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Geography Stats: compare key data on Svalbard & 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 > Water > Per capita: Total water area in square kilometers Per capita figures expressed per 1 million population.
  • Area > Note: This entry includes three subfields. Total area is the sum of all land and water areas delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines. Land area is the aggregate of all surfaces delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines, excluding inland water bodies (lakes, reservoirs, rivers). Water area is the sum of the surfaces of all inland water bodies, such as lakes, reservoirs, or rivers, as delimited by international boundaries and/or coastlines.
  • Area > Total > Per capita: Total area in square kilometers Per capita figures expressed per 1,000 population.
STAT Svalbard United States HISTORY
Area > Comparative slightly smaller than West Virginia 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 slightly smaller than West Virginia 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 61,020 sq km
Ranked 122nd.
9.16 million sq km
Ranked 4th. 150 times more than Svalbard

Area > Land > Per capita 28,184.76 sq km per 1,000 people
Ranked 1st. 935 times more than United States
30.16 sq km per 1,000 people
Ranked 60th.

Area > Total 62,045 sq km
Ranked 126th.
9.83 million sq km
Ranked 4th. 158 times more than Svalbard

Area > Water 0.0
Ranked 233th.
664,709 sq km
Ranked 3rd.

Climate arctic, tempered by warm North Atlantic Current; cool summers, cold winters; North Atlantic Current flows along west and north coasts of Spitsbergen, keeping water open and navigable most of the year 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 3,587 km
Ranked 34th.
19,924 km
Ranked 9th. 6 times more than Svalbard

Elevation extremes > Highest point Newtontoppen 1,717 m Mount McKinley (Denali) 6,194 m (highest point in North America)
Geographic coordinates 78 00 N, 20 00 E 38 00 N, 97 00 W
Land use > Arable land 0.0
Ranked 240th.
16.29%
Ranked 65th.

Location Northern Europe, islands between the Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Greenland Sea, and Norwegian Sea, north of Norway North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Natural hazards ice floes often block the entrance to Bellsund (a transit point for coal export) on the west coast and occasionally make parts of the northeastern coast inaccessible to maritime traffic 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 coal, iron ore, copper, zinc, phosphate, wildlife, fish coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, rare earth elements, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber
Terrain wild, rugged mountains; much of high land ice covered; west coast clear of ice about one-half of the year; fjords along west and north coasts 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 4 nautical mile
Ranked 183th.
12 nautical mile
Ranked 61st. 3 times more than Svalbard

Elevation extremes > Lowest point Arctic Ocean 0 m Death Valley -86 m
Population density 0.04 people per sqkm
Ranked 230th.
29.77 people per sqkm
Ranked 167th. 744 times more than Svalbard
Map references Arctic Region North America
Land use > Other 100%
Ranked 22nd. 20% more than United States
83.44%
Ranked 150th.

Land use > Permanent crops 0.0
Ranked 239th.
0.26%
Ranked 164th.

Note northernmost part of the Kingdom of Norway; consists of nine main islands; glaciers and snowfields cover 60% of the total area; Spitsbergen Island is the site of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a seed repository established by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and the Norwegian Government 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 3,587 km
Ranked 34th.
19,924 km
Ranked 9th. 6 times more than Svalbard
Area > Water > Per capita 0.0
Ranked 207th.
2,187.8 sq km per 1 million peo
Ranked 20th.

Area > Note includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island) includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia
Area > Total > Per capita 28,184.76 sq km per 1,000 people
Ranked 1st. 871 times more than United States
32.34 sq km per 1,000 people
Ranked 62nd.

Area > A note includes Spitsbergen and Bjornoya (Bear Island) includes only the 50 states and <a href=/encyclopedia/Washington,-DC><a href=/encyclopedia/Washington,-DC>District of Columbia</a></a>

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; CIA World Factbook, December 2003

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