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Atlantic Ocean (continued) August and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands; icebergs from Antarctica occur in the extreme southern Atlantic

Note: ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme north Atlantic from October to May and extreme south Atlantic from May to October; persistent fog can be a hazard to shipping from May to September; major choke points include the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar, access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic straits include the Dover Strait, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage, The Sound (Øresund), and Windward Passage; north Atlantic shipping lanes subject to icebergs from February to August; the Equator divides the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean

Economy

Overview: Economic activity is limited to exploitation of natural resources, especially fish, dredging aragonite sands (The Bahamas), and crude oil and natural gas production (Caribbean Sea and North Sea).

Communications

Ports: Alexandria (Egypt), Algiers (Algeria), Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Casablanca (Morocco), Colon (Panama), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dakar (Senegal), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (FRG), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Leningrad (USSR), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Montevideo (Uruguay), Montreal (Canada), Naples (Italy), New Orleans (US), New York (US), Oran (Algeria), Oslo (Norway), Piraeus (Greece), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden)

Telecommunications: numerous submarine cables with most between continental Europe and the UK, North America and the UK, and in the Mediterranean; numerous direct links across Atlantic via INTELSAT satellite network

Note: Kiel Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway are two important waterways  Australia



Geography

Total area: 7,686,850 km²; land area: 7,617,930 km²; includes Macquarie Island

Comparative area: slightly smaller than the US

Land boundaries: none

Coastline: 25,760 km

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

Disputes: territorial claim in Antarctica (Australian Antarctic Territory)

Climate: generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east; tropical in north

Terrain: mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast

Natural resources: bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas, crude oil

Land use: 6% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 58% meadows and pastures; 14% forest and woodland; 22% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Environment: subject to severe droughts and floods; cyclones along coast; limited freshwater availability; irrigated soil degradation; regular, tropical, invigorating, sea breeze known as the doctor occurs along west coast in summer; desertification

Note: world's smallest continent but sixth-largest country

People

Population: 16,923,478 (July 1990), growth rate 1.3% (1990)

Birth rate: 15 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 8 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 6 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 8 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 80 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—Australian(s); adjective—Australian

Ethnic divisions: 95% Caucasian, 4% Asian, 1% Aboriginal and other

Religion: 26.1% Anglican, 26.0% Roman Catholic, 24.3% other Christian

Language: English, native languages Literacy: 98.5%

Labor force: 7,700,000; 33.8% finance and services, 22.3% public and community services, 20.1% wholesale and retail trade, 16.2% manufacturing and industry, 6.1% agriculture (1987)

Organized labor: 62% of labor force (1986)

Government

Long-form name: Commonwealth of Australia

Type: federal parliamentary state

Capital: Canberra

Administrative divisions: 6 states and 2 territories*; Australian Capital Territory*, New South Wales, Northern Territory*, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

Dependent areas: Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Norfolk Island

Independence: 1 January 1901 (federation of UK colonies)

Constitution: 9 July 1900, effective 1 January 1901

Legal system: based on English common law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Australia Day (last Monday in January), 29 January 1990

Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime minister, deputy prime minister, Cabinet

Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives

Judicial branch: High Court

Leaders: Chief of State—Queen ELIZABETH II (since February 1952), represented by Governor General William George HAYDEN (since NA February 1989);

Head of Government—Prime Minister Robert James Lee HAWKE (since 11 March 1983); Deputy Prime Minister Paul KEATING (since 3 April 1990) 