Western Sahara (2008) | Nigeria (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | none (under de facto control of Morocco) | 36 states and 1 territory*; Abia, Abuja Federal Capital Territory*, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara |
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.) |
0-14 years:
43.71% (male 27,842,225; female 27,514,197) 15-64 years: 53.47% (male 34,456,738; female 33,259,194) 65 years and over: 2.82% (male 1,780,862; female 1,782,410) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads); fish | cocoa, peanuts, palm oil, corn, rice, sorghum, millet, cassava (tapioca), yams, rubber; cattle, sheep, goats, pigs; timber; fish |
Airports | 9 (2007) | 70 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2007) |
total:
36 over 3,047 m: 7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
total:
34 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 14 under 914 m: 18 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
923,768 sq km land: 910,768 sq km water: 13,000 sq km |
Area - comparative | about the size of Colorado | slightly more than twice the size of California |
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. 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. | Following nearly 16 years of military rule, a new constitution was adopted in 1999 and a peaceful transition to civilian government completed. The new president faces the daunting task of rebuilding a petroleum-based economy, whose revenues have been squandered through corruption and mismanagement, and institutionalizing democracy. In addition, the OBASANJO administration must defuse longstanding ethnic and religious tensions, if it is to build a sound foundation for economic growth and political stability. |
Birth rate | NA 39.95 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 39.69 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA |
revenues:
$3.4 billion expenditures: $3.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | none
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Abuja; note - on 12 December 1991 the capital was officially transferred from Lagos to Abuja; most federal government offices have now made the move to Abuja |
Climate | hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew | varies; equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in north |
Coastline | 1,110 km | 853 km |
Constitution | - | NA 1999 new constitution adopted |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
conventional long form:
Federal Republic of Nigeria conventional short form: Nigeria |
Currency | - | naira (NGN) |
Death rate | NA | 13.91 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | $32 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none | chief of mission:
Ambassador Howard Franklin JETER embassy: 8 Mambilla Drive, Abuja mailing address: P. O. Box 554, Lagos telephone: [234] (1) 261-0050, -0078 FAX: [234] (1) 261-0257 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none | chief of mission:
Ambassador Jibril AMINU chancery: 1333 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 986-8400 FAX: [1] (202) 775-1385 consulate(s) general: Atlanta and 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; 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 | delimitation of international boundaries in the vicinity of Lake Chad, the lack of which led to border incidents in the past, has been completed and awaits ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria; dispute with Cameroon over land and maritime boundaries around the Bakasi Peninsula is currently before the ICJ; tripartite maritime boundary and economic zone dispute with Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon is currently before the ICJ |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | ODA $250 million (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. 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. | The oil-rich Nigerian economy, long hobbled by political instability, corruption, and poor macroeconomic management, is undergoing substantial economic reform under the new civilian administration. Nigeria's former military rulers failed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the capital-intensive oil sector, which provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange earnings, and about 65% of budgetary revenues. The largely subsistence agricultural sector has failed to keep up with rapid population growth, and Nigeria, once a large net exporter of food, now must import food. Following the signing of an IMF stand-by agreement in August 2000, Nigeria received a debt-restructuring deal from the Paris Club and a $1 billion loan from the IMF, both contingent on economic reforms. Increases in foreign investment and oil production combined with high world oil prices should push growth over 4% in 2001-02. |
Electricity - consumption | 79.05 million kWh (2005) | 17.372 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 19 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 85 million kWh (2005) | 18.7 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
52.94% hydro: 47.06% 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: Chappal Waddi 2,419 m |
Environment - current issues | sparse water and lack of arable land | soil degradation; rapid deforestation; desertification |
Environment - international agreements | party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Arab, Berber | Nigeria, which is Africa's most populous country, is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups; the following are the most populous and politically influential: Hausa and Fulani 29%, Yoruba 21%, Igbo (Ibo) 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio 3.5%, Tiv 2.5% |
Exchange rates | Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 8.2827 (2007), 8.7722 (2006), 8.865 (2005), 8.868 (2004), 9.5744 (2003) | nairas per US dollar - 110.005 (January 2001), 101.697 (2000), 92.338 (1999), 21.886 (1998), 21.886 (1997), 21.884 (1996) |
Executive branch | none | chief of state:
President Olusegun OBASANJO (since 29 May 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Olusegun OBASANJO (since 29 May 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Federal Executive Council elections: president is elected by popular vote for no more than two four-year terms; election last held 27 February 1999 (next to be held NA 2003) election results: Olusegun OBASANJO elected president; percent of vote - Olusegun OBASANJO (PDP) 62.8%, Olu FALAE (APP-AD) 37.2% |
Exports | 0 bbl/day (2004) | $22.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | phosphates 62% | petroleum and petroleum products 95%, cocoa, rubber |
Exports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2006) | US 36%, India 9%, Spain 8%, Brazil 6%, France 6%, (1999) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | - | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $117 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: 40% |
agriculture:
40% industry: 40% services: 20% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $950 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA% | 3.5% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 24 30 N, 13 00 W | 10 00 N, 8 00 E |
Geography - note | the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas | - |
Heliports | - | 1 (2000 est.) |
