Part 4
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Representatives
Judicial branch: Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Wilfred Ebenezer JACOBS (since 1 November 1981, previously Governor since 1976);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Vere Cornwall BIRD, Sr. (since NA 1976); Deputy Prime Minister Lester BIRD (since NA 1976)
Political parties and leaders: Antigua Labor Party (ALP), Vere C. Bird, Sr., Lester Bird; United National Democratic Party (UNDP), Dr. Ivor Heath
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: House of Representatives--last held 9 March 1989 (next to be held 1994); results--percentage of vote by party NA; seats--(17 total) ALP 15, UNDP 1, independent 1
Communists: negligible
Other political or pressure groups: Antigua Caribbean Liberation Movement (ACLM), a small leftist nationalist group led by Leonard (Tim) Hector; Antigua Trades and Labor Union (ATLU), headed by Noel Thomas
Member of: ACP, CARICOM, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ILO, IMF, ISO, OAS, UN, UNESCO, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Edmund Hawkins LAKE; Chancery at Suite 2H, 3400 International Drive NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 362-5211 or 5166, 5122, 5225; there is an Antiguan Consulate in Miami; US--the US Ambassador to Barbados is accredited to Antigua and Barbuda, and in his absence, the Embassy is headed by Charge d'Affaires Roger R. GAMBLE; Embassy at Queen Elizabeth Highway, Saint John's (mailing address is FPO Miami 34054); telephone (809) 462-3505 or 3506
Flag: red with an inverted isosceles triangle based on the top edge of the flag; the triangle contains three horizontal bands of black (top), light blue, and white with a yellow rising sun in the black band
- Economy Overview: The economy is primarily service oriented, with tourism the most important determinant of economic performance. During the period 1983-87, real GDP expanded at an annual average rate of 8%. Tourism's contribution to GDP, as measured by value added in hotels and restaurants, rose from about 14% in 1983 to 17% in 1987, and stimulated growth in other sectors--particularly in construction, communications, and public utilities. During the same period the combined share of agriculture and manufacturing declined from 12% to less than 10%. Antigua and Barbuda is one of the few areas in the Caribbean experiencing a labor shortage in some sectors of the economy.
GDP: $353.5 million, per capita $5,550; real growth rate 6.2% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.1% (1988 est.)
Unemployment rate: 5.0% (1988 est.)
Budget: revenues $77 million; expenditures $81 million, including capital expenditures of $13 million (1988 est.)
Exports: $30.4 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--petroleum products 46%, manufactures 29%, food and live animals 14%, machinery and transport equipment 11%; partners--Trinidad and Tobago 40%, Barbados 8%, US 0.3%
Imports: $302.1 million (c.i.f., 1988 est.); commodities--food and live animals, machinery and transport equipment, manufactures, chemicals, oil; partners--US 27%, UK 14%, CARICOM 7%, Canada 4%, other 48%
External debt: $245.4 million (1987)
Industrial production: growth rate 10% (1987)
Electricity: 49,000 kW capacity; 90 million kWh produced, 1,410 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: tourism, construction, light manufacturing (clothing, alcohol, household appliances)
Agriculture: accounts for 4% of GDP; expanding output of cotton, fruits, vegetables, and livestock sector; other crops--bananas, coconuts, cucumbers, mangoes; not self-sufficient in food
Aid: Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $40 million
Currency: East Caribbean dollar (plural--dollars); 1 EC dollar (EC$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: East Caribbean dollars (EC$) per US$1--2.70 (fixed rate since 1976)
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
- Communications Railroads: 64 km 0.760-meter narrow gauge and 13 km 0.610-meter gauge used almost exclusively for handling sugarcane
Highways: 240 km
Ports: St. John's
Merchant marine: 80 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 307,315 GRT/501,552 DWT; includes 50 cargo, 4 refrigerated cargo, 8 container, 8 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 5 chemical tanker, 2 liquefied gas, 1 short-sea passenger; note--a flag of convenience registry
Civil air: 10 major transport aircraft
