g form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara

Digraph: WI

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 continued
sporadically, until a UN-monitored cease-fire was implemented 6
September 1991

Capital: none

Administrative divisions: none (under de facto control of Morocco)

Executive branch: none

Member of: none

Diplomatic representation in US: none

US diplomatic representation: none

@Western Sahara:Economy

Overview: Western Sahara, a territory poor in natural resources and
having little rainfall, depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and
phosphate mining as the principal sources of income for the
population. Most of the food for the urban population must be
imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by
the Moroccan Government. Incomes and standards of living are
substantially below the Moroccan level.

National product: GDP $NA

National product real growth rate: NA%

National product per capita: $NA

Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Exports: $8 million (f.o.b., 1982 est.)
commodities: phosphates 62%
partners: Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade
partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts

Imports: $30 million (c.i.f., 1982 est.)
commodities: fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs
partners: Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade
partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts

External debt: $NA

Industrial production: growth rate NA%

Electricity:
capacity: 60,000 kW
production: 79 million kWh
consumption per capita: 339 kWh (1993)

Industries: phosphate mining, handicrafts