Highways | - | total:
194,394 km paved: 60,068 km (including 1,194 km of expressways) unpaved: 134,326 km note: many of the roads reported as paved may be graveled; because of poor maintenance and years of heavy freight traffic - in part the result of the failure of the railroad system - much of the road system is barely usable (1997) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
1.6% highest 10%: 40.8% (1996-97) |
Illicit drugs | - | facilitates movement of heroin en route from Southeast and Southwest Asia to Western Europe and North America; increasingly a transit route for cocaine from South America intended for European, East Asian, and North American markets |
Imports | 1,698 bbl/day (2004) | $10.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs | machinery, chemicals, transport equipment, manufactured goods, food and live animals |
Imports - partners | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2006) | UK 11%, Germany 10%, US 9%, France 8%, China 6% (1999) |
Independence | - | 1 October 1960 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 1.5% (2000 est.) |
Industries | phosphate mining, handicrafts | crude oil, coal, tin, columbite, palm oil, peanuts, cotton, rubber, wood, hides and skins, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food products, footwear, chemicals, fertilizer, printing, ceramics, steel |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
73.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA% | 6.5% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | none | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 11 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA | 9,570 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court (judges appointed by the Provisional Ruling Council); Federal Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the federal government on the advice of the Advisory Judicial Committee) |
Labor force | 12,000 | 66 million (1999 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 50%
industry and services: 50% |
agriculture 70%, industry 10%, services 20% (1999 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km |
total:
4,047 km border countries: Benin 773 km, Cameroon 1,690 km, Chad 87 km, Niger 1,497 km |
Land use | arable land: 0.02%
permanent crops: 0% other: 99.98% (2005) |
arable land:
33% permanent crops: 3% permanent pastures: 44% forests and woodland: 12% other: 8% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic | English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani |
Legal system | - | based on English common law, Islamic Shariah law (only in some northern states), and traditional law |
Legislative branch | - | bicameral National Assembly consists of Senate (109 seats, three from each state and one from the Federal Capital Territory; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and House of Representatives (360 seats, members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 20-24 February 1999 (next to be held NA 2003); House of Representatives - last held 20-24 February 1999 (next to be held NA 2003) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - PDP 58%, APP 23%, AD 19%; seats by party - PDP 67, APP 23, AD 19; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - PDP 58%, APP 30%, AD 12%; seats by party - PDP 221, APP 70, AD 69 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total population:
51.07 years male: 51.07 years female: 51.07 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | NA | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 57.1% male: 67.3% female: 47.3% (1995 est.) |
Location | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco | Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue | continental shelf:
200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total:
41 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 357,372 GRT/636,254 DWT ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 10, chemical tanker 4, petroleum tanker 24, roll on/roll off 1, specialized tanker 1 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | - | Army, Navy, Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $360 million (FY00) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 10% (FY00) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
29,940,922 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
17,201,367 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
1,375,112 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | - | Independence Day, 1 October (1960) |
Nationality | noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian |
noun:
Nigerian(s) adjective: Nigerian |
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 | periodic droughts |
Natural resources | phosphates, iron ore | natural gas, petroleum, tin, columbite, iron ore, coal, limestone, lead, zinc, arable land |
Net migration rate | - | 0.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 2,042 km; petroleum products 3,000 km; natural gas 500 km |
Political parties and leaders | - | All People's Party or APP [Alhaji Yusuf ALI]; Alliance for Democracy or AD [contested between Yusuf MAMMAN and Alhasi Adamu ABDULKADIR]; People's Democratic Party or PDP [Barnabas GEMADE] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | NA |
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.) |
126,635,626
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 45% (2000 est.) |
Population growth rate | NA | 2.61% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Calabar, Lagos, Onne, Port Harcourt, Sapele, Warri |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 82, FM 35, shortwave 11 (1998) |
Radios | - | 23.5 million (1997) |
Railways | - | total:
3,557 km narrow gauge: 3,505 km 1.067-m gauge standard gauge: 52 km 1.435-m gauge note: years of neglect of both the rolling stock and the right-of-way have seriously reduced the capacity and utility of the system; a project to restore Nigeria's railways is now underway |
Religions | Muslim | Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10% |
Sex ratio | NA | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 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:
an inadequate system, further limited by poor maintenance; major expansion is required and a start has been made domestic: intercity traffic is carried by coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, a domestic communications satellite system with 19 earth stations, and a coastal submarine cable; mobile cellular facilities and the Internet are available international: satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean); coaxial submarine cable SAFE (South African Far East) |
Telephones - main lines in use | about 2,000 (1999 est.) | 500,000 (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1999) | 26,700 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 2 government-controlled; note - in addition, in 1993, 14 licenses to operate private television stations were granted (1999) |
Terrain | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast | southern lowlands merge into central hills and plateaus; mountains in southeast, plains in north |
Total fertility rate | NA | 5.57 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | 28% (1992 est.) |
Waterways | - | 8,575 km
note: consisting of the Niger and Benue rivers and smaller rivers and creeks |