Map of Western Sahara | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: Western Sahara is a non-self-governing territory on the northwest coast of Africa bordered by Morocco, Mauritania, and Algeria. After Spain withdrew from its former colony of Spanish Sahara in 1976, Morocco annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara and claimed the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Morocco's sovereignty ended in a 1991 cease-fire and the establishment of a UN peacekeeping operation. As part of this effort, the UN sought to offer a choice to the peoples of Western Sahara between independence (favored by the Polisario Front) or integration into Morocco. A proposed referendum on the question of independence never took place due to lack of agreement on voter eligibility. The approximately 1,600 km- (almost 1,000 mi-) long defensive sand berm, built by the Moroccans from 1980 to 1987 and running the length of the territory, continues to separate the opposing forces, with Morocco controlling the roughly three-quarters of the territory west of the berm. There are periodic ethnic tensions between the native Sahrawi population and Moroccan immigrants. Morocco maintains a heavy security presence in the territory. The UN revived direct talks about the territory between Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria, and Mauritania in December 2018.


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Location: Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco

Geographic coordinates: 24 30 N, 13 00 W

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total: 266,000 km²
Land: 266,000 km²
Water: 0 km²
Comparative: about the size of Colorado

Land boundaries
Total: 2,049 km
Border countries: (3) Algeria 41 km; , Mauritania 1564 km; , Morocco 444 km

Coastline: 1110 km

Maritime claims: contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue

Climate: hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew

Terrain: mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast

Elevation
Mean elevation: 256 m
Lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
Highest point: unnamed elevation 805 m

Natural resources: phosphates, iron ore

Land use
Agricultural land: 18.8% (2011 est.)
Forest: 2.7% (2011 est.)
Other: 78.5% (2011 est.)

Irrigated land: 0 km² (2012)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

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

Geography
Note: the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas


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Population
Distribution rank: population distribution map: 652,271 (July 2020 est.)
Note: estimate is based on projections by age, sex, fertility, mortality, and migration; fertility and mortality are based on data from neighboring countries
Growth rate: 2.54% (2020 est.)
Below poverty line note: NA

Nationality
Noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
Adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian

Ethnic groups: Arab, Berber

Languages: Standard Arabic, Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, Berber, Spanish, French

Religions: Muslim

Demographic profile: Western Sahara is a non-self governing territory; approximately 75% is under Moroccan control. It was inhabited almost entirely by Sahrawi pastoral nomads until the mid-20th century. Their traditional vast migratory ranges, based on following unpredictable rainfall, did not coincide with colonial and later international borders. Since the 1930s, most Sahrawis have been compelled to adopt a sedentary lifestyle and to live in urban settings as a result of fighting, the presence of minefields, job opportunities in the phosphate industry, prolonged drought, the closure of Western Sahara’s border with Mauritania from 1979-2002, and the construction of the defensive berm separating Moroccan- and Polisario-controlled (Sahrawi liberalization movement) areas. Morocco supported rapid urbanization to facilitate surveillance and security.Today more than 80% of Western Sahara’s population lives in urban areas; more than 40% live in the administrative center Laayoune. Moroccan immigration has altered the composition and dramatically increased the size of Western Sahara’s population. Morocco maintains a large military presence in Western Sahara and has encouraged its citizens to settle there, offering bonuses, pay raises, and food subsidies to civil servants and a tax exemption, in order to integrate Western Sahara into the Moroccan Kingdom and, Sahrawis contend, to marginalize the native population.Western Saharan Sahrawis have been migrating to Europe, principally to former colonial ruler Spain, since the 1950s. Many who moved to refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, also have migrated to Spain and Italy, usually alternating between living in cities abroad with periods back at the camps. The Polisario claims that the population of the Tindouf camps is about 155,000, but this figure may include thousands of Arabs and Tuaregs from neighboring countries. Because international organizations have been unable to conduct an independent census in Tindouf, the UNHCR bases its aid on a figure of 90,000 refugees. Western Saharan coastal towns emerged as key migration transit points (for reaching Spain’s Canary Islands) in the mid-1990s, when Spain’s and Italy’s tightening of visa restrictions and EU pressure on Morocco and other North African countries to control illegal migration pushed Sub-Saharan African migrants to shift their routes to the south.

Age structure
0-14 years: 36.29% (male 119,719/female 116,997)
15-24 years: 19.44% (male 63,852/female 62,954)
25-54 years: 34.9% (male 112,301/female 115,313)
55-64 years: 5.27% (male 16,095/female 18,292)
65 years and over: 4.1% (male 11,802/female 14,946) (2020 est.)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 44.1
Youth dependency ratio: 39.2
Elderly dependency ratio: 4.9
Potential support ratio: 20.4 (2020 est.)

Median age
Total: 21.8 years
Male: 21.4 years
Female: 22.3 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.54% (2020 est.)

Birth rate: 28 births/1000 population (2020 est.)

Death rate: 7.7 deaths/1000 population (2020 est.)

Net migration rate: 4.9 migrant(s)/1000 population (2020 est.)

