Part 44
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $NA; expenditures $70.6 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1987)
Exports: $NA; commodities--vegetables, beef, pork; partners--NA
Imports: $NA; commodities--NA; partners--NA
External debt: $NA
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 25,000 kW capacity; 35 million kWh produced, 1,640 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: tourism, construction, light industry, handicrafts
Agriculture: coffee, coconuts, fruits, tobacco, cattle
Aid: none
Currency: US currency is used
Exchange rates: US currency is used
Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September
- Communications Highways: 300 km total (53 km primary, 55 km secondary, 192 km local)
Ports: Saipan, Rota, Tinian
Airports: 6 total, 4 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: stations--2 AM, no FM, 1 TV; 2 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth stations
- Defense Forces Note: defense is the responsibility of the US ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Norway - Geography Total area: 324,220 km2; land area: 307,860 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than New Mexico
Land boundaries: 2,582 km total; Finland 729 km, Sweden 1,657, USSR 196 km
Coastline: 21,925 km (3,419 km mainland; 2,413 km large islands; 16,093 km long fjords, numerous small islands, and minor indentations)
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 10 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 4 nm
Disputes: maritime boundary dispute with USSR; territorial claim in Antarctica (Queen Maud Land); Denmark has challenged Norway's maritime claims beween Greenland and Jan Mayen
Climate: temperate along coast, modified by North Atlantic Current; colder interior; rainy year-round on west coast
Terrain: glaciated; mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys; small, scattered plains; coastline deeply indented by fjords; arctic tundra in north
Natural resources: crude oil, copper, natural gas, pyrites, nickel, iron ore, zinc, lead, fish, timber, hydropower
Land use: 3% arable land; 0% permanent crops; NEGL% meadows and pastures; 27% forest and woodland; 70% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: air and water pollution; acid rain
Note: strategic location adjacent to sea lanes and air routes in North Atlantic; one of most rugged and longest coastlines in world; Norway and Turkey only NATO members having a land boundary with the USSR
- People Population: 4,252,806 (July 1990), growth rate 0.5% (1990)
Birth rate: 14 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 81 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Norwegian(s); adjective--Norwegian
Ethnic divisions: Germanic (Nordic, Alpine, Baltic) and racial-cultural minority of 20,000 Lapps
Religion: 94% Evangelical Lutheran (state church), 4% other Protestant and Roman Catholic, 2% other
Language: Norwegian (official); small Lapp- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Literacy: 100%
Labor force: 2,164,000; 33.6% services, 17.4% commerce, 16.6% mining and manufacturing, 8.4% transportation, 7.8% construction, 6.8% banking and financial services, 6.5% agriculture, forestry, and fishing (1986)
Organized labor: 66% of labor force (1985)
- Government Long-form name: Kingdom of Norway
Type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Oslo
Administrative divisions: 19 provinces (fylker, singular--fylke); Akershus, Aust-Agder, Buskerud, Finnmark, Hedmark, Hordaland, More og Romsdal, Nordland, Nord-Trondelag, Oppland, Oslo, Ostfold, Rogaland, Sogn og Fjordane, Sor-Trondelag, Telemark, Troms, Vest-Agder, Vestfold
Independence: 26 October 1905 (from Sweden)
Constitution: 17 May 1814, modified in 1884
Dependent areas: Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard
Legal system: mixture of customary law, civil law system, and common law traditions; Supreme Court renders advisory opinions to legislature when asked; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Constitution Day, 17 May (1814)
Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, State Council (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (Storting or Stortinget) with an Upper Chamber (Lagting) and a Lower Chamber (Odelsting)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Hoiesterett)
Leaders: Chief of State--King OLAV V (since 21 September 1957); Heir Apparent Crown Prince HARALD (born 21 February 1937);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Jan P. SYSE (since 16 October 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Labor, Gro Harlem Brundtland; Conservative, Jan P. Syse; Center, Johan J. Jakobsen; Christian People's, Kjell Magne Bondevik; Socialist Left, Eric Solheim; Norwegian Communist, Hans I. Kleven; Progress, Carl I. Hagen; Liberal, Arne Fjortoft; Finnmark List, leader NA
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: Parliament--last held on 11 September 1989 (next to be held 6 September 1993); results--Labor 34.3%, Conservative 22.2%, Progress 13.0%, Socialist Left 10.1%, Christian People's 8.5%, Center 6.6%, Finnmark List 0.3%, others 5%; seats--(165 total) Labor 63, Conservative 37, Progress 22, Socialist Left 17, Christian People's 14, Center 11, Finnmark List 1
Communists: 15,500 est.; 5,500 Norwegian Communist Party (NKP); 10,000 Workers Communist Party Marxist-Leninist (AKP-ML, pro-Chinese)
Member of: ADB, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EFTA, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IEA (associate member), IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ITU, IWC--International Whaling Commission, IWC--International Wheat Council, NATO, Nordic Council, OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Kjeld VIBE; Chancery at 2720 34th Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 333-6000; there are Norwegian Consulates General in Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, and San Francisco, and Consulates in Miami and New Orleans; US--Ambassador Loret Miller RUPPE; Embassy at Drammensveien 18, Oslo 2 (mailing address is APO New York 09085); telephone [47] (2) 44-85-50
Flag: red with a blue cross outlined in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag)
- Economy Overview: Norway is a prosperous capitalist nation with the resources to finance extensive welfare measures. Since 1975 exploitation of large crude oil and natural gas reserves has helped achieve an average annual growth of roughly 4%, the third-highest among OECD countries. Growth slackened in 1987-88 because of the sharp drop in world oil prices and a slowdown in consumer spending, but picked up again in 1989. Future economic issues involve the aging of the population, the increased economic integration of Europe, and the balance between private and public influence in economic decisions.
GDP: $75.8 billion, per capita $17,900; real growth rate 5.7% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.5% (1989)
Unemployment rate: 3.9% (1989 est., excluding people in job-training programs)
Budget: revenues $40.6 billion; expenditures $41.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)
Exports: $22.2 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--petroleum and petroleum products 25%, natural gas 11%, fish 7%, aluminum 6%, ships 3.5%, pulp and paper; partners--UK 26%, EFTA 16.3%, less developed countries 14%, Sweden 12%, FRG 12%, US 6%, Denmark 5% (1988)
Imports: $18.7 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities--machinery, fuels and lubricants, transportation equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, clothing, ships; partners--Sweden 18%, less developed countries 18%, FRG 14%, Denmark 8%, UK 7%, US 7%, Japan 5% (1988)
External debt: $18.3 billion (December 1989)
Industrial production: growth rate 15.8% (1989)
Electricity: 26,735,000 kW capacity; 121,685 million kWh produced, 28,950 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: petroleum and gas, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp and paper products, metals, chemicals, timber, mining, textiles, fishing
Agriculture: accounts for 3.1% of GNP and 6.5% of labor force; among world's top 10 fishing nations; livestock output exceeds value of crops; over half of food needs imported; fish catch of 1.9 million metric tons in 1987
Aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $3.7 billion
Currency: Norwegian krone (plural--kroner); 1 Norwegian krone (NKr) = 100 ore
Exchange rates: Norwegian kroner (NKr) per US$1--6.5405 (January 1990), 6.9045 (1989), 6.5170 (1988), 6.7375 (1987), 7.3947 (1986), 8.5972 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 4,223 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; Norwegian State Railways (NSB) operates 4,219 km (2,450 km electrified and 96 km double track); 4 km other
Highways: 79,540 km total; 18,600 km concrete, bituminous, stone block; 19,980 km bituminous treated; 40,960 km gravel, crushed stone, and earth
Inland waterways: 1,577 km along west coast; 1.5-2.4 m draft vessels maximum
Pipelines: refined products, 53 km
Ports: Oslo, Bergen, Fredrikstad, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Trondheim
Merchant marine: 660 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,702,254 GRT/28,722,304 DWT; includes 11 passenger, 19 short-sea passenger, 104 cargo, 3 passenger-cargo, 19 refrigerated cargo, 6 container, 40 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 6 vehicle carrier, 1 railcar carrier, 128 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 86 chemical tanker, 62 liquefied gas, 26 combination ore/oil, 142 bulk, 7 combination bulk; note--the government has created a captive register, the Norwegian International Ship Register (NIS), as a subset of the Norwegian register; ships on the NIS enjoy many benefits of flags of convenience and do not have to be crewed by Norwegians; the majority of ships under the Norwegian flag are now registered with the NIS
Civil air: 76 major transport aircraft
