CIA World Fact Book, 2004/Pitcairn Islands


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!| Background:
 * Pitcairn Island was discovered in 1767 by the British and settled in 1790 by the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions. Pitcairn was the first Pacific island to become a British colony (in 1838) and today remains the last vestige of that empire in the South Pacific. Outmigration, primarily to New Zealand, has thinned the population from a peak of 233 in 1937 to less than 50 today.
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!| Location: !| Geographic coordinates: !| Map references: !| Area: water: 0 sq km land: 47 sq km !| Area - comparative: !| Land boundaries: !| Coastline: !| Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 nm !| Climate: !| Terrain: !| Elevation extremes: highest point: Pawala Valley Ridge 347 m !| Natural resources: note: manganese, iron, copper, gold, silver, and zinc have been discovered offshore !| Land use: permanent crops: NA other: NA (2001) !| Irrigated land: !| Natural hazards: !| Environment - current issues: !| Geography - note:
 * Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about midway between Peru and New Zealand
 * 25 04 S, 130 06 W
 * Oceania
 * total: 47 sq km
 * about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC
 * 0 km
 * 51 km
 * territorial sea: 3 nm
 * tropical; hot and humid; modified by southeast trade winds; rainy season (November to March)
 * rugged volcanic formation; rocky coastline with cliffs
 * lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
 * miro trees (used for handicrafts), fish
 * arable land: NA
 * NA sq km
 * typhoons (especially November to March)
 * deforestation (only a small portion of the original forest remains because of burning and clearing for settlement)
 * Britain's most isolated dependency; only the larger island of Pitcairn is inhabited but it has no port or natural harbor; supplies must be transported by rowed longboat from larger ships stationed offshore
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!| Population: !| Age structure: 15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA !| Population growth rate: !| Birth rate: !| Death rate: !| Net migration rate: !| Sex ratio: !| Infant mortality rate: male: NA female: NA !| Life expectancy at birth: male: NA years female: NA years !| Total fertility rate: !| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: !| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: !| HIV/AIDS - deaths: !| Nationality: adjective: Pitcairn Islander !| Ethnic groups: !| Religions: !| Languages: !| Literacy:
 * 46 (July 2004 est.)
 * 0-14 years: NA
 * -0.013% (2004 est.)
 * NA births/1,000 population
 * NA deaths/1,000 population
 * NA migrant(s)/1,000 population
 * NA
 * total: NA
 * total population: NA years
 * NA children born/woman
 * NA
 * NA
 * NA
 * noun: Pitcairn Islander(s)
 * descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian wives
 * Seventh-Day Adventist 100%
 * English (official), Pitcairnese (mixture of an 18th century English dialect and a Tahitian dialect)
 * NA
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!| Country name: conventional short form: Pitcairn Islands !| Dependency status: !| Government type: !| Capital: !| Administrative divisions: !| Independence: !| National holiday: !| Constitution: !| Legal system: !| Suffrage: !| Executive branch: election results: Jay WARREN elected mayor and chairman of the Island Council elections: the monarchy is hereditary; high commissioner and commissioner appointed by the monarch; island mayor elected by popular vote for a three-year term; election last held December 2004 (next to be held December 2007) head of government: mayor and chairman of the Island Council Jay WARREN (since 15 December 2004) cabinet: NA !| Legislative branch: elections: last held 24 December 2003 (next to be held 24 December 2004) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - all independents !| Judicial branch: !| Political parties and leaders: !| Political pressure groups and leaders: !| International organization participation: !| Diplomatic representation in the US: !| Diplomatic representation from the US: !| Flag description:
 * conventional long form: Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno Islands
 * overseas territory of the UK
 * NA
 * Adamstown
 * none (overseas territory of the UK)
 * none (overseas territory of the UK)
 * Birthday of Queen ELIZABETH II, second Saturday in June (1926)
