FAX: (9) 461-6489

Flag description: blue, with two narrow, horizontal, yellow stripes across the lower portion and a red, four-pointed star outlined in white in the upper hoist-side corner

Aruba Economy

Economy - overview: Tourism is the mainstay of the Aruban economy, although offshore banking and oil refining and storage are also important. The rapid growth of the tourism sector over the last decade has resulted in a substantial expansion of other activities. Construction has boomed, with hotel capacity five times the 1985 level. In addition, the reopening of the country's oil refinery in 1993, a major source of employment and foreign exchange earnings, has further spurred growth. Aruba's small labor force and less than 1% unemployment rate have led to a large number of unfilled job vacancies, despite sharp rises in wage rates in recent years.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $2 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 3.5% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $28,000 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: NA%

industry: NA%

services: NA%

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%

highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.2% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 41,501 (1997 est.)

Labor force - by occupation: most employment is in wholesale and retail trade and repair, followed by hotels and restaurants; oil refining

Unemployment rate: 0.6% (1999 est.)

Budget: revenues: $NA

expenditures: $541 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

Industries: tourism, transshipment facilities, oil refining

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 450 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100%

hydro: 0%

nuclear: 0%

other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 418.5 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: aloes; livestock; fish

Exports: $2.2 billion (including oil reexports) (2000 est.)

Exports - commodities: live animals and animal products, art and collectibles, machinery and electrical equipment, transport equipment

Exports - partners: US 42%, Colombia 20%, Netherlands 12% (1999)

Imports: $2.5 billion (2000 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and electrical equipment, crude oil for refining and reexport, chemicals; foodstuffs

Imports - partners: US 63%, Netherlands 11%, Netherlands Antilles 3%, Japan (1999)

Debt - external: $285 million (1996)

Economic aid - recipient: $26 million (1995); note - the Netherlands provided a $127 million aid package to Aruba and Suriname in 1996

Currency: Aruban guilder/florin (AWG)

Currency code: AWG

Exchange rates: Aruban guilders/florins per US dollar - 1.7900 (fixed rate since 1986)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Aruba Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 33,000 (1997)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 3,402 (1997)

Telephone system: general assessment: NA

domestic: more than adequate

international: 1 submarine cable to Sint Maarten (Netherlands Antilles); extensive interisland microwave radio relay links

Radio broadcast stations: AM 4, FM 6, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios: 50,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 1 (1997)

Televisions: 20,000 (1997)

Internet country code: .aw

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): NA

Internet users: 4,000 (2000)

Aruba Transportation

Railways: 0 km

Highways: total: 800 km

paved: 513 km

unpaved: 287 km

note: most coastal roads are paved, while unpaved roads serve large tracts of the interior (1995)

Waterways: none

Ports and harbors: Barcadera, Oranjestad, Sint Nicolaas

Merchant marine: total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 3,120
GRT/3,635 DWT

ships by type: cargo 1 (2000 est.)

Airports: 1 (2000 est.)

Airports - with paved runways: total: 1

2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.)

Aruba Military

Military branches: Royal Dutch Navy and Marines, Coast Guard

Military - note: defense is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands

Aruba Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: none

Illicit drugs: drug-money-laundering center and transit point for narcotics bound for the US and Europe

@Ashmore and Cartier Islands

Ashmore and Cartier Islands Introduction

Background: These uninhabited islands came under Australian authority in 1931; formal administration began two years later. Ashmore Reef supports a rich and diverse avian and marine habitat; in 1983 it became a National Nature Reserve. Recent geological explorations have indicated promising petroleum formations.