Airports: 3 total, 3 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 2 with runways less than 2,440 m
Telecommunications: good automatic telephone system; 6,700 telephones; tropospheric scatter links with Saba and Guadeloupe; stations--4 AM, 2 FM, 2 TV, 2 shortwave; 1 coaxial submarine cable; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
- Defense Forces Branches: Royal Antigua and Barbuda Defense Force, Royal Antigua and Barbuda Police Force (includes the Coast Guard)
Military manpower: NA
Defense expenditures: NA ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Arctic Ocean - Geography Total area: 14,056,000 km2; includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea, and other tributary water bodies
Comparative area: slightly more than 1.5 times the size of the US; smallest of the world's four oceans (after Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean)
Coastline: 45,389 km
Climate: persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow
Terrain: central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack which averages about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight line movement from the New Siberian Islands (USSR) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the ice pack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling land masses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonsov Ridge); maximum depth is 4,665 meters in the Fram Basin
Natural resources: sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals, whales)
Environment: endangered marine species include walruses and whales; ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean and lasts about 10 months; permafrost in islands; virtually icelocked from October to June; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions or damage
Note: major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May; strategic location between North America and the USSR; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western USSR; floating research stations operated by the US and USSR
- Economy Overview: Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including crude oil, natural gas, fishing, and sealing.
- Communications Ports: Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (USSR), Prudhoe Bay (US)
Telecommunications: no submarine cables
Note: sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Asia) are important waterways ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Argentina - Geography Total area: 2,766,890 km2; land area: 2,736,690 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than four times the size of Texas
Land boundaries: 9,665 km total; Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km
Coastline: 4,989 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Territorial sea: 200 nm (overflight and navigation permitted beyond 12 nm)
Disputes: short section of the boundary with Uruguay is in dispute; short section of the boundary with Chile is indefinite; claims British-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); claims British-administered South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica
Climate: mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest
Terrain: rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border
Natural resources: fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, crude oil, uranium
Land use: 9% arable land; 4% permanent crops; 52% meadows and pastures; 22% forest and woodland; 13% other; includes 1% irrigated
Environment: Tucuman and Mendoza areas in Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike Pampas and northeast; irrigated soil degradation; desertification; air and water pollution in Buenos Aires
Note: second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage)
- People Population: 32,290,966 (July 1990), growth rate 1.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 20 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 32 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 67 years male, 74 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 2.8 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Argentine(s); adjective--Argentine
Ethnic divisions: 85% white, 15% mestizo, Indian, or other nonwhite groups
Religion: 90% nominally Roman Catholic (less than 20% practicing), 2% Protestant, 2% Jewish, 6% other
Language: Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French
Literacy: 94%
Labor force: 10,900,000; 12% agriculture, 31% industry, 57% services (1985 est.)
