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Compare key data on British Indian Ocean Territory & Canada

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  • Economy > Economy > Overview: This entry briefly describes the type of economy, including the degree of market orientation, the level of economic development, the most important natural resources, and the unique areas of specialization. It also characterizes major economic events and policy changes in the most recent 12 months and may include a statement about one or two key future macroeconomic trends.
  • Environment > Current issues: This entry lists the most pressing and important environmental problems. The following terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entry:
  • Geography > Area > Comparative: The area of various small countries expressed in comparison to various areas within the United States of America.
  • Geography > Area > Land: Total land area in square kilometres
  • Geography > Area > Total: Total area in square kilometers
  • Geography > Climate: A brief description of typical weather regimes throughout the year.
  • Geography > Coastline: The total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea.
  • Geography > Geographic coordinates: This entry includes rounded latitude and longitude figures for the purpose of finding the approximate geographic center of an entity and is based on the Gazetteer of Conventional Names, Third Edition, August 1988, US Board on Geographic Names and on other sources.
  • Geography > Location: The country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.
  • Geography > Natural resources: A country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.
  • Geography > Terrain: A brief description of the topography
  • Government > Executive branch > Cabinet: Cabinet includes the official name for any body of high-ranking advisers roughly comparable to a U.S. Cabinet. Also notes the method for selection of members.
  • Government > Executive branch > Head of government: Head of government includes the name and title of the top administrative leader who is designated to manage the day-to-day activities of the government. For example, in the UK, the monarch is the chief of state, and the prime minister is the head of government. In the US, the president is both the chief of state and the head of government.
  • Government > Legal system: A brief description of the legal system's historical roots, role in government, and acceptance of International Court of Justice (ICJ) jurisdiction.
  • People > Population: Population, total refers to the total population.
  • Government > Executive branch > Chief of state: The name and title of any person or role roughly equivalent to a U.S. Chief of State. This means the titular leader of the country who represents the state at official and ceremonial functions but may not be involved with the day-to-day activities of the government
  • Geography > Area > Water: Total water area in square kilometers
  • Transport > Airports: Total number of airports. Runways must be useable, but may be unpaved. May not have facilities for refuelling, maintenance, or air traffic control.
  • Geography > Area > Comparative to US places: 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).
  • Geography > Elevation extremes > Highest point: Highest point above sea level
  • Military > Military branches: This entry lists the service branches subordinate to defense ministries or the equivalent (typically ground, naval, air, and marine forces).
  • Government > Country name > Conventional long form: This entry is derived from Government > Country name, which includes all forms of the country's name approved by the US Board on Geographic Names (Italy is used as an example): conventional long form (Italian Republic), conventional short form (Italy), local long form (Repubblica Italiana), local short form (Italia), former (Kingdom of Italy), as well as the abbreviation. Also see the Terminology note.
  • Geography > Land use > Arable land: The percentage of used land that is arable. Arable land is land cultivated for crops that are replanted after each harvest like wheat, maize, and rice
  • Media > Radio broadcast stations: The total number of AM, FM, and shortwave broadcast stations.
  • Government > Executive branch > Elections: Elections includes the nature of election process or accession to power, date of the last election, and date of the next election
  • Geography > Irrigated land: The number of square kilometers of land area that is artificially supplied with water.
  • Geography > Natural hazards: Potential natural disasters.
  • Government > Flag description: A written flag description produced from actual flags or the best information available at the time the entry was written. The flags of independent states are used by their dependencies unless there is an officially recognized local flag. Some disputed and other areas do not have flags.
  • Geography > Maritime claims > Territorial sea: territorial sea - the sovereignty of a coastal State extends beyond its land territory and internal waters to an adjacent belt of sea, described as the territorial sea in the LOS Convention (Part II); this sovereignty extends to the air space over the territorial sea as well as its underlying seabed and subsoil; every State has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles. A full and definitive definition can be found in the Law of the Sea (LOS) Convention.
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STAT British Indian Ocean Territory Canada HISTORY
Economy > Economy > Overview All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where a joint UK-US military facility is located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installation are performed by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. Some of the natural resources found in this territory include coconuts, fish, and sugarcane. Sugarcane is still a major export for this territory. