LocationOceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea Geographic coordinates8 00 S, 159 00 E Map referencesOceania Areatotal: 28,450 sq km Area - comparativeslightly smaller than Maryland Land boundaries0 km Coastline5,313 km Maritime claimsmeasured from claimed archipelagic baselines Climatetropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather Terrainmostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls Elevation extremeslowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m Natural resourcesfish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel Land usearable land: 0.62% Irrigated landNA Total renewable water resources44.7 cu km (1987) Natural hazardstyphoons, but rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earthquakes, tremors, and volcanic activity; tsunamis Environment - current issuesdeforestation; soil erosion; many of the surrounding coral reefs are dead or dying Environment - international agreementsparty to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling Geography - notestrategic location on sea routes between the South Pacific Ocean, the Solomon Sea, and the Coral Sea; on 2 April 2007 an undersea earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale occurred 345 km WNW of the capital Honiara, the resulting tsunami devastated coastal areas of Western and Choiseul provinces with dozens of deaths and thousands dislocated; the provincial capital of Gizo was especially hard hit |
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Source: CIA World Factbook | |