Organized labor: 3,000,000; 28% of labor force
- Government Long-form name: Argentine Republic
Type: republic
Capital: Buenos Aires (tentative plans to move to Viedma by 1990 indefinitely postponed)
Administrative divisions: 22 provinces (provincias, singular--provincia), 1 national territory* (territorio nacional), and 1 district** (distrito); Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Cordoba, Corrientes, Distrito Federal**, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego and Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur*, Tucuman
Independence: 9 July 1816 (from Spain)
Constitution: 1 May 1853
Legal system: mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: National Day, 25 May (1810)
Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camera de Diputados)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema)
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--President Carlos Saul MENEM (since 8 July 1989); Vice President Eduardo DUHALDE (since 8 July 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Justicialist Party (JP), Antonio Cafiero, Peronist umbrella political organization; Radical Civic Union (UCR), Raul Alfonsin, moderately left of center; Union of the Democratic Center (UCEDE), Alvaro Alsogaray, conservative party; Intransigent Party (PI), Dr. Oscar Alende, leftist party; several provincial parties
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: President--last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held May 1995); results--Carlos Saul Menem was elected;
Chamber of Deputies--last held 14 May 1989 (next to be held May 1991); results--JP 47%, UCR 30%, UDC 7%, other 16%; seats--(254 total); JP 122, UCR 93, UDC 11, other 28
Communists: some 70,000 members in various party organizations, including a small nucleus of activists
Other political or pressure groups: Peronist-dominated labor movement, General Confederation of Labor (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization), Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association), Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association), business organizations, students, the Roman Catholic Church, the Armed Forces
Member of: CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT, Group of Eight, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, ISO, ITU, IWC--International Whaling Commission, IWC--International Wheat Council, LAIA, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO, WSG
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Guido Jose Maria DI TELLA; Chancery at 1600 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone 202) 939-6400 through 6403; there are Argentine Consulates General in Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Consulates in Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles; US--Ambassador Terence A. TODMAN; Embassy at 4300 Colombia, 1425 Buenos Aires (mailing address is APO Miami 34034); telephone [54] (1) 774-7611 or 8811, 9911
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of light blue (top), white, and light blue; centered in the white band is a radiant yellow sun with a human face known as the Sun of May
- Economy Overview: Argentina is rich in natural resources, and has a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Nevertheless, the economy has encountered major problems in recent years, leading to a recession in 1988-89. Economic growth slowed to 2.0% in 1987 and to - 1.8% in 1988; a sharp decline of - 5.5% has been estimated for 1989. A widening public-sector deficit and a multidigit inflation rate has dominated the economy over the past three years, reaching about 5,000% in 1989. Since 1978, Argentina's external debt has nearly doubled to $60 billion, creating severe debt-servicing difficulties and hurting the country's creditworthiness with international lenders.
GNP: $72.0 billion, per capita $2,217; real growth rate - 5.5% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4,925% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 8.5% (1989 est.)
Budget: revenues $11.5 billion; expenditures $13.0 billion, including capital expenditures of $0.93 billion (1988)
Exports: $9.6 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--meat, wheat, corn, oilseed, hides, wool; partners--US 14%, USSR, Italy, Brazil, Japan, Netherlands
Imports: $4.3 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities--machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, fuels and lubricants, agricultural products; partners--US 25%, Brazil, FRG, Bolivia, Japan, Italy, Netherlands
External debt: $60 billion (December 1989)
Industrial production: growth rate - 8% (1989)
Electricity: 16,449,000 kW capacity; 46,590 million kWh produced, 1,460 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: food processing (especially meat packing), motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel
Agriculture: accounts for 15% of GNP (including fishing); produces abundant food for both domestic consumption and exports; among world's top five exporters of grain and beef; principal crops--wheat, corn, sorghum, soybeans, sugar beets; 1987 fish catch estimated at 500,000 tons
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $1.0 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $3.6 billion; Communist countries (1970-88), $718 million
