country comparison to the world: 171
note: estimate is based on projections by age, sex, fertility,
mortality, and migration; fertility and mortality are based on data
from neighboring countries (July 2010 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 44.9% (male 92,428/female 89,570)
15-64 years: 52.8% (male 105,191/female 108,803)
65 years and over: 2.3% (male 3,881/female 5,337) (2010 est.)
Median age:
total: 20.1 years
male: 19.7 years
female: 20.6 years (2010 est.)
Population growth rate:
3.169% (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 9
Birth rate:
32.56 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 41
Death rate:
9.13 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 71
Urbanization:
urban population: 81% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 4% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2010 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 61.97 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 33
male: 67.13 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 56.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 60.74 years
country comparison to the world: 185
male: 58.57 years
female: 62.99 years (2010 est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.37 children born/woman (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 39
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA
Nationality:
noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian
Ethnic groups:
Arab, Berber
Religions:
Muslim
Languages:
Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic
Literacy:
NA
Government ::Western Sahara
Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara
former: Rio de Oro, Saguia el Hamra, Spanish Sahara
Government type:
legal status of territory and issue 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
February 1976 formally proclaimed a government-in-exile, the Sahrawi
Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), near Tindouf, Algeria, led by
President Mohamed ABDELAZIZ; territory partitioned between Morocco
and Mauritania in April 1976 when Spain withdrew, 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 Organization of African Unity
(OAU) member in 1984; Morocco between 1980 and 1987 built a
fortified sand berm delineating the roughly 80 percent of Western
Sahara west of the barrier that currently is controlled by Morocco;
guerrilla activities continued sporadically until a UN-monitored
cease-fire was implemented on 6 September 1991 (Security Council
Resolution 690) by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in
Western Sahara (MINURSO)
Capital:
none
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during
Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
none (territory west of the berm under de facto Moroccan control)
Suffrage:
none; (residents of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara participate
in Moroccan elections)
Executive branch:
none
Political pressure groups and leaders:
none
International organization participation:
AU, WFTU
Diplomatic representation in the US:
none
Diplomatic representation from the US:
none
Economy ::Western Sahara
Economy - overview:
Western Sahara has a small market-based economy whose main indutries
are fishing, phosphate mining, and pastoral nomadism. The
territory's arid desert climate makes sedentary agriculture
difficult, and Wstern Sahara imports much of its food. The Moroccan
Government administers Western Sahara's economy and is a source of
employment, infrstructure development, and social spending in the
territory. Western Sahara's unresolved legal status makes the
exploitation of its natural resources a contentious issue between
Morocco and the Polisario. Morocco and the EU in July 2006 signed a
four-year agreement allowing European vessels to fish off the coast
of Morocco, including the disputed waters off the coast of Western
Sahara. Oil has never been found in Western Sahara in commercially
significant quantities, but Morocco and the Polisario have quarreled
over who has the right to authorize and benefit from oil exploration
in the territory. Western Sahara's main long-term economic challenge
is the development of a more diverse set of industries capable of
providing greater employment and income to the territory.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$900 million (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 204
GDP (official exchange rate):
$NA
GDP - real growth rate:
NA%
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$2,500 (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 175
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: 40% (2007 est.)
Labor force:
144,000 (2005 est.)
country comparison to the world: 178
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 50%
industry and services: 50% (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
NA%
Agriculture - products:
fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats
(kept by nomads); fish
Industries:
phosphate mining, handicrafts
Industrial production growth rate:
NA%
Electricity - production:
90 million kWh (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 192
Electricity - consumption:
83.7 million kWh (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 192
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2008 est.)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 121
Oil - consumption:
2,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 184
Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 165
Oil - imports:
1,702 bbl/day (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 177
Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 106
Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 111
Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 161
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 98
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 114
Natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 119
Exports:
$NA
Exports - commodities:
phosphates 62%
Imports:
$NA
Imports - commodities:
fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs
Debt - external:
$NA
Exchange rates:
Moroccan dirhams (MAD) per US dollar - 8.3619 (2009), 7.526 (2008),
8.3563 (2007), 8.7722 (2006)
Communications ::Western Sahara
Telephones - main lines in use:
about 2,000 (1999 est.)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
0 (1999)
country comparison to the world: 221
Telephone system:
general assessment: sparse and limited system
domestic: NA
international: country code - 212; tied into Morocco's system by
microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and satellite;
satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to
Rabat, Morocco
Broadcast media:
Morocco's state-owned broadcaster, Radio-Television Marocaine (RTM),
operates a radio service from Laayoune and relays TV service; a
Polisario-backed radio station also broadcasts (2008)
Internet country code:
.eh
Transportation ::Western Sahara
Airports:
6 (2010)
country comparison to the world: 175
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2010)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2010)
Ports and terminals:
Ad Dakhla, Laayoune (El Aaiun)
Military ::Western Sahara
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 76,483
females age 16-49: 83,988 (2010 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 5,376
female: 5,280 (2010 est.)
