WESTERN SAHARA
(formerly Spanish Sahara)
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_Western_Sahara.jpg)
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| (See reference map VII) |
LAND edit
266,770 km2 , nearly all desert
Land boundaries: 2,086 km
WATER edit
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 6 nm (fishing 12 nm)
Coastline: 1,110 km
PEOPLE edit
Population: 86,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.8%
Nationality: noun—Saharan(s), Moroccan(s); adjective—Saharan, Moroccan
Ethnic divisions: Arab, Berber, and Negro nomads
Religion: Muslim
Languages: Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic
Literacy: among Moroccans, probably nearly 20%; among Saharans, perhaps 5%
Labor force: 12,000; 50% animal husbandry and subsistence farming, 50% other
Organized labor: none
GOVERNMENT edit
Official name: Western Sahara
Type: legal status of territory and question of sovereignty unresolved—territory partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania in April 1976, with Morocco acquiring the northern two-thirds including the rich phosphate reserves at Bu Craa. Mauritania, under pressure from the 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 there; OAU-sponsored referendum proposed to resolve situation while guerrilla activities continue into 1982
ECONOMY edit
Agriculture: practically none; some barley is grown in nondrought years; fruit and vegetables 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
Major industries: phosphate and iron mining, fishing, and handicrafts
Shortages: water
Electric power: 56,000 kW capacity (1980); 78 million kWh produced (1980), 772 kWh per capita
Exports: in 1975, up to $75 million in phosphates, all other exports valued at under $1 million
Imports: $1,443,000 (1968); fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs
Major trade partners: monetary trade largely with Spain and Spanish possessions, more recently with Morocco
Aid: small amounts from Spain in prior years; currently Morocco is major source of support
Monetary conversion rate: see Moroccan and Mauritanian currencies
COMMUNICATIONS edit
Railroads: none
Highways: 6,100 km total; 500 km bituminous treated, 5,600 km unimproved earth roads and tracks
Ports: 2 major (El Aaiun, Dakhla)
Civil air: no major transport aircraft
Airfields: 15 total, 14 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 8 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: sparse and fragmentary system with facilities concentrated in northwest area; some radio relay, wire, and radiocommunications stations in use; 1,000 telephones (0.7 per 100 popl.); 2 AM and no FM stations; 1 TV station