Western Sahara ( Spanish Sahara) is a country in Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco. Western Sahara geographic coordinates 24 30 N, 13 00 W; area 266,000 sq km; area comparative about the size of Colorado; land boundaries 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 sou; elevation extremes unnamed location 463 m; natural resources phosphates, iron ore; land use 99.98% (2001); irrigated land NA sq km; natural hazards hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze; environment current issues sparse water and lack of arable land; environment international agreements none of the selected agreements; geography note the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas;

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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. government type legal status of territory and issue of sovereignty unresolved; territory contested by Morocco and Polisario Front (Popular Front for the Liberation of; capital none; administrative divisions none (under de facto control of Morocco); suffrage none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet compl;

people

Western Sahara population 273,008 (July 2005 est.); age structure NA; population growth rate NA; birth rate NA births/1,000 population; death rate NA deaths/1,000 population; sex ratio NA; infant mortality rate NA; life expectancy at birth NA years; total fertility rate NA children born/woman; hiv adult rate NA; hiv people with aids NA; hiv deaths NA; major infectious diseases may be a significant risk in some locations during the transmission season (t; nationality Sahrawi, Sahrawian, Sahraouian; ethnic groups Arab, Berber; religions Muslim; languages Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic; literacy NA%;

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