Ashmore and Cartier Islands Geography

Location: Southeastern Asia, islands in the Indian Ocean, northwest of Australia

Geographic coordinates: 12 14 S, 123 05 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area: total: 5 sq km

land: 5 sq km

water: 0 sq km

note: includes Ashmore Reef (West, Middle, and East Islets) and Cartier Island

Area - comparative: about eight times the size of The Mall in
Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 74.1 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 12 NM

continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM

territorial sea: 3 NM

Climate: tropical

Terrain: low with sand and coral

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m

highest point: unnamed location 3 m

Natural resources: fish

Land use: arable land: 0%

permanent crops: 0%

permanent pastures: 0%

forests and woodland: 0%

other: 100% (all grass and sand)

Irrigated land: 0 sq km (1993)

Natural hazards: surrounded by shoals and reefs that can pose maritime hazards

Environment - current issues: NA

Geography - note: Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve established in August 1983

Ashmore and Cartier Islands People

Population: no indigenous inhabitants

note: there are only seasonal caretakers (July 2001 est.)

Ashmore and Cartier Islands Government

Country name: conventional long form: Territory of Ashmore and
Cartier Islands

conventional short form: Ashmore and Cartier Islands

Dependency status: territory of Australia; administered from
Canberra by the Australian Department of the Environment, Sport, and
Territories

Legal system: the laws of the Northern Territory of Australia, where applicable, apply

Diplomatic representation in the US: none (territory of Australia)

Diplomatic representation from the US: none (territory of Australia)

Flag description: the flag of Australia is used

Ashmore and Cartier Islands Economy

Economy - overview: no economic activity

Ashmore and Cartier Islands Transportation

Waterways: none

Ports and harbors: none; offshore anchorage only

Ashmore and Cartier Islands Military

Military - note: defense is the responsibility of Australia; periodic visits by the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force

Ashmore and Cartier Islands Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: none

@Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean Introduction Top of Page

Background: The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, but larger than the Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). The Kiel Canal (Germany), Oresund (Denmark-Sweden), Bosporus (Turkey), Strait of Gibraltar (Morocco-Spain), and the St. Lawrence Seaway (Canada-US) are important strategic access waterways. The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth world ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Atlantic Ocean south of 60 degrees south.

Atlantic Ocean Geography

Location: body of water between Africa, Europe, the Southern Ocean, and the Western Hemisphere

Geographic coordinates: 0 00 N, 25 00 W

Map references: World

Area: total: 76.762 million sq km

note: includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait,
Denmark Strait, part of the Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico,
Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, almost all of the
Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies

Area - comparative: slightly less than 6.5 times the size of the US

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 northern Atlantic, counterclockwise warm-water gyre in the southern Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico
Trench -8,605 m

highest point: sea level 0 m

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

Natural hazards: icebergs common in Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from February to August and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme northern Atlantic from October to May; persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to September; hurricanes (May to December)

Environment - current issues: endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales; drift net fishing is hastening the decline of fish stocks and contributing to international disputes; 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

Geography - note: major chokepoints include the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar, access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic straits include the Strait of Dover, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage, The Sound (Oresund), and Windward Passage; the Equator divides the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean Economy

Economy - overview: The Atlantic Ocean provides some of the world's most heavily trafficked sea routes, between and within the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Other economic activity includes the exploitation of natural resources, e.g., fishing, the dredging of aragonite sands (The Bahamas), and production of crude oil and natural gas (Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and North Sea).

Atlantic Ocean Transportation

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

Transportation - note: Kiel Canal and Saint Lawrence Seaway are two important waterways; significant domestic commercial and recreational use of Intracoastal Waterway on central and south Atlantic seaboard and Gulf of Mexico coast of US

Atlantic Ocean Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: some maritime disputes (see littoral states)

@Australia

Australia Introduction

Background: Australia became a commonwealth of the British Empire in 1901. It was able to take advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop its agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort in World Wars I and II. Long-term concerns include pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef. A referendum to change Australia's status, from a commonwealth headed by the British monarch to an independent republic, was defeated in 1999.

