
Constitution	-	based on a series of treaties: the Treaty of Paris, which set up the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951; the Treaties of Rome, which set up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957; the Single European Act in 1986; the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) in 1992; the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997; and the Treaty of Nice in 2001; note - a new draft Constitutional Treaty, signed on 29 October 2004 in Rome, gave member states two years for ratification either by parliamentary vote or national referendum before it was scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006; defeat in French and Dutch referenda in May-June 2005 caused a suspension of the ratification process
Country name	conventional long form: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands conventional short form: none abbreviation: SGSSI	-
Death rate	-	10.1 deaths/1,000 population (July 2005 est.)
Dependency status	overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by a commissioner, who is concurrently governor of the Falkland Islands, representing Queen ELIZABETH II	-
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)	chief of mission: Ambassador Rockwell SCHNABEL embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat/Rue Zinner, B-1000 Brussels mailing address: same as above telephone: [32] (2) 508-2222 FAX: [32] (2) 512-5720
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)	chief of mission: Ambassador John BRUTON chancery: 2300 M Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 862-9500 FAX: [1] (202) 429-1766
Disputes - international	Argentina, which claims the islands in its constitution and briefly occupied them by force in 1982, agreed in 1995 to no longer seek settlement by force	the EU has no border disputes with neighboring countries; it has set up a Schengen area - consisting of 13 EU member states that have signed the convention implementing the Schengen agreements (1985 and 1990) on the free movement of persons and the harmonization of border controls in Europe; the Schengen agreements ("acquis") became incorporated into EU law with the implementation of the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999; member states are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden; in addition, non-EU states Iceland and Norway (as part of the Nordic Union) have been included in the Schengen area since 1996 (full members in 2001), bringing the total current membership to 15; the UK (since 2000) and Ireland (since 2002) take part in some aspects of the Schengen area, especially with respect to police and criminal matters; the 10 new member states that joined the EU in 2004 eventually are expected to participate in Schengen, following a transition period to upgrade their border controls and procedures
Economy - overview	Some fishing takes place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from harvesting finfish and krill. The islands receive income from postage stamps produced in the UK, sale of fishing licenses, and harbor and landing fees from tourist vessels. Tourism from specialized cruise ships is increasing rapidly.	Domestically, the European Union attempts to lower trade barriers, adopt a common currency, and move toward convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per capita income (from $10,000 to $28,000) and historic national animosities, the European Community faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. For example, both Germany and France since 2003 have flouted the member states' treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets from running more than a 3% deficit. In 2004, the EU admitted 10 central and eastern European countries that are, in general, less advanced technologically and economically than the existing 15. Twelve EU member states introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999. The UK, Sweden, and Denmark do not now participate; the 10 new member states may choose to adopt the euro when they meet the EU's fiscal and monetary criteria and the member states so agree.
Electricity - consumption	-	2.661 trillion kWh (2002 est.)
Electricity - exports	-	270.8 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports	-	268.5 billion kWh (2002 est.)
Electricity - production	-	2.888 trillion kWh (2002 est.)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Paget (South Georgia) 2,934 m	lowest point: Lammefjord, Denmark -7 m; Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands -7 m highest point: Mount Blanc, France/Italy 4,807 m
Environment - current issues	NA	NA
Environment - international agreements	-	party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 82, Tropical Timber 94 signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds
Exchange rates	-	euros per US dollar - 0.81 (2004), 0.89 (2003), 1.06 (2002), 1.12 (2001), 1.09 (2000)
Executive branch	-	chief of union: President of the European Commission Jose DURAO BARROSO (since 22 November 2004) cabinet: European Commission (composed of 25 members, one from each member country; each commissioner responsible for one or more policy areas) elections: the president of the European Commission is designated by member governments; the president-designate then chooses the other Commission members; the European Parliament confirms the entire Commission for a five-year term; election last held 18 November 2004 (next to be held 2009) election results: European Parliament approved the European Commission by an approval vote of 449 to 149 with 82 abstentions note: the European Council brings together heads of state and government and the president of the European Commission and meets at least twice a year; its aim is to provide the impetus for the major political issues relating to European integration and to issue general policy guidelines
Exports	-	5.322 million bbl/day (2001)
Exports - commodities	-	machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper products, textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic beverages.