 * 1838; reformed 1904 with additional reforms in 1940; further refined by the Local Government Ordinance of 1964
 * local island by-laws
 * 18 years of age; universal with three years residency
 * chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by UK High Commissioner to New Zealand and Governor (nonresident) of the Pitcairn Islands Richard FELL (since NA December 2001); Commissioner (nonresident) Leslie JACQUES (since November 2003); serves as liaison between the governor and the Island Council
 * unicameral Island Council (10 seats - 5 elected by popular vote, 1 nominated by the 5 elected members, 2 appointed by the governor including 1 seat for the Island Secretary, the Island Mayor, and a commissioner liaising between the governor and council; elected members serve one-year terms)
 * Island Court (island magistrate, appointed by the governor, presides over the court)
 * none
 * none
 * UPU
 * none (overseas territory of the UK)
 * none (overseas territory of the UK)
 * blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Pitcairn Islander coat of arms centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms is yellow, green, and light blue with a shield featuring a yellow anchor
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!| Economy - overview: !| GDP: !| GDP - real growth rate: !| GDP - per capita: !| GDP - composition by sector: industry: NA services: NA !| Population below poverty line: !| Household income or consumption by percentage share: highest 10%: NA !| Inflation rate (consumer prices): !| Labor force: !| Labor force - by occupation: !| Unemployment rate: !| Budget: expenditures: $878,100, including capital expenditures of NA (FY94/95 est.) !| Agriculture - products: !| Industries: !| Industrial production growth rate: !| Electricity - production: !| Electricity - consumption: !| Exports: !| Exports - commodities: !| Exports - partners: !| Imports: !| Imports - commodities: !| Imports - partners: !| Debt - external: !| Economic aid - recipient: !| Currency: !| Currency code: !| Exchange rates: !| Fiscal year:
 * The inhabitants of this tiny isolated economy exist on fishing, subsistence farming, handicrafts, and postage stamps. The fertile soil of the valleys produces a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, including citrus, sugarcane, watermelons, bananas, yams, and beans. Bartering is an important part of the economy. The major sources of revenue are the sale of postage stamps to collectors and the sale of handicrafts to passing ships.
 * purchasing power parity - NA
 * NA
 * purchasing power parity - NA
 * agriculture: NA
 * NA
 * lowest 10%: NA
 * NA
 * 12 able-bodied men (1997)
 * no business community in the usual sense; some public works; subsistence farming and fishing
 * NA
 * revenues: $729,900
 * wide variety of fruits and vegetables, goats, chickens
 * postage stamps, handicrafts
 * NA
 * NA kWh; note - electric power is provided by a small diesel-powered generator
 * NA kWh
 * NA
 * fruits, vegetables, curios, stamps
 * NA (2000)
 * NA
 * fuel oil, machinery, building materials, flour, sugar, other foodstuffs
 * NA (2000)
 * NA
 * from UK'S DFID
 * New Zealand dollar (NZD)
 * NZD
 * New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 1.7229 (2003), 2.162 (2002), 2.3776 (2001), 2.1863 (2000), 1.8886 (1999)
 * 1 April - 31 March
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!| Telephones - main lines in use: !| Telephone system: domestic: party line service only international: country code - 672; satellite earth station (Inmarsat) !| Radio broadcast stations: !| Radios: !| Television broadcast stations: !| Televisions: !| Internet country code: !| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): !| Internet users:
 * 1 (there are 17 telephones on one party line); (2004)
 * general assessment: only party line telephone service is available for this small, closely related community
 * AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)
 * NA
 * 0 (1997)
 * NA
 * .pn
 * NA
 * NA
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!| Highways: paved: 0 km unpaved: 6.4 km !| Ports and harbors: !| Merchant marine: by type: cargo 1 (2003 est.) !| Airports:
 * total: 6.4 km
 * Adamstown (on Bounty Bay)
 * total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 3,313 GRT/5,651 DWT
 * none (2003 est.)
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!| Military - note:
 * defense is the responsibility of the UK
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