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Compare Southern Ocean (2008) - Italy (2004)

Compare Southern Ocean (2008) z Italy (2004)

 Southern Ocean (2008)Italy (2004)
 Southern OceanItaly
Administrative divisions - 16 regions (regioni, singular - regione) and 4 autonomous regions* (regioni autonome, singular - regione autonoma); Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia*, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Sardegna*, Sicilia, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige*, Umbria, Valle d'Aosta*, Veneto
Age structure - 0-14 years: 14% (male 4,181,946; female 3,935,565)


15-64 years: 66.9% (male 19,590,497; female 19,256,747)


65 years and over: 19.1% (male 4,608,479; female 6,484,243) (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products - fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; beef, dairy products; fish
Airports - 134 (2003 est.)
Airports - with paved runways - total: 96


over 3,047 m: 6


2,438 to 3,047 m: 32


1,524 to 2,437 m: 16


914 to 1,523 m: 30


under 914 m: 12 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways - total: 38


1,524 to 2,437 m: 2


914 to 1,523 m: 18


under 914 m: 18 (2004 est.)
Area total: 20.327 million sq km


note: includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies
total: 301,230 sq km


land: 294,020 sq km


water: 7,210 sq km


note: includes Sardinia and Sicily
Area - comparative slightly more than twice the size of the US slightly larger than Arizona
Background A large body of recent oceanographic research has shown that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), an ocean current that flows from west to east around Antarctica, plays a crucial role in global ocean circulation. The region where the cold waters of the ACC meet and mingle with the warmer waters of the north defines a distinct border - the Antarctic Convergence - which fluctuates with the seasons, but which encompasses a discrete body of water and a unique ecologic region. The Convergence concentrates nutrients, which promotes marine plant life, and which in turn allows for a greater abundance of animal life. In the spring of 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization decided to delimit the waters within the Convergence as a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - by combining the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit and which approximates the extent of the Antarctic Convergence. As such, the Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean). It should be noted that inclusion of the Southern Ocean does not imply recognition of this feature as one of the world's primary oceans by the US Government. Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the European Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north.
Birth rate - 9.05 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Budget - revenues: $668 billion


expenditures: $703.1 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003)
Capital - Rome
Climate sea temperatures vary from about 10 degrees Celsius to -2 degrees Celsius; cyclonic storms travel eastward around the continent and frequently are intense because of the temperature contrast between ice and open ocean; the ocean area from about latitude 40 south to the Antarctic Circle has the strongest average winds found anywhere on Earth; in winter the ocean freezes outward to 65 degrees south latitude in the Pacific sector and 55 degrees south latitude in the Atlantic sector, lowering surface temperatures well below 0 degrees Celsius; at some coastal points intense persistent drainage winds from the interior keep the shoreline ice-free throughout the winter predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south
Coastline 17,968 km 7,600 km
Constitution - passed 11 December 1947; effective 1 January 1948; amended many times
Country name - conventional long form: Italian Republic


conventional short form: Italy


local long form: Repubblica Italiana


local short form: Italia


former: Kingdom of Italy
Currency - euro (EUR)


note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries
Death rate - 10.21 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Debt - external - $868.5 billion NA (2003)
Diplomatic representation from the US - chief of mission: Ambassador Melvin F. SEMBLER


embassy: Via Vittorio Veneto 119/A, 00187-Rome


mailing address: PSC 59, Box 100, APO AE 09624


telephone: [39] (06) 46741


FAX: [39] (06) 488-2672, 4674-2356


consulate(s) general: Florence, Milan, Naples
Diplomatic representation in the US - chief of mission: Ambassador Sergio VENTO


chancery: 3000 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC 20008


telephone: [1] (202) 612-4400


FAX: [1] (202) 518-2151


consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco


consulate(s): Detroit
Disputes - international Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica entry), but Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and UK assert claims (some overlapping), including the continental shelf in the Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest in extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to include undersea ridges; the US and most other states do not recognize the land or maritime claims of other states and have made no claims themselves (the US and Russia have reserved the right to do so); no formal claims exist in the waters in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west none
Economic aid - donor - ODA, $1 billion (2002 est.)
Economy - overview Fisheries in 2003-04 landed 136,262 metric tons, of which 87% (118,166 tons) was krill and 8% (11,182 tons) Patagonian toothfish, compared to 142,555 tons in 2002-03 of which 83% (117,728 tons) was krill and 12% (16,479 tons) Patagonian toothfish (estimated fishing from the area covered by the Convention of the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which extends slightly beyond the Southern Ocean area). International agreements were adopted in late 1999 to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which in the 2000-01 season landed, by one estimate, 8,376 metric tons of Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish. In the 2004-05 Antarctic summer, 28,202 tourists, most of them seaborne (approximately 97%), visited the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, compared to 14,762 in 1999-2000. Italy has a diversified industrial economy with roughly the same total and per capita output as France and the UK. This capitalistic economy remains divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less developed, welfare-dependent agricultural south, with 20% unemployment. Most raw materials needed by industry and more than 75% of energy requirements are imported. Over the past decade, Italy has pursued a tight fiscal policy in order to meet the requirements of the Economic and Monetary Unions and has benefited from lower interest and inflation rates. The current government has enacted numerous short-term reforms aimed at improving competitiveness and long-term growth. Italy has moved slowly, however, on implementing needed structural reforms, such as lightening the high tax burden and overhauling Italy's rigid labor market and over-generous pension system, because of the current economic slowdown and opposition from labor unions.
Electricity - consumption - 289.1 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports - 556 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports - 48.93 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production - 258.8 billion kWh (2001)
Elevation extremes lowest point: -7,235 m at the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench


highest point: sea level 0 m
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m


highest point: Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco) de Courmayeur 4,748 m (a secondary peak of Mont Blanc)
Environment - current issues increased solar ultraviolet radiation resulting from the Antarctic ozone hole in recent years, reducing marine primary productivity (phytoplankton) by as much as 15% and damaging the DNA of some fish; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in recent years, especially the landing of an estimated five to six times more Patagonian toothfish than the regulated fishery, which is likely to affect the sustainability of the stock; large amount of incidental mortality of seabirds resulting from long-line fishing for toothfish


note: the now-protected fur seal population is making a strong comeback after severe overexploitation in the 18th and 19th centuries
air pollution from industrial emissions such as sulfur dioxide; coastal and inland rivers polluted from industrial and agricultural effluents; acid rain damaging lakes; inadequate industrial waste treatment and disposal facilities
Environment - international agreements the Southern Ocean is subject to all international agreements regarding the world's oceans; in addition, it is subject to these agreements specific to the Antarctic region: International Whaling Commission (prohibits commercial whaling south of 40 degrees south [south of 60 degrees south between 50 degrees and 130 degrees west]); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (limits sealing); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (regulates fishing)


note: many nations (including the US) prohibit mineral resource exploration and exploitation south of the fluctuating Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence), which is in the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and serves as the dividing line between the cold polar surface waters to the south and the warmer waters to the north
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling


signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants
Ethnic groups - Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)
Exchange rates - euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999)
Executive branch - chief of state: President Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI (since 13 May 1999)


head of government: Prime Minister (referred to in Italy as the president of the Council of Ministers) Silvio BERLUSCONI (since 10 June 2001)


cabinet: Council of Ministers nominated by the prime minister and approved by the president


elections: president elected by an electoral college consisting of both houses of Parliament and 58 regional representatives for a seven-year term; election last held 13 May 1999 (next to be held NA May 2006); prime minister appointed by the president and confirmed by Parliament


election results: Carlo Azeglio CIAMPI elected president; percent of electoral college vote - 70%


note: a four-party government coalition includes Forza Italia, National Alliance, Northern League, and Union of Christian Democrats and Democrats of the Center
Exports - 456,600 bbl/day (2001)
Exports - commodities - engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; food, beverages and tobacco; minerals and nonferrous metals
Exports - partners - Germany 13.8%, France 12.3%, US 8.5%, Spain 7%, UK 6.9% (2003)
Fiscal year - calendar year
Flag description - three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; similar to the flag of Ireland, which is longer and is green (hoist side), white, and orange; also similar to the flag of the Cote d'Ivoire, which has the colors reversed - orange (hoist side), white, and green


note: inspired by the French flag brought to Italy by Napoleon in 1797
GDP - purchasing power parity - $1.55 trillion (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector - agriculture: 2.2%


industry: 28.9%


services: 68.9% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita - purchasing power parity - $26,700 (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate - 0.4% (2003 est.)
Geographic coordinates 60 00 S, 90 00 E (nominally), but the Southern Ocean has the unique distinction of being a large circumpolar body of water totally encircling the continent of Antarctica; this ring of water lies between 60 degrees south latitude and the coast of Antarctica and encompasses 360 degrees of longitude 42 50 N, 12 50 E
Geography - note the major chokepoint is the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica; the Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) is the best natural definition of the northern extent of the Southern Ocean; it is a distinct region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that separates the cold polar surface waters to the south from the warmer waters to the north; the Front and the Current extend entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60 degrees south near New Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South Atlantic coinciding with the path of the maximum westerly winds strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe
Heliports - 4 (2003 est.)
Highways - total: 479,688 km


