Ashmore and Cartier Islands
(territory of Australia)
_Ashmore_and_Cartier_Islands.jpg)
See regional map X
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
_Atlantic_Ocean.jpg)
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
