Indian Ocean (2004) | Western Sahara (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | - | none (under de facto control of Morocco) |
Age structure | - | 0-14 years: NA%
15-64 years: NA% 65 years and over: NA% |
Agriculture - products | - | fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads) |
Airports | - | 11 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | - | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 8
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2002) |
Area | total: 68.556 million sq km
note: includes Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Flores Sea, Great Australian Bight, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Java Sea, Mozambique Channel, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Savu Sea, Strait of Malacca, Timor Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 5.5 times the size of the US | about the size of Colorado |
Background | The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, but larger than the Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean). Four critically important access waterways are the Suez Canal (Egypt), Bab el Mandeb (Djibouti-Yemen), Strait of Hormuz (Iran-Oman), and Strait of Malacca (Indonesia-Malaysia). The decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Indian Ocean south of 60 degrees south. | Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 cease-fire; a referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed. |
Birth rate | - | NA births/1,000 population |
Budget | - | revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
Capital | - | none |
Climate | northeast monsoon (December to April), southwest monsoon (June to October); tropical cyclones occur during May/June and October/November in the northern Indian Ocean and January/February in the southern Indian Ocean | hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew |
Coastline | 66,526 km | 1,110 km |
Country name | - | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
Currency | - | Moroccan dirham (MAD) |
Death rate | - | NA deaths/1,000 population |
Debt - external | - | $NA |
Diplomatic representation from the US | - | none |
Diplomatic representation in the US | - | none |
Disputes - international | some maritime disputes (see littoral states) | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, but sovereignty remains unresolved; UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991, but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties reject other proposals |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $NA |
Economy - overview | The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oilfields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Its fish are of great and growing importance to the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for shrimp and tuna. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and western Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean. Beach sands rich in heavy minerals and offshore placer deposits are actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly India, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. | Western Sahara depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of income for the population. The territory lacks sufficient rainfall for sustainable agricultural production, and most of the food for the urban population must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan Government. Moroccan energy interests in 2001 signed contracts to explore for oil off the coast of Western Sahara, which has angered the Polisario. Incomes and standards of living in Western Sahara are substantially below the Moroccan level. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 83.7 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | - | 90 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Java Trench -7,258 m
highest point: sea level 0 m |
lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m |
Environment - current issues | endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea | sparse water and lack of arable land |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | - | Arab, Berber |
Exchange rates | - | Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 11.584 (January 2002), 11.303 (2001), 10.626 (2000), 9.804 (1999), 9.604 (1998), 9.527 (1997) |
Executive branch | - | none |
Exports | - | $NA |
Exports - commodities | - | phosphates 62% |
Exports - partners | - | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts |
Fiscal year | - | calendar year |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $NA |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: 40%-45% (1996 est.) (1996 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $NA |
GDP - real growth rate | - | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 20 00 S, 80 00 E | 24 30 N, 13 00 W |
Geography - note | major chokepoints include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Malacca, southern access to the Suez Canal, and the Lombok Strait | the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas |
Highways | - | total: 6,200 km
paved: 1,350 km unpaved: 4,850 km (1991 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | - | $NA |
Imports - commodities | - | fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | - | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts |
Industrial production growth rate | - | NA% |
Industries | - | phosphate mining, handicrafts |
Infant mortality rate | - | NA deaths/1,000 live births |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | NA% |
International organization participation | - | none |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | - | NA sq km |
Labor force | - | 12,000 |
Labor force - by occupation | - | animal husbandry and subsistence farming 50% |
Land boundaries | - | total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km |
Land use | - | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
Languages | - | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population: NA years
male: NA years female: NA years |
Literacy | - | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | body of water between Africa, the Southern Ocean, Asia, and Australia | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco |
Map references | Political Map of the World | Africa |
Maritime claims | - | contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | NA% |
Nationality | - | noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawian, Sahraouian |
Natural hazards | occasional icebergs pose navigational hazard in southern reaches | hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility |
Natural resources | oil and gas fields, fish, shrimp, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules | phosphates, iron ore |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | none |
Population | - | 256,177 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | NA% |
Population growth rate | - | NA (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Chennai (Madras; India), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Durban (South Africa), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kolkata (Calcutta; India) Melbourne (Australia), Mumbai (Bombay; India), Richards Bay (South Africa) | Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun) |
Radio broadcast stations | - | AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | 56,000 (1997) |
Railways | - | 0 km |
Religions | - | Muslim |
Sex ratio | - | NA |
Suffrage | - | none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed |
Telephone system | - | general assessment: 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 |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | about 2,000 (1999 est.) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 0 (1999) |
Television broadcast stations | - | NA |
Terrain | surface dominated by counterclockwise gyre (broad, circular system of currents) in the southern Indian Ocean; unique reversal of surface currents in the northern Indian Ocean; low atmospheric pressure over southwest Asia from hot, rising, summer air results in the southwest monsoon and southwest-to-northeast winds and currents, while high pressure over northern Asia from cold, falling, winter air results in the northeast monsoon and northeast-to-southwest winds and currents; ocean floor is dominated by the Mid-Indian Ocean Ridge and subdivided by the Southeast Indian Ocean Ridge, Southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and Ninetyeast Ridge | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast |
Total fertility rate | - | NA children born/woman |
Unemployment rate | - | NA% |
Waterways | - | none |