Transnational Issues ::Western Sahara
Disputes - international:
Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, whose sovereignty
remains unresolved; UN-administered cease-fire has remained in
effect since September 1991, administered by the UN Mission for the
Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), but attempts to hold a
referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected all
brokered proposals; several states have extended diplomatic
relations to the "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" represented by
the Polisario Front in exile in Algeria, while others recognize
Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara; most of the approximately
102,000 Sahrawi refugees are sheltered in camps in Tindouf, Algeria
page last updated on January 13, 2011
======================================================================
@World (World)
Introduction ::World
Background:
Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world
wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast
colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from
the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the
landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance
and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in
North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the
environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and
water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h)
the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of
the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population
continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930,
3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6
billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential
growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances
in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal
weapons of war).
Geography ::World
Geographic overview:
The surface of the earth is approximately 70.9% water and 29.1%
land. The former portion is divided into large water bodies termed
oceans. The World Factbook recognizes and describes five oceans,
which are in decreasing order of size: the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic
Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean.
The land portion is generally divided into several, large, discrete
landmasses termed continents. Depending on the convention used, the
number of continents can vary from five to seven. The most common
classification recognizes seven, which are (from largest to
smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica,
Europe, and Australia. Asia and Europe are sometimes lumped together
into a Eurasian continent resulting in six continents.
Alternatively, North and South America are sometimes grouped as
simply the Americas, resulting in a continent total of six (or five,
if the Eurasia designation is used).
North America is commonly understood to include the island of
Greenland, the isles of the Caribbean, and to extend south all the
way to the Isthmus of Panama. The easternmost extent of Europe is
generally defined as being the Ural Mountains and the Ural River; on
the southeast the Caspian Sea; and on the south the Caucasus
Mountains, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean. Portions of
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkey fall within both
Europe and Asia, but in every instance the larger section is in
Asia. These countries are considered part of both continents.
Armenia and Cyprus, which lie completely in Western Asia, are
geopolitically European countries.
Asia usually incorporates all the islands of the Philippines,
Malaysia, and Indonesia. The islands of the Pacific are often lumped
with Australia into a "land mass" termed Oceania or Australasia.
Africa's northeast extremity is frequently delimited at the Isthmus
of Suez, but for geopolitical purposes, the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula
is often included as part of Africa.
Although the above groupings are the most common, different
continental dispositions are recognized or taught in certain parts
of the world, with some arrangements more heavily based on cultural
spheres rather than physical geographic considerations.
Map references:
Political Map of the World , Physical Map of the World , Standard
Time Zones of the World
Area:
total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km
water: 361.132 million sq km
note: 70.9% of the world's surface is water, 29.1% is land
Area - comparative:
land area about 16 times the size of the US
top fifteen World Factbook entities ranked by size: Pacific Ocean
155.557 million sq km; Atlantic Ocean 76.762 million sq km; Indian
Ocean 68.556 million sq km; Southern Ocean 20.327 million sq km;
Russia 17,098,242 sq km; Arctic Ocean 14.056 million sq km;
Antarctica 14 million sq km; Canada 9,984,670 sq km; United States
9,826,675 sq km; China 9,596,961 sq km; Brazil 8,514,877 sq km;
Australia 7,741,220 sq km; European Union 4,324,782 sq km; India
3,287,263 sq km; Argentina 2,780,400 sq km
top ten largest islands: Greenland 2,166,086 sq km; New Guinea
(Indonesia, Papua New Guinea) 785,753 sq km; Borneo (Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia) 751,929 sq km; Madagascar 587,713 sq km; Baffin
Island (Canada) 507,451 sq km; Sumatra (Indonesia) 472,784 sq km;
Honshu (Japan) 227,963 sq km; Victoria Island (Canada) 217,291 sq
km; Great Britain (United Kingdom) 209,331 sq km; Ellesmere Island
(Canada) 196,236 sq km
Land boundaries:
the land boundaries in the world total 251,060 km (not counting
shared boundaries twice); two nations, China and Russia, each border
14 other countries
note: 45 nations and other areas are landlocked, these include:
Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan,
Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic,
Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary,
Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein,
Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal,
Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Swaziland,
Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West
Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan,
are doubly landlocked
Coastline:
356,000 km
note: 95 nations and other entities are islands that border no other
countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and
Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain,
Baker Island, Barbados, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean
Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands,
Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands,
Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Cyprus,
Dominica, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji,
French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Greenland,
Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland
Island, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis
Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar,
Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte,
Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru,
Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island,
Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands,
Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint
Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint
Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao
Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South
Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka,
Svalbard, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos
Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and
Futuna, Taiwan
Maritime claims:
a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make
the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as
described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea:
territorial sea - 12 nm, contiguous zone - 24 nm, and exclusive
economic zone - 200 nm; additional zones provide for exploitation of
continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary
situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from
extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm
Climate:
a wide equatorial band of hot and humid tropical climates - bordered
north and south by subtropical temperate zones - that separate two
large areas of cold and dry polar climates
Terrain:
the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the
Pacific Ocean
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,555 m
note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is
the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific
Ocean
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m
top ten highest mountains (measured from sea level): Mount Everest
(Nepal-China) 8,850 m; K2 (Pakistan) 8,611 m; Kanchenjunga
(Nepal-India) 8,598 m; Lhotse (Nepal) 8,516 m; Makalu (Nepal-China)
8,463 m; Cho Oyu (Nepal-China) 8,201 m; Dhaulagiri (Nepal) 8,167 m;
Manaslu (Nepal) 8,163 m; Nanga Parbat (Pakistan) 8,125 m; Anapurna
(Nepal) 8,091 m
Natural resources:
the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion
of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant
species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially
in some countries of Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China)
pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are
only beginning to address
Land use:
arable land: 10.57%
permanent crops: 1.04%
other: 88.39% (2005)
Irrigated land:
2,770,980 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards:
large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones); natural
disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)
volcanism: the world is home to more than 1,500 potentially active
volcanoes, with over 500 of these having erupted in historical
times; an estimated 500 million people live near these volcanoes;
associated dangers include lava flows, lahars (mudflows),
pyroclastic flows, ash clouds, ash fall, ballistic projectiles, gas
emissions, landslides, earthquakes, and tsunamis; in the 1990s, the
International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the
Earth's Interior, created a list of 16 volcanoes worthy of special
study because of their great potential for destruction:
Avachinsky-Koryaksky (Russia), Colima (Mexico), Etna (Italy),
Galeras (Colombia), Mauna Loa (United States), Merapi (Indonesia),
Nyiragongo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Rainier (United
States), Sakurajima (Japan), Santa Maria (Guatemala), Santorini
(Greece), Taal (Philippines), Teide (Spain), Ulawun (Papua New
Guinea), Unzen (Japan), Vesuvius (Italy)
Environment - current issues:
large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters,
pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of
vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of
wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion; global warming
becoming a greater concern
Geography - note:
the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just
about one-third of the 13.7-billion-year age estimated for the
universe
People ::World
Population:
6,768,181,146 (July 2010 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 27% (male 944,987,919/female 884,268,378)
15-64 years: 65.3% (male 2,234,860,865/female 2,187,838,153)
65 years and over: 7.6% (male 227,164,176/female 289,048,221) (2010
est.)
Median age:
total: 28.4 years
male: 27.7 years
female: 29 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.133% (2009 est.)
Birth rate:
19.86 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate:
8.37 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Urbanization:
urban population: 50.5% of total population (2010)
rate of urbanization: 1.85% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
ten largest urban agglomerations: Tokyo (Japan) - 36,669,000; Delhi
(India) - 22,157,000; Sao Paulo (Brazil) - 20,262,000; Mumbai
(India) - 20,041,000; Mexico City (Mexico) - 19,460,000; New
York-Newark (US) - 19,425,000; Shanghai (China) - 16,575,000;
Kolkata (India) - 15,552,000; Dhaka (Bangladesh) - 14,648,000;
Karachi (Pakistan) - 13,125,000 (2009)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 44.13 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 46.19 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 41.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 66.12 years
male: 64.29 years
female: 68.07 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.56 children born/woman (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.8% (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
33 million (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
2 million (2007 est.)
Religions:
Christians 33.32% (of which Roman Catholics 16.99%, Protestants
5.78%, Orthodox 3.53%, Anglicans 1.25%), Muslims 21.01%, Hindus
13.26%, Buddhists 5.84%, Sikhs 0.35%, Jews 0.23%, Baha'is 0.12%,
other religions 11.78%, non-religious 11.77%, atheists 2.32% (2007
est.)
Languages:
Mandarin Chinese 12.65%, Spanish 4.93%, English 4.91%, Arabic 3.31%,
Hindi 2.73%, Bengali 2.71%, Portuguese 2.67%, Russian 2.16%,
Japanese 1.83%, Standard German 1.35%, Javanese 1.27% (2008 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 82%
male: 87%
female: 77%
note: over two-thirds of the world's 785 million illiterate adults
are found in only eight countries (Bangladesh, China, Egypt,
Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan); of all the
illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low
literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, the Arab states,
South and West Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, where around one-third
of the men and half of all women are illiterate (2005 est.)
Government ::World
Administrative divisions:
266 countries, dependent areas, and other entities
Legal system:
all members of the UN are parties to the statute that established
the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court
Economy ::World
Economy - overview: