Compare Western Sahara (2008) - South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2003)

Compare Western Sahara (2008) z South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2003)

	Western Sahara (2008)	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2003)

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.)	-
Agriculture - products	fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads); fish	-
Airports	9 (2007)	none (2002)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2007)	-
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 2 (2007)	-
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. 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.	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 39.95 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	-
Budget	revenues: $NA expenditures: $NA	-
Capital	none time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)	-
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	-
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; 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	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. 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.	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	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: 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	-
Ethnic groups	Arab, Berber	-
Exchange rates	Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 8.2827 (2007), 8.7722 (2006), 8.865 (2005), 8.868 (2004), 9.5744 (2003)	-
Executive branch	none	-
Exports	0 bbl/day (2004)	-
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	-
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%	-
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
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: NA% highest 10%: NA%	-
Imports	1,698 bbl/day (2004)	-
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	-
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	NA%	-
International organization participation	none	-
Irrigated land	NA	0 sq km (1998 est.)
Labor force	12,000	-
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 50% industry and services: 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% (2005)	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 male: NA female: NA	-
Literacy	NA	-
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	-
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	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.)	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	-	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	-
Unemployment rate	NA%	-
Waterways	-	none

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