Piraeus (Greece), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Rotterdam
(Netherlands), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Stockholm (Sweden)

Note: Kiel Canal and Saint Lawrence Seaway are two important waterways

@Atlantic Ocean:Communications

Telephone system:
international: numerous submarine cables with most between continental
Europe and the UK, North America and the UK, and in the Mediterranean;
numerous direct links across Atlantic via INTELSAT satellite network

________________________________________________________________________

AUSTRALIA

@Australia:Geography

Location: Oceania, continent between the Indian Ocean and the South
Pacific Ocean

Map references: Oceania

Area:
total area: 7,686,850 sq km
land area: 7,617,930 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than the US
note: includes Macquarie Island

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 25,760 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

International disputes: territorial claim in Antarctica (Australian
Antarctic Territory)

Climate: generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east;
tropical in north

Terrain: mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast

Natural resources: bauxite, coal, iron ore, copper, tin, silver,
uranium, nickel, tungsten, mineral sands, lead, zinc, diamonds,
natural gas, petroleum

Land use:
arable land: 6%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 58%
forest and woodland: 14%
other: 22%

Irrigated land: 18,800 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: soil erosion from overgrazing, industrial development,
urbanization, and poor farming practices; soil salinity rising due to
the use of poor quality water; desertification; clearing for
agricultural purposes threatens the natural habitat of many unique
animal and plant species; the Great Barrier Reef off the northeast
coast, the largest coral reef in the world, is threatened by increased
shipping and its popularity as a tourist site; limited natural fresh
water resources
natural hazards: cyclones along the coast; severe droughts
international agreements: party to - Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear