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Economy
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Economy
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Overview
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Economic activity is limited to servicing meteorological and geophysical research stations, military bases, and French and other fishing fleets. The fish catches landed on Iles Kerguelen by foreign ships are exported to France and Reunion.
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The UK, a leading trading power and financial center, is the second largest economy in Europe after Germany. Over the past two decades, the government has greatly reduced public ownership and contained the growth of social welfare programs. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with less than 2% of the labor force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil resources, but its oil and natural gas reserves are declining and the UK became a net importer of energy in 2005. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance. After emerging from recession in 1992, Britain's economy enjoyed the longest period of expansion on record during which time growth outpaced most of Western Europe. In 2008, however, the global financial crisis hit the economy particularly hard, due to the importance of its financial sector. Sharply declining home prices, high consumer debt, and the global economic slowdown compounded Britain's economic problems, pushing the economy into recession in the latter half of 2008 and prompting the then BROWN (Labour) government to implement a number of measures to stimulate the economy and stabilize the financial markets; these include nationalizing parts of the banking system, temporarily cutting taxes, suspending public sector borrowing rules, and moving forward public spending on capital projects. Facing burgeoning public deficits and debt levels, in 2010 the CAMERON-led coalition government (between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats) initiated a five-year austerity program, which aimed to lower London's budget deficit from over 10% of GDP in 2010 to nearly 1% by 2015. In November 2011, Chancellor of the Exchequer George OSBORNE announced additional austerity measures through 2017 because of slower-than-expected economic growth and the impact of the euro-zone debt crisis. The CAMERON government raised the value added tax from 17.5% to 20% in 2011. It has pledged to reduce the corporation tax rate to 21% by 2014. The Bank of England (BoE) implemented an asset purchase program of up to £375 billion (approximately $605 billion) as of December 2012. During times of economic crisis, the BoE coordinates interest rate moves with the European Central Bank, but Britain remains outside the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). In 2012, weak consumer spending and subdued business investment weighed on the economy. GDP fell 0.1%, and the budget deficit remained stubbornly high at 7.7% of GDP. Public debt continued to increase.
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Environment
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Current issues
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introduction of foreign species on Iles Crozet has caused severe damage to the original ecosystem; overfishing of Patagonian toothfish around Iles Crozet and Iles Kerguelen
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continues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (has met Kyoto Protocol target of a 12.5% reduction from 1990 levels and intends to meet the legally binding target and move toward a domestic goal of a 20% cut in emissions by 2010); by 2005 the government reduced the amount of industrial and commercial waste disposed of in landfill sites to 85% of 1998 levels and recycled or composted at least 25% of household waste, increasing to 33% by 2015
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Geography
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Area
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Comparative
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<strong>Ile Amsterdam (Ile Amsterdam et Ile Saint-Paul): </strong>less than one-half the size of Washington, DC<br /><strong>Ile Saint-Paul (Ile Amsterdam et Ile Saint-Paul):</strong> more than 10 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC<br /><strong>Iles Crozet:</strong> about twice the size of Washington, DC<br /><strong>Iles Kerguelen:</strong> slightly larger than Delaware<br /><strong>Bassas da India (Iles Eparses):</strong> land area about one-third the size of The Mall in Washington, DC<br /><strong>Europa Island (Iles Eparses):</strong> about one-sixth the size of Washington, DC<br /><strong>Glorioso Islands (Iles Eparses):</strong> about eight times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC<br /><strong>Juan de Nova Island (Iles Eparses):</strong> about seven times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC<br /><strong>Tromelin Island (Iles Eparses):</strong> about 1.7 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
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slightly smaller than Oregon
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Geography
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Climate
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<strong>Ile Amsterdam et Ile Saint-Paul: </strong>oceanic with persistent westerly winds and high humidity<br /><strong>Iles Crozet:</strong> windy, cold, wet, and cloudy<br /><strong>Iles Kerguelen:</strong> oceanic, cold, overcast, windy<br /><strong>Iles Eparses:</strong> tropical
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temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast
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Geography
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Coastline
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2,948.4 km
Ranked 41st.
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12,429 km
Ranked 14th.
