Western Sahara (2005) | Liberia (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | none (under de facto control of Morocco) | 13 counties; Bomi, Bong, Grand Bassa, Grand Cape Mount, Grand Gedeh, Grand Kru, Lofa, Margibi, Maryland, Montserrado, Nimba, River Cess, Sinoe |
Age structure | 0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA |
0-14 years:
43.21% (male 698,178; female 695,599) 15-64 years: 53.34% (male 840,103; female 880,403) 65 years and over: 3.45% (male 56,073; female 55,481) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads) | rubber, coffee, cocoa, rice, cassava (tapioca), palm oil, sugarcane, bananas; sheep, goats; timber |
Airports | 11 (2004 est.) | 46 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
total:
2 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
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.) |
total:
44 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 36 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
111,370 sq km land: 96,320 sq km water: 15,050 sq km |
Area - comparative | about the size of Colorado | slightly larger than Tennessee |
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. | Seven years of civil strife were brought to a close in 1996 when free and open presidential and legislative elections were held. President TAYLOR now holds strong executive power with no real political opposition. The years of fighting coupled with the flight of most businesses have disrupted formal economic activity. A still unsettled domestic security situation has slowed the process of rebuilding the social and economic structure of this war-torn country. |
Birth rate | NA births/1,000 population | 46.55 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA |
revenues:
$NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
Capital | none | Monrovia |
Climate | hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew | tropical; hot, humid; dry winters with hot days and cool to cold nights; wet, cloudy summers with frequent heavy showers |
Coastline | 1,110 km | 579 km |
Constitution | - | 6 January 1986 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
conventional long form:
Republic of Liberia conventional short form: Liberia |
Currency | - | Liberian dollar (LRD) |
Death rate | NA deaths/1,000 population | 16.36 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | NA | $3 billion (1999 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none | chief of mission:
Ambassador Bismarck MYRICK embassy: 111 United Nations Drive, P. O. Box 10-0098, Mamba Point, Monrovia mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [231] 226-370 through 226-380 FAX: [231] 226-148 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none | chief of mission:
Ambassador William BULL chancery: 5201 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011 telephone: [1] (202) 723-0437 FAX: [1] (202) 723-0436 consulate(s) general: New York |
Disputes - international | 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 | large refugee population from civil war in Sierra Leone |
Economic aid - recipient | NA | $200 million pledged (1998) |
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. | A civil war in 1989-96 destroyed much of Liberia's economy, especially the infrastructure in and around Monrovia. Many businessmen fled the country, taking capital and expertise with them. Some returned during 1997. Many will not return. Richly endowed with water, mineral resources, forests, and a climate favorable to agriculture, Liberia had been a producer and exporter of basic products, while local manufacturing, mainly foreign owned, had been small in scope. The democratically elected government, installed in August 1997, inherited massive international debts and currently relies on revenues from its maritime registry to provide the bulk of its foreign exchange earnings. The restoration of the infrastructure and the raising of incomes in this ravaged economy depend on the implementation of sound macro- and micro-economic policies of the new government, including the encouragement of foreign investment. Recent growth has been from a low base, and continued growth will require major policy successes. |
Electricity - consumption | 83.7 million kWh (2002) | 401.8 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 90 million kWh (2002) | 432 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m |
lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Wuteve 1,380 m |
Environment - current issues | sparse water and lack of arable land | tropical rain forest subject to deforestation; soil erosion; loss of biodiversity; pollution of coastal waters from oil residue and raw sewage |
Environment - international agreements | party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to:
Biodiversity, Desertification, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94 signed, but not ratified: Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation |
Ethnic groups | Arab, Berber | indigenous African tribes 95% (including Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, and Bella), Americo-Liberians 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the US who had been slaves), Congo People 2.5% (descendants of immigrants from the Caribbean who had been slaves) |
Exchange rates | Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 8.868 (2004), 9.5744 (2003), 11.0206 (2002), 11.303 (2001), 10.6256 (2000) | Liberian dollars per US dollar - 39.8100 (December 2000), 41.0483 (2000), 41.9025 (1999), 41.5075 (1998), 1.0000 (officially fixed rate 1940-97); market exchange rate: Liberian dollars per US dollar - 40 (December 1998), 50 (October 1995)
note: until December 1997, rates were based on a fixed relationship with the US dollar; beginning in January 1998, rates are market determined |
Executive branch | none | chief of state:
President Charles Ghankay TAYLOR (since 2 August 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Charles Ghankay TAYLOR (since 2 August 1997); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term (renewable); election last held 19 July 1997 (next to be held NA July 2003) election results: Charles Ghankay TAYLOR elected president; percent of vote - Charles Ghankay TAYLOR (NPP) 75.3%, Ellen Johnson SIRLEAF (UP) 9.6%, Alhaji KROMAH (ALCOP) 4%, other 11.1% |
Exports | NA | $55 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | phosphates 62% | diamonds, iron ore, rubber, timber, coffee, cocoa |
Exports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts | Belgium 53%, Switzerland 9%, US 6%, France 4% (1999) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | - | 11 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a white five-pointed star on a blue square in the upper hoist-side corner; the design was based on the US flag |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $3.35 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: 40% (1996 est.) |
agriculture:
60% industry: 10% services: 30% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - NA | purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA | 15% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 24 30 N, 13 00 W | 6 30 N, 9 30 W |
Geography - note | 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) |
total:
10,600 km paved: 657 km unpaved: 9,943 km note: (there is major deterioration on all highways due to heavy rains and lack of maintenance) (1996 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | - | increasingly a transshipment point for Southeast and Southwest Asian heroin and South American cocaine for the European and US markets |
Imports | NA | $170 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs | fuels, chemicals, machinery, transportation equipment, manufactured goods; rice and other foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts | South Korea 30%, Italy 24%, Japan 15%, Germany 9% (1999) |
Independence | - | 26 July 1847 |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | NA |
Industries | phosphate mining, handicrafts | rubber processing, palm oil processing, diamonds |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
132.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA | 5% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | none | ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 20 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court |
Labor force | 12,000 | - |
Labor force - by occupation | animal husbandry and subsistence farming 50% | agriculture 70%, industry 8%, services 22% (1999 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km |
total:
1,585 km border countries: Guinea 563 km, Cote d'Ivoire 716 km, Sierra Leone 306 km |
Land use | arable land: 0.02%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.98% (2001) |
arable land:
1% permanent crops: 3% permanent pastures: 59% forests and woodland: 18% other: 19% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic | English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages, of which a few can be written and are used in correspondence |
Legal system | - | dual system of statutory law based on Anglo-American common law for the modern sector and customary law based on unwritten tribal practices for indigenous sector |
Legislative branch | - | bicameral National Assembly consists of the Senate (26 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve nine-year terms) and the House of Representatives (64 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 19 July 1997 (next to be held in NA 2006); House of Representatives - last held 19 July 1997 (next to be held in NA 2003) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NPP 21, UP 3, ALCOP 2; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NPP 49, UP 7, ALCOP 3, Alliance of Political Parties 2, UPP 2, LPP 1; note - the Alliance of Political Parties was a coalition of the LAP and the Liberia Unification Party or LUP |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA years
male: NA years female: NA years |
total population:
51.41 years male: 49.96 years female: 52.91 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 38.3% male: 53.9% female: 22.4% (1995 est.) note: these figures are increasing because of the improving school system |
Location | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue | territorial sea:
200 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total:
1,478 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 49,456,361 GRT/76,620,648 DWT ships by type: barge carrier 3, bulk 324, cargo 97, chemical tanker 163, combination bulk 20, combination ore/oil 38, container 245, liquefied gas 97, multi-functional large-load carrier 4, passenger 24, petroleum tanker 310, refrigerated cargo 74, roll on/roll off 19, short-sea passenger 3, specialized tanker 12, vehicle carrier 45 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Argentina 8, Australia 1, Ashmore and Cartier Islands 1, Austria 5, Bermuda 5, Belgium 5, Burma 1, Brazil 8, Canada 1, China 28, Chile 7, Costa Rica 8, Cyprus 27, Denmark 4, Ecuador 1, Germany 117, Greece 83, Hong Kong 54, Croatia 9, Indonesia 2, India 8, Israel 1, Italy 8, Japan 85, South Korea 8, Latvia 15, Monaco 28, Mexico 6, Malaysia 1, Nigeria 1, Netherlands 7, Norway 86, Netherlands Antilles 1, NZ 1, Poland 2, Portugal 2, Philippines 1, Russia 22, Saudi Arabia 20, South Africa 1, Slovenia 1, Singapore 30, Spain 1, Sweden 8, Switzerland 23, UAE 5, Taiwan 10, UK 15, US 85, Uruguay 1, Vietnam 1 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | - | Army, Air Force, Navy |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $1 million (FY98) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 2% (FY98) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
715,753 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
385,460 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | - | Independence Day, 26 July (1847) |
Nationality | noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian |
noun:
Liberian(s) adjective: Liberian |
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 | dust-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (December to March) |
Natural resources | phosphates, iron ore | iron ore, timber, diamonds, gold, hydropower |
Net migration rate | - | -11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note: by the end of 1999, all Liberian refugees, who had fled the domestic strife, were assumed to have returned |
Political parties and leaders | - | All Liberia Coalition Party or ALCOP [Lusinee KAMARA]; Liberian Action Party or LAP [Cletus WOTORSON]; Liberian National Union or LINU [Henry MONIBA, chairman]; Liberian People's Party or LPP [Togba-Nah TIPOTEH, chairman]; National Democratic Party of Liberia or NDPL [Isaac DAKINAH]; National Patriotic Party or NPP [Charles Ghankay TAYLOR] - governing party; People's Progressive Party or PPP [Chea CHEAPOO, chairman]; Reformation Alliance Party or RAP [Henry Boimah FAHNBULLEH, chairman]; True Whig Party or TWP [Rudolph SHERMAN, chairman]; United People's Party or UPP [Gabriel Baccus MATTHEWS, chairman]; Unity Party or UP [Charles Clarke] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | NA |
Population | 273,008 (July 2005 est.) | 3,225,837 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | 80% |
Population growth rate | NA | 1.92% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun) | Buchanan, Greenville, Harper, Monrovia |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 0, FM 6, shortwave 4 (1999) |
Radios | - | 790,000 (1997) |
Railways | - | total:
490 km (328 km single track); note - three rail systems owned and operated by foreign steel and financial interests in conjunction with the Liberian Government; one of these, the Lamco Railroad, closed in 1989 after iron ore production ceased; the other two were shut down by the civil war; large sections of the rail lines have been dismantled; approximately 60 km of railroad track was exported for scrap standard gauge: 345 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 145 km 1.067-m gauge |
Religions | Muslim | indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 40%, Muslim 20% |
Sex ratio | NA | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed | 18 years of age; universal |
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:
telephone and telegraph service via microwave radio relay network; main center is Monrovia domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | about 2,000 (1999 est.) | 6,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1999) | 0 (1995) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 2 (plus four low-power repeaters) (2000) |
Terrain | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast | mostly flat to rolling coastal plains rising to rolling plateau and low mountains in northeast |
Total fertility rate | NA children born/woman | 6.36 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA | 70% |
Waterways | - | none |