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prices): 2.3% (2001 est.)

      Labor force: 6,735 (1999)

      Labor force - by occupation: commerce 36%, services 29%, construction 18%, transportation and utilities 10%, manufacturing 3%, agriculture/fishing/forestry/mining 4%

      Unemployment rate: 8% (1999)

      Budget: revenues: $20.4 million expenditures: $23.3 million, including capital expenditures of $3.8 million (1997 est.)

      Industries: tourism, boat building, offshore financial services

      Industrial production growth rate: 3.1% (1997 est.)

      Electricity - production: 45.85 million kWh (2000)

      Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: NA% hydro: NA% other:

       NA% nuclear: NA%

      Electricity - consumption: 42.6 million kWh

      Agriculture - products: small quantities of tobacco, vegetables; cattle raising

      Exports: $2.6 million (1999)

      Exports - commodities: lobster, fish, livestock, salt, concrete blocks, rum

      Exports - partners: UK, US, Puerto Rico

      Imports: $80.9 million (1999)

      Imports - commodities: fuels, foodstuffs, manufactures, chemicals, textiles

      Imports - partners: US, Puerto Rico, UK

      Debt - external: $8.8 million (1998)

      Economic aid - recipient: $3.5 million (1995)

      Currency: East Caribbean dollar (XCD)

      Currency code: XCD

      Exchange rates: East Caribbean dollars per US dollar - 2.7000 (fixed rate since 1976)

      Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

      Communications Anguilla

      Telephones - main lines in use: 4,974 (2000)

      Telephones - mobile cellular: 1,629 (2000)

      Telephone system: general assessment: NA domestic: modern internal telephone system international: microwave radio relay to island of Saint Martin (Guadeloupe and Netherlands Antilles)

      Radio broadcast stations: AM 5, FM 6, shortwave 1 (1998)

      Radios: 3,000 (1997)

      Television broadcast stations: 1 (1997)

      Televisions: 1,000 (1997)

      Internet country code: .ai

      Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 16 (2000)

      Internet users: 919 (2000)

      Transportation Anguilla

      Railways: 0 km

      Highways: total: 105 km paved: 65 km unpaved: 40 km (1998 est.)

      Waterways: none

      Ports and harbors: Blowing Point, Road Bay

      Merchant marine: none (2002 est.)

      Airports: 3 (2001)

      Airports - with paved runways: total: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2001)

      Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 2 under 914 m: 2 (2001)

      Military Anguilla

      Military - note: defense is the responsibility of the UK

      Transnational Issues Anguilla

      Disputes - international: none

      Illicit drugs: transshipment point for South American narcotics destined for the US and Europe

      This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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      Antarctica

      Introduction

      Antarctica

      Background: Speculation over the existence of a "southern land" was not confirmed until the early 1820s when British and American commercial operators and British and Russian national expeditions began exploring the Antarctic Peninsula region and other areas south of the Antarctic Circle. Not until 1840 was it established that Antarctica was indeed a continent and not just a group of islands. Several exploration "firsts" were achieved in the early 20th century. Following World War II, there was an upsurge in scientific research on the continent. A number of countries have set up year-round research stations on Antarctica. Seven have made territorial claims, but no other country recognizes these claims. In order to form a legal framework for the activities of nations on the continent, an Antarctic Treaty was negotiated that neither denies nor gives recognition to existing territorial claims; signed in 1959, it entered into force in 1961.

      Geography Antarctica

      Location: continent mostly south of the Antarctic Circle

      Geographic coordinates: 90 00 S, 0 00 E

      Map references: Antarctic Region

      Area: total: 14 million sq km note: fifth-largest continent, following Asia, Africa, North America, and South America, but larger than Australia and the subcontinent of Europe land: 14 million sq km (280,000 sq km ice-free, 13.72 million sq km ice-covered) (est.)

      Area - comparative: slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the US

      Land boundaries: 0 km note: see entry on International disputes

      Coastline: 17,968 km

      Maritime claims: none; 20 of 27 Antarctic consultative nations have made no claims to Antarctic territory (although Russia and the US have reserved the right to do so) and do not recognize the claims of the other nations; also see the Disputes - international entry

      Climate: severe low temperatures vary with latitude, elevation, and distance from the ocean; East Antarctica is colder than West Antarctica because of its higher elevation; Antarctic Peninsula has the most moderate climate; higher temperatures occur in January along the coast and average slightly below freezing

      Terrain: about 98% thick continental ice sheet and 2% barren rock, with average elevations between 2,000 and 4,000 meters; mountain ranges up to nearly 5,000 meters; ice-free coastal areas include parts of southern Victoria Land, Wilkes Land, the Antarctic Peninsula area, and parts of Ross Island on McMurdo Sound; glaciers form ice shelves along about half of the coastline, and floating ice shelves constitute 11% of the area of the continent

      Elevation extremes: lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,555 m highest point: Vinson Massif 4,897 m note: the lowest known land point in Antarctica is hidden in the Bentley Subglacial Trench; at its surface is the deepest ice yet discovered and the world's lowest elevation not under seawater

      Natural resources: iron ore, chromium, copper, gold, nickel, platinum and other minerals, and coal and hydrocarbons have been found in small uncommercial quantities; none presently exploited; krill, finfish, and crab have been taken by commercial fisheries

      Land use: arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (ice 98%, barren rock 2%) (1998 est.)

      Irrigated land: 0 sq km (1998 est.)

      Natural hazards: katabatic (gravity-driven) winds blow coastward from the high interior; frequent blizzards form near the foot of the plateau; cyclonic storms form over the ocean and move clockwise along the coast; volcanism on Deception Island and isolated areas of West Antarctica; other seismic activity rare and weak; large icebergs may calve from ice shelf

      Environment - current issues: in 1998, NASA satellite data showed that the antarctic ozone hole was the largest on record, covering 27 million square kilometers; researchers in 1997 found that increased ultraviolet light coming through the hole damages the DNA of icefish, an antarctic fish lacking hemoglobin; ozone depletion earlier was shown to harm one-celled antarctic marine plants; in 2002, significant areas of ice shelves disintegrated in response to regional warming

      Geography

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