centrally planned system that was largely closed to international
trade to a more market-oriented economy that has a rapidly growing
private sector and is a major player in the global economy. Reforms
started in the late 1970s with the phasing out of collectivized
agriculture, and expanded to include the gradual liberalization of
prices, fiscal decentralization, increased autonomy for state
enterprises, the foundation of a diversified banking system, the
development of stock markets, the rapid growth of the non-state
sector, and the opening to foreign trade and investment. Annual
inflows of foreign direct investment rose to nearly $84 billion in
2007. China has generally implemented reforms in a gradualist or
piecemeal fashion. In recent years, China has re-invigorated its
support for leading state-owned enterprises in sectors it considers
important to "economic security," explicitly looking to foster
globally competitive national champions. After keeping its currency
tightly linked to the US dollar for years, China in July 2005
revalued its currency by 2.1% against the US dollar and moved to an
exchange rate system that references a basket of currencies.
Cumulative appreciation of the renminbi against the US dollar since
the end of the dollar peg was more than 20% by late 2008, but the
exchange rate has changed little since the onset of the global
financial crisis. The restructuring of the economy and resulting
efficiency gains have contributed to a more than tenfold increase in
GDP since 1978. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis
that adjusts for price differences, China in 2008 stood as the
second-largest economy in the world after the US, although in per
capita terms the country is still lower middle-income. The Chinese
government faces numerous economic development challenges,
including: (a) strengthening its social safety net, including
pension and health system reform, to counteract a high domestic
savings rate and correspondingly low domestic demand; (b) sustaining
adequate job growth for tens of millions of migrants, new entrants
to the work force, and workers laid off from state-owned enterprises
deemed not worth saving; (c) reducing corruption and other economic
crimes; and (d) containing environmental damage and social strife
related to the economy's rapid transformation. Economic development
has been more rapid in coastal provinces than in the interior, and
approximately 200 million rural laborers and their dependents have
relocated to urban areas to find work - in recent years many have
returned to their villages. One demographic consequence of the "one
child" policy is that China is now one of the most rapidly aging
countries in the world. Deterioration in the environment - notably
air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table,
especially in the north - is another long-term problem. China
continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic
development. In 2007 China intensified government efforts to improve
environmental conditions, tying the evaluation of local officials to
environmental targets, publishing a national climate change policy,
and establishing a high level leading group on climate change,
headed by Premier WEN Jiabao. The Chinese government seeks to add
energy production capacity from sources other than coal and oil. In
late 2008, as China commemorated the 30th anniversary of its
historic economic reforms, the global economic downturn began to
slow foreign demand for Chinese exports for the first time in many
years. The government vowed to continue reforming the economy and
emphasized the need to increase domestic consumption in order to
make China less dependent on foreign exports for GDP growth in the
future.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$7.992 trillion (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
$7.332 trillion (2007 est.)
$6.489 trillion (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):
$4.327 trillion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
9% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 17
13% (2007 est.)
11.6% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$6,000 (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 133
$5,500 (2007 est.)
$4,900 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 11.3%
industry: 48.6%
services: 40.1% (2008 est.)
Labor force:
807.3 million (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 1
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 43%
industry: 25%
services: 32% (2006 est.)
Unemployment rate:
4% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 46
4% (2007 est.)
note: official data for urban areas only; including migrants may
boost total unemployment to 9%; substantial unemployment and
underemployment in rural areas
Population below poverty line:
8%
note: 21.5 million rural population live below the official
"absolute poverty" line (approximately $90 per year); and an
additional 35.5 million rural population above that but below the
official "low income" line (approximately $125 per year) (2006 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 31.4% (2004)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
47 (2007)
country comparison to the world: 36
40 (2001)
Investment (gross fixed):
40.5% of GDP (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 4
Budget:
revenues: $847.8 billion
expenditures: $861.6 billion (2008 est.)
Public debt:
15.6% of GDP (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 101
31.4% of GDP (2004 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.9% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 99
4.8% (2007 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
2.79% (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 130
3.33% (31 December 2007)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
5.31% (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 136
5.58% (17 December 2007)
Stock of money:
$2.434 trillion (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 3
$2.09 trillion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money:
$4.523 trillion (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 4
$3.437 trillion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit:
$5.555 trillion (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 4
$4.653 trillion (31 December 2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$2.794 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
$6.226 trillion (31 December 2007)
$2.426 trillion (31 December 2006)
Agriculture - products:
rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, apples,
cotton, oilseed; pork; fish
Industries:
mining and ore processing, iron, steel, aluminum, and other metals,
coal; machine building; armaments; textiles and apparel; petroleum;
cement; chemicals; fertilizers; consumer products, including
footwear, toys, and electronics; food processing; transportation
equipment, including automobiles, rail cars and locomotives, ships,
and aircraft; telecommunications equipment, commercial space launch
vehicles, satellites
Industrial production growth rate:
9.3% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 15
Electricity - production:
3.041 trillion kWh (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
Electricity - consumption:
2.835 trillion kWh (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
Electricity - exports:
16.64 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity - imports:
3.842 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Oil - production:
3.973 million bbl/day (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 5
Oil - consumption:
7.85 million bbl/day (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
Oil - exports:
419,200 bbl/day (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 32
Oil - imports:
4.21 million bbl/day (2007)
country comparison to the world: 4
Oil - proved reserves:
16 billion bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 13
Natural gas - production:
76.04 billion cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 11
Natural gas - consumption:
77.18 billion cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 12
Natural gas - exports:
3.36 billion cu m (2008)
country comparison to the world: 29
Natural gas - imports:
4.5 billion cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 35
Natural gas - proved reserves:
2.265 trillion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 17
Current account balance:
$426.1 billion (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 1
$371.8 billion (2007 est.)
Exports:
$1.435 trillion (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 3
$1.22 trillion (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities:
electrical and other machinery, including data processing equipment,
apparel, textiles, iron and steel, optical and medical equipment
Exports - partners:
US 17.7%, Hong Kong 13.3%, Japan 8.1%, South Korea 5.2%, Germany
4.1% (2008)
Imports:
$1.074 trillion (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 4
$904.6 billion (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities:
electrical and other machinery, oil and mineral fuels, optical and
medical equipment, metal ores, plastics, organic chemicals
Imports - partners:
Japan 13.3%, South Korea 9.9%, US 7.2%, Germany 4.9% (2008)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.955 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 1
$1.534 trillion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$400.6 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 23
$363 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$758.9 billion (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 7
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$149.3 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 22
$95.8 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Exchange rates:
Renminbi yuan (RMB) per US dollar - 6.9385 (2008 est.), 7.61 (2007),
7.97 (2006), 8.1943 (2005), 8.2768 (2004)
Communications ::China
Telephones - main lines in use:
365.6 million (2007)
country comparison to the world: 1
Telephones - mobile cellular:
634 million (2008)
country comparison to the world: 1
Telephone system:
general assessment: domestic and international services are
increasingly available for private use; unevenly distributed
domestic system serves principal cities, industrial centers, and
many towns; China continues to develop its telecommunications
infrastructure, and is partnering with foreign providers to expand
