Page:The World Factbook (1990).djvu/33

 Ashmore and Cartier Islands (territory of Australia)



Geography

Total area: 5 km²; land area: 5 km²; includes Ashmore Reef (West, Middle, and East Islets) and Cartier Island

Comparative area: about 8.5 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC

Land boundaries: none

Coastline: 74.1 km

Maritime claims:
 * Contiguous zone: 12 nm
 * Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploration
 * Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
 * Territorial sea: 3 nm

Climate: tropical

Terrain: low with sand and coral

Natural resources: fish

Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other—grass and sand

Environment: surrounded by shoals and reefs; Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve established in August 1983

Note: located in extreme eastern Indian Ocean between Australia and Indonesia 320 km off the northwest coast of Australia

People

Population: no permanent inhabitants; seasonal caretakers

Government

Long-form name: Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands

Type: territory of Australia administered by the Australian Ministry for Territories and Local Government

Administrative divisions: none (territory of Australia)

Legal system: relevant laws of the Northern Territory of Australia

Note: administered by the Australian Minister for Arts, Sports, the Environment, Tourism, and Territories Graham Richardson

Diplomatic representation: none (territory of Australia)

Economy

Overview: no economic activity

Communications

Ports: none; offshore anchorage only

Defense Forces

Note: defense is the responsibility of Australia; periodic visits by the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force  Atlantic Ocean



Geography

Total area: 82,217,000 km²; includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies

Comparative area: slightly less than nine times the size of the US; second-largest of the world's four oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, but larger than Indian Ocean or Arctic Ocean)

Coastline: 111,866 km

Climate: tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December, but are most frequent from August to November

Terrain: surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and Baltic Sea from October to June; clockwise warm water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the north Atlantic, counterclockwise warm water gyre in the south Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin; maximum depth is 8,605 meters in the Puerto Rico Trench

Natural resources: oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones

Environment: endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales; municipal sludge pollution off eastern US, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea; icebergs common in Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic from February to 17