Exports - partners	-	US 22.9%, Switzerland 6.9%, China 4.1%, Japan 4%
Fiscal year	-	NA
Flag description	blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands coat of arms centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms features a shield with a golden lion centered; the shield is supported by a fur seal on the left and a penguin on the right; a reindeer appears above the shield, and below it on a scroll is the motto LEO TERRAM PROPRIAM PROTEGAT (Let the Lion Protect its Own Land)	on a blue field, 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle, representing the union of the peoples of Europe; the number of stars is fixed
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: 2.2% industry: 28.3% services: 69.4% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $26,900 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-	2.4% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	54 30 S, 37 00 W	-
Geography - note	the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays, which provide good anchorage; reindeer, introduced early in the 20th century, live on South Georgia	-
Heliports	-	94 (2004)
Highways	-	total: 4,634,810 km (including 56,704 km of expressways) paved: 4,161,318 km unpaved: 473,492 km (1999-2000)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	-	lowest 10%: 2.9% highest 10%: 25.4% (1995 est.)
Imports	-	15.69 million bbl/day (2001)
Imports - commodities	-	machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, clothing
Imports - partners	-	US 15.1%, China 9.7%, Japan 6.7%, Switzerland 5.6%
Independence	-	7 February 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing the EU); 1 November 1993 (Maastricht Treaty entered into force)
Industrial production growth rate	-	2.4% (2004 est.)
Industries	-	among the world's largest and most technologically advanced, the European Union industrial base includes: ferrous and non-ferrous metal production and processing, metal products, petroleum, coal, cement, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, rail transportation equipment, passenger and commercial vehicles, construction equipment, industrial equipment, shipbuilding, electrical power equipment, machine tools and automated manufacturing systems, electronics and telecommunications equipment, fishing, food and beverage processing, furniture, paper, textiles, tourism
Infant mortality rate	-	total: 5.1 deaths/1,000 live births male: 5.6 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.5 deaths/1,000 live births (July 2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-	2.1% (2004 est.)
International organization participation	-	European Union: ASEAN (dialogue member), ARF (dialogue member), EBRD, IDA, OAS (observer), OECD, WTO European Commission: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, FAO, G-10, NSG (observer), UN (observer) European Central Bank: BIS European Investment Bank: WADB (nonregional member)
Irrigated land	0 sq km	115,807 sq km
Judicial branch	-	Court of Justice of the European Communities (ensures that the treaties are interpreted and applied correctly) - 25 justices (one from each member state) appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of efficiency, the court can sit with 11 justices known as the "Grand Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 25 justices appointed for a six-year term
Labor force	-	215 million (various)
Labor force - by occupation	-	agriculture 4.5%, industry 27.4%, services 66.9% note: the remainder is in miscellaneous public and private sector industries and services (2004)
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 11,214.8 km border countries: Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km, Belarus 1,050 km, Bulgaria 494 km, Croatia 999 km, Holy See 3.2 km, Liechtenstein 34.9 km, Macedonia 246 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Norway 2,348 km, Romania 443 km, Russia 2,257 km, San Marino 39 km, Serbia and Montenegro 151 km, Switzerland 1,811 km, Turkey 206 km, Ukraine 726 km note: data for European Continent only
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation consisting of grass, moss, and lichen) (2005)	arable land: NA% permanent crops: NA% other: NA%
Languages	-	Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish; note - only official languages are listed; Irish (Gaelic) will become the twenty-first language on 1 January 2007
Legal system	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply; the senior magistrate from the Falkland Islands presides over the Magistrates Court	-
Legislative branch	-	Council of the European Union (25 member-state ministers having 321 votes; the number of votes is roughly proportional to member-states' population); note - the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU; European Parliament (732 seats; seats allocated among member states by proportion to population); members elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term elections: last held 10-13 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats by party - EPP-ED 268, PES 202, ALDE 88, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 36, UEN 27, independents 28
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: 78.3 years male: 75.1 years female: 81.6 years (July 2005 est.)
Location	Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the tip of South America	Europe between Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, southeastern Europe, and the North Atlantic Ocean
Map references	Antarctic Region	Europe
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm	NA
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of the UK	In November 2004, the European Union heads of government signed a "Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe" that offers possibilities - with some limits - for increased defense and security cooperation. If ratified, in a process that may take some two years, this treaty will in effect make operational the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) approved in the 2000 Nice Treaty. Despite limits of cooperation for some EU members, development of a European military planning unit is likely to continue. So is creation of a rapid-reaction military force and a humanitarian aid system, which the planning unit will support. France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Italy continue to press for wider coordination. The five-nation Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg - has already deployed troops and police on peacekeeping missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo and assumed command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in August 2004. Eurocorps directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade, the Multinational Command Support Brigade, and EUFOR, which took over from SFOR in Bosnia in December 2004. Other troop contributions are under national command - committments to provide 67,100 troops were made at the Helsinki EU session in 2000. Some 56,000 EU troops were actually deployed in 2003. In August 2004, the new European Defense Agency, tasked with promoting cooperative European defense capabilities, began operations. In November 2004, the EU Council of Ministers formally committed to creating thirteen 1,500-man "battle groups" by the end of 2007, to respond to international crises on a rotating basis. Twenty-two of the EU's 25 nations have agreed to supply troops. France, Italy, and the UK are to form the first three battle groups in 2005, with Spain to follow. In May 2005, Norway, Sweden, and Finland agreed to establish one of the battle groups, possibly to include Estonian forces. The remaining groups are to be formed by 2007. (2005)
National holiday	-	Europe Day 9 May (1950); note - a Union-wide holiday, the day that Robert Schuman proposed the creation of an organized Europe
Natural hazards	the South Sandwich Islands have prevailing weather conditions that generally make them difficult to approach by ship; they are also subject to active volcanism	flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic
Natural resources	fish	iron ore, arable land, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, hydropower, uranium, potash, fish
Net migration rate	-	1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (July 2005 est.)
Political parties and leaders	-	Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe or ALDE [Graham R. WATSON]; Independence/Democracy Group or IND/DEM [Jens-Peter BONDE and Nigel FARAGE]; Group of Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Monica FRASSONI and Daniel Marc COHN-BENDIT]; Socialist Group in the European Parliament or PES [Martin SCHULZ]; Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or EUL/NGL [Francis WURTZ]; European People's Party-European Democrats or EPP-ED [Hans-Gert POETTERING]; Union for Europe of the Nations Group or UEN [Brian CROWLEY and Cristiana MUSCARDINI]
Population	no indigenous inhabitants note: the small military garrison on South Georgia withdrew in March 2001 replaced by a permanent group of scientists of the British Antarctic Survey, which also has a biological station on Bird Island; the South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited	456,953,258 (July 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	-	See individual country listings
Population growth rate	-	0.15% (July 2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	-	Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Bremen (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Naples (Italy), Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece), Riga (Latvia), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden), Talinn (Estonia)
Radio broadcast stations	0 (2003)	AM 866, FM 13,396, shortwave 73 (1998); note - sum of individual country radio broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Euroradio)
Railways	-	total: 222,293 km broad gauge: 28,438 km standard gauge: 186,405 km narrow gauge: 7,427 km other: 23 km (2003)
Religions	-	Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish
Sex ratio	-	at birth: NA under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and older: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (July 2004 est.)
Suffrage	-	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: NA domestic: NA international: coastal radiotelephone station at Grytviken	note - see individual country entries of member states
Telephones - main lines in use	-	238,763,162 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	314,644,700 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	0 (2003)	2,791 (1995); note - does not include repeaters; sum of individual country television broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Eurovision)
Terrain	most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous; South Georgia is largely barren and has steep, glacier-covered mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some active volcanoes	fairly flat along the Baltic and Atlantic coast; mountainous in the central and southern areas
Total fertility rate	-	1.47 children born/woman (July 2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	-	9.5% (2004 est.)
Waterways	-	53,512 km

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