tifunction/barge carrier, 177 oil tanker, 11
chemical tanker, 263 bulk, 3 liquefied gas, 1 vehicle carrier, 9 combination
bulk, 1 barge carrier; note - China beneficially owns an additional 227
ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling approximately 6,187,117 DWT that operate
under Panamanian, British, Hong Kong, Maltese, Liberian, Vanuatu, Cypriot,
Saint Vincent, Bahamian, and Romanian registry
Airports:
total:
330
usable:
330
with permanent-surface runways:
260
with runways over 3,500 m:
fewer than 10
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
90
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
200
Telecommunications:
domestic and international services are increasingly available for private
use; unevenly distributed internal system serves principal cities,
industrial centers, and most townships; 11,000,000 telephones (December
1989); broadcast stations - 274 AM, unknown FM, 202 (2,050 repeaters) TV;
more than 215 million radio receivers; 75 million TVs; satellite earth
stations - 4 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT, 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT, 1 INMARSAT,
and 55 domestic

*China, Defense Forces

Branches:
People's Liberation Army (PLA), PLA Navy (including Marines), PLA Air Force
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 343,361,925; fit for military service 190,665,512; reach
military age (18) annually 10,844,047 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GNP

*Christmas Island, Header

Affiliation:
(territory of Australia)

*Christmas Island, Geography

Location:
in the Indian Ocean, between Australia and Indonesia
Map references:
Southeast Asia
Area:
total area:
135 km2
land area:
135 km2
comparative area:
about 0.8 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
138.9 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
12 nm
exclusive fishing zone:
200 nm
territorial sea:
3 nm
International disputes:
none
Climate:
tropical; heat and humidity moderated by trade winds
Terrain:
steep cliffs along coast rise abruptly to central plateau
Natural resources:
phosphate
Land use:
arable land:
0%
permanent crops:
0%
meadows and pastures:
0%
forest and woodland:
0%
other:
100%
Irrigated land:
NA km2
Environment:
almost completely surrounded by a reef
Note:
located along major sea lanes of Indian Ocean

*Christmas Island, People

Population:
1,685 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate