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Geography Stats: compare key data on Pitcairn Islands & United States

Definitions

  • Area > Comparative: The area of various small countries expressed in comparison to various areas within the United States of America.
  • 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).
  • Area > Land: Total land area in square kilometres
  • Area > Land > Per capita: Total land area in square kilometres Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
  • Area > Total: Total area in square kilometers
  • Area > Water: Total water area in square kilometers
  • Climate: A brief description of typical weather regimes throughout the year.
  • Coastline: The total length of the boundary between the land area (including islands) and the sea.
  • Elevation extremes > Highest point: Highest point above sea level
  • 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.
  • 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
  • Location: The country's regional location, neighboring countries, and adjacent bodies of water.
  • Natural hazards: Potential natural disasters.
  • Natural resources: A country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance.
  • Terrain: A brief description of the topography
  • 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.
  • Elevation extremes > Lowest point: This entry is derived from Geography > Elevation extremes, which includes both the highest point and the lowest point.
  • Population density: People per square kilometre, in 1999. At this time the world average was 14.42.
  • Maritime claims > Exclusive economic zone: Exclusive economic zone (EEZ) - the LOS Convention (Part V) defines the EEZ as a zone beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea in which a coastal State has: sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natura
  • Map references: 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.
  • Environment > Current issues: This entry lists the most pressing and important environmental problems. The following terms and abbreviations are used throughout the entry:
    Acidification - the lowering of soil and water pH due to acid precipitation and deposition usually through precipitation; this process disrupts ecosystem nutrient flows and may kill freshwater fish and plants dependent on more neutral or alkaline conditions (see acid rain).
    Acid rain - characterized as containing harmful levels of sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxide; acid rain is damaging and potentially deadly to the earth's fragile ecosystems; acidity is measured using the pH scale where 7 is neutral, values greater than 7 are considered alkaline, and values below 5.6 are considered acid precipitation; note - a pH of 2.4 (the acidity of vinegar) has been measured in rainfall in New England.
    Aerosol - a collection of airborne particles dispersed in a gas, smoke, or fog.
    Afforestation - converting a bare or agricultural space by planting trees and plants; reforestation involves replanting trees on areas that have been cut or destroyed by fire.
    Asbestos - a naturally occurring soft fibrous mineral commonly used in fireproofing materials and considered to be highly carcinogenic in particulate form.
    Biodiversity - also biological diversity; the relative number of species, diverse in form and function, at the genetic, organism, community, and ecosystem level; loss of biodiversity reduces an ecosystem's ability to recover from natural or man-induced disruption.
    Bio-indicators - a plant or animal species whose presence, abundance, and health reveal the general condition of its habitat.
    Biomass - the total weight or volume of living matter in a given area or volume.
    Carbon cycle - the term used to describe the exchange of carbon (in various forms, e.g., as carbon dioxide) between the atmosphere, ocean, terrestrial biosphere, and geological deposits.
    Catchments - assemblages used to capture and retain rainwater and runoff; an important water management technique in areas with limited freshwater resources, such as Gibraltar.
    DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane) - a colorless, odorless insecticide that has toxic effects on most animals; the use of DDT was banned in the US in 1972.
    Defoliants - chemicals which cause plants to lose their leaves artificially; often used in agricultural practices for weed control, and may have detrimental impacts on human and ecosystem health.
    Deforestation - ...
    Full definition
  • Land use > Other: The percentage share of used land that is not arable or under permanent crops. This includes permanent meadows and pastures, forests and woodlands, built-on areas, roads, barren land, etc.
  • Land use > Permanent crops: The percentage share of used land on which permanent crops are grown. This is land cultivated for crops that are not replanted after each harvest like citrus, coffee, and rubber. It includes land under flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees, and vines, but excludes land under trees grown for wood or timber.
  • Note: This entry includes miscellaneous geographic information of significance not included elsewhere.
  • Marine Coastline: Length of each country's coastline in kilometers.
  • Area > Total > Per capita: Total area in square kilometers Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
STAT Pitcairn Islands United States HISTORY
Area > Comparative about three tenths the size of Washington, DC about half the size of Russia; about three-tenths the size of Africa; about half the size of South America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly larger than China; more than twice the size of the European Union
Area > Comparative to US places about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC about half the size of Russia; about three-tenths the size of Africa; about half the size of South America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly larger than China; more than twice the size of the European Union
Area > Land 47 sq km
Ranked 4th.
9.16 million sq km
Ranked 4th. 194935 times more than Pitcairn Islands

Area > Land > Per capita 979.17 sq km per 1,000 people
Ranked 3rd. 32 times more than United States
30.16 sq km per 1,000 people
Ranked 60th.

Area > Total 47 sq km
Ranked 232nd.
9.83 million sq km
Ranked 4th. 209078 times more than Pitcairn Islands

Area > Water 0.0
Ranked 213th.
664,709 sq km
Ranked 3rd.

Climate tropical; hot and humid; modified by southeast trade winds; rainy season (November to March) mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
Coastline 51 km
Ranked 179th.
19,924 km
Ranked 9th. 391 times more than Pitcairn Islands

Elevation extremes > Highest point Big Ridge 347 m Mount McKinley (Denali) 6,194 m (highest point in North America)
Geographic coordinates 25 04 S, 130 06 W 38 00 N, 97 00 W
Land use > Arable land 0.0
Ranked 234th.
16.29%
Ranked 65th.

Location Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about midway between Peru and New Zealand North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Natural hazards typhoons (especially November to March) tsunamis; volcanoes; earthquake activity around Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts; tornadoes in the Midwest and Southeast; mud slides in California; forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska, a major impediment to development
Natural resources miro trees (used for handicrafts), fish coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, rare earth elements, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber
Terrain rugged volcanic formation; rocky coastline with cliffs vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii
Maritime claims > Territorial sea 3 nautical mile
Ranked 195th.
12 nautical mile
Ranked 61st. 4 times more than Pitcairn Islands

Elevation extremes > Lowest point Pacific Ocean 0 m Death Valley -86 m
Population density 1.04 people per sqkm
Ranked 227th.
29.77 people per sqkm
Ranked 167th. 29 times more than Pitcairn Islands
Maritime claims > Exclusive economic zone 200 nautical mile
Ranked 96th. The same as United States
200 nautical mile
Ranked 41st.

Map references Oceania North America
Environment > Current issues deforestation (only a small portion of the original forest remains because of burning and clearing for settlement) air pollution resulting in acid rain in both the US and Canada; large emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels; water pollution from runoff of pesticides and fertilizers; limited natural freshwater resources in much of the western part of the country require careful management; desertification
Land use > Other 100%
Ranked 18th. 20% more than United States
83.44%
Ranked 150th.

Land use > Permanent crops 0.0
Ranked 231st.
0.26%
Ranked 164th.

Note Britain's most isolated dependency; only the larger island of Pitcairn is inhabited but it has no port or natural harbor; supplies must be transported by rowed longboat from larger ships stationed offshore world's third-largest country by size (after Russia and Canada) and by population (after China and India); Mt. McKinley is highest point in North America and Death Valley the lowest point on the continent
Marine Coastline 51 km
Ranked 179th.
19,924 km
Ranked 9th. 391 times more than Pitcairn Islands
Area > Total > Per capita 979.17 sq km per 1,000 people
Ranked 3rd. 30 times more than United States
32.34 sq km per 1,000 people
Ranked 62nd.

SOURCES: CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 28 March 2011; All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008; CIA World Factbooks 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013; Heal The World Foundation.; CIA Factbook: List of countries by coastline size

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