paved: 479,688 km (including 6,621 km of expressways)


unpaved: 0 km (1999)
Household income or consumption by percentage share - lowest 10%: 2.1%


highest 10%: 26.6% (2000)
Illicit drugs - important gateway for and consumer of Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market; money laundering by organized crime and from smuggling
Imports - 2.158 million bbl/day (2001)
Imports - commodities - engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages and tobacco
Imports - partners - Germany 17.9%, France 11.2%, Netherlands 5.8%, Spain 4.8%, UK 4.7%, Belgium 4.3%, US 4% (2003)
Independence - 17 March 1861 (Kingdom of Italy proclaimed; Italy was not finally unified until 1870)
Industrial production growth rate - -0.5% (2003)
Industries - tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics
Infant mortality rate - total: 6.07 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 6.68 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 5.41 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) - 2.7% (2003 est.)
International organization participation - AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CDB, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
Irrigated land - 26,980 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch - Constitutional Court or Corte Costituzionale (composed of 15 judges: one-third appointed by the president, one-third elected by Parliament, one-third elected by the ordinary and administrative Supreme Courts)
Labor force - 24.15 million (2003 est.)
Labor force - by occupation - agriculture 5%, industry 32%, services 63% (2001)
Land boundaries - total: 1,932.2 km


border countries: Austria 430 km, France 488 km, Holy See (Vatican City) 3.2 km, San Marino 39 km, Slovenia 232 km, Switzerland 740 km
Land use - arable land: 27.79%


permanent crops: 9.53%


other: 62.68% (2001)
Languages - Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)
Legal system - based on civil law system; appeals treated as new trials; judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch - bicameral Parliament or Parlamento consists of the Senate or Senato della Repubblica (315 seats elected by popular vote of which 232 are directly elected and 83 are elected by regional proportional representation; in addition, there are a small number of senators-for-life including former presidents of the republic; members serve five-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camera dei Deputati (630 seats; 475 are directly elected, 155 by regional proportional representation; members serve five-year terms)


elections: Senate - last held 13 May 2001 (next to be held 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 13 May 2001 (next to be held May 2006)


election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - House of Liberties 172 (Forza Italia 77, National Alliance 47, UDC 31, Lega Padana 17), Olive Tree 108 (Democrats of the Left 63, Daisy Alliance 35, Greens 10), Per le Autonomie 10, other 25; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - House of Liberties 337 (Forza Italia 176, National Alliance 97, UDC 36, Northern League 28), Olive Tree 214 (Democrats of the Left 135, Daisy Alliance 79), Rifondazione Communista 11, other 68
Life expectancy at birth - total population: 79.54 years


male: 76.61 years


female: 82.66 years (2004 est.)
Literacy - definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 98.6%


male: 99%


female: 98.3% (2003 est.)
Location body of water between 60 degrees south latitude and Antarctica Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia
Map references Antarctic Region Europe
Maritime claims - territorial sea: 12 nm


continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Merchant marine - total: 475 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 8,970,017 GRT/10,354,685 DWT


by type: bulk 39, cargo 40, chemical tanker 106, combination ore/oil 2, container 23, liquefied gas 43, livestock carrier 2, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger 13, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 74, refrigerated cargo 4, roll on/roll off 62, short-sea/passenger 31, specialized tanker 11, vehicle carrier 23


foreign-owned: Denmark 4, France 3, Greece 5, Japan 1, Isle of Man 1, Monaco 22, Netherlands 4, Panama 2, Switzerland 2, Taiwan 10, United Kingdom 5, United States 13


registered in other countries: 144 (2004 est.)
Military branches - Army, Navy, Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana, AMI), Carabinieri
Military expenditures - dollar figure - $28,182.8 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP - 1.9% (2003)
Military manpower - availability - males age 15-49: 14,408,392 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service - males age 15-49: 12,279,516 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually - males: 285,601 (2004 est.)
National holiday - Republic Day, 2 June (1946)
Nationality - noun: Italian(s)


adjective: Italian
Natural hazards huge icebergs with drafts up to several hundred meters; smaller bergs and iceberg fragments; sea ice (generally 0.5 to 1 m thick) with sometimes dynamic short-term variations and with large annual and interannual variations; deep continental shelf floored by glacial deposits varying widely over short distances; high winds and large waves much of the year; ship icing, especially May-October; most of region is remote from sources of search and rescue regional risks include landslides, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding; land subsidence in Venice
Natural resources probable large and possible giant oil and gas fields on the continental margin, manganese nodules, possible placer deposits, sand and gravel, fresh water as icebergs; squid, whales, and seals - none exploited; krill, fish coal, mercury, zinc, potash, marble, barite, asbestos, pumice, fluorospar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land
Net migration rate - 2.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Pipelines - gas 17,335 km; oil 1,136 km (2004)
Political parties and leaders - Center-Left Olive Tree Coalition [Francesco RUTELLI] - Democrats of the Left, Daisy Alliance (including Italian Popular Party, Italian Renewal, Union of Democrats for Europe, The Democrats), Sunflower Alliance (including Green Federation, Italian Democratic Socialists), Italian Communist Party; Center-Right Freedom House Coalition [Silvio BERLUSCONI] (formerly House of Liberties and Freedom Alliance) - Forza Italia, National Alliance, The Whiteflower Alliance (includes Christian Democratic Center, United Christian Democrats), Northern League; Democrats of the Left or DS [Piero FASSINO]; Forza Italia or FI [Silvio BERLUSCONI]; Green Federation [Alfonso Pecoraro SCANIO]; Italian Communist Party or PdCI [Armando COSSUTTA]; Italian Renewal or RI [Lamberto DINI]; merged with PPI and I Democratici to form La Margherita (or The Daisy Alliance); Italian Social Democrats or SDI [Enrico BOSELLI]; Lega Padana [Roberto BERNARDELLI]; National Alliance or AN [Gianfranco FINI]; Northern League or NL [Umberto BOSSI]; Socialist Movement-Tricolor Flame or MS-Fiamma [Luca ROMAGNOLI]; South Tyrol People's Party or SVP (German speakers) [Elmar Pichler ROLLE]; Sunflower Alliance (includes Green Federation, Italian Social Democrats); The Daisy Alliance (includes Italian Popular Party, Italian Renewal, Union of Democrats for Europe, The Democrats) [Francesco RUTELLI]; The Democrats [Arturo PARISI]; The Radicals (formerly Pannella Reformers and Autonomous List) [Marco PANNELLA]; Union of Democrats for Europe or UDEUR [Clemente MASTELLA]; Union of Christian and Center Democrats or UDC [Marco FOLLINI]
Political pressure groups and leaders - Italian manufacturers and merchants associations (Confindustria, Confcommercio); organized farm groups (Confcoltivatori, Confagricoltura); Roman Catholic Church; three major trade union confederations (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro or CGIL [Guglielmo EPIFANI] which is left wing, Confederazione Italiana dei Sindacati Lavoratori or CISL [Savino PEZZOTTA], which is Roman Catholic centrist, and Unione Italiana del Lavoro or UIL [Luigi ANGELETTI] which is lay centrist)
Population - 58,057,477 (July 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line - NA
Population growth rate - 0.09% (2004 est.)
Ports and harbors - Augusta (Sicily), Bagnoli, Bari, Brindisi, Gela (Sicily), Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Milazzo (Sicily), Naples, Porto Foxi, Porto Torres (Sardinia), Salerno, Savona, Taranto, Trieste, Venice
Radio broadcast stations - AM about 100, FM about 4,600, shortwave 9 (1998)
Railways - total: 19,507 km (11,651 km electrified)


standard gauge: 18,070 km 1.435-m gauge (11,375 km electrified)


narrow gauge: 123 km 1.000-m gauge (88 km electrified); 1,314 km 0.950-m gauge (188 km electrified) (2003)
Religions - predominately Roman Catholic with mature Protestant and Jewish communities and a growing Muslim immigrant community
Sex ratio - at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female


total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
Suffrage - 18 years of age; universal (except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25)
Telephone system - general assessment: modern, well developed, fast; fully automated telephone, telex, and data services


domestic: high-capacity cable and microwave radio relay trunks


international: country code - 39; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (with a total of 5 antennas - 3 for Atlantic Ocean and 2 for Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), and NA Eutelsat; 21 submarine cables
Telephones - main lines in use - 26.596 million (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular - 55.918 million (2003)
Television broadcast stations - 358 (plus 4,728 repeaters) (1995)
Terrain the Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 m over most of its extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400 to 800 m (the global mean is 133 m); the Antarctic icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million sq km in March to about 18.8 million sq km in September, better than a sixfold increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (21,000 km in length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands
Total fertility rate - 1.27 children born/woman (2004 est.)
Transportation - note Drake Passage offers alternative to transit through the Panama Canal -
Unemployment rate - 8.6% (2003 est.)
Waterways - 2,400 km


note: used for commercial traffic; of limited overall value compared to road and rail (2004)
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