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Location: Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east
of Tonga
Geographic coordinates: 19 02 S, 169 52 W
Map references: Oceania
Area:
total: 260 sq km
land: 260 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative: 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 64 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: tropical; modified by southeast trade winds
Terrain: steep limestone cliffs along coast, central plateau
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location near Mutalau settlement 68
m
Natural resources: fish, arable land
Land use:
arable land: 19%
permanent crops: 8%
permanent pastures: 4%
forests and woodland: 19%
other: 50% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: NA sq km
Natural hazards: typhoons
Environment - current issues: increasing attention to conservationist
practices to counter loss of soil fertility from traditional slash
and burn agriculture
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea
Geography - note: one of world's largest coral islands
Background: Niue's remoteness, as well as cultural and linguistic
differences between its Polynesian inhabitants and those of the
rest of the Cook Islands, have caused it to be separately administered.
The population of the island continues to drop (from a peak of 5,200
in 1966 to 2,100 in 2000) with substantial emigration to New Zealand.
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