its global reach; China in the summer of 2008 began a major
restructuring of its telecommunications industry, resulting in the
consolidation of its six telecom service operators to three, China
Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom, each providing both
fixed-line and mobile services
domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular
telephone systems have been installed; mobile-cellular
subscribership is increasing rapidly; the number of Internet users
exceeded 250 million by summer 2008; a domestic satellite system
with 55 earth stations is in place
international: country code - 86; a number of submarine cables
provide connectivity to Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the US;
satellite earth stations - 7 (5 Intelsat - 4 Pacific Ocean and 1
Indian Ocean; 1 Intersputnik - Indian Ocean region; and 1 Inmarsat -
Pacific and Indian Ocean regions) (2008)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998)
Television broadcast stations:
3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are
provincial TV stations, and nearly 3,000 are local city stations)
(1997)
Internet country code:
.cn
Internet hosts:
14.156 million (2009)
country comparison to the world: 7
Internet users:
298 million (2008)
country comparison to the world: 1
Transportation ::China
Airports:
482 (2009)
country comparison to the world: 15
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 425
over 3,047 m: 63
2,438 to 3,047 m: 132
1,524 to 2,437 m: 133
914 to 1,523 m: 25
under 914 m: 72 (2009)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 57
over 3,047 m: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 5
1,524 to 2,437 m: 10
914 to 1,523 m: 13
under 914 m: 26 (2009)
Heliports:
45 (2009)
Pipelines:
gas 28,132 km; oil 20,204 km; refined products 9,746 km (2008)
Railways:
total: 77,834 km
country comparison to the world: 3
standard gauge: 77,084 km 1.435-m gauge (24,433 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 750 km 0.750-m gauge (2008)
Roadways:
total: 1,930,544 km
country comparison to the world: 3
paved: 1,575,571 km (includes 41,005 km of expressways)
unpaved: 354,973 km (2005)
Waterways:
110,000 km navigable (2008)
country comparison to the world: 1
Merchant marine:
total: 1,826
country comparison to the world: 3
by type: barge carrier 4, bulk carrier 451, cargo 689, carrier 2,
chemical tanker 69, combination ore/oil 1, container 162, liquefied
gas 44, passenger 8, passenger/cargo 83, petroleum tanker 244,
refrigerated cargo 33, roll on/roll off 10, specialized tanker 9,
vehicle carrier 17
foreign-owned: 20 (Ecuador 1, Greece 2, Hong Kong 12, Indonesia 1,
Japan 2, South Korea 1, Norway 1)
registered in other countries: 1,441 (Bahamas 10, Bangladesh 1,
Belize 71, Bermuda 10, Bolivia 1, Cambodia 193, Cyprus 10, France 5,
Georgia 10, Germany 2, Honduras 3, Hong Kong 324, India 1, Indonesia
2, Kiribati 15, South Korea 1, Liberia 11, Malta 12, Marshall
Islands 7, Mongolia 1, Norway 36, Panama 532, Philippines 4, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines 94, Sierra Leone 15, Singapore 14,
Thailand 1, Tuvalu 16, unknown 39) (2008)
Ports and terminals:
Dalian, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen,
Tianjin
Military ::China
Military branches:
People's Liberation Army (PLA): Ground Forces, Navy (includes
marines and naval aviation), Air Force (includes airborne forces),
and Second Artillery Corps (strategic missile force); People's Armed
Police (PAP); PLA Reserve Force (2009)
Military service age and obligation:
18-22 years of age for selective compulsory military service, with
24-month service obligation; no minimum age for voluntary service
(all officers are volunteers); 18-19 years of age for women high
school graduates who meet requirements for specific military jobs
(2009)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 375,009,345
females age 16-49: 354,314,328 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 314,459,083
females age 16-49: 296,763,134 (2009 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 10,621,373
female: 9,533,880 (2009 est.)
Military expenditures:
4.3% of GDP (2006)
country comparison to the world: 25
Transnational Issues ::China
Disputes - international:
continuing talks and confidence-building measures work toward
reducing tensions over Kashmir that nonetheless remains militarized
with portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai
Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and
Northern Areas); India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic
Kashmir lands to China in 1964; China and India continue their
security and foreign policy dialogue started in 2005 related to the
dispute over most of their rugged, militarized boundary, regional
nuclear proliferation, and other matters; China claims most of
India's Arunachal Pradesh to the base of the Himalayas; lacking any
treaty describing the boundary, Bhutan and China continue
negotiations to establish a common boundary alignment to resolve
territorial disputes due to cartographic discrepancies; Chinese maps
show an international boundary symbol off the coasts of the littoral