Airports: 104 total, 104 usable; 64 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 12 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 16 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: high-quality domestic and international telephone, telegraph, and telex services; 3,102,000 telephones; stations--8 AM, 46 (1,400 relays) FM, 55 (2,100 relays) TV; 4 coaxial submarine cables; communications satellite earth stations operating in the EUTELSAT, INTELSAT (1 Atlantic Ocean), MARISAT, and domestic systems
- Defense Forces Branches: Royal Norwegian Army, Royal Norwegian Navy, Royal Norwegian Air Force
Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,115,620; 937,555 fit for military service; 32,748 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: 3.3% of GDP, or $2.5 billion (1989 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Oman - Geography Total area: 212,460 km2; land area: 212,460 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Kansas
Land boundaries: 1,374 km total; Saudi Arabia 676 km, UAE 410 km, PDRY 288 km
Coastline: 2,092 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: to be defined;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: Administrative Line with PDRY; no defined boundary with most of UAE, Administrative Line in far north
Climate: dry desert; hot, humid along coast; hot, dry interior; strong southwest summer monsoon (May to September) in far south
Terrain: vast central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and south
Natural resources: crude oil, copper, asbestos, some marble, limestone, chromium, gypsum, natural gas
Land use: NEGL% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 5% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 95% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Environment: summer winds often raise large sandstorms and duststorms in interior; sparse natural freshwater resources
Note: strategic location with small foothold on Musandam Peninsula controlling Strait of Hormuz (17% of world's oil production transits this point going from Persian Gulf to Arabian Sea)
- People Population: 1,457,064 (July 1990), growth rate 3.1% (1990)
Birth rate: 43 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 12 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 105 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 56 years male, 58 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 6.8 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Omani(s); adjective--Omani
Ethnic divisions: almost entirely Arab, with small Balochi, Zanzibari, and Indian groups
Religion: 75% Ibadhi Muslim; remainder Sunni Muslim, Shia Muslim, some Hindu
Language: Arabic (official); English, Balochi, Urdu, Indian dialects
Literacy: 20%
Labor force: 430,000; 60% agriculture (est.); 58% are non-Omani
Organized labor: trade unions are illegal
- Government Long-form name: Sultanate of Oman
Type: absolute monarchy; independent, with residual UK influence
Capital: Muscat
Administrative divisions: none
Independence: 1650, expulsion of the Portuguese
Constitution: none
Legal system: based on English common law and Islamic law; ultimate appeal to the sultan; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Executive branch: sultan, Cabinet, State Consultative Assembly
Legislative branch: none
Judicial branch: none; traditional Islamic judges and a nascent civil court system
National holiday: National Day, 18 November
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--Sultan and Prime Minister QABOOS bin Said Al Said (since 23 July 1970)
Political parties: none
Suffrage: none
Elections: none
Other political or pressure groups: outlawed Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (PFLO), based in South Yemen; small, clandestine Shia fundamentalist groups are active
Member of: Arab League, FAO, G-77, GCC, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB--Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OIC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Awadh Bader AL-SHANFARI; Chancery at 2342 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 387-1980 through 1982; US--Ambassador Richard BOEHM; Embassy at address NA, Muscat (mailing address is P. O. Box 966, Muscat); telephone 738-231 or 738-006
Flag: three horizontal bands of white (top, double width), red, and green (double width) with a broad, vertical, red band on the hoist side; the national emblem (a khanjar dagger in its sheath superimposed on two crossed swords in scabbards) in white is centered at the top of the vertical band
- Economy Overview: Economic performance is closely tied to the fortunes of the oil industry. Petroleum accounts for nearly all export earnings, about 70% of government revenues, and more than 50% of GDP. Oman has proved oil reserves of 4 billion barrels, equivalent to about 20 years' supply at the current rate of extraction. Although agriculture employs a majority of the population, urban centers depend on imported food.
GDP: $7.8 billion, per capita $6,006; real growth rate - 3.0% (1987 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.0% (1988 est.)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $3.1 billion; expenditures $4.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.0 billion (1989 est.)
Exports: $3.6 billion (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities--petroleum, reexports, processed copper, dates, nuts, fish; partners--Japan, South Korea, Thailand
Imports: $1.9 billion (f.o.b., 1988 est.); commodities --machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods, food, livestock, lubricants; partners--Japan, UAE, UK, FRG, US
External debt: $3.1 billion (December 1989 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 5.0% (1986)
Electricity: 1,130,000 kW capacity; 3,600 million kWh produced, 2,760 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: crude oil production and refining, natural gas production, construction, cement, copper
Agriculture: accounts for 3.4% of GDP and 60% of the labor force (including fishing); less than 2% of land cultivated; largely subsistence farming (dates, limes, bananas, alfalfa, vegetables, camels, cattle); not self-sufficient in food; annual fish catch averages 100,000 metric tons
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $122 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $92 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $797 million
Currency: Omani rial (plural--rials); 1 Omani rial (RO) = 1,000 baiza
Exchange rates: Omani rials (RO) per US$1--0.3845 (fixed rate since 1986)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Highways: 22,800 km total; 3,800 km bituminous surface, 19,000 km motorable track
Pipelines: crude oil 1,300 km; natural gas 1,030 km
Ports: Mina Qabus, Mina Raysut
Civil air: 4 major transport aircraft
Airports: 128 total, 119 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 63 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: fair system of open-wire, radio relay, and radio communications stations; 50,000 telephones; stations--3 AM, 3 FM, 11 TV; satellite earth stations--2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 ARABSAT and 8 domestic
- Defense Forces Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, Royal Oman Police
Military manpower: males 15-49, 350,173; 198,149 fit for military service
Defense expenditures: 16.5% of GDP, or $1.3 billion (1990 est.) ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Pacific Islands, Trust Territory of the (Palau) - Geography Total area: 458 km2; land area: 458 km2
Comparative area: slightly more than 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 1,519 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 m;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 3 nm
Climate: wet season May to November; hot and humid
Terrain: islands vary geologically from the high mountainous main island of Babelthuap to low, coral islands usually fringed by large barrier reefs
Natural resources: forests, minerals (especially gold), marine products; deep-seabed minerals
Land use: NA% arable land; NA% permanent crops; NA% meadows and pastures; NA% forest and woodland; NA% other
Environment: subject to typhoons from June to December; archipelago of six island groups totaling over 200 islands in the Caroline chain
Note: important location 850 km southeast of the Philippines; includes World War II battleground of Peleliu and world-famous rock islands
- People Population: 14,310 (July 1990), growth rate 0.7% (1990)
Birth rate: 25 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 12 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 26 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 74 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.3 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Palauan(s); adjective--Palauan
Ethnic divisions: Palauans are a composite of Polynesian, Malayan, and Melanesian races
Religion: predominantly Christian, mainly Roman Catholic
Language: Palauan is the official language, though English is commonplace; inhabitants of the isolated southwestern islands speak a dialect of Trukese
Literacy: NA%, but education compulsory through eight grades
Labor force: NA
Organized labor: NA
- Government Long-form name: Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (no short-form name); may change to Republic of Palau after independence; note--Belau, the native form of Palau, is sometimes used
Type: UN trusteeship administered by the US; constitutional government signed a Compact of Free Association with the US on 10 January 1986, after approval in a series of UN-observed plebiscites; until the UN trusteeship is terminated with entry into force of the Compact, Palau remains under US administration as the Palau District of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Capital: Koror; a new capital is being built about 20 km northeast in eastern Babelthuap
Administrative divisions: none
Independence: still part of the US-administered UN trusteeship (the last polity remaining under the trusteeship; the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas have left); administered by the Office of Territorial and International Affairs, US Department of Interior
Constitution: 11 January 1981
Legal system: based on Trust Territory laws, acts of the legislature, municipal, common, and customary laws
National holiday: Constitution Day, 9 July (1979)
Executive branch: US president, US vice president, national president, national vice president
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament (Olbiil Era Kelulau or OEK) consists of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Delegates
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders: Chief of State--President George Walker BUSH (since 20 January 1989), represented by High Commissioner Janet MCCOY (since NA);
Head of Government--President Ngiratkel ETPISON (since 2 November 1988)
Political parties: no formal parties
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: President--last held on 2 November 1988 (next to be held November 1992); Ngiratkel Etpison 26.3%, Roman Tmetuchl 25.9%, Thomas Remengesau 19.5%, others 28.3%;
Senate--last held 2 November 1988 (next to be held November 1992); results--percent of vote NA; seats--(18 total);
House of Delegates--last held 2 November 1988 (next to be held November 1992); results--percent of vote NA; seats--(16 total)
Diplomatic representation: none; US--US Liaison Officer Steven R. PRUETT; US Liaison Office at Top Side, Neeriyas, Koror (mailing address: P. O. Box 6028, Koror, Republic of Palau 96940); telephone 160-680-920 or 990
Flag: light blue with a large yellow disk (representing the moon) shifted slightly to the hoist side
- Economy Overview: The economy consists primarily of subsistence agriculture and fishing. Tourism provides some foreign exchange, although the remote location of Palau and a shortage of suitable facilities has hindered development. The government is the major employer of the work force, relying heavily on financial assistance from the US.
GDP: $31.6 million, per capita $2,260; real growth rate NA% (1986)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%
Unemployment rate: 20% (1986)
Budget: revenues $6.0 million; expenditures NA, including capital expenditures of NA (1986)
Exports: $0.5 million (f.o.b., 1986); commodities--NA; partners--US, Japan
Imports: $27.2 million (c.i.f., 1986); commodities--NA; partners--US
External debt: $NA
Industrial production: growth rate NA%
Electricity: 16,000 kW capacity; 22 million kWh produced, 1,550 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: tourism, craft items (shell, wood, pearl), some commercial fishing and agriculture
Agriculture: subsistence-level production of coconut, copra, cassava, sweet potatoes
Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $2 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $62.6 million
Currency: US currency is used
Exchange rates: US currency is used
Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September
- Communications Highways: 25.7 km paved macadam and concrete roads, otherwise stone-, coral-, or laterite-surfaced roads (1986)
Ports: Koror
Airports: 2 with permanent-surface runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: stations--1 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV; 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth station
- Defense Forces Note: defense is the responsibility of the US and that will not change when the UN trusteeship terminates ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Pacific Ocean - Geography Total area: 165,384,000 km2; includes Arafura Sea, Banda Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Makassar Strait, Philippine Sea, Ross Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, South China Sea, Tasman Sea, and other tributary water bodies
Comparative area: slightly less than 18 times the size of the US; the largest ocean (followed by the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Arctic Ocean); covers about one-third of the global surface; larger than the total land area of the world
Coastline: 135,663 km
Climate: the western Pacific is monsoonal--a rainy season occurs during the summer months, when moisture-laden winds blow from the ocean over the land, and a dry season during the winter months, when dry winds blow from the Asian land mass back to the ocean
Terrain: surface in the northern Pacific dominated by a clockwise, warm water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) and in the southern Pacific by a counterclockwise, cool water gyre; sea ice occurs in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk during winter and reaches maximum northern extent from Antarctica in October; the ocean floor in the eastern Pacific is dominated by the East Pacific Rise, while the western Pacific is dissected by deep trenches; the world's greatest depth is 10,924 meters in the Marianas Trench
Natural resources: oil and gas fields, polymetallic nodules, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, fish
Environment: endangered marine species include the dugong, sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South China Sea; dotted with low coral islands and rugged volcanic islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean; subject to tropical cyclones (typhoons) in southeast and east Asia from May to December (most frequent from July to October); tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico from June to October (most common in August and September); southern shipping lanes subject to icebergs from Antarctica; occasional El Nino phenomenon occurs off the coast of Peru when the trade winds slacken and the warm Equatorial Countercurrent moves south, which kills the plankton that is the primary food source for anchovies; consequently, the anchovies move to better feeding grounds, causing resident marine birds to starve by the thousands because of their lost food source
Note: the major choke points are the Bering Strait, Panama Canal, Luzon Strait, and the Singapore Strait; the Equator divides the Pacific Ocean into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme north from October to May and in extreme south from May to October; persistent fog in the northern Pacific from June to December is a hazard to shipping; surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic and earthquake activity sometimes referred to as the Pacific Ring of Fire
- Economy Overview: The Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world economy and particularly to those nations its waters directly touch. It provides cheap sea transportation between East and West, extensive fishing grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals, and sand and gravel for the construction industry. In 1985 over half (54%) of the world's total fish catch came from the Pacific Ocean, which is the only ocean where the fish catch has increased every year since 1978. Exploitation of offshore oil and gas reserves is playing an ever increasing role in the energy supplies of Australia, New Zealand, China, US, and Peru. The high cost of recovering offshore oil and gas, combined with the lower world prices for oil since 1985, has slowed but not stopped new drillings.
Industries: fishing, oil and gas production
- Communications Ports: Bangkok (Thailand), Hong Kong, Los Angeles (US), Manila (Philippines), Pusan (South Korea), San Francisco (US), Seattle (US), Shanghai (China), Singapore, Sydney (Australia), Vladivostok (USSR), Wellington (NZ), Yokohama (Japan)
Telecommunications: several submarine cables with network focused on Guam and Hawaii ---------------------------------------------------- Country: Pakistan - Geography Total area: 803,940 km2; land area: 778,720 km2