The 1999 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

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      @Arctic Ocean——————

      Geography

      Location: body of water mostly north of the Arctic Circle

      Geographic coordinates: 90 00 N, 0 00 E

      Map references: Arctic Region

      Area:

       total: 14.056 million sq km

       note: includes Baffin Bay, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea,

       East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara

       Sea, Laptev Sea, Northwest Passage, and other tributary water bodies

      Area—comparative: slightly less than 1.5 times the size of the

       US; smallest of the world's four oceans (after Pacific Ocean,

       Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean)

      Coastline: 45,389 km

      Climate: polar climate characterized by persistent cold and relatively narrow annual temperature ranges; winters characterized by continuous darkness, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies; summers characterized by continuous daylight, damp and foggy weather, and weak cyclones with rain or snow

      Terrain: central surface covered by a perennial drifting polar icepack that averages about 3 meters in thickness, although pressure ridges may be three times that size; clockwise drift pattern in the Beaufort Gyral Stream, but nearly straight-line movement from the New Siberian Islands (Russia) to Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland); the icepack is surrounded by open seas during the summer, but more than doubles in size during the winter and extends to the encircling landmasses; the ocean floor is about 50% continental shelf (highest percentage of any ocean) with the remainder a central basin interrupted by three submarine ridges (Alpha Cordillera, Nansen Cordillera, and Lomonsov Ridge)

      Elevation extremes:

       lowest point: Fram Basin −4,665 m

       highest point: sea level 0 m

      Natural resources: sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits,

       polymetallic nodules, oil and gas fields, fish, marine mammals

       (seals and whales)

      Natural hazards: ice islands occasionally break away from northern Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually icelocked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing from October to May

      Environment—current issues: endangered marine species include

       walruses and whales; fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to

       recover from disruptions or damage

      Environment—international agreements:

       party to: none of the selected agreements

       signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

      Geography—note: major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia; floating research stations operated by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean; snow cover lasts about 10 months

      Government

      Data code: none; the US Government has not approved a standard for hydrographic codes—see the Cross-Reference List of Hydrographic Data Codes appendix

      Economy

      Economy—overview: Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.

      Communications

      Telephone system: international: no submarine cables

      Transportation

      Ports and harbors: Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe

       Bay (US)

      Transportation—note: sparse network of air, ocean, river, and

       land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea

       Route (Eurasia) are important seasonal waterways

      Transnational Issues

      Disputes—international: some maritime disputes (see littoral states); Svalbard is the focus of a maritime boundary dispute between Norway and Russia

      ======================================================================

      @Argentina————

      Introduction

      Background: A part of the Spanish empire until independence in 1816, Argentina subsequently experienced periods of internal political conflict between conservatives and liberals and between civilian and military factions. Meantime, thanks to rich natural resources and foreign investment, a modern agriculture and a diversified industry were gradually developed. After World War II, a long period of Peronist dictatorship was followed by rule by a military junta. Democratic elections finally came in 1983, but both the political and economic atmosphere remain susceptible to turmoil.

      Geography

      Location: Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic

       Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay

      Geographic coordinates: 34 00 S, 64 00 W

      Map references: South America

      Area:

       total: 2,766,890 sq km

       land: 2,736,690 sq km

       water: 30,200 sq km

      Area—comparative: slightly less than three-tenths the size of the

       US

      Land boundaries:

       total: 9,665 km

       border countries: Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km,

       Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km

      Coastline: 4,989 km

      Maritime claims:

       contiguous zone: 24 nm

       continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

       exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

       territorial sea: 12 nm

      Climate: mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in

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