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. The territory earns foreign exchange by selling fishing licenses and postage stamps. As a high-tech industrial society in the trillion-dollar class, Canada resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and affluent living standards. Since World War II, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. The 1989 US-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which includes Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the US its principal trading partner. Canada enjoys a substantial trade surplus with the US, which absorbs about three-fourths of Canadian exports each year. Canada is the US's largest foreign supplier of energy, including oil, gas, uranium, and electric power. Given its great natural resources, highly skilled labor force, and modern capital plant, Canada enjoyed solid economic growth from 1993 through 2007. Buffeted by the global economic crisis, the economy dropped into a sharp recession in the final months of 2008, and Ottawa posted its first fiscal deficit in 2009 after 12 years of surplus. Canada's major banks, however, emerged from the financial crisis of 2008-09 among the strongest in the world, owing to the financial sector's tradition of conservative lending practices and strong capitalization. Canada achieved marginal growth in 2010-12 and plans to balance the budget by 2015. In addition, the country's petroleum sector is rapidly becoming an even larger economic driver with Alberta's oil sands significantly boosting Canada's proven oil reserves, ranking the country third in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
Environment > Current issues NA air pollution and resulting acid rain severely affecting lakes and damaging forests; metal smelting, coal-burning utilities, and vehicle emissions impacting on agricultural and forest productivity; ocean waters becoming contaminated due to agricultural, industrial, mining, and forestry activities
Geography > Area > Comparative land area is about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC slightly larger than the US
Geography > Area > Land 60 sq km
Ranked 8th. 		9.09 million sq km
Ranked 5th. 151558 times more than British Indian Ocean Territory
Geography > Area > Total 54,400 sq km
Ranked 129th. 		9.98 million sq km
Ranked 3rd. 184 times more than British Indian Ocean Territory
Geography > Climate tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds varies from temperate in south to subarctic and arctic in north
Geography > Coastline 698 km
Ranked 96th. 		202,080 km
Ranked 1st. 290 times more than British Indian Ocean Territory
Geography > Geographic coordinates 6 00 S, 71 30 E 60 00 N, 95 00 W
Geography > Location archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about halfway between Africa and Indonesia Northern North America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean on the east, North Pacific Ocean on the west, and the Arctic Ocean on the north, north of the conterminous US
Geography > Natural resources coconuts, fish, sugarcane iron ore, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, rare earth elements, molybdenum, potash, diamonds, silver, fish, timber, wildlife, coal, petroleum, natural gas, hydropower
Geography > Terrain flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation) mostly plains with mountains in west and lowlands in southeast
Government > Executive branch > Cabinet NA Federal Ministry chosen by the prime minister usually from among the members of his own party sitting in Parliament
Government > Executive branch > Head of government Commissioner Colin ROBERTS (since July 2008); Administrator John MCMANUS (since April 2011) Prime Minister Stephen Joseph HARPER (since 6 February 2006)
Government > Legal system the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply common law system except in Quebec where civil law based on the French civil code prevails
People > Population 0.0
Ranked 245th. 		34.57 million
Ranked 37th.
Government > Executive branch > Chief of state Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Michaelle JEAN (since 27 September 2005)
Geography > Area > Water 54,340 sq km
Ranked 13th. 		891,163 sq km
Ranked 1st. 16 times more than British Indian Ocean Territory
Media > Broadcast media Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) broadcasts over 3 separate frequencies for US and UK military personnel stationed on the islands 2 m
Transport > Airports 1
Ranked 217th. 		1,467
Ranked 4th. 1467 times more than British Indian Ocean Territory
Geography > Area > Comparative to US places land area is about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC somewhat larger than the US
Geography > Elevation extremes > Highest point unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m Mount Logan 5,959 m
Military > Military branches no regular military forces Canadian Forces: Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force, Canada Command (homeland security)
Government > Country name > Conventional long form British Indian Ocean Territory none
Geography > Land use > Arable land 0.0
Ranked 225th. 		4.3%
Ranked 156th.
Media > Radio broadcast stations AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 AM 245, FM 582, shortwave 6
Government > Executive branch > Elections none; the monarchy is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister for a five-year term; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition in the House of Commons generally designated prime minister by the governor general
Geography > Irrigated land 0.0
Ranked 28th. 		8,550 sq km
Ranked 46th.
Geography > Natural hazards NA continuous permafrost in north is a serious obstacle to development; cyclonic storms form east of the Rocky Mountains, a result of the mixing of air masses from the Arctic, Pacific, and North American interior, and produce most of the country's rain and snow east of the mountains
Government > Flag description white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown (the symbols of the territory) centered on the outer half of the flag; the wavy stripes represent the Indian Ocean; although not officially described, the six blue stripes may stand for the six main atolls of the archipelago two vertical bands of red (hoist and fly side, half width) with white square between them; an 11-pointed red maple leaf is centered in the white square; the maple leaf has long been a Canadian symbol; the official colors of Canada are red and white
Geography > Maritime claims > Territorial sea 3 nautical mile
Ranked 188th. 		12 nautical mile
Ranked 178th. 4 times more than British Indian Ocean Territory

SOURCES: CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011; All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008; World Bank: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects, (2) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), (3) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (4) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (5) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme, and (6) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database.; CIA World Factbooks 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

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