omalia,
South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden,
Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga,
Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda,
Ukraine, UAE, UK, US, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela,
Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

OTHER
1 Taiwan

DEPENDENCIES AND AREAS OF SPECIAL SOVEREIGNTY

6 Australia - Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, Cocos
(Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald
Islands, Norfolk Island

2 China - Hong Kong, Macau

2 Denmark - Faroe Islands, Greenland

16 France - Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Europa Island, French
Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands,
Glorioso Islands, Guadeloupe, Juan de Nova Island, Martinique,
Mayotte, New Caledonia, Reunion, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Tromelin
Island, Wallis and Futuna

2 Netherlands - Aruba, Netherlands Antilles

3 New Zealand - Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau

3 Norway - Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard

15 UK - Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British
Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey,
Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South
Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands

14 US - American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis
Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island,
Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands,
Wake Island

MISCELLANEOUS
6 Antarctica, Gaza Strip, Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands, West
Bank, Western Sahara

OTHER ENTITIES
5 oceans - Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific
Ocean, Southern Ocean

1 World

267 total

Environment - current issues: This entry lists the most pressing and
important environmental problems. The following terms and
abbreviations are used throughout the entry:

acidification - the lowering of soil and water pH due to acid
precipitation and deposition; this process disrupts ecosystem nutrient
flows and may kill freshwater fish and plants dependent on more
neutral or alkaline conditions (see acid rain).

acid rain characterized as containing harmful levels of sulfur
dioxide; acid rain is damaging and potentially deadly to the earth's
fragile ecosystems; acidity is measured using the pH scale where 7 is
neutral, values greater that 7 are consider