Population distribution
Rank: population distribution map

Urbanization
Urban population: 86.8% of total population
Note: (2015-20 est.)
Rate of urbanization: 2.61% annual rate of change

Major urban areas
Population: 232,000 Laayoune (2018)

Environment
Current issues: desertification; overgrazing; sparse water and lack of arable land

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.88 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.79 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 47.9 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 52.5 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 43.1 deaths/1000 live births (2020 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 64.5 years
Male: 62.1 years
Female: 67 years (2020 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.65 children born/woman (2020 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate note: NA
People living with hivaids note: NA
Deaths note: NA

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures
Note: NA

Literacy

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: Western Sahara
Former: Rio de Oro, Saguia el Hamra, Spanish Sahara
Etymology: self-descriptive name specifying the territorys western location on the African continents vast desert

Government type: legal status of territory and issue of sovereignty unresolved; territory contested by Morocco and Polisario Front (Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro), which in February 1976 formally proclaimed a government-in-exile of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), near Tindouf, Algeria, led by President Mohamed ABDELAZIZ until his death in May 2016; current President Brahim GHALI elected in July 2016; territory partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania in April 1976 when Spain withdrew, with Morocco acquiring northern two-thirds; Mauritania, under pressure from Polisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims to its portion in August 1979; Morocco moved to occupy that sector shortly thereafter and has since asserted administrative control; the Polisario's government-in-exile was seated as an Organization of African Unity (OAU) member in 1984; Morocco between 1980 and 1987 built a fortified sand berm delineating the roughly 75% of Western Sahara west of the barrier that currently is controlled by Morocco; guerrilla activities continued sporadically until a UN-monitored cease-fire was implemented on 6 September 1991 (Security Council Resolution 690) by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)

Capital
Time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions: none officially; the territory west of the Moroccan berm falls under de facto Moroccan control; Morocco claims the territory of Western Sahara, the political status of which is considered undetermined by the US Government; portions of the regions Guelmim-Es Smara and Laayoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra, as claimed by Morocco, lie within Western Sahara; Morocco also claims Oued Eddahab-Lagouira, another region that falls entirely within Western Sahara

Dependent areas

Independence

National holiday

Constitution

Legal system

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: none; (residents of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara participate in Moroccan elections)

Executive branch: none

Legislative branch

Judicial branch

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation: AU, WFTU (NGOs)

Diplomatic representation
In the us: none
From the us: none

Flag description:  three equal horizontal bands of black (top), white, and green; a red isosceles triangle is on the left side. A red crescent and a 5-pointed star are positioned in the center of the white band.

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview

Real gdp purchasing power parity
Real: $906.5 million (2007 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: NA

Real gdp per capita: $2,500 (2007 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Date: (2007 est.) (2007 est.)
Services: 40% (2007 est.)

Agriculture products: fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads); fish

Industries: phosphate mining, handicrafts

Industrial production growth rate
Note: NA

Labor force: 144,000 (2010 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 50%
By occupation industry: 50%
By occupation industry and services: 50% (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line
Note: NA

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Surplus or deficit note: NA

Taxes and other revenues
Note: NA

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: NA

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: NA
Commodities: phosphates 62% (2012 est.)

Imports: NA
Commodities: fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: NA

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates:


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Electricity
Production: 0 kWh
Production note: NA (2016 est.)
Consumption: 0 kWh (2016 est.)
Exports: 0 kWh (2016 est.)
Imports: 0 kWh (2016 est.)
Installed generating capacity: 58,000 kW (2016 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels: 100% of total installed capacity (2016 est.)
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 0% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources: 0% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)

Coal

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil exports: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Crude oil imports: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves: 0 bbl (1 January 2018 est.)

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products consumption: 1700 bbl/day (2016 est.)
Products exports: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products imports: 1702 bbl/day (2015 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2017 est.)
Consumption: 0 m³ (2017 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2017 est.)
Imports: 0 m³ (2017 est.)
Proven reserves: 0 m³ (1 January 2014 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 268,400 Mt (2017 est.)

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones

Telephone system

Broadcast media: Morocco's state-owned broadcaster, Radio-Television Marocaine (RTM), operates a radio service from Laayoune and relays TV service; a Polisario-backed radio station also broadcasts

Internet
Country code: .eh

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 6 (2013)
With paved runways total: 3 (2019)
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 3
With unpaved runways total: 3 (2013)
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1 (2013)
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1 (2013)
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 1 (2013)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways

Waterways

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals
Major seaport: Ad Dakhla, Laayoune (El Aaiun)


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Disputes international: many neighboring states reject Moroccan administration of Western Sahara; several states have extended diplomatic relations to the 'Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic' represented by the Polisario Front in exile in Algeria, while others support Morocco’s proposal to grant the territory autonomy as part of Morocco, although no state recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara; an estimated 100,000 Sahrawi refugees continue to be sheltered in camps in Tindouf, Algeria, which has hosted Sahrawi refugees since the 1980s

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs