d and guerrilla fighting continues in the area

_#_Climate: hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore 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

_#_Natural resources: phosphates, iron ore

_#_Land use: arable land NEGL%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and
pastures 19%; forest and woodland 0%; other 81%

_#_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

_*_People
_#_Population: 196,737 (July 1991), growth rate 2.6% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 48 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 23 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: 1 migrant/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 177 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 39 years male, 41 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 7.3 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--Saharan(s), Moroccan(s); adjective--Saharan,
Moroccan

_#_Ethnic divisions: Arab and Berber

_#_Religion: Muslim

_#_Language: Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic

_#_Literacy: NA% (male NA%, female NA%)

_#_Labor force: 12,000; 50% animal husbandry and subsistence farming

_#_Organized labor: NA

_*_Government
_#_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), which
in February 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 continue sporadically.

_#_Capital: none

_#_Administrative divisions: none (under de facto control of Morocco)

_#_Leaders: none

_#_Member of: none

_#_Diplomatic representation: none

_*_Economy
_#_Overview: Western Sahara, a territor