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Compare Western Sahara (2007) - Southern Ocean (2006)
Compare Western Sahara (2007) z Southern Ocean (2006)
| Western Sahara (2007) | Southern Ocean (2006) | |
 | | |
| 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.) |
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| 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) |
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| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
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| Area | total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 20.327 million sq km
note: includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
| Area - comparative | about the size of Colorado | slightly more than twice the size of the US |
| 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. | A large body of recent oceanographic research has shown that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), an ocean current that flows from west to east around Antarctica, plays a crucial role in global ocean circulation. The region where the cold waters of the ACC meet and mingle with the warmer waters of the north defines a distinct border - the Antarctic Convergence - which fluctuates with the seasons, but which encompasses a discrete body of water and a unique ecologic region. The Convergence concentrates nutrients, which promotes marine plant life, and which in turn allows for a greater abundance of animal life. In the spring of 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization decided to delimit the waters within the Convergence as a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - by combining the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit and which approximates the extent of the Antarctic Convergence. As such, the Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean). It should be noted that inclusion of the Southern Ocean does not imply recognition of this feature as one of the world's primary oceans by the US Government. |
| Birth rate | NA | - |
| Budget | revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA |
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| Capital | none
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
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| Climate | hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew | sea temperatures vary from about 10 degrees Celsius to -2 degrees Celsius; cyclonic storms travel eastward around the continent and frequently are intense because of the temperature contrast between ice and open ocean; the ocean area from about latitude 40 south to the Antarctic Circle has the strongest average winds found anywhere on Earth; in winter the ocean freezes outward to 65 degrees south latitude in the Pacific sector and 55 degrees south latitude in the Atlantic sector, lowering surface temperatures well below 0 degrees Celsius; at some coastal points intense persistent drainage winds from the interior keep the shoreline ice-free throughout the winter |
| Coastline | 1,110 km | 17,968 km |
| Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
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| Death rate | NA | - |
| Debt - external | $NA | - |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | none | - |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | none | - |
| 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; 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 | Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica entry), but Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and UK assert claims (some overlapping), including the continental shelf in the Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest in extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to include undersea ridges; the US and most other states do not recognize the land or maritime claims of other states and have made no claims themselves (the US and Russia have reserved the right to do so); no formal claims exist in the waters in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west |
| 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. 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. | Fisheries in 2003-04 landed 136,262 metric tons, of which 87% (118,166 tons) was krill and 8% (11,182 tons) Patagonian toothfish, compared to 142,555 tons in 2002-03 of which 83% (117,728 tons) was krill and 12% (16,479 tons) Patagonian toothfish (estimated fishing from the area covered by the Convention of the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which extends slightly beyond the Southern Ocean area). International agreements were adopted in late 1999 to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which in the 2000-01 season landed, by one estimate, 8,376 metric tons of Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish. In the 2004-05 Antarctic summer 28,202 tourists, most of them seaborne (approximately 97%), visited the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, compared to 14,762 in 1999-2000. |
| 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: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m |
lowest point: -7,235 m at the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench
highest point: sea level 0 m |
| Environment - current issues | sparse water and lack of arable land | increased solar ultraviolet radiation resulting from the Antarctic ozone hole in recent years, reducing marine primary productivity (phytoplankton) by as much as 15% and damaging the DNA of some fish; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in recent years, especially the landing of an estimated five to six times more Patagonian toothfish than the regulated fishery, which is likely to affect the sustainability of the stock; large amount of incidental mortality of seabirds resulting from long-line fishing for toothfish
note: the now-protected fur seal population is making a strong comeback after severe overexploitation in the 18th and 19th centuries |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
the Southern Ocean is subject to all international agreements regarding the world's oceans; in addition, it is subject to these agreements specific to the Antarctic region: International Whaling Commission (prohibits commercial whaling south of 40 degrees south [south of 60 degrees south between 50 degrees and 130 degrees west]); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (limits sealing); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (regulates fishing)
note: many nations (including the US) prohibit mineral resource exploration and exploitation south of the fluctuating Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) which is in the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and serves as the dividing line between the very cold polar surface waters to the south and the warmer waters to the north |
| Ethnic groups | Arab, Berber | - |
| Exchange rates | Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 8.7722 (2006), 8.865 (2005), 8.868 (2004), 9.5744 (2003), 11.0206 (2002) | - |
| Executive branch | none | - |
| Exports | NA bbl/day | - |
| 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% |
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| GDP - real growth rate | NA% | - |
| Geographic coordinates | 24 30 N, 13 00 W | 60 00 S, 90 00 E (nominally), but the Southern Ocean has the unique distinction of being a large circumpolar body of water totally encircling the continent of Antarctica; this ring of water lies between 60 degrees south latitude and the coast of Antarctica and encompasses 360 degrees of longitude |
| Geography - note | the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas | the major chokepoint is the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica; the Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) is the best natural definition of the northern extent of the Southern Ocean; it is a distinct region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that separates the very cold polar surface waters to the south from the warmer waters to the north; the Front and the Current extend entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60 degrees south near New Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South Atlantic coinciding with the path of the maximum westerly winds |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
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| Imports | NA bbl/day | - |
| 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 |
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| 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% |
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| Land boundaries | total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km |
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| Land use | arable land: 0.02%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.98% (2005) |
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| Languages | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic | - |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
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| Literacy | NA | - |
| Location | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco | body of water between 60 degrees south latitude and Antarctica |
| Map references | Africa | Antarctic Region |
| Maritime claims | contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue | - |
| 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 | huge icebergs with drafts up to several hundred meters; smaller bergs and iceberg fragments; sea ice (generally 0.5 to 1 meter thick) with sometimes dynamic short-term variations and with large annual and interannual variations; deep continental shelf floored by glacial deposits varying widely over short distances; high winds and large waves much of the year; ship icing, especially May-October; most of region is remote from sources of search and rescue |
| Natural resources | phosphates, iron ore | probable large and possible giant oil and gas fields on the continental margin, manganese nodules, possible placer deposits, sand and gravel, fresh water as icebergs; squid, whales, and seals - none exploited; krill, fishes |
| 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.) |
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| 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 |
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| Telephones - main lines in use | about 2,000 (1999 est.) | - |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1999) | - |
| Television broadcast stations | NA | - |
| Terrain | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast | the Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 meters over most of its extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400 to 800 meters (the global mean is 133 meters); the Antarctic icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million square kilometers in March to about 18.8 million square kilometers in September, better than a sixfold increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (21,000 km in length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers |
| Total fertility rate | NA | - |
| Transportation - note | - | Drake Passage offers alternative to transit through the Panama Canal |
| Unemployment rate | NA% | - |
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