Compare South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2008) - Svalbard (2007)

Compare South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2008) z Svalbard (2007)

	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2008)	Svalbard (2007)

Age structure	-	0-14 years: NA 15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA
Airports	-	4 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	-	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 3 under 914 m: 3 (2007)
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: 61,020 sq km land: 61,020 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island)
Area - comparative	slightly larger than Rhode Island	slightly smaller than West Virginia
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.	First discovered by the Norwegians in the 12th century, the islands served as an international whaling base during the 17th and 18th centuries. Norway's sovereignty was recognized in 1920; five years later it officially took over the territory.
Birth rate	-	NA
Budget	-	revenues: $25.07 million expenditures: $NA (2004 est.)
Capital	-	name: Longyearbyen geographic coordinates: 78 13 N, 15 33 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Climate	variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow	arctic, tempered by warm North Atlantic Current; cool summers, cold winters; North Atlantic Current flows along west and north coasts of Spitsbergen, keeping water open and navigable most of the year
Coastline	NA km	3,587 km
Country name	conventional long form: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands conventional short form: none abbreviation: SGSSI	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Svalbard (sometimes referred to as Spitzbergen)
Death rate	-	NA
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	territory of Norway; administered by the Polar Department of the Ministry of Justice, through a governor (sysselmann) residing in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen; by treaty (9 February 1920) sovereignty was awarded to Norway
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)	-
Diplomatic representation in the US	none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)	-
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	despite recent discussions, Russia and Norway dispute their maritime limits in the Barents Sea and Russia's fishing rights beyond Svalbard's territorial limits within the Svalbard Treaty zone
Economic aid - recipient	-	$8.2 million from Norway (1998)
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.	Coal mining is the major economic activity on Svalbard. The treaty of 9 February 1920 gave the 41 signatories equal rights to exploit mineral deposits, subject to Norwegian regulation. Although US, UK, Dutch, and Swedish coal companies have mined in the past, the only companies still mining are Norwegian and Russian. The settlements on Svalbard are essentially company towns. The Norwegian state-owned coal company employs nearly 60% of the Norwegian population on the island, runs many of the local services, and provides most of the local infrastructure. There is also some hunting of seal, reindeer, and fox.
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Paget (South Georgia) 2,934 m	lowest point: Arctic Ocean 0 m highest point: Newtontoppen 1,717 m
Environment - current issues	NA	NA
Ethnic groups	-	Norwegian 55.4%, Russian and Ukrainian 44.3%, other 0.3% (1998)
Exchange rates	-	Norwegian kroner per US dollar - 6.4117 (2006), 6.4425 (2005), 6.7408 (2004), 7.0802 (2003), 7.9838 (2002)
Executive branch	-	chief of state: King HARALD V of Norway (since 17 January 1991) head of government: Governor Per SEFLAND (since 1 October 2005); Assistant Governor Rune Baard HANSEN (since 2003) elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor and assistant governor responsible to the Polar Department of the Ministry of Justice
Exports	-	$197.6 million (2004)
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)	the flag of Norway is used
GDP - real growth rate	-	NA%
Geographic coordinates	54 30 S, 37 00 W	78 00 N, 20 00 E
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	northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area; site of future seed repository under construction by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Norwegian Government
Heliports	-	1 (2007)
Imports	-	$NA
Independence	-	none (territory of Norway)
Infant mortality rate	-	total: NA male: NA female: NA
International organization participation	-	none
Irrigated land	0 sq km	NA
Labor force	-	NA
Land boundaries	0 km	0 km
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: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (no trees; the only bushes are crowberry and cloudberry) (2005)
Languages	-	Norwegian, Russian
Legal system	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply; the senior magistrate from the Falkland Islands presides over the Magistrates Court	the laws of Norway, where applicable, apply
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: NA male: NA female: NA
Literacy	-	NA
Location	Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the tip of South America	Northern Europe, islands between the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea, north of Norway
Map references	Antarctic Region	Arctic Region
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm	territorial sea: 4 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm unilaterally claimed by Norway but not recognized by Russia
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of the UK	demilitarized by treaty on 9 February 1920
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	ice floes often block the entrance to Bellsund (a transit point for coal export) on the west coast and occasionally make parts of the northeastern coast inaccessible to maritime traffic
Natural resources	fish	coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, wildlife, fish
Net migration rate	-	NA
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	2,214 (July 2007 est.)
Population growth rate	-	-0.007% (2007 est.)
Radio broadcast stations	0 (2003)	AM 1, FM 1 (plus 2 repeaters), shortwave 0 (1998)
Sex ratio	-	NA (2007 est.)
Telephone system	general assessment: NA domestic: NA international: coastal radiotelephone station at Grytviken	general assessment: probably adequate domestic: local telephone service international: country code - 47-790; satellite earth station - 1 of unknown type (for communication with Norwegian mainland only)
Telephones - main lines in use	-	NA
Television broadcast stations	0 (2003)	NA
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	wild, rugged mountains; much of high land ice covered; west coast clear of ice about one-half of the year; fjords along west and north coasts
Total fertility rate	-	NA

Sitemap: Compare countries listing (map site) | Country listing (map site)
Links: Add to favorites | Information about this website | Stats | Polityka prywatnosci
This page was generated in ##czas## s. Size this page: ##rozmiar_strony## kB.