"text":"Two British attempts at establishing the island as a penal colony (1788-1814 and 1825-55) were ultimately abandoned. In 1856, the island was resettled by Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions."
}
},
"Geography":{
"Location":{
"text":"Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia"
},
"Geographic coordinates":{
"text":"29 02 S, 167 57 E"
},
"Map references":{
"text":"Oceania"
},
"Area":{
"total":{
"text":"36 sq km"
},
"land":{
"text":"36 sq km"
},
"water":{
"text":"0 sq km"
}
},
"Area - comparative":{
"text":"about 0.2 times the size of Washington, DC"
},
"Land boundaries":{
"text":"0 km"
},
"Coastline":{
"text":"32 km"
},
"Maritime claims":{
"territorial sea":{
"text":"12 nm"
},
"exclusive fishing zone":{
"text":"200 nm"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"subtropical; mild, little seasonal temperature variation"
},
"Terrain":{
"text":"volcanic island with mostly rolling plains"
"text":"most of the 32 km coastline consists of almost inaccessible cliffs, but the land slopes down to the sea in one small southern area on Sydney Bay, where the capital of Kingston is situated"
"text":"Australian 79.5%, New Zealander 13.3%, Fijian 2.5%, Filipino 1.1%, English 1%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.8% (2011 est.)"
},
"Languages":{
"text":"English (official) 67.6%, other 32.4% (includes Norfolk Island 23.7%, which is a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian) (2011 est.)"
"text":"Protestant 49.6% (Anglican 31.8%, Uniting Church in Australia 10.6%, Seventh Day Adventist 3.2%), Roman Catholic 11.7%, other 8.6%, none 23.5%, unspecified 6.6% (2011 est.)"
"text":"parliamentary democracy (formerly the Legislative Assembly); overseas territory of Australia; note - in May 2015, the Australian Parliament passed the Norfolk Island Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 which abolished Norfolk Island self-government and replaced it with an interim Advisory Council effective 1 July 2015"
"text":"Executive Council consists of 4 Legislative Assembly members"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; administrator appointed by the governor general of Australia for a 2-year term and represents the monarch and Australia"
"text":"following an administrative restructuring of local government, the Legislative Assembly was dissolved on 18 June 2015 to be replaced by an interim Norfolk Island Advisory Council effective 1 July 2015; the Advisory Council consisted of 5 members appointed by the Norfolk Island administrator based on nominations from the community; following elections on 28 May 2016, the new Norfolk Island Regional Council commenced operations on 1 July 2016"
"text":"Supreme Court of Norfolk Island (consists of the chief justice and several justices); note - appeals beyond the Supreme Court of Norfolk Island are heard by the Federal Court and the High Court of Australia"
"text":"justices appointed by the governor general of Australia from among justices of the Federal Court of Australia; justices serve until mandatory retirement at age 70"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Petty Court of Sessions; specialized courts including a Coroner's Court and the Employment Tribunal"
}
},
"Political parties and leaders":{
"text":"Norfolk Island Labor Party [Mike KELLY] ++ Norfolk Liberals [John BROWN]"
},
"Political pressure groups and leaders":{
"text":"none"
},
"International organization participation":{
"text":"UPU"
},
"Diplomatic representation in the US":{
"text":"none (territory of Australia)"
},
"Diplomatic representation from the US":{
"text":"none (territory of Australia)"
},
"Flag description":{
"text":"three vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green with a large green Norfolk Island pine tree centered in the slightly wider white band; green stands for the rich vegetation on the island, and the pine tree - endemic to the island - is a symbol of Norfolk Island",
"note":{
"text":"somewhat reminiscent of the flag of Canada with its use of only two colors and depiction of a prominent local floral symbol in the central white band; also resembles the green and white triband of Nigeria"
}
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"Norfolk Island pine"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Come Ye Blessed\""
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"New Testament/John Prindle SCOTT"
},
"note":{
"text":"the local anthem, whose lyrics consist of the words from Matthew 25:34-36, 40, is also known as \"The Pitcairn Anthem;\" as a territory of Australia, \"God Save the Queen\" is official (see Australia); however, the island does not recognize \"Advance Australia Fair\""
"text":"Norfolk Island is suffering from a severe economic downturn. Tourism, the primary economic activity, is the main driver of economic growth. The agricultural sector has become self-sufficient in the production of beef, poultry, and eggs."
