y: 1 Moroccan dirham (DH) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates: Moroccan dirhams (DH) per US$1-9.822 (January 1998),
9.527 (1997), 8.716 (1996), 8.540 (1995), 9.203 (1994), 9.299 (1993)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones: 2,000

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

Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0

Radios: NA

Television broadcast stations: 2

Televisions: NA

@Western Sahara: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, El Aaiun

Airports: 12 (1997 est.)

Airports-with paved runways:
total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (1997 est.)

Airports-with unpaved runways:
total: 9
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 3 (1997 est.)

Heliports: 1 (1997 est.)

@Western Sahara:Military

Military branches: NA

Military expenditures-dollar figure: $NA

Military expenditures-percent of GDP: NA%

@Western Sahara: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

______________________________________________________________________

WORLD

@World:Geography

Map references: World, Time Zones

Area:
total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km
water: 361.132 million sq km
note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land

Area-comparative: land area about 15 times the size of the US

Land boundaries: the land boundaries in the world total 251,480.24 km
(not counting shared boundaries twice)

Coastline: 356,000 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm claimed by most but can vary
continental shelf: 200-m depth claimed by most or to depth of
exploitation, others claim 200 nm or to the edge of the continental
margin
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm claimed by most but can vary
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm claimed by most but can vary
territorial sea: 12 nm claimed by most but can vary
note: boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many
countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200
nm; 43 nations