People

Population:
244,943

Age structure:
0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA
65 years and over: NA

Population growth rate:
2.29%

Birth rate:
45.07 births/1,000 population

Death rate:
16.11 deaths/1,000 population

Net migration rate:
-6.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population

Infant mortality rate:
133.59 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 49.81 years
male: 48.65 years female: 51.33 years

Total fertility rate:
6.64 children born/woman

Nationality:
noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawian, Sahraouian

Ethnic groups:
Arab, Berber

Religions:
Muslim

Languages:
Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic

Literacy:
definition: NA
total population: NA%
male: NA% female: NA%

Economy

GDP:
Purchasing power parity - $NA

GDP - real growth rate:
NA%

GDP - per capita:
Purchasing power parity - $NA

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: 40%-45%
(1996 est.)

Population below poverty line:
NA%

Household income or
consumption by % share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
NA%

Labor force:
12,000

Labor force - by occupation:
Animal husbandry and subsistence farming 50%

Unemployment rate:
NA%

Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including
capital expenditures of $NA

Industries:
Phosphate mining, handicrafts

Industrial production growth rate:
NA%

Electricity - production:
85 million kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
(1998)

Electricity - consumption:
79 million kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (1998)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (1998)

Agriculture - products:
Fruits/ vegetables (grown in the few oases);
camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads)

Exports:
$NA

Exports - commodities:
Phosphates 62%

Exports - partners:
Morocco claims and administers
Western Sahara, so trade partners are
included in overall Moroccan accounts

Imports:
$NA

Imports - commodities:
Fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs

Imports - partners:
Claims and administers Western Sahara,
so trade partners are included
in overall Moroccan accounts

Debt - external:
$NA

Economic aid - recipient:
$NA

Currency:
1 Moroccan dirham (DH) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates:
Moroccan dirhams (DH) per US$1 -
10.051 (Jan. 2000), 9.804 (1999),
9.604 (1998), 9.527 (1997),
8.716 (1996), 8.540 (1995)

Fiscal year:
Calendar year

Geography

Location:
Northern Africa, bordering
the North Atlantic Ocean,
between Mauritania and Morocco

Geographic coordinates:
24 30 N, 13 00 W

Map references:
Africa

Area:
total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:
About the size of Colorado

Land boundaries:
total: 2,046 km
border countries:
Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km,
Morocco 443 km

Coastline:
1,110 km

Maritime claims:
Contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue

Climate:
Hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore
air currents produce fog and heavy dew

Terrain:
Mostly low, flat desert with large
areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to
small mountains in south and northeast

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m

Natural resources:
Phosphates, iron ore

Land use:
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 19%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 81%

Irrigated land:
NA sq km

Environment - current issues:
Sparse water and lack of arable land

Environment - international agreements:
party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
About 2,000 (1999 est.)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
0 (1999)

Radio broadcast stations:
AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)

Radios:
56,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations:
NA

Televisions:
6,000 (1997)

Internet Service Providers:
NA

Transportation

Railways:
0 km

Highways:
total: 6,200 km
paved: 1,350 km
unpaved: 4,850 km
(1991 est.)

Ports and harbors:
Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (1999)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 9
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 3

Heliports:
1 (1999 est.)

Military

Military branches:
NA

Expenditures - dollar figure:
$NA

Expenditures - % of GDP:
NA%

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara
former: Spanish Sahara

Capital:
None

Administrative divisions:
None (under de facto control of Morocco)

Suffrage:
None; a UN sponsored voter identification
campaign has yet to be completed

Executive branch:
None

International Organization Participation:
None

DiplomaticRepresentation in US:
None

U.S. Diplomatic Representation:
None

Background:
Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara)
in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal.
A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty
ended in a 1991 cease fire; a referendum on final status has been repeatedly
postponed and is not expected to occur until at least 2002.

Geography

Natural hazards:
Hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring;
widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
Claimed and administered by Morocco, but sovereignty
is unresolved and the UN is attempting to hold a referendum on the issue;
the UN-administered cease-fire has been in effect since September 1991

Economy

Western Sahara, a territory poor in natural resources and lacking sufficient rainfall,
depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining
as the principal sources of income for the population.
Most of the food for the urban population must be imported.
All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan Government.
Incomes and standards of living are substantially below the Moroccan level.

Government

Government type:
Legal status of territory and question of sovereignty unresolved;
territory contested by Morocco and Polisario Front
(Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro),
which in Feb. 1976 formally proclaimed a government-in-exile of the Sahrawi
Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); territory partitioned between Morocco
and Mauritania in April 1976, with Morocco acquiring northern two-thirds;
Mauritania, under pressure from Polisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims
to its portion in August 1979; Morocco moved to occupy that sector
shortly thereafter and has since asserted administrative control;
the Polisario's government-in-exile was seated as an OAU member in 1984; guerrilla
activities continued sporadically, until a UN-monitored cease-fire was implemented 9/6/91

Telephone system:
Sparse and limited system
domestic: NA
international: tied into Morocco's system by microwave
radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and satellite;
Satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to Rabat, Morocco