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Compare Western Sahara (2004) - British Indian Ocean Territory (2006)
Compare Western Sahara (2004) z British Indian Ocean Territory (2006)
| Western Sahara (2004) | British Indian Ocean Territory (2006) | |
 |  | |
| 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 (2003 est.) | 1 (2006) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2006) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 8
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
- |
| Area | total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 54,400 sq km
land: 60 sq km; Diego Garcia 44 sq km water: 54,340 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago of 55 islands |
| Area - comparative | about the size of Colorado | land area is about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC |
| Background | 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. | Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order that had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia. |
| Birth rate | NA births/1,000 population | - |
| Budget | revenues: NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA |
- |
| Capital | none | - |
| Climate | hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew | tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds |
| Coastline | 1,110 km | 698 km |
| Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory
conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT |
| Currency | Moroccan dirham (MAD) | - |
| Death rate | NA deaths/1,000 population | - |
| Debt - external | NA | - |
| Dependency status | - | overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | none | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | none | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
| Disputes - international | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, whose sovereignty remains unresolved - UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991 but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties thus far have rejected all brokered proposals | Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia; in 2001 the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago, evicted in 1965 and now residing chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation; the UK resists the Chagossians' demand for an immediate return to the islands; repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of Diego Garcia that restricts access to the largest island in the chain; |
| Economic aid - recipient | NA | - |
| Economy - overview | 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. | All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defense facilities are located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installations are done by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. The country makes money by selling fishing licenses and postage stamps. |
| Electricity - consumption | 83.7 million kWh (2001) | NA kWh |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
| Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
| Electricity - production | 90 million kWh (2001) | NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 m |
| Environment - current issues | sparse water and lack of arable land | NA |
| 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 - 9.574 (2003), 11.584 (2002), 11.303 (2001), 10.626 (2000), 9.804 (1999) | - |
| Executive branch | none | chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952)
head of government: Commissioner Tony CROMBIE (since January 2004); Administrator Tony HUMPHRIES (since February 2005); note - both reside in the UK cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch |
| Exports | NA (2001) | - |
| 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 | - |
| Flag description | - | white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - NA | - |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: 40% (1996 est.) |
- |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - NA | - |
| GDP - real growth rate | NA | - |
| Geographic coordinates | 24 30 N, 13 00 W | 6 00 S, 71 30 E; note - Diego Garcia 7 20 S, 72 25 E |
| Geography - note | the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas | archipelago of 55 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility |
| 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 (2001) | - |
| Imports - commodities | fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs | - |
| Imports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2000) | - |
| 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 sq km | 0 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 |
0 km |
| Land use | arable land: 0.02%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.98% (2001) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005) |
| Languages | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic | - |
| Legal system | - | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply |
| 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 | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco | archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia |
| Map references | Africa | Political Map of the World |
| Maritime claims | contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue | territorial sea: 3 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
| Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016 |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | NA | - |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA | - |
| Nationality | noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi,Sahrawian, Sahraouian |
- |
| 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 | NA |
| Natural resources | phosphates, iron ore | coconuts, fish, sugarcane |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | none | - |
| Population | 267,405 (July 2004 est.) | no indigenous inhabitants
note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles in the 1960s and 1970s; in November 2000 they were granted the right of return by a British High Court ruling, though no timetable has been set; in November 2004, there were approximately 4,000 UK and US military personnel and civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia (July 2006 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | NA | - |
| Population growth rate | NA | - |
| Ports and harbors | Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun) | - |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 1, FM 2, 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 |
general assessment: separate facilities for military and public needs are available
domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000) |
| Telephones - main lines in use | about 2,000 (1999 est.) | NA |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1999) | - |
| Television broadcast stations | NA | 1 (1997) |
| Terrain | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast | flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation) |
| Total fertility rate | NA children born/woman | - |
| Unemployment rate | NA | - |
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