nditures: $NA, NA% of GDP

________________________________________________________________________

WESTERN SAHARA

@Western Sahara:Geography

Location: Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between
Mauritania and Morocco

Map references: Africa

Area:
total area: 266,000 sq km
land area: 266,000 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than Colorado

Land boundaries: total 2,046 km, Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km,
Morocco 443 km

Coastline: 1,110 km

Maritime claims: contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue

International disputes: 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
currently in effect since September 1991

Climate: hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air 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: 0%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 19%
forest and woodland: 0%
other: 81%

Irrigated land: NA sq km

Environment:
current issues: sparse water and arable land
natural hazards: hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur
during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of
time, often severely restricting visibility
international agreements: NA

@Western Sahara:People

Population: 217,211 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA
65 years and over: NA

Population growth rate: 2.48% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 46.9 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 18.52 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: -3.62 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 148.95 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 46.31 years
male: 45.34 years
female: 47.59 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.91 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawian, Sahraouian

Ethnic divisions: Arab, Berber

Religions: Muslim

Languages: Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic

Literacy: NA%

Labor force: 12,000
by occupation: animal husbandry and subsistence farming 50%

@Western Sahara:Government

Names:
conventional lon