Western Sahara

Airports

16 total, 14 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 6 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Highways

6,100 km total; 1,350 km surfaced, 4,750 km improved and unimproved earth roads and tracks

Ports

El Aaiun, Ad Dakhla

Telecommunications

sparse and limited system; tied into Morocco's system by radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations linked to Rabat, Morocco; 2,000 telephones; stations--2 AM, no FM, 2 TV

Branches

NA

Defense expenditures

NA

Military manpower

NA

Agriculture

practically none; some barley is grown in nondrought years; fruit and vegetables are grown in the few oases; food imports are essential; camels, sheep, and goats are kept by the nomadic natives; cash economy exists largely for the garrison forces

Aid

NA

Budget

revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Currency

Moroccan dirham (plural--dirhams); 1 Moroccan dirham (DH) = 100 centimes

Electricity

60,000 kW capacity; 79 million kWh produced, 425 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates

Moroccan dirhams (DH) per US$1--8.093 (January 1990), 8.488 (1989), 8.209 (1988), 8.359 (1987), 9.104 (1986), 10.062 (1985)

Exports

$8 million (f.o.b., 1982 est.); commodities--phosphates 62%; partners--Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts

External debt

$NA

Fiscal year

NA

GDP

$NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate NA%

Imports

$30 million (c.i.f., 1982 est.); commodities--fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs; partners--Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts

Industrial production

growth rate NA%

Industries

phosphate, fishing, handicrafts

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

NA%

Overview

Western Sahara, a territory poor in natural resources and having little rainfall, has a per capita GDP of just a few hundred dollars. Fishing and phosphate mining are the principal industries and sources of income. Most of the food for the urban population must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan Government.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Climate

hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore currents produce fog and heavy dew

Coastline

1,110 km

Comparative area

slightly smaller than Colorado

Disputes

claimed and administered by Morocco, but sovereignty is unresolved and guerrilla fighting continues in the area

Environment

hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility; sparse water and arable land

Land boundaries

2,046 km total; Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km

Land use

NEGL% arable land; 0% permanent crops; 19% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 81% other

Maritime claims

contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue

Natural resources

phosphates, iron ore

Terrain

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

Total area

266,000 km2; land area: 266,000 km2

Administrative divisions

none (under de facto control of Morocco)

Capital

none

Diplomatic representation

none

Leaders

none

Long-form name

none

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); 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 continue to the present

Birth rate

48 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate

23 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic divisions

Arab and Berber

Infant mortality rate

177 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force

12,000; 50% animal husbandry and subsistence farming

Language

Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic

Life expectancy at birth

39 years male, 41 years female (1990)

Literacy

20% among Moroccans, 5% among Saharans (est.)

Nationality

noun--Saharan(s), Moroccan(s); adjective--Saharan, Moroccan

Net migration rate

2 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Organized labor

NA

Population

191,707 (July 1990), growth rate 2.7% (1990)

Religion

Muslim

Total fertility rate

7.3 children born/woman (1990)