4 times more
than
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
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Geography
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Geographic coordinates
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<strong>Ile Amsterdam (Ile Amsterdam et Ile Saint-Paul): </strong>37 50 S, 77 32 E<br /><strong>Ile Saint-Paul (Ile Amsterdam et Ile Saint-Paul):</strong> 38 72 S, 77 53 E<br /><strong>Iles Crozet:</strong> 46 25 S, 51 00 E<br /><strong>Iles Kerguelen:</strong> 49 15 S, 69 35 E<br /><strong>Bassas da India (Iles Eparses):</strong> 21 30 S, 39 50 E<br /><strong>Europa Island (Iles Eparses):</strong> 22 20 S, 40 22 E<br /><strong>Glorioso Islands (Iles Eparses):</strong> 11 30 S, 47 20 E<br /><strong>Juan de Nova Island (Iles Eparses):</strong> 17 03 S, 42 45 E<br /><strong>Tromelin Island (Iles Eparses):</strong> 15 52 S, 54 25 E
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54 00 N, 2 00 W
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Geography
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Location
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southeast and east of Africa, islands in the southern Indian Ocean, some near Madagascar and others about equidistant between Africa, Antarctica, and Australia
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Western Europe, islands - including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland - between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea; northwest of France
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Geography
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Natural resources
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fish, crayfish
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coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, potash, silica sand, slate, arable land
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Geography
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Terrain
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<strong>Ile Amsterdam (Ile Amsterdam et Ile Saint-Paul): </strong>a volcanic island with steep coastal cliffs; the center floor of the volcano is a large plateau<br /><strong>Ile Saint-Paul (Ile Amsterdam et Ile Saint-Paul):</strong> triangular in shape, the island is the top of a volcano, rocky with steep cliffs on the eastern side; has active thermal springs<br /><strong>Iles Crozet:</strong> a large archipelago formed from the Crozet Plateau is divided into two groups of islands<br /><strong>Iles Kerguelen:</strong> the interior of the large island of Ile Kerguelen is composed of rugged terrain of high mountains, hills, valleys, and plains with a number of peninsulas stretching off its coasts<br /><strong>Bassas da India (Iles Eparses):</strong> atoll, awash at high tide; shallow (15 m) lagoon<br /><strong>Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, Juan de Nova Island:</strong> low, flat, and sandy<br /><strong>Tromelin Island (Iles Eparses):</strong> low, flat, sandy; likely volcanic seamount
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mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast
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Government
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Administrative divisions
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none (overseas territory of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are five administrative districts named Iles Crozet, Iles Eparses, Iles Kerguelen, Ile Saint-Paul et Ile Amsterdam; the fifth district is the "Adelie Land" claim in Antarctica that is not recognized by the US
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<strong>England: </strong>27 two-tier counties, 32 London boroughs and 1 City of London or Greater London, 36 metropolitan districts, 56 unitary authorities (including 4 single-tier counties*)<br /><strong>two-tier counties:</strong> Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex, Worcestershire<br /><strong>London boroughs and City of London or Greater London:</strong> Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, City of London, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster<br /><strong>metropolitan districts:</strong> Barnsley, Birmingham, Bolton, Bradford, Bury, Calderdale, Coventry, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Kirklees, Knowlsey, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, Solihull, South Tyneside, St. Helens, Stockport, Sunderland, Tameside, Trafford, Wakefield, Walsall, Wigan, Wirral, Wolverhampton
<br /><strong>unitary authorities:</strong> Bath and North East Somerset, Blackburn with Darwen, Bedford, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Brighton and Hove, City of Bristol, Central Bedfordshire, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Cornwall, Darlington, Derby, Durham County*, East Riding of Yorkshire, Halton, Hartlepool, Herefordshire*, Isle of Wight*, Isles of Scilly, City of Kingston upon Hull, Leicester, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North Somerset, Northumberland*, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Poole, Portsmouth, Reading, Redcar and Cleveland, Rutland, Shropshire, Slough, South Gloucestershire, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Swindon, Telford and Wrekin, Thurrock, Torbay, Warrington, West Berkshire, Wiltshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, York<br /><strong>Northern Ireland:</strong> 26 district council areas<br /><strong>district council areas:</strong> Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Derry, Down, Dungannon and South Tyrone, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane<br /><strong>Scotland:</strong> 32 council areas<br /><strong>council areas:</strong> Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, Eilean Siar (Western Isles), Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, The Scottish Borders, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian<br /><strong>Wales:</strong> 22 unitary authorities<br /><strong>unitary authorities:</strong> Blaenau Gwent; Bridgend; Caerphilly; Cardiff; Carmarthenshire; Ceredigion; Conwy; Denbighshire; Flintshire; Gwynedd; Isle of Anglesey; Merthyr Tydfil; Monmouthshire; Neath Port Talbot; Newport; Pembrokeshire; Powys; Rhondda Cynon Taff; Swansea; The Vale of Glamorgan; Torfaen; Wrexham
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Government
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Executive branch
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Chief of state
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President Francois HOLLANDE (since 15 May 2012), represented by Senior Administrator Pascal BOLOT (since 29 February 2012)
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Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948)
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Government
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International organization participation
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UPU
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ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, C, CBSS (observer), CD, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EITI (implementing country), ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-20, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMISS, UNRWA, UNSC (permanent), UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
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Government
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Legal system
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the laws of France, where applicable, apply
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common law system; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998
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People
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Population
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0.0
Ranked 236th.
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63.18 million
Ranked 1st.
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Transport
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Airports
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4
Ranked 184th.
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460
Ranked 18th.
115 times more
than
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
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Geography
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Elevation extremes
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Highest point
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Mont de la Dives on Ile Amsterdam (Ile Amsterdam et Ile Saint-Paul) 867 m; unnamed location on Ile Saint-Paul (Ile Amsterdam et Ile Saint-Paul) 272 m; Pic Marion-Dufresne in Iles Crozet 1,090 m; Mont Ross in Iles Kerguelen 1,850 m; unnamed location on Bassas de India (Iles Eparses) 2.4 m; unnamed location on Europa Island (Iles Eparses) 24 m; unnamed location on Glorioso Islands (Iles Eparses) 12 m; unnamed location on Juan de Nova Island (Iles Eparses) 10 m; unnamed location on Tromelin Island (Iles Eparses) 7 m
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Ben Nevis 1,343 m
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Government
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Country name
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Conventional long form
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Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands
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United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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Government
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National symbol(s)
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sea lion
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lion (Britain in general); lion (England); lion, unicorn (Scotland); dragon (Wales); harp (Northern Ireland)
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Geography
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Irrigated land
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0.0
Ranked 15th.
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1,950 sq km
Ranked 75th.
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Geography
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Natural hazards
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Ile Amsterdam and Ile Saint-Paul are inactive volcanoes; Iles Eparses subject to periodic cyclones; Bassas da India is a maritime hazard since it is under water for a period of three hours prior to and following the high tide and surrounded by reefs
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winter windstorms; floods
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Government
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Flag description
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the flag of France is used
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blue field with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); properly known as the Union Flag, but commonly called the Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including other Commonwealth countries and their constituent states or provinces, and British overseas territories
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Geography
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Maritime claims
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Territorial sea
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12 nautical mile
Ranked 11th.
The same as
United Kingdom
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12 nautical mile
Ranked 108th.
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