Australia Geography

Location: Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South
Pacific Ocean

Geographic coordinates: 27 00 S, 133 00 E

Map references: Oceania

Area: total: 7,686,850 sq km

land: 7,617,930 sq km

water: 68,920 sq km

note: includes Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than the contiguous 48 states of the US

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 25,760 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 NM

continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin

exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

territorial sea: 12 NM

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

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

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Lake Eyre -15 m

highest point: Mount Kosciuszko 2,229 m

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

Land use: arable land: 6%

permanent crops: 0%

permanent pastures: 54%

forests and woodland: 19%

other: 21% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 21,070 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: cyclones along the coast; severe droughts

Environment - current issues: soil erosion from overgrazing, industrial development, urbanization, and poor farming practices; soil salinity rising due to the use of poor quality water; desertification; clearing for agricultural purposes threatens the natural habitat of many unique animal and plant species; the Great Barrier Reef off the northeast coast, the largest coral reef in the world, is threatened by increased shipping and its popularity as a tourist site; limited natural fresh water resources

Environment - international agreements: party to:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources,
Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: world's smallest continent but sixth-largest country; population concentrated along the eastern and southeastern coasts; regular, tropical, invigorating, sea breeze known as "the Doctor" occurs along the west coast in the summer

Australia People

Population: 19,357,594 (July 2001 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 20.64% (male 2,045,892; female 1,948,949)

15-64 years: 66.86% (male 6,538,096; female 6,405,014)

65 years and over: 12.5% (male 1,059,107; female 1,360,536) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.99% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 12.86 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 7.18 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: 4.19 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

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

65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female

total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 4.97 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 79.87 years

male: 77.02 years

female: 82.87 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.77 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.15% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 14,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 100 (1999 est.)

Nationality: noun: Australian(s)

adjective: Australian

Ethnic groups: Caucasian 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1%

Religions: Anglican 26.1%, Roman Catholic 26%, other Christian 24.3%, non-Christian 11%

Languages: English, native languages

Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 100%

male: 100%

female: 100% (1980 est.)

Australia Government

Country name: conventional long form: Commonwealth of Australia

conventional short form: Australia

Government type: democratic, federal-state system recognizing the
British monarch as sovereign

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)

National holiday: Australia Day, 26 January (1788)

Constitution: 9 July 1900, effective 1 January 1901

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

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6
February 1952), represented by Governor General Rev. Peter
HOLLINGSWORTH (since 29 June 2001)

head of government: Prime Minister John Winston HOWARD (since 11 March 1996); Deputy Prime Minister John ANDERSON (since NA)

cabinet: Cabinet selected from among the members of Federal Parliament by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister

elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general for a three-year term

note: government coalition - Liberal Party and National Party

Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Parliament consists of the Senate (76 seats - 12 from each of the six states and two from each of the two territories; one-half of the members elected every three years by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (148 seats; members elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve three-year terms; no state can have fewer than five representatives)

elections: Senate - last held 3 October 1998 (next to be held by October 2001); House of Representatives - last held 3 October 1998 (next to be held by October 2001)

election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Liberal Party-National Party coalition 35, Australian Labor Party 29, Australian Democratic Party 9, Green Party 1, One Nation Party 1, independent 1; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Liberal Party-National Party coalition 80, Australian Labor Party 67, independent 1

Judicial branch: High Court (the chief justice and six other justices are appointed by the governor general)

Political parties and leaders: Australian Democratic Party [Meg
LEES]; Australian Labor Party [Kim BEAZLEY]; Green Party [Bob
BROWN]; Liberal Party [John Winston HOWARD]; National Party [John
ANDERSON]; One Nation Party [Pauline HANSON]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Australian Democratic Labor
Party (anti-Communist Labor Party splinter group); Peace and Nuclear
Disarmament Action (Nuclear Disarmament Party splinter group)

International organization participation: ANZUS, APEC, ARF (dialogue
partner), AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, C,
CCC, CP, EBRD, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA,
IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OECD, OPCW,
PCA, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNMEE, UNTAET,
UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Michael THAWLEY

chancery: 1601 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036

telephone: (202) 797-3000