Compare Pacific Ocean (2008) - Western Sahara (2008)

Compare Pacific Ocean (2008) z Western Sahara (2008)

	Pacific Ocean (2008)	Western Sahara (2008)

Administrative divisions	-	none (under de facto control of Morocco)
Age structure	-	0-14 years: 45.4% (male 88,176/female 85,421) 15-64 years: 52.3% (male 98,345/female 101,895) 65 years and over: 2.3% (male 3,705/female 5,075) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads); fish
Airports	-	9 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	-	total: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (2007)
Area	total: 155.557 million sq km note: includes Bali Sea, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Coral Sea, East China Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Tonkin, Philippine Sea, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk, South China Sea, Tasman Sea, and other tributary water bodies	total: 266,000 sq km land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	about 15 times the size of the US; covers about 28% of the global surface; larger than the total land area of the world	about the size of Colorado
Background	The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world's five oceans (followed by the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). Strategically important access waterways include the La Perouse, Tsugaru, Tsushima, Taiwan, Singapore, and Torres Straits. 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 Pacific 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 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed. In April 2007, Morocco presented an autonomy plan for the territory to the UN, which the U.S. considers serious and credible. The Polisario also presented a plan to the UN in 2007. Since August 2007, representatives from the Government of Morocco and the Polisario Front have met three times to negotiate the status of Western Sahara, with a fourth round of negotiations planned for March 2008.
Birth rate	-	NA 39.95 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget	-	revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA
Capital	-	none time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Climate	planetary air pressure systems and resultant wind patterns exhibit remarkable uniformity in the south and east; trade winds and westerly winds are well-developed patterns, modified by seasonal fluctuations; tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico from June to October and affect Mexico and Central America; continental influences cause climatic uniformity to be much less pronounced in the eastern and western regions at the same latitude in the North Pacific Ocean; the western Pacific is monsoonal - a rainy season occurs during the summer months, when moisture-laden winds blow from the ocean over the land, and a dry season during the winter months, when dry winds blow from the Asian landmass back to the ocean; tropical cyclones (typhoons) may strike southeast and east Asia from May to December	hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew
Coastline	135,663 km	1,110 km
Country name	-	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara
Death rate	-	NA
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, whose sovereignty remains unresolved; UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991, administered by the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected all brokered proposals; several states have extended diplomatic relations to the "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" represented by the Polisario Front in exile in Algeria, while others recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara; most of the approximately 102,000 Sahrawi refugees are sheltered in camps in Tindouf, Algeria
Economic aid - recipient	-	$NA
Economy - overview	The Pacific Ocean is a major contributor to the world economy and particularly to those nations its waters directly touch. It provides low-cost sea transportation between East and West, extensive fishing grounds, offshore oil and gas fields, minerals, and sand and gravel for the construction industry. In 1996, over 60% of the world's fish catch came from the Pacific Ocean. Exploitation of offshore oil and gas reserves is playing an ever-increasing role in the energy supplies of the US, Australia, NZ, China, and Peru. The high cost of recovering offshore oil and gas, combined with the wide swings in world prices for oil since 1985, has led to fluctuations in new drillings.	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. Incomes in Western Sahara are substantially below the Moroccan level. The Moroccan Government controls all trade and other economic activities in Western Sahara. Morocco and the EU signed a four-year agreement in July 2006 allowing European vessels to fish off the coast of Morocco, including the disputed waters off the coast of Western Sahara. Moroccan energy interests in 2001 signed contracts to explore for oil off the coast of Western Sahara, which has angered the Polisario. However, in 2006 the Polisario awarded similar exploration licenses in the disputed territory, which would come into force if Morocco and the Polisario resolve their dispute over Western Sahara.
Electricity - consumption	-	79.05 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	-	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	-	0 kWh (2005)
Electricity - production	-	85 million kWh (2005)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench -10,924 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, sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South China 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 - 8.2827 (2007), 8.7722 (2006), 8.865 (2005), 8.868 (2004), 9.5744 (2003)
Executive branch	-	none
Exports	-	0 bbl/day (2004)
Exports - commodities	-	phosphates 62%
Exports - partners	-	Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2006)
Fiscal year	-	calendar year
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: NA% industry: NA% services: 40%
GDP - real growth rate	-	NA%
Geographic coordinates	0 00 N, 160 00 W	24 30 N, 13 00 W
Geography - note	the major chokepoints are the Bering Strait, Panama Canal, Luzon Strait, and the Singapore Strait; the Equator divides the Pacific Ocean into the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean; dotted with low coral islands and rugged volcanic islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean	the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas
Household income or consumption by percentage share	-	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%
Imports	-	1,698 bbl/day (2004)
Imports - commodities	-	fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs
Imports - partners	-	Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2006)
Industrial production growth rate	-	NA%
Industries	-	phosphate mining, handicrafts
Infant mortality rate	-	total: NA male: NA female: NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-	NA%
International organization participation	-	none
Irrigated land	-	NA
Labor force	-	12,000
Labor force - by occupation	-	agriculture: 50% industry and services: 50%
Land boundaries	-	total: 2,046 km border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km
Land use	-	arable land: 0.02% permanent crops: 0% other: 99.98% (2005)
Languages	-	Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic
Life expectancy at birth	-	total population: NA male: NA female: NA
Literacy	-	NA
Location	body of water between the Southern Ocean, Asia, Australia, and the Western Hemisphere	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
Nationality	-	noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s) adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian
Natural hazards	surrounded by a zone of violent volcanic and earthquake activity sometimes referred to as the "Pacific Ring of Fire"; subject to tropical cyclones (typhoons) in southeast and east Asia from May to December (most frequent from July to October); tropical cyclones (hurricanes) may form south of Mexico and strike Central America and Mexico from June to October (most common in August and September); cyclical El Nino/La Nina phenomenon occurs in the equatorial Pacific, influencing weather in the Western Hemisphere and the western Pacific; ships subject to superstructure icing in extreme north from October to May; persistent fog in the northern Pacific can be a maritime hazard from June to December	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, polymetallic nodules, sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, fish	phosphates, iron ore
Political pressure groups and leaders	-	none
Population	-	382,617 note: estimate is based on projections by age, sex, fertility, mortality, and migration; fertility and mortality are based on data from neighboring countries (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line	-	NA%
Population growth rate	-	NA
Radio broadcast stations	-	AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)
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: country code - 212; 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 currents in the northern Pacific are dominated by a clockwise, warm-water gyre (broad circular system of currents) and in the southern Pacific by a counterclockwise, cool-water gyre; in the northern Pacific, sea ice forms in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk in winter; in the southern Pacific, sea ice from Antarctica reaches its northernmost extent in October; the ocean floor in the eastern Pacific is dominated by the East Pacific Rise, while the western Pacific is dissected by deep trenches, including the Mariana Trench, which is the world's deepest	mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast
Total fertility rate	-	NA
Transportation - note	Inside Passage offers protected waters from southeast Alaska to Puget Sound (Washington state)	-
Unemployment rate	-	NA%

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