nport
(Tasmania), Fremantle, Geelong, Hobart (Tasmania), Launceston (Tasmania),
Mackay, Melbourne, Sydney, Townsville

Merchant marine: total: 55 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,469,362
GRT/1,869,262 DWT ships by type: bulk 26, cargo 5, chemical tanker 4,
container 1, liquefied gas 4, passenger 2, petroleum tanker 7, roll
on/roll off 6, includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag
of convenience: France 2, United Kingdom 2, United States 14 (2002 est.)

Airports: 421 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways: 11 1,524 to 2,437 m: Airports - with
unpaved runways: total: 139 1,524 to 2,437 m: 16 914 to 1,523 m: 111
under 914 m: 12 (2001)

Military Australia

Military branches: Royal Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy, Royal
Australian Air Force

Military manpower - military age: 17 years of age (2002 est.)

Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 5,013,406 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 4,321,387
(2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 142,686
(2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $9.3 billion (FY01/02 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2% (FY01/02)

Transnational Issues Australia

Disputes - international: Australia-East Timor-Indonesia are working
to resolve maritime boundary and sharing of seabed resources in "Timor
Gap"; Australia asserts a territorial claim to Antarctica and to its
continental shelf

Illicit drugs: Tasmania is one of the world's major suppliers of licit
opiate products; government maintains strict controls over areas of
opium poppy cultivation and output of poppy straw concentrate

This page was last updated on 1 January 2002

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Ashmore and Cartier Islands

Introduction

Ashmore and Cartier Islands

Background: These uninhabited islands came under Australian authority in
1931; formal administration began two years later. Ashmore Reef supports
a rich and diverse avian and marine habitat; in 1983 it became a National
Nature Reserve. Cartier Island, a former bombing range, is now a marine
reserve.

Geography Ashmore and Cartier Islands

Location: Southeastern Asia, islands in the Indian Ocean, northwest
of Australia

Geographic coordinates: 12 14 S, 123 05 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area: total: 5 sq km note: includes Ashmore Reef (Wes