states of the South China Seas, where China has interrupted
Vietnamese hydrocarbon exploration; China asserts sovereignty over
the Spratly Islands together with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan,
Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct
of Parties in the South China Sea" eased tensions in the Spratly's
but is not the legally binding "code of conduct" sought by some
parties; Vietnam and China continue to expand construction of
facilities in the Spratly's and in March 2005, the national oil
companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam signed a joint
accord on marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands; China
occupies some of the Paracel Islands also claimed by Vietnam and
Taiwan; China and Taiwan continue to reject both Japan's claims to
the uninhabited islands of Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's
unilaterally declared equidistance line in the East China Sea, the
site of intensive hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation; certain
islands in the Yalu and Tumen rivers are in dispute with North
Korea; North Korea and China seek to stem illegal migration to China
by North Koreans, fleeing privations and oppression, by building a
fence along portions of the border and imprisoning North Koreans
deported by China; China and Russia have demarcated the once
disputed islands at the Amur and Ussuri confluence and in the Argun
River in accordance with their 2004 Agreement; China and Tajikistan
have begun demarcating the revised boundary agreed to in the
delimitation of 2002; the decade-long demarcation of the
China-Vietnam land boundary is expected to be completed by the end
of 2008, while the maritime boundary delimitation and fisheries
agreements in the Gulf of Tonkin, ratified in June 2004, have been
implemented; citing environmental, cultural, and social concerns,
China has reconsidered construction of 13 dams on the Salween River,
but energy-starved Burma, with backing from Thailand, remains intent
on building five hydro-electric dams downstream despite regional and
international protests; Chinese and Hong Kong authorities met in
March 2008 to resolve ownership and use of lands recovered in
Shenzhen River channelization, including 96-hectare Lok Ma Chau
Loop; Hong Kong developing plans to reduce 2,000 out of 2,800
hectares of its restricted Closed Area by 2010
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 300,897 (Vietnam); estimated
30,000-50,000 (North Korea)
IDPs: 90,000 (2007)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: China is a source, transit, and destination
country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of
sexual exploitation and forced labor; the majority of trafficking in
China occurs within the country's borders, but there is also
considerable international trafficking of Chinese citizens to
Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North
America; Chinese women are lured abroad through false promises of
legitimate employment, only to be forced into commercial sexual
exploitation, largely in Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Japan;
women and children are trafficked to China from Mongolia, Burma,
North Korea, Russia, and Vietnam for forced labor, marriage, and
prostitution; some North Korean women and children seeking to leave
their country voluntarily cross the border into China and are then
sold into prostitution, marriage, or forced labor
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - China is on the Tier 2 Watch List
for the fourth consecutive year for its failure to provide evidence
of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly in
terms of punishment of trafficking crimes and the protection of
Chinese and foreign victims of trafficking; victims are sometimes
punished for unlawful acts that were committed as a direct result of
their being trafficked, such as violations of prostitution or
immigration/emigration controls; the Chinese Government continued to
treat North Korean victims of trafficking solely as economic
migrants, routinely deporting them back to horrendous conditions in
North Korea; additional challenges facing the Chinese Government
include the enormous size of its trafficking problem and the
significant level of corruption and complicity in trafficking by
some local government officials (2008)
Illicit drugs:
major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle
region of Southeast Asia; growing domestic consumption of synthetic
drugs, and heroin from Southeast and Southwest Asia; source country
for methamphetamine and heroin chemical precursors, despite new
regulations on its large chemical industry (2008)
page last updated on November 11, 2009
======================================================================
@Christmas Island (Australia-Oceania)
Introduction ::Christmas Island
Background:
Named in 1643 for the day of its discovery, the island was annexed
and settlement began by the UK in 1888. Phosphate mining began in
the 1890s. The UK transferred sovereignty to Australia in 1958.
Almost two-thirds of the island has been declared a national park.
Geography ::Christmas Island
Location:
Southeastern Asia, island in the Indian Ocean, south of Indonesia
Geographic coordinates:
10 30 S, 105 40 E
Map references:
Oceania
Area:
total: 135 sq km
country comparison to the world: 221
land: 135 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
about three-quarters the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
138.9 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical with a wet season (December to April) and dry season; heat
and humidity moderated by trade winds
Terrain:
steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Murray Hill 361 m
Natural resources:
phosphate, beaches
Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 100% (mainly tropical rainforest; 63% of the island is a
national park) (2005)
Irrigated land:
NA
Natural hazards:
the narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime
hazard
Environment - current issues:
loss of rainforest; impact of phosphate mining
Geography - note:
located along major sea lanes of Indian Ocean
People ::Christmas Island
Population:
1,402 (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 233
Age structure:
0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA
65 years and over: NA
Population growth rate:
0% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 202
Birth rate:
NA
Death rate:
NA
Net migration rate:
NA
Sex ratio:
NA (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: NA
male: NA
female: NA
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: NA
male: NA
female: NA
Total fertility rate:
NA
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA
Nationality:
noun: Christmas Islander(s)
adjective: Christmas Island
Ethnic groups:
Chinese 70%, European 20%, Malay 10%
note: no indigenous population (2001)
Religions:
Buddhist 36%, Muslim 25%, Christian 18%, other 21% (1997)
Languages:
English (official), Chinese, Malay
Literacy:
NA
Government ::Christmas Island
Country name:
conventional long form: Territory of Christmas Island
conventional short form: Christmas Island
Dependency status:
non-self governing territory of Australia; administered from
Canberra by the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department
Government type:
NA
Capital:
name: The Settlement
geographic coordinates: 10 25 S, 105 43 E
time difference: UTC+7 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
none (territory of Australia)
Independence:
none (territory of Australia)
National holiday:
Australia Day, 26 January (1788)
Constitution:
Christmas Island Act of 1958-59 (1 October 1958) as amended by the
Territories Law Reform Act of 1992
Legal system:
under the authority of the governor general of Australia and
Australian law
Suffrage:
18 years of age
Executive branch:
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
represented by the Australian governor general
head of government: Administrator Brian LACY (since 5 October 2009)
elections: the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the
governor general of Australia and represents the monarch and
Australia
Legislative branch:
unicameral Christmas Island Shire Council (9 seats; members elected
by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: held every two years with half the members standing for
election; last held 20 October 2007 (next to be held in 2009)
election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - independents 9
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court; District Court; Magistrate's Court
Political parties and leaders:
none
Political pressure groups and leaders:
none
International organization participation:
none
Diplomatic representation in the US:
none (territory of Australia)
Diplomatic representation from the US:
none (territory of Australia)
Flag description:
territorial flag; divided diagonally from upper hoist to lower fly;
the upper triangle is green with a yellow image of the Golden Bosun
Bird superimposed, the lower triangle is blue with the Southern
Cross constellation, representing Australia, superimposed; a
centered yellow disk displays a green map of the island
note: the flag of Australia is used for official purposes
Economy ::Christmas Island
Economy - overview:
Phosphate mining had been the only significant economic activity,
but in December 1987 the Australian government closed the mine. In
1991, the mine was reopened. With the support of the government, a
$34 million casino opened in 1993, but closed in 1998. The
Australian government in 2001 agreed to support the creation of a
commercial space-launching site on the island expected to begin
operations in the near future.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$NA
Labor force:
NA
Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA
Agriculture - products:
NA
Industries:
tourism, phosphate extraction (near depletion)
Exports:
$NA
Exports - commodities:
phosphate
Imports:
$NA
Imports - commodities:
consumer goods
Exchange rates:
Australian dollars (AUD) per US dollar - 1.2059 (2008 est.), 1.2137
(2007), 1.3285 (2006), 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004)
Communications ::Christmas Island
Telephones - main lines in use:
NA
Telephone system:
general assessment: service provided by the Australian network
domestic: GSM mobile telephone service replaced older analog system
in February 2005
international: country code - 61-8; satellite earth station - 1
(Intelsat provides telephone and telex service) (2005)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (2006)
Television broadcast stations:
0 (TV broadcasts received via satellite from mainland Australia)
(2006)
Internet country code:
.cx
Internet hosts:
2,598 (2009)
country comparison to the world: 145
Internet users:
464 (2001)
country comparison to the world: 216
Transportation ::Christmas Island
Airports:
1 (2009)
country comparison to the world: 222
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2009)
Roadways:
total: 140 km
country comparison to the world: 209
paved: 30 km
unpaved: 110 km (2007)
Ports and terminals:
Flying Fish Cove
Military ::Christmas Island
Military - note:
defense is the responsibility of Australia
Transnational Issues ::Christmas Island
Disputes - international:
none
page last updated on October 29, 2009
======================================================================
@Clipperton Island (North America)
Introduction ::Clipperton Island
Background:
This isolated island was named for John CLIPPERTON, a pirate who
made it his hideout early in the 18th century. Annexed by France in
1855, it was seized by Mexico in 1897. Arbitration eventually
awarded the island to France, which took possession in 1935.
Geography ::Clipperton Island
Location: