This entry provides an area comparison based on total area equivalents. Most entities are compared with the entire US or one of the 50 states based on area measurements (1990 revised) provided by the US Bureau of the Census. The smaller entities are compared with Washington, DC (178 sq km, 69 sq mi) or The Mall in Washington, DC (0.59 sq km, 0.23 sq mi, 146 acres).
Largest cities including most recent population (estimates included). Populations are figures only within the city limits, unless otherwise specified. All populations are from 2001 t0 2005 unless otherwise specified.
Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean
Oceania, two archipelagic island chains of 29 atolls, each made up of many small islets, and five single islands in the North Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and Australia
DEFINITION:
The country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.
The name of the CIA World Factbook reference map on which a country may be found. The entry on Geographic coordinates may be helpful in finding some smaller countries.
Contiguous zone - according to the LOS Convention (Article 33), this is a zone contiguous to a coastal State's territorial sea, over which it may exercise the control necessary to: prevent infringement of its customs, fiscal, immigration, or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea; punish infringement of the above laws and regulations committed within its territory or territorial sea; the contiguous zone may not extend beyond 24 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured (e.g. the US has claimed a 12-mile contiguous zone in addition to its 12-mile territorial sea). A full and definitive definition can be found in the Law of the Sea (LOS) Convention.
bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds, natural gas, petroleum; note: Australia is the world's largest net exporter of coal accounting for 29% of global coal exports
coconut products, marine products, deep seabed minerals
DEFINITION:
A country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.
Population density is midyear population divided by land area in square kilometers. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.
Rural population density is the rural population divided by the arable land area. Rural population is calculated as the difference between the total population and the urban population. Arable land includes land defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow. Land abandoned as a result of shifting cultivation is excluded.
Capital cities including most recent population (estimates included). Populations are figures only within the city limits, unless otherwise specified. All populations are from 2001 t0 2005 unless otherwise specified.