The 2004 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency
unpaved: 473,492 km (1999–2000)
Waterways:
53,512 km
Ports and harbors:
Antwerp (Belgium), Barcelona (Spain), Bremen (Germany), Copenhagen
(Denmark), Gdansk (Poland), Hamburg (Germany), Helsinki (Finland),
Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), Le Havre (France), Lisbon
(Portugal), London (UK), Marseille (France), Naples (Italy),
Peiraiefs or Piraeus (Greece), Riga (Latvia), Rotterdam
(Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden), Talinn (Estonia)
Airports: total: 3,130 with paved runways: 1,834 with unpaved runways: 1,296 (2003)
Heliports: 94 (2003)
Military European Union
Military - note:
In October 2004, the European Union heads of government signed a
"constitutional treaty" that offers possibilities - with some limits
- for increased defense and security cooperation. If ratified, in a
process that may take some two years, this treaty will in effect
make operational the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP)
approved in the 2000 Nice Treaty. Despite limits of cooperation for
some EU members, development of a European military planning unit is
likely to continue. So is creation of a rapid-reaction military
force and a humanitarian aid system, which the planning unit will
support. France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and
Italy continue to press for wider coordination. The five-nation
Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and
Luxembourg - has already deployed troops and police on peacekeeping
missions to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Democratic
Republic of Congo and assumed command of the International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in August 2004. Eurocorps
directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade and the
Multinational Command Support Brigade and will command EUFOR, which
will take over from SFOR in Bosnia in December 2004. Other troop
contributions are under national command - committments to provide
67,100 troops were made at the Helsinki EU session in 2000. Some
56,000 EU troops were actually deployed in 2003. In August 2004, the
new European Defense Agency, tasked with promoting cooperative
European defense capabilities, began operations. As of November
2004, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France had proposed creation
of three 1,500-man rapid-reaction "battle groups."
This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005
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@Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
Introduction Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
Background:
Although first sighted by an English navigator in 1592, the first
landing (English) did not occur until almost a century later in
1690, and the first settlement (French) was not established until
1764. The colony was turned over to Spain two years later and the
islands have since been the subject of a territorial dispute, first
between Britain and Spain, then between Britain and Argentina. The
UK asserted its claim to the islands by establishing a naval
garrison there in 1833. Argentina invaded the islands on 2 April
1982. The British responded with an expeditionary force that landed
seven weeks later and after fierce fighting forced Argentine
surrender on 14 June 1982.
Geography Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
Location:
Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east
of southern Argentina
Geographic coordinates:
51 45 S, 59 00 W
Map references:
South America
Area:
total: 12,173 sq km
note: includes the two main islands of East and West Falkland and
about 200 small islands
water: 0 sq km
land: 12,173 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Connecticut
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
1,288 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: 200 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Climate:
cold marine; strong westerly winds, cloudy, humid; rain occurs on
more than half of days in year; average annual rainfall is 24 inches
in Stanley; occasional snow all year, except in January and
February, but does not accumulate
Terrain:
rocky, hilly, mountainous with some boggy, undulating plains
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Usborne 705 m
Natural resources:
fish, squid, wildlife, calcified seaweed, sphagnum moss
Land use: arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (99% permanent pastures, 1% other) (2001)
Irrigated land:
NA sq km
Natural hazards:
strong winds persist throughout the year
Environment - current issues: overfishing by unlicensed vessels is a problem; reindeer were introduced to the islands in 2001 for commercial reasons; this is the only commercial reindeer herd in the world unaffected by the Chornobyl disaster
Geography - note:
deeply indented coast provides good natural harbors; short growing
season
People Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
Population: 2,967 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure: 0–14 years: NA 15–64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA (2004 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.44% (2004 est.)
Birth rate:
NA births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Death rate:
NA deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Net migration rate:
NA migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Infant mortality rate: