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Coral-ations
By Christian Layke
18 Jun 2002
To learn more about the world's coral reefs, click here.
- 98,572 -- square miles of coral reef in the world 1
- 97,100 -- square miles of the state of Wyoming 2
- 58 -- percentage of the world's reefs that are potentially threatened by human activities 1
- 34 -- percentage of the world's reefs that are off the shores of Southeast Asia 3
- 88 -- percentage of those reefs that are threatened 3
- 8 -- percentage of those reefs that are protected 3
- 19,643 -- square miles of coral reef in Indonesia 3
- 4,668,487 -- number of people in Indonesia deriving their livelihood from fishing in 1996 4
- 86 -- percentage of Indonesia's coral reef at medium or higher risk 3
- 6 -- number of countries containing more than half the world's reefs (Australia, Fiji, Indonesia, the Maldives, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines) 1
- 90 -- percentage of people living within 100 miles of the coast in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and the Philippines (world centers of coral diversity) 4
- 23,100-270,000 -- estimated value, in dollars, of one square kilometer of healthy coral reefs in area with tourism potential 3
- 20,000-151,000 -- estimated value, in dollars, of one square kilometer of healthy coral reef in areas without tourism potential 3
- 832,445 -- number of pieces of coral exported from Southeast Asia in 1997 4
- 819,118 -- number of pieces of coral imported into North America in 1997 4
Sources: 1. Bryant, Dirk, et. al. Reefs at Risk: A Map-based Indicator of Threats to the World's Coral Reefs. 2. U.S. Census Bureau. State & County QuickFacts. 3. Burke, Lauretta, Elizabeth Selig and Mark Spalding. Reefs at Risk in Southeast Asia, February 2002. 4. EarthTrends: The Environmental Information Portal.
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