Western Sahara (2005) | South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2003) | |
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 (2004 est.) | none (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
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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.) |
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Area | total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 3,903 sq km
land: 3,903 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Shag Rocks, Black Rock, Clerke Rocks, South Georgia Island, Bird Island, and the South Sandwich Islands, which consist of some nine islands |
Area - comparative | about the size of Colorado | slightly larger than Rhode Island |
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. | The islands lie approximately 1,000 km east of the Falkland Islands and have been under British administration since 1908, except for a brief period in 1982 when Argentina occupied them. Grytviken, on South Georgia, was a 19th and early 20th century whaling station. Famed explorer Ernest SHACKLETON stopped there in 1914 en route to his ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica on foot. He returned some 20 months later with a few companions in a small boat and arranged a successful rescue for the rest of his crew, stranded off the Antarctic Peninsula. He died in 1922 on a subsequent expedition and is buried in Grytviken. Today, the station houses scientists from the British Antarctic Survey. The islands have large bird and seal populations, and, recognizing the importance of preserving the marine stocks in adjacent waters, the UK, in 1993, extended the exclusive fishing zone from 12 NM to 200 NM around each island. |
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 | variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow |
Coastline | 1,110 km | NA km |
Constitution | - | adopted 3 October 1985 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
conventional long form: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
conventional short form: none |
Death rate | NA deaths/1,000 population | - |
Debt - external | NA | - |
Dependency status | - | overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by a commissioner, who is concurrently governor of the Falkland Islands, representing Queen ELIZABETH II; Grytviken, formerly a whaling station on South Georgia, is a scientific base |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none | none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none | none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina) |
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 | briefly occupied by military force in 1982 - claimed by Argentina in constitution but declares it will no longer seek settlement by force |
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. | Some fishing takes place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from harvesting finfish and krill. The islands receive income from postage stamps produced in the UK, sale of fishing licenses, and harbor and landing fees from tourist vessels. Tourism from specialized cruise ships is increasing rapidly. |
Electricity - consumption | 83.7 million kWh (2002) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | - |
Electricity - production | 90 million kWh (2002) | - |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Paget (South Georgia) 2,934 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 |
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Ethnic groups | Arab, Berber | - |
Exchange rates | Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 8.868 (2004), 9.5744 (2003), 11.0206 (2002), 11.303 (2001), 10.6256 (2000) | - |
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 | - |
Flag description | - | blue, with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands coat of arms centered on the outer half of the flag; the coat of arms features a shield with a golden lion centered; the shield is supported by a fur seal on the left and a penguin on the right; a reindeer appears above the shield, and below it on a scroll is the motto LEO TERRAM PROPRIAM PROTEGAT (Let the Lion Protect its Own Land) |
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 | 54 30 S, 37 00 W |
Geography - note | the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas | the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays, which provide good anchorage; reindeer, introduced early in the 21st century, live on South Georgia |
Highways | total: 6,200 km
paved: 1,350 km unpaved: 4,850 km (1991 est) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
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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 | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
- |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA | - |
International organization participation | none | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 0 sq km (1998 est.) |
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% (largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation consisting of grass, moss, and lichen) (1998 est.) |
Languages | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic | - |
Legal system | - | the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply; the senior magistrate from the Falkland Islands presides over the Magistrates Court |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA years
male: NA years female: NA years |
- |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
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Location | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco | Southern South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the tip of South America |
Map references | Africa | Antarctic Region |
Maritime claims | contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue | exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of the UK |
National holiday | - | Liberation Day, 14 June (1982) |
Nationality | noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian |
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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 | the South Sandwich Islands have prevailing weather conditions that generally make them difficult to approach by ship; they are also subject to active volcanism |
Natural resources | phosphates, iron ore | fish |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | - |
Population | 273,008 (July 2005 est.) | no indigenous inhabitants
note: the small military garrison on South Georgia withdrew in March 2001, to be replaced by a permanent group of scientists of the British Antarctic Survey, which also has a biological station on Bird Island; the South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | - |
Population growth rate | NA | - |
Ports and harbors | Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun) | Grytviken |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | 0 (2003) |
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: NA
domestic: NA international: coastal radiotelephone station at Grytviken |
Telephones - main lines in use | about 2,000 (1999 est.) | - |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1999) | - |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 0 (2003) |
Terrain | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast | most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous; South Georgia is largely barren and has steep, glacier-covered mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some active volcanoes |
Total fertility rate | NA children born/woman | - |
Unemployment rate | NA | - |
Waterways | - | none |