29. Doing the grand tour: Which country, with a population of less than 1,500, is approximately 1.5 times the size of Washington, D.C.?
From Quiz Naughty or Nice - it's the "N" Quiz
Answer:
Niue
Niue is a small island in the South Pacific Ocean. It is one of the largest coral islands in existence, and consists of limestone cliffs and a central plateau, with a maximum elevation of 68 metres. The country is self-governing but 'contracts out' its defence and foreign affairs management to New Zealand, and its Chief of State is Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. The Polynesian residents mostly live in 14 villages and on family plantations, where they survive on subsistence farming. Some income comes from sales of coconuts, passion fruit, honey, limes and other agricultural products, and a large source of foreign income is from the sale of postage stamps to collectors worldwide. The country's economy was badly damaged by a 2004 typhoon, and it has had to rely on foreign aid.
New Caledonia is an island in the Coral Sea, east of Australia, and includes a number of smaller islands. In size it's a bit smaller than New Jersey, and has a population of about 222,000. It was a French possession, used as a penal colony, but in 1998 the citizens attained some degree of self-government and a promise to hold two referendums to determine whether to become independent. The island does not support its population through agriculture; food is a major import. Its economy is based largely on its deposits of the mineral nickel (it holds about a quarter of the Earth's supply) and tourism, plus substantial support from France.
Navassa Island is a territory of the United States, an uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea, with a total area of 5.4 square kilometres. The US took possession of it in 1857 as a source of guano for fertilizer. There is a lighthouse, built in 1917 but no longer in use. In 1999 it was deemed a National Wildlife Refuge. Haiti disputes the US claim to the island, and its fishermen sometimes camp there.
Nauru is the world's smallest independent republic, about one tenth the size of Washington DC (at 21 square kilometres) and with a population of under 14,000. While independent, it obtains much support from Australia, including defence. Located south of the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific, it is an important source of phosphates, although the mines are now largely depleted and the area of the mines is now a wasteland. Revenues from the mining operations had been placed in a trust fund to cushion the economy from the loss of mining income, however, politicians being what they are, the trust fund was raided and the country is now on the brink of bankruptcy. Its only other sources of income are from offshore banking and the growing of coconuts.