Currency: austral (plural--australes); 1 austral (A) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: australes (A) per US$1--1,930 (December 1989), 8.7526 (1988), 2.1443 (1987), 0.9430 (1986), 0.6018 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 34,172 km total (includes 169 km electrified); includes a mixture of 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1.676-meter broad gauge, 1.000-meter gauge, and 0.750-meter gauge
Highways: 208,350 km total; 47,550 km paved, 39,500 km gravel, 101,000 km improved earth, 20,300 km unimproved earth
Inland waterways: 11,000 km navigable
Pipelines: 4,090 km crude oil; 2,900 km refined products; 9,918 km natural gas
Ports: Bahia Blanca, Buenos Aires, Necochea, Rio Gallegos, Rosario, Santa Fe
Merchant marine: 131 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,693,540 GRT/2,707,079 DWT; includes 45 cargo, 6 refrigerated cargo, 6 container, 1 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 1 railcar carrier, 48 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 4 liquefied gas, 18 bulk
Civil air: 54 major transport aircraft
Airports: 1,799 total, 1,617 usable; 132 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 30 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 335 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: extensive modern system; 2,650,000 telephones (12,000 public telephones); radio relay widely used; stations--171 AM, no FM, 231 TV, 13 shortwave; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations; domestic satellite network has 40 stations
- Defense Forces Branches: Argentine Army, Navy of the Argentine Republic, Argentine Air Force, National Gendarmerie, Argentine Naval Prefecture, National Aeronautical Police Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 7,860,054; 6,372,189 fit for military service; 277,144 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: 1.4% of GNP (1987) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Aruba (part of the Dutch realm) - Geography Total area: 193 km2; land area: 193 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 68.5 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical marine; little seasonal temperature variation
Terrain: flat with a few hills; scant vegetation
Natural resources: negligible; white sandy beaches
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other
Environment: lies outside the Caribbean hurricane belt
Note: 28 km north of Venezuela
- People Population: 62,656 (July 1990), growth rate 0.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 16 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 8 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 8 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 80 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Aruban(s); adjective--Aruban
Ethnic divisions: 80% mixed European/Caribbean Indian
Religion: 82% Roman Catholic, 8% Protestant; also small Hindu, Muslim, Confucian, and Jewish minority
Language: Dutch (official), Papiamento (a Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English dialect), English (widely spoken), Spanish
Literacy: 95%
Labor force: NA, but most employment is in the tourist industry (1986)
Organized labor: Aruban Workers' Federation (FTA)
- Government Long-form name: none
Type: part of the Dutch realm--full autonomy in internal affairs obtained in 1986 upon separation from the Netherlands Antilles
Capital: Oranjestad
Administrative divisions: none (self-governing part of the Netherlands)
Independence: planned for 1996
Constitution: 1 January 1986
Legal system: based on Dutch civil law system, with some English common law influence
National holiday: Flag Day, 18 March
Executive branch: Dutch monarch, governor, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (Staten)
Judicial branch: Joint High Court of Justice
Leaders: Chief of State--Queen BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April 1980), represented by Governor General Felipe B. TROMP (since 1 January 1986);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Nelson ODUBER (since NA February 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Electoral Movement Party (MEP), Nelson Oduber; Aruban People's Party (AVP), Henny Eman; National Democratic Action (ADN), Pedro Charro Kelly; New Patriotic Party (PPN), Eddy Werlemen; Aruban Patriotic Party (PPA), Benny Nisbet; Aruban Democratic Party (PDA), Leo Berlinski; Democratic Action '86 (AD'86), Arturo Oduber; governing coalition includes the MEP, PPA, and ADN
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: Parliament--last held 6 January 1989 (next to be held by January 1993); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(21 total) MEP 10, AVP 8, ADN 1, PPN 1, PPA 1
Diplomatic representation: none (self-governing part of the Netherlands)
Flag: blue with two narrow horizontal yellow stripes across the lower portion and a red, four-pointed star outlined in white in the upper hoist-side corner
- Economy Overview: Tourism is the mainstay of the economy. In 1985 the economy suffered a severe blow when Exxon closed its refinery, a major source of employment and foreign exchange earnings. Economic collapse was prevented by soft loans from the Dutch Government and by a booming tourist industry. Hotel capacity expanded by 20% between 1985 and 1987 and is projected to more than double by 1990. Unemployment has steadily declined from about 20% in 1986 to about 3% in 1988.
GDP: $620 million, per capita $10,000; real growth rate 16.7% (1988 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4% (1988 est.)
Unemployment rate: 3% (1988 est.)
Budget: revenues $145 million; expenditures $185 million, including capital expenditures of $42 million (1988)
Exports: $47.5 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--mostly petroleum products; partners--US 64%, EC
Imports: $296.0 million (c.i.f., 1988 est.); commodities--food, consumer goods, manufactures; partners--US 8%, EC
External debt: $81 million (1987)
Industrial production: growth rate - 20% (1984)
Electricity: 310,000 kW capacity; 945 million kWh produced, 15,120 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: tourism, transshipment facilities
Agriculture: poor quality soils and low rainfall limit agricultural
## activity to the cultivation of aloes
Aid: none
Currency: Aruban florin (plural--florins); 1 Aruban florin (Af.) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Aruban florins (Af.) per US$1--1.7900 (fixed rate since 1986)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Ports: Oranjestad, Sint Nicolaas
Airfield: government-owned airport east of Oranjestad
Telecommunications: generally adequate; extensive interisland radio relay links; 72,168 telephones; stations--4 AM, 4 FM, 1 TV; 1 sea cable to St. Maarten
- Defense Forces Note: defense is the responsibility of the Netherlands until 1996 ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Ashmore and Cartier Islands (territory of Australia) - Geography Total area: 5 km2; land area: 5 km2; includes Ashmore Reef (West, Middle, and East Islets) and Cartier Island
Comparative area: about 8.5 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 74.1 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploration;
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 3 nm
Climate: tropical
Terrain: low with sand and coral
Natural resources: fish
Land use: 0% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 0% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 100% other--grass and sand
Environment: surrounded by shoals and reefs; Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve established in August 1983
Note: located in extreme eastern Indian Ocean between Australia and Indonesia 320 km off the northwest coast of Australia
- People Population: no permanent inhabitants; seasonal caretakers
- Government Long-form name: Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands
Type: territory of Australia administered by the Australian Ministry for Territories and Local Government
Administrative divisions: none (territory of Australia)
Legal system: relevant laws of the Northern Territory of Australia
Note: administered by the Australian Minister for Arts, Sports, the Environment, Tourism, and Territories Graham Richardson
Diplomatic representation: none (territory of Australia)
- Economy Overview: no economic activity
- Communications Ports: none; offshore anchorage only
- Defense Forces Note: defense is the responsibility of Australia; periodic visits by the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Atlantic Ocean - Geography Total area: 82,217,000 km2; includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies
Comparative area: slightly less than nine times the size of the US; second-largest of the world's four oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, but larger than Indian Ocean or Arctic Ocean)
Coastline: 111,866 km
Climate: tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December, but are most frequent from August to November
Terrain: surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and Baltic Sea from October to June; clockwise warm water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the north Atlantic, counterclockwise warm water gyre in the south Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin; maximum depth is 8,605 meters in the Puerto Rico Trench
Natural resources: oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones
Environment: endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales; municipal sludge pollution off eastern US, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea; icebergs common in Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic from February to August and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands; icebergs from Antarctica occur in the extreme southern Atlantic
Note: ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme north Atlantic from October to May and extreme south Atlantic from May to October; persistent fog can be a hazard to shipping from May to September; major choke points include the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar, access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic straits include the Dover Strait, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage, The Sound (Oresund), and Windward Passage; north Atlantic shipping lanes subject to icebergs from February to August; the Equator divides the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean
- Economy Overview: Economic activity is limited to exploitation of natural resources, especially fish, dredging aragonite sands (The Bahamas), and crude oil and natural gas production (Caribbean Sea and North Sea).
- Communications Ports: Alexandria (Egypt), Algiers (Algeria), Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Casablanca (Morocco), Colon (Panama), Copenhagen (Denmark), Dakar (Senegal), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (FRG), Helsinki (Finland), Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Leningrad (USSR), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Montevideo (Uruguay), Montreal (Canada), Naples (Italy), New Orleans (US), New York (US), Oran (Algeria), Oslo (Norway), Piraeus (Greece), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden)
Telecommunications: numerous submarine cables with most between continental Europe and the UK, North America and the UK, and in the Mediterranean; numerous direct links across Atlantic via INTELSAT satellite network