Part 207
348,000 (includes Gaza Strip) (2008) country comparison to the world: 111
Telephones - mobile cellular:
1.153 million (includes Gaza Strip) (2008) country comparison to the world: 140
Telephone system:
general assessment: NA
domestic: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for fixed line services; the Palestinian JAWAL company provides cellular services
international: country code - 970 (2004)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 0, FM 25, shortwave 0 (2008)
Television broadcast stations:
30 (2008)
Internet country code:
.ps; note - same as Gaza Strip
Internet users:
356,000 (includes Gaza Strip) (2008) country comparison to the world: 118
Transportation ::West Bank
Airports:
2 (2009) country comparison to the world: 204
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2009)
Roadways:
total: 5,147 km country comparison to the world: 153 paved: 5,147 km
note: includes Gaza Strip (2006)
Military ::West Bank
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 545,653
females age 16-49: 515,102 (2009 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 30,233
female: 28,745 (2009 est.)
Military expenditures:
NA
Transnational Issues ::West Bank
Disputes - international:
West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel withdrew from four settlements in the northern West Bank in August 2005; since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), headquartered in Jerusalem, monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 722,000 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)) (2007)
page last updated on November 3, 2009
======================================================================
@Western Sahara (Africa)
Introduction ::Western Sahara
Background:
Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and claimed 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 the territory's 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 that called for independence. Representatives from the Government of Morocco and the Polisario Front have met four times since June 2007 to negotiate the status of Western Sahara, but talks have stalled since the UN envoy to the territory stated in April 2008 that independence is unrealistic.
Geography ::Western Sahara
Location:
Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco
Geographic coordinates:
24 30 N, 13 00 W
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 266,000 sq km country comparison to the world: 77 land: 266,000 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
about the size of Colorado
Land boundaries:
total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km
Coastline:
1,110 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 extremes:
lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed elevation 805 m
Natural resources:
phosphates, iron ore
Land use:
arable land: 0.02%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 99.98% (2005)
Irrigated land:
NA
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
Environment - current issues:
sparse water and lack of arable land
Environment - international agreements:
party to: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas
People ::Western Sahara
Population:
405,210 country comparison to the world: 172 note: estimate is based on projections by age, sex, fertility, mortality, and migration; fertility and mortality are based on data from neighboring countries (July 2009 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 44.9% (male 92,428/female 89,570)
15-64 years: 52.8% (male 105,191/female 108,803)
65 years and over: 2.3% (male 3,881/female 5,337) (2009 est.)
Median age:
total: 17.3 years
male: 16.8 years
female: 17.8 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.829% NA (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 15
Birth rate:
39.54 births/1,000 population (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 19
Death rate:
11.49 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 44
Urbanization:
urban population: 81% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 4% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 69.66 deaths/1,000 live births country comparison to the world: 25 male: 69.84 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 69.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 54.32 years country comparison to the world: 195 male: 52 years
female: 56.73 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate:
NA 5.61 children born/woman (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 15
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
NA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA
Nationality:
noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian
Ethnic groups:
Arab, Berber
Religions:
Muslim
Languages:
Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic
Literacy:
NA
Government ::Western Sahara
Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara
former: Spanish Sahara
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), led by President Mohamed ABDELAZIZ; 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; 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 or MINURSO
Capital:
none
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
none (under de facto control of Morocco)
Suffrage:
none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed
Executive branch:
none
Political pressure groups and leaders:
none
International organization participation:
WFTU
Diplomatic representation in the US:
none
Diplomatic representation from the US:
none
Economy ::Western Sahara
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.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$900 million (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 204
GDP (official exchange rate):
$NA
GDP - real growth rate:
NA%
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$2,500 (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 174
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: 40% (2007 est.)
Labor force:
12,000 (2005 est.) country comparison to the world: 208
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 50%
industry and services: 50% (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Population below poverty line:
NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
NA%
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:
NA%
Electricity - production:
90 million kWh (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 192
Electricity - consumption:
83.7 million kWh (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 192
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2008 est.)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 122
Oil - consumption:
2,000 bbl/day (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 181
Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 155
Oil - imports:
1,702 bbl/day (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 179
Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 115
Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 113
Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 121
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2008) country comparison to the world: 88
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2008 est.) country comparison to the world: 113
Natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 121
Exports:
$NA
Exports - commodities:
phosphates 62%
Imports:
$NA
Imports - commodities:
fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs
Debt - external:
$NA
Exchange rates:
Moroccan dirhams (MAD) per US dollar - 7.526 (2008 est.), 8.3563 (2007), 8.7722 (2006), 8.865 (2005), 8.868 (2004)
Communications ::Western Sahara
Telephones - main lines in use:
about 2,000 (1999 est.)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
0 (1999) country comparison to the world: 222
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
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998)
Television broadcast stations:
NA
Internet country code:
.eh
Transportation ::Western Sahara
Airports:
6 (2009) country comparison to the world: 173
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2009)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2009)
Ports and terminals:
Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun)
Military ::Western Sahara
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 52,267
females age 16-49: 59,221 (2009 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 4,796
female: 4,679 (2009 est.)
Transnational Issues ::Western Sahara
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
page last updated on October 22, 2009
======================================================================
@World (World)
Introduction ::World
Background:
Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war).
Geography ::World
Geographic overview:
The surface of the earth is approximately 70.9% water and 29.1% land. The former portion is divided into large water bodies termed oceans. The World Factbook recognizes and describes five oceans, which are in decreasing order of size: the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean.
The land portion is generally divided into several, large, discrete landmasses termed continents. Depending on the convention used, the number of continents can vary from five to seven. The most common classification recognizes seven, which are (from largest to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. Asia and Europe are sometimes lumped together into a Eurasian continent resulting in six continents. Alternatively, North and South America are sometimes grouped as simply the Americas, resulting in a continent total of six (or five, if the Eurasia designation is used).
North America is commonly understood to include the island of Greenland, the isles of the Caribbean, and to extend south all the way to the Isthmus of Panama. The easternmost extent of Europe is generally defined as being the Ural Mountains and the Ural River; on the southeast the Caspian Sea; and on the south the Caucasus Mountains, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean. Africa's northeast extremity is frequently delimited at the Isthmus of Suez, but for geopolitical purposes, the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula is often included as part of Africa. Asia usually incorporates all the islands of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The islands of the Pacific are often lumped with Australia into a "land mass" termed Oceania or Australasia.
Although the above groupings are the most common, different continental dispositions are recognized or taught in certain parts of the world, with some arrangements more heavily based on cultural spheres rather than physical geographic considerations.
Map references:
Political Map of the World , Physical Map of the World , Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total: 510.072 million sq km
land: 148.94 million sq km
water: 361.132 million sq km
note: 70.9% of the world's surface is water, 29.1% is land
Area - comparative:
land area about 16 times the size of the US
top fifteen World Factbook entities ranked by size: Pacific Ocean 155.557 million sq km; Atlantic Ocean 76.762 million sq km; Indian Ocean 68.556 million sq km; Southern Ocean 20.327 million sq km; Russia 17,098,242 sq km; Arctic Ocean 14.056 million sq km; Antarctica 14 million sq km; Canada 9,984,670 sq km; United States 9,826,675 sq km; China 9,596,961 sq km; Brazil 8,514,877 sq km; Australia 7,741,220 sq km; European Union 4,324,782 sq km; India 3,287,263 sq km; Argentina 2,780,400 sq km
Land boundaries:
the land boundaries in the world total 251,060 km (not counting shared boundaries twice); two nations, China and Russia, each border 14 other countries
note: 45 nations and other areas are landlocked, these include: Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe; two of these, Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan, are doubly landlocked
Coastline:
356,000 km
note: 94 nations and other entities are islands that border no other countries, they include: American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Baker Island, Barbados, Bermuda, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), Faroe Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Greenland, Grenada, Guam, Guernsey, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Howland Island, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Japan, Jarvis Island, Jersey, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Federated States of Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat, Nauru, Navassa Island, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Palmyra Atoll, Paracel Islands, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Spratly Islands, Sri Lanka, Svalbard, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Taiwan
Maritime claims:
a variety of situations exist, but in general, most countries make the following claims measured from the mean low-tide baseline as described in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: territorial sea - 12 nm, contiguous zone - 24 nm, and exclusive economic zone - 200 nm; additional zones provide for exploitation of continental shelf resources and an exclusive fishing zone; boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 nm
Climate:
a wide equatorial band of hot and humid tropical climates - bordered north and south by subtropical temperate zones - that separate two large areas of cold and dry polar climates
Terrain:
the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,555 m
note: in the oceanic realm, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the lowest point, lying -10,924 m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m
Natural resources:
the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in some countries of Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address
Land use:
arable land: 10.57%
permanent crops: 1.04%
other: 88.38% (2005)
Irrigated land:
2,770,980 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards:
large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones); natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions)
Environment - current issues:
large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion; global warming becoming a greater concern
Geography - note:
the world is now thought to be about 4.55 billion years old, just about one-third of the 13.7-billion-year age estimated for the universe
People ::World
Population:
6,790,062,216 (July 2009 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 27.2% (male 950,127,898/female 894,359,186)
15-64 years: 65.2% (male 2,235,114,476/female 2,192,071,874)
65 years and over: 7.6% (male 227,748,114/female 290,640,668) (2009 est.)
Median age:
total: 28.4 years
male: 27.7 years
female: 29 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.167% (2009 est.)
Birth rate:
19.95 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate:
8.2 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Urbanization:
urban population: 48.6% of total population (2005)
rate of urbanization: 1.98% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
ten largest urban agglomerations: Tokyo (Japan) - 35,676,000; New York-Newark (US) - 19,040,000; Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico) - 19,028,000; Mumbai (India) - 18,978,000; Sao Paulo (Brazil) - 18,845,000; Delhi (India) - 15,926,000; Shanghai (China) - 14,987,000; Kolkata (India) - 14,787,000; Dhaka (Bangladesh) - 13,458,000; Buenos Aires (Argentina) - 12,795,000 (2007)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 40.85 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 43.85 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 37.67 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 66.57 years
male: 64.52 years
female: 68.76 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.58 children born/woman (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.8% (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
33 million (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
2 million (2007 est.)
Religions:
Christians 33.32% (of which Roman Catholics 16.99%, Protestants 5.78%, Orthodox 3.53%, Anglicans 1.25%), Muslims 21.01%, Hindus 13.26%, Buddhists 5.84%, Sikhs 0.35%, Jews 0.23%, Baha'is 0.12%, other religions 11.78%, non-religious 11.77%, atheists 2.32% (2007 est.)
Languages:
Mandarin Chinese 13.22%, Spanish 4.88%, English 4.68%, Arabic 3.12%, Hindi 2.74%, Portuguese 2.69%, Bengali 2.59%, Russian 2.2%, Japanese 1.85%, Standard German 1.44%, French 1.2% (2005 est.)
note: percents are for "first language" speakers only
Literacy: