New Patriotic Party (PPN), Eddy WERLEMEN;
Aruban Patriotic Party (PPA), Leo CHANCE;
Aruban Democratic Party (PDA), Leo BERLINSKI;
Democratic Action '86 (AD'86), Arturo ODUBER;
governing coalition includes the MEP, PPA, and ADN
_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18
_#_Elections:
Legislature—last held 6 January 1989 (next to be held by January 1993); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(21 total) MEP 10, AVP 8, ADN 1, PPN 1, PPA 1
_#_Member of: ECLAC (associate), INTERPOL, IOC, UNESCO (associate), WCL, WTO (associate)
_#_Diplomatic representation: none (self-governing part of the Netherlands)
_#_Flag: blue with two narrow horizontal yellow stripes across the lower portion and a red, four-pointed star outlined in white in the upper hoist-side corner
_*Economy #_Overview: Tourism is the mainstay of the economy, although offshore banking and oil refining and storage are also important. Hotel capacity expanded rapidly between 1985 and 1989 and nearly doubled in 1990 alone. Unemployment has steadily declined from about 20% in 1986 to about 2% in 1990. The reopening of the local oil refinery, once a major source of employment and foreign exchange earnings, promises to give the economy an additional boost.
_#_GDP: $730 million, per capita $11,600; real growth rate 8.8% (1989 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.8% (1990 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 1.6% (1990 est.)
_#_Budget: revenues $145 million; expenditures $185 million, including capital expenditures of $42 million (1988)
_#_Exports: $131.6 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities—mostly petroleum products;
partners—US 64%, EC
_#_Imports: $496 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.);
commodities—food, consumer goods, manufactures;
partners—US 8%, EC
_#_External debt: $81 million (1987)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate NA
_#_Electricity: 310,000 kW capacity; 945 million kWh produced, 15,000 kWh per capita (1990)
_#_Industries: tourism, transshipment facilities, oil refining
_#_Agriculture: poor quality soils and low rainfall limit agricultural activity to the cultivation of aloes, some livestock, and fishing
_#_Economic aid: Western (non-US) countries ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1980–1988), $200 million
_#_Currency: Aruban florin (plural—florins); 1 Aruban florin (Af.) = 100 cents
_#_Exchange rates: Aruban florins (Af.) per US$1—1.7900 (fixed rate since 1986)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*Communications #_Ports: Oranjestad, Sint Nicolaas
_#_Airfield: government-owned airport east of Oranjestad
_#_Telecommunications: generally adequate; extensive interisland radio relay links; 72,168 telephones; stations—4 AM, 4 FM, 1 TV; 1 sea cable to Sint Maarten
_*Defense Forces #Note: defense is the responsibility of the Netherlands % @Ashmore and Cartier Islands (territory of Australia) *Geography #_Total area: 5 km2; land area: 5 km2; includes Ashmore Reef (West, Middle, and East Islets) and Cartier Island
_#_Comparative area: about 8.5 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC
_#_Land boundaries: none
_#_Coastline: 74.1 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 12 nm;
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth) or to depth of exploration;
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 3 nm
_#_Climate: tropical
_#_Terrain: low with sand and coral
_#_Natural resources: fish
_#_Land use: arable land 0%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 0%; forest and woodland 0%; other—grass and sand 100%
_#_Environment: surrounded by shoals and reefs; Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve established in August 1983
_#_Note: located in extreme eastern Indian Ocean between Australia and Indonesia 320 km off the northwest coast of Australia
_*People #_Population: no permanent inhabitants; seasonal caretakers
_*Government #_Long-form name: Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands
_#_Type: territory of Australia administered by the Australian Ministry for Territories and Local Government
_#_Administrative divisions: none (territory of Australia)
_#_Legal system: relevant laws of the Northern Territory of Australia
_#_Note: administered by the Australian Minister for Arts, Sports, the Environment, Tourism, and Territories Roslyn KELLY
_#_Diplomatic representation: none (territory of Australia)
_*Economy #_Overview: no economic activity
_*Communications #_Ports: none; offshore anchorage only
_*Defense Forces #Note: defense is the responsibility of Australia; periodic visits by the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force % @Atlantic Ocean *Geography #_Total area: 82,217,000 km2; includes Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies
_#_Comparative area: slightly less than nine times the size of the US; second-largest of the world's four oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, but larger than Indian Ocean or Arctic Ocean)
_#_Coastline: 111,866 km
_#_Climate: tropical cyclones (hurricanes) develop off the coast of Africa near Cape Verde and move westward into the Caribbean Sea; hurricanes can occur from May to December, but are most frequent from August to November
_#_Terrain: surface usually covered with sea ice in Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and Baltic Sea from October to June; clockwise warm water gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the north Atlantic, counterclockwise warm water gyre in the south Atlantic; the ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin; maximum depth is 8,605 meters in the Puerto Rico Trench
_#_Natural resources: oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, precious stones
_#_Environment: endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales; municipal sludge pollution off eastern US, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea; icebergs common in Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic from February to August and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and the Madeira Islands; icebergs from Antarctica occur in the extreme southern Atlantic
_#_Note: ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme north Atlantic from October to May and extreme south Atlantic from May to October; persistent fog can be a hazard to shipping from May to September; major choke points include the Dardanelles, Strait of Gibraltar, access to the Panama and Suez Canals; strategic straits include the Dover Strait, Straits of Florida, Mona Passage,