ish
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) repeater station and 1 British Forces
Broadcasting Service repeater station; 2,500,000 radio receivers; 1,312,000
TV sets (1,224,000 color TV sets); satellite earth stations - 1 Pacific
Ocean INTELSAT and 2 Indian Ocean INTELSAT; coaxial cable to Guangzhou,
China; links to 5 international submarine cables providing access to ASEAN
member nations, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Middle East, and Western Europe

*Hong Kong, Defense Forces

Branches:
Headquarters of British Forces, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Hong Kong
Auxiliary Air Force, Royal Hong Kong Police Force
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 1,635,516; fit for military service 1,256,057; reach
military age (18) annually 43,128 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $300 million, 0.5% of GDP (1989 est.); this
represents one-fourth of the total cost of defending itself, the remainder
being paid by the UK
Note:
defense is the responsibility of the UK

*Howland Island, Header

Affiliation:
(territory of the US)

*Howland Island, Geography

Location:
in the North Pacific Ocean, 2,575 km southwest of Honolulu, just north of
the Equator, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia
Map references: Oceania
Area:
total area:
1.6 km2
land area:
1.6 km2
comparative area:
about 2.7 times the size of the Mall in Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
6.4 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
24 nm
continental shelf:
200 m or the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
territorial sea:
12 nm
International disputes:
none
Climate:
equatorial; scant rainfall, constant wind, burning sun
Terrain:
low-lying, nearly level, sandy, coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing
reef; depressed central area
Natural resources:
guano (deposits worked until late 1800s)
Land use:
arable land:
0%
permanent crops:
0%
meadows and pastures:
0%
forest and woodland:
5%
other:
95%
Irrigated land:
0 km2
Environment:
almost totally covered with grasses, prostrate vines, and low-growing
shrubs; small area of trees in the center; lacks fresh water; primarily a
nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine
wildlife; feral cats

*Howland Island, People

Population:
uninhabited; note - American civilians evacuated in 